I keep saying Mother Nature is playing a trick on us. She’s either going to deliver a whammy of a blizzard in April. Or, she’s for real with this real spring-like weather and will deliver us a whammy of a summer, where we’re begging for mercy by June. But, that’s neither here nor there – no use trying to predict the future when the present is so darn ideal!

Friday night, Sweets went to a Bulls game with a friend. Gavin and I shared grilled cheese sandwiches. To change things up, I jumped in the bathtub with him, which totally weirded him out until I started splashing him and he broke out in giggles. We read in bed and I stayed with him until he fell asleep. Then I grabbed a beer and watched Duke lose (it was beautiful, even if it was a bracket buster!).

Saturday, we went to Poppy’s first birthday party. Because it was almost 80° out, we put Gavin in the stroller and walked to the party. We also hung out in the backyard with our good friends to enjoy the weather. Because it was St. Patrick’s Day (and because we gave our son an Irish name), I made sure to dress him in green.

Gavin split his time between climbing a couple stairs and running towards the alley (thank goodness for gates that lock!) and playing with his buddy, Noah. Did I ever mention that Gavin adores Noah? Well, he does. We hope Noah will continue to share with Gavin what he learns from Little Kickers (young kid soccer).

After playing for a few hours in the sun, Gavin promptly fell asleep in his stroller on the way home. And stayed that way, even after I transitioned him from stroller to bed. When he woke up, we grabbed the dog, threw everyone in the car (not literally, y’all, c’mon now!) and headed to our old ‘hood to meet up with Gavin’s preemie twin.

To continue the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, we contributed a few themed discovery bottles, homemade coleslaw and (not green) beer. Our friends made corned beef, potatoes and brussel sprouts (which, I discovered I actually kinda like). We hung out, watched basketball and watched our boys (born 2 weeks apart, both premature) continue to cull a friendship we hope will last for a very long time.

Oh, and Gavin might have discovered a hat to complete his ensemble.

As you can imagine, Gavin was bush-whacked after that day. He slept very soundly on Saturday night. Sunday, I pulled out our jogging stroller (gifted to us second-hand from Gavin’s aunties) to take Gavin on his inaugural run. It’s the first time we’ve used the stroller and would determine whether Gavin would come with me on future runs. I see taking him on weekend mornings with me, if he’ll have me.

The hat was temporary (he grabbed it as I was putting on a visor), but his pajamas came with us (I figure he was comfortable, so why bother changing him!). We went for about 30 minutes and he was great. No complaints about going too slow. He kicked his feet almost the entire way. Not sure if that was to mimic my running or because he was dancing to the music (I had music playing on my phone – not loudly enough to bother the neighbors, though).

After cleaning up and getting dressed, we went to Gavin’s music class and then across the street to a restaurant to meet some friends. The short story of the restaurant was they seated us in the sun (rather than in the shade under a tree – I didn’t notice the open table until after we’d been situated at our table), took 90 minutes to deliver our food (including Gavin’s meal), forgot to deliver Sweets’ beer and then couldn’t remember what beer he ordered, brought me the wrong sandwich, had bathrooms with overflowing toilets and … well, there’s more, but I’ll spare you. It was a DISASTER. I think we would’ve caused a scene if it weren’t for the fact that … well, our toddler did it for us. Thankfully, our waitress recognized what a mess it was and only charged us $7 for our entire meal … to tell you the truth, I would’ve paid 150% of price just to have a smooth-sailing meal.

After saying so long to our friends, we began our walk home. (Oh, did I forget to mention that the weather was so nice for something like the fifth day in a row that we walked to Gavin’s music class?!?) Within a few minutes of leaving the restaurant, Gavin fell asleep. Which is really too bad, because he missed our stop at the gelato place to get some Italian ice cream (yummy!). Once again, Gavin survived transfer from his stroller to the bed, so he had a monster nap. While he was asleep, Sweets went shopping for hats and sunglasses for Gavin. And he came home with some great stuff…

At first, Gavin kept pulling off the hat. But, then we added the sunglasses (yes, those would be Paul Frank shades – our son is too cool for us!). And I think between the fun factor and the fact that Sweets and I were rolling in laughter, Gavin decided he liked the attire.

The weekend was a full one. But, a good one. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll have this good weather, but we’re sure to enjoy it for as long as we have it!

What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods? Do anything fun to enjoy it this weekend?

