Catch Up

Aaron's 2nd birthday has come and gone. I wish I've been more diligent about blogging so that I would have something to look back on to remember when he hit milestones or started saying certain phrases or whatnot, but instead I have fuzzy memories. Sadly, I don't remember a lot of milestones. I don't know exactly when he said his first word, or when he got his first tooth. So I'd like to try and post more often to preserve our memories of what he's like right now, but we'll see how that goes.

So let's see..I can't believe I never posted about Halloween! I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. Aaron was a lion, and he HATED HATED HATED his costume. Or more precisely, he hated the hood because the mane felt funny around his face. So he basically looked like some kind of animal from the neck down, but we never got a picture of the full effect. He did enjoy the trick or treating though. And definitely the candy afterwards. He loves "chock-lit".

We spent Christmas in NJ with my family, followed by a vacation with Isaac's family in Portugal and Madrid, where I got sick again. I always seem to get sick on vacation - I don't think I travel well. Luckily, Aaron loooves his grandparents and his aunt and uncles, so he was happy to hang out with them while I laid in bed. Portugal was okay; Madrid was more fun. I wish we had been able to spend more time there - seems like the people there really know how to enjoy life. They had a huge celebration on the Eve of New Year's Eve and another on New Year's Eve. I gotta say, if you ever fly out there, don't fly TAP Portugal. We were on 4 flights, and every single flight had terrible turbulence. Like throw up inducing to I better pray right now turbulence. So anyway, it was a fun trip; it felt too short as always, but it was nice to come home too.

All this was soon followed by Aaron's 2nd birthday! Isaac and I took him to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, then Shake Shack for lunch, and then Curry-Ya for dinner. It's too bad Aaron's a picky eater - he only ate the fries at Shake Shack and dried onion flakes and white rice at Curry-Ya. He doesn't know what he's missing! The next day my family came over and we took his cousins to the Holiday Train Show at Grand Central. It's just a model train display in a room - nothing huge, but Aaron loved it. He's really into tunnels at the moment, so he loved seeing the trains go in and out of them. We had a lot of fun with his cousins, and he got lots and lots of trucks and toys from everyone. He still loves his trucks.

FIGHT!

The combination of living in NY and becoming a mom has made me a more aggressive person. I don't think it's necessarily bad, it's just that I'm more willing to stand up for myself or Aaron when I feel like people are overstepping their boundaries. Usually, this is limited to children. I've yelled "No!" at other children on occasion - but only if it's a major offense, like if another child purposefully pushes Aaron for no reason. I get annoyed that their nannies or caretakers aren't watching more carefully and teaching them, but I understand - it's tiring to watch kids and sometimes your attention wanders and things happen. Kids sometimes don't know better, and sometimes they're just like that.

But Adults! They should know better and have more control over their behavior, right? Well, apparently not. Aaron had tumbling class today, and afterwards, he wanted to sit on one of those 25 cent rides (now 75 cents!) that are usually outside supermarkets. There are like 5 different rides there, but he wanted the boat. We waited for the kids before him to get off, and he sat down. I think he's too young to appreciate the ride, and he just enjoys sitting there, so I don't put money in. So Aaron had been sitting there for about 2 minutes, just enjoying himself, when a nanny and her charge came running out of the building. I heard the nanny say, "Just get on. He'll get off." Next thing I knew, this boy who looked about 4 years old climbed onto the ride, OVER Aaron and sat next to him. (It's a two seater). The nanny walked over and said, "He's going to ride now." I was appalled! We had a little back and forth which went something like this,

Me: Well, he (Aaron) was here first. He's enjoying it too.
Nanny: Well, he (her kid) wants to have a ride.
Me: Ok, well, he's already sitting here.
Nanny: Are you going to give him a ride?
Me: No, but he's just enjoying himself. He'll be done in a minute. Can you just wait?
Nanny: No, I'm in a rush!
Me: Well, so am I! He's just going to be another minute or so.
Nanny: Are you going to give him a ride?
Me: No, he's enjoying himself.
Nanny: He wants to ride now!
Me: He's only going to be another minute or two.

So the nanny gave me the evil eye and finally huffed off. She got on a carousel ride with another nanny that was already in progress. Aaron sat for another minute and then I brought him down and walked over to the nanny and said "He's done now. Your kid can ride now." She completely ignored me (I don't blame her - our conversation was pretty heated)

I saw red all the way home, and I was doubting myself - I mean, we weren't paying for the ride, right? Maybe I should have given in. But then I thought about how that 4 year old boy climbed over Aaron and how they didn't have the common courtesy to ask first. If either the nanny or the boy had asked, I think we would've given up the ride with no problem, but I was just so offended by the entitlement displayed by the nanny. And then I felt annoyed because that boy she's watching is not going to learn how to behave politely. I think a 4 year old should know to wait his turn, or at least ask first. And if he doesn't, his caretaker should be teaching him these things. Ugh. And I'll probably run into them next week too!

