Skipping Town

Tomorrow, I'll be skipping town by myself. To Vermont. For ten days. I haven't been apart from the girls overnight in two years, and aside from my time in the hospital when I was pregnant with Greta, I've only been away from Lucia for one night in her entire life, when I went to a baby shower. Needless to say, I'm freaking out a little bit. A lot. I can't imagine what it's going to be like to be apart from them for so long. I have a good reason for going: the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury, which I applied to on a whim in March. I thought I'd apply just for fun, never thinking I'd really go; but once I got in, I couldn't bring myself to pass it up. So just underneath my jitters about leaving the girls is another jittery layer of anxieties about workshopping a new piece, meeting new people, pitching my work, and being surrounded by full-on literariness for ten days. It's a mix of nerves that has found its focus in organizing ...

We got home from Mexico City yesterday, after a surprisingly smooth journey. We left our apartment around 10:00am, to much protesting from Lucia--after so much lamenting for home, on the day of departure she decided she wanted to stay in Mexico. Both girls were wonderful on the flight. Greta slept, played with stickers, and looked at the iPad over Lucia's shoulder; Lucia watched episodes of Sofia the First . She doesn't quite get the concept of earphones--whenever she would say something, she would shout it at top volume because she couldn't really hear herself; occasionally a loud little-girl voice would echo through the plane: "MORE PUFFS." "DADDY, I WANT TO WATCH ANOTHER SOFIA." "CAN I HAVE SOME WATER?" No one threw up. There was only minimal crying. Greta got fussy while we were waiting for our baggage, but by that point I was pretty fussy too. Both girls devoured their dinner, had a bath, and slept straight through the night. So it's...

Here are just a few more pictures from our trip--mostly of Lincoln Park and the sculpture garden. Our neighborhood really was lovely. In our building's parking garage: Our grocery store: Across from our apartment building:

Greta woke up at 2:30am last night. We moved her crib to our room since she was crying, gave her some water, and she promptly went back to sleep until 8:30am. Not bad, comparatively. For our last day in Mexico City, we set out in the morning for Bosque de Chapultepec, to absorb the vibrant Sunday life in the park and visit the Castillo de Chapultepec. The park was absolutely packed today--vendors lined every pathway, shouting endorsements of their wares. Chips of all kinds, toys, hats, shoes, glassware, belts, candy, soda/water, beef jerky crusted in chile powder, balloons, inflatable toys, cotton candy, stuffed animals, elaborate face painting, temporary tattoos, wigs, cinturons de securidad (security belts, i.e. leashes for kids)--it was an overwhelming assortment. Families were all out together, and though young kids and babies were everywhere, I was struck once again by how few strollers and baby carriers we saw. People carry even the smallest babies in their arms, a blanket slun...

What a night. Greta woke up around 10:30pm and screamed hysterically until almost 2am. We'd never experienced anything like it. Shrill, hysterical screams. We had no idea what was wrong. She seemed gassy, so maybe that was it; but it seemed more like she was just in a rage, which she's been succumbing to more often lately. We had to take her into our room, lest she wake up Lucia. Our only thought, finally, was that she was hungry--so at 1:30am, she sat in bed with us with all the lights on, eating a banana and some animal crackers. She was happy as a clam. Each time she took an animal cracker from the bag, she made it walk a little in the air before she ate it. She'd turn to us and give us big grins, sometimes giggling like this was the greatest joke. After eating a handful of crackers, I put her in her crib and she fell asleep and slept until 9am. This was a night for the record books. But because she did sleep so long, and since Lucia, too, slept until 8:15am, we decide...

Greta slept! She didn't fall asleep until 9pm, but she slept through till 7am. Bliss. Despite her good sleep, she still took a nearly two-hour nap this morning, and since Andrew was working from home, Lucia and I played outside by the pool. It's a lovely terrace--chaises, the pool, and a play structure. Lucia climbed around for a while, but the best thing for her was finding things on the terrace to collect: bougainvillia blossoms, round seeds from the trees in planters. She was absorbed in foraging. After lunch, we went to the park, where the girls once again immersed themselves in filling their bunny buckets--this time with purple blossoms from a jacaranda tree. Greta is just thrilled to have the chance to wander around. Lucia wore herself out: she napped today for an hour, of her own volition. "I will take a nap today," she announced, and she lay down in her bed and promptly fell asleep. Later this afternoon, we went on a flower hunt to find more blossoms. Gr...