Crushes and other dangers...

My daughter has a crush. Bad. His name is Chris and he's the sweetest kid. The cousin of her friend Miles who patiently puts up with more 2 year olds than most 12 year olds have to deal with in a lifetime. Here they are at the SGP Easter Egg Hunt last weekend. Do you see how smitten she is??? Oy. Fortunately for Elisa, Chris is often at the park after school playing basketball or running around with his friends so she gets to spy on him several times a week. I knew we were getting serious when the other night as I put her in bed, she suddenly turned and said, "Mom, I saw Chris at the park today. He play basketball. He has blue shirt." I can just imagine the sweet dreams she had that night...

Between that and her serenading the entire waiting room at my OB/GYN's office yesterday with her awkwardly shrill rendition of Katy Perry's "Firework" (thanks to her earphones and my iPod), I'm in trouble. The woman next to me started laughing about half way through as she told me she just recognized the song Elisa was singing. And another mom half smiled and half grimaced as her slightly younger daughter circled near Elisa looking longingly at the iPod. "What is she singing?" she asked me. Uh...is this where I get judged? Hmmmm. It could be worse, I suppose. "Katy Perry. She's on all Katy, all the time lately," I said with a pleasant smile. She didn't really smile back, but was out of earshot before Elisa requested "Mom, I want Snoop Dogg" (aka "California Gurls") which prompted the other woman near me to laugh again and tell me she's a girl after her own heart. I don't know what's going on, but it feels like Elisa has grown 10 years in the past 2 months. This morning at breakfast, sitting across from Nacho, she starts a conversation with "so, Papa..." as if she were going to ask about her curfew that night. We just looked at each other and started laughing. Because if there's anything that I think will get me through these next few (okay, 16) years, it's humor. If I lose that, I'm really in trouble.

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful day to be outside! After our SGP Easter Egg Hunt was postponed yesterday due to rain, I thought it might not happen today either with scattered thunderstorms in the forecast. But man, was I wrong. What a gorgeous sunny day with temperatures in the upper 70s. I don't think we've had a day this warm all spring, so it was a bit of a shock to be at the park sweating as we walked around in long sleeves. Elisa didn't seem to mind one bit, though, since the egg hunting was a novelty she clearly enjoyed. Her first few eggs were looked at and pitched in the bag without much notice until I showed her the candy inside. Then the pace slowed down as she wanted to eat everything she found. A few more eggs discovered and then it was off to enjoy the park with her friends...

I'm so glad we made the effort to go. At first, I wasn't sure she would even get into it, and thoughts of racing around tripping over other kids was something I just didn't want to be a part of. But since the park divided up the age groups, it was pretty well controlled and there was enough space and eggs that she had a few minutes to leisurely stroll and find some hidden treasures. I kept thinking as Easter approached that I might get her a basket this year or at least color some eggs. But truthfully, I think we're still a ways off from those traditions since at this point it would really be all me preparing the crafts and trying to get her to focus. Maybe next year. I sometimes think I'm just not a crafty momma, and that maybe she'll be deprived of these early memories. But then I think about how many more years we have to do all these things and to really see her face light up when she finds eggs stashed around our living room. That was always a fun way to wake up when I was a kid--trying to beat my sister with the higher egg (and later dollar) count. And oh yes, the chocolate and jelly beans. I still remember my Papa (aka Grandpa) teaching me to stuff jelly beans in my mouth during the "ahhh-mens" of the Easter church service. For now though, I can just enjoy the few bits of Easter happenings that Elisa can partake in and hopefully in another few years we'll bust out the baskets and crotcheted white ponchos of my youth. Dressing up with my sister and parading about in a new dress and sandals was always a highlight of this springy day. And so I hope with my girls, it will be the same. And I promise not to dress them alike. Okay, maybe coordinating outfits, but that's where I draw the line. And for sure, chocolate bunnies all around.

