Week #3

Since I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and got over some of the initial shock and sadness about the move (don't get me wrong, I am still shocked and sad sometimes)--we have enjoyed the city to its fullest this past week. Connor has become quite adept at raising his hand to stop taxis yelling "stop taxi!" as loudly as he can. We've braved the weather to explore different museums and parts of the city. The Childrens Museum of Manhattan is awesome, and Connor got to drive a firetruck and climb inside the Trojan horse. Once again, it was me and Connor with Kea strapped to me and all the nannies. Nannies, nannies everywhere! After spending some time in this part of the city, I now understand that it would be virtually impossible for a family to raise their kids here without both parents working. I guess that is where the nannies come from.

On Thursday we explored the Central Park Zoo and it was spectacular. There were sea lions just like in Seattle and penguins and polar bears. Connor had a blast running all over the place and exploring the petting zoo. I loved the zoo--it is set right in the park, and is off 5th Ave. There are all these gorgeous old buildings surrounding the zoo it felt surreal. They even have the snow monkies (I think that is what they are called) that spend a lot of time in heated water pools. It felt like we were in a different world with all these animals right in the middle of the city! The church bells were playing Christmas carols whenever the hour changed, and although it was chilly--the sunshine was very bright and warm. We once again went home with sunburned cheeks. Exposure to real sun will do that to you I guess, even in the winter.

On Friday we woke up and my computer kept saying severe weather alert for NYC-predicting snowfall and cold temperatures later in the day. Feeling brave with our newfound freedom using taxis, we bundled up and journeyed back to the Childrens Museum. On a Friday, the energy was pretty frantic inside--and there were tons of people and kids there. Connor was a bit overwhelmed, as was I with all the kids--some were crying, fighting over toys, nannies were giving time outs left and right. And then we actually witnessed a fight between two sisters where one sister elbowed the other in the nose and there was blood everywhere. Her nanny grabbed her and began to sop up the blood that was pouring out of this girls nose onto her pants and the floor--with great ease. You don't get bloody brawls at the Seattle Childrens Museum:)



As Connor was exploring the Trojan horse in peace, I started speaking with a woman that was there with her grandchildren. The woman was warning me that the horse is only for kids over the age of 6 and I assured her that Connor was half monkey and would be ok. She watched him for a while and then agreed that he would be just fine. She then told me she thought I was very brave for taking a baby and two year old out in "this weather." I smiled and wondered what she was talking about. Then, as we were going to a different area of the museum I glanced outside. Snow was EVERYWHERE and falling, falling, falling! I realized that we needed to hurry and get back in a taxi to get to the apartment ASAP. We bundled up again and nearly killed ourselves walking down the now icy ramp to the sidewalk and then we were hit by the most intense and freezing wind. Connor started to whimper, Kea was scrunching herself up to hide her face--it was awful. I was slipping and sliding and clutching onto Connor so he wouldn't fall. We couldn't find a taxi because they were so hard to actually see in the falling snow. We finally found one and he literally skidded the whole way to the apartment. It was quite a ride, and even Connor sat still, holding onto my hand. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with it all--there was so much to see! Snow, snow and people rushing, taxis and trucks and buses sliding slowly through the flurries. I was just so glad we got back ok. Needless to say, we didn't leave the apartment for the rest of the day. I ordered Chinese food for dinner when I realized we weren't going to make it outside to the grocery store. The delivery guy showed up in head to toe plastic bags and ponchos--even over his head and shoes. He tried to play ball with Connor in our hallway (we were out there kicking the ball up and down the hall)--and I think he scared Connor half to death. I imagine it was confusing to have a man wearing a plastic suit offer to play ball with you after he dropped off your dinner in a paper sack. Connor had a stimulating day:)



And even more stimulating for him was the next day. We wanted to go to the Natural History Museum so Connor could see the dinosaur bones. Since I was getting very familiar and comfortable with taxi travel, I voted that we take a cab. Dave said that the subway would be a breeze and Connor would like it. So we trudged off through the slush on icy sidewalks and made it to the subway station. Where we waited for about 40 minutes for the correct train to show up (usually you wait about 4 minutes or so). The platform was getting very crowded and no one knew why there weren't any trains. I again made my preference known--let's go grab a cab--but Dave said that it would be silly to leave then. Finally, a train showed up and we all piled on. It was a local train, so it was supposed to make many stops. This train did not stop. Not once. It barreled along the tracks, going very quickly might I add--through all the stops it was supposed to make. I started to get nervous because even the locals were looking around wondering what was happening. Finally, the train stopped at the end of the route--and a man told us that he thought it had to go through all the stops to make up for being so late in the first place. Great. So now we got off and hordes of people went over to the opposite side of the tracks to go back to where we wanted to be. People were grumbling, one woman was swearing and yelling at the conductor for keeping us hostage on the train--but overall people were pleasant. Until we were standing waiting for the next train and a homeless man started fighting with another guy. They both sounded drunk to me, and the guy was accusing the homeless man of smelling like "piss." Which, to be honest, he really did. Then it was a screaming match, voices getting louder, threats getting stronger--my favorite was the homeless guy telling the other man that "your mother smells like piss" which really set the other guy off on how his mother "smells beautiful, like flowers" They had to be drunk. Luckily, we didn't witness any physical violence and I am glad because there were so many people that I am not sure how we would have been able to move away from them. Having Kea strapped to me and keeping an eye on Dave and Connor--it was quite an experience and my mama bear instincts were coming out. I imagine that as we visit the city in the years to come, fights like this will be commonplace. You just don't see that in Ballard--the homeless drunk guys are really very friendly to each other there.

The museum was fun. Connor wasn't as interested in the dinosaur bones as we wanted him to be so we could look around more. He is so used to being able to climb and explore places like that because we have mostly been to Children's museums together--so the fact that he had to stay on the outside of the exhibits was frustrating for him and for us. We were constantly pulling him down off things, or yanking him back from touching things. Maybe not the greatest idea to go to this particular museum, but we gave it a try. We then wandered for a bit in the snow and then headed back to the apartment. Where we have been for a while now due to the weather outside. And we need to get Connor some snow boots--his little sneakers won't cut it out here.

Oh, and we found out that we got the house so we move on Jan 2nd to Chatham, NJ! We're excited and looking forward to enjoying this awesome location for the next two weeks. Dave will take off the next two weeks after working tomorrow--so we are going to have fun! Maybe we'll take the kids to the New Years celebration at Times Square? I'm kidding, I'm kidding...:)