Motherhood in NYC

Phil and Ted's double stroller being put to good use. Good for walking to the Shake Shack

Ok, I look slightly under the influence in this picture but I wanted to show what it was like to get around the city...Maclaren and Ergo carrier in the subway. My apartment is being overtaken by strollers.

One major bonus about living in the Upper West Side is easy access to the parks. Of course we all know about Central Park, but I've recently discovered Riverside Park, which is next to the Hudson River. There are so many different playgrounds that we can go to that sometimes I'll take the girls to two different playgrounds (one in the morning and another in the afternoon). If I wanted to go a little crazy, I could hit up four or five playgrounds in one go. There is a playground every three blocks or so along Central Park West. So I guess I feel a little better about paying city taxes if it goes towards maintaining these playgrounds (yes, on top of crazy expensive rent, you have to pay a city tax).

Now that the weather is hot and humid, I'm looking extremely unsexy with my frizzy hair and ghetto clothes while I push the double stroller around in almost 90 degree weather. Somehow, some mothers look really cute, but I just can't pull it off. Sometimes if a mom looks really good I take a long hard look at her to make sure she isn't a celeb. I like spotting some celebrity moms (Elizabeth Hasselback and Caroline Rhea) in the playgrounds. Someone told me Matt Damon and his kids were at Dinosaur Park, a playground that I frequent. I want to see some A-list celebs soon!

I've never seen so many nannies in my life. I know they are nannies because they are a completely different race from the children and a lot of the times, speaking a different language to another nanny, while shouting across the park in English to some child. You can hear about four different languages at any given park at any given time. Many children are multi-lingual. It makes me feel guilty about not teaching Ava Mandarin.

People are very opinionated about parenting here. Parenting is hard enough as it is and sometimes you get some unwelcome comments like "she should be wearing a hat" or "you need to sit down on the bus so your baby won't get hurt". I've been on a bus ride where a toddler was throwing a tantrum and people were practically verbally abusing the mother about it. One time this lady was going on and on about how we can't bring a car seat on the bus. David and I just ignored her but the old man next to me pretty much told her to shut her trap. They were arguing for a while and he just kept muttering "just shut up, just shut up." Quite awkward but quite funny. That's the thing about public transportation - everyone is in everyone else's space and business. A lady said out of nowhere to Michelle, my pregnant sister, that she needs to breastfeed her child because that's what "they" are for. Thanks for the heads up, lady.

I think NYC is incredibly convenient...IF you stay within your neighborhood. You strap your kids in the double stroller and off you go to wherever. However, if you want to get on the bus or subway, you have to plan well for that. Carrying a double stroller down subway steps or folding it up on a crowded bus is out of the question for me. If you are lucky, you can find a subway stop with an elevator. Basically, you need to have a really reliable baby carrier (I just purchased an Ergo, and I think it will work a lot better than the BabyBjorn) and an umbrella stroller to fold up when hopping on the subway/bus. I'm just starting to figure these things out. Everytime we have a family outing, we have to discuss how we will get there. Here are the choices:
By walking (it might rain or it is too freakin' hot!)
Bus (watch out for rude crazy people)
Subway (sometimes you have to wait forever for a train. Sometimes you have rats for company)
Or taxi (sure, if you want to burn a hole in your wallet and deal with grouchy taxi driver!)

In general, public transportation really isn't that bad. Yes, there are very annoying moments like the ones I mentioned above on the bus, but people are generally friendly and buses/subways generally run frequently. Most of the time, people will offer their seat to me while I am carrying Arden. People offer to help me with the stroller when confronted with steps on the subway. I try to forget about the bad times and remember the nice people out here. The other day I was carrying Arden in the Ergo and I was walking home with Ava from the bus stop. Her feet were very sore from her church shoes, which were way too small so she "couldn't" walk. I tried to carry Ava with my arms at the same time, but that didn't work for more than a few steps (got to work on my weak, flabby arms). Then I tried to give her a piggyback ride. That was a mistake since she was barely hanging on for dear life. A nice lady walking by carried Ava all the way to our lobby.

Gone are the days where I can just hop in my car and drive to the Target that is 4 minutes away. I am constantly buying diapers, toiletries, toys and other paraphernalia online. It is pretty sweet to go to the lobby and pick up my package from the doorman. But I do miss my Charlotte Target. There are Targets I can just hop on a subway and get to, but I'm not sure it will be worth the trouble to me. As for grocery shopping...I don't know what I would do without Whole Foods. I practically live there. We are always buying the rotisserie chicken and pizza there and I shop there multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times a day. I also order my groceries through FreshDirect. The concept of ordering groceries online and having it delivered is amazing. Despite living next to Whole Foods and having the FreshDirect option at my fingertips, I am still doing a poor job of keeping our apartment stocked with food. The reality is, there is no space. Some moms rent cars/take taxis and go to Costco to pick up some stuff. I would love to stock up at Costco but if you saw my kitchen, you would know what I mean about no space for anything! Someday I will post pictures of the apartment...when the clutter is less crazy. I am getting owned by clutter.