Storm King

Sometimes the world in and around New York City feels so big, you realize you have hardly explored what's just beyond its borders. And so it was with Storm King, a sculpture park located about an hour away near Cornwall, NY, which kept beckoning me but somehow never seemed like the right day trip. Until this week. Finally, it felt like spring was in the air and we might enjoy the drive up the Palisades Parkway, past Bear Mountain, to the park for a little walking about all that crazy big art. Pulling into the parking lot, I was a little surprised to find out that you can't drive much around the sprawling acreage, but fortunately there were trams coming by every 10 minutes or so to take you on the tour and allow you to hop on and off. The sun was bright, but the winds cool, so the tram ride was perfect for our introduction.

About 15 minutes into the tour, we decided to hop off to let Elisa stretch her legs and also get a closer view of the Three-Legged Buddha statue. It's a beautiful, if slightly freaky, piece which Elisa was none too fond of. I had explained to her earlier that we couldn't touch the sculptures, so I think part of it was that she didn't know how close to get. But it also became clear that she didn't like the exaggerated features of the Buddha and imposing size. Oh well. I thought it was great.

Walking back towards the little lake and the amazing stone work of Andy Goldsworthy's Storm King Stone Wall, we had views of the incredible scenery. The colors were just greening up a bit here and there which makes me want to come back and see the park in all its glory this summer and maybe fall. As the guide explain, each season has its own benefits for the park.

After a couple of hours exploring the grounds and stopping by the Visitors Center, we were ready to head out. The good thing is that the park is really not that far away and on a weekday without too much traffic, we enjoyed the drive. So it didn't feel like we'd invested all day in this little outing. Of course, the bonus was that I'd recently read about an interesting burger joint in Cornwall called Woody's All Natural, which was a perfect finish to our afternoon. The burgers could have been a bit juicier, but the concept was good and Elisa devoured her gourmet hot dog. The onion hay (little fried strings of red onion) were good and salty and the mocha shake was delicious. We weren't in the car more than 3 or 4 minutes before Elisa's head was tipped precariously over and she was dreaming away. The fact that she slept all the way back until we parked was a nice way to cap off the excursion. Art, exercise and good food. What more could you want?

Park days are here again...

Just when I thought this winter might last until June, we've had a few warm sunny days sneak in and give me hope that spring is really here. And with that, we've been able to head back to our beloved Sunnyside Gardens Park for long afternoons (and the occasional morning) playing on their bikes and slides, swings and sand. I remember thinking last year when we joined up that it would be great to be here next summer when Elisa was that much older and more independent. She could really have the run of the place without much need for my interventions. And that's proving to be mostly true. I can definitely relax more at this park than in most public places in NYC. It's partly because I know so many of the other moms and families hanging around who are always able to point Elisa back to me if something comes up, but also because it's a very well laid out area with lots of different interests to keep her busy. Mostly, I like our time at the park because it's like having a communal backyard where I can bump into friends and chat for a while, and the time just flies by before dinner and bedtime. Here are the kiddos running around the other day...

Elisa still has her moments of craziness at the park, but generally she's happy enough just to be there. Her new thing is to sit atop the big slide in what I can only assume is a power play for control of the slide. It's slightly maddening to watch her sit and stare down other kids, but with a little coaxing it usually ends well with a race to the bottom. Unless I have to pull her off kicking and screaming, which I did today. There's only so much patience you can expect of a line of 2 and 3 year olds waiting for their turn, especially when Elisa's being a little turd. But fortunately, she was able to recover and go find a bike to pedal. That's another newfound hobby--biking. There's at least one good bike with training wheels (that seem a bit more stable than the old kind if you ask me) that she loves racing around on. Normally when she's off and about for a long stretch it's because she's doing laps around the baseball field on the bike. What good exercise and distraction! I love seeing her enjoy something that much, but let's face it, I also love the down time to sit and talk or wander around without having to follow her every move. And the more I see of her in the park this year, the more I'm relieved to find that she's handling herself pretty well. Maybe my summer won't be too bad afterall. Long and hot and tiring, but the park gives me hope. So yay for that.