so much happens in one day (kinda)

2:00am - "WAAAAAAAHHHHH"...Isaac changes a diaper and I feed him.
5:00am - "ba-ba-da-da-ma-ma"...same as 2:00am, but I take more time rocking him back to sleep because he's not as tired, and it's too early for him to get up.
7:00am - "da-da-da-da-da"... Isaac pulls himself out of bed to change a diaper and goes back to sleep
7:15am - "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma"... I pull myself out of bed to play with him and feed him breakfast.
9:00am - Nap #1 - supposedly for baby, definitely for me, Isaac is still sleeping.
9:40am - Isaac wakes up; Aaron is up, so they play together while Isaac gets up for work. Aaron likes our Sonicare.
10:30am - Isaac wakes me up and puts Aaron back in his crib. He pulls himself from a crouching position to a kneeling position in his crib for the first time. Isaac goes to work. It's playtime and we're reading.
11:00am - On our second time through "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?", he turns a page and bursts out sobbing. I switch to "Freight Train," and he's fine for the first few pages, but bursts out sobbing again. Apparently Nap #1 either a)didn't happen or b) was too short - back to sleep.
11:30am - I hear babbling and check on him - he's awake, and has pulled himself to his knees again. More playing, reading, and then lunch for him followed by more playing.
1:30pm - I put him in his crib for a nap; Make lunch for myself.
1:45pm - When I peek in to the room, he's pulled himself to a kneeling position again. I lie him back down.
Repeat every 15 minutes until 2:45 pm when I finally get him to fall asleep.
3:00pm - IM to Isaac: I think we need to lower the crib soon. Aaron's been practicing pulling himself to his knees for the past hour.
4:30pm - Aaron awakes, CRANKY. I try to comfort him, but he's unhappy being left to play by himself, so I carry him around with me, feeding him cheese while I make his dinner. The few times I leave him to himself today, he ends up gnawing on some wires or just as bad, exploring the area around the toilet (because I forgot to close the bathroom door).
5:30pm - Pop out to Gristedes for some last minute shopping for dinner.
6:00pm - Dinner followed by a bath for Aaron.
7:15pm - Isaac comes home and Aaron goes to bed.
7:45pm - Aaron is complaining in his crib, Isaac goes to check on him. I'm making dinner for us. Isaac comes out - Aaron was kneeling, and we discuss whether or not to push back Aaron's bedtime to lower his crib or to wait until later in the week since he's not standing yet. Isaac decides to lower the crib just in case. This way I can have peace of mind during his naps tomorrow.
8:00pm - "He's standing up!!" I dash from the kitchen to find Aaron proudly standing in his crib opposite Isaac. Multiple attempts to get him to repeat this prove fruitless. I return to the kitchen.
8:05pm - "He's doing it again!" Isaac decides to tape this feat before he lowers the crib.
8:30pm - I finish cooking, come in to see for myself and to watch Aaron while Isaac finishes lowering the crib.
8:45pm - Crib is lowered, Aaron is asleep. We eat dinner and watch the debate.


.

City Personalities

I just started reading "Who's Your City" by Richard Florida (a former professor at CMU!). It's pretty interesting - Florida asserts that choosing where to live is one of the most important decisions you can make, as it can affect your ability to find a relationship and pursue a career. He performed some studies and found that cities have personalities (in that they tend to attract certain types of people).



Chicago is like the epicenter of extroverted people! This is so true - everytime we visit Isaac's family, I'm stricken by how friendly and outgoing everyone is in stores and restaurants.

I don't know if I'll have time to make it all the way through this book (it's due tomorrow). I can get quite bored reading about statistics (hello, Numbers!), but the premise is intriguing. I guess you might expect to see interesting maps from the same guy who created the infamous "Singles Map."

pregnancy randomness

I'm just about at that point in pregnancy now where I should be feeling the baby move at least once every day. Its movements are pretty strong at times - like to the point where I get uncomfortable and/or I can actually see little jumps in my belly or ripples across my stomach as it squirms around inside. My bellybutton is starting to come out, and it's been feeling a bit tender, so I've just started putting a bandaid over it. I'm hoping that it won't pop out all the way, but I don't think I'll be that lucky since I still have a good amount of time to go.

