Wren, bless her heart -- she's always been loud. Feel free to read any earlier post from pretty much birth on to confirm this. Well - she has hit the terrible twos with full force over the past couple of days. Meltdowns, temper tantrums, defiance, screaming, hitting... oh it's been delightful. It's helpful that she's so verbal, she can definitely express more than Atticus could at this age, but she is really getting dramatic lately.
I'm only half joking when I say we're going to see the credits of a B horror movie and notice that it says, "Screamer #3 - Wren Baden".
I wonder how I go about auditioning her for a screamer? The kid has got the blood curdling - ear piercing screams down to a science.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Giving Up Naps
Atticus is at a bit of a cross-roads. He still sort of needs a nap. If he doesn't nap - he turns into a bit of a monster by dinner time. BUT, if he does nap - he has an impossible time falling asleep at night. Case in point, tonight... it was 11 pm before he fell asleep. He's going to have bags under his eyes tomorrow, and it may actually be a good thing there's no school! So - if he wakes up completely tired, do I let him nap tomorrow? Or keep up the cranky kid and hope he goes to bed at 8 or 8:30 in spite of the expected storm. Hmmmm....
Freaking Sandy
Damn hurricanes are following me across the country. I swear. Can I not catch a break? Please? You guys should hear the local news reports right now -- constant comparisons to Tropical Storm Irene (this must have been only last year?) and references to the "perfect storm of 1991". I think every time the newscasters say "perfect storm" there should be a quick subliminal flash of George Clooney on the screen. Just saying...
Tomorrow's going to be a treat. The entire subway system and bus system has come to a grinding halt. We're not expecting to leave the apartment at all tomorrow. Sounds like torture... I just hope the winds don't scare the daylights out of the kids...
Wish me luck.
Tomorrow's going to be a treat. The entire subway system and bus system has come to a grinding halt. We're not expecting to leave the apartment at all tomorrow. Sounds like torture... I just hope the winds don't scare the daylights out of the kids...
Wish me luck.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Halloween Prep
Not really sure how one preps for a frankenstorm in NYC, so instead - I'm going to prep for Halloween and pray that the storm is gone by Wednesday!
I have candy. Well, I have two gigantic bags of candy from Costco. Think that's enough??? We have a couple of small buckets for the kids to carry. I thought about upgrading to bigger bags, but then that just means more candy - which is probably NOT a good idea. :)
I may run over to the Spirit or Halloween Spirit store to look for some spiderwebs and little plastic spiders? Not sure... hmmmm.... maybe I'll just stroll over and see what I can find!
I have candy. Well, I have two gigantic bags of candy from Costco. Think that's enough??? We have a couple of small buckets for the kids to carry. I thought about upgrading to bigger bags, but then that just means more candy - which is probably NOT a good idea. :)
I may run over to the Spirit or Halloween Spirit store to look for some spiderwebs and little plastic spiders? Not sure... hmmmm.... maybe I'll just stroll over and see what I can find!
Guess Who's Got Strep?
I give up. So Atticus's goofy rash and unexplained fever finally turned up with a positive strep test. That doesn't really explain all of the goofy rash - but apparently, sometimes the two can go together. Well... little man went back to school and I decided to take myself to the urgent care center. It was a risk - I could almost guarantee that the quick strep test would be negative, but I KNEW it was strep. I mean come on... I had it a thousand times last year!!! So, as predicted the quick test came back negative, but I requested they send out the throat culture and go ahead and start me on antibiotics. Happy to report that I'm almost feeling back to normal -- and I'm expecting a call later today confirming that I do in fact have one of the strains of strep that the quick test doesn't register...
So, strep and an upcoming frankenstorm. Lovely.
So, strep and an upcoming frankenstorm. Lovely.
Frankenstorm
For Pete's sake.... can I not get away from the freaking hurricanes? Now they're following me to New York City? Good grief.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Toddler Rashes
So, it seems we have our first welcome to NYC illness. Atticus woke up about 4:30 am on Saturday morning running a fever. Even with Motrin and Tylenol over the course of the day, it never really dropped below 100. Boo. (Even bigger boo was that he and his friend Liam were supposed to have a play date and Atticus was really peeved that we had to cancel!!!) About 4:30 am on Sunday morning, Atticus came into get me again. I wasn't surprised, I gave him a dose of Motrin before bed, but it's only good for 6-8 hours... When we woke up this morning, his eyes were kind of puffy and his face looked red, but only in certain areas. His "T-Zone" if you will was red, but nothing else. I was googling a bit as the morning wore on when we started noticing some rashes popping up on his legs. I called the pediatrician who we were planning on using, but go figure - they don't accept new patients on the weekends. So.... it was off to the urgent care for the little man and I. After running a strep test (negative) and being assessed by two different doctors... the conclusion was "undiagnosed viral infection". What? Seriously? We were told to watch it, continue with the Motrin and call/take him in if it got worse. UGH.
