Two museums in one weekend may be a new record for AJ. Our collective cabin fever has been catching up with us and we are actually doing something about it. We went first to Mass at the church where we were married five years ago in the parish my husband grew up in. We hadn�t been back since (it�s a bit of a hike from our present location), although we�d always meant to go. I found that the second I stepped through the door memories came flooding back. It was clear my husband had the same experience, but multiplied by all the years he spent in the church as his child. His memories always seem to be a little sad, too, as many of them involved his father who died too young of cancer. I never got the chance to meet him.

This was the first church service that we�ve taken AJ to for a while and he behaved admirably, plopping himself down on a kneeler like it was his own personal bench and following along with the day�s readings in the missalette, underlining the words with a chubby finger and mouthing the sounds silently to himself. As the priest read the Gospel � the story of the raising of Lazarus � AJ leaned over to me and asked in an excited whisper, �Jesus talked?� Because we are raising AJ as a heathen, his only association with Jesus is as a baby in assorted Christmas carols. AJ likes babies, so he immediately took a shine to the baby Jesus. When he heard he was talking today, he was excited because he knows the first time a baby talks is a big event. I�m not sure I�ll be able to explain what happens to the baby next week � beating, stabbing, crucifixion. Perhaps we�ll stick with bunnies and baby chicks for one more Easter.

After Mass we headed downtown, with no particular agenda. We admired the brilliant green of the river, and the even more brilliant green of the Daley Plaza fountain which, given the cold weather was partially frozen and bore a striking resemblance to a Slurpee. We dined at the Caf� in Marshall Fields where my husband and I had rather excellent and healthy salads and AJ turned up his nose at a perfectly delicious plate of macaroni and cheese (�It�s too orange, Mommy. I CAN�T eat that color!�), and dined instead on ice cream and cookies (yeah, that probably makes me a bad mom, but sometimes you just want to keep the kid happy and let other diners enjoy their meals). We then surprised AJ with a trip to the Children�s Museum at Navy Pier, which was having an exhibit based on his beloved Magic Schoolbus books. Despite the fact that there are three floors and many exhibits, AJ scarcely left the Magic Schoolbus exhibit, which was all about the weather. He was so enchanted with the life-size bus and assorted invocations of his favorite characters. He just ran from display to display pushing buttons, turning knobs, and generally having a great time. He conked out cold, with his head thrown back and mouth wide open, snoring, before we�d driven 6 blocks.

As I�m feeling like I may soon be in a similar position, I think I should call it a night and attempt to do a little more work.

0 people said it like they meant it