Mama Nico Date Night

This weekend was the first in a while where didnt have anything we HAD to do.  Saturday morning, I headed to CrossFit to photograph a weight-lifting competition.  In the past, that hadn't really been my thing.  "Lifting weight just to lift weight?  Ugh, spare me..."  But, something that I have come to understand is that it's almost impossible to do CrossFit right without a solid base in some olympic weight lifting.  Snatches, cleans, jerks, deadlifts, etc. allow one to build functional strength, which allows one to do "work" (whatever that may be) easier.  Also, no one thinks it's cute when I announce, "Yeah, I am not going to do that... "  Plus, a lot of my adversion to olympic lifting has been that I just haven't done any of it.  So, I have no idea what it is supposed to look like, feel like, etc.  For example, I just sort of lumped cleans, jerks, and snatches all into a category called, "shit I can't do."  But turns out, that it's actually cleans and snatches I can't do (due to the absence of any protective cartilige in my left knee... also, I never regained full range of motion on that knee after two knee surgeries).  I can do the end part of a clean and jerk (the jerk part).  So by shooting a lot and paying attention, I am starting to get a feel for how these moves build real strength.  Am I going to be cleanig and jerking in some competition?  No.  But I am starting to get a real appreciation for how important these moves are.

If you are interested in seeing some of the photos I took, click here.  The good news is that it's fairly easy to shoot meets... just shoot in continuous mode and model out your settings.  The bad news is that it could be a lot better if I had better glass (lenses).  I could *easily* drop $500-$1000 on some lenses that could get me much further shooting action shots in low light.  But I will try to make do until I get that kind of gear.  

That said... Nico and Dave went to the Family Fun Fest at Hollywood Park on Saturday morning.  We were under the impression that there would be a firetruck (there wasn't).  It was relatively disapppointing.  When I got home, Nico and I ended up snuggling and taking a nap.  When we woke up, we rode over to Petersen Park for a play on the playground.

 Sunday, we rode up to Highland Park (a suburb just northwest of Chicago), which should really be called "Super Swankville".  There is a relatively famous place for breakfast there (called Walker Brothers Pancake House).  We had a delicious breakfast... seriously, Dave and I both had to narrow down our choice to one of about five different things we wanted.  Afterwards, we strolled through an art fair that was going on.  Seriously, here are snatches from two different conversations I heard:
"Well, the place had a gourmet kitchen, so you know I was set.  That was pretty much all I cared about."
"It was so strange- the other day, I went to pay for something and pulled a ruppee out of my wallet.  I hadn't been to India in years."

Both of these make me want to start a tumblr called "rich people problems".

Sunday after our nap, Nico and I went out for a little date night.  We started by taking the bus to the train and getting some dinner in Irving Park.  Then we found a new playground and ended the night with some ice cream at Margies onn Montrose.  It was really fun.

The Good News Is...

Nico has been talking for two years and I still get a big kick out of when he says things that are CLEARLY things that he has heard from us.  Some Gems:

"So, the good news is..." (which is what I say whenever I want to point on the silver lining in a less than great situation).  

"Well, would you look at that?" (which is something I sometimes say whenever I am a little surprised by something).  

"Here comes a snuggle from _________-face" (he fills in the blank with whatever he's been eating that he has on his face... like yogurt.  "Here comes a snuggle from yogurt-face" or "Here comes a snuggle from ice-cream sandwich face.")

"How about if we take a ride down to..." (this is all Dave... this morning Nico suggested that after school today, "we ride down to Margies for some ice cream" after school today. 

He has also started being a bit melodramatic... something he has picked up from someone at school, I think.  He'll say something like, "No one even cares about me!" Which is a hard sell when you are an only child and you've been attachment parented your entire life.  I haven't been startled out of dead sleep at 141am by a foot thrown across my neck for him to claim that no one cares about him.

One of my favorite things to tell him when he starts whining about something crazy, like when he wants to play with a toy that is upstairs and starts whining.  I can't wait for him to parrot back to me: "This is a first world problem.  There are kids in the Sudan that would love to have this as a problem."

Bikey McBikersons

The main problem with Nico riding his own bike is that it's difficult to go anywhere.  We are trying to teach him good habits, so we have him get off his bike and walk it across streets.  Well, we live in the city, so we're always off the bike and walking it across the street.  I have been toying with how to get Nico and me to ride together, so that we can do some more exploring.  And stuff.

