And the results are in...

...and L did great! She cried a little when I first handed her off, but was calm before I left. What I had not anticipated, though, was how much E was upset by L's tears. E was hovering near Ms. Hagi, the infant room teacher, picking up pacis out of L's stroller and handing them to her, running to the fridge to get a bottle, grabbing the burp cloth off of the floor when it fell from Ms. Hagi's shoulder, and repeating "shhh, shhh" beside L's head as Ms. Hagi rocked her. It was very touching, albeit in a very frustrating day. I knew L would be fine both because L is generally pretty mellow and because Ms. Hagi is the original baby whisperer, but I couldn't reassure E that L was going to be okay. Which means I couldn't convince E to leave L's side and go to her own classroom. I'm hoping tomorrow will be easier on E, and that L will keep up the good work!

When I returned at the end of the day to pick the girls up, I ran into Maggie, a friend of mine from work and the mother of one of the other infants in L's new class. Maggie told me that she had come down in the middle of the day to nurse her son, and that while she was there all the teachers were discussing how calm and alert L was for a kid on her first day! I thanked Maggie for the report, and she started to tell me more, but E cut off our conversation, preempting what she knew I'd be saying shortly. "Mama, I no hold your hand or push the stroller." (Every day I ask her to choose between holding my hand or helping to push the stroller - it's my way of distracting/preventing her from running into the street.) "I walk all BY MYSELF to the car. And I hold nothing and I hold my milk!" Ms. Natasha, one of the floating afternoon teachers, overheard E and shot me a look that I think she tried to offer commiseratively, but I know that in her heart she was laughing at my plight. Ms. Natasha looked at E heading out the door without me and said, "That child thinks she is a grown woman. Mm mm mm mm mm!!" So in the space of about twelve seconds, my younger daughter and my older daughter were recognized for their adaptability and independence, respectively. And that about sums them up.