Interesting things we do and see

Mariah had her first day of kindergarten yesterday and she loves it! When I asked her if she wanted to go back again today, she was very quick to say yes. :) It is weird and sad and nice, all at the same time, that she is gone -- weird to have her gone all day, sad because I miss her and it is a lot quieter, but at the same time nice because it is quieter and less busy with just two at home.

It has been fun to get to see Allison's personality a bit more with Mariah gone. She can be so quiet and play for a while by herself, but when I start chatting with her or she gets an idea in her head, she talks loudly and gets very excited! Yesterday when we were on our way to pick up Mariah from school, we stopped for 10 minutes on the sidewalk to watch various construction activities at the 12-story building that is going up -- the elevator cage on the outside of the building going up and down, the guys in the lift doing some drilling, the cement truck filling up a 30 gallon-ish cauldron which the crane then lifted up to the roof. She would probably watch this every day if she could. Across the street from the building is a sales office with a model of what the 12-story building will look like and she exclaims loudly every time we walk by "Mommy! That buildling is going to look like that one when it is finished!" I love it! When we were walking back with Mariah, Allison wanted to watch for a while again, but Mariah would have none of it :)

Rachel is 14 months now and is developing quite a personality, too. She hates hearing no (which doesn't need to happen very often, thankfully). She needs to learn that she does not own my lap and cannot de-throne other kids who want a hug. She loves to do what Mariah and Allison are doing (much do their chagrin when they are building lego houses with Mike). And, most importantly, she is learning to walk. She started out with a small step stool and a small kids grocery cart -- pushing on her knees. Then she progressed to pushing the stool while standing and then found the 3ft tall stools at the counter (taller than her!) and lately it has been the umbrella stroller. She can just see over the top of it and is steady enough that it doesn't roll away from her and she has just about mastered the art of steering it around boxes and corners and toys (oh boy, do we hear it if she runs into anything!).

Mike and I are slowly adjusting to the move. The adrenaline of moving has worn off and now we are in it for the long haul. It's a bit of a chang-of-pace since Mike is gone all day and Mariah until 3, but it is nice, too, to have a bit more structure to our days. I will be starting back into my thesis writing next week now that I've had a sufficient amount of time to adjust (this does not mean that all of the boxes are unpacked, though!) and now that Rachel is sleeping more than 4 hour stretches at night and sleeping better during the day.

Life in the city is so different from life in the suburbs and I think that I really like it. I cannot begin to describe all of it, but here are some of my favorites:

Seeing people -- the 'burbs are almost lonely sometimes!
Lots of different kinds of people -- all ethnicities, people with dogs, people with babies, people in suits, people running, biking, in pajamas or suits walking dogs. It's fun.
Watching trains -- freight, amtrak, commuter trains, the El.
Walking lots of places -- to school (four blocks), the park (1 block), Lake Michigan (1 mile) , soldier field (1/2 mile).

Things I don't like:
Not being able to have the windows open at night (we're on the first floor)
Freight cars labeled "inhallation hazard" or "hydrochlroic acid" on the tracks a block away
Not being able to shop at the Wedge Coop :)

I think that the goods outweight the bads:)