First Trip Sans-Baby

So, this past weekend, I went on my first trip away from the little dude since he was born 14 months ago.  The lead-up to the trip was sort of fraught for me: I was in the process of weaning him, and I thought he would probably be fine without nursing for three nights, but would he be for sure? I wasn't sure.  And would I be okay without hearing his giggle, and smelling his head, and kissing his cheeks, for three whole days?  I definitely wasn't sure.  I wondered if he would miss me, and if he would wonder where I'd gone, and if he would think I wasn't coming back.

I worried that I would worry the whole time, and not enjoy myself.

Turns out, I was wrong: it was awesome.  Heidi, Tina, and Sarah flew out to Natasha's near D.C. on Friday, and I followed them on Friday night, arriving early Saturday morning.  We spent Saturday in D.C., walking up and down the Mall to check out the monuments and memorials and buildings, going out to brunch, and visiting the Smithsonian; we also went back to D.C. on Monday before our evening flight back home to California, and visited another museum and the botanical garden, and checked out the Capitol building.  On Sunday we mainly lounged around in Virginia at Tash's house; Nate also took us on a tour of his base and we went out to dinner in a cute nearby town. I loved seeing D.C. -- I had never been there, and it was fun to get an in-person view of the sights that you read about and see on TV.  I may have pretended that I was on the West Wing, just for a little bit.  I also loved just being with my girlfriends, talking and laughing and eating.  I loved sleeping in and then lounging in the bed until I felt like getting up AND eating all my meals undisturbed AND doing whatever moved me without thinking about whether doing it would affect naptime AND having time to talk to friends AND read AND watch movies, all on the same day.  Even the plane ride home, with six hours to sit down undisturbed with a book, a magazine, and a selection of movies, with someone bringing me a beverage, was like being at a spa.

It was totally great.  I forgot to worry about whether Dude was wondering where I was.  And then, in the airport on Monday night, my homing signals started going off, and I was glad to be heading home.  When I got there, I sneaked into Dude's room to kiss the little curls above his ears.  When I heard him stir in the morning, I jumped out of bed and ran into his room to say hi, and when I came in he looked up at me with a vague smile and then looked right back down at the crib sheets he'd been examining, the new ones with the cars and trucks printed on them.  "Truck!" he exclaimed.

I don't think he missed me at all.