On Saturday morning, we rode up to DD for breakfast.  Which is fantastic. However, I have come to the realization that Nico is a lazy only child.  There, I said it.  When it comes to walking- he wants no part if it.  He hates walking anywhere longer than about five steps.  Normally a trip like this would require me putting him on my shoulders.  Which gets annoying after a while.  This particular trip was okay, since he rode the entire way.  

I have been exploring options for Nico and me to ride bikes together.  There are the seats that attach to the back of a bike.  The seats that attach to the front.  The little cart thing that pulls behind.  And this:

What is that? You ask.  That is our new bike trailer.  The grey part is basically just a kid's bike without the front wheel, attached to a tow bar.  It attaches to the seat of my bike.  Saturday morning, before swimming lessons, Nico and I put it together.  Saturday afternoon, wevgave it a test run.  We rode on the bike path that runs north/south towards downtown.  It is the route I take to get to work, but it rolls by 2 different parks.  And he LOVES LOVES LOVES it.  

I need to adjust the seat a bit so that he can reach the pedals better.  As it is now, he isnt much help when it comes to pedaling.  But he totally just enjoys riding along together.  I feel like it is pretty stable, but I want to get a lot more comfortable on it before we take it on any longer range trips. In the time that I have been riding my bike often in the city, I am getting a feel for where bikes can be ridden safely.  Like, if you go just north on Kimball from North Park, you get to Lincolnwood.  But doing so requires crossing to major intersections (including a sketchy diagonal at Lincoln Ave).  I am not sure I'd feel comfortable riding that way with Nico... but I need to figure out something, because there is a really nice greenway on Kimball/McCormick going towards Evanston and Skokie.  I am hoping to take Nico over to the lake before the end of the summer, for some swims.  Wouldn't that be fun??

Yesterday, I took Nico to school and scooped him up after.  This morning, Dave took him on the bike.  The only downside to having the bike trailer hooked up, is that we ended up hooking it up to my bike.  Today I had to ride this ancient roadster bike with the low handlebars.  I havent quite figured out how to shift which made for some slow going up a couple of the hills on the trail.  Plus the seat is old and hard.  And the handlebars are low... so I am really supposed to be way-leaned over on this thing.... which is just so awkward.  Even worse is that non of the "universal" accessories fit this damned thing.  Which means I have to carry my bag on my shoulders.  But Traps McTrapsimus here seems to have a pinched nerve in her neck (or something) because that hurts.  Which is a bummer.  So, I am going to look into buying a cheap used bike.  Or stealing one.  Bikes are like those take a penny leave a penny trays at the checkout counter, right?  No?
Damnit.  

Happy Birthday Nico!

Well, you know you're in bad straits when you're mom, who hardly ever posts, is all over your back about posting on your blog.  To be fair, I have started the post-birthday a couple of times, but just haven't had the time to sit down and finish it.  And last week, I did a training in downtown Chicago... where I had sketchy internet access.

That said.  The birthday.  The big 0-4!!  We had a really fun time!  Dave's mom came to town for a visit, and we started with a trip to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier.  Dave picked her up from the airport and I met them there (after leaving the office for the day).  Recall that the Children's museum was one of the places where Dave and Nico went before Nico started school.  Dave wanted to go back on Thursday night because the first Thursday night of every month is free family night.  Pro Tip: Family Free Night+summer=madness.  There is a giant ship's rigging that Nico climbed.  We also built with some play-building materials and Nico worked the construction and transportation equipment.  After, we grabbed some dinner from Harry Carey's at Navy Pier and headed home.

Nico's actual birthday started with a birthday breakfast of Dunkin Donuts (one of the perks to living 3 blocks away from a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins).  We let Nico unwrap a couple of presents early in the day, so he would have something to do at the house.  He was thrilled to get a new Chicago Police Department shirt and Chicago Fire Department shirt.  Plus the big gift, a new bike.  With the training wheels and everything.

We made him wait till I got home later that night (after work) to open the rest.  We got him some new books and a new ambulance that he has been eying at Target.  Granny You sent him a new firefighter coat, made with real firefighter coat material.  This one looks more like the first coat he had, which actually looked like it was a slim fitting firefighter coat.  This one also has clasps that are much more reasonable than the other one.   

