Dec 4: Holiday Mart and Christmas Tree with Milkshakes

This was the first Saturday of the Christmas season. Adam had to work, but I walked the boys over to a holiday market set up by a neighborhood group to showcase local vendors and artisans. It's great for Christmas shopping, but they also had music, craft tables for kids, and ongoing demos of kid music and kid yoga. Jonah wasn't old enough for yoga, but you can see Isaac working on cat-cow in the background. I'd been trying to convince Isaac to try yoga and he hadn't been interested, but he loved this mini-class!

After dinner, we went out to get a Christmas tree. Unlike last year, when it was merely chilly and we sat on the patio at Little Man Ice Cream and enjoyed our cold treats, this time we didn't make it there until dark, and it was very cold. We got our tree and our ice cream and pretty quickly got in the car. But we did stop for a few pictures:

Thanksgiving Trip: New York, day 2 and 3

We came to New York on this weekend for a dinner - a multi-course meal to be prepared at Jane and Greg's apartment by a chef from a very exclusive Italian restaurant in Harlem called Raos. They had kindly invited all of us to join their table for 10, and I was so excited!

But before that, we had all day Saturday to explore the city. My top activity for the boys was FAO Schwarz, which I remembered from childhood as the most amazing toy store in the world.


After a French toast breakfast, we bundled up and put the boys in the stroller.


We walked through Central Park, on a beautiful, overcast, late-fall day.


I couldn't believe all the color still in the leaves.


And I'd forgotten what an incredibly beautiful park this is. On this Saturday, it was full of exercisers, dogs, and parents pushing strollers. I was struck by how many babies seemed to be in New York compared to our last visit. Maybe you see what you're looking for, but I got the feeling that a lot more young families live there by choice now.




We came to the 100-year-old carousel, and Isaac wanted a ride. Jonah stayed with my parents and watched.


Isaac got a little scared once we were on, so we spent most of the time reassuring him. He kept asking "When is it going to stop?"








With some relief, we got off the carousel and put the boys back in the stroller. Time to find some lunch.




And after lunch: the coolest toy store in the world. I've never seen anything like it. Isaac wanted practically every truck and train he saw; Jonah just wanted to play with Dada's sunglasses.


Or peekaboo with my mom.






Jane and I remembered getting to play on the huge piano as kids, and we thought Isaac might like it too. But the format had changed; now there's a show, a long line, and each kid just gets a minute or so. There were so many people waiting that Adam and I walked Jonah home while Isaac stayed with my parents and sisters. They watched the show,


and finally Isaac had a chance to play the piano, but he was too nervous...


Finally, Jane and Taylor convinced him to try it.




Meanwhile, Jonah had reached exhaustion, and so he fell asleep in Adam's arms as we cut back through the park. He was a sweet but heavy load to carry, and unfortunately he used up his nap during the walk...no success when I tried to put him down back at the apartment.

Here is the daytime view from Jane's apartment. You can see the thick trees of the park, mostly brown in the canopy now.






Soon, Isaac showed up, happily carrying a new toy. Jane and Greg had not only taken him on his first taxi ride to get home (exciting!!) but also did what we, as dutiful parents determined not to buy things on a whim, couldn't do - they let him pick out something new. He spent all afternoon and long after that driving his new rescue truck around the floor, loading up the gear, unloading it again.

With the boys playing happily, we left them with my dad while Adam got some work done and the girls of the family took a walk to Lulu Lemon - fun!




By 6pm, the apartment was bustling - my mom and Jane were pulling out the prettiest china and serving dishes, and everyone was setting the table and clearing space for our dinner. There was a rather unfriendly chef in the kitchen, concentrating on appetizers but not very interested in conversation. He later opened up with a glass of wine and my parents' charms, and he regaled us with one story after another about the restaurant and his 2nd job - cooking for the Nets (right? someone correct me if I have the wrong team).

Meanwhile, dinner was delicious, and there was plenty of wine to go with it, thanks to my dad. Jonah went down easily, thanks to his poor nap earlier, and Jane had Isaac laughing even though we kept him up too late.

My parents and Taylor left the next day, but we four had one more day to see Jane and Greg and explore the city. We walked to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs, along with lots of other lifelike animal displays. The boys normally do great in restaurants, but by dinnertime, they were tired and over-traveled and were quite a challenge. Isaac was mostly just whiny, but Jonah was throwing a little food and trying to get people's attention by yelling at them...But we still had a wonderful dinner that night at one of the city's best Indian restaurants.

On Monday, there was time to walk through Times Square and marvel at the lights and billboards and screens everywhere...Poor Jonah fell asleep again, in my arms this time, while Adam pushed Isaac in the stroller. Below is Jonah on our last morning in New York.


