Family update

X started signing! Right now he only does that baby sign workhorse, "more." He also started saying "Mama" and "Dada!" In the past week or two, two molars have poked through his top gums and he began transitioning from one nap to two, both of which have no doubt contributed to his rocky mood of late.

K, I think, felt a little neglected this weekend. When he's running around shouting about superheroes, and meanwhile X toddles off and I hear a crash, I have no choice but to attend to the baby. I proposed some just-the-two-of-us time and asked what he wanted to do. I was prepared to go all out, but he just wanted to go get ice cream.

K has also been requesting "reading time" at night lately, which on one hand is a nice chance for him to relax in his room on his own, and on the other hand is at least partly a bedtime-delaying tactic. Anyway, I have such fond memories of reading myself to sleep that I can never bring myself to deny reading time, even if it's late.

JW complied with my demanding birthday request by stripping away the wallpaper I despised and painting the kitchen. It's so much better!

I have been trying to plan our 10th anniversary trip this summer. My parents said they would come babysit the kids for a few days! So I'm thinking we'll go away for 3-4 nights, our longest trip away from the kids ever. Since K was born, we've spent a night away from him once or twice a year. Our previous record for time away was a two-night trip to Montreal, also for an anniversary. I don't want to waste this opportunity. One option is Europe, maybe Barcelona or Amsterdam. It would be fun to explore a city we've never visited, and it would be a pain to drag the kids to these places. The problem is, the plane tickets alone will eat up our budget. (We don't have a strict limit, but spending $3,000 on plane tickets for a 4-day trip seems excessive.) I'm leaning toward driving up to Acadia National Park in Maine. We've never been and it's a little too far to go with the kids until they're older. It'll be relaxing and I love hiking. And the planning will be easy -- we just need to rent a room.

Where would you go if you were starting from Boston and had a few days to yourself?