Moving right along. The flight to New York was just what we expected. A 2-hour flight with a toddler that did not sleep. However, we were armed. And he was entertained. And well fed. And had his own seat. And flirted with the women in the row behind us. And next thing you know, the plane was landing. And we survived.

Friday, we arrived in the afternoon, went to lunch with my brother and parents and settled into our digs for the weekend – a sweet penthouse apartment in Greenwich Village, thanks to my parents’ friends, with views of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building.

Gavin settled right in, too. My parents brought toys and tried to entertain him. He was mildly amused.

Saturday, my brother started the day by exercising for all of us. After he returned from his run, he proceeded to stretch. Gavin was fascinated and tried to do some of the same stretches he had seen my brother do mere moments before. It was kinda an awesome bonding moment.

We then had brunch with some of my parents’ friends who were visiting from England. Sweets wore his Arsenal t-shirt, which prompted plenty of nasty comments from the peanut gallery (my dad cheers for Liverpool, his friend for Chelsea). Little did we know this t-shirt would be kinda like a gateway drug. More on that momentarily.

After brunch, Sweets, Gavin and I took the subway up to Grand Central to meet a college girlfriend who was taking the train in from the suburbs. Her son just turned two, so we planned a little playdate for the kids. I found a business that caters to kids by providing open play spaces (for a fee). This particular space had a small room with lots of toys and in a separate room, there was a huge water table and a treehouse. Gavin and his buddy played together in a sort of parallel way and made new friends in a sort of parallel play kinda way.

The treehouse was a big hit. Gavin loved walking up the stairs (with help) and looking out the windows at the top (including the window in the floor that looked into the trunk of the tree. Once he tired of that, he’d go down the slide (with help) and start all over again. There always seemed to be something new to discover or to master. The treehouse never got old.

So, back to Sweets’ English Premier League soccer t-shirt. At this facility (which really wasn’t that big), there were two dads who started talking to him, because of this t-shirt. One was a fan of another EPL team, Tottenham. And the other was also an Arsenal fan. What are the odds that some random British soccer (I mean, futbol) t-shirt would become our opportunity to meet other parents?!?

As we were getting ready to leave, Gavin discovered the automatic hand dryers lined up against one wall (smart facility realizes a water table translates to wet kids!). At first, he was surprised by the hot air. But, soon enough, Gavin learned how to turn on the hand dryers and was laughing up a storm. He even got his friend interested in them, too.

Saturday night, we got a babysitter and went out to celebrate my mom’s birthday. The babysitter was an incredibly sweet recent college grad (who came recommended by one of my brother’s friends) who kind of fell in love with Gavin. By the end of the night, she was thanking us for the opportunity to hang out with him. And I mean, seriously thanking us – after she left, she texted me to let me know what a good time she had. We clearly paid her too much. ha.

Sunday, we woke up and walked to Chinatown for Dim Sum. It was alright. It’s a cool meal, if you haven’t ever had Dim Sum before (I had), but the food wasn’t my favorite. And we realized that even though there are advantages to getting there early (plenty of seating), the disadvantage is there is a lack of diversity with the food offerings. As we were leaving, we saw all sorts of dishes that hadn’t been offered when we were there. Boo.

After a decent nap on the way back to the apartment and even for a bit after getting back to the apartment, Gavin was ready to go. So, we went to a playground in Washington Square Park (which is in the middle of Greenwich Village). Gavin did a lot of exploring and observing and independent play.

Gavin was very serious on the playground, taking it all in. Watching others. Focusing on tasks. That is, until he discovered the slide and rope tunnel. And then, the goofy smiles and tongue-wagging commenced!

Oh, and I almost forgot. Remember a few weeks ago when a parent thought it was just fine to let his son run over much smaller children, including Gavin? Well, fast forward to hanging out at this inner-city playground. Not only did one mother remind her child to be careful of younger/smaller children, but another group of unsupervised kids decided the playground had too many small kids there and took their roughhousing elsewhere, without intervention from an adult. I sort of brim with pride that these inner-city families are raising kids to be respectful of others!

All in all, it was a great afternoon at the park.

Sunday night, we stopped by the store to pick up supplies for dinner and had a quiet night at the apartment.

Monday morning was a lazy few hours getting our things together before heading to the airport. Our flight home was another success. Gavin was exhausted from his big weekend in the Big Apple, so he actually slept for the first hour of the flight. After a quick snack, Post It Notes provided ample entertainment until we were close to landing. And then, Gavin glued his head to the window watching us circle over Lake Michigan and make our descent into the airport.