I'd never thought I could live in such a big city for long, or raise kids in one, but New York surprised me on this trip. I kept looking at the strollers passing us and thinking, that could be us. Not that I could easily give up Denver, and I'm sure the narrow skies and city cold and dirt and crowds would wear on me, but this time, New York seemed liveable, beautiful, and it had so much to my liking - 2 farmers' markets within walking distance, gorgeous old buildings everywhere with intricate brick and stonework, the cultured wilderness of a masterful urban park, and of course the food...

Isaac was going to miss New York too. It was fun to see how much he enjoyed a taste of big city life.

The night we got home, I lay in bed with Isaac and talked to him about what we'd seen. I wanted to hear what he thought, so I asked him what he liked best about the trip. He said: "I didn't like the flight, but I just really liked security."

Trying not to smile too much, I asked why he liked security. "I just really liked it."

Okay, not what I was expecting...I asked him what he liked best about New York. "I liked staying in the apartment. "

And what he didn't like about New York? "I don't have something that I didn't like at New York."

What he liked best about Damascus? "Um...I liked seeing Gigi. "
Anything didn't like about Damascus? "No."

And that is Isaac's summary of a great trip.

Thanksgiving Trip: New York

We drove into New York at sunset. Jonah had slept most of the way, but the boys played happily in the backseat for the last 45 minutes while Adam and I talked quietly in the front. More and more often as we approached the city, Isaac asked: "Are we in New Yawk?...Is this New Yawk?" I don't know how he ended up pronouncing it like that, but it was adorable and sounded just like my Aunt Ellen.

We showed him how quickly the farmfields change to dense housing, then the double-decker George Washington bridge looming before us that would take us into the city. We told him - our boy who loves to go "downtown" - how New York was like one big downtown. He watched everything, fascinated.

Then he fell asleep as we drove through part of Spanish Harlem with its flurry of people and blinking lights and honking cars that crept past it all, red light to red light. Then the Hudson in the glow of sunset and city lights, with admirers on park benches and runners on footpaths silhouetted before it - the boys missed that too, but Adam and I took it in as we made our way to Jane and Greg's place.

We'd heard about the view from their apartment, but I was still in awe as we stepped through the door and faced a wall of windows bright with the shimmering lights of hundreds of skyscrapers, divided far below by a long, double red line of taillights.

A quick tour, change of clothes, then we were off to dinner at Nobu. Stepping out onto the streets of New York was a particular thrill for a little boy who loves "downtown" and all the vehicles that go with it. Cars, buses, taxis, sirens, plus the blur of activity and lights and such a cross-section of humanity packed into a small area. Exciting, but overwhelming too. Another new thrill was the subway, which we rode to dinner. It was such a big deal that he had to concentrate very hard as he took it all in.



Jonah, meanwhile, seemed to notice only that we were NOT in a car. He was very happy about that, as he chugged his milk and grinned at BaBop.





My dad might have been the first person Jonah really trusted aside from Adam and me. When he'd picked him up out of the car just after we'd arrived, Jonah wrapped his arms around him and gave him a long hug. In the subway, he eventually left me and asked BaBop to hold him.


At dinner, we were too busy eating, drinking, laughing, and playing with the boys to take any pictures. They both loved the food too - Isaac had a pile of empty edamame pods next to him that probably equaled his own bowl. He also loved the fried rock shrimp, and both boys ate salmon and 2 bowls of sticky rice.

When we got off the subway and came back out onto the street, Isaac discovered the vents in the sidewalk. If you look down, you can see the trains speeding by below as they hurry in and out of the station.


Isaac was fascinated.


He stayed in this position for a while.




Finally we had to pull him away.


This cell phone shot looks like an abstract painting, but you can see that Isaac was enveloped in the love and special attention of his aunts right away.


It was also pretty cool that we had to ride an elevator on a regular basis. Isaac was the official button-pusher.


This was our first time sleeping all in the same room, and I'd been a little worried about the boys waking up. But it worked out with ease, and we were happy that Jane and Greg had an extra bedroom, especially once we saw our amazing view. Here is Isaac settling in with some light bedtime reading.


With the lights out, I lay my sleeping Jonah in the borrowed pack-and-play and marveled at the soft glow that filled the room. Out our window - a thousand nightlights.

Thanksgiving Trip: Damascus

This was an exciting Thanksgiving, as we got to spend the holiday in Damascus with Grandma, BooPa, GG, Uncle Rob and Aunt Kelly - and then the weekend after in New York City with Jane and Greg, Taylor and DeeDa and BaBop. So much wonderful family time, plus the stark contrast of beautiful, quiet, rural Pennsylvania with the chaos of one of the most exciting cities on earth.

Isaac was excited. He entertained himself pretty well on the airplane, and when he started to get bored, I pulled out some pipe cleaners. Of course, I'd been creative enough to bring them but was at a loss for what to do with them when the time came...Luckily, Adam used them to build a super cool propeller plane that Isaac flew all over our little row.



