The biggest news 'round here is the big Pants family trip to Kansas City two weekends ago. Little E.'s first plane rides were blessedly uneventful. I'm so glad that the flight to/from is only about an hour long. I don't know how he would have handled a longer one. As it was, the things that occupied his attention were the toys that (in an unrealized moment of genius) I'd attached to two ends of those plastic linky things. He'd play with one toy, and then when he got sick of it he'd throw it down, but it didn't go on the floor! Because of the links! Oh, the things that excite me now that I'm a mom. The rest of the time he spent trying to get water out of my water bottle from the "sports cap," or whatever you call it. Kept him busy for longer than I'd ever imagined.

Oh, right. Anyway. The trip! Well, the trip itself was pretty great. I have really missed my hometown. It's changed, but not so much as to be unrecognizable. We stayed with my Dad and his new wife (stifled groan in the direction of the wife). Not much to tell there, except that I thought it very funny that they do not use top sheets on their beds. I usually sleep with only a top sheet, and all there was on the bed was a bedspread. I tossed and turned, too hot to sleep, 'til finally I got up and asked for a sheet. Wifey dug one up--a brand-new top sheet that was still in the package, the material stiff and chemical-y and holding tight to the folds made in the factory. But hey--I slept better than if I'd sweated under that quilt.

The next day, we drove our rental car two hours to southern Missouri to visit my mom and her hub at their 30-acre farm. Seeing Mom and B. was just great of course, and the farm was super-cool! Huge grapevines like Tarzan would swing on, wild morel mushrooms, Native American artifacts (arrowheads!), and fish in the pond. There was so much untouched land and wildlife and water...made me want to drop everything in Chicago and build a little cabin out there, complete with solar panels and windmills and our own well and stuff so we wouldn't have to rely on anyone but ourselves to live. But then I realized that they don't have DSL out there, and also I found a huge tick on me, in a very sensitive place. That was it. Back to the city for little ol' me. Hey, that's what vacations are for, right? Pretend you live there, then get the hell out.

Side note: Mom and B. plan to do nothing with the land. They want to leave it as untouched as possible. Isn't that cool?

The third and last day of our trip was spent at a get-together at G.L.'s house. She told me to invite any of the old KC friends I wanted so that we could all visit in one place instead of us having to drag our asses all over town. It was great. I saw people I haven't seen since...oh, 1995? Many of them were old high school buddies. So much fun! It was definitely a trip to see how they'd aged. Some of them looked no different, and others looked a little...softened. One visitor I hadn't expected was D., an old boyfriend. He had been my greatest love, until I met C. I had cheated on D. and he dumped me. It took me years to get over it. Those years are what I call (in my head), "The Slutty Years." Oh my. Anyhoo, he was there, and it was kind of strange. I kept getting this ticklish feeling that he was looking at me and thinking, "If only I had stayed with her, I'd be happily married with a beautiful kid instead of that guy." At times, he looked absolutely misty. I tried to play it lighthearted, because I just couldn't imagine anyone thinking of me that way. Later I mentioned it to C., and he confirmed my suspicions. He had seen it plain as day, and in spite of his easygoing-to-a-fault nature, he told me he was almost going to "do something about it," whatever that means. Hee. Feels good to know, I must say.

E. was really the star of this whole trip. Everyone fawned over him, and he performed like a little ham. I am constantly amazed when people--many of them complete strangers--just go wild over my kid. He has these big blue eyes that just make people smile.

This entry is getting sooo long, so I'll just give some highlights of E.'s development for now: He's got two front teeth now, and two bottom ones (!). He's working on the front-top-left one too. And yes, he's bitten me a couple of times. OUCH.

He's also rolling over a lot, more front-to-back than back-to-front. And solid foods are coming along. So far we have rice cereal, pears, peas, carrots, and prunes.

And another piece of news: I got my long hair cut for the first time since last July.

What do you think?