Testing the limits

As promised, here are some pics of our delicious lunch in K-town today. We met up with Joon, a friend of mine from my last job, and it was great to see a familiar face and catch up on what we've missed. Six months have passed since I saw her and a lot has changed. We're both in new phases of our lives and it feels good to be free from the past. The relief was palpable. And the food! Did I mention it was all good and Elisa chomped away on mushrooms and broccoli? Yum. I wasn't brave enough for some of the entrees Joon suggested, but I've made a pact with Nacho that I will take him there and remember to order some of the dishes she described. I did try the little fried sardines and they were way salty and (as expected) pretty fishy. But it's nice to have the variety and Elisa sure wasn't missing out.

Afterwards, we wandered a bit and shopped in the heart of Herald Square. It's such a maddeningly busy area of town during the day that I felt almost like holing up inside the stores and not coming out until dark. But we were tempted back outside by the lure of Pinkberry just a block away, so off we went. I finally tried it topped with mochi (little gummy rice bits) that were divine. Elisa ate most of Joon's and mine too. Then she threw her spoon across the room. Ah, yeah. The temper. It reared it's head a few times today with fussy little outbursts, but I tried to keep rolling with things. It's hard to know when to draw the line sometimes, and when to just keep the momentum moving forward. As in, away from the drama she is creating. I worry that I'm too nonchalant about certain things, but sometimes the crazy toddler moment just passes and you realize it wasn't a "teaching moment" after all. I fully believe in the "pick your battles" approach to parenthood, but right now it's hard to know if these battles are part of a larger war I should be taking a stand against, or just the havoc that I should expect when this mostly non-verbal kid gets overly tired and cranked. Joon was great throughout and helped steer Elisa back to sanity when she was veering off course. And Elisa did manage to hang on for the ride home and was happy playing around for a little while. But by 7:00 p.m., she wanted her bed and nothing else. An early night to cap off the day of running around? Fine by me.