Movie Night Part Two

Friday night was movie night again at AoC. This time I had reinforcements coming with me in the form of Nacho and I was hoping that it might be smoother sailing overall since the kids would have gotten the total craziness out of their systems at the first one. I was almost right.  The mood was less chaotic and the turnout was also less. Without all the ushers and the red carpet and such, it was a bit more laid back and the seating wasn't so crammed. I remembered to bring our beach chairs and glow bracelets (half of which leaked and failed to light up--doh!) which made for some fun. But mostly, the night was about the kids running around, from one blanket to another, only half watching "Despicable Me 2" and getting sleepy in the comfort of their school gym. Pajamas were a must and Elisa wolfed down not one, but TWO hot dogs that night to confirm her latest growth spurt. So, yeah, it was fun, but we still cut out early around 8pm after two meltdowns. It was time, but I'm glad we made it.

Life as usual

Some days this is all I've got to show for my effort. One errand run and back home. It's the small things that help me feel like I've accomplished a lot. And the cookies. Those help too. 

These girls have been on a pretty good streak lately. Playing lots of improvised games at home and sometimes needing intervention, but also making each other laugh a ton. Carolina can still pinch and hit and be a two year old, but she's becoming more of a real playmate and friend. And Elisa is accepting that and finding ways to include her. I love them both equally, but I love them together even more. 

We finally got Melody over for a playdate at our house early last Sunday. It was another cold day and having a friend over for a tea party sounded like the perfect remedy. Elisa had a few crazy moments, but considering this was their first time really hanging out, they did great. Looking forward to seeing them in the park together and more tea parties too!

We finally had a beautiful spring day this week on Tuesday and since Nacho was off that day as well, we decided to do it up right and hit Central Park. Good choice. We started at Heckscher Playground on the southern end and worked our way up to Shake Shack for lunch at 79th Street. It was a mild day and Carolina loved every minute of her time running around the park without the clusters of kids that summer will bring. A day to savor for sure. And when Elisa saw these pics, she said incredulously "You went to that park without me?" I sheepishly smiled and said yes. Sorry, kid. Sometimes the weather is too nice to wait. 

A new drugstore bunny purchased after a successful dentist appointment. NO cavities! Woo hoo! I know we bathe these kids in sugar, but so far, they are brushing their teeth well enough or maybe blessed with good dental genes. I was relieved and so was she. Elisa has many very loose teeth, so the next few months could prove interesting. The dentist said she likely will end up looking like a "jack-o-lantern" when they start to fall. Yikes! Time will tell. 

And finally, another week of lazy mornings with my littlest girl. Carolina loves to "play tracks" as soon as she's out in the living room these days. Usually this involves setting up an elaborate train track with bridges and tunnels and such, only to have it dismantled or totally abandoned within 20 minutes. But the enthusiasm is real. She loves what she loves. And right now, I am happy to indulge her. We ended up hanging out with some friends at the Astoria play place today since the temperatures have dipped back into the 20s for highs. Carolina didn't mind the cold one bit once she saw the slides and made a new friend. It was a fast few hours of climbing up and sliding down. Rinse and repeat. This kid never got bored. And I had time to sit and chat and enjoy myself too. Win-win. But I'll still take warmer weather when it wants to show up. Please, hurry. 

And so it goes...

Tonight is the first night Carolina is sleeping in a big girl bed at home. After sleeping in a twin bed during our week in Puerto Rico, she came home and quickly took over Elisa's bed for naps. And managed to stay in it and not monkey around. So we let her. I even asked her if she loved Elisa's bed and her answer pretty much melted my heart. "It's so soft!"  Yes, that sealed the deal on her getting a real bed. Plus, she's huge. As I was peeking in on her the other day during nap time I realized she didn't have much room to grow in that thing. So today was the day. We headed out to IKEA in Brooklyn hoping they would still have the white metal Minnen bed frame in stock that we bought and loved for Elisa.  Stock levels were showing only one and the clerk wasn't too hopeful we'd find it in the warehouse, but somehow Nacho managed to snag it, buy it and put it in the car before Carolina and I had made it half way through the marketplace. We also decided to upgrade Elisa to a real twin mattress that has all the comfort her little girl bed was lacking.  There were all kinds of little discoveries today at the store, but mostly, I came home in shock that this is all happening so much sooner than it did with Elisa. We didn't move her from the crib until June of the year she turned three. So this is 3-4 months earlier and definitely the maturity level is there. Carolina understands that she has to lie down and rest and I think we're going to have a pretty decent transition. I'm expecting a few hiccups but who knows when they'll come. So far, so good. Saying goodbye to the crib was a somewhat wistful moment. That day has passed. For the first time in 6 years, we won't have a crib sleeper tonight. And hopefully never again. And so it goes..