Grandma and Grandpa Royse got Nico some fun gifts, like a Spiderman lunch case and thermos, which Nico has been making use of.  Although, he did give me a good telling off when I tried to put cars and other vehicles in the lunch case.

  Saturday, we to Grandma Royse to swimming lessons, which Nico calls his "swim team practice". Saturday night, we had steaks and coconut cake for dinner.  Both were really delicious.  Sunday, we started with breakfast at Tre Kroner.  I went ahead and put us on the wait list, and had a few minutes to kill in the Sweden Shop (which is right next door).  Luckily, I was checking out when I saw that they had a selection of Swedish fabrics.  I say luckily, because it could have gotten ugly, with me buying 948534985 yards of their supercute fabric.  No joke.

Per usual, Nico put the muscle on his belgian waffle.  That kid can put away breakfast at Tre Kroner.

Dave and I had a soccer game, so Grandma and Nico hung out at the soccer field.
Altogether, it was an awesome birthday weekend.  Busy, but fun.

The Illinois Railway Museum

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but forgot.  Last week was pretty awesome.  We wanted to have a bit of a low-key weekend, because we still had work to do on the house.  So much stuff to do, cleaning, organizing, cleaning.  You get it.  Friday night we stayed in and hung out.  Saturday morning, I got us Panera for breakfast and Nico said the funniest thing.  He had been eating a parfait and came over to where I was sitting in the living room, with yogurt all over his face.  He made the funniest motion with his hands and said, "Here comes a snuggle from yogurt face!"  Which was hilarious.  Later, Saturday Nico had his swimming lessons.  Still weird about jumping in and putting his face in the water, but I am hoping that wears off soon.

After, Nico and I headed out to Sonic in Franklin Park.  Turns out while I love most of everything about living in Chicago, the proximity to Sonic is thus far, unsatisfactory.  After snagging some lunch we tried to take a nap at the house.  But the 20 min nap in the car was basically a cat nap that served to power Nico up for the rest of the day.  We facetimed with his BFF from Tallahassee, which basically resulted in Graham and Nico making funny faces at each other and showing each other their favorite toys.  Which was great.

There was a festival in Lincolnwood (just up the road from us), complete with a carosel, ferris wheel and rides.  So, that is where we spent Saturday evening.  The festival had gyros and beer and street food, so you know Dave and I had a good time.  The weather was delicious and Nico had a blast.  He even recognized a friend from his new school.  It's funny, because we bought the unlimited ride bracelet at the fair last year and ended up getting burned because Nico only went on like 5 rides.  This time we didnt do the bracelet, but there were like 5 rides that Nico could have ridden all night.  I guess we are there now.

Sunday, Dave and I had a soccer game.  We ended up being short 5 players, which is awesome when it's only 8 a side (you do the math).  I got shelled, but made some good saves.  I also got megged.  And that is never good for business.  Dave had found out about the Illinois Railway Museum which is in Union, IL (about an hour drive from the city).  This weekend, they had an antique car day at the museum.  So we headed out, hoping to find antique firetrucks and police cars, after our soccer game.

We got there a bit late (after the car show ended), but had a good time walking around checking out the old trains.  Nico wasn't as interested in it as we would have hoped.  The really cool thing is that they have a track that they run the old trains on, out a couple of miles into the Illinois countryside and back.   We rode on the Zephyr, which apparently used to provide service between Chicago and Nebraska.  

We can't wait for the cousins to come to town, because we think they would like it!!

The Bike

Dave and I have started watching The Newsroom. Somehow we ended up with HBO when we moved, so I thought it would be great to start recording season 2, and we are going back to season 1 to watch it for the first time.  When we watch a 45 minute episode, it usually takes us about an hour and 15 minutes to get through it because Nico wants to play a game on the ipad, but then decides he wants to watch a Diego.  And so on and so forth.  

Birthday festivities are ramping up nicely.  This weekend, I went to Target and got Nico a bike (with training wheels).  I then met Dave and Nico at the Y for Nico's swimming lessons.  When Nico and I went to leave, I ended up taking Dave's car, which had the bike in it (in a box), in order to avoid a meltdown about the playground, since my car was parked near the playground.  It was the first thing he noticed when he got in.  DOH!!  But I played it off like "That's just a box of stuff to take to Goodwill."  Yikes!!

Grandma Royse is coming to town this week.  The house isn't exactly a disaster area... but there is still work to be done.  I do just about have the kitchen sorted... so that is good.  