Rainy ol' day

Now that we've enjoyed a warm, glowing beginning to April out West, we're in for a bit of a long (mostly wet) slog to the end of the month with not a lot of days where Nacho is home. I guess that's the trade off we've come to expect with his always changing schedules, but knowing that he starts six weeks of training away from home in May means we're trying to make the most of our time together now. So this week, with rain in the forecast again on Tuesday, we decided to try out our new family membership to the American Museum of Natural History. Now I'd been past the museum many times, but had never actually entered, figuring it was more a place to go with a kid than on our own. And now after having gone with a two and a half year old, I can definitely say it's not for the smallest of tikes. Even Elisa had a few minutes of dread over the darkly lit rooms and stuffed animal displays. I think she's at that strange point where she doesn't quite know what to make of all the ambience and creatures staring back at her. And as much as I tell her it's not real, that there is glass between us and the animals can't reach her, she just wasn't buying it. However, she did like the brightly lit rooms with dinosaur bones, so all was not lost. See this happy smile...

Naturally, Elisa's favorite part of the museum was the Astor turret which was a nice carpeted area with floor to ceiling windows overlooking Central Park West. It seemed to be the nanny-zone that day with lots of kids climbing all over the benches, taking their shoes off and generally mucking around. Elisa was enthralled and of course, quickly demanded her shoes be removed as well. She latched onto two older boys playing with a car and I had to keep yanking her dress back down as she nervously hiked it up.

After grabbing some burgers at our much beloved Shake Shack (sorry, In-N-Out Burger, but they really beat the pants off of you), we decided to wind down with a coffee at Joe on the UWS. It was partly to restock Nacho's coffee bean supply, and partly to give our girl a quick fix of her favorite foamed milk concoction. She loves spooning up the sugary froth and ruining the pretty little leaf imagery as she goes.

Now normally, this big day would be enough to coast on until bedtime. But after returning home for a nice (albeit late) family nap, we had dinner plans with our man about town Dan Riley at the newly opened Salt & Fat on Queens Boulevard. With the thunderstorms finally picking up the pace and lightning all around, it was a kind of stormy night for adventure and that's just what we had--a culinary adventure just a few blocks from home! The initial word on the street about this American, small plate restaurant was you better love bacon before you go. And I will agree that the bacon grease-fried popcorn freebie was a good introduction to this theme. But otherwise, the plates were filled with all kinds of interesting flavors and wide-ranging ethnic influences. I really enjoyed the deep fried bacon-topped gnocchi (pictured below) which was swimming in a cheesy bechamel.

I think Nacho's eyes rolled back in his head a little when eating this, so yeah, it was a hit. The mussels were fine, and the boys both liked the pork belly tacos. The seared scallops over truffle-oiled golden beets were pretty nice as well (see below).

But the fried chicken was just so-so and the pulled pork sliders a little dry for my liking. Elisa managed to sit through most of the meal with interest, but after such a long day out and about, I couldn't blame her for trying to dance her way through dessert. It didn't take us long to inhale that so we were done and out of there by about 8:45 p.m. It felt like the kind of day where you come home late and somewhat tired from all the running around, but you go to bed knowing you made the most of the city. Afterall, that's why we live here.

Back in the saddle

So these aren't photos from today, but they could have been. These fun-filled shots from our trek to a local park in Twentynine Palms, CA happened over a week ago, but since we welcomed some sunshine and warmer weather in New York City today, I thought it was okay to post them. And luckily Elisa was feeling good enough to enjoy the great outdoors this afternoon. Her fever ran its course all day Saturday and faded out by Sunday morning, and no, we never really understood what caused it. I had already booked our sitter to come over on Sunday morning so I could pop out for a mamas-to-be brunch with my playgroup gang and was glad I didn't have to cancel that. But mostly, I was just glad Elisa was on the mend. It made me feel so much better about skipping out for a few hours and indulging in some me time. Something I'm not that good about--which only took me two and a half years to figure out. Oh well. Better late than never, right? We had a great turn out and it was just so nice to be out relaxing and eating without the kids pulling our attention in 1000 different directions. Because as you can see, when Elisa is going full throttle, she's nonstop action...

