{a letter to my daughter on her first day of kindergarten}

Dear Lucy,

I just went back and read my letter to you on your first day of preschool and everything I wrote there more than applies to today. My heart is bursting all over again just as it was a year ago. How is it even possible that my sweet little ladybug is starting kindergarten?! The "firsts" always seem so incredibly momentous…and that is because they are. We have been talking about this day all summer. Especially since we moved into our new house and finally figured out where you were going to be going to school. You miss your old school SO very much and it's easy to see why. Your teachers showed you such an incredible amount of patience and love throughout your year in preschool and I just can't help but think about how thankful I am that you had such an awesome year there. Just this morning I texted a photo of you to one of your old teachers letter her know how much we missed her and wishing them an awesome year ahead. She replied that she missed you to pieces and that she hopes you have an amazing year at kindergarten.
I came in to your room this morning to wake you up and crawled into bed next to you. I put my arm around you and gave you a gentle squeeze and you promptly pulled your blanket over your head. I giggled as I got a flash of what it will be like when you're a teenager. I brought myself back to the present moment and said "happy first day of kindergarten, my girl". You threw the blanket off of your head and flashed me a huge smile. Once you remembered what was happening today, you were more than ready to hop out of bed and get ready for the day. And of course, you were more than happy to oblige me when I said it was time for pictures ;)
Your daddy also had a big day today since it was his very first day of his new job! So, of course I had to make him a sign, too :)
 And of course, Elijah also had to get in on the photo action. Unfortunately, he got distracted by the fact that you could still see the moon in the sky at this point in the morning. Ha. Silly boy. Oh, and he was also noshing on a banana. So, these were the best shots out of the bunch:
Elijah and I proceeded to drop you off at school and we all got to check out your classroom for the first time (which was super awesome, btw). It didn't take you long at all to settle in at one of the tables where a coloring activity was setup. You gave me a long hug and a quick kiss and said "Bye Mommy! I love you!" So, that was that! I held back my tears until I got to the car. Just like last year, you were so confident in the face of this new experience. You were so ready to make new friends and take on a new adventure and yet again (as happens very often), I found myself wanting to be more like you.