New York Living

Went on a "date" to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Saturday night.  It was awesome.  We loved it.  It took us 30 minutes to walk there, had 30 minutes inside before closing, and then 30 minutes

Mother's Day 2012 - looks happy, in reality, not so much.  X had to leave at 7:00 am to catch a flight home.  Then Case got a fever, which means I had to call the doctors here and go into the Urgent Care clinic at MSKCC.  It was strange because I am so used to a Children's Hospital, but MSKCC is a cancer hospital for all ages.  The Urgent Care center was sad to me.  Mostly sickly adults.  I could see into their curtained off "rooms" and some were crying, others moaning.  Luckily we got an actual room.

I love Case's cute guilty look here, like, "Yeah, Mom, I know.  Not the best Mother's Day.  Sorry!"

So we did the obligatory port access, blood tests, blood cultures, and antibiotic drip.

We actually had some really good one on one time just singing and playing.  Case has started singing along with us.  It's awesome...it's a loud forced constant laugh.  It attracts stares during hymns at church.  I love it.

Graydon can do the fireman pole all by himself now and is quite proud.  Granddad has taught him lots of things on the playground!

This is the entrance to our apartment building, Stonehenge 65.  Graydon and I were coming back from grocery shopping and a doctor's visit.  Graydon has another stomach bug and warranted a trip to a doctor here.  The docs at MSKCC told me to go to the ER at a local hospital here...um, no.  I googled and found a pediatrician here.  The office was in a basement of a really nice apartment building here, and to get there you had  to take a mini elevator in the back of family practice office space just off the building's foyer.  I'm still not used to how people adjust to such limited space here in the city.  It's creative, to say the least.

The boys adore the elevators here.  Graydon is a little doorman and always stands to the side with his arm in front of the door until everyone is out (or in) safely.  Case takes each opportunity to dance in the elevator!

Pushing the button on our 5th floor

Here's the family room of our apartment.  I feel like it's pretty big.  It's worked.

Our kitchen is really pretty (ignore the stern, concentrating look X has!)

Today Granddad celebrated his 60th birthday in style here in NYC!  We gave him the "day off" from his nannying duties, and he spent 8 hours wandering through Central Park and window shopping.  We had a birthday celebration complete with balloons, ice cream, and cupcakes.

Case rocked the cupcake!  He first went for the frosting, obviously, but we all watched on in complete wonder as he finger painted his stomach with the frosting.  It was awesome.  It wasn't a mistake...he purposely smeared it all over his belly!

Today we watched 8 fire trucks rush by our building and stop just one block away, so we had to go investigate.  We got there at the end, but apparently there was an apartment fire several floors up.  So we got to see the ladders in action, hoses unreeled, streets flooded, and firemen in full gear with axes and those long spear things (Chris, what are they called?).  It was pretty neat to see them in action.

Two days ago we watched President Obama motorcade go by our apartment building.  He was speaking at a college's graduation ceremony and there was a ton of security and hubbub surrounding his arrival.  We appreciated watching it from our window!

Thanks to Janelle and Cindy's suggestion, we now have a box fan in our bedroom.  So that, combined with our noise machine, and the totally ghetto blanket I have covering our window, we have effectively blocked out not only the street noise, but most of the construction noise too.  Case is taking regular naps and sleeping (mostly) through the night.  Hooray!

We are actually adjusting quite well to city life.  The boys love it and are fully entertained walking the streets.  I just hate that we do so little in order to avoid germs (which we apparently aren't doing too well - in addition to myself nursing a cold!).  So besides missing X, missing having my own bedroom, and just wanting to get the surgery over with, I kind of like being here.

I love the pedestrian lifestyle.  I thing running in Central Park with the other 5,000 people there is awesome!  There was a race taking place this past Saturday morning and so I just joined in and ran along with some people...even crossing the finish line!  I don't know why I'm still surprised at its beauty every time I'm there.  I love that I can walk to Bed Bath & Beyond, and the doorman there (yes, they have their own doorman) tie a cute little handle onto my packages for easy carrying.  I actually like grocery shopping everyday instead of one huge weekly shopping.  There is a stand right at our corner that sells produce for dirt cheap, and they are there 24 hours.  So there are some part of NYC that I'm really enjoying.

Still have one week to go til surgery!