Day 4 & Thanksgiving Day

Wednesday we had breakfast with Ahnya, Vivian and Gabriel at Cafe Luluc on Smith Street. It was great to see Vivian and Gabriel. Ahnya and Vivian went to Harlem to have lunch with Vivian's friend. Gabriel went back to the apartment he's housesitting. We went to Tick Tock Diner on W. 34th Street and 8th Avenue for lunch with Marcia. It was great to see Marcia. Then, we went to a huge store on 8th Avenue for souvenirs. We got Cleo and Sidney's teachers some pink coin purses that say I Love NY on them. Cleo picked out a little Statue of Liberty clock as her souvenir and Sidney selected a little black car which he is still playing with. We made our way back home. The kids slept a little on the subway so by the time we got back to my dad's they wouldn't nap.

Isak and Cybele came over so we got to see them for a short bit before we headed out again.

We had dinner with Rachel, Hunter and John at Rice, my favorite restaurant in NYC. Dinner was really nice and it was wonderful to catch up with Rachel and her family. After dinner, we walked to the Plaza Diner to say hi to Fran, her mom and their family. We got there in time for dessert and the kids got dessert with the other kids. Cleo got a Hello Kitty heart cookie and Sidney had some Italian dessert cookies. We were there for around an hour and got car service back to my dad's apt.

Thursday, Ahnya and I met Ruby, Isak, Rhudi and Shelly for Ahnya's Annual Tofurkey Trot in Prospect Park. We walked around the inside of the Park. We snagged medals from the Turkey Trot and Sidney has enjoyed wearing them around the house. He prefers to wear two so he clangs a bit when he walks. After the walk, Ahnya and I headed home.

We took naps. Cybele and Christian came over and we headed to the Westway Diner. We planned on meeting at 4pm but we got there at 4:30pm. We met my mom and Gabriel there. Dinner was really nice and much more affordable than Josie's. No one got a classic Thanksgiving dinner. Ahnya and I got veggie sandwiches (tomato, portabello mushroom, avocado, lettuce). My mom got salmon. Gabriel got Belgian waffles and eggs. Cybele had a veggie burger deluxe. Christian had a burger with waffle fries, pancakes and bacon. Roger got a pastrami sandwich. Cleo got french fries and broccoli. Sidney ate a roll and french fries. We got him chicken fingers but he didn't eat them. It wasn't too crowded when we got there but as it got closer to dinnertime, it got more crowded. We walked through Times Square to get to the A Train. The streets were crowded with people. Sidney and Cleo enjoyed the lights.

Today, we are relaxing a bit. A van is coming to pick us up at 3pm to head to Rye, NY for the Friday Thanksgiving dinner at Tom and Melinda's house.

Days 3 & 4 in NYC

Yesterday (Monday, Nov. 21) afternoon we went to Lulu Cake Boutique on 8th Avenue between W. 15th & 16th Streets in Manhattan. I got a chocolate twinkie and a red velvet twinkie. The red velvet twinkie was really good; the chocolate one was not. I think both would have been better if they hadn't been fresh from the very cold refrigerated case. Roger got a chocolate cupcake with white frosting, he said it was ok. Cleo got a heart shaped raspberry linzer cookie and she liked it. Sidney got a raspberry cream cupcake with lemon curd inside it. He enjoyed around 1/2 of it. This is the second time we have tried a restaurant or bakery featured on the Food Network or Cooking Channel and been less than impressed. The food always looks so delectable with it's featured on TV. The first one featured on a TV that we tried was Marietta Diner in Georgia. My dad wanted to try it during one visit to GA and we went. It was ok. Since my dad's visit, I go there fairly often because it's close to my job. It's good for large groups because it has such a diverse menu which caters to all tastes. I always get a steamed vegetable platter with yellow rice and this awesome teriyaki glaze on the side. I end up eating it all every time. I used to get the eggplant parm with linguine on the side but stopped when I started Weight Watchers.

Afterward, we went to Duane Read and we got Cleo some classic cherry Chapstick. We went home for naps.

We had dinner at La Villa pizzeria with Rebecca (Aaron Milestone's wife - Aaron couldn't make it because he had to work), Daniel, Stephanie, Ook and Aalea. It was fun and the food was good. Sidney loved saying, "Uncle Ook." Cleo sat next to Stephanie and was very happy showing Stephanie all of Cleo's jewelry and the contents of Cleo's purse.

Today (Tuesday, Nov. 22) we went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan a few blocks from my mom's apartment in Manhattan. My mom and Ahnya accompanied us. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. We were there from 11:30am to 2:00pm. We had lunch again at McDonald's because the diner we like was packed and we wanted to get the kids a quick lunch and head home. We got back to Brooklyn around 4pm and the kids would not nap. We got caught in the rain during our walk from the train station to my dad's apartment. We didn't have an organized dinner this evening. I am doing some laundry because the kids' socks and pajamas are all dirty. We are about to give the kids a bath.

