Brunch

My favorite meal. I love brunch. It makes me happy.

I was a little concerned to leave Austin and Flip Happy Crepes for the summer, but we stumbled upon a gem of a place yesterday called Nook. What a delight. Yes, it was a tiny restaurant - I think the max occupancy is 28, but it was fantastic. Greg had Eggs Benedict and I had potato pancakes with sour cream and salmon. Yum, yum, yum. The coffee was excellent, the service was excellent, (we apparently stumbled in at just the right time to snag a 4 top table), the food was incredible... what a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Today, we ventured to another little joint on restaurant row. (Did I mention I'm going to gain 10 pounds this summer living at the corner of restaurant row??) We stopped in today at Galaxy Diner. We were greeted promptly, and the hostess was great about helping us stow the stroller and bringing out a highchair to the lovely little patio... but that's about where the excitement stopped. The food was ok, the prices were ok, the coffee was ok - but nothing really stood out. The funny part of the morning was that the family sitting next to us noticed Greg's A&M ring and that got us all talking. The daughter (who looks about my age-ish) lives here in the city and her parents were visiting from Dallas. Ha. Actually Richardson. Their other daughter lives in Plano and takes their grandchild to the Gymboree right next to my parent's house. It's a small world. I didn't ask their names, but I'm sure we probably know some of the same people....

But back to brunch... hee hee... When we left the diner, we stopped by Amy's Breads - which was hopping with a line out the door and almost around the block! I picked up a couple sticky buns for tomorrow morning, a blueberry muffin and a black and white cupcake which was dessert tonight. The cupcake was delish and I'm guessing by the line out the door, the place is good. I may have to go back during the week to pick up some of their breads. Thankfully, no Atkins diet for me! We've found all these places thus far just by walking out the door and walking a block or two. Here's another link to the Amy's Bread homepage. I have a feeling we'll definitely be back to Nook and Amy's and who knows where else.

Mixed Emotions

I'm torn.

I'm petrified about sending Atticus to daycare tomorrow but at the same time, I'm a little excited about the quiet it will bring. That makes me feel guilty. I'm sure I'll be in tears in the morning. I'm going to go with Greg early tomorrow so that I can spend some time with him before coming back to the apartment to work. And - Greg's mentor boss partner dude is back in town and will most likely take him to lunch tomorrow which means I'll get baby lunch duty from 12:30 to 1:30. I love that our apartment is literally a 2 minute walk from the daycare facility. That may very well save my sanity.

I will miss hearing his giggles in the other room, but I think it'll be good for him to get a little social interaction. There are only a couple other infants that use the daycare full time, so it's really more of an extended play date with a one or two friends rather than a big crowded day care. I'm sure I'll be more of a mess than Atticus.

I'll update everyone tomorrow.

I Don't Want to Grow Up

Well, I didn't make it over to Rockefeller Plaza this morning (it was drizzly rainy and well, I just wasn't awake and dressed in time). But - I did watch Taylor Swift on tv and I'm pretty impressed with her. She's only 19, was the top selling artist of 2008, wrote or cowrote all of her songs on both albums... is on speaking terms with her parents, best friend, etc and hasn't been splashed all over the news for doing who knows what with the wrong crowd. In fact, she just appears to be a good kid with some good pipes. Go Taylor. I wish you lots of success.

The rest of the day flew by... work, lunch with my boys at a place around the corner, a little more work...

And then... Greg, Atticus and I walked over to Toys-R-Us at 44th and Broadway. It's HUGE! The was a purpose in going. My Mom had a great idea (thanks Bubbe) to get some of the foam squares with the letters in them to make a "rug" for our living room since it's all hardwood floors. What a fantastic idea. A rug that's padded in case little wobbly people tump over and whack their head on the floor! Greg also wanted to look for some cable thingy to make our Wii work with the tv here. No cable, but we did find the squares. Cool. I'll try to take a picture. Back to the store - we'll have to go back. There's a ferris wheel inside the store. Yes, inside the store! I'd like to find a time when it's not totally nuts and overrun with tourists, but I don't think that's possible. We'll see. Queue the music "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys-R-Us kid..."

