Food

I've been on a bit of an eating marathon the past two days. Anything that is tasty and not nailed down is ending up in my tummy. I need something like this to slow me down!

Sometimes, I heart NY

Every so often New York does something that I just love. Yesterday was one of those experiences. Our friend Ethan DJs with actual records at Heather's Bar in Manhattan on Sunday evenings every couple of months. We've known about this for nearly a year, but hadn't been able to attend one until yesterday. And it was really the perfect one for us to start with as he was playing swing and big band music :)

The bar is in the East Village, one of the hipper (and therefore more expensive- though certainly not at the top of that list) neighborhoods in Manhattan. It is also kinda grungy because, let's face it, while NY has cleaned up a lot in the past decade it's still a pretty filthy city. So we're walking to the bar and it's gray and cold and there's trash all around and some boarded up windows and graffiti and also commerce and college kids.

Speaking of kids, did I mention that we had ours with us? Cause that is what is cool about 78rpm Sundays and Heather's as far as I'm concerned- it's a family (and family friendly) place. When we got there Ethan and Amanda were setting up and their 3 year old son was racing up and down in the bar and climbing on the bar stools. Our kids joined right in (except the climbing part. They aren't climbers). Soon HeatherTheOwner arrived with her nephew (nearly 4) and the next time I blinked we'd been joined by a 1 year old and a 2 year old. More little kids and babies arrived as the event progressed. The kids danced, played outside on the sidewalk (under the watchful eye of at least one parent), got Shirley Temples and orange juice at the bar (Dre, the bartender, introduced Zion and Liel to the joy of OJ with a splash of cranberry juice an a slice of lime), and painted pictures at a table right in the middle of things. When they (and we) got hungry we ordered arepas from a nearby restaurant and they were delivered to the bar. Z and L snarfed those right up, lemme tell ya! Towards the end of the evening our friend Vanessa stopped by (thanks to some prodding on my part- she apparently had a pukey evening on 5" heels the night before and wasn't sure she felt up to an outing at a drinking establishment. But, about 5 minutes after arriving she was at the bar ordering a soothing soothing Guiness so clearly it all worked out). So chalk one up for "I heart NY".

Robert and Vanessa.



Ethan and Amanda.



Liel and M playing in the bar.



Zion playing on the sidewalk (friends not pictured, lol).



Me with the kids, looking awesome. Sigh! :)

Soothing

This morning Liel jumped up and down and all around me. I asked her if she was practicing her dancing (we're going to a swing event this evening DJ'd by a friend of ours in Manhattan), and she said, "No! I am hopping around because I am so happy that you are my mommy!"

I felt a lot better after that :) (And the really yummy artisan-ish Earl Gray tea I got from my awesome Bitchcake swap partner didn't hurt, either.)

Now if I could just do something about the gray today... and yeah, I know that yesterdray was gorgeous and sunny. I didn't say I'd totally finished whining you know ;)

It burns

I'm burned out. I'm tired. I'm emotionally drained. I know it'll come back, but right now I do NOT have much parenting mojo. I want to be away.

It burns.

My Juno

I finished my Juno Regina stole! In fact, I finished it about a week ago. But then I had to block it (that's getting it wet and pinning it out flat to dry. Knitted lace does not look pretty until it has been blocked!). And get Robert to take pictures. He's really not a sufficiently enthusiastic photographer of my knitting. I know its kind of lame to complain since he DOES take pictures for me, but really- he clearly dislikes the task. Perhaps if I modeled it nude? Except for the knitted garment? But then I wouldn't want to post the pics on Ravelry or my blog. So I guess I'll have to stick with unenthusiastic :)

And with that, here's Juno!

Once I start...

I can't stop! More pictures. Of Zion as a newborn,



of the shoes we bought this weekend at the Fluevog sale,






and of me and Liel on the train.

Baby Big Boy part 2

Now with pictures! At Rika's request :)

Here's my boy on the day of his birth:



And 2 days old, relaxing.



And here his was yesterday, handing out his special birthday snack at preschool:



Dressed up in his new armor:



And from this weekend, pushing his sister in the swings:

Baby Big Boy

Yep. Today is my babybigboy's birthday. Zion is 5! He's in bed now (playing) but he told us that he had "a very happy day". This morning he got a Thing action figure (that's one of the Fantastic Four for you non-comic book fans), then went to school. Robert came at snack time with banana bread that I'd baked this morning (Liel and I were supposed to go too but Liel's cold was rather nasty so we decided not to expose Zion's entire class) and stayed to play and read a story to the class at storytime.