She has so much confidence in her movements these days, whether it's her newfound love of tricycles or going down slides head first, she doesn't seem fazed by much. It's a real change from a year ago, and truth be told, such fun to watch. At the playground pictured here, she loved climbing the ladder that arcs way above my head and leads to a platform with several slides. At first it made me a bit nervous to see her enthusiasm for this ladder, but I tried to step back and just enjoy the view. It's more fun that way.

Sick girl

What is it about a sick kid that's so endearing? After waking last night with an unusually high fever and no other symptoms, Elisa took her Tylenol and "fizzy water juice" (seltzer with a splash of juice) and returned to bed in a deep groggy haze. Considering all the surfaces in the airport and plane that she ran her hands across before shoving fingers in her mouth, it's no wonder she picked up something. But still, a sick kid is no fun and it never fails to surprise you when out of nowhere the fever starts. Elisa woke again about 6 hours later in the midst of another raging fever, only this time accompanied by dry heaves that had me racing to remove the stuffed animals, blanket and pillow from her bed. As I tried to get her to sit up in case she actually vomited (which thankfully, she didn't), she started apologizing for everything. "Mom, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to." It was so pathetically sweet. After more meds and a little more juice, she got tucked into bed with her blanket and animals surrounding her once more. As I wiped her brow, I told her to try to go to sleep and that I was going to rest too. Suddenly she perked up and asked, "Mom, you have your blanket?" "Yes, I do," I said with a renewed sense of tenderness for this little girl who deep in her own misery was concerned about me. It's definitely not my idea of a good time, but playing nurse isn't the worst job in the world. At least you get a few moments like that to show you how much it means to have someone you love take care of you.

BIG rocks!

Coming out West has been such a welcome change of pace. The landscape is so starkly beautiful that I keep dragging behind the group to take more photos. But who can blame me? Everything here--from the giant Joshua trees to the enormous boulder-like rocks--is larger than life. I already knew that Nacho would love this part of the country since we both so thoroughly enjoyed our Southwest road trip in 2000. That little adventure lasted 11 days and we barely knew where we were going except that we had some AAA maps and a few hundred dollars in our checking account. Oh, man...those were the days. We ended up hitting a good portion of the old Route 66 from St. Louis to Arizona, before heading up through Utah and back by way of Colorado and Kansas. And from that experience, I found out that Nacho has a soft spot for the landscapes of the rocky West. I know we both miss that kind of free form travel now that life includes a preschooler, so this visit to see family and get to do some smaller hikes and visits to the Joshua Tree National Park was really ideal. On Saturday, we got up and hit the farmer's market nearby before checking out the park. The day was warming up nicely, but the winds kept it from ever feeling too hot. Just perfect for taking Elisa on a little stroll...

Can you tell who's having a great time? Elisa was so comfortable walking and kicking up lots of sandy pebbles. She wanted to lead the way much of the hike, but we did our best to keep her in line. Even without a nap, she hung in there and really did better than I could have predicted.

Of course, Elisa's energy can sometimes be deceptive during visits like this which is why I enforced her nap after returning home from the park. She cried and hissed and generally tried to climb out of her bed a few dozen times, but I knew I had to persist. And even though it was 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EST!!), she still took a good hour long nap and slept better that night than she had previously. It's just that I know from experience what happens when we forego napping all together. What appears to be a bubbly, happy girl can turn viciously sour when she's on the edge of sleep deprivation. For her, a good 10-11 hours a night plus a 2 hour block of nap time is about the right formula. The solid, quiet nap time doesn't always happen when we travel, but after a few days of jumbling it up, I think it's important to implement some down time. Which is exactly what we're doing today. And maybe it's just me, but I'm finding that in my old, pregnant state, a vacation of all go-go-go is too much for even this hearty traveler. Yes, naps are good. Especially when it gives us both the boost we need to see more rocks! Or as Elisa says, "BIG rocks!" Indeed.