Weddings

There are several ways to look at a wedding. Here's one. But then you notice the bride's father is a correspondent who does satirical segments on CBS Sunday Morning and you know you can look from this vantage point.

Seren and I watched that segment this morning bawling our eyes out. Belle was next to us. And all I could think about was the disbelief that this little girl who this morning looked just like this:



will one day turn into a bride.

Noticed

Twice this week, adults stopped me because they recognized Belle. In other words, Belle was recognized on the street.

I was walking up West End Ave on Wednesday and a young mother with a baby a little younger than Belle stopped me and asked me if my daughter's name was Belle. She said that she remembered Belle from a nursing mothers' group that she and I had attend together back in February when Belle wasn't even six-month-old. She admitted that she didn't remember me, but she remember Belle's smile and name.

Yesterday I was walking up Amsterdam Ave and a man stopped me and said, "I know your baby- I have seen her before." I recalled that we can bumped into each other in a retail store earlier in the week. He said he saw Belle's smile and remembered that he'd seen that smile before.

I guess Belle is a memorable baby.

WPHS class of 2028?

Doug, Tori and baby Stella came to visit this afternoon. Here, Belle and Stella play :)

Grocery shopping is fun!

What a Year!

September 24, 2010.



September 18, 2011.

Parallel Parking

Not to toot my own horn, but this was my finest parallel parking moment (in August- the last time I drove the silver Ford Escape). It was a great spot that allowed me to keep the car on West 86th Street on the Friday before Labor Day while I was in the City (ie, not driving):

Happy Birthday, Belle (again)

Belle celebrated her first birthday belatedly with Uncle Mitchell, Aunt Julie, Uncle Jeffrey, Aunt Joanna, Cousin Noah, Grandma, Grandpa and Grandma Ann.

Aunt Joanna created a beautiful cupcake display including a "1" candle.



And, of course, Cousin Noah and Belle played together:


Noah even gave his cousin hugs and kisses! Too cute :)

Par-tay!

Belle had a blast at Charlie and Marielle's first birthday party on Sunday morning. Here, Belle and Charlie play:



And again, this time Belle is using one of Charlie's toys as a purse:

And then Belle took a break for a hug from Daddy, sporting her pig tails and new cute dress (and, yes, that's a mini-Etch-a-Sketch in her hands):

Grandma Ann, Belle and Craig

3 quick Belle stories

1. I brushed Belle's four teeth tonight with a real (toddler) toothbrush and (baby, fluoride-free) toothpaste. She loved it! She giggled and seemed disappointed when I stopped. Hooray for good oral hygiene!

2. Today I took Belle to a Mommy and Me music class. Before we sang "Old MacDonald had a Farm," the music teacher asked the kids what animal says, "quack, quack." Belle made a Belle sound, as if to imitate "quack" that sounded like "gack" and the music teacher said, "That's right, Belle! A duck!"

3. Belle and I had a playdate with the twins upstairs. They hadn't played together in a few weeks. The difference in the interaction among the three babies from August to September was striking. The kids actually played together. They acknowledged each others' presence, made each other laugh and shared toys. They really, truly played together! It was a far cry from earlier playdates when "playing together" meant pulling a pacifier out of a baby's mouth and sticking it in her own mouth.

Dinner

Notice how Belle's ankles are crossed, as if she is a dainty little lady.

Reading and Pianoing

An artsy morning.

Shopping!

I took Belle shopping for coats. We only ended up buying the magenta fleece, but Belle was quite cooperative in terms of trying on a raincoat, a winter coat, and a fleece. Of course, Belle was preoccupied with books (how wonderful how much she loves books!) for most of the shopping trip.

Peach lover

This girl loves her fruit! I was eating a peach and before I knew it, Belle was devouring it. I can't complain: there are worse foods for which Belle could clamor.

'A Run for our Money' addendum

I realize, and should have added to the previous post, that all babies have mishegas. I know of babies who can barely tolerate a diaper change and scream bloody murder on a changing table. There are babies who only eat food they can pick up with their fingers. There are cutie pies who won't sit in a car seat or high chair. Belle is pretty easy going in many ways, and I know we are lucky that she is happy and healthy. Just thought I should add this after my previous post about Belle's bath strike and teeth-grinding...

A run for our money

For a sweet, smiley, adorable little bundle of joy, Belle sure keeps us on our toes. For one thing, her bath strike is still going full-force. I have come to really enjoy showering her. She has learned to close her eyes when she's under the shower stream, she smiles when I sing to her, and she think it's funny when I wrap her in her hooded bath towel.

Well, now that Belle has four teeth (two on the bottom and two on top), she enjoys banging them together. It started as tapping; she would tap her top teeth to her bottom teeth. Today, the tapping seems to have segued into grinding. I plan to call Belle's pediatrician tomorrow to learn if baby-teeth-grinding is a cause for concern.

Belle has developed strong opinions. When she wants to do something, she makes her desires known (despite the fact that she can't yet speak a word). She squeals and shouts and even will arch her back to express her dislike for something.

Sweet and cuddly, and yet super opinionated. Belle most certainly keeps us on our toes.

Bulletin board in my classroom

My colleague suggested that I display Belle pics in the classroom we share. Next to the Belle pics is a holiday card with a pic of her kids.
She and I have a deal: I will help her get through her daughter starting college, and she'll help me get through sending Belle to day care.

Ugh

School full-fledged resumed on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. These past two days of school have been more challenging and more exhausting than I had imagined.