We picked up GG at her retirement home outside of Philly, stopped for pizza, then drove to Damascus in our rental car. We pulled up the driveway in the dark after a beautiful moonlit drive through the eastern Pennsylvania hills and farmland.

Inside the house, Margie and Bob had created a special room just for Isaac. They told him he was "camping out," and so he had an inflatable mattress to sleep on, a child-sized tent set up nearby, and a little projector that shone stars on the ceiling to brighten up the dark rural night. Isaac adored it.

The boys worked off their traveling energy by rolling around on the mattress and in the tent, giggling and squealing, and so the first night's sleep away from home went well.

The boys loved GG, and though she couldn't often understand them without some translation, Isaac always had a lot to tell her. The two of them read books together on the sofa, while Jonah provided comic entertainment for us all.

On Thanksgiving night, Isaac was ready to run around the house when GG called him over to read. At first he said he didn't want to, but I told him that we were leaving tomorrow and would have to say goodbye to everyone, and could he go sit with GG and give her some snuggles since he wouldn't see her for a long time. He listens to us less and less lately, and I thought it was a lost cause. But our dear little man walked over to the sofa and snuggled against her and stayed for probably half an hour while she read him books. It's no chore to spend time with GG - she's a fun, energetic and overall amazing lady - but Isaac is only 3, and I was proud of him.



The boys loved to play together in Jonah's bed too. We caught them in a quiet moment as they were both sitting in the pack-and-play, reading books to themselves.






It was one of the best Thanksgivings we've had as a family. The boys were adorable - affectionate, talkative, alternating between crazy excited and sweetly mellow - full of antics. Isaac spent almost an hour one night running the circle around the downstairs of the house, saying "CHOO-CHOO!" - he was the "fast train."

The food was homemade and delicious. Rob made onion soup, I made my sweet potatoes from home, Kelly did pies and we made dressing together. Margie did the turkey, mashed potatoes, spinach, red cabbage. GG made her special gravy, and she pulled out two old bottles of good wine that she'd found in her storage compartment. We opened one with dinner, vintage 1993, not knowing how it had aged, and it was incredible - pure Bordeaux with that unmistakable earthy undertone and ferrous tint to the liquid.

Both boys LOVED the sweet potatoes. I was proud. Isaac asked for more, and later when I asked what he liked at dinner, he said "sweet potatoes, peas." Jonah stuffed in one bite after the other, even before I let him have some of the topping too. I had to get a heaping second serving to feed him more and still get enough myself. I must say, they were extra good this year.

Isaac ate: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, a few bites of turkey (forced), peas, lots of applesauce, and pumpkin pie.
Jonah ate: sweet potatoes, 1 bite of mashed potatoes, some peas, applesauce, a good serving of butternut squash, and later 1 piece of apple pie and some bread.

GG is pretty amazing. 93 years old, with matter-of-fact optimism and such energy in her voice. And as always, bustling in the kitchen, cleaning up anything you set down before you can blink. If you want to save your cup, you'd better hide it. And clearing the table after dinner, washing dishes, putting things away. I don't know how she does it. We adore her.

This trip has been so much fun. One of the best times we've had here. It's been so easy. We were so touched by how Margie and Bob set up Isaac's special room, and he was so excited to sleep there because of their efforts - rather than trying to come sleep with us, as he has in other new places. And besides that, the house was filled with toys and books of the classic, quality kind. Big bright cardboard blocks, Legos, that awesome red vinyl tunnel on the living room floor, children's stories and magazines, a xylophone. There was even a bag of trucks that we didn't get to until the last day - including some treasures like an old John Deere tractor that Margie had played with as a child. And Margie isn't tied to her house at all - if something would be easier a different way, she has no problem rearranging the furniture. Again and again, if need be. It's like a big playhouse.

Bob has a beautiful ease with the boys. He scoops them up and carries them around, and I've seen Isaac sitting in his lap and leaning on him while they play. He and Isaac were laughing and having a great time playing ball on the kitchen floor yesterday. Isaac loves him, and Jonah will too, though for now he just finds him very interesting.

Thanksgiving night, as we lay in the dark, I told Isaac I'd be sad to leave here tomorrow. He said, "I'm going to keep you safe. I'm going to take care of you." The beginning of a dear habit - since then, that is his response whenever I tell him I miss someone or am feeling sad.

After telling me out of nowhere, "I'm KIND of not nice to rattlesnakes" (ha - but huh?), we moved on to what a lucky boy he is. I told him that he was lucky for so many reasons, but one was because he has so many people who love him. I said that Mama and Dada and Jonah love him so much. He said "I love Mama and Dada. And I love Jonah." And then he said the same about GG, Grandma, BooPa, DeeDa, BaBop, Jane, Greg and Taylor.