I cherish it.

This evening marked the first visit to my Ella's new classroom at Lake Murray Elementary. I can't believe my girl is cruising on into the second grade...leaving first in the dust...making kindergarten a distant memory...and let's not even mention preschool.

So much has changed since then. In preschool, I could dress her in those cute little matchy match outfits with bows. Actually, even when she was a toddler she hated those bows... which sucked since they cost like a million dollars a piece. I may have enough unused bows to pay down the national deficit. In kindergarten, I could kinda dress her how I wanted, at least at the beginning of the year. I guess it was around that time that she started in on that whole Hannah Montana business, and decided that peace signs and rock n' roll garb were more her "thing." (Thank goodness she didn't take Miley's cue from that concert we went to and decide to nix the pants all together.) And, that hurt, partly because I had still been going to those trunk shows where you buy the matchy match outfits, not knowing that I may as well have been flushing checks down the toilet, because by the second week of school, the idea of her even looking at those clothes was demolished like the idea of the Tea Party even trying to compromise. Still, I could at least get her to wear the stuff I wanted to buy her that wasn't so sore on the old eyeballs.

In first grade, though, she began to form an opinion when we'd go shopping, and that opinion sharply clashed with mine. Even more, the patterns and brilliantly fluorescent colors of her taste sharply clashed with everything. It hurt the psyche as much as the brain to see how she put stuff together. But, whatever, I wanted her to be her. Lately, however, I've got her number. I don't take her to Target with me...where they plentifully stock the tacky... and I only allow her to select clothes from places where everything can go together... like the GAP.

And, her music tastes have changed a lot since those earlier days. I have to say I'm happy that she doesn't dig Dr. Jean any longer. Better yet, Miley Cyrus isn't in our lives anymore, which is AWESOME. We've always tried to get her to like our music, but she hasn't found the love for Widespread Panic or the Grateful Dead like I've always dreamed. Yet, anyways. She's a girl, a chick even, so she likes chick singers. Some of you might shudder to know that we let her listen to the likes of Lady Gaga or Pink, but I see the artistic value of their music, and I'm okay with it. I like that stuff, too, though I'm not one for pop music.

What I am for is singing that stuff at the top of my lungs with my Ella. And we can belt it out. Loud. Proud. Heartfelt. Today, she decided to put Kelly Clarkson on in her bedroom, on full blast... such full blast that I couldn't even tell if the vacuum was on while I was pushing it around the house. It was a little much, but I L.O.V.E. hearing her bravado in full force when she's really into it. Our favorite right now may be Adele, the British singer with a heart full of soul. Our best song by the girl from across the pond is "Rumor Has It." So, every time we're in the car, we turn it on super-booming-loud and use our best microphones/hands, and throw caution to the wind... or in our case, scare people when we drive by. And, we laugh and sing to each other and just live in our world.

These are moments where I know life is so good. I know she's changing and developing new tastes and all that, and part of it makes me long for the past, but I'm so happy that I get to be a part of it all in the present. I cherish it.