I feel like I'm fallin' for fall...

Okay, I stole the title from a Moose A. Moose song (commercial really) on Noggin. Yes, Noggin. I refuse to call it Nick, Jr. Re-branding for toddlers? Really, is this necessary? Anyway...today we got out of the house for a post-nap stroll through the colors of Central Park. It was a beautiful autumn day with just a slight chill in the air and lots of sunshine.

As we neared our favorite walk, I let Elisa out of the stroller to enjoy the leaves and all the colors up close.
She made it part of the way on her own, before having to get picked up. And let's just say, she wasn't a fan of the carrying. It took about a minute of screaming, flailing and generally trying to sit down in the middle of the path, before we got the bottle in her mouth and she calmed down.
There she is post-meltdown, with almost a smile. Ah, yes, the joys of having a diva in the family.
Bigger smiles for Papa. Elisa loves her time with Nacho. She has started laughing with him in the most exaggerated, deep-belly way. It's hysterical to watch.
There isn't a better time to visit New York than October when it's sunny. I mean, can you beat this??

Two mommies

I just returned from the local park with Elisa and had to record a conversation I had with another little girl there. Her name was Ella and she wandered up to us while I was putting Elisa in the swings. With the kind of bravado only city kids have, she quickly made friends with me, asking for a helping hand into the swings and telling me about her sister. Ella is 6 and I reckon she's about at that age where life is getting complicated--school, siblings, the usual. Here's how she explained:

Ella: Guess how many brothers I have in India? I have 10 brothers in India.
Me: Wow, that's a lot of brothers.
Ella: And I have 5 brothers in New York.
Me: Really?
Ella: Yeah, and I have two mommies.
Me: Two?
Ella: One that plays with me, and one that does the dishes.
Me: (Speechless)
Ella: But I only have one dad. And he never does the dishes. He just sits at the computer and doesn't do anything.
Me: Yep, that sounds like a dad.

I don't know exactly whether Ella was exaggerating here or not, and I suspect the word "brother" meant both brothers and sisters to her. In this city, with the mix of cultures and kids, you never know what language or family model kids get at home. But something tells me Ella is an astute observer of her home life in a way that only a kid can be. Since I never saw her mom(s) or dad around the park, I guess I'll have to wait til our next run-in to see this family in action. I guess in theory having two mommies would be ideal. Lord knows I feel like both sometimes--the playful, fun mommy and the cleaning, straightening mommy. And now this mommy is going to go nap.

A lovely day in October

Here's Elisa today at the park during our weekly playgroup meetup. There are a ton of old toys, bikes and scooters laying around so naturally our girl gravitated towards one. Here is Nacho giving her a guided tour.

Remember when...

A year ago this week, I hit my low point as a new mom. I remember this because it was the first time since Nacho had gone back to work that I had Elisa alone for 2 days. At the time, two days on my own with a colicky, sleepless baby was like walking into a nightmare. I survived the first day on brief periods of sleep (45 min. here, an hour and a half there), but by nightfall on day two, I was done. The insomnia that had settled into my brain prevented me from even dozing while she did and then there were the fits of crying (for both of us), and then time for a feeding and then another...

It was all too much and I didn't know what to do. Luckily, I had a friend living nearby and being able to make that phonecall at 1 am to say, "please come sit with my child" was a lifesaver. It really was. I just couldn't take anymore at that point and being alone and feeling so incapable was the worst feeling in the world. Later I spoke to my mother about all of this and got some much needed perspective. She assured me that it would pass. That in fact, she had endured months of the same sleepless, colicky mess with me as a baby only of course, the screaming was worse. At least Elisa had periods of relative calm, even if they did last from dusk to dawn.
I don't think at that time I could envision life in a year. And now, I'm living it. Elisa wakes sometime between 7:00-8:00 am, and let's me fix breakfast while she relaxes in the living room and downs her bottle. Then she has her yogurt and toast or maybe eggs and waffles if she's nice. We play and dance and maybe head to the park after her first nap. She walks from room to room in our apartment following me or sometimes not, to find a new toy, a new space and then make it her own. Later it's lunchtime and another nap and after that a couple of hours before bedtime to snack and hang out. The spontaneous kisses and playful taunts to pick her up and swing her around are clearly signs of her affection. By 7:30 or 8:00 pm, she's down for the night and then I know the day has been a success. Whether it's day one or day four of a stretch alone, Elisa and I have found our groove together and life is good. It's the comfort of routine and her calmness before bedtime that makes me feel so peaceful at night. I wish there had been a fast forward button a year ago, just to take a peek into this new world. But then again, would I have believed it?

Oktoberfest!

This week with Nacho away from home was a long one, so when Elisa took the opportunity to sleep in til 8:45am this morning, I knew we were in for a great day. Sunnyside hosted an Oktoberfest in the private park this afternoon so we went to check it out and to support some of our friends and local businesses in the craft fair. Elisa tried her best to lift and roll the pumpkins around, and she even found it amusing to sit and bounce on one. Running in to some of our neighborhood friends (with kids!) was a bonus and another reminder that we live in a very special place. All this running around didn't help Elisa take a second nap (she was NOT having it), but we managed to enjoy the rest of the day nonetheless. Fall is here and I'm so happy.

Dancing Queen

This doesn't do it justice, but I had to post the best video so far of Elisa's crazy wiggles. During our beach week, she was all about dancing to her guitar and waving her arms around. The more you sing, the more she moves and grooves. It's pretty funny to watch. We're still figuring out the video feature on our new camera, so please forgive the lack of autofocus. More pics and stories of our week to come.

My little mermaid

We just returned from a great end-0f-summer trip to the beach at Emerald Isle, NC and what a week it was. Elisa is fearless when it comes to the ocean and she only hesitated a moment before attempting to eat a mole crab. Yuck! Here are the best photos of the week with the promise to blog all about it soon...but tonight the bed is calling.