Baby's Last Night

This time last year, the night before Lilly began school at The Wonder Center, I wrote Baby's Last Night . Tomorrow I will leave Sophia in the morning and pick her up at the end of the school day. I face another baby's last night.

No backpack sits on the shelf. No lunch to be packed. At Tiny Tots, they distribute matching backpacks to every child and cook a hot lunch for the entire campus on a daily basis. No clothes sitting out, pretty dresses waiting to be pulled on for that 1st Day of School photo. The girls will wake together, pull the clothes right out of their closet and over their heads. Lilly begins at a new school, but she has already met her teacher and her classmates. She will stand confidently in that photo. But for Sophia, this will be the true 1st photo.

Tomorrow my baby goes to school.

This beautiful girl, my baby, has always been an individual.
She has rarely done anything at my suggestion, generally preferring complete failure to my assistance.
But anywhere she has ever gone, she has gone with me.
Anytime she has cried, she has come to me.
Anyone who has known Sophia has known her as an extension of me.

Tomorrow my baby goes to school.

And tonight is the end.

Tomorrow she becomes her own little person.
She’ll learn things that I don’t know.
She’ll say things I’ve never said.
She’ll know people I’ve never met.
She’ll go places I’ve never gone.
She begins her own life tomorrow.

My little girl, not even 3 years old, has grown so much. Its amazing to think about it. From the tiny baby, who doubled in size in just a few short months. The infant who screamed for hours on end, wearing my patience to the quick and introducing a young Lilly to sisterhood quite rudely. She could only be calmed with walking, carrying and walking. Nana had a perfect touch with her, soothing her quickly and for long spans of time. But at only 9 months, we tore her from family and neighbors to life in China.

She grew into a friendly toddler. A 1-year-old who loved the attention a fair Western child garners on a street in Shanghai. She kept her dramatic flair, but she developed spunk and an individuality which constantly surprises us. With a sibling only 15 months older, she fell easily into the role of kid sister. She played with older kids regularly, and began talking and learning their social rules with ease. She grew into a social confidence where people enjoy her company, but she shows a cool non-chalance about them. This always draws friends, and Sophia became a quick playmate.

When Lilly began school last year, Sophia loved the individual time with Mommy - a first in her life. But she also missed the constant companionship of her sister, and most enjoyed the time spent playing at Lilly's school every afternoon. She gave us no choice - Sophia wanted to start school this year.

I went along to the orientation week, where she met her teachers and walked through a shortened school day. Cool Miss Sophia rarely sent me a second glance. She smiled at her teachers, answered all questions posed to her with confidence, and declared that she likes none of the other children in her class. The youngest in her class of 3 year olds, and she's already the coolest kid there. She has such confidence, and is so ready for school that it seems ridiculous to feel sad. I am so proud of her. And still, so sad to say good-bye to my baby.