Saturday in the sun

Today was all about the sunshine. Sunshine and 50 degree weather. Which should have felt really balmy and spring like, but instead it actually felt kind of chilly and harshly bright. Better than winter, but not quite spring. We headed to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for a change of pace and enjoyed seeing all the kids and pets out and about.

Elisa loves dogs. A lot. Here she is with a nice, older pup who didn't want to pay her any attention. Must be why Elisa kept STARING at him.

I gave her my scarf and she gave me a smile. :-)

Elisa tries out the tire swing for the first time and hangs on for dear life. No, actually, she did fine and Papa didn't push her too hard.

Later, she found a playmate in this adorable 13 month old little boy. So funny to think of the age difference right now and how much older Elisa seems at nearly 19 months. But really, what's 6 months between friends? All in all, Elisa had a good time getting out in the park and it was such a welcome change from the sick-in weekends we've been having lately. Bring on the spring!

The first of many...

Here is Elisa today after I attempted to french braid her hair for the first time. She was sucking down a bottle, sitting fairly still for the first half. Then I switched sides and she seemed to catch on to my trick. I wasn't pulling too hard, and I seriously doubt this kid is tender headed anyway. After combing her snarled up little curls for the past year and a half, I can say she doesn't show too much concern for my hair styling.

Sometime during the middle of this beauty shop session, I realized "Oh, my God. I'm braiding her hair. She's that big." And when she spun around and looked at me head on, I could tell she liked being pampered. I think we're going to be doing a lot more of this when she gets older. I can just hear it now..."Mmmmmmom, braid my hair, pleeeeaaase!"

Mama's little helper

Today as I unloaded the dishwasher, Elisa wandered into the kitchen to see what I was doing. I knew she was headed straight to the open door full of clean dishes. Fearing a greasy smear of handprints on everything--or worse, a broken plate on her foot--I quickly handed her a clean cutting board from the drying rack. This was plastic, lightweight and who cares about sticky hands? Without stopping for a minute, Elisa turns to the bottom cabinet, opens the door and puts the cutting board away. Right. Where. It. Goes. This girl is a genius. I'm thinking with a step stool and a little more muscle tone, she can do the whole dishwasher. THIS is why people have kids.

The Wind Down

I suppose there is something to be said for having a bedtime routine. However, I haven't exactly figured out what. Pretty much the hours between Elisa's second nap and bedtime are a hodge podge of snacking, dancing, playing (loosely defined), bathing, a little Yo Gabba Gabba and then the last 30 minutes of whatever it takes. Usually this means a bit of bouncing around on our bed followed by much squawking when the pajamas appear. Elisa would prefer to wear her diaper around all day, but we do make her wear clothes for the most part. I should add that with our lovely apartment comes all the free hot air you can take, which means that the average temperature in our place probably hovers around 76F. It's nice and toasty. So I think it's a treat to give her a little running around time towards bedtime without clothes. Tonight this involved piling every stuffed animal she has in her crib and jumping around with them. I have to say, it was very entertaining. Especially when Nacho started to mock her climbing out, all karate-kid style. The fun never ends...

Flyin' high

Elisa is a daddy's girl if ever there was one. She might tolerate me for days on end, but when Papa arrives home, it's easy to see her eyes light up. He is all fun and usually has a new trick up his sleeve. As much as I hate seeing kids (especially small babies) get thrown in the air, I have to admit there is something thrilling about that catch and release. Here is Elisa in all her airborne glory...

So maybe it was Nacho's departure yesterday that knocked the wind out of Elisa's sails. She seemed fine most of the day and then at bedtime, she would not settle down. Every 10 minutes I had to go back in her room and rock her. For over 2 hours. Not feeling too hot myself, it wasn't exactly the kind of low key evening I had in mind. I could only guess that she might be having some congestion issues (she was pretty stuffy) or maybe her teeth are finally close to poking through (I spot some molar bumps on the way). Whatever it was, she was not a happy girl last night and with only one of us to console her, it was a long night. This morning, she awoke with another low-grade fever and we spent much of the day playing quietly, reading and just trying to keep things restful. For both of us. But now tonight, Papa is home again and the playfulness returned. She even let him rock her at bedtime, which means she must have missed him last night too.

Lookin' good

This afternoon we went out for brunch to our favorite local Mexican place, De Mole, along with our good friends Dan and Dessi. Back in the day, we all worked together and had a fabulous time sharing meals and generally commiserating about work and life. These days, the three of us get together all too rarely so this was a special treat. The fact that Dessi is moving out of state tomorrow made it especially bittersweet. She is expecting her first child (also a girl!) this summer and we had so many things to catch up on and chat about. It takes me back to the feeling I had two years ago--so much anticipation and all the joy of the unknown. Staring at the sonograms for a glimpse of what your baby will look like, the newness of the first kicks, the waking at all hours of the night and being unable to sleep. Ah, yes, it feels like it was only yesterday. It doesn't feel real to be sitting there talking about my 18 month old. How did I get here? And more importantly, am I any wiser? What can I tell a soon-to-be mom?

Elisa waiting for the guacamole to arrive.
Dan and Dessi striking a pose (and me in the upper left corner snapping away)
Cool kid and cool Dan (below).