Swimming

Like most of the weekends that we have been having around here, this past one was great. It really started Thursday night when we went to Movies in the park.  This is apparently something that a Chicago bank does every Thursday night, at parks around Chicago.  This Thursday it was The Lorax at Hollywood Park, which is the park that is literally, steps away from our house.  Nico was a gem, but didnt want to stay for the whole thing.  This was after Nico's school went to Shedd Aqaurium during the day.  I can totally tell that Nico is an only child- he has no perception of the idea of sharing.  Still.  I will post pictures from Shed later.

Friday night we met one of his school mates at a jump place in Niles.  This proved to be very fun and they proved to be good people.  Apparently, he is part of the old swedish mafia of North Park (it was originally settled by swedes).  They have a boat and have promised to take us out sometime.  Which is awesome, because I was just thinking that I needed to figure out a way to swing having a boat.  But it seems a bit unrealistic when the cost to park a boat in Lake Michigan is probably more than our rent. 

Saturday we headed to the YMCA for Nico's swimming lessons.

He was not too keen on sticking his face in the water, since he did it last week.  Which makes sense, I guess.  But then this happened:

(Sorry that Nico is selling so much crack... those trunks were a bit big).  

Here he is with Ms. Erin swimming.  No big deal.

Saturday afternoon I went up to Michigan to see Uncle Scott and JJ (who just moved to Kalamazoo from Rochester, NY).  We hung out at the house and watched Old School (apparently Rock had never seen it before).  

Sunday, I met Dave and Nico at the soccer field and we played two games (we won one and lost one).  Then we headed home and got to bed early.  Arent you worn out from reading all of that?  This coming week, we are going to try some vintage transportation vehicles museum/festival in Rockford- which Dave found.  The general consensus is that Nico is going to love it.  

Today I had a skin doctor appointment.  For the last year, I have been a bit nervous about skin cancer- mostly because I am terrible at remembering sunscreen.  And when I do wear it, it never seems to keep me from getting burned.  In particular, I was nervous about a couple of spots on my arms and a spot my nose.  Turns out my doctor just froze off some "likely precancerous" spots off my left forearm.  Which is so much better than I thought it might have been.  

Ramping up Festivities

We're  a couple of weeks away from Nico's birthday and we are starting to ramp up the preparations.  For one, there are there:

I ordered the Emergency shirt from CafePress a couple of weeks ago.  And the Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department Shirts from the Kids Museum at Navy Pier.  Aren't they awesome?  We're also thinking about getting Nico, his first big kid bike (with the training wheels, of course).

Also, we are going to try a play date with a kid from Nico's school.  This kid's mom clued me into this: http://www.olearysfiretours.com/

I know right?  Can you imagine?  Not sure we are going to do this, but OMG, it looks like so much fun!!

Swimming Lessons

So this week has been a bit exciting.  Dave went to Florida last week for work and Nico and I hung out in Chicago.  He's not super excited about going to school yet- I think it's mostly because he doesn't have any really good friends there.  But I am working at it.

On Thursday night, we made homemade ice cream.  We did it with heavy whipping cream, so it was sort of gross... mostly because it was so greasy.  But Nico thought it was fantastic!!

Know what is really great about living 1.2 miles away from his school?  Being able to walk to pick him up from school.  Even cooler, is that the walk home took us through North Park's campus village and Peterson Park.  And we saw this girl.  Just hanging out.  

Saturday, Nico started swimming lessons at the YMCA.  He was a champ.  I was worried that he wouldnt want to do it... since he was a bit reluctant on Saturday morning when we woke up.  But he jumped in the pool and listened to his teacher and everything.  It was great.  After, we headed out to Franklin Park (near O'Hare) and had Sonic for lunch.  Then we scooped up Dad from the airport.   

Sunday, Dave and I had a game at the Foster Turf fields.  And one of Nico's sitters came and hung out with him.  I got to play in goal (I have been playing in the field).  And we won.  Does anyone else wonder how it is that the two games where I wasn't in goal are two games that we lost?  Coincidence?  I think not.  Okay, don't tell any of my teammates I said that.  :)

School choice

With Nico starting his new school, I have been thinking a lot about how we are going to do school in Chicago.  I know, right?  Just what I need, something new to obsess about, right?  Given that we are thinking about having another kid in the next year or so.  And given that not all of Chicago's schools are that great.  And given that we're not opposed to moving up to Evanston, Skokie or any of the other nicer suburbs on the northwest side of the city... it's a lot to think about.

