Unbelievable!!

Today was Sloane's first day of pre-k. Monumental, yes!! The fact that four years ago tonight, Sloane was still a patient in the NICU and hadn't made into our home is incredible. For the past 3 years, at this time of the year, I always reflect on the length of time Sloane was hospitalized after birth....from July 20 until September 10th.  Each year, I am reminded just how long that is!

Today was Sloane's first day of full day pre-k. Amazing, yes!! Sloane is going to school. Real school.  We have enrolled her in a school that stretches from pre-k to eighth grade.  There is a uniform to be worn, a cafeteria to be eaten in, a theater stage to preform on, and a library to devour a book in. A real school. An every day 8- 2:30 school!

In classic Sloane form, she held her head high, put her backpack one and said "momma, I am so ready for this!" And she is!! I'd like to say that she is too young for a full day of enrichment and learning, but I would be lieing. She is ready. More ready than I am. It was a very long day without Sloane's company, Sloane's energy, Sloane's curiosity and her chatter!!

Today was Sloane's first day of pre-k. Unbelievable, yes. But not as unbelievable as the fact that Sloane's Laryngeal Cleft didn't play a role, at all, in her entrance physically or emotionally.. That is unbelievable. I didn't believe 4 years ago that Sloane's Laryngeal Cleft would ever be something we didn't focus on or talk about. I couldnt wrap my head around that idea. How could something that altered our lives and made our child different than those around us become unimportant??? But it has. As I filled out Sloane's entrance papers to her new school endlessly, it dawned on me that I didn't have much medical info on Sloane to fill in. Now, of course, I noted Sloane's cleft, her surgeries, and wrote a quick snip-it about her current drinking issues...which was: sometimes when Sloane drinks from an open vessel too quickly she will cough. Beyond that I wrote nothing. Unbelievable!!

Sloane's LC, four years ago was THE ONLY thing we talked about, read about, and wondered about. We wondered.....would Sloane enter school with a feeding tube attached to her because her Laryngeal Cleft would be present in her life. And here we are,  today, the first day of. pre-k wondering about everything that has to do with Sloane......watching her enter school with a sports water bottle hanging off her backpack!!! Unbelievable, for sure!