Um, yeah. Hi.

It has been more than four months since my last post and there are so many reasons for my silence, but to sum it up simply: we moved out of the city, lost our nanny, got a new one, and live in the suburbs. Although I feel compelled to add that we are living in one of the oldest streetcar suburbs in the state, amongst buildings that are older than those in many parts of the city, so the housing stock is at least interesting and there is a bona fide Center Of Town. So.

Our house in the City is still on the market and once it sells and we have officially Moved On, I will share with you the full saga of the previous four months. It will be a sort of catharsis, but not in a terrible chick flick sort of way. I promise. You will be riveted, horrified, and relieved, hopefully in that order.

However. There is such news aside from the recent unpleasantness. In no particular order:

1. Jupiter is 13 months old. He is not just walking, but running around the house, performing daily tests on all the various forbidden items including, but not limited to: pulling the cat's tail, yanking cords, eating dog food, sliming my printer, touching the box fan, splashing in the water bowl, pulling things out of the trash, and sticking his head into the Diaper Genie. Oh yes. He is a very curious, very happy little boy who decided to stop breastfeeding about three weeks ago. Bye bye baby. Hello toddler.

2. My work lost a lot of momentum in March and that sluggishness carried through April, May, and June. Lots of lost time. But I am feeling very productive these last several weeks and I think I'll have my first draft of my first dissertation chapter finished and ready to hand off to my advisor by the end of August. *fingers crossed*

3. Jupiter learned to say "belly button" today. His first official, discernible word that was not just an animal sound was "car." He can follow directions (open, close, put in, take out, go find, bring me, etc.) but he is delightfully willful and stubborn. I have no idea where he gets those qualities.

4. I am sitting on a rented loveseat drinking a Sutter Home pinot grigio from one of those single-serving bottles they were selling at the check-out lane in Schnucks today. It's actually pretty good. This is what parenthood does to one's standards. There was a point in my life when I kept a wine journal. Now I drink from airline bottles.

5. Thanks to P90x, weaning, and running, I have lost all my baby fat. I feel good except for a sore knee. I went to see an orthopedic surgeon about it and he basically told me I'm getting old. I wanted to slap him, but mostly because I don't think he took me seriously.

6. I watched Mother and Child last night. If you have children it will make you weep. I had to wait almost an hour for my nose to clear.

7. I am happier and better rested than I have been in a long, long time.

'Til soon.