And, one last thing before I go. There is a tram that runs between the long-term parking lot and the airport in Chicago. From his comfortable stroller seat, Gavin started holding onto the railings (because he saw others doing this). He did this when we went to Vegas and did it again on our way to/from New York. It was freaking adorable, because he took this role very seriously, like it was his job!

Oh, and let me note one more thing. I realize that 90% of Gavin’s photos include a pacifier in his mouth. This is not our normal mode of operation. At home, he gets a pacifier when he sleeps, when he needs to self soothe himself out of a tantrum and when he’s sneaky and discovers one in his stroller. Otherwise, we try not to use them. On trips, though, it’s a different ballgame. Our rules are relaxed and as a result, our kid stays happy. It works for us (though, I hate looking at all these photos with orange pacifiers – it gets old!).

And there you have our trip to New York. This trip was meant to celebrate my mother’s birthday. But, as you can tell, most of the activities were about friends and grandsons. Hey, if that’s what makes the birthday gal happy, who am I to judge?!? =)

]]> http://somispeaks.com/2012/02/22/nyc-2/feed/ 10 http://somispeaks.com/2012/02/14/musings-3/ http://somispeaks.com/2012/02/14/musings-3/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:14:25 +0000 SoMi's Nilsa http://somispeaks.com/?p=5554 Random musings racing through my mind…

I’ve recently become obsessed with jalapenos. I never used to like them. And then I entered a stage of not minding them, but not seeking them out. Ever since the Superbowl when we made nachos, I’ve been obsessed with them. A chip with a dab of sour cream and a jalapeno is fabulous. We had tuna sandwiches the other night. Sweets put pickles on top (yummy!) and the only thing I could think about was how yummy it would probably be with jalapenos, too.

Last week, one friend’s father-in-law passed away, another friend’s father had surgery for cancer, another friend got engaged, another friend gave birth to their first child and my mom celebrated one of those big birthdays that ends in a zero or five. News of each of those things reminded me how precious life is, how it’s worth celebrating and recognizing and how much I hold close and love the important people in my life.

That friend who had a baby? They came home from the hospital on Friday. I spent Saturday making them lasagna. While I was at it, I made a pan for us, too. It wasn’t traditional lasagna. The sauce was bechamel (a milk-based sauce with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and prosciutto added at the end). The filling was all about mushrooms (and onions and garlic and rosemary and thyme), but I added in some ground beef for good measure. It actually turned out better than expected (despite a typo calling for 1 TBSP of salt instead of 1 tsp – good thing I used common sense on that one!). Thank you Giada for the yummy meal!

I might have also made Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies for dessert. Thank you Paula.

I will never again live on a lot that abuts the alley where it empties into the street. In the city, (stupid) people use alleys to get from Point A to Point B instead of roads, thus increasing the amount of vehicles using them. And oftentimes, instead of slowing down when crossing sidewalks and streets, they honk, as if that’s proper etiquette to make up for speeding and not watching for pedestrians, dogs, children and other vehicles. Working at home means I hear those stupid people all day long. I’m not below giving dirty looks and sometimes waving the middle finger at the same cars that misbehave day in and day out. Yes, all the way from my second floor home.

I met a girlfriend for coffee on Friday night. Our boys are a month apart, so we can spend hours talking about them, our parenting approaches, how life has changed since becoming parents, our support networks now that we are parents and so on. When I get together with many of my friends, Gavin is only one of many subjects about which we speak. But, it is sort of nice to have a few friends where our children are the focus – nothing is off the table. I often walk away from these get togethers thinking of ways I can improve my parenting and also being reassured we’re doing a pretty darn good job of it after all.

Gavin might have slept in with me until 10am again. He’s getting pretty good at this weekend snuggling thing.

A very good girlfriend (i.e., one of my bridesmaids) asked me if we were expecting this weekend. I think she was slightly taken aback that we might be with child and hadn’t told her directly. I laughed —a hearty, from the gut laugh— when she asked. The answer was a resounding NO, NOT EVEN ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW. Apparently, her husband was playing a little joke on her.

We had a pizza party with some dear friends this weekend. They have a 4-year old son that I sort of adore. He is clearly MUCH older than Gavin and does big boy activities that Gavin isn’t yet ready to do. But, I sort of love when these boys get together. This older boy is very gentle with Gavin. And, Gavin adores his big friend and follows him around (in a parallel play sort of way). This weekend, Gavin was obsessed with his friend’s guitar, magnetic easel, train set and basketball hoop. We’re now thinking we might need to get Gavin his own easel and guitar.