Tomorrow afternoon, Atticus and I are headed out to JFK to spend a couple hours with my dear friend Jen Jackson before she heads off to Namibia. I'm not quite sure where we'll be able to meet up outside of security - but we'll figure it out. I'm just happy we get to see her since I was unable to attend her surprise birthday party in San Francisco a couple months ago. Atti and I will have our first subway/train adventure when we try and navigate our way from the apartment to the airport!!

Other than that... I'm trying to stay awake to watch the last Tonight Show with Jay Leno. That's one thing I miss about being in Texas - the fact that all the shows are on an hour earlier! The Tonight Show doesn't start until 11:30 here. Oy that's late for us old folks! I really want to go to bed, but I'm going to try and hang in there a little longer.

Thanks to everyone for all the restaurant recommendations and ideas for things to do/see while we're here. I look forward to keeping everyone updated as we tool around the big city!

The Today Show

It's dawned on me that I can actually walk over to see the Today Show's Concert in the Plaza and still make it back to work by 9EST. How cool is that? I may walk over tomorrow morning to see Taylor Swift perform. I thought about it today -- the final two Americal Idol contestants were performing. I suppose if I would have watched this season I may have gone today...

Penthouse

So yeah... the reason people in NYC want to live in the penthouse? To avoid the freaking jack-hammering outside your bedroom window at 11pm. I so wish I was kidding... it was bloody ridiculous. Do you really need to jack-hammer and drill metal plates into the street at 11pm?

Of course...that did wonders for getting Atti to sleep through the night.

Ugh.

First Word

This morning at the crack of dawn (errr 6 am) Atticus was wide awake. Greg grabbed him from the crib and set him down on the bed between us hoping he would decide an hour snooze sounded delightful.

Well, Atticus turned his head toward Greg, lifted it slightly from the bed and said very clearly and full of purpose, "Da da". He's said da-da-da and ma-ma-ma before... but never so clearly or with such purpose.

Sigh... he's talking, trying to walk, where does the time go?

The Big Apple

We made it. Greg, Atticus and I have all arrived safe and sound in NYC. We're in our sublet apartment, mostly unpacked... and settling in.

The past week has been nothing short of a blur. Greg finished up his last final and turned in two papers. I was working and trying to tie up loose ends before we hit the road. This past Thursday after I finished work, we packed up the Expedition and hit the road. We stopped in Waco to get a drink and stretch our legs. When we got out of the cars, Greg looked at me and said, "I know the first thing we forgot... all of my dress shirts." Oh you've got to be freaking kidding me! Seriously? Ahhhhh..... The plan had been to pack them last since they'd just come back from the cleaners and they were all hanging so nice. They were supposed to lay on top off all the stuff to avoid getting wrinkled. Sigh. I guess that's what we get for packing for 11 weeks in 2 hours time. Well, poop. I decided that on the upside, it was a holiday weekend and I could hit a few good sales before I flew up here to NYC. Back to the road for us. We made it to Dallas just before 2 am. Yeowzers. We were exhausted to say the least.

After some sleep, Greg hit the road and Atticus and I headed over to the Pailet's baby naming ceremony for their new daughter, Miller Frances. Then, Atticus and I took a blissful nap over at the Grand Bubbe's house. Ahhhhh... I wish I could curl up and nap with the little man everyday. It was sooo nice and I know it won't last forever. By the time we woke up, did a little visiting and headed back to Plano, it was time for dinner, bath and bed! We checked in with Greg who managed to drive all the way from Dallas to Terre Haute, IN in one day. My tush hurts just thinking about all that time stuck in the car. (I am so glad that Atticus and I decided to fly... I can't even begin to tell you!) Saturday was just nuts. I went to the outlet stores and picked up a few shirts for Greg. I stopped at Target and bought a gift for Bryce Miller's birthday party. I went to Kohl's and bought a few more shirts. I ran into the grocery store and got a couple jars of food for Atticus. My Mom and I went to Bryce's first birthday party. I visited with my old buddy Matt Traub when he stopped over at my parent's house. I visited with my parent's friend Barb who came over to visit... I didn't even get a chance to call my friend Traci or a few others. Hopefully I'll be able to see them on my way back to Austin.