Tomorrow is a jam-packed day because we have 9:30 am breakfast with Vivian, 11:30am lunch with Roger's aunt Marcia and dinner at 6pm at Rice in DUMBO with Rachel, her son Hunter and husband John. Gabriel comes to town this evening and he's housesitting in Park Slope. Cybele comes to town tomorrow but she's spending the night with college pals. We will see them Thursday.

Sidney and Cleo continue to enjoy taking the subway trains.

Day 2 in New York City

On Sunday, Roger, Cleo, Sidney and I met my mom at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square at 11:15am. We had to take a shuttle bus from Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue because the F Train is not running at certain stops in Brooklyn. Cleo and Sidney enjoyed it. The bus was packed; Sidney and Cleo sat on my lap; a nice man gave up his seat (in NYC who knew?). We caught the R Train from Downtown Brooklyn.

The kids department at Barnes & Noble has increased to a whole floor at Barnes & Noble. Cleo showed my mom and Roger all sorts of educational electronic toys and Sidney played at the Thomas the Train and Friends train table. Sidney was in heaven. He waited out the older 2-3 year-olds until he could collect the train cars he wanted - his eyes were on the freight cars so he used Skarloey (he's red) as the tank engine and took the tank cars from the other trains. There were a set of triplets who were young 2 year-olds, they looked so small compared to Sidney. The parents spoke Spanish, German and English to the kids - I am not sure if they lived in NYC. The dad was chatty and couldn't believe I knew the names of all the trains. Am I impressive or what?

After playing for 1.5 hours at Barnes & Noble, we headed to McDonald's for lunch. The one facing Union Square Park is so pretty and modern looking. The kids ate their Happy Meals. Then, we said our good-byes and headed to the train. Sidney keeps asking for Noma (what the kids call my mom). They really enjoyed seeing her. My mom crocheted these beautiful hats for the kids. Sidney put his on when we got home and would not take it off until he went to sleep. I will post pictures later. It was warm yesterday, in the 60s, so he didn't need to wear it when we were out and about.

We made the trek home and later walked along Church Avenue looking for a hat for Roger, we were not successful. Then, home to my dad's for a nap. We haven't been using a stroller for either kid but today when we go to Manhattan, we are going to bring one for Sidney. He likes to walk when we are out adventuring, but the distance from my dad's apt. to the train is a little far for him.

We had guests come at 6pm: Rhudi, Shelly, Fran, Matthew, Jack and Lily - who is 2 like Sidney. Rhudi and Shelly brought a pear torte and a pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Fran brought adult beverages. We had a great visit. My dad made tostadas and we ordered pizza. The kids played really nice together. Jack is 8 and Matthew is 7. They are such wonderful boys. Lily is so incredibly cute and her face is a perfect mix of Fran's and Cliff's. Everyone stayed until around 9pm.

This morning we are lazing about a bit then will maybe have breakfast with Roger's friend Ook and Aalea (his new wife). The one certain outing is heading to Manhattan to investigate the Lulu Cake Boutique. They make cake, cupcakes, snoballs and twinkies (a.k.a. "retro desserts"). We saw the bakery featured on one of the cooking channels on tv.

Day 1 in NYC

We arrived fine in NYC late last night. Our plane left Atlanta on time at 9:40pm and we arrived at LaGuardia Airport at midnight. The kids were fine on the flight. Sidney sat with me and Cleo sat with Roger one row up and on the other side of the plane. Sidney watched DVDs on his portable DVD player. He slept from 11pm to midnight. Cleo didn't sleep. She cried during descent because her ears hurt so bad. The kids earplanes and chewing gum did not help. I get bad ear pain upon descent too - today my ears are still popping.

Prior to boarding, Sidney enjoyed watching the planes and other activity on the airport tarmac. He loved the shuttle train that took us from the main terminal to our section of the airport. When the train was moving Sidney said, "wheeee." When we got off the train he said, "bye train."

After we grabbed our luggage, we piled into a yellow cab and made our way to my dad's apartment. Ahnya and my dad waited up for us and had made our beds. Cleo and Sidney slept with me and Roger slept on the couch. Ahnya slept on the futon. We went to bed around 1:30am.

Ahnya was up and out of the house around 6:40am for her Weight Watchers receptionist commitments. We got up around 8am and ate breakfast, relaxed, played, and watched the Cooking Channel. My dad got Cleo a princess fairy castle puzzle which she enjoyed assembling. My dad got Sidney a fire truck puzzle which he put together with Roger.

