Daycare and Ornithology

So what happened with 'back to work'? As expected the first day back to work was a tad emotional. Jay and I both dropped Lily off with Daycare Lady. We staggered into her house with a duffel bag full of Lily's life and enough food to feed everyone at daycare for a week, plunked Lily on the floor next to a giant puzzle of Calliou and left before Daycare Lady could see us BOTH crying. Lily looked down the hall at us like "See ya, mo fo's".

First Day

We came back to pick her up six hours later. I studied her once we got home - did a mental checklist in my head. Clothes all on and clean? Check. Food wiped off of face? Check. No signs of mental anguish? Check. She looked fine. Was acting like herself - spazzy yet jovial. Yet something was arwry.

Hours later I realized what it was. Lily smelled different. Like someone else's house. Someone else's smell that I was unfamiliar with. Not an unpleasant smell -kind of like a springy fresh detergent. I felt like putting her in the bath, maybe rubbing some of my body lotion in her hair. And suddenly I felt rather like a mother bird.

Remember when you were a kid and your mom told you never to pick up baby birds because the mother bird would smell you on their bird and wouldn't want it anymore? Ok - simmah down now- not that extreme - I just felt a little pang of her first break from me. And for the first time I wanted to shout out for the world to stop, for time to stop. And for her to just stay 8.5 months forever. I'll deal with an eternity of crappy diapers, mall meltdowns and fights to get into the carseat if I can just keep her 100% mine. So she will always smell like Johnson's baby wash, cocoabutter lotion and these cheapo Zeller's baby wipes that smell like baby powder heaven.

OK, you can stop growing up, right now...

L