One thing that gives me pause is that CPS doesn't allow for redshirting.  I understand why, intellectually.  It creates an unfair situation where the kids of affluent parents (who can afford another year of preschool) are at a natural advantage because they are older, bigger, smarter, etc.  when they start.  And therefore will be for the rest of their lives.  As an October baby, I believe that I had a distinct advantage over a lot of my peers because I was much older than most of them... because I turned 5 right after the cut off, I had to wait till I was almost 6 to start kindergarten.  Nico's case is even more extreme because he will turn 5 about two weeks before he would start kindergarten.  CPS deals with this by putting a kid into the age-approrpriate grade.  So even if one did redshirt their own kid (but letting them do another year of preschool/junior kindergarten), CPS would fix that by booting that kid to 1st grade when he started (not kindergarten).  Most people I have heard of have never regretted holding their kid back a year, but most have regretted not holding them back.  And this seems to be the case with boys... since they are so immature anyways.  Of course, this is all part of a crazy conversation about parenting, one that I have no interest in conducting here.

While we have a couple of years to think about it and make that decision, I am looking into our options.  We could enter him into the lottery for a magnet schools.  Chicago actually offers STEM, Language and the Humanities magnet schools... although I am not sure that is a great idea... to start fostering a love of the humanities at such an early age.  I mean, I'd like for him to be employable at some point.  The unemployed humanities major that decides to get a PhD in humanities and still cant find a job is sort of an inside joke in Academia.  

The other options are regular school,  private schools, charter schools, and selective enrollment schools (Chicago really is the wild west in terms of education).  The good news is, that two of the best schools in the city are close to us (Edison Regional Gifted and Northside Prep).  The downside is that they are both selective enrollment schools, which means that he would have to test into them.  BTW, I have no idea how one would test into a kindergarten.  I mean, seriously.... what the hell?  However, that said, I am kind of  in love with North Side.  Choice of languages one can learn: mandarin, chinese, japanese, latin, french, and spanish.  And seriously, you can't swing a dead cat at the course offerings without hitting an AP class.  

Of course, this is all assuming that Nico is going to be interested in being all academic.  It's possible that he's not able to do the work.  Or that he won't want to.  I mean, I was burned out of school by my junior year at Ft. Myers.  And if he wants to be a soccer player or a judoka?  I am not trying to have Nico staying up to 3 AM doing school work and trying to be an athlete.  

Then there are the private schools... not unless one of us gets super rich.  Charter schools?  Actually, it's funny you mention charter schools.  But someone at my work is working on a project where he compares the test results for charter schools and traditional schools?  Yeah, charters aren't really that great.  They just tend to look better because the "cream of the crop" of students (the ones with educated/engaged/interested/concern parents).  Coincidentally, those are also the kids who have regular bed times, eat breakfast, and don't live in shitty neighborhoods (all things that can influence academic outcomes).

So it's a lot to think about.  In the mean time, we are going to start "academic enrichment night" at the Bishop-Royse house.  Instead of going to the park and the gym and such, we're going to do academic things after work and school.  Like science experiments, reading, writing, etc.  It will all be fun and games and low-key.  At least till we get a sense of which direction we want to go.  

New School

Things are going well.  Nico has started his new school.  And loves it.  The first day, he was clingy and didn't want to be there- but since, he's been excited to go every day.  It's a Montessori school- so it's good in the sense that he has quite a bit of freedom.  And apparently it's fun.  So that is great.

I'm hoping to go up to Michigan this week.  Apparently South Haven has a blueberry farm... so Nico and I might head up there and then swing by to see Uncle Scott.  Which could be fun.

The house is coming along.  We have it mostly unpacked.  I got the girl cave squared away.  Dave's parents are coming up next month- so next up is getting the rest of the basement good to go.

Having extraordinary adventures

You know, it has to be hard being you guys and not being us.  I am almost at the place where I am like, "look at your life, now look at mine.  sadly, you don't have this life..." but I figure that would make me even more insufferable than I already am.

We are having a blast.  Seriously.  We are loving living in a city of decent size, with decent weather.  I am also loving working at a place where securing the next R01 isn't that big of a priority.  I take days off.  Isn't that crazy?  Last week, Nico and I drove out to Earlville to pick strawberries.  It was a bit of a drive, but worth it in my book.