The rash has gotten a bit worse and now it seems to be itching. Poor little man. He's running a fever, but he has the chills. He can't figure out what in the world to wear to bed because he's both hot and cold... we put the tallest socks we could find on him to attempt to keep him from scratching his legs to death while he's sleeping.
So, apparently tomorrow is going to be a Mom/Son day. We'll visit the new pediatrician hopefully, menu plan and do some grocery shopping, maybe get a library card, see if we can unpack some Thomas the Train toys... Atticus really wants to go ice skating too -- but I have a feeling that may have to wait.
For now, I'd best get to bed because I'm going to have a feverish little boy waking up in a few hours...
The rash has gotten a bit worse and now it seems to be itching. Poor little man. He's running a fever, but he has the chills. He can't figure out what in the world to wear to bed because he's both hot and cold... we put the tallest socks we could find on him to attempt to keep him from scratching his legs to death while he's sleeping.
So, apparently tomorrow is going to be a Mom/Son day. We'll visit the new pediatrician hopefully, menu plan and do some grocery shopping, maybe get a library card, see if we can unpack some Thomas the Train toys... Atticus really wants to go ice skating too -- but I have a feeling that may have to wait.
For now, I'd best get to bed because I'm going to have a feverish little boy waking up in a few hours...
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Pictures. OY.
I have totally fallen off the picture bandwagon. I haven't updated Picassa in months. MONTHS. Maybe since I'm still not working I'll be able to remedy that...
I'll add it to the to-do list. Amazing how busy one can be when not working...
I'll add it to the to-do list. Amazing how busy one can be when not working...
New Friends
Today was fun. I made a new friend (always a challenge in a new city). Tracey is the mom of one of Atticus's classmates. Yay. We stopped for coffee after dropping the boys off this morning. She lives close and Atticus and Liam seem to get along well - so hopefully we'll see more of them over the weekends etc.
Then... I met up with an old/new friend from San Francisco. Nicole and I met through a mutual friend over Facebook. How romantic, I know... but oddly enough we've clicked and I think she's pretty cool. Today was our first fact to face meeting. Turns out she and her family are in town visiting and seeing some of her husband's family and she was able to sneak away for a couple hours this afternoon. We had a lovely lunch (I got the pad thai I've been craving) and then we went on the Sweatshops tour at the Tenement Museum. I admit, I had never even heard of the Tenement Museum before today, but it was a really cool tour. I highly recommend it. We learned a bit about some of the families that lived at 97 Orchard Place around the turn of the century - during the rise of "sweatshops" in what was a generally Russian Jewish neighborhood. Pretty fascinating.
Then... I met up with an old/new friend from San Francisco. Nicole and I met through a mutual friend over Facebook. How romantic, I know... but oddly enough we've clicked and I think she's pretty cool. Today was our first fact to face meeting. Turns out she and her family are in town visiting and seeing some of her husband's family and she was able to sneak away for a couple hours this afternoon. We had a lovely lunch (I got the pad thai I've been craving) and then we went on the Sweatshops tour at the Tenement Museum. I admit, I had never even heard of the Tenement Museum before today, but it was a really cool tour. I highly recommend it. We learned a bit about some of the families that lived at 97 Orchard Place around the turn of the century - during the rise of "sweatshops" in what was a generally Russian Jewish neighborhood. Pretty fascinating.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Little Miss Potty
We're close. Oh so close. Wren will now use her little potty several times a day at home and we're having moderate success at school. Let's hope the most recent delivery of Pull Ups is our last! Go Wren Go!
In the Swing of Things
We're getting into the swing of things. Atticus is learning all the numbers of the buses and starting to figure out the subway system too. Amazing how quickly they figure it out! The only funny thing is that he insists on calling the river to our east, "the pond". It's kinda funny. Sad to say I don't actually know what river it is -- maybe it's not even a river? Ugh... probably should go look that up!
