Day care, day 1

You could hear the screaming from the parking lot.

Apparently, my rosy outlook on day care ("she'll love it -- she's very adaptable") wasn't quite on target. Instead, The Girl considered her 2-hour day care test run to be medieval-style torture. The teachers assured Lisa that they'd call her if things got really bad, and she eventually had to just walk away. A mother in the parking lot did help put things in perspective: even after a year, her son still pitches a screaming fit when left for day care -- and then promptly forgets about her.

Afternoon update: The Girl was crying when Lisa came to pick her up, but thankfully it wasn't the tail end of a 3-hour jag. She'd oscillated between content and upset, and Lisa just happened to catch her on a downswing. We also learned that her penchant for throwing food on the floor makes her a typical 18-month-old kid.