Bad Day

This post is to be read while listening to the song "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Yesterday really sucked. Andrew has been in Tokyo for almost two weeks now. Connor and I got back to NYC on Monday and yesterday we met with a broker to look for apartments for the first time. Now that Connor is walking, its all he wants to do. So needless to say he does not like to be strapped into his stroller for more than 10 minutes at a time. So while looking at apartments, I carried him on the front of me in his bjorn carrier. All 21 pounds of him! It was also majorly freezing raining yesterday, so I carried an umbrella in one hand, my diaper bag in the other and Connor on the front of me. For over 2 hours. Horrible! Please note that Connor had a great time, waving and "talking" to everyone we passed :) We saw at least 10 apartments and none are going to work. It was a real dose of reality (which sadly I knew it would be). We were pretty darn spoiled in our place in Tokyo and even now in our temporary housing here in NYC. Everything we saw was too small and more than we wanted to spend anyway. I only saw one I really liked, and there were two other couples looking at it while I was there. It went on the market yesterday and one of the couples decided to take it then and there. It's such a high pressure situation to look for apartments here in NYC- you literally have to make a decision right then and there if you really want it. I had forgotten how stressful and annoying apartment hunting in NYC can be. I definitely had a "what the heck are we thinking trying to live in NYC" moment. In one of my favorite movies "Keeping the Faith," Ed Norton comments about living in NYC "anyone living anywhere else has got to be in some way kidding themselves." I've always loved that line because I think its so true but I don't know, at the moment I think the joke's on us!

When we finally got home, hungry, SOAKED and sulking, I changed a big time poopy diaper of Connors and ran to the bathroom myself (leaving Connor alone in the living room for all of 45 seconds). In that time he managed to unwrap the diaper and proceeded to finger paint crap all over the white wall of the living room. In that short span of time he got it everywhere- the carpet, the wall, the floors, his clothes, his face, I do mean everywhere. Of course I was on the horn with his pediatrician immediately trying to make sure he was going to be ok in case he got some in his mouth (which I think he did). I was laughing, crying and gagging at the same time cleaning up the literal sh$t show in my living room. No I did NOT get a picture.

Annie stopped over on her way home from work yesterday and commented that I really looked like crap. I said you have no idea!

Playing in the leaves

So Grown Up!

I took this picture of Connor as he was walking towards me last night and I couldn't help but notice that he's just looking SO grown up these days! He's definitely not a baby anymore, he's a full fledged toddler!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

I finally downloaded my pics from Thanksgiving. We had a FANTASTIC time visiting with the Eichs in Michigan. This was the first Thanksgiving in three years that we've gotten to celebrate with family. It was a packed house! 4 kids, 3 of them under the age of 1! Rob and Kate drove in from Cleveland with their two little ones Natalie and Noelle. Kelly and Massi drove down from Chicago with their very little one Alessio (less than 2 months old!). We arrived on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we packed up all the kids and visited Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, MI which is quite literally the world's largest Christmas store. It really is something to see. The kids seemed to really like it (esp. Natalie), and afterwards we all went to lunch at the Bavarian Inn. On Thursday Aunt Nancy arrived, along with Andrew's cousin Laura and her fiance Jeff. Andrew's cousin Tom was also in from NC! My most favorite part of being out there was watching the kids play together. Connor was in HEAVEN. He followed Natalie (almost 3) around everywhere. She is such a great cousin, always wanting to play with Connor and Noelle and every so often she would just throw her arms around Connor and squeeze him tight and give him kisses. SO CUTE! Connor plays so nicely with other kids and it really just makes me so happy to watch. Connor also discovered stairs, something he hadn't seen before. He conquered them in all of 30 seconds and from then on we spent most of our time following him up and down them. Alessio was just as sweet as can be. I don't think I ever really heard him cry! He mostly just sat back and watched all of the antics from the comfort of someone's arms or his bouncy seat!

Warning, I've posted a ridiculous amount of pictures here.

