Flying Solo

It's almost midnight and I'm in bed, iPad in my lap, faithful cat (N.C.) by my side. It's quiet, except for the sound of the heat running, as the temperature has dropped enough this evening to remind me that winter hasn't left us just yet. I just checked on J.P. and he's sound asleep in his crib, Gnash tucked in beside him underneath his blanket.

Jude left Friday evening for Gatlinburg, accompanied by several of the ultimate frisbee ladies - Joanie, Kim, Molly and Carley. They're celebrating Carrie Plummer's 40th birthday this weekend, in the mountains of East Tennessee. Unlike the old days - the ultimate frisbee playing old days - the ladies don't get together as a group too often, so I'm glad they were able to make this trip. Selfishly, it's nice to have J.P. to myself for a weekend, too.

Last night, J.P. and I had dinner at the Frothy Monkey. Other than Bongo Java, it's probably his favorite place to go to eat. After dinner, we came home, played doctor's office (one of his new imagination games), then I put him down to bed. He struggled a bit at first, crying and saying, "mommy wants to put me to bed." After a little while, he fell asleep, only to wake up around 11 p.m., crying and asking for mommy. Fortunately, that didn't last long.

This morning, he woke up at 6:45 a.m. We snuggled in "the big bed," while he drank his milk and watched "Super Y" and "Sid the Science Kid." Next, it was off to Bongo Java for a rare Saturday morning appearance. From there, we went to the Downtown Library. Unbeknownst to me, there was an Alice in Wonderland puppet show scheduled for 10:30 a.m. We walked around to kill some time, then got in line and waited for the children's theater doors to open.

By the time the show started, we were packed in like sardines. I was sitting cross-legged in the floor with J.P. in my lap, and children on both sides of us. It was crazy. The puppet show ran about 40 minutes, which was good, because he got antsy about after a half hour. He seemed to enjoy himself and it was nice to try something a little different.

This afternoon, fate his nap, J.P. and I drove down to "Mee Maw's" house to play and watch the Vanderbilt - Florida game (Florida won, in Nashville, rather easily). I got a run in on a treadmill at the Brentwood YMCA, while J.P. played with Matthew, my sister's son. Nice visit, overall.

Tonight, J.P. was great. He went down to bed with no trouble whatsoever. I caught up on some episodes from Season Two of "Breaking Bad," and now I'm gong to shut it down for the night.