Bittersweet Returns

It's really good to no longer be living out of a suitcase. I unpacked those suckers in record time, which is a pretty significant thing since Peter and I tend to leave them out to wait for them to unpack themselves or at least until we wear everything in the suitcases till they are empty. The house wasn't quite as orderly as I'd hoped and all the plants were dead, but what can I expect with a man here by himself for 6 weeks? I've finally gotten everything cleaned up and back to normal.

I know that many of you have asked me about the flight. I am both happy and a little disappointed to announce that it actually went pretty good. Cooper slept quite a bit and when he didn't sleep he was either snacking or playing with the window shade (up, down SLAM, up, down SLAM, etc.)or kicking the seat in front of him and trying to unlatch the tray (again, woman in front of Cooper not the happiest). There were LOTS of kids on this flight. I am guessing about 10 kids under 3. It is disconcerting for us to have direct comparison of other kids' language skills with Cooper's. One German woman with a 2 year old talked with us as we were waiting to board while her son rattled on in perfect pronunciation. She asked us about Cooper and how old he was. We told her, but admitted that he didn't talk much yet. "Oh, but surely he can say several words now, right?" she insisted. "Oh, of course!" I lied, with a stiff grin. Then on the plane was another 2 year old boy. He talked about his toys and everything he recognized outside of the window, the wing, the trees, land, other planes, clouds, etc. During the flight he asked his mom about Oma. His mom explained that they would see Oma when the plane landed on the ground. Hours later, the moment the wheels touched the groud, the child threw his hands in the air and yelled "OMA!!". I am not sure that Cooper really noticed anything out the window and he may not know where his Oma is, but I can attest that my child can open and close an airplane window shade with more precision and persistence than any kid on that plane!

I do have to admit that I was a little disappointed that Peter didn't get to have the same experience as I did on the flight to the US, but I guess he needed the sleep. There are just some things that only mommies are blessed with, right?

Being settled back in here is bittersweet. I love our life here and am really enjoying this experience. But it is hard to be away from family and friends. Miss you all so much already.