At the Bavarian Inn.

One of my favorite pictures!! Natalie giving Connor her infamous squeeze. Looks like he's a little short of breath!

The adorable Noelle.

Introducing Connor to his new cousin Alessio!

The new parents.

Another picture I took of Connor and I. He's playing his jingle bells here.

The ladies (minus Andrew's Mom): Cousin Laura, Andrew's sister Kelly, Aunt Nancy, me and sister in law Kate.

Connor enjoying his first Thanksgiving dinner!

Natalie and Noelle (who just woke up hence the sleepy face).

This is how we all felt after dinner but Connor had no issues showing it.

The boys relaxing on the couch afterwards. Looks like Connor traded his puppy for Jeff's remote.

Connor and Laura.

All of the grown up cousins and spouses.

The next morning. Andrew using his "finger-toes" to multitask by handing a toy to Connor and holding Alessio. Maybe we could handle another baby! Haha.

The day everyone left. Here's Nana and Grandad with the whole gang! I love Grandad's expression here.

Thank you Mom and Dad Eich for being such wonderful hosts!

Baby Blues

There's just something about baby boys in blue jeans- I really think its just the cutest thing! I just bought these jeans for Connor- $7 at Target! I freaking love the USA!!!!!!!!!!!

Just your average afternoon stroll...

On our first Thursday in NYC we stumbled upon a free Tony Bennett Christmas concert being held in front of Bloomingdale's. They were just about to unveil the store windows decorated for the holidays and the lighting of the store. We got to stand so close and it was so much fun! Tony Bennett sang some of the songs off his new Christmas jazz CD and I thought it was great (fyi- there are a few family members that will be receiving it as a gift this year!!). Connor seemed pretty into it too- he was just mesmerized by all of the music, lights and people. We are officially in the Christmas spirit!!
The store before:


A close up of Tony.

And after the lights went on!!

11 Months!

With the holiday travel and all I've been a little behind in my blog posts. First and foremost, Connor turned 11 months old last Monday! Coincidentally, he also had his first appt. with his new pediatrician the same day, so I can tell you that he's 21 lbs and 29 inches, just slightly less than the 50th percentile in both areas (probably a little more now after eating all that turkey at Thanksgiving!). The Dr. also told him he was so sweet and handsome he could be a Gerber baby! Maybe she says that to all the kids but whatever, I ate it up. He's got 6 teeth now and loves to show them off with his giant toothy grin. He's ALWAYS on the go, everyone that spends any time at all with him says the same thing- "He's so busy!" He loves to spend time in a giant moving box in our living room. He crawled in it when the movers brought our first round of stuff and it has been a favorite spot of his ever since. He brings his toys in there and just hangs out. Being the parent of a new walker has been quite the adventure. Two weekends ago he took his nastiest spill yet. His nose bled and he had a black eye. This was in addition to injuries sustained in two separate falls just a few days earlier. And I'm on him 24/7 I swear! He's very observant, and we've noticed that he's really starting to mimic so much of what we do. When we give him the phone he smiles and puts it up to his ear. When he picks up the remote he shakes it at the tv. And when he plays with his toy piano his little fingers move over the keys just like ours do. The other morning I was taking his clothes out of drawers and putting them in a suitcase. He started taking clothes out too and handing them to me! Such a helpful little man! Since we've been home Connor has gotten to visit with ALL of his grandparents! The first weekend we were back my Mom and Gerry came up to visit and the next weekend my Dad came up. They certainly didn't waste much time getting their Connor fix! And I must say, it was soooo nice having visitors come to see us for a change, and to get to see Connor in his "home" environment- not on the road. And then this past week we were in Michigan visiting with all of the Eichs for Thanksgiving- more on that to come! In the meantime, here's some pics of the 11 month old!
The busy boy:


Waving and walking, two of his favorite pastimes:

The face of a new walker. Doesn't the first one look like it could be a mugshot?

Who knew you could have so much fun in a cardboard box?


We really love our boy!