Marching on

Sunnyside really turns it up for St. Patrick's Day and always starting early. This once predominantly Irish neighborhood started the first inclusive parade to honor the Irish of all orientations and now it has morphed into quite a little festival of music and celebration. The fact that anyone is welcome to join in and march only makes it better, in my opinion. So with Carolina napping the afternoon away, I took Elisa out to enjoy another year of getting our jig on to the music and watching the dancers stomp and sway down Skillman Ave. I didn't realize ahead of time that our new Mayor, Bill De Blasio, would be joining us. I think the fact that he showed up to speak about inclusion and being on the right side of history was a nice touch.  Of course, Dublin's own Panti Bliss might have stolen the show from him, with her larger than life eyelashes and lips.  The kids were all trying to guess if he/she was really a man or a woman. Elisa couldn't be tricked, but she did want to know why he dressed like that. Ah yes. We have lots more confusing days ahead. But for yesterday at least it was fun to just bounce around and try to stay warm. With temps hovering in the 30s, it wasn't the best day for standing around waiting for a parade to start. The speeches carried on too long, and by the time the thing started our toes were already numb.  Funny enough, a reporter from NY1 interviewed Elisa and Leonardo, who proved uncharacteristically subdued. I haven't seen it on air, and probably won't. But it was fun to watch them come alive after the camera stopped rolling. "I'm going to be on TV!" Elisa kept shouting to no one in particular. Yes, my little starlet was having fun. And so did I. Thanks, Sunnyside for another great year carrying the Irish banner for all. 

Breakin' away

Ten seconds later, Carolina took a tumble. But man, she got up and ran some more. 

I'm glad I didn't think too much about this trip before it happened. It was a nice surprise to discover Puerto Rico without a lot of preconceived ideas. I kind of let Nacho do the research since he was the one making arrangements with his friend about the apartment, so I took the opportunity to let it all be revealed to me once we got there. And sometimes on vacation that's a blessing. You just give in to whatever happens, and we made up our itinerary as we looked ahead to each day. In fact, sometimes we were making it up hour to hour. But the girls hung in there and for the most part, it wasn't too hard on them to do a little city walking and save the beach for later. Elisa only really lost her cool when her new earring broke (of the plastic, clip on variety) and we couldn't fix it as we toured Old San Juan. There were many tears shed. It seemed to color her whole morning. But my lunch time, she had turned it around and we managed to meet up with some Sunnyside friends who were docking in the city from a cruise ship for a few hours.   Then we were off to the beach for a sunset swim where her mood improved greatly.  

The weather was amazing with brief rain showers early or not at all and lots of dramatic skies everywhere you turned.  Carolina was a death marching machine when it came to visiting the castillo or hiking through El Yunque. She even shared the stroller with Elisa for a bit on our morning in Old San Juan, only to try to ride on her lap on the way out of the fort and get thrown for a loop on a bumpy ramp down. It wasn't a highlight of the day, but after consoling her and kissing some skinned knees, we were back in business. Since this was vacation, the girls consumed obscene quantities of Coca-Cola products, we hit McDonald's drive through for the happy meals twice and I don't regret any of it. Normal life can wait. The girls are turning into real little travelers and I was amazed how easy bedtimes were being in a new place with new beds (Carolina loved her twin so much she's taken to napping in Elisa's bed now at home) and new noises--did I mention the schoolyard outside that seemed like it was on constant recess or the rooster that crowed all day and night? Oh yes. It was all kinds of noisy. But we managed and the white noise phone app did wonders to soothe them to sleep, I think. Me, I had to listen to the rooster without even a pillow over my head (since there was only one pillow, I opted to use it for my neck). But hey, vacation isn't always about having the perfect conditions. It's how you adapt to the imperfection and find ways to enjoy yourself anyway. And despite a few moments of pure annoyance, the girls did good. It gave me hope that we could do this kind of school break trip again with even better results.