And since we had so many strawberries, we made strawberry pie this weekend.  I mean, what else would you have done.  I brought one in yesterday and was declared queen of the pies at work.  

Friday had an MRI on Friday (guess what? He has a torn rotator cuff.  It's a good thing he lives with a doctor.  Because I diagnosed that mess a year ago).  This necessitated me staying home with Nico on Friday.  Which started with us going to breakfast at a freaking Swedish restaurant.  In our neighborhood.  It is called Tre Kronor and is our go-to place to go when family and friends are in town.  Look what Nico had:

Doesn't that look heavenly?  After said breakfast, Nico and I went to the library.  The library stresses me out a bit because they don't have many firetruck or police car books.  But we'll find them, I think.  

Saturday night, we headed down to Navy Pier.  We had dinner and walked around.  Nico took us to the Children's Museum store and we picked up a couple of t-shirts for his birthday (Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department).  Which is very awesome.  Do you see them wearing sweatshirts?  Awesometown!!  I remember this time last year playing a game of soccer in Tallahassee where I had sweat dripping off my eyebrows.  And I was standing in goal.  Seriously.    

Sunday we played soccer.  We joined an 8 v 8 league on a team that already has a goalkeeper.  You know what that means?  Me playing in the field.  Which you know is never good for business.  The bad news is that we ended up losing someone to a red card and then proceeded to lose the game.  The good news is that it wasn't me.  So I have that going for me.  

This week I have Thursday and Friday off... so we're probably going to have some more adventures.  

Wedding in Louisville

We had kind of an interesting weekend.  One of Dave's cousins got married in Louisville this weekend.  Since we haven't found a vet/dog hotel yet, I didn't go, I stayed with the dogs in Chicago when they drove down on Saturday morning.  Apparently Nico was a peach and a half.  For serious.  Here is one of the few good pics from the wedding, where Nico and his cousin Darby are apparently having a blast.  Even though I told Nico NO HAVING ANY FUN without me.  

Me?  Well, I got a workout in, plus I got a massage and saw a movie.  I headed up to Michigan on Sunday to see Uncle Scott.  In all, it was a great weekend.  Not long enough.  Not enough of the house is unpacked.  But I guess it will do. 

Engine 82

This week has been crazy.  I took Monday and Wednesday off of work... Monday to go to the doctor and Wednesday to hang out with Nico.  When I went to the doctor, I tried to have the conversation with him about replacing my left knee.  He doesn't seem to think that is a good idea, since I can still play my sports.  Says I ought to consider doing different sports.  What is weird is that he was completely different with Dave, wants to help Dave get his shoulder squared away, so he can keep doing judo.  This was very strange.

A couple of nights ago Nico and I were pretending to be EMS workers:


Isn't that adorable?

This was also the same night that the Blackhawks lost to the Bruins.  Here are some of Nico's thoughts:


Isn't he funny?

Dave and Nico are headed to a wedding in Louisville this weekend.  I am going to stay at home with the dogs.  I am hoping to be very productive.  But I might go see a movie.  Or two.  :)

Nico in the K'Zoo...

On Wednesday, Dave took Nico to the Children's Museum.  Which is apparently, the best place on earth.  While there are things to learn there, the place is mostly for play.  Including this:

Doesn't that look like fun?  Can't wait for the cousins to visit... think they will love it!!

Yesterday Nico and I drove up to Kalamazoo to see Uncle Scott.  It's an easy, if somewhat boring drive.  Which is saying something, because I figure I have driven every inch of Florida's interstates, plus the turnpike.  Uncle Scott is having surgery today on his arm, which he broke in the car accident last week.  

Nico was a gem, except for a 2 minute meltdown he had when we left because he wanted to cuddle with me.  So, we swung by my grandparents old house on Lorraine Ave (literally a street away Scott's).  I sat in the back seat and cuddled the boy while a bunch of nosy-body neighbors wondered what the hell was going on.   

To me, this is a very "Michigan" house.  I can't even explain why.  

