This has been a slow day, as two out of the three of us have finally given in to the cold that has stalked us the last week. This time my husband and I are the victims, by proxy, of preschool hygiene. AJ has escaped merrily unscathed, save a slight cough. He�s disgustingly energetic when all my husband and I want to do is crawl under the covers. The worst part about it for me is that my eyes are scarlet and itchy. I look like I�ve spent the last day or two smoking dope. I�ve had to abandon contact lenses for the glasses I always hope make me look like a librarian who might moonlight as catwoman, but which I suspect actually just make me look like a graduate student who might aspire to be a librarian if she weren�t so tired. No, I do not feel pretty.

We�ve been entertaining AJ in shifts, alternating AJ time with resting up for AJ time. This morning I took AJ on his first train ride. He loves trains from afar, but was nervous about being so close as the train approached. He hid his eyes in his arm and trembled. But he loved the train itself. We took the train two stops to another town where I knew there was a playground near the station. AJ chased some bigger girls and then played by himself after their mother called them home. Then the wind kicked up and we evacuated to the train station, whereupon AJ had a small exhausted meltdown and we called my husband to come pick us up rather than risking a full-blown tantrum on the train.

We consumed half a bag of oranges at lunch time, and we all retreated to our separate corners to doze: AJ in his crib, my husband on the sofa in front of some game or other and me in bed where I quickly dozed off. I woke up a little later to a quiet house. For one blissful moment I was the only one awake. The sun was shining in the window spilling a yellow pool of light on the floor. The birds were singing despite the fierce wind, gripping tightly to the branches of the linden tree outside my window while careening wildly through the air. Moments later AJ started yelling for me. So much for peace and quiet.

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