Music/dance/art classes here are double or triple the cost of those in Charlotte. So I've been trying to find lots of FREE activities for Ava. There are lots of free things to do and we've really enjoyed all the children's programs this summer. We have also been to some amazing free Shakespeare plays and concerts.

I am realizing how lame this blog is. We've been exploring the city but I haven't posted anything about these amazing places! I live in one of the coolest cities in the world and I need to do a better job documenting it! I will post some pics of some of our summer sightseeing later.

Four months and counting

Last month I said Arden didn't make too many sounds. Over the past couple of weeks she has gotten a lot more vocal. Sometimes at inopportune times. Arden likes to serenade David and I in the middle of the night. Something has happened to Arden's sleep patterns at night and all I can chalk it up to is what some people say is the four month sleep regression. Instead of doing her usual 5-7 hours, Arden wakes up every 3-4 hours and will take forever to fall back asleep. She'll be "singing", doing pilates moves by lifting both legs up and dropping them with a thud on the bed, or shaking her head back and forth trying to get comfortable. It's been tough this past week. I hope this sleep thing is a phase. These bad nights are reminding me of Ava's sleep regression starting at four months until age 2! Arden doesn't have a sleep schedule yet, but she usually sleeps in until about 10-11am with feedings before then. Ava and I have to wait for her to wake up before we can go anywhere. She'll take an afternoon nap too, usually for a couple of hours. She doesn't really sleep in her co-sleeper (kind of too small anyway) and I'm really not sure what I will do when she starts crawling/rolling. At that point, sleeping on our bed will definitely be a hazard. Our bedroom can't fit another crib in it (maybe a mini one) and there is no way I'm putting Arden in Ava's room at this time. I think we need a third bedroom so badly, but tough luck.

Arden is just so sweet, always giving smiles to whoever looks at her. There is always a smile for me when she sees me and she loves it when we shower her face with kisses (we get some good giggles out of her). Arden is really into blowing raspberries, especially when she starts getting upset. All of a sudden we'll hear her mouth sputtering away while in the stroller or in the room.

Stats:

Weight-17 pounds 2 ounces (95th percentile)
Length-25.5 inches (90th percentile)

One funny thing that happened at the doctor's office was the doctor was doing his usual check up with feeling around her tummy and legs. She was crying during all of this but when he started doing the hip/leg twisting thing, it sounded like she was laughing. Sure enough, I looked at her face and she was giggling and crying at the same time. Love that girl!

Arden is usually pretty happy during tummy time

Just like Ava did, Arden likes her butterfly friend

Always enjoying her fingers. She's pretty scrumptious to me too!

Look at my pretty dress!

Arden loves her bath time. She really needs one everyday, because as you can see, her fat creases allow lots of cheesiness to occur. If milk gets trapped in her neck folds, she smells like stinky cheese. Camembert, anyone?

Arden loves staring at her big sis. Pure adoration

Couldn't get out if she wanted to. Her thighs get stuck in there. For the record, I'm still not sick of making fat jokes about her because I love her fatness!

Block Island

We were so fortunate to be invited out for a week on Block Island again. We took a two and a half hour train ride to the ferry and an hour long ferry ride to get there. Ava got very sea sick (I think we were all feeling queasy). She left a nice pile of vomit for some unfortunate person to clean up, but besides that we arrived there without a hitch. Block Island is such a relaxing place! We love the house that we stayed at (thanks to the Bulls!) and the view from the house is amazing. Of course we were limited in what we could do with a four month old but we did a lot of what we do best...lounging. We also went to the beach, did a little walking around, played some cornhole (basically bean bag toss), watched a few chick flicks (the guys were into it too...don't deny it, Chris) and just enjoyed each other's company. David's back acted up again so he was babysitting Arden a lot. Ava was obsessed with the hot tub, which was so cute. She pronounced it with an emphasis on "tub" so it sounded really funny. One really cool thing about the house is the outdoor shower with a view of the ocean (just had to make sure you warned the other family members not to go outside during your shower). Here are some out of order pics.

All the little cousins hanging out at the farm

Building rock towers with mommy

Ava loved feeding the animals at the farm. Pass the hand sanitizer please.

All Arden could do was lay there on the beach under the tent (sounds like me). Love those cheeks!