After school Zion's friend Johnny came over and they played for nearly 3 1/2 solid hours. What's extra awesome about Zion + Johnny is that they play SO well together- no supervision or intervention needed. And they have tons of fun.

When Johnny left Zion opened the rest of gifts, all of which were hits. And then, finally, it was the moment he's been waiting for...well, for a long time. We sat down together and watched Star Wars. We told him he could watch it when he turned 5, and he's been eagerly anticipating it, especially as his birthday approached. I'm not sure how much of it he got, but it was probably a fair bit since he's a bright kid and I narrated some of the less clear parts to him. I know it's incredibly geeky, but sitting snuggled up with my kids (yes, Liel got to watch it at age 3. There are benefits to being the younger sibling sometimes, what can I say?) as they heard the Star Wars music and saw the words scrolling across the screen for the first time (I read them aloud for them)? SO AWESOME. Loved it.

We had hamburgers (Zion's choice) for dinner, which I felt was appropriate since that was the first food I ate after his birth 5 years ago. His birth feels like it has been more present in my mind this year than in others. I'm not sure why- the nice round number 5? Or maybe because he's really such a person now. A person who understands and looks forward to his birthday. A person who, when he heard Obi-Wan's disembodied voice for the first time after his run in with Darth Vader's lightsaber, said, "that's his spirit talking". A person who was willing to share some of his brand new Star Wars figures with his little sister. A person who, in short, is just really bright and sweet (mostly. but you know, we're none of us perfect...) and fun to be around. 5 years ago I was exhausted and wobbly and bleeding and amazed at the baby I had grown, and now...now he watches Star Wars and tells me his birthday cake is beautiful and complains about brushing his teeth. 5 years ago he changed my world, and now I am amazed, daily, at the boy I've grown and love.

PS- here a description of Zion by one of his friends. "Well, first of all he is 5. He likes to fight so I'll get us some swords. He likes to wrestle so we can wrestle down the hill, but you'll have to catch us at the bottom. He is fun. I'll introduce you to him."

Oh weekend my weekend

First an update on Liel. I talked to one of her teachers about helping Liel learn to join other kid's games. She was very receptive and reassuring because, frankly, she's awesome. And I arranged a playdate! Kind of more with my friend (the mama) then Liel's (the son) but hey. And Liel was pleased when I told her Nicholas was coming over after school. As if that weren't enough, she was actually playing with other kids on the playground when I got to school for pickup! So, that was all pretty good. I know she'll learn. This is just a first for us cause Zion's learning to play issue was about learning to compromise- he'd rather have played by himself than change his game AT ALL. Different kids different challenges, I know :)

On Sunday we're having a birthday party for Zion. He wasn't interested in having a friend party (this was the first year we'd offered and he'd never asked) because he's really really excited about watching Star Wars on his birthday. He thought having a party might get in the way of his One True Goal, you see. But, he did want to see Aunt Giselle and Uncle Kenny so they're coming up for blueberry grunt and whatever else my big boy thinks would be tasty.

I didn't have any particular plans for tomorrow. Until my friend Julie told me about the NYC Fluevog sale. It's a one weekend sale, and they're digging out all the leftover vintage fluevogs from storage and selling them cheap. Resistance was futile. Bright and early tomorrow morning Robert and the kids and I are headed down to Manhattan for shoes, gelato and candy. Probably lunch, too. I'm meeting a knitting friend at the shoe store and we're going to see a couple other friends too.

Speaking of knitting, I'm on the 6th chart of Juno! Realllly hoping I can finish this weekend...

Social anxiety

I don't really have social anxiety :) But I am feeling kind of socially awkward tonight so you get to be the lucky recipients of my stressed out typing!

Liel is the 2nd youngest kid in her preschool class (the youngest is a week younger than she, the oldest nearly a year older). Her teachers told us that her interactive play skills are lagging behind her classmates, though they are not inappropriate for her age (cause, again, she's so much younger than many/most of them). But the thing is...Liel can and does play interactively. At home. With Zion. But at school she is shy. So shy. And it doesn't help that her tentative early attempts to play with her classmates were, in some cases, met with preschool hostilty. Nothing personal, I'm sure, but it was very upsetting for her.

