To The BatCave!

Dear lord, where to start?

Last week was an adventure that began the weekend of the previous week. I ended my brief escapde as a single parent (and boy howdy did *that* suck-the single parent thing, not the ending it) and we spent a week doing laundry and packing and preparing for.....

wait for it......

OUR FIRST PLANE RIDE

Jon, Edward and I packed up our lives (yes it took two suitcases for me and the baby. yes I took every single bib and burp rag I could find. yes I did two loads of laundry at my parents house anyway. and yes, I could have left half of the clothes and pjs at home had I known that we wouldn't experience any complete clothing failures) and headed to Illinois for Monmouth College's homecoming. It was my 10 year reunion too and the first time I'd been on campus since I got married nine years ago. I barely recognized the school.

And may I just say to you current students at MC, you are spoiled rotten infants who live in palaces and climb stairs (STAIRS!) up the hill to Wallace Hall and have decent drinking water piped in from Peoria and a black box theatre space and a follow-spot booth that means no more dangling legs off the catwalk and fearing for your life and new light boards and a fancy store in the union that does not require walking five blocks in the snow to get milk!

I just needed to get that off my chest. Moving on.

I got to see two of my very best friends which was awesome. They both got to see me which I'm sure was equally awesome. And everyone got to see Edward who also got to see everyone. I know, it's hard to believe the level of sheer awesome-ness contained in one weekend! It was really, really, REALLY lovely to get to spend some one-on-one time with both of them. And it was fabulous of my husband to come along and corral the child. He was a great sport who made sure the small one ate and slept and played while I ran around town and went to a bar to hear a professor's wife sing and play mandolin in a band. I haven't spent any real quality time with D in over ten years and M has been at least 18 months, if not longer. They both looked and sounded and are wonderful.

While we were in Monmouth, Edward decided it was time to attempt mobilization. He began getting up onto all fours a few days before we left, and, having mostly mastered that (he gets up and then cries because he can't figure out how to get back down again, except when he cries because he fell and can't figure out how to get back up), he decided to experiment! His first big idea was to get up on all fours, thrust his head forward and plant his forehead onto the floor while dropping his arms. He then contracted his abs and pulled his knees forward, lifted his head and planted it as far from his body as possible and repeated the whole process. Then he cried because his head hurt. I gently explained that yes, foreheads are not, in general, a large component in mobilization; and, as far as I can tell, are only there to ensure a nice large and socially-awkward place to get acne.

Then Jon headed back to WA and my parents came to get their grandbaby (and oh yes, me too) and took us to Decatur for the week.

My folks haven't seen Edward since he was two or three weeks old so there were plenty of changes. Look, he has different hair and his eyes are different colors and he can mostly remain in a seated position! If you have kids, then you know how exciting this was. If you don't, then you probably won't.

More on the week in Decatur in part two. Now, time for a nap.