Mia is at babysitting coop, Ben is at work, and I am cozily ensconced at our new local cafe, settling in for a long morning of dissertation revision and writing. I have been reading and reading but have done very little writing; it's finally time to turn the ideas into words on paper.

We haven't written much recently, mostly because there seems to be little of interest to report. Our days are filled with playgrounds and water sprinklers, long summer naps and lazy summer evenings. Mia is learning to love the water after much initial trepidation. We're enjoying the long days of summer, even without air conditioning.

This is Mia's last month before she begins school in September. We are ending our time with the babysitting coop so we can have extra time to spend together. Even though the hours pretty much work out the same (she'll only be at school 16 hours a week), it somehow feels different. I know she'll thrive in the new environment, and I'm sure my own productivity will increase with the regularity of the hours, but it feels like a seismic shift in our lives. We're releasing her into the world, to hold her own at school, to make new friends, to learn new skills, to figure out how to get help and make her needs known. Even though she's almost 18 months old, she's still our little baby girl.