the Lecaques: catching up

A lot has happened since I last posted! At the end of March, Thomas traveled to Korea to spend time with his sister Emily. He was gone 10 days, the longest Jamie and I have ever been without him...though that was just a warm-up for May/June when he'll be gone for a solid month before we join him in France. Oh boy. It was harder to be alone this time, not just because of the length, but also because Jamie has been getting progressively more stubborn, hasn't been napping as regularly, and really noticed Thomas's absence for the first time. I tried to do something special each day to help the time go by more quickly. In addition to playing in the snow, we went out to lunch together, played at the park, went to the zoo, made cookies, went bowling, watched a movie, made a blanket fort, and had a picnic. I didn't take too many pictures, but I did get a couple.

Jamie knew Daddy was going to be home on Easter (he actually got back the night before but after Jamie was already in bed. After I was already in bed too, come to think of it), so every morning he would ask me, "Is it Easter?" when I got him out of bed and sometimes would cry when I said no. When I finally was able to answer yes, he got so excited, immediately asked, "Is Daddy home?" and then insisted that Daddy come get him out of bed--a task that only Mommy is usually allowed to do.

With Thomas back, we had a very nice Easter. We discovered a basket from the Easter Bunny, ate plenty of candy, had an Easter egg hunt (inside because it was raining), dyed eggs (which, as it turns out, is not the most fun activity for an almost-3-year-old. Too much waiting), and had friends over for a yummy dinner. Once again, I failed to take pictures of the egg dying or the dinner, but I did take plenty in the morning.

We each got a little baggie within the basket. Contents of Thomas's: chocolate covered espresso beans (to help with the jet lag), carrot-shaped Reese's pieces, a Reese's egg, a Cadbury creme egg, and a tiny chocolate bunny. Mine: Cadbury mini eggs, a Reese's egg, and another tiny bunny. Jamie's: 3 Lara Bars, 2 fruit leathers, Reese's pieces, a Reese's egg, and a chocolate bunny. Plus a stuffed rabbit and bunny ears that have been in our basket for 3 years running.

so happy to have Daddy home!

Just after Easter, Jamie came down with a cold....or something. It was strange. Normally when he gets a cold, it starts as simply a runny nose and gradually progresses to full-on, can't-breathe-at-all congestion. But this time, he woke up one morning completely stuffed up, having skipped the runny nose part entirely. I think it's mostly cleared up now, but it was rough while he had it. Couldn't breath through his nose at all, constant sneezing, watering eyes, interrupted sleep. Poor guy. I'm glad it was relatively short lived.

Sick babies get to watch movies.

Thomas was very busy the last few days with a Medieval Academy conference that took place at UT. So we finally got him back from Korea only to lose him once again. But that is over now! Finally, we have a Daddy with no extra obligations for the next month, finally Jamie seems mostly well, and finally, finally, finally we are having beautiful weather. We celebrated this morning by going out to breakfast downtown and then walking part of one of Knoxville's Dogwood trails (though I think the cherry blossoms are even prettier).