Maybe it's the cynic in me, but there is something about new parenthood that defies any introduction. I don't think any two people experience it the same and to taint it with your own discoveries is almost impolite. Yet, I want to be helpful. I want to remember to tell her the things that I wish I had known--to be kinder to myself, to believe that I would sleep again, to kiss your husband and remember that he's the one that got you into this mess, to not stress about where or how the baby sleeps in the first few months. There were no long-term patterns established by a night or two in the swing or bouncy chair. The goal was to survive. Just survive (and forget doing it gracefully, as my mother said). And try not to worry when you feel like you've made a terrible mistake and had a perfectly good life before this unpredictable, demanding baby ruined it all. Oh yes, I remember those days (and nights). It all felt like it would last forever and I would never know how to cope. But amazingly, I'm still here and life really did get better. Every six months, it felt like there was another epiphany of parenthood and it just got easier. And now, a year and a half into this experiment, we are so glad to be looking ahead towards all the milestones of toddlerdom. New language, more engagement in activities, new places to see and seasons to unfold (hurry up, spring!). I know Dessi will find her own way to this spot and beyond, and I hope to see her again soon to hear all about it.

Just another Wednesday

These two are trouble...

You know Elisa is feeling better when she is back to running around the apartment like a mad woman and wants to have a friend over for lunch. Okay, it was really my idea, but she didn't seem to mind that Kristin and her daughter Juliet were going to drop by for a bite of chili and some afternoon fun. These two girls have been fast friends since Kristin and I were both heavily pregnant and shared a cab back from the city after meeting in our newborn care class at Real Birth. Yes, in utero friends. Is that possible? Well, they didn't exactly have a choice, but seeing them conspire and play together at 18 months is a sure sign that they are onboard with our playdate scheduling and impromptu visits.

Here they are last week after music class hanging out at Juliet's coloring in the living room. Elisa was intrigued by the crayons and we have since purchased her a set of her own. I'm not near the artist that Kristin is, but the rough drawings and her "filling in the shapes" has provided quite a bit of amusement so far.

Juliet also likes to get her groove on and was showing Elisa how to rock out on the guitar. It even plays The Police. I was impressed. This girl knows her 80s rock classics.

But today our playdate turned a bit more dramatic than usual. While Kristin and I chatted away in Elisa's room and Nacho and Patrick had the kitchen covered, our girls set to wandering about. Nothing unusual there. Normally, they can't go too far in this apartment before they are running back to us, and we'd been playing for an hour or so without any tantrums or problems. Of course, that should have been a sign they were collaborating a little too well. First, I heard Kristin walk to the living room and shout back, "Uh, where are the girls?" I was almost to the bathroom and I flung the door open wide thinking they were in there. No luck. Then I heard her say "Ohhhh, they're OUTSIDE!" Incredulous, I dashed to the front door of the apartment and beyond and saw Juliet 20 feet down the hall, and Elisa making a mad dash--arms flailing and giggling all the way--back towards me. Barefoot. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was how the heck the door was open but this we figured out since we had just welcomed Patrick into the apartment and the door hadn't shut fully. But then to think that these two girls approached the door, saw they were this close to freedom and then made a break for it is just, well, it's kind of scary but mostly hilarious.

Nacho and I both thought it was a good thing that they didn't head straight to the stairwell out our front door. Instead, they ran towards the elevators and were apparently chasing a ball most of the way. The fact that four adults failed to catch this maneuver is pretty shameful. But now we know better than to let these two out of our sight. It can only get worse, right? ;)

On the mend...

I'm happy to report that Elisa is doing much, much better after a good night's rest. She actually went down around 8:30 p.m. and we didn't hear a peep out of her until almost 7 a.m. A better night than when she's well! After seeing how hyper and slap happy the prednisone made her yesterday, I was beginning to think this was a trade off for hearing her cough improve. She didn't go down for either nap without a fight and she struggled most of the day to keep from falling over or crying at the least little thing. But by bedtime, she was just too tired to fight, I suppose. Luckily, this morning we finished the last dose and now she is resting again. Time to clean up and enjoy the rest of the day.

Everyday Snapshots

Today marks the one week anniversary of a new blog I'm working on called Everyday Snapshots. This is the brainchild of my good friend Maggie who had seen a similar blog and wanted to start something like that between us. Basically, we each post one photo a day and tell the time it was taken. For 365 days. A simple concept and one that appealed to the photographer in me.

At first, I wasn't sure how this would work logistically or even if we would find enough subject matter. But surprisingly, it has helped connect us and our different, if similar stay-at-home lives, by way of the little things that we see and do. Maybe that's the lesson in shifting gears and devoting your daily grind to parenting: that we see all kinds of moments that are normally rushed through and if we're lucky enough, we realize that and savor them. Not all the time. But sometimes. Maybe even most of the time. It's made me think more about how we divide up the day and how just the smallest change can make one day so completely different from the next.

While we haven't coordinated our subject matter, it has almost psychically melded this first week on the blog. I get to see Maggie's photo before I post mine, but still, it's funny how I seem to be the yin to her yang. We are each curious enough about the dynamic to make this effort and so far, it's been a cool surprise to see what each day brings. So, please check out our new endeavor and we'll keep on posting. Just for you.