I Love Fridays

I am off on Fridays.  It is a day for me and Lyla and I love it.  Don't get me wrong, I love when Mark is with us on the weekends, but there is something about having a day with my girl all to myself.  Sometimes we make big plans and sometimes we just go with the flow.  On this particular Friday a few weeks ago, we had nothing on the agenda and it was just a perfect day.

We started out with breakfast -- strawberries and coffee for me. Two eggs, a waffle, a bowl of cheerios and a cup of orange juice for Lyla. Breakfast is her best meal, so we really try to pack it in.


After breakfast, we spent some time hanging around the house while we figured out what we wanted to do. We fought about her outfit for the day (which is becoming increasingly more common) but I was able to distract her with this guy and eventually conned her into putting on my choice of outfit (note the hairclip, which makes it obvious that she was distracted).




We decided to venture out to Hudson River Park for the day to see the boats, play in a park we had not visited since last summer, and have a picnic. With a plan in mind, we were off. We live steps from the World Trade Center but really don't think about it too often. After the events of recent weeks, we did take a moment to watch the construction of the new World Trade Center tower. We watched the machinery in motion as we weaved our way through the influx of people who have become reinterested in the site.



Lyla imitating me taking pictures.

Eventually, we made our way to the river and it did not disappoint. There were new boats docked in the harbor for us to watch,a park filled with fresh sand to play with and an empty swing.















Happy girl


After the park, we found a shady area for our picnic. I could have sat there all day.


We had lunch and laid down o nour blanket for what I hoped would be alittle nap, but turned into a self-portrait session with Lyla on my back. We met some friends, blew some bubbles, said goodbye to the boats and promised them we would visit soon.

How Mark Left Us This Morning

Conquering Fears

We've been doing our best to get out of the apartment after dinner for a few hours. We visit Daddy, go to the park, go sit by the Hudson River or go swimming. What I am realizing on these little mini adventures is that my girl is getting big and brave. She loves to test her boundaries and conquer her fears.

Going down a kiddie slide doesn't seem to qualify as a "fear" but for some reason, she has become scared to death of the slide (who knows why, right? She loved the slide last summer). Whenever we are in the park, she eyes it and when I ask her if she wants to go down, she politely declines. But on this particular night, I could see that she really wanted to give it a try. She would sit at the top looking down for ages, then get up and ask me to go down the slide instead. We did this about a dozen times before she said "My turn, mommy." And then, she did it!  Over and over and over, beaming with pride.  I guess we are in for a summer of sliding.

Mother's Day and Remembering

I am going to pretend that Mother's Day wasn't already two weeks ago so I don't feel as bad about being so delinquent about posting. And I do feel bad because it was a really lovely day spent with all of my favorite ladies. Actually, one of my favorite ladies -- Lyla Grace -- was missing. We did a mommy's lunch, without kids, which is always relaxing but, in all honestly, we end up talking about the kids or itching in our seats because there is no one to run around after.


Two very special ladies (even if Nana is making a funny face :)


My mom bought me and Dina the same Mother's Day card. She thought they were different because one opened from the side and one opened from the bottom, but they both said the same thing! It's kind of funny because a couple of years ago Dina and I coincidentally got my mom the same birthday card.


After breakfast, we went to be with another very special lady who loved me as if she were my mom -- my Aunt Dolores. We went to sit on her bench on the boardwalk.




She shares that bench with my Uncle John.


It makes me sad when I think that Lyla will never be able to crawl into my Aunt Dolores' lap and feel all the love that she had to offer. I often think about what I will tell Lyla about my Dee Dee so that she knows how big her love was. I will tell Lyla about the time we got stuck in traffic on our way home from Atlantic City and sang Louis Prima songs until our bellies hurt from laughing. I will tell Lyla that my Dee Dee was the only one that could ever help my sinus headaches by rubbing my face with her strong hands and Vicks vapo-rub. I will tell Lyla that my Dee Dee wore velour jumpsuits before Juicy Couture made them popular. I will tell her that my Dee Dee made the very best egg salad sandwiches for lunch on the beach. And I will tell her that my Dee Dee would have loved her like crazy.

But Lyla is lucky because she has so many mothers that love her like crazy; and here is to all of them. Happy Mother's Day

Daddy's Hoops Game

Marks plays basketball in a park near Union Square on Saturday mornings. Last Saturday, Lyla and I met up with him toward the end of his game. We planned to watch the end of the game, but Lyla got pretty upset watching all the action. She likes her Daddy right by her side and not pushing people around.


So we played in the little park that is adjacent to the court.


He snuck out to see us a few times during the game.




At the end of the game, we joined him on the sidelines, where Lyla tried to steal the basketball and run on the court.

Surprises

I love when I'm at work and find a little reminder that I have a sweet, sneaky little girl waiting for me at home.  This morning, when I reached into my bag to grab my wallet to pay for my morning iced coffee, I stumbled upon this little Jasmine doll.  Coincidentally, last night, when we were playing with her princesses, I happened to notice that Jasmine was missing.  I asked Lyla if she had seen Jasmine and she just shrugged and said "Where Jasmine?"  I think Lyla knew just where she was.

Can you say HOT?

While we were in Maryland, we took a girls' trip to the National Zoo. To sum up, it was hot, it was crowded, there was a shooting at the zoo a couple of hours after we left, Lyla was in heaven. Go ahead and ask her what her favorite animal was at the zoo. Without missing a beat, she will tell you that it was the giraffe. A minor detail worth mentioning -- there are no giraffes at the National Zoo.

Our first stop was the zoo store, naturally. Bammie stocked us up on zoo gear -- thanks Bammie!




The big draw of the National Zoo is the pandas. I think it is a little weird how everyone is crazy for pandas, but they were pretty cute rolling around in the grass.




This lovely cheetah is eating a rabbit.


The zebras were beautiful.


Lyla got to see an elephant for the first time. It was massive.




Lions and Tigers! There were baby lion cubs on exhibit.






Do we look hot?