i knew my workload would be cut by 75%. i knew i would have far more free time, more time to spend with reese, an incomparably smoother trip, and more relaxation, not to mention a very clean and somewhat un-childproofed apartment. but when we headed back west to chicago as bean headed east out of kalamazoo, i was so depressed i didn't know what to do with myself. no amount of skype can possibly compensate for her hugs and kisses, her laughter, her sweet little voice that has finally found words to describe her world, the way she runs to the door and falls on her knees giggling when i come home from work, the sound of her bouncing in her crib when she wakes up and trying not to smile when you walk in to get her, our secret bedtime ritual, and the uncontrollable excitement between her and reese when they first see each other in the morning. 
the day before she left, we wanted to spend some one on one time with our princess bean, since neither child ever gets the undivided attention of both parents. we woke up and she made herself some banana chocolate chip pancakes, generously pouring batter all over the kitchen and my purse. then she took off on the town, walking next to her empty double stroller all the way to the institute of art. here they have an awesome play area (free) for kids with lots of books, toys, blocks, computers, etc. we had a lot of fun there.
fortunately, i worked the next 72 straight hours which served as a decent distraction from my heartbreak. three back to back 12 hour shifts of floor nursing is pretty punishing, so i was happy to be floated to icu for one of those shifts, until my 250 lb stroke patient fell on top of me and may or may not have broken my arm in three places. it was definitely time for vacation.
i was very anxious about having only one day to pack everyone for the trip until i realized i had only one child, and the day was actually quite leisurely with plenty of time to pack, relax, go for a run and go shopping. ah, to have only one child.... life is definitely much, much easier.
after a brief flirtation with imperfection, the christ potato is back to being magically delicious in every perfect way with the one notable exception of his new 5am wakeup time. still hoping that phase too passes. soon. but really, i feel we can't complain given that all he does from 5am to 8pm is smile, play quietly by himself, babble and has developed a pretty adorable giggle that's a dead ringer for marge simpson's. it really makes us laugh.
it has been a lot of fun spending so much quality time with him, and i'm sure he enjoys the attention. we continue to be incredibly impressed with how well behaved and just generally delightful he is. on our day of travel, for example, he went to bed late the night before, then we woke him up at the crack of dawn, had an el ride, security, a 4 hour plane ride, and another car ride before he could finally relax. he was all smiles but for the 2 hours he slept on my lap while i knitted, after which he entertained himself in his own seat. seriously.
after briefly refreshing himself, he enjoyed a fireside dinner of cheese (garden)burger and sweet potato fries, because he eats everything (except babyfood, because that's for babies). for good measure, he also decided to try standing up for the first time.
we spent literally the entire day yesterday with a realtor, taking him in and out of his carseat every 5 minutes, blowing off his nap time, waking him
up from his late nap time (which i'm about to do again in 10 minutes), and traipsing around town (our impending relocation to davis, ca, i realize is a rather major detail we've yet to discuss on this blog). he drooled happily across many a doorstep, yanked on blinds, played with pets and even traveled happily on the hip of our awesome realtor when his parents' arms grew tired of his happy dancing...you would have thought this was the best day of his life. even at 5am, you just can't be irritated with this kid. he has given a new definition to low maintenance. i think to myself often that he's a tao baby. his approach to life seems to be to just go with the flow...i think that bodes well for a pretty content future.
we have been talking and skyping with her often. to reiterate, we just miss her terribly! we know we're missing out on a very exciting time in her development with this language explosion...yesterday we called to say goodnight and she said "bye bye, love you." the cutest.
but sometimes, especially given what a wonderful time we're able to have enjoying reese, it's nice to have mandated apart time so both kids can get the attention they deserve but can't possibly receive for the time being.
anyhow, we've got most of the legwork for our home search, phase one, behind us, and are now looking forward to enjoying some leisure time for the rest of our stay here. that starts bright and early tomorrow with a 10k in town, so it's for now, it's bedtime!
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