Well, I passed out at 8pm last night, mid tofu-taquito. I had plated dinner for us and noticed that Ishu was looking beyond exhausted. So after scarfing down part of dinner, I rushed him off to bed, planning to put him down and come back out and finish my food.

(Maybe your kid is different, but when my kid is sleepy, I need to get him into bed STAT. Makes for a smoother bedtime. If we push it, he becomes overtired and takes longer to fall asleep).

Well, around 8:45, Ankur shook me awake asking if I was going to come back out and eat. And no taquito is worth it to me if I’m in bed and cozy.

So, I fell back asleep until 11:45pm. And then woke up to pee. And, naturally, stayed awake to play Wordle and Nerdle. And now I’m too wired to go back to sleep.

Why do I do this to myself, you ask? Yes, I don’t know.

Anyway, it is now 1:30am and I’ll just start typing up this post sharing some scenes from the weekend. Might as well since the highlight of my day (Wordle and Nerdle) is behind me. Ha.

Friday

We got up early and dropped Ankur off to take the first part of his exam. I told myself if we were going to be up and outta the house that early, we definitely deserved to go to Starbucks. So Ishu and I had a date there. I got a cold brew and sandwich and he got a cake pop.

Auntie Bella was out sick last week and when Ankur wasn’t working, he was studying for this exam. SO I was definitely drowning a bit trying to juggle Ishu and work and dinner (DINNER. Why is dinner the hardest part of adulting?!).

I desperately needed to get him out of the house for an extended period of time. Thankfully, the museum is open on Fridays so we went there for a bit.

Hands down, best investment we’ve made since moving to Chicago.

It was relatively empty and it felt like Ishu had the whole place to himself. It gave me a chance, too, to catch up on some e-mails and take a breather after what felt like a very long week. Another one of those moments where I felt the most appreciative for having the job I’ve got right now.

Ankur ended up meeting us there after his exam and we walked home together.

When we got home, Ankur needed to do some final review for the second part of his exam (Saturday) so Ishu and I kept busy in the tub.

We took a pom pom bath and he had the MOST FUN. He loves bath time no matter what you throw in the tub with him. But he’s been a little obsessed with the pom-poms these days and, well, water and pom-poms, you can’t go wrong! (If you click the link above, Busy Toddler gives you tips on how to best dry them after the bath. I just love that account so much).

Saturday

Early morning, Ankur left for his exam and Ishu and I had a slow start to the day. Around 10, we met up with a mama and toddler we met through Peanut. The four of us went to the museum. We got there right when it opened and there was already a line of moms and dads and babies and kids jumping up and down.

Fortunately, the Pritzker Playspace (that I love!) which is designed for infants and toddlers has a cap on how many kids can come into their room. So even though our trip felt – overall – a bit more over-stimulating than our experience on Friday, the 45 minutes in that playspace felt real nice.

We left around nap time and Ishu slept all the way until Ankur got home from his exam.

Not sure who was more excited to see him. Ishu, who loves his papa, obviously. Or me, who loves Ankur but is also OVER THE MOON EXCITED to share the parenting load with him once again.

Yeah, probably me.

Sunday

We went out for a celebratory brunch at Beatrix! We got drinks and breakfast food and we picked up some pastries to go. Freshly baked every morning. I’m nibbling on one as I type this post up. Delicious.

After brunch, Ishu and Ankur took a nap and I went to run some errands (including my eyebrows and a trip to Trader Joes!). I also discovered that TJ’s has a free hour of parking. Normally, I walk there because it’s less than a mile away. But not in winter, my friends. Now that I know that the parking lot exists, I will be going there much more often. With a car. Wham bam.

I then sat in said car in the parking garage for half an hour, catching up with a friend on the phone. It felt so nice to talk to her and HEAR her and not have to divide my attention between the phone call and a shouting toddler. I even brought my Kindle along to read a little before heading back home, but my bladder got the best of me and, alas, I had to go back home.

They were both still sleeping when I got back so I took advantage of the quiet and got some work done. And then in the evening, we went to Navy Pier to meet up with some people.

Then the tofu taquitos. And then the falling asleep mid-tofu taquitos. And then waking up to play World and Nerdle. Now we’ve made it full circle, you see.

So I guess I’ll go back to sleep for a teeny bit more.

I hope you all had a great, great weekend.

HAPPY MONDAY. And I am TRULY happy about it – and not just saying it for the hell of it – because Ankur and Bella are BOTH back in our lives. Our little village revolving around Ishu has re-assembled.