Spring Break to NYC

We contemplated taking a BIG trip this year to the islands or somewhere warm and tropical, then we remembered that we have a two year old.  We have a rule to travel: no diapers, no naps.  Ali doesn't pass the test.  Since we couldn't justify leaving her with the sitter for 7 days we didn't have a problem doing it for 3 days while the rest of us headed to the sunny shores of New York City!!

Paige and I have been, a little Christmastime girls weekend in Dec 2014, but Luke had not.  We packed a lot into 3 days including: a visit to daddy's college on the way down, Aladdin on Broadway, Time Square shopping, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty(up to her feet), Chinatown and Little Italy, the 9/11 memorial, Central Park & the Central Park Zoo, swimming at the hotel pool and we managed to sneak in a dinner with Jen Doll and Martin.  Lots of running around and I'm happy to report that we exclusively used the subway (except, of course, when we were on the ferry)

So many good pictures.  Funniest moments - Luke looked at the Statue of Liberty and said, "is she holding an IPAD?"  By the third day, Paige said, "UGH!  I'm so tired of all these people talking different languages!"

Visit to Fairfield.  Paige decided she will go here for college.  Luke is still laser focused on going to Duke...yikes!

DAY 1

View from the hotel, we were right next to the 9/11 memorial in the financial district.  When the towers fell, they closed the hotel for 2 years to rebuild it from the damage.

First ride on the subway, no problem -

 No hands -

 Dinner in Time Square before the show.  Paige with the signature pot pie dish -

 Showtime! We saw Aladdin, it was great.  The genie won a Tony Award for his performance.

DAY TWO -
Battery Park -

 One World Trade :(

 Ferry to the Statue of Liberty -

 Luke became part of the street show -

 Daddy did too!

9/11 memorial fountain -

 SHOPPING!  M&M store

 Paige at the American Girl store.  They each got to pick something.  Luke picked something at the Lego store.

Hanging out with Jen Doll :)

DAY THREE -
Hanging out in Central Park -

Even brought our baseball stuff -

 Central Park Zoo -

 Downtime -

 Dinner in Little Italy -

 Shopping in Chinatown.  Luke lobbied hard for a pair of REAL turtles.  The lady was going to sell them to him for a deal, $10.  I explained we had nowhere to put turtles in the hotel room.  Moms are no fun!

Ali Happenings -

When Ali does something to make us raise our voice to her or correct her, she gets upset.  If she dumps her cereal, throws a crayon or something similar and we say “Ali, don’t do that!’ her response is always “BE NICE, OK?” followed shortly after by a “NO BE MAD, BE HAPPY, OK?”

And if you say you “I’m mad Ali!”  she gets very upset, cries and yells, “NO BE MAD!!!! BE NICE, OK!!!!”

It is an order at that point.

 She is also very considerate often times.  She still apologizes more than any toddler I’ve seen.  If she accidentally does something like gets applesauce on my shirt or bumps me she said “SORRY MOM! SORRY….SORRY MOM…SORRY!”

Usually there are about 5 sorrys.

She is also very good with her Please and Thank Yous.

She is very chatty with strangers when we are out and about.  At Target she likes to tell the check out person which member of the family will be using the item they are scanning.  “Daddy shampoo for wash daddy” or “Paige yogurts for Paige” or “Luke eat apples”  Many times these people have no idea what she is talking about but it usually earns her a sticker at least. She always does the big goodbyes when we leave the store with the wave and yelling “GOODBYE” to anyone within 20 feet.

In music class, the teacher said, “Ali is going to be a little CEO” Not sure if that is a good thing.  She walks around and makes sure everyone has an instrument and cleans up after the songs by making sure everything gets put away.

Ali also had her first dentist appointment last week.  She was a good little patient.  The hygienist comments a few times on how good she was.  She learned about all the instruments they use, got her teeth counted and even got her first real cleaning.  I know it was a success because she has asked to go back about 4 times since then.  I think for the toy more than anything else.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Paige learned the Pledge of Allegiance at school last week.  The teacher picked two students that really had it down pat to recite it over the loud speaker at school in the morning.  Paige was certain she would be picked.  She wasn’t.  Very disappointed.  But she was happy to recite it for me and wanted me to send it to her “real” teacher who is on maternity leave.

OK???

As Ali gets older and her language expands, she is able to express her needs and wants more clearly.  It is pretty funny actually.  She doesn’t like it when anyone gets upset with her.  If she dumps out a board game or makes a mess of something, I say “No Ali, don’t make a mess with that.” Sometimes she gets teary and says, “No Mad, OK?” and insists you tell her that you aren’t mad with her before we can all move on.

Ali is also very polite.  She uses her please and thank yous and often says "sorry" if she spills something or gets herself dirty she says, "sorry mommy, sorry!!"

She also has specific ideas on what she wants to wear.  Now that she is potty training, she has 6 pairs of undies, three she likes and three she doesn’t like.  If you try to put on one of the undies she doesn’t like, she said, “no these undies, OK?” She also wants to wear certain clothes.  If I pick a shirt she doesn’t want she disappears and comes back with a different shirt and says, “No wear that shirt for Ali this one Ali shirt, OK?”

OK ends every demand and the arms are usually wildly flailing around.  Very expressive with her hands.  She also pushes your legs or pulls your hand to show what she wants to do/have.  She manages to get her point across. 

She often takes my hand, pulls me over to the couch and says “Mommy, sit, OK?” hands me the remote and says “NAE NAE” or something that I’ve learned is “Wildest Dreams” because she wants me to put on one of these two favorite videos of hers.  After you put them on, she pulls on your arm and says, “Dance Mommy!”

But maybe the most fun is when I’m trying to sleep in (past 7AM) on a weekend and she comes barreling into the room (Luke usually gets her up as they are both part of the early morning crew).  She picks up my sippers that are next to the bed and shoves them in my face along with my glasses and says “Mommy, up.  Ali eat!”

And in those times where things don’t go her way, or we say no and she is frustrated, she sometimes hits herself in the head in frustration.  Not hard but just that raw emotion.  We usually laugh at this which probably doesn’t make the situation better.

Paige made dinner all by herself!

the movable bed?

All boxes and packaging material is fair game for projects in this house -

Oatmeal anyone?

A couple of snuggling youtubers -

Minnie me and minnier me!

What do you do when you have a factitious eye problem?  Make a patch of course...

60 degrees and shorts to school in March, what could be better!

Happy Easter!!

He came again this year.  BUT, since we largely took sugar out of the kids diets, we had to write him a note to go light on the sweet stuff and heavier on the toys.  I think the EB probably spent more money this year (just guessing!). It is hard to fill those baskets with non-food items.

We got all cleaned up and headed to the cape to Mimi's club for brunch.