Daycare is getting a bit easier. Mornings don't involve tears anymore and the kids are always happy when I arrive. We did have a "stroller incident" some time last week. There is a stroller room at the daycare that is part storage unit and part stroller chaos. My best guess is that our stroller got stepped on when another parent was trying to reach their own stroller... All I can tell you is that one of the main supports for our stroller is now broken. And the stroller is a couple months out of warranty. And it's a $175 stroller. And I don't have a job. So we have a broken stroller. I tried some MacGyver moves with electrical tape last week which sort of worked. Then -- my Mom had an idea. What about the stuff that comes in a spray can that turns into concrete like stuff? Great Stuff. It sounded promising. So -- I headed out to the local Ace Hardware store. Holy moly batman - what a strange and fascinating store. Seriously. They sell everything but milk. Furniture. Kitchen towels. Car parts. Light bulbs. Birthday cards. Toys. Shampoo. It was so WEIRD. I literally spent an hour just wandering around and I didn't even make it downstairs!! But -- I did talk to a nice guy that worked there. I explained the broken stroller to him and asked his opinion of Great Stuff. He was intrigued but suggested plumbers epoxy instead. Said it's stronger he felt. Greg and I tried stuffing some inside the pipe and wrapping some around the outside as well last night. Seemed pretty solid this morning on our way to school - but alas, when Wren tried to climb into the stroller to leave school - SNAP. I'm going to try again in a few minutes -- I think I need to wrap the epoxy a bit higher and lower around the break. Not sure if that will do it though. Not sure what we'll do if it doesn't work. Grrrr.... The school is trying to see if there is any recourse for us - but I highly doubt it. I can't believe we're just out of warranty too. Just my luck.
I'm still on the job hunt. A couple of great sounding opportunities - let's see if I can get anything to come from them. There's a company that's trying to help me - something that was arranged from HCC. I need to make time for them. Maybe that'll be tomorrow's agenda -- work on resume and go over notes from employment agency people. Sounds like fun, huh?
Ok.. well I need to go check on my vampire child. Daycare has gotten better, but night time battles alas have not...
Daycare is getting a bit easier. Mornings don't involve tears anymore and the kids are always happy when I arrive. We did have a "stroller incident" some time last week. There is a stroller room at the daycare that is part storage unit and part stroller chaos. My best guess is that our stroller got stepped on when another parent was trying to reach their own stroller... All I can tell you is that one of the main supports for our stroller is now broken. And the stroller is a couple months out of warranty. And it's a $175 stroller. And I don't have a job. So we have a broken stroller. I tried some MacGyver moves with electrical tape last week which sort of worked. Then -- my Mom had an idea. What about the stuff that comes in a spray can that turns into concrete like stuff? Great Stuff. It sounded promising. So -- I headed out to the local Ace Hardware store. Holy moly batman - what a strange and fascinating store. Seriously. They sell everything but milk. Furniture. Kitchen towels. Car parts. Light bulbs. Birthday cards. Toys. Shampoo. It was so WEIRD. I literally spent an hour just wandering around and I didn't even make it downstairs!! But -- I did talk to a nice guy that worked there. I explained the broken stroller to him and asked his opinion of Great Stuff. He was intrigued but suggested plumbers epoxy instead. Said it's stronger he felt. Greg and I tried stuffing some inside the pipe and wrapping some around the outside as well last night. Seemed pretty solid this morning on our way to school - but alas, when Wren tried to climb into the stroller to leave school - SNAP. I'm going to try again in a few minutes -- I think I need to wrap the epoxy a bit higher and lower around the break. Not sure if that will do it though. Not sure what we'll do if it doesn't work. Grrrr.... The school is trying to see if there is any recourse for us - but I highly doubt it. I can't believe we're just out of warranty too. Just my luck.
I'm still on the job hunt. A couple of great sounding opportunities - let's see if I can get anything to come from them. There's a company that's trying to help me - something that was arranged from HCC. I need to make time for them. Maybe that'll be tomorrow's agenda -- work on resume and go over notes from employment agency people. Sounds like fun, huh?
Ok.. well I need to go check on my vampire child. Daycare has gotten better, but night time battles alas have not...
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Mass Transit
The kids are totally loving mass transit. Buses take on an entirely different feel when you have a toddler that thinks they are the coolest things EVER! Today we also took Wren on her first subway ride when we met a friend for dinner. Very exciting.