Sidney's nose has not stopped running and around 11:30am his temperature went up. He's had a cold all week and a fever that comes and goes. He and Cleo are napping right now. If Sidney feels hot when he gets up, I will give him some Children's liquid Advil. It tastes like bubble gum and is pink; I tasted it and it's really good and sweet. Sidney does not protest having to take it.

When the kids wake up, Ahnya and I are taking them to Church Street to shop for various items, e.g., pull-ups for Sidney, tissues, and a roast chicken and broccoli for dinner. I know they will enjoy the liveliness of the stores and people.

Thanksgiving Lunch Feast

Yesterday, Roger and I attended the Kids R Kids Thanksgiving Feast. The kids ate at staggered times: Sidney's lunch was at 11am and Cleo's was at 12:15pm. Roger and I sat with Sidney at a table in his class. Around half of the kids' parents attended. Sidney wolfed down his food - especially the stewed turkey in beef gravy. He would not eat the collard greens. He ate most of my slice of red velvet cake and half of his slice of chocolate bundt cake. He liked my cranberry sauce (from a can). I am curious if he will eat any of it when we have our own Thanksgiving in NYC next week. He's such a great eater at daycare and is on a perpetual hunger strike at dinnertime at home. Around 11:35am, the parents started leaving and Sidney's teachers started getting the kids ready for their naps. Sidney started to cry when he realized we were leaving but we left him in the loving arms of his favorite teacher, Ms. Weaver.

Roger and I headed over to Cleo's room and helped her teacher, Ms. Zora, prepare the tables for their Thanksgiving lunch. When we were done helping, Roger and I sat with Cleo and a few of her other pals. Around half of the kids' parents came to Cleo's class' lunch. I had two servings of mac & cheese, it was really good and home-made. It wasn't as good as Linda's, Roger's mom, but hers is the best ever so it's not really fair to try to compare anyone else's to hers. Linda's mac & cheese gets better with age so the days following her preparation of it I eat it for lunch and dinner when we are in Jacksonville for Christmas or other holidays, e.g., Easter.

We were with Cleo until 1:35pm then I headed back to work.

I am packing tonight for our trip to NYC tomorrow night. I have a meeting all day tomorrow outside of my office. Then, I head to the kids' daycare and meet Roger there because the kids' school pictures are in and we need to decide whether they came out nice enough to purchase. Then, we head home to do any final packing and head to the airport. Roger's friend Michael is coming to our house and he will drive us in our car to the airport - that way the kids can be safe and secure in their carseats and we don't have to park the car at one of those parking lots that charge $10 a day to park.

I am excited about the visit and to see everyone. I am also excited to see the kids' reaction to taking the subway, Sidney will be very happy.

This is a collaborative piece of art that Cleo and her classmates created. I love it. I am not biased at all.


I thought this drawing was sweet. Even though Cleo didn't say she was thankful for Sidney, she did include him in her drawing.

Cleo likes to use many different crayons or markers when she colors. She loves drawing and coloring in rainbows. She also appears to enjoy making rainbow turkeys.

We had a nice weekend. Saturday, Cleo and I went to her art class. She made a sea scene. With crayons, she drew waves on the paper and designs on some paper fish. Then, she painted the sea and the fish with super watery watercolor paint. It came out very nice because the crayons showed up in contrast to the watercolor. Sidney and Roger stayed home. Sidney went into time-out 3 times on Saturday; he was being very disobedient and would not listen to us.

Saturday, Cleo had a playdate with her pals Quintin and Alexandria from her class; they're twins. Roger and I made bowtie pasta salad (with broccoli, plum tomatoes, bell peppers), chicken breast (for the adults), tomato soup, and turkey burger sliders for the kids. For dessert, we had ice cream sundaes with all the fixins. The kids played really well together. Cleo and Alexandria had a field day taking all of Cleo's jewelry and princess/Tinkerbell accessories out of the various boxes and drawers that normally contain it, and examining it in her room. Sidney and Quintin didn't really play together because of the 2 year age difference but they both had a good time too. Roger and I enjoyed talking with Quintin and Leslie, the kids' parents, who we like a lot. We have had one previous playdate with them at their house.

Cleo was out of her body excited in anticipation of the playdate and it's all she talked about for ages leading up to yesterday. She wanted Alexandria to sleep over but Roger and I explained that she needed to wait until they were 6 or 7 years-old.

Today, we went to church then food shopping. We came home, ate lunch, and the kids napped. I did some work while the kids napped. After Cleo got up, we watched Barbie Princess Charm School which we DVR'd during Cleo's nap. We have the abridged version of the story in a book but this was a 1.5 hour long movie on Nickelodeon. It wasn't bad. We got her a Barbie book compilation and some of the stories are really strange. It's like the stories are poorly translated from another language.