Nice snooze on the beach

Ava eating her fave-PB&J sandwich

Ava boogie boarded with her old man

Getting ready for a stroll

The happy sisters

Baby Blessing

We blessed Arden on July 4 at church. It was a great time to have a baby blessing since all of David's family from around here could attend and David's dad flew out with his wife Marilyn from Utah.

A baby blessing is a special time in the Mormon faith. Basically, usually the father of the baby will give the baby an official name and blessing during church. The father speaks from his heart and pronounces blessings that hopefully will happen in the baby's life. Arden was perfectly quiet and still during the blessing. David gave a beautiful blessing, where he expressed what a joy it was to have Arden in our family. He also said he hoped that Arden will be a good example to her friends and that she will marry a good man.

I think baby blessings are wonderful because every parent wishes that their child will lead a blessed life. To hear the blessings that you hope your child can receive is comforting. I was so moved since I felt in my heart how blessed I was to be Arden's mother and to be a part of her life. Wow, I've used a variation of the word "bless" a lot in this post but sometimes I have to just sit back and think about everything I've been given in this life. Sometimes I don't know how I got so lucky. My children are gifts from God (even though there are days I forget about this!).

Arden is just a sweet, beautiful baby. She's still packing on the pounds like nobody's business. At her 3 month check up she was 15 pounds 10 ounces. Holy Cow! Actually, Ava pointed to Arden one day and called her a cow. Not sure why. But Ava pointed at me and called me a cow too on a separate occasion. That's okay, Arden and I can be fat together. This baby weight is not coming off quickly enough!

Arden will suck on the tips of her fingers and her little mouth makes loud sucking noises, especially in the middle of the night. We've tried giving her a pacifier a few times and Arden acts like she doesn't know what to do with it. She does the same thing with a bottle but we've only tried once. I've kind of shot myself in the foot with nursing her while lying down all of the time. She won't really nurse while I'm sitting down and it gets a little tricky when we're out and about.

Arden isn't making the strange noises she used to make (she sounded like a baby dinosaur from "Jurassic Park"). She doesn't coo a whole lot but just gives us a big grin whenever she sees us. She's a quiet one but I've gotten a few giggles out of her. Arden still likes to sleep a lot during the day. On the good nights she'll go for a five hour stretch, but there are usually two or three feedings between 8pm and 8am. She just doesn't have a schedule yet. She just doesn't like to be awake for more than 2 hours at a time.

We had a light meal after the blessing on the lounge area of our building

This is the same gown Ava wore when she was blessed. David's parents got it in Ecuador.

We had brunch with Papa and Marilyn at Sarabeth's. This place is delish! Arden is lying down under Ava's seat. Can you see her legs?

Buddha Baby

The two beauties. I've gotten a few comments from strangers that Arden looks like a doll. A super sized one. Ha!

Smiling all day long

She looks especially chunky and Buddha-like in this picture. The camera adds 10 pounds, right?

I love my fat baby. She looks like a jolly fat Buddha (no offense to any Buddhists out there) and I love her rolls. I loved how dainty and petite Ava was as a baby, but it is fun to have such a chunk this time. It keeps things interesting to have such different babies. Although I kind of wish I didn't have to carry Arden around in a carrier. My back may break if she keeps growing at the same pace.

She is 10 weeks old now. At her 2 month check up, she was looking healthy and didn't cry too hard when she got her shots. Her stats:

Weight-13 pounds 9 ounces (95th percentile)
Ava was 9 pounds 6 ounces
Height-23.5 inches (90th percentile)
Ava was the same height

Nothing too new to report on Arden. She is smiling a lot and cooing too. She is still sleeping a lot, with longer wake periods. She isn't on any sort of schedule, but thank goodness she usually sleeps in in the mornings. Sometimes she'll do a 5-6 hour stretch at night, but usually she wants to feed every 2-3 hours all day and night. I may be overfeeding her, since everytime she cries I pretty much feed her. She isn't spitting up as much, but is still as gassy as ever!

Life with two and Arden's updates

These beautiful "big sister/little sister" shirts are from Anne Willette.

Not really capturing Arden's sweet smiles in these pics...we really take awful pictures!

Reality has sunk in. Ah Ma and Auntie Michelle have come and gone, so I'm on my own for the most part. I have to say that going from one child to two is very difficult. There were some days where I felt like I would lose my mind. I would say the most difficult time would be in the evening hours, when I would attempt to make dinner, feed Ava, bathe Ava and put her to bed while trying to keep Arden happy. Lately David hasn't been coming home until 9 or 10pm, either from dinner with clients/colleagues, or studying for his Series 7 exam. I think I'm dealing with all of this a little better now because I've gotten more comfortable with letting Arden cry a little bit as I take care of business. Sad but true. I do feel guilty though. I never let Ava cry when she was a baby, but it's nearly impossible for me to pay as much attention to Arden as I would like. I feel like both of my children are getting shortchanged because at one point one of the two (or maybe both!) will be ignored.

