This week I feel like I�ve been running from activity to activity at the speed of light and I can only hope that I�m getting everything important done without any glaring omissions. It�s been the kind of week where you have dreams about forgetting your pants or forgetting to study for an exam. Except that there haven�t been any dreams, because there hasn�t been much sleep. For once it hasn�t been my insomnia. It�s been AJ�s. He�s been waking up at all hours of the night, with all kinds of excuses to come and wake me up. Unfortunately, I am not nearly as good as AJ at falling back asleep once wakened. He bounces out of bed in the morning as if nothing had happened, while I stumble around with bags under my eyes, nursing my coffee like it was the elixir of life.

AJ is now officially on vacation. Because three-year-olds need vacations from their strenuous schedule of coloring and pasting and recess. I read a story at the end of the last class before the break, right after the Easter egg hunt, and the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement and excess sugar. I was greeted with a chorus of "Hi, AJ�s Mom!" The kids know me enough now that they all wanted to say hello individually and were all clamoring for attention, which meant that I didn't get the most attentive audience. They kept inching forward, each trying to catch my eye or make me laugh. But they were pretty funny. One kid kept burping (clearly on purpose and much to the embarrassment of the teacher), which was also pretty funny.

Today was a little less eventful. I spent the morning banging on my keyboard at the library and the afternoon running last minute errands with AJ in preparation for his birthday tomorrow. He selected a cake emblazoned with the White Sox logo, a giant red mylar balloon in the shape of the number four, and Spiderman plates and napkins, �because I haven�t seen that movie.� We also picked up balloons with happy faces and balloons reading �happy birthday.� AJ was pleased. Tomorrow morning his friend N. will come over to play and in the afternoon we�ll head to his grandmother�s for a family party. He is very excited.

His father, however, is worried. After all the careful research on the new bike, he�s so excited to give it to him. But the forecast is for snow tonight and tomorrow. It�s not looking good for a trial run. Perhaps he�ll be doing a couple of laps around the kitchen.

Stay tuned for the scintillating conclusion of this episode. Will AJ make it to four, or will his next midnight trip to his parents room be his last? Will he like his new bike? Will he be able to ride it through the blinding snow?

The suspense is killing me.

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