Today.

B is in Champaign-Urbana for a fun you-just-got-married dude weekend (not a bachelor party, but close) with basketball, booze and puzzles (?). The small people and I are enjoying a few days of just-us time. So far so good! Here's what's up these days:

• Today we walked east to Andersonville for brunchy-lunch at a Swedish joint. Daily ordered her own Swedish pancakes "Swedish pancakes pwease" and we shared that and my eggs with awesome breakfast potatoes with friends. Then our whole crew (three adults, three kids) went to Drag Queen Storytime! Drag Queen Storytime was crowded (it's moving to a more spacious location) and amazing. Muffy, Alexa, Coco and Ashley read fantastic stories in their amazing voices looking gorgeous. I'm not sure Daily even noticed that there were drag queens because of crowds, a Franklin outburst moving me to the back of the bookstore where Daily followed. But it was wonderful nonetheless.
  
• Daily is really into knowing what street she is on. She asks "what street we on?" or "what this street called?" ALL the time. Like six times as we walked 8 blocks down Berwyn Avenue today. She really seems to (maybe) get that there are many streets that meet each other and mean different things. For Valentines Day D wants to "give Valentines to our friends and neighbors on Berwyn Avenue."
  
• I just got word that I'm officially an Advance Nurse at work! It is just part of our clinical ladder where you can demonstrate your progress without changing your job. It was a lot of work to put together my file, but it feels good!
  
• Franklin is a happy, lovey baby. He is a little mama-attached, but in a totally acceptable way. He's rolling over, laughing, babbling and totally interested in the world. He's still new and tiny. He looks up at me while he is nursing with a sweet little smile, like "Oh, I love you!" and then I melt into a puddle.

So, that's life. At least the good stuff -- I'm purposefully ignoring the scheduling insanity, the piles of laundry, the potty training, the library books, the box-of-wine in the fridge, the yay-you-ate-two-bites-of-carrot, the peaceful grocery store trips at 8 p.m. (did you know our grocery serves beer? Life changing.).