So, she likes school. Or rather she likes parts of it. She loves the crafts, and painting, and playing with the puzzles (by herself) and building with blocks (by herself) and running around on the playground (by herself). But aside from a handful of days when she's had successful social interactions with her classmates any mention of "friends" or "playing with friends" causes her to go quiet and snuffle on Fluffy.

Tonight she told me, in a sad little voice, that she wasn't going to play with anyone at school tomorrow. I asked her if that was because she was having trouble figuring out how to join in her friends games and she eventually admitted that that was (at least part) of the problem. I was trying to spin it in a way where no one is to blame, see? Anyway, I asked her if she'd like her teachers to help her with that and she said yes. I'm really hoping they can- there are 16 or 17 3-4 year olds in her class and even with 3 adults that's a lot to keep track of.

And Robert pointed out that we should be more proactive here too, because although Liel has been at her preschool for 6 months now she has never had anyone over to play- nor has anyone asked her to come over. Bad mama and daddy. She's more comfortable at home and I think it would help her learn to play with kids at school if she could play with them at home first. And, I must admit, part of me feels a little rejected- for both of us. How come no one wants to set up playdates with us? (Yes, yes, I know I haven't set any up either! But I didn't say it was rational :))

If I try to stay calm about it I know that it took Zion a while to start playing with his classmates at school, too, and to have them over to play and vice versa. Our preschool starts at age 2, but we choose to start our kids at 3, so there is an existing social structure among kids AND parents that we have to negotiate. It took a while in Zion's class, too. Damn Northeasterners. As my friend K says, "In California people will meet you and be like, 'I love you! Let's be best friends. But if you screw with me, I'll hate you forever. But I don't think you will cause you are so sweet!' and in New York people meet you and go, 'You're gonna screw me, aren't you??' and then, a year later, 'Well, I still think you're gonna screw me. But...have a sandwhich.' and finally, "I guess you're not going to screw me. So...we can be friends'." I takes a while.

But it doesn't make me feel better right now. I don't want Liel to feel sad.

YAWN

Kids are in bed. Ah, silence.

It has been an odd week at our house, and will continue to be a bit off kilter for a few more days. On Tuesday night I went out with a friend after the kids were in bed, so R and I didn't hang out that night. On Wednesdays he teaches late so I'm always on my own with the kids- that part was normal. But again, R and I didn't get to hang out. Today R is having dinner with an old friend in Manhattan so...it was just me and the kids again. And R and I won't get to hang out. Tomorrow it's our turn to be helping in Liel's classroom...which really means it's my turn. That's not a crack at Robert at all, but Liel would probably freak the fuck out if he went instead of me. She's in a bit of a mommy phase (tho it does seem to be letting up a bit). Soooo again we won't see each other (and classroom participation days come about once a month for us with 2 kids in the school. So not that often, yk?).

Sunday Robert is giving a talk at a church in Dutchess county, so he'll be gone a chunk of the day. And I'm pretty sure that Monday night is the monthly board meeting for the preschool. Man, I'm tired just thinking about it! And yes, I know I am a total wuss, especially compared to single parents.

Anyway. Sara, my friend Jill got the hat, sorry! Buzz me if you want to talk knitting tho, OK?

There was more. But I forget.

Hats

I haz hat for someone locally! Anyone want a gray-ish purple super soft wool hat? Fresh off the needles, just isn't what I was wanting when I started knitting :) Let me know if I actually knit it for you!

Contest results!

I've added it all up boys and girls, and the results for Contest 09 are in! There were a lucky 13 entries that actually had correct responses.

VAL- 9 correct (or mostly correct) answers!
BECKA- 9 correct (or mostly correct)!

We have a tie! Bec and Val, pls let me know if you prefer the mittens or hat. If you both want the same thing I'll do a random drawing :)

ROBERT - 8 correct

SKYE- 5 correct

DEIRDRE and ROBIN- 4 correct

MEL and SARA- 2 correct

STACIE and MARCIA- 1 correct

And I think that's everyone :) Thanks for playing! And be sure to tune in next year for another (hopefully more frequently updated :P) installment of Blog Contest!