September starts

So far we're off to a pretty solid start this month with school beginning and no Papa around to help out. Nacho took off at the end of August for a 6 week training course with his new airline and we're doing our best to make it feel like normal life. Of course, I'm not the most punctual person, so getting everyone up and dressed and semi-fed (Elisa eats at school) before 7:30 a.m. has meant I need to turn in sooner in the evening. Which means less time to let my mind wander and decompress from the full day. After a week and a half of that, I admit I'm pretty beat. But thankfully, there was a coffee date with a friend to perk me up and Carolina's first day of preschool at Amazing Magic Beans (AMB) to celebrate. Nacho flying home on a whim on Thursday afternoon was just the icing on the cake...

the girls were thrilled to see Papa after 10 days away...big hugs and lots of smiles

Carolina getting mad that her tower (or "castle") wouldn't go higher...it fell over a few times

And truly, I think this is just the beginning of Carolina's metamorphosis into a bona fide student. She is so eager and ready to talk and offer information that I can't help but wonder what kinds of things she will be explaining to her teachers. From what I saw today during my visit there (a mandatory 3 hour first day marathon which was totally unnecessary), Carolina is definitely more like her sister and knows how to grab attention when she wants. After taking to the stage and throwing herself down into a pile, she told Ms. Lauren that she was "sleeping" so "go tell them." Yeah, okay, kid. Whatever. And she was measuring up against the other girls in class today with a resounding "I'm BIGGER! I'm the princess!" to which a bunch of bewildered three year old girls had no idea how to respond. But she was also the fun loving, cooperative kid who helped guide her friend German after he had trouble starting the day. He was a little upset with his mom still there and when she left, he quickly got past any anxiety. He was ready to play. And Carolina was there to chase him up and down the slides, and to scare the teacher with him playing their version of a monster game. These two have become inseparable of late and it's beautiful to see. These are the little friendships that I remember Elisa having with Leonardo and others at this same age and they really grow with time.  Each encounter is laying the foundation of what's to come. And more than school itself I think this is what her year will be about. Getting to know her friends and herself and finding her place as the second Tortajada girl to walk those halls.