About a month ago, we made plans to get together with friends this weekend and another time in March. Last week, it wasn’t clear whether this friend was going to be able to see us this weekend, which would’ve made for the second time she changed plans on us. I was beginning to take thing personally. As it turns out, we actually were able to get together with this friend. At some point during our get together, she brought up the calendar and how impressed she is that I am able to keep it so full. She then went on to say that she’s getting better about writing things down in her calendar, but she’s terrible about remembering to look at her calendar to see what plans she has. It was a moment of clarity for me. I learned more about my friend and also realized I shouldn’t jump to conclusions about other people’s behavior until I get the full story!

Over the weekend, we were driving through the suburbs. As we are wont to do, I pulled out my Redfin.com iPhone app and looked up houses that were for sale in the area. One house was listed for $320,000. If I do a quick calculation, at 5% interest rate (which is high in this market), that amounts to a monthly mortgage payment of about $1,700 (in this example, there is no down payment). Oh, but did I mention the annual taxes are $17,000??? That adds another $1,400 per month to the mortgage payment, almost doubling it. Insane, right? One thing we’re beginning to learn about the suburbs is the taxes vary widely from one town to the next. If we ever move to the suburbs, we really have to consider what the taxes provide in terms of town services and whether we feel they’re justified. One thing I know for sure is a house in the three hundred thousand dollar range is not worthy of $17,000 taxes!

Happy Valentine’s Day (to those who celebrate it). We’re not really into the Hallmark holidays, so we don’t really celebrate them. And that point was pretty much confirmed a few days ago when Sweets said I’d be lucky if he remembers to buy me a card.

My mom flew into Chicago for a girls weekend with my two aunts. My mom called on Friday night when they arrived. I sat on the floor and put her on speaker, so Gavin could hear his grandmother’s voice. He backed up until his legs hit my legs, sat down and stared intently at the phone as my mom’s voice came out of it. Gavin has seen us talk on the phone (and mimics talking on his own toy phones), but I’m not sure he fully realizes there’s actually another person on the other end.

Saturday morning was the one opportunity to see my mom while she was in town (she was staying with my aunt – but, don’t feel bad, we just saw her in January and will see her again in a couple weeks). Gavin and his similarly aged girl cousin, Rosey, turned the corner in their development. Instead of pure parallel play, they noticed each other and were sometimes interested in what the other one was up to. One of my favorite moments was when the two of them were looking out the front door, which has long windows in it. Just behind the front door is another door, making for a little vestibule entryway. Rosey decided she was done looking out the front door window, so turned around and proceeded to close the door on Gavin. Just as it was about to lock shut, Rosey was jolted a bit by Gavin pushing back from within. He pushed his way out of the vestibule and gave her what amounted to a dirty look.

That evening, I went out to dinner with a girlfriend. I don’t do that very often – go out with just a girlfriend. Because, going out usually involves Gavin. And when it doesn’t, it is such a luxury that it almost always involves Sweets. But, this girlfriend was in need and dinner was best suited for just the two of us. It was a nice night out (plus, I got to take care of this major sushi fix I’ve been having lately).

I figured, since I got home around 11:00 and didn’t go to sleep until after midnight that Sunday morning would surely be the day when Gavin woke up at 6:00. I wasn’t far off. He woke up at 7:00. But, I was able to pull him into the guest bed with me and coax him back to sleep (i.e., laid down with him and gave him a pacifier – that kid is a tough sell). Next time he woke me up, I looked at the clock. 10AM!!!!! That kid slept in with me until 10AM. Not only did we sleep in, but Sweets made us eggs and ham for breakfast. Those boys are my heroes!

Sleeping in does a body well. Gavin was full of life during his music class. He was infatuated with his teacher. Before class started, his teacher was looking at some paperwork that was on a windowsill. Gavin ran over to him, stood next to him and just stared up at him, watching his every move. During class, Gavin was intent on playing his teacher’s guitar. So, when his teacher sat on the ground while we did music time in a circle, Gavin walked across the circle and stood right in front of his teacher. He spent his time dancing, watching intently and sometimes trying to also play the guitar. We tried not to intervene, unless he was actually hitting the guitar (which turned out to be quite a bit). Gavin loved bubble time and didn’t seem to mind that one of his classmates kept giving me hugs and then would sit in my lap.

