A Mommy Story

First off, thank you so much to everyone for posting a comment on my last post. It was wonderful to “see” so many new visitors, as well as those I see occasionally, and my regulars. I’ve got a ton of new blogs to visit now, so expect to see me stopping by in the next week or two. And even if you don’t have a blog, thanks for letting me know you’re reading. Blog writers are attention-whores, and it feels good to know people enjoy our writing.

We arrived home from Chicago this morning a little after 3am, so I’m still trying to adjust to being home again. The drive back was horrible – rain, heavy rain, and torrential rain, but we were determined to get out of Chicago before the rain switched over to ice and snow up there.

Aaron’s workshop was held in a different location this year. While I enjoyed staying in downtown Chicago for the past four years, right across the street from Grant Park and in easy walking distance of the Art Institute, Field Museum, and Shedd Aquarium, this year the need for additional space moved the workshop out to Elgin, IL. Elgin is on the outskirts of Chicago, and about the only attractions near it are riverboat casinos, and lots of shopping in nearby Schaumburg.

So this year I did not get to visit any cultural sites. But I did do a lot of shopping – although most of it window shopping – at Woodfield Mall, and at my personal consumer mecca of Ikea. Cordy got few new items from Ikea, including the easel I’ve been trying to buy her for two years. (It’s usually not in stock.)

The best moments of the weekend were getting to visit with old and new friends. The old friends were my college roommate and her husband, and Aaron and I met them for a wonderful dinner at a microbrewery in the area on Saturday night. The men were pleasantly surprised to find this restaurant/microbrewery offered a sampler of all the specialty beers they offered, and they spent a good deal of the evening comparing the different beers while Shannon and I enjoyed our root beer.

On Friday, I was lucky enough to meet up with Mrs. Fortune, and had the pleasure of doing lunch with her and baby Jacob at The Cheesecake Factory. Good food and good company!

We had a wonderful time chatting, and I can’t wait until the chaos of moving is over for her, and she can resume writing again. Jacob is simply adorable, and did a perfect Hollywood celebrity job of flirting with and charming everyone who came within ten feet.

I also greatly enjoyed sleeping in, taking full advantage of the king size bed and wishing we had one of those at home. The hotel was much nicer than the one we have stayed in during past years, and so I didn’t mind spending a little time relaxing there, even if I did forget that they had an indoor pool and left my bathing suit at home.

We also felt baby #2’s first kicks on Sunday. She was particularly smart to time it well, performing in the morning before Aaron left for the day, giving him the chance to feel it as well. After that, she again went quiet for the remainder of the trip.

Thankfully, Cordy barely noticed we were gone. She asked about us once or twice during the weekend, according to my mom, but otherwise went about her normal routine of quoting episodes of Dora and throwing her beach balls. When I would talk to my mom, I asked to talk to Cordy each time, but each time she laughed and pushed the phone away when my mom offered it to her.

However, she was happy to see us today. When I came downstairs this morning, I was greeting by a smiling little face as she climbed into my lap and hugged me. She seems no worse for us being gone for several days, although she has picked up a few new bad habits while we were gone. It seems our easy bedtime toddler is gone, as Cordy is learning the stall techniques other kids employ. She now wants to read her books more than once, and spends a lot of time trying to decide which toys she wants to take to bed. This is prolonging the bedtime routine by at least a half hour now.

And she looked at Aaron and I today, and started singing, “I wuv youuuu, youuuu wuv meeee!” I looked at Aaron and said, “She didn’t just say what I think she said.” I don’t know how she learned it, but the damn purple dinosaur seems to have infiltrated our toddler’s mind while we were gone. I don’t know if it was my mom who let her see it, or if it was Aaron’s dad when he watched her on Sunday. But a bounty will soon be offered to find the person responsible for inviting this menace into our home, after we worked so hard to pretend it didn’t exist for over two years.