Dentist

Today we visited the dentist.  Although I really enjoy going to the dentist, I really do...it was the last item on my long list of things to do when we moved to NYC so we were a few months behind our normal 6 month appt.  Anyway, leading up to today we talked Mikey thru a typical dentist visit.  It was his first time going to the dentist.  We practiced by opening our mouth and looking at it with flashlights, and talking about what would happen.  Once at the dentist, we were the first of the day and had the place to ourselves, I went first, followed by Scott then Mikey.  Mikey watched with interest when Scott and I were getting our cleanings.

They also had an available cleaning room that allowed him to get acquainted with the chair before it was his turn.  When it was his turn, he sat and opened his mouth to allow the dental hygienist to count his 20 teeth, they also stuck the small mirror in his mouth and ended the exam by giving him a timer, a pencil with teeth all over it and also a tooth brush for him and Katie.  The dentist said it's okay that they didn't clean his teeth this first time...especially since we brush his teeth very good twice a day. The first trip was good, he didn't cry, and the dentist said he's the perfect age for a first time visit...right around 3.  Next time I think he'll actually be able to sit still long enough for them to clean.

Making sure Daddy is okay during his cleaning.

Playing on the chair.

Laying dow while watching Happy Feet.

Wiping Daddy's mouth. So sweet.

August Instagram Dump

Here are photos I've taken with Instagram in August. Hope you enjoy!

Hot

Sweet moment.

Loves running.

So cute.

He wrestled it away from her.

Swing time.

Birthday Girl.

I love when he holds my hand.

Enraptured by the sprinkler.

Our typical evening walks.

Looking over the east river.

Doing a little dog watching.

Sleeping on way to Nana and Papa.

Birthday Girl with Papa.

Knew he would do this with his cars eventually.

Blueberries were a great deal.  Had to make some muffins to use them up!

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies.

Craft idea from Pinterest.

Cool bike we saw near a park.

A bakery closed for 6 weeks for vacation.  Who knew a business could close for 6 weeks in NYC without going under.

A new favorite snack of mine.

4 loads of laundry in 90 mins. Love it!

The air mattress is always a good time!

Dentist time.

Sushi, fresh corn, potato crisps and roasted brussel sprouts with garlic aeoli for dinner. Delicious.

Mikey time with Mommy. Love him.

Folding sheets a certain way opened up another shelf in my closet. Woot woot.

Time for Labor Day dinner.

Busy Month

For August being a pretty dead month in NYC, it sure was a lively and busy one for us.  We had a jammed packed month with tons of play dates, trips, and sight seeing.  With school for Mikey starting in September and cooler temps coming we've been outside as much as possible, going out morning, afternoon and after dinner.  Looking back at my calendar for August, we have had something going on pretty 6 out of 7 days of the week.

I love that we have so many great friends in the city already who love to do things and get together as much as we do!

We have a walker!

Katie just turned one on August 5th and has been taking the odd step here and there.  Over the following 3 weeks she has been taking roughly 3 or 4 steps, until today when she took a whopping 12 steps in a row straight across the living room into the dining room nook.  We couldn't believe it.  It's like she just decided to walk one day.  She has a huge smile and you can tell she is so proud of herself!

I sure do love the extra pitter patter of little feet on the floor.  I have a better video to upload later but here is a short video for now.

Mikey all boy update!

2 more months until our little big boy is 3.  Seriously? 3 already?!  Where has the time gone.  He is one very sweet, considerate boy who loves any type of vehicle, especially emergency response vehicles.  NYC is the place for him with all the sites and sounds.  He loves sirens, lights flashing, playing on the playgrounds, playing in sandboxes.  He waves to policemen and firemen and they wave back and have even put on their siren and flashing lights just for him! He shares/trades his toys with others, and understands the concept of taking turns.  He loves to wrestle and rough house with Daddy (I think this is his favorite thing to do).  He talks nonstop now and has us both in fits of laughter multiple times a day with the things he says.  He likes building with blocks and legos and reading books with lots of toys/cars in them.  Richard Scarry books are his favorite, and he loves searching for Goldbug!

He also loves farms, tractors, hay bales, his contruction trucks, watching videos on the ipad (he can work it better than Scott and I), talking of going to Nana and Papa's house.  He shows concern for Katie and still calls her Katie baby.  :)

He has started playing on his own, using his imagination and talking through things.  He has become a picky eater but loves apples, applesauce and watermelon.  Any other fruit, I have to put in a smoothy for him to eat.  We are still potty training him and it's going well.  Our bedtime routine is simple and he doesn't complain.  He loves to snuggle with us in the morning and get extra snuggles on the weekends with all of us in bed.  He holds our hand automatically when crossing the street and says please and thank you without me having to tell him now. 

We love him more than we can possibly put into words.

He makes car sounds whilte pushing them on his rug.

Hug time with Katie.

They love to hug each other.

Mikey rough with Katie.

Love him!

Dinner fun with friends!

I had a few friends over for dinner tonight. Scott had to fly to LA (yes, right where Hurrican Issac was headed) for a quick overnight trip to present to a client, and a few other KPMG dads were traveling and working late so it was a perfect night for a get together.