Arden is still sleeping most of the day, once she gets comfortable. Arden will sometimes take forever to fall asleep. She hates to be swaddled but her jerky reflexes keep her from sleeping when she is not swaddled. I'm sure she would love to be held the whole time but as we've already established, she doesn't get that luxury. She is just the gassiest, gruntiest thing ever and will sometimes grunt for a long time, especially in the middle of the night. I've given up on using the co-sleeper , so I've got little Miss Grunty squirming around and grunting next to me. For a while I thought she was so gassy, spitting up a lot and had neon green poop because of something I was eating. I've cut back on dairy but I don't know if it makes a difference. Luckily the neon green poop has gone away for now.

She is now almost 7 weeks old. At her 4 week checkup, she was 10 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches. Ava was 22 inches too but two pounds lighter! So obviously Arden is a chunkylicious thing. I don't have many pictures of her from when she was 2 1/2 weeks old to now. That's because she got the most severe case of baby acne I've ever seen in my life! I'm not exaggerating, people. Her skin has cleared up quite a bit but now we've got some crazy cradle cap going on. She is beautiful and so sweet but I can't wait for her crustiness to be over with! She has been smiling a lot, so I need to get a decent pic of that.

Ava has adjusted to life with little sis very well. However, if I say to Arden "It's your mama!" Ava will say, "No, it's my mama!" We had a few episodes of Ava yelling some weird syllable like "Baa!" into Arden's face but I put a stop to that. Ava also had to learn that she had to gently pet Arden like a dog if she wanted to touch her, since Ava was a little rough with her before.
Sometimes Ava will say "I'm a baby! Change my diaper!" I'm not sure if she wants extra attention or she just likes playing pretend. Speaking of diapers, Ava is still doing fairly well without them but I've learned the hard way that she needs to wear them during her naps and at night. I used to just throw away her poopy underwears but realized that wasn't being very economical and would soon run into a undies deficit.

Auntie Michelle came last month to help out and visit! We shared some treats at Central Park

Auntie Michelle and Ava at the American Museum of Natural History. Arden and I went too. Arden was so lucky to see all this at 3 1/2 weeks old!

Arden's first two weeks

Ava is always asking to hold Arden

Happy times together with Ah Ma

Our little baldie

The first two weeks of Arden's life outside of the womb have gone pretty smoothly but she is becoming decidedly more high maintenance as each day goes on. I think she is eating well and gaining weight as she should. I think Arden has a decent appetite and feeds at least every 2-3 hours, even at night. She was 7 pounds 7 ounces at her 1 week check-up (born 7 pounds 2 ounces). When I was nursing Ava, I was concerned I was producing "skim" milk since Ava was such a skinny minnie, but Arden is proving otherwise. Arden is a grunter and makes us think she is constantly constipated...but that is definitely not the case. One of my least favorite things about the newborn stage are the middle of the night squirty poops and surprise pee attacks. When I'm disoriented in the middle of the night and opening up her diaper, that's when Arden ambushes me and pees and poops all over the place. It's a dangerous and dirty gamble everytime I change a diaper...will she projectile poop or won't she?

While I am on this delicious topic, I'll discuss Ava's potty training. While my mom was here helping out, I thought it would be a great time to start Ava on a diaperless existence. There were a few accidents the first few days (Ava peeing in her pants in Central Park and pooing in her undies next to Arden's co-sleeper). But Ava has really done spectacularly well, with the help of jelly beans and lollipops. We started a chart with stickers but Ava was a lot more interested in her treats. I think I'll put a diaper on her everytime she sleeps for a while though.

It was great having my mom here from Arizona for a week. My mom adapted very well to city life and loved walking everywhere. Ava loved having her here and going to Central Park everyday. Ava liked to embarrass my mom by saying "we can't say boobies" everytime they were in the elevator with a man, or running up to people who were napping in Central Park and saying "wake up" close to their faces.

I keep hoping that Arden will be our "good baby" since we had our issues with Ava. Isn't that the way the universe works? You have a difficult first baby and the second baby should be a breeze. I'm not holding my breath right now, though. Arden is exhibiting the same type of behavior such as not wanting to sleep in her co-sleeper. Arden seems perpetually uncomfortable laying down or being held and fights us when we swaddle her. So we are trying to figure things out and get to know Arden and keep her happy. I am madly in love with her and can't bear to be apart from her.

Grandmother and granddaughter exchange tender looks

Ava was able to go Easter egg hunting at Central Park

Ava is looking too grown up