I am a drama teacher so this is going to be a little dramatic. Remember that scene from Shawshank Redemption when the old man Brooks was released from prison after years behind bars where he worked in the library? He struggled to fit in to a society that had changed and evolved since his incarceration and is nearly unrecognizable to him. I feel the same way at school. Administrators and personnel have changed, there is a new schedule, I am teaching in classrooms I'd never been inside, policies and produces are different and I am wasting my time learning about these changes the hard way. I feel like I am learning the ropes all over. I feel like I left school used to horses in the streets and now there are these newfangled motor vehicles on the road and that is confusing to me.

OK, so (spoiler alert) Brooks commits suicide at the end of the scene. (I warned that this would be a little dramatic.) I, on the other hand, am confident that I will learn and adjust and adapt. I hope that I'll be less exhausted when I figure things out and will become more efficient my limited prep time at school, especially since I am trying very hard to keep school at school so that I can be a mom when I am outside of school.

When I finally get to Belle after 3pm, I am relieved and comforted to see her well and smiley. Today was rough, though, because the rainy weather made for a longer trip back to NYC than usual. Then some movie filming on 86th Street occupied a great deal of potential-parking spots, which meant that Belle and I circled the block looking for parking for over 20 minutes this afternoon instead of playing. When we finally got home, I was pooped, Belle was a little cranky, and that all made me feel a little down (and "the rain made the day so gray").

Some of my mom friends who returned to work before I did comforted me by telling me that work is less taxing than caring for (and chasing after) an infant/toddler/wobbler. I haven't found that, though perhaps it's because teaching is no desk job. I am on my feet all day, and I expend a great deal of energy trying to attain and hold the attention of 30 14-year-olds whose minds are still on summer vacation.

I know that the first few days of school are the most tiresome, and that I'll get into a routine in a few weeks. Until then, I'll think lovingly on the days when Belle pooped and puked on me midday; when I chased her up the slide at the playground; when I was as filthy as she after an hour in the Park mid-morning.

2 happy great-grandmas

Great-grandma Selma and Great-grandma Maxine enjoying Belle.

Walking moms in our lobby!

After Belle's birthday playdate, we grabbed a Walking Moms photo on our way to the playground!

Perspective

I fed Belle lunch outside while talking to our 104-year-old neighbor. Two other neighbors joined us: men who've lived together for years but who only recently were able to marry each other in New York State. One was celebrating his eighty-fourth birthday today. We all talked, and I warned the 84-year-old that Belle was catching up to his age now that she's one. He said he's wait for Belle at 84 to make the catching up easier.

The birthday boy talked of troubles with his computer. The 104-year-old said, "Computer troubles? Who cares."

I suppose when you're spending your 84th birthday with your new husband/long-time partner and you're enjoying a sunny day with your 104-year-old friend, computer issues don't seem like such a big deal.

The short end of the stick

We decided that Craig should drop Belle off at day care because he can do so later than I could (8 or 8:30 instead of 7 or 7:30). And then I pick Belle up at the end of my school day (around 3pm). I have the better deal. Craig most certainly has the harder job. While she crawled away to play and didn't seem to notice that we left on Wednesday, Craig had a very different experience solo on Thursday. Meanwhile, Belle was playing with another little girl when I picked her up at 3:15 this afternoon. Poor Craig. First he had to accept late evenings at work that keep him from saying goodnight to Belle. Now he is learning how to leave her in someone else's care, sometimes in tears. Yup- Craig got the shorted end of the stick.

A Tough Week

It's a tough week in these parts, though it started innocently enough. My cell phone died on Sunday night, so I knew I had to get a new one on Monday. It was two years old, so while I wish it hadn't gone kaput, I was more or less fine with it. I also had a big hearing this week at work, so I had lots of work to do when Irene was here. But on Monday, the office opened late, and I thought I could get more work done at the library than at the office, with less of a commute, so I stayed home. I started my day working at Starbucks, then meeting Seren and Belle for a photo session, followed by a tri-lunch. From there, I went to Verizon and then Verizon store 2 (where I saw Angela Lansbury!).

After Angela time, I went to the library and worked for a few hours, getting my work mostly done. My folks came in to wish Belle a very happy birthday, and she had a very happy birthday. Belle had a cupcake and sushi. She was happy.

I should rewind and mention that the TriCeps had a private birthday cake session Sunday before having a playdate with the twins upstairs (it was a nice apartment for hanging out in on an inside-day). That was her first cake time. and the girl was absolutely wired after the sugar. It was adorable.

Anyway, Wednesday morning, I woke up at 5:18 a.m. to a baby crying in my bedroom. While that doesn't seem noteworthy, Belle doesn't usually wake up in the bedroom. She wakes up in the middle of the night, and Seren moves her to the pack n'play in the living room. I usually sleep through this. So on Tuesday night, Belle slept through the night in our apartment for the first time (she had slept through the night in places where we don't share a room - grandparents' houses, Ithaca).

Unfortunately, Wednesday was a rough morning. It was Belle's first morning at day care, and the first time I had to drop my daughter off so she could spend the day with someone who wasn't Seren. Seren and I were both saddened by the ordeal, but it's necessary. Today, I did the drop off solo and it wasn't much better. I was told to do the drop off like I'm pulling off a band-aid. Obviously, that's easier said to me than done by me. Maybe next week, I'll have it down. In the interim, it's tough.

We also got ourselves a new car this week. We are now the proud owners of a Toyota Sienna. I'll save you the Google search; it's a minivan. We're growing up.

All in all, an eventful week for the TriCeps.