Hi again, folks. I am happy to report that I am back with a clean bill of health. My quarantine will officially end tomorrow at 10:00 am when Fionn and I have a play date with some of our best friends -- hooray! I cannot WAIT! It has been a LOOOOOONG two weeks of solitude for yours truly. And for Fionny too. We are both equally bored of each other and all of our toys here at the house.
Unfortunately, my return to wellness was about a day late and a dollar short. Last night was the long-awaited champagne toast for my dear friend, Corrie Westbrook Mack, and her husband of one year, Eric Mack. Michelle, Corey, and I had been planning the party for months and months and months, and we were so eager to celebrate the happy couple. Turns out that out of three co-hosts, only one of us was able to be present at the party! Michelle had a wonderful reason -- she and Greg were in California receiving their beautiful newborn daughter who was born earlier this week. My reason was not so happy-happy-joy-joy as you all know. Somehow "contagious mouth sores" doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? Oh well, it was the right decision. It would have been dreadful if I had infected any of the other party guests. As it was, the party went off without a hitch, thanks to Corey Thornblad and her amazing hosting skills. Major props also to my husband who stepped up to assist with a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. You are the best, Conor!
Anyway, I digress. My reason for posting tonight was to let everyone know that we are practically 100% healed up over here at the Crimmins Ranch. I still have a wee bit of sore gums, but it is tolerable. I am even able to eat normal-people food again -- couscous and hot soup for dinner! Yum! (Say what you will, but it sure beats smoothies...If I never see another Slim-Fast, it will still be too soon, I tell ya).
My other reason for posting was to report on my wonderful afternoon jaunt with my darling Fionny. Today, after nap time, Fionn and I took a walk. There was no stroller. There was no red sports coupe. It was just me and the kid. Walking side by side down the street. Sometimes we held hands (when crossing streets of course), but usually not. It was lovely.
BTW, I should say that our walk today did not take place under the beautiful cherry trees pictured above. That was a picture taken on our field trip last Monday with Conor, as was the other picture at the top of this post. There were just so many great pictures from that particular day, you see, and I haven't exactly felt up to taking more pictures, what with my mouth sores and all. (Cue world's smallest violin, playing just for me).
Anywho, back to our walk today. It was just a neighborhood stroll. We were planning to spend an hour or so at the gorgeous monastery down the street (it is our favorite place in the neighborhood -- for any DC folks who have not seen it, it is worth the drive). I figured we would take the stroller as we normally do because it's about 5 or so blocks away.
Fionn had other ideas.
"Walk!" he said with a determined nod of his head when we got to the sidewalk. I double-checked with my little dude. "You want to walk to the monastery?"
"Walk!" he commanded and took a few steps down the sidewalk.
"Okey-dokey," I said and hurriedly closed the car door (we keep the strollers in the car -- you've seen our steps) and ran to catch up with him.
So we walked. And Fionn knew exactly where to go. At every cross street, I asked him which direction we should turn. At every cross street, he pointed in the absolute dead-on direction of the monastery. He is definitely his father's kid. Heck, I hardly know where the place is, and we go at least 3 times a week!
As Fionn and I walked, we chatted. Mostly about flowers or cars or buses. You know, the usual. Fionn tried to pick a tulip out of someone's yard. I said "no." As I said...the usual.
At one point Fionn dropped a piece of his cracker on the sidewalk. We stared at it. Fionn said "Uh-oh." I mentioned that perhaps a bird might eat it, so there was no need to pick it up. Wow. This lit Fionn up like a firecracker.
"Bird eat cracker?" Fionn said excitedly.
I said, "Yes, maybe."
So we waited. And we waited. Staring that cracker crumb down like it was a regular on America's Most Wanted (does that show still come on?).
"Bird eat cracker?" Fionn said again. I explained that maybe a bird would eat the cracker a little later, once it became hungry. (I dunno. Just grasping at straws here). Anyway, this seemed to appease him enough that we could continue on our journey.
Once at the monastery, we explored our normal nooks and crannies. The fish pond, the steps where he goes "up and down" for hours. More gorgeous tulips. It was pretty much a normal afternoon after that.
But that walk, I tell you. I'm not sure what it was exactly. Except maybe this: It was a glimpse for me. Although our conversation was not deep by any stretch or even grammatically correct for the most part, it was a dialogue. We were dialoguing. I talked, he listened. He talked, I listened. It was wonderful. And exciting. It helped me feel a little less bittersweet about the rapid pace with which Fionn is growing every day. For every step he takes away from being a baby, he takes another step closer to being a little boy. Don't get me wrong -- usually, that very sentiment makes me want to sob into my pillow. But today I was able to see that perhaps there are good things on the horizon as well. More walks, for instance. A lot more walks.
FYI, we checked on the cracker on our way home. It was still there in its entirety on the sidewalk. Fionn was disappointed. We decided that maybe Bird wants it as a side dish with his dinner tonight. Fionn seemed to think this was plausible.
Night, folks.
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