In other Atticus news... the little man is rocking and rolling these days. What a great age. He can pull himself up to standing just about anywhere - couch, crib, coffee table... His personality is starting to show though a bit more too. He's quite determined when he wants something and he's started batting your hand away when he doesn't want something. He's been very giggly the past few days which has been fun. Pops has been quite successful at getting him to giggle in the mornings and Bubbe has been getting some big belly laughs when she tickles him. I love it. Of course today on the flight he wooed all the flight attendants. Who knows what I could talk my way into when I've got little man with me! Seriously - he's so darn cute I could get away with just about anything! Hmmmm, that may come in handy here in NYC!

Well... although it's only 1045 EST, I'm headed to bed. I will do my best to update the blog often while we're here. Our location ROCKS - and I have a feeling there will be lots of pictures over the next 11 weeks.

Till tomorrow...

Exhaustion

Dude. I'm tired. Atticus is tired. Bubbe is tired.

Does anyone know how to do that fancy little trick where you put your pointer fingers together and it pauses time? I would really like to pause time for say... 5 hours or so while Atticus is asleep so that all of us could get just a few more hours of uninterupted snoozing.

Alas, I don't think it's meant to be.

But... I have started reading a sleep book which has been recommended by several friends called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I'm only about 50 pages in (that's all I could get read on DART today) but I put into practice the very first thing tonight. Instead of starting bathtime at 730, I moved it up to 7pm. And, I admit - we did bath, lotion, books, a few minutes of nursing and then Atticus just crashed. Quick, easy, painless. I didn't wait any additional time to make sure he was "really asleep"... I just picked him up and set him in the crib once he stopped nursing and the kiddo passed out.

Let's hope this is a good sign and he sleeps well tonight and naps well tomorrow. I love when he wakes up happy. Sigh...

I'm off to bed too...

Mazal Tov to my friends Kevin and Mahra Pailet on the birth of their daughter, Miller Frances Pailet. And to my remaining pregnant friends... stay cool as the weather heats up and I can't wait to meet your little ones too later this summer!

Mommy's Big Mouth

Last post I mentioned Atticus should try standing on solid ground. I should have clarified that I did not mean at 2 a.m. I heard him stirring last night and cracked an eye open to check on him and found the little stinker standing up in his crib looking right at me.

Oh dear... guess the mattress needs to be lowered again.

Rug Burns

We are well on our way to crawling. I came "home" today after work and Atticus had little red knees. I asked my Mom if they'd been outside without sunscreen - and she said only for a moment or two...that the red knees were rug burn from practicing crawling!

And then... the silly goose tried to stand up in the bath tub tonight. This pulling oneself up is a pretty nifty trick, but let's try to do it on solid ground, eh?

Tarrytown

Wow. Nice homes.

The three of us had dinner tonight at one of Greg's professor's home. Actually, it's a visiting professor who is staying at another's home while that professor is visiting someplace else. Confusing, huh? (Please disregard any glaring English errors in this paragraph!)

Either way - the house was nice. Professor O'Neil and his wife were lovely and it was a great time. There were several other classmates there as well - very informal, but it was a nice treat for me and Atticus to be invited along to a law school event. All told, I think the O'Neils were quite pleased to have the little man there. Everyone loves a well behaved baby.

Alas, since dinner was at 630 and bedtime is now by 8pm, we didn't stay long... but it was a good night. I am once again glad that we chose to rent a house in Hyde Park which is so nice and centrally located!

New Foods

Good: YoBaby drinkable peach yogurt
SoSo: blended black beans
Eh, Not So Much: Any stage 3 baby food.

Sent from my cool new iPhone!