We had to stop three times on the way home so Nico could pee.  Including once in a traffic jam.  We pulled onto the left shoulder.  Nico totally peed outside... with lots of slow traffic driving by.  As we were getting back in the car, a tow truck pulled in front of us.  And then I had to explain what we were doing there.  Apparently, Chicago drivers take disabled vehicles seriously, because a bunch had apparently called to report a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of the westbound Edens.  See what I did there?  I just referred to 94 as the Edens.  In the 2 months I have been here, I have listened to the weather report on WBEZ and have had NO IDEA what was going on.  But apparently it's like this: The Edens=I-94, The Stevenson=I-55, The Kennedy=I-90, The Drive=Lakeshore Drive.  Yeah, I am really figuring things out.  

Trashy?

Not much new going on around here.  Nico and I are going up to Kalamazoo on Thursday to see Uncle Scott.  Should be fun.  It's nice to be able to drive 2 hours and see family.

Dave has been working on setting up work space in the basement.  Which is awesome.  Seriously, when you are in the basement, it's easy to settle into a nice little zone work-wise.  

I found the missing piece to the bed.  But for the life of me, I can't figure out how to put the damn thing together again.  Seriously.  We put it together last night, but it was not right.  I heard loud creaks and bangs from the bed frame this morning and it definitely has an unnatural slant to the middle of the bed.  I think we may just get rid of the damn thing and keep the box springs on the floor.  Is that trashy?

Holy Weekend!

We had a bit of a wild weekend!  Dave's boss Craig was in town, so I took Friday off to hang with Nico and Craig's daughter Lila.  We started off by going to Lincoln Park Zoo.  Which is awesome.  It's free, so it wasnt that annoying when Nico decided 20 minutes after being there that he wanted to go.

After the zoo, we headed back to their hotel, where the kids went swimming in the indoor pool.  We also had Giordano's pizza for lunch.  It was amazing.  It's what deepdish was always meant to be.  Sooo good.

Saturday we had kind of a chill day.  I went to a fitness class in the morning and Dave and Nico went on a drive about.  They went up to Niles and Lincolnwood to check things out.  When they got back, we caught a quick nap and then headed over to the lake for a late picnic.  It was a bit cool, but not too bad.

The grill is one of those portable/disposable things that we got for our emergency preparedness supplies (in case we ever had to stay at a shelter for a week or two due to a hurricane).  Here is Nico the Firefighter putting out the fire.   

Then on Sunday, I gave Nico a hair cut.  Isn't he just precious?

After, we took Lila and Craig to see the Cubs play!!  As an early Father's Day present, Nico got Dave a new Cubs shirt!  The game was awesome.  They won.  And Nico was really good for the whole game.  Seriously.  He lasted all game.  It was great.  I was very proud of him. Lila left her purse in the stadium, so I went back for it, and they all headed back to the hotel, which was down in The Loop, where there was more swimming.  I think it's probably time for swimming lessons for Nico, because little homey is completely unafraid in the water.  

He's been okay, considering all the change.  He still gives Dave a rough time of it for nap time.  But we haven't had any back sliding in terms of potty training or anything.  He says he's going to start sleeping in his firetruck bed when he turns four (yes he still sleeps with us- dont judge).  

Ice Cream

So, one of the best things about the new place is it's proximity to a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robins.  When I got home from work yesterday, Nico and I sent Dave to do some work at a coffee shop and we did some stuff around the house.  I tried to put the bed together- but failed because we are, apparently, missing a piece (don't ask me how).  Then we had some dinner and walked to get ice cream.  Isn't that awesome!!

I have biked to work two days this week.  It's a nice ride... about 12.5-13 miles round trip.  Overwhelming though, because I see all these places where I want to go... this bar...this restaurant... this book store.  Its hard to keep my bike going.  It's weird because I used to be so gunshy about riding my bike.  I would go out of my way to stay on bike paths.  And often I would end up lost.  I've finally just said, "to hell with it!" and just got out there with the cars.  I fully expect to get tagged some day... but since I am riding on crowded city streets,  I am banking on the offending driver only going about 20-30 mph when they hit me.  And since I am wearing a helmet, I think I will be okay.  I mean, obviously, it would hurt, which is why I am careful- defensive. When I have questions about other drivers being aware of me- I just hop off my bike and wait for them to go by.  No big deal.  

It's cool. 

I also finished my work for the College of Medicine this weekend.  I had been working half time for the grant since I left in April... helping with presentations and posters and such.  Yesterday was the big annual meeting and I helped pull together the figures for it.  It was a bit unceremonious of an end for me.  The person who took over my position seemed grateful for my help, but my old boss seemed a bit ambivalent about my contribution.  Oh well.  Consider that a life lesson learned.  