We leave for NY on Friday, Nov. 18 on a 9:40pm flight. We return to Atlanta on Sat., Nov. 26. I can't believe how soon Thanksgiving is. I cannot wait to see everyone and for my family to see how much Cleo and Sidney have grown and changed since we have been there. The last time we were in NY was Thanksgiving 2010.

Have a good week.

The poster is something Roger and I did for one of Sidney's homework assignments. I love that picture of him. We wrote that Sidney is, "Known for being extremely charming and able to count to 15." He's currently learning to count to 20 and this week his class has started to learn to write their letters. His homework for tonight is to trace lowercase and uppercase Js. So not a baby anymore.


In late October, Cleo planted some orange seeds. To Cleo's and my delight the seeds recently sprouted!

This picture is evidence of Sidney's adoration of Baby Jaguar and his continuing love of Elephant. Cleo named her doll, "Strawberry Shortcake." My three sweeties.

We had a nice weekend. Saturday morning, Roger and Cleo went to her art class. Sidney and I went to the post office to mail Vivian's birthday cards and gift card. Vivian is my best friend and Cleo's godmother. Then, Sidney and I went to the library to find new train books but we did not find any. He has around 4 at home from the library and one my dad got him. I am not counting the 8 Thomas the Train books he has. He likes the realistic train books now. There are some simple puzzles that Sidney likes to do there - the babyish wooden ones. Sidney can put together a 24 piece puzzle by himself but he still likes to do the simple ones.

After the library, Sidney and I picked Cleo and Roger up from the Southwest Arts Center. We made our way home and I got ready for my friend Lillian's birthday tea at the Roswell Tea House in Roswell, GA. It was around a 50 minute drive from our house. Lillian's real birthday is Nov. 16. It was a really nice event and gathering of interesting women. Most were married with young kids, some worked full time and others were stay at home moms. It was from 1-4pm. Afterwards, I went home and played with the kids.

Sunday, we went to church and food shopping. Then, I got my hair dyed and blown out. It looks nice. I got home around 3:30pm and Roger and I played with the kids. We made dinner - sauteed zucchini and squash, roasted cut up potatoes, pork chops, "fried" green tomatoes (I baked them instead of frying them), and ratatouille. The kids and Roger did not eat the tomatoes or ratatouille. Cleo and Sidney both gamely tried the tomatoes but did not care for them.

Sunday evening, we watched some of Beauty and the Beast and the beginning of Aladdin. Cleo and Sidney both enjoyed the movies. Right before the kids went to bed, Sidney noticed Cleo's little stuffed jaguar and Sidney asked for it by calling it "Baby Jaguar" (Diego's little pal on his show is named "Baby Jaguar"). Cleo said "no, it's mine." Sidney and I went to his room. When we were walking to Sidney's room, I could hear Roger reasoning with Cleo that she never plays with it. A few seconds after I closed Sidney's door, I heard Cleo's little feet and the door opening and she handed Baby Jaguar to Sidney, who was very happy. He brought the stuffed animal downstairs this morning and was pretending it was hopping along our ottoman.

Sidney's potty training continues to progress. When he's home, most of the time he alerts us that he has to go potty. He is so proud of himself when he uses the potty. We, including Cleo, are very proud of him too.

Cleo has gotten so thorough and good at brushing her teeth that we let her do it all by herself. Meaning, we don't let her brush her teeth then follow-up with our brushing areas we think she may have missed. She doesn't miss any areas anymore. I told her she's such a big girl and does such a great job that she can do it by herself. She loves being trusted to handle the task by herself.

Every time I see a commercial for Breaking Dawn, I get more intrigued. I may have to sneak out during the kids' naps on Nov. 27 and see it at a matinee showing. We will be in NYC Nov. 18-26, so I can't see the movie on the opening weekend. I haven't seen any of the Twilight movies in the theater.

When I picked up the kids from daycare on Friday, Sidney's main teacher, Ms. Long, told me that she recalled Cleo being a calm, relatively quiet little girl when she was in Ms. Long's class. Ms. Long informed me that Sidney is the opposite. Apparently, he makes his presence known at all times. So, this weekend, Roger and I continuously reminded Sidney to please be more quiet when he's in class and just listen to his teachers. I think Ms. Long is too nice to tell us that Sidney is disruptive and talks too much, but Roger and I suspect that her comments were code that Sidney is a little noisy. I think Sidney is so excited to be able to express himself and has so many thoughts, ideas and observations, he just feels compelled to share. But he still has to learn to listen and I appreciate his teachers' need to have the kids be quiet.

Have a good week!

Halloween was fantastic this year. Cleo and Sidney ate candy from 2:30pm (when their class parties started) to when they went to bed at 9pm. We had tons of trick or treaters and had a nice time trick or treating right before we went home to hand out our own candy. The kids loved having my dad here. Cleo and Sidney agree he can't go as an elf next year - he's dressed as one for 3 years in a row.