Happy Birthday, Just in Time to Skip Town

It was great fun celebrating Lucia’s birthday this weekend. We had a celebratory dinner at Fornino Friday night with Mom and Dad, where Lucia greatly enjoyed some focaccia and pizza crust. Sunday, with Molly, Ian, and some friends, Lucia was the guest of honor at her first birthday party, where she sank warily into her high chair during the singing of “Happy Birthday” then devoured part of a carrot cake muffin. She even wore a party dress—white with polka dots, gold ribbon trim, and yellow tulle—that had been a gift for my shower. She looked like a little birthday princess. Ridiculous, but also adorable. She played with some baby-friends and seemed to enjoy being the center of attention.

Even as it was happening, Lucia’s birthday was being relegated to the second spot on my “things to think about” list, because at the end of last week we got some news: on Monday, we’re going back to California for a month—Andrew has to do some in-person work at his company’s HQ. We’re not exactly going back where we came from—we’ll be in Mountain View, not Roseville—but it feels strange to be returning nonetheless. We’ll be in an apartment, we’ll have a car, we’ll be driving to Target, we’ll be living in CA once again. And we’ll be leaving Brooklyn just when true, chilly fall has begun, once again spending much of October and November in warm sunshine. Just when we thought we were out…