All for now. 

In Chicago

We've made it safely to Chicago.  We are still unpacking- hence the no updating.  Nico is loving the crap out of the city.  He likes riding the train (no surprise).  I have been working while Dave and Nico are at home.  This has resulted in this thing where they go do fun stuff without me.  Nico and I have a new thing where I tell them not to have fun without me.  Then at the end of the day, Nico reports on all the fun things they did.

Nico seems to like our new house.  I am so relieved to be past that shitty part... past living apart from my boys, past packing up, past unloading the truck.  Now we are slowly putting together our house.  I have a girl cave.  This is a place for all my craft stuff.  I want to make it a craft space+photography studio+home office space.  Dave says the weird little room in the basement isn't big enough.  I say challenge accepted!!

Our kitchen is tiny.  And apparently, I can't say no to kitchen devices.  Seriously, I just can't do it.  The result is that our painfully small kitchen is spilling out into the dining room.  So I took this island and made it a bar cart.  As soon as we get those plates off of there.   

Thursday I came home from work and scooped up Dave and Nico and went to a German place called Leshatt's Inn.  Was one of the best meals we've had in a long time.  Of course, it's not hard when you have a crazy beer selection.  Afterwards, we stopped for ice cream... which was completely off the chain.  Nico loved it of course.

I found out that four of my five favorite musical acts are touring this summer (Springsteen is touring, but it looks like mostly Europe for now:(  Counting Crows+Wallflowers and Goo Goo Dolls+Matchbox 20 will both be in Chicago this year.  I keep trying to convince my sister and mom to please come to Chicago so they can go with me.  To no avail. 

I think I might suffer from some type of mild manic depression, only with out the depression. Because I get on these whiriling, high energy "must do all the things now!" kicks.  The latest one has produced a new blog... that is separate from the Royse show.  It's more about crafty mccrafterson stuff.  

http://thejbrshow.com/

Basically I just want to blog organization+food+crafty+diy+photography+awesome+memes+chicago stuff for moms who ain't got time for that!!  Still trying to figure out a posting schedule.  But I am working on it.  Especially now that I have a girl cave.  

Starting to get Sad

It struck me today, that we are leaving Tallahassee- and it's not all rainbows and butterflies.

I was talking to Nico tonight on the phone and we were talking about how we are going to be moving in a few days.  The conversation turned to Graham, and Nico insisted that Graham is coming with us.  I guess when they have talked about it school that has been the conversation: that Nico and his family are moving to Chicago and Graham is going to come with us.  And I just got really sad for Nico.  I don't question the decision we made.  In the long run, this is going to end up being amazing for him.  He doesn't realize it, but things are going to change for him this weekend.  His two best friends (Graham and Ovid) are still going to be in Tallahassee and he will be in Chicago.  We are going to try to see them one final time this week, but it's difficult, because none of them will realize that it's probably the last time (at least for a while) that they will see each other.  

This spring, I read "Nurture Shock" by Po Bronson.  It's basically about what the latest science says about children and how they develop.  One of the most intriguing chapters of the book was about the psycho-social development of kids and the degree to which they learn sharing, compassion, and empathy from the relationships that they have with siblings.  Turns out that the better predictor of their abilities to express compassion, empathy, and to share come from the relationships that they have with their friends.  Since Graham has a little sister, he's always had to share.  And he is awesome with her.  He is very matter of fact about her abilities and the fact that she is little.  But he doesn't ever seem to view her presence as a drag (bringing down the fun that Nico and he were going to have).  His way and what he wants aren't the only thing that matter.  So when he interacts with Nico, they have a really fun way of playing, where they go from activity to activity to activity, both playing together.  Bossing each other and pushing back against the bossing, but never abandoning each other.  Never getting pissed at each other and deciding to do something different.  Which I think is awesome.  I hope that someday, when Nico is an older brother, he is half the brother Graham is to his little sis.  

In any case, we'll try to do google hangout and facetime and all of that.  I am in the process of assembling a mail kit for Nico, so that he can send letters and post cards to Graham and Ovid.  I'm also going to have a photobook printed of his friends and the house on Atapha and the hospital and the house on Apakin.  And the parks.  I hope it will help.