2 { Th e D i a r y o f L a u r a diary, surrounded by explanations of how the educational diary evolved as a strategy of practice in Reggio Emilia, reflections by experts from around the world who have a deep acquaintance with the infant-toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia, and most surprising of all, images of Laura now grown up, with her infant son and her mother, in reunion with some of her original teachers, who kindly share their own reflections. The early 1980s were a time of ferment and change in Reggio Emilia and of expan- sion for the infant-toddler component of the public early childhood system serving children from birth to age six (Edwards, Gandini, and Forman 1998; Gan- dini and Edwards 2001). Infant-toddler centers were somewhat new. Reggio families were concerned about whether center-based care was good for infants and toddlers and what the separation might mean for them and their families. Could children so young adjust to a children’s center? How would that adjustment in- fluence them and their relationships to their parents? How could parents and teachers “share” a baby? As Carlina Rinaldi describes in her original 1983 intro- duction to Story of Laura, as pedagogical coordinator she worked closely with the teachers of Arcobaleno (“Rainbow”) Infant-Toddler Center to conduct a study, that is, teacher action research, on the process of the infant’s adjustment to the center. (Note: The Italian term for infant- toddler center is asilo nido, or “safe nest,” and nido literally means “nest” in Italian and is the term used for the public infant-toddler centers of Reggio Emilia.) The city published DOL-Int_2011-jh 2.indd 2 From left: Vea Vecchi, Carolyn Edwards, Loris Malaguzzi, and Lella Gandini, in front of the exhibit “The Eye, If It Jumps Over the Wall” in Reggio Emilia, 1983. 12/13/11 11:52 AM