Where did May go? Lost in the flurry of moving preparations, and then blacked out by the incredibly challenging move itself.

On the first day of the month, I chop my hair off, all of it, as short as it’s ever been. Of course on haircut day, my hair looks as good as it ever has.

Two trips to Rockford, both celebratory, though the baby cries most of the drive. A Frozen birthday party for a five year old. So many little girls in princess dresses. Bubbles and sidewalk chalk and the baby rolling around. And then my sister’s graduation from nursing school at the university – then a college – where I graduated 18 years ago. I just about burst with pride for her, colored with a shade of nostalgia for my own college experience. The arts center where the ceremony is held smells familiar, even after all of these years.

In the same week, the baby sits up on his own, pulls up to standing, and figures out crawling. All of a sudden, he’s into everything, making our small space feel even smaller, especially as the boxes pile up.

I am working on learning Dutch, albeit slowly. I do a few modules every day, often while pumping, and send Nicolas screenshots of the silly phrases Duolingo has me say. For example: “Pardon, ik ben een appel.”

We spend an evening at the Field Museum at their member night, well worth the ruined bedtime. The big kid gets a coooooooooool airbrushed seahorse tattoo that we’re sure will end in heartbreak with swimming lessons a few days later, but it hangs on much longer than we expect.

The baby starts playing peekaboo at the dinner table. It is excessively cute.

Mother’s Day is delightful, despite a very early morning with the kids. I’m gifted solo time – a run, coffee and letters, solo grocery shopping – beautiful tulips, and a funny plant picked out by the big kid. We go to the zoo and have an early dinner and ice cream after the kids are in bed.

The baby is sick for a week, rashy and sleeping poorly. I alternate between trying not to worry and obsessively reading about measles.

The guys finally make it to chess club at the library. The big kid wins several of his games against kids twice his age. He’s gotten SO GOOD so quickly, handily defeating me and occasionally defeating his papa.

The baby is finally old enough – nine months, I can’t believe it – and the weather finally OK enough to go for a stroller run or two. He generally isn’t inclined to fall asleep, but he falls asleep at the point when I turn around to head home. This gives me hope for summer weekend runs – if summer ever arrives. I take both kids out one morning, and a tiny baby squirrel takes refuge under the stroller!

For yet another year, we do not do Bike the Drive, despite it being on my 40×40 list. (Perhaps I’ll give myself through my 40th year to finish?)

But mostly, mostly, mostly we spend the month packing, trying to strike a balance between getting ready and staying sane in our small space. The move itself is challenging and awful and takes about four times as long as it should, but the kids hold up tremendously well under pressure, dramatically better than I do, and it does (or it will) eventually end.

May Reading

• When Your Experience of Childbirth Doesn’t Match Your Expectations – NYTimes Parenting – I really, really, really could have used this back in August/September.
• On Weaning – Mutha Magazine – This absolutely gutted me.
• Parenting by the Numbers – The New Yorker – Hooray for Emily Oster!
• Want Millennials Back in the Pews? Stop Trying to Make Church ‘Cool.’ – Rachel Held Evans (RIP)
• Kinder To Do Lists – Beck Tench
• Sometimes, Parenting is Boring – NYTimes
• Single Dad’s ‘Never Need to Know’ Credo Should Become Corporate Policy – Working Mother
• One Island, 32 Miles, a Million Emotions – NYTimes
• My Food Struggle in Pictures: When What I Ate Made Me ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ – NPR – SO MUCH THIS.
• The Underrated Pleasure of Eating Dinner Early – New Yorker
• Busy is not the point – Seth’s Blog
• Approximately 4,000 Game of Thrones recaps, commentaries, and fan theories. All hail [redacted], long shall they reign.

May Eating

• Two impromptu meals at Le Pain Quotidien using the gift card we were given after our disastrous anniversary lunch:
  • A Mother’s Day late lunch/early dinner with wiggly kids and lots of bread
  • A lovely sidewalk patio dinner on a rare date night out without kids
• Dinner with dear, dear friends at Habana Libre on the eve of our move

• From the NYTimes:
  • Spinach cilantro soup with tahini and lemon because Samin Nosrat is a dream…
  • …even when her recipes don’t hold up, like Mara’s tofu with mixed grains, which was basically just lightly marinated tofu?
  • Asparagus with green garlic chimichurri
  • Shrimp Louie, sort of. The big kid keeps saying that shrimp is his favorite, and then basically refusing to eat it.
  • Pressure cooker porcini risotto with soft boiled eggs — weeknight risotto? what what?
  • Spicy noodle soup with mushrooms and herbs — delicious, but probably not a repeat
  • Cauliflower adobo — see above
  • Baked fish with sesame and ginger — just kind of eh
• Pink masoor dal with kachumber raita – I think I might’ve gotten the wrong kind of lentils? This was good, but not pink, and the cook time felt wrong based on the formula.
• Really excellent vegan waffles at Peter and Alisa’s housewarming party – we brought the batter; Peter manned the waffle iron