The kids loved eating on the patio and running around after their sugar rush.  We had homemade pizza for the kids and tuscan bean soup and salad for the adults.  We also celebrated Ashley's birthday with a beautiful cake from Two little red hens and brownies. The cake looked like it came from the top of a wedding cake. It was so gorgeous and the frosting was lite but flavorful. Any reason to have a sweet and I'm all over it!  Thanks Mary and Jen for the desserts!

Kids enjoying dinner on the lounge chairs.

The only time he's sitting still is when he's eating!

Pretty cake.

:)

Ashley, Ryan, Andrew

Katie even enjoyed crawling around the patio.

CP, Victoria Gardens, Street Fair and Levain Bakery

We spent yet another 3 day weekend with Scott and had a very busy weekend.  Scott is taking off every Friday in August and September to use up some vacation, and we are loving having him to ourselves for an extra day during the week.

On Friday, 8/24 we headed to our usual stomping grounds Central Park for a leisurely walk.  We had planned on going to Victoria Gardens, in Central Park however it was crowded, hot, expensive and not quite suitable for our kids age so we ended up playing at a near by playground and took a spin on the Carousel.

 

 

On Saturday and Sunday we went to a street fair on the upper west side.  They had lots of street vendors selling everything under the sun, food, books, clothing, toys, massages, etc.  The kids jumped in the jumpy house and were sooo tired once we got home. We had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. Sorry! We also strolled down to Levain Bakery for some yummy cookies. Okay, yummy is an understatement.  Think 6 oz. of  crunchy, gooey, warm, moist, deliciousness.  Complete heaven!  Our friends sent us a package of cookies and we were hooked.  We just had to go check out the bakery ourselves.  Thanks for the addiction Mary and Dennis!  Thank goodness we live about 2 miles from the bakery.  I'm not sure I know of many people who would walk 2 miles just for a cookie!

 

We're here!

Line out the door.  You can see Scott's bald head right under the B, thru the window, waiting his turn.

 



NYC Tour

Not knowing exactly how long we will be in NYC we want to take full advantage of our new city we now call home.  I've just added another item to my to do list and it's as follows:

• Do at least one thing in every manhattan neighborhood.  I'm limiting this to the manhattan borough for now.

With the fall weather coming shortly, I thought this is the perfect goal to have.  Maybe we'll try to do one thing a week or every other week.  I haven't figured out all the details yet.

Here's the list of neighborhoods we'll be checking off. (I know neighborhoods vary depending on which map you look at but this should give us a good start!) We have already even crossed off a few!  (I love making lists, and crossing things off!)

• Chelsea
• East Village
• Gramercy Park
• Greenwich Village
• Hamilton Heights
• Harlem
• Hell's Kitchen
• Lower East side
• Lower Manhattan
• Midtown East
• Midtown West
• Morningside Heights
• Murry Hill
• No Ho
• So Ho
• TriBeCa
• Upper East Side
• Upper West Side
• Washington Heights
• West Village

Need Brother

Tonights conversation went a little something like this.....

During our wind down time before bed, Mikey out of the blue said "need brother."

Where did he pick that up?!  I said do you want a brother or another sister and he said "brother."

Then he said "Daddy, get brother over there" and pointed vaguely at something.

Maybe someday we'll have another sibling for Mikey, however we can't guarantee that it will be the brother he's asking for.

Skittles it is!

Mikey has been using the potty off and on this past summer.  We just switched our treat reward to Skittles and I think it's done the trick.  The past week Mikey has been using the potty 3 to 4 times a day, and has even been telling us when he's had to go!  Wahoo.  I know the doc. said kids are typically ready between 2 1/2 and 3 and I think Mikey is definitely ready now. :)

One night last week I was tempting Mikey to sit on the potty before getting in the bath tub and to entice him I sat Katie on it and told Mikey that Katie even goes pee pee on the potty and sure enough when I took her off, there was pee in the potty!  I couldn't believe it!  She sure surprised me!  I'm just chalking that up to timing!  Maybe, I can train them both at the same time.  If I throw him on, I might as well throw her on too. 

Jewel Bako and Puddin' and.....

Date night, is always looked forward to and much needed.  Tonight we went to Jewel Bako that we saw on Unique Eats. We skipped dessert there to walk a few blocks to another Unique Eats place called Puddin by Clio.  This was the B.E.S.T pudding I have E.V.E.R had!  Rich, delicious, flavorful, thick, creamy and everything that boxed pudding is not!  Everyone here was noticably happy and the conversations were upbeat!  We happily ate our puddin on the bench and did some people watching (one of my favorite things to do).

It's made to order.  I ordered the vanilla pudding with salty carmel sauce and Scott ordered chocolate with toasted marshmallow topping. 

Afterwards, since it was still semi-early, 9:30 ish, we stumbled into St. Marks Ale House for one drink and then finished the evening by walking from the East Village, thru Stuyvesant Town into Murray Hill before hailing a taxi home.  Although it wasn't a super late date night for us, we came home happy and refreshed, and best of all we still got a good night sleep!

Inside sexy jewel bako.  It had hand carved bamboo that was curved to mimic the ceiling.

Door to enter.

Dessert time!

A quick pic in front of puddin.