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Updates for Alice

Dear Alice,

It's been far too long since I wrote to tell you how things are going. In a word, they are: GREAT. You are such a treasure.

At 15 months and some change, you can say Daddy, shoe, doggie, cheese and down. You can kind of say hi, bye bye and up. Generally, you aren't speaking a whole lot of words, but you LOVE to talk! You love holding up books and "reading" whatever is on the page --- minutes and minutes of a foreign language your Daddy and I don't quite understand. We're almost completely convinced that you will skip solitary words and just immediately go to full sentences.

You have such a lovely disposition! Sweet, smiley and social, you are. You give lovely hugs, and sweet kisses - but only if we've had enough alone time for you to be happy with us. You love baths and pools. You are thrilled to see a doggie, but afraid to pet one. You sleep with a froggie, a blankie and a binkie. Your favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs, and you love to eat blueberries more than anything else in this world. If I gave you yogurt and fruit at every meal, you would be one happy camper.

Your most recent discovery is your belly! You love to lift up your shirt (or your daddy's or your mommy's) and point to bellies and belly buttons. It's ridiculously adorable.

Another sweet character trait: you're mildly prissy! You really don't like to get your hands dirty. If your hands have anything on them, you're quick to rub them together to get everything off. It's endearing and mildly concerning. Your daddy and I are trying to figure out how to make sure you don't mind mess.

I will say we have had a rough week because you whine anytime your Daddy or I am in the kitchen preparing food or cleaning dishes. You want our full attention. And we want to give it to you.

We love you, sweet Alice! You are the bestest thing ever!

I love you,

Mommy

Start of the Day

Happiness is not...

Coming home from a dreary, long Monday to find a tired, cranky baby.

To listen to said cranky baby moan in frustration as I made dinner, and as we attempted to eat it.

To spend all your daily allotted time with baby trying to get "other things done," like family fed and apartment straightened.

To cry from your own frustration over the way we must spend our time, and how scarce quality time with baby and husband is.

To just miss your family so much it hurts.

Happiness is...

***************************************************************

And continued...

Work Cont.

We're still working on Phase II of the Make NYC Your Gym campaign, but in the meantime we're enjoying footage from Phase I! Check out this video:

Lifestyles

This week, Michael worked out FOUR times. I worked out TWICE.

This is an absolute miracle!

Alice has been around for well over a year, and I feel like we're only now learning how to reclaim some time for ourselves. It's such a challenge - finding time to squeeze in the gym, or drinks with friends or some alone time - when we are trying to prioritize family dinners and quality time with Alice and (of course) work.

But we're starting to figure it out!! Dropping my Saturday morning job has been a big help, and realizing that one night away a week is okay has been good for me mentally.

Oh balance. How elusive you are!

Girlie

Daddy's Shoes

Summertime

More soon, but we had a great weekend away from the City. So not ready to be back...

Evening

Tonight, I went for a long walk after Alice went to sleep. It felt nice to be out and about, enjoying an unusually cool evening.


And a cutie picture of Alice:

Jake

One of our neighbors died of cancer yesterday.

Jake was an old-school New Yorker. The kind that sits out on the building stoop all summer long, trying to beat the summer heat. The kind that gets to know his neighbors, even if the neighbors might not be that interested in getting to know him. He was an older man who lived with his partner and spoke often, lovingly and with pride about his daughter. He grew up in a different New York, when our neighborhood was more dangerous, poorer, perhaps closer knit.

Jake was always sweet to Alice. He complimented her smiles, and told us that she should be modeling or in movies, as his daughter had been. He was always happy to hear how we were fairing, and certainly felt at ease with telling us about his trials and tribulations. He spoke openly about his battle with HIV and cancer, and reminded me of a different era in the City.

I'm surprised by how sad the news of Jake's death has made me. Sometimes, when he was sitting on the stoop of our building, I would walk around the block one more time to avoid engaging in conversation. Michael & I both discussed how uncomfortable he could make us. But he was always good at heart, well meaning , and trying to connect to the people who lived right next door. He was good to Alice, and therefore good to us.

While Jake died, and his partner lost his love, I cooked dinner. Our family ate together. We complained about our days and fought off annoyances and went about daily life. We lived while he died. His passing is just another reminder of how connected we all are, how grateful we should be to have good, kind people around us. How New York can bring you closer to strangers than most anywhere else.

Watercolors

While we wait for our new nanny to start, we have been rotating who gets to stay at home with the kids. Anna was with all the girls yesterday, and did an amazing job! Here are A & N painting:




And one more of Alice outside:

A New Day

Before 9 AM ---

• Enjoyed a brief period of about 5 minutes when Alice smiled big, happy smiles to be up and awake and with Michael & I.
• Experienced multiple meltdowns anytime I put Alice down, the biggest when I went to get a shower.
• Had 2 potential nannies call to cancel their interviews today.
  
• While making her breakfast, Alice grabbed for the eggs, tossing 3 down on the ground in the kitchen. I spent the next few minutes cleaning while Alice wailed from her highchair.
• In no time flat, Alice ate all 3 scrambled eggs.
• And, with egg all over her face, hands and highchair, Alice insisted on holding a blankie.
  

Nap time for Alice. At 9 AM.

Morning!

Perhaps it is my post-vacation energy, or life less stressful thanks to the end of the BeFitNYC campaign. But this week I've had insanely enjoyable pre-work mornings.

For a while now, I've been waking up at 6, giving me about 2 hours and change before I need to leave for work. This week, in that time, I've managed to fix lunches, enjoy some quiet time drinking my first cup of tea and reading the paper, get Alice fed and dressed and do some prep work for our family dinners. It has been absolutely wonderful!

Now, if only I could figure out how to add a workout to that routine! Some pictures from this morning:

Tour

This afternoon, we took a walk around Long Island City to find a farmers market hidden in a warehouse. It was beautiful, and offered Ground Cherries (delicious!) and white cucumbers (another new veggie that I enjoyed). It was a great stroll!

Vacation

Oh sweet & glorious vacation!! Today is the final day of our lovely two weeks away from our daily grind. We spent the first ten days in Spain, traveling with Henry & my mom. We came home for a couple of days to do laundry, eat some home cooking, and then headed down to Virginia to spend time with Michael's parents and my dad. We've had a lovely break - quality time as a family, slow(-er) mornings, play time with Alice, dates with M and a very needed escape from the City.

Mom, Henry, M, A & Me in front of our Cruise Ship,
Grandeur of the Seas

Alice sitting on the Monumento a Colon
in Barcelona, waiting to visit Uncle James

Date Night in Ibiza

A & M in Malaga

A in Malaga

A & Me, waiting for dinner on the boat

Us, on Formal Night

A, with Grandma & Grandpa in Virginia

A wearing Great-Grandma's big girl shoes!