West Coast

Even though I keep writing 2012 on everything that requires a date, they tell me it really is 2013. And its not even the giddy, fresh resolutions days of the year anymore. It's that slogging, post-Christmas pre-spring stretch that everyone who lives in a four season climate knows so well. Which is why I'm thrilled to say that I'm writing this from San Diego, where Matilda and I strolled along the beach without jackets today. And we ate fish tacos outside in the sunshine and managed to stop at not one, but two playgrounds, mostly because we just left a midwestern deep freeze that makes going to the grocery store feel like an expedition worthy of the Discovery Channel. Joshua and I said to each other (like we always say when we are traveling), why don't we live somewhere a little bit warmer and a lot more beautiful?

Don't worry, Chicago, we still love you (and our stable jobs and wonderful friends and family) and you are looking really pretty on facebook and instagram right now with your glittery new snow. But oh you are so cold and so FLAT and getting away at this time of year is a very, very good idea. And also, no, I don't think this slide was designed for the toddler crowd, but it was the highlight of the park experience for both her and Joshua.

We're here because Joshua is on a business trip, and the majority of that business happens in the evening. I'm tied to a toddler schedule, which means paaartayyyyyy in the hotel room starting at 7pm. And by party, I mean I'm sitting here writing this blog post while Matilda sleeps across the room. I have big plans for my solo evenings, including but not limited to, painting my nails, trolling the internet, intermittent napping, and not feeling the slightest bit guilty about my total lack of productivity. Our flight home from our after-Christmas visit to my family in Massachusetts landed exactly 32 days before our flight to California took off, and in that time we pretty much ran flat out, physically and emotionally. To be honest, 2013 started off on the wrong foot with us Havi - more hurdles to jump than harbors to rest in, so to speak. There have been Capital C Challenges, and it is only the first week of February! I'm unimpressed, which is possibly why I keep reverting back to 2012 in my addled brain.

It hasn't been all bad since New Years Day. Matilda turned two this week, and after a trip to the childrens museum, a tiny celebration with her beloved Cal, and passing out in a cupcake coma, we crept into her room at exactly 11:30, the time she was finally born. Joshua and I looked at her sprawled out, taking up so much of the crib these days, and we agreed that even after two years dedicated to her surviving and thriving, the element of oh! she is really ours! still lingers. 

She is constantly in motion, constantly saying something brand new or surprising us with knowing something today that eluded her yesterday. Today, after google maps failed me as we were meandering around the southern Cali highways (meandering = I was driving 70mph in a 65mph zone looking for an exit and everyone around me going 80mph didn't approve), Matilda shouted, "You are kidding me!" I'm just so thankful that she chose to repeat that phrase over a few others that may have slipped out as I got on and off I-5 repeatedly. 

After we visit Joshua's aunts in northern California later this week, we have another busy few weeks at home, Matilda's birthday party (which had to be scheduled later due to this trip), and then March and April and May are just wide open blanks in both my mind and my planner. I doubt they will stay that blank, but I'm planning to keep it that way as much as possible because we all need rest and calm and spring. A new start to the already old new year. A harbor to rest in. Perhaps not one that includes seals, but we are flexible.