While Gavin napped in the afternoon, I made this chili recipe. Y’all, it was really good. I’ve tried probably a handful of chili recipes and this one was, by far, my absolute favorite. Our neighbors asked for the recipe, because they said it made their own recipe pale in comparison. Know what I loved about this recipe? It was truly a one-pot recipe. None of this browning meat and setting to the side. Nope. Each step involves adding more stuff to the pot. And the seasoning is the perfect amount of heat without requiring the fire department to put out the 4-alarm fire in my mouth! I wish I could share taste with you through this blog, because it was really that good!

We had our neighbors come over for the Superbowl. I made nachos along with the chili. Our neighbors made a cookie-in-a-brownie dessert (scrumptious!). I thought the game was excellent, the commercials were meh (though there were some good ones – my favorites are below) and the Madonna halftime show was not so great (I’ve seen her in concert and all I can say is the FCC has ruined the creativity behind these shows). But, let’s end on a positive note, shall we? My favorite commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn3mktl30iw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUFSHzT2xuY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9L-8372A3w

Oh, and a little eye candy cannot be ignored. Thank you H&M.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQb_-OY7Z0E

If you watched the Superbowl, what were your favorite moments of the night?

After seeing this recipe, I requested to make cinnamon rolls for our family gatherings. It started on Friday night with a trip to the grocery store to pick up some much needed staples. It was absolute madness at the store (guess I’m not the only last-minute shopper), so I grabbed a balloon to bribe Gavin into good behavior. It worked – and has provided for endless moments of excitement at home. Though, later in the weekend when we went back to the grocery store, he was excitedly reaching for another balloon – I’ve created a monster!

I’ve got to admit, I don’t usually make such complicated recipes. It’s not that this recipe was hard to follow (in fact, instructions that include comments like, the more butter oozing out the sides the better, well, those are instructions I can get behind!). But, there were a lot of steps and a lot of waiting between the steps (let the dough rise, let the dough cool, etc.). I wound up making the dough on Friday night and actually putting together the rolls on Saturday morning (which meant, I was the only one up at 5am to ensure we got out of the house on time).

Saturday was a long day for us. We went to Sweets’ parents house in the morning (they live about 45 minutes away) for a family get-together, gift exchange, brunch. We also committed to going to church and another gathering with family friends that evening … so, we wound up staying in the suburbs for the day. It was fun, but exhausting, especially since I was fighting with the ickies. Nevertheless, Gavin had fun with his cousins and playing with toys circa 1980 when Sweets was a kid (and yes, Gavin is rocking out in an Addidas track suit!).

Sunday, I woke up feeling like hell. I was up coughing for much of the night, my head hurt and I just felt rundown from the previous day. Sweets wasn’t feeling all that great, either. So, we cancelled brunch with my family, which really bummed me out as it was the only time over the weekend we devoted to spending time with my side of the family. Sunday afternoon/evening, we were expected at another family gathering in the suburbs. I bailed, but Sweets took Gavin and seemed to have a good time.

Monday was a day of rest for our family. We went grocery shopping. Organized gifts. And planted our butts on the couch for much of the day. It would’ve been glorious if it wasn’t for all of us feeling sick. Sigh.

Speaking of gifts … Sweets got me a sweet new lens for my camera. It’s one I’ve been thinking about getting for months now (probably more like over a year). It’s a fixed distance lens (no zoom), so it means I have to get up and move around if I don’t like how the photo is framed. It’s supposed to be one of the best portrait lenses, so I was excited to play with it. There is definitely a learning curve with this lens and I have only just started playing with it. But, so far, I love that you can focus crisply on your subject and blur pretty much everything behind (even if it’s only a foot behind your subject).

I love how Gavin is standing less than a foot in front of our entertainment center and yet, it’s totally blurred out. There’s no question what I (as the photographer) want you (as the viewer) looking at … my cute son, of course!

Life isn’t always rosey around here. Gavin definitely has his moments. I love the lighting in this photo … and also that his face is in focus, but his body is blurred.

And finally, a photo where I don’t want you focusing on the face. Rather, I want you to see this light-up snowman that Gavin is playing with … I love how his hands are in focus, but his face is blurred away.

Anyway, needless to say, this sick girl has had fun playing with her new toy. Hope y’all had a wonderful holiday celebration. And to those who don’t have to work this week … I’m oh so jealous!!! =)