One of the more difficult and immediate adjustments to being pregnant was the sudden profusion of food restrictions...here's a short list:
- 3 servings of caffeine per day (chocolate counts towards this!) from the 2nd trimester on. Before that, no caffeine!
- no sushi
- no soft cheeses (brie, goat cheese,etc)
- no alcohol
- no deli meats (unless heated to smoking)
- limited types of cooked fish (no shark, no sea bass, tuna but not often, etc)
- food has to be cooked through (well done steak! :/)

During the first several months, I was really particular about everything I ate because the rate of miscarriage is higher early on, and even though early miscarriages aren't usually linked to food, everything just seemed a lot more precarious. Now that I've been able to feel the baby move more regularly, I'm less strict about what I eat. For example, I had Coke for the first time a few weeks ago. It was so smooth, like liquid gold. I had a sip of Isaac's sangria one night and a tiny bite of his oh so smooth salmon sashimi another night. And sometimes, we get free sandwiches for lunch at work, so I'll have deli meat. When we do get lunch at work, I don't like to stand around and open all the sandwiches to check their contents, so I kinda eyeball them and hope for the best. The other day, I accidentally had a ham and brie sandwich (sooo good, by the way!).

But the night and the day following the brie sandwich, the baby was unnervingly still. No flutters, no kicks, nothing. I started getting pretty worried and I remembered the bandaid on my bellybutton, and I thought that it might be causing the baby to suffocate, which makes no sense of course.

In the beginning, I had a hard time seeing how I would ever get to the point where I would love this baby. I knew I would eventually, but nausea and dizziness doesn't really inspire any affection. But as it's developed more and we've been able to see and feel its movements, I've found myself growing more attached to the baby. And its lack of movement that day solidified the growing realization that I think I'm learning to love this unborn and unmet member of our family.

It really does feel like a miracle to think that a few months ago it didn't exist, and that it's grown so much and I had nothing to do with it. I think pregnancy is helpful for the whole transition from a carefree adult to a parent with responsibilities. There are months for you to absorb the shock and to accept the coming changes, and then some time for you to just enjoy and learn to appreciate what is happening, and then some time after that to focus on the practical things that need to be done in preparation for the baby's arrival. That's not to say that we're ready or anything - I'm definitely glad to have nine months!

that's brilliant!

Isaac likes to tease me because he thinks I don't like anything if there are accents involved. Like I've never been able to watch "Snatch" without falling asleep because I can't understand it. Literally. And I never wanted to watch the British version of "The Office" because I couldn't decipher what they were saying.

But I do like some British exports. Namely their music. This past Saturday, we saw Bloc Party play at the United Palace Theater all the way up at 175th Street. They were awesome - they had a ton of energy AND they sound awesome live. I love their music, but I couldn't understand a word that frontman Kele Okereke said between songs. I wasn't alone though - I could hear the people around us asking each other what he was saying too.

The opening act was also very good. We missed most of Sebastian Grainger so I can't comment on that, but we caught all of Albert Hammond Jr.'s opening set. He's a lead guitarist for the Strokes, but he's touring with Bloc Party for a solo album that he produced. I just picked up his cd last week, and it's Strokes-esque, but slightly happier. I like!

In general, I've been listening to a lot more music since I've moved out to New York. Well, actually, ever since I left school. Pittsburgh was like a desert for new music. Every single station out there played Hoobastank's "The Reason" as every 4th song for at least 6 months. Whenever it played, it felt like someone was hammering an ice pick into my brain. Because of that and the general quality of radio play in this area, I no longer listen to radio. Weird - "The Reason" is the reason I don't listen to the radio anymore. Instead, I just focus on finding music for myself.

I've found that it's nice to have some music to energize me as I walk the long blocks to the subway or to distract me from being in such close quarters on the crowded train. It definitely helped the one time the back of my head was being used as a newspaper rest while my forehead was in someone's armpit and the bottom half of my face was practically in someone's huge furry hood. I just focused on the soothing beats of "Close Your Eyes" by the Chemical Brothers and it felt like I was alone on the train. Well, not quite, but the music helped.

By the way, I eventually did watch the British Office (good job, closed caption!) and it was pretty good. I can see why it was received so well by critics, but I have to say that I actually enjoy the American version of The Office better. Perhaps because I can relate better since our working environments are different within our countries. By the way, if you're home tonight, check out NBC at 8pm tonight - there's a supersized episode of the Office, followed by my new fave 30 Rock at 8:44pm.

wherein "The Hills" causes me to think about life

I've been watching "The Hills" lately, and it's brought a question to mind..

How important is it to be honest in your friendships?

In the show, Heidi is seriously involved with a guy (Spencer) who is, in the words of her best friend LC, "a sucky, sucky person". He's tried to hook up with another one of their friends and various other girls at clubs while dating Heidi, but she insists that he loves her. Since LC has shared her distaste for Spencer, her friendship with Heidi has suffered greatly.

So..what if you think your best friend's significant other is a total ***[insert your derogatory descriptor of choice]***? If they were having a problem with the SO and asked your opinion, would you tell him or her in the interest of total honesty and to try to open their eyes? Or would you just keep your opinion to yourself?

If you tell your friend your honest opinion, then..

