Birthday weekend

I'm still not feeling particularly recharged by the changing of the calendar, but we've managed to do a few fun things in January that have made me smile. We tested out a new babysitter (Hi Christina!) on Friday morning and it went better than I could have hoped. Now I'm not one for being afraid to leave Elisa with someone new--more like I want to make sure they know what they're getting themselves into! But it went amazingly well. Like Elisa was smiling and waving us goodbye before I could get out the door. No crying later. No fussing. Just playing and probably driving Christina slowly crazy with all that talk of Muno, Foofah, Brobee and the gang. So hopefully my only real New Year's resolution (to go out more in the city with Nacho) will come to fruition with the help of a few date nights here and there. On Saturday, we opted to take the whole family out and celebrate my birthday today by having Greek seafood in Astoria. The pictures below aren't the most flattering, but I like our synchronicity...mother and daughter breaking bread...and then shoving it in our mouths.

Elisa tried her best to behave. She really did. But there was still a good 5 minute struggle to get her to sit or remain seated in the high chair. At one point, she was standing on it, surveying the room and almost delighting in her defiance. A time out did nothing to dissuade her, so it was up to Nacho and I to make the conversation so appealing and amusing that she would want to listen and stay at the table. Not easy, but we kept the table antics to a tolerable level and snuck in bites of delicious salad, shrimp, swordfish and grilled veggies as we played. So much work to have a decent meal these days! Later we popped over to visit our friends Molly and Ronan and their boys in the same neighborhood. Elisa and Jude are only a month and a half apart and seem to get on well whenever we hang out and this time was no different. They were racing around the place, chatting furiously, jumping on a well placed mattress, and swapping toys with minimal fuss. It was a fun way to cap off the night and reminded me that as they grow, this playing stuff gets better and better.

Fast forward to today when I planned to whisk Elisa off to brunch with my surrogate brother Dan Riley. We met up around 12:30p.m. and took the 7 train a few stops towards Long Island City before I realized the girl was already passed out. Cold. How could this be, I wondered. It was a good hour before her usual nap time and I was not expecting her to fall before brunch. Maybe on the way home...But the benefit was of course that we had a relaxing, chatty meal with no toddler interruptions and were finishing our dessert before she roused and sleepily took some milk. I won't say that foregoing my very own nap this afternoon was a good trade off, but since I didn't get a choice in the matter, I will say I can appreciate the peace she did offer me. Sometimes, you just have to take the gift you're given, right? So, all in all, a good birthday weekend and a new year just waiting to unfold. Maybe I am getting excited about 2011 after all...