We haven't met up with Rhonda and Brian yet -- but we're hoping to squeeze in a quick rendez vous before they fly out...
And in totally unrelated news - laundry rooms stink. I did a couple loads of sheets and towels today and one of the washers decided no to "spin" so that when I arrived downstairs to move the laundry to the dryer -- the sheets/towels were sopping wet. Sopping. I attempted to wring everything out in the large sink -- but even after an hour in the dryer they were still damp. Lovely. I now have sheets and towels casually draped around the house hoping they'll dry by morning. UGH.
We haven't met up with Rhonda and Brian yet -- but we're hoping to squeeze in a quick rendez vous before they fly out...
And in totally unrelated news - laundry rooms stink. I did a couple loads of sheets and towels today and one of the washers decided no to "spin" so that when I arrived downstairs to move the laundry to the dryer -- the sheets/towels were sopping wet. Sopping. I attempted to wring everything out in the large sink -- but even after an hour in the dryer they were still damp. Lovely. I now have sheets and towels casually draped around the house hoping they'll dry by morning. UGH.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Busy Bee
It would be quite easy to forgo the job hunt and still stay busy in this town! But... I've found a few great opportunities that are getting me excited about work again. I'm still going to keep them secret for a while, but one in particular has really got my curiosity peaked and really has invigorated me if that makes sense!?!
I've also been quite busy entertaining... having Rainbow in town for a day and then my friend Michelle has been great fun. I've been to Ess A Bagel for some bagels and lox, Veneiro's in the East Village for some cannolis and tarts, Shake Shake for burgers and a peanut butter shake, the boathouse in Central Park, strolled Madison Ave, the Waldorf Astoria, caught a Broadway musical seeing Newsies, and I've walked approximately 10 miles in the past day and a half alone! Whew. We actually walked so far yesterday that I got a blister while wearing my sneakers!
I now have a couple hours to myself before heading back to pick up the kids. I have a million phone calls to get through regarding preschool for next fall, trying to find and get appointments with new doctors (because of course our new insurance plan is TOTALLY different from our old one), still need to call a few companies and make sure our address has been updated...and I really need to get to the store and figure out what in the blazes I'm feeding my family for dinner tonight! Oy.
Tomorrow is lunch with one of my BFFs other BFF. It'll be good to see Nancy, I haven't seen her since Nicole's wedding in Tel Aviv! And...Rhonda and Brian are due into town tomorrow, but I think they'll be staying at a hotel or in a VRBO. It'll be good to see them and catch up again. And, it'll be nice because Greg is already full swing into lawyer mode. Apparently he has to go into the office on Saturday and on Monday (even though it's a holiday) and he may have his first business travel as soon as next week! Ugh. That I'm not so excited about...
Ok - I'd best get moving. A ton to get done in the next few hours!!
I've also been quite busy entertaining... having Rainbow in town for a day and then my friend Michelle has been great fun. I've been to Ess A Bagel for some bagels and lox, Veneiro's in the East Village for some cannolis and tarts, Shake Shake for burgers and a peanut butter shake, the boathouse in Central Park, strolled Madison Ave, the Waldorf Astoria, caught a Broadway musical seeing Newsies, and I've walked approximately 10 miles in the past day and a half alone! Whew. We actually walked so far yesterday that I got a blister while wearing my sneakers!
I now have a couple hours to myself before heading back to pick up the kids. I have a million phone calls to get through regarding preschool for next fall, trying to find and get appointments with new doctors (because of course our new insurance plan is TOTALLY different from our old one), still need to call a few companies and make sure our address has been updated...and I really need to get to the store and figure out what in the blazes I'm feeding my family for dinner tonight! Oy.
Tomorrow is lunch with one of my BFFs other BFF. It'll be good to see Nancy, I haven't seen her since Nicole's wedding in Tel Aviv! And...Rhonda and Brian are due into town tomorrow, but I think they'll be staying at a hotel or in a VRBO. It'll be good to see them and catch up again. And, it'll be nice because Greg is already full swing into lawyer mode. Apparently he has to go into the office on Saturday and on Monday (even though it's a holiday) and he may have his first business travel as soon as next week! Ugh. That I'm not so excited about...
Ok - I'd best get moving. A ton to get done in the next few hours!!
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