// if they end up together in the long run despite the fact that the S.O. is a *****, your already stated opinion could cause a rift in the friendship

// if they break up, you helped your friend out of a bad relationship, but you're a little bit at fault for the demise of the relationship, right?

// not necessarily exclusive from the other two scenarios above..your friend is hurt and offended and cuts off communication with you..basically, you damage the friendship - and it's possibly irreparable.


If you don't tell your friend...

// if they end up together in the long run, then you may regret never sharing your opinion at a point when it could have made a difference

// your friendship is not as open and honest as the other person thinks it is..so there is some imbalance there

// you will have to bite your tongue forever everytime the ****** S.O. hurts your friend


what's the best course of action here? what would you do?

**note: i'm not actually in this situation..but i thought it was an interesting dilemma

other questions: how honest are you with friends who have been known to receive critical opinions badly?

Casimir Pulaski Day

Today is Casimir Pulaski Day.
Illinois schoolchildren rejoice.

+1 Chicago

if it's not too much of an inconvenience...

A few weeks ago, I and I finally sat down and watched "An Inconvenient Truth." We'd been meaning to check it out for a while, but we kept pushing it down our "things to watch" queue because of new episodes of "The Office" or "30 Rock"(more on this later) or a brief obsession with "Venture Brothers". But we eventually got to it - and it was eye-opening. In case you're unfamiliar with the movie, it's an Oscar-nominated documentary about climate change. And Al Gore is the star.

This is the first time a movie has really made me think about my lifestyle. A lot of times I think we use more energy than we expect in the course of our day-to-day decisions.

For example, I never really gave organic or local produce much thought - mostly because it tends to be more expensive and i always associated it with hippies, but after considering the environmental costs involved with shipping produce from distant locations and comparing it to the higher price of local or organic produce, I think buying local or organic is a better choice if it's affordable.

I recently read this article about the cost of bottled water. I'm glad I prefer Poland Spring, but I'm sure it's not all that much better.

We're already using CFLs (better known as energy-saving lightbulbs), and we're toying with the idea of supporting green energy through our company, but we need to get more information about it.

Anyway, please watch this movie. Don't put off watching this if you can. And don't plan to watch this and keep postponing because someone keeps "subconciously" thwarting your efforts to see it. That happened to us with Hotel Rwanda. (hint: Don't attempt to watch this movie with Bryan).

In his review, Roger Ebert writes, "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

oww! wii!

Yesterday I was cutting a pineapple and one of the eyes stabbed me in my middle finger. I've often heard May say that she doesn't like to eat pineapple because it cuts her tongue, and I never really knew what she meant, but I guess the fruit can be pretty vicious! But I wouldn't blame the pineapple though - she probably just had some badly cut pineapple that still had sharp stabby things in it or something.

Anyway, the cut was totally worth it. The pineapple was so fresh and juicy - it made me want to go back to Hawaii. The pineapples there were so sweet and juicy and omnipresent - I probably had pineapple at least once a day there..yumm!

The only problem is that this tiny hole in my finger gets irritated everytime i use my middle finger to type, so it's a little harder to work today. I'm improvising though - I'm using all my other fingers to type. It's a little slower (although i get moments of quickness where my fingers feel like they're dancing across they keyboard) , but it's actually kinda fun. It sorta reminds me of the time I played this game where I didn't use my right hand for a day. By the end of the day, my right hand was really weak. I wonder if my finger will be weaker from underuse by the end of the day too.

In other injury-related news, Isaac and I recently obtained a Wii, courtesy of our good friend Tammy, who graciously waited in a line at Toys R Us for us during her lunch hour. We've been enjoying Wii Sports (the packaged game) very much. I think Isaac likes baseball the best, but I really enjoy boxing. It's pretty fun, and I've noticed that my arms and sides have been a little sore when I get up in the morning. It's kinda sad- apparently I'm so out of shape that a video game is kicking my butt and providing a good workout for me!

urban etiquette

a few months ago, NY Mag had an article about urban etiquette that i found both humorous and informative. It had rules for subway, cab, office, and ipod etiquette, among other things.

I'd just like to add a few guidelines based on some recent observations and experiences.

On the subway:
- Do not fart or eat smelly food. We're all sharing an enclosed space with little to no air circulation and nowhere to escape to. Depending on the train conductor, the ride can be smooth, jerky, or brake-happy. Do us all a favor and hold it in or eat outside to reduce the nausea factor.

- When the train is super crowded, don't hug the poles in the middle of the train as if you own them. Other people need to hold onto them too. And not everyone is tall enough to grab onto the metal bars above the seats.

On the street:
- When walking around, don't make sudden movements or stops.
- If you own a dog, pick up its crap and don't let it pee in the middle of the sidewalk so that the pee runs all over the place and stinks up the block and mothers have to roll their strollers straight through your dog's urine. No one likes to have dog crap or pee on their shoes, so do us all a favor and curb your pets. We're living in a society, people!