Our Little Turkey: July 2014

7.30.14 ~ First In, First Out

The first tooth that Liam ever grew is now extremely loose and about to fall out. Sniff. Sniff. WAHHH!
Why is time going so fast?

On Saturday Carol and Tim did something that few grandparents do. They up-sized. They moved from their town home into a beautiful, big, open rancher with a large green yard and trees that are as high as the sky. The kitchen overlooks the living room and is connected to a large dining room. And today was the first Wednesday-Night-Dinner aka Taco-Night aka Family-Dinner-Night when we put that new dining room to use.

It was sad to say goodbye to the townhouse where I have spent so many hours since that first summer so long ago when Jason and I started dating. It was there that Jason and I stopped to pick up beach stuff before heading to the Outer Banks where he would propose. And it was there that we sat after our wedding unwrapping all the gifts and making lists for thank you notes. And it was there that Liam and I slept those first nights after he broke his leg; me on my back and him, with his cast, draped over my chest. And it was there that our children have blown out numerous birthday candles and unwrapped endless Christmas presents. And it was there that Liam and Nora have become best friends - almost siblings - with their cousins.

But tonight when the kids were running around the new back yard and Nora and Ryan were dancing on their stage (wooden deck), it wasn't sad at all. Many more adventures will be had in this new house. More grandchildren will be added to the pack (by Jessica and Katie - not me, silly). There will be more birthdays and Christmas's and sleepovers and cookie baking and "talks" and Wednesday nights. Oh, and they have a hot tub, so there will also be some of that!

7.30.14 ~ Woodlawn 2.0 in the Park

This past weekend we had a little high school reunion at Patterson Park. Mel and Amara together with their families invited Angela and I to join them on a park playdate. It was so fun to see all these Woodlawn babies together. It was even more fun to see people who I knew as teenagers now as parents. Hopefully we'll have many more of these play dates -- with even more of our Woodlawn peeps and their offspring!

7.14.14 ~ Back to NYC

This past weekend, after the swim meet, Jason and I took Liam to NYC. We centered the trip around Liam seeing his friends and our old apartment and Columbia and anything else that would remind him of the first (almost) 5 years of his life. There were some things he remembered a surprising amount about. Other things came back to him because they had been second nature for so long - stopping at the building corner instead of running to the curb and pressing the exit button before pushing the front door open when leaving Simon's building. Even though she was away on vacation, Liam also remembered that Ada lived in the same building. He remembered the names of playgrounds and the general direction to walk to get to them and he remembered his friends. It took 14 seconds of shyness to pass before he Simon were playing and talking and interacting like they had just seen each other yesterday. And when we saw William there were a few moments where they stared at each other and then they were off. The year that had passed, was suddenly erased.

That's the way it was for me too. As soon as I set foot in that city, it was like we had never left. Everything was familiar and comfortable. Except for Jason's apartment which was brand new to me. All this time I had never seen the place he returns home to on Sunday nights. His little studio is a typical New York apartment and felt a little like the first apartment he and I lived in together in the city. Before kids, before we were even married. It, like our 72nd street apartment, is a happy, light, and comfortable place. Not like the shit holes we had lived in in Brooklyn and on 108th. In many ways this trip back was like a reconciliation between me and my city. I had grown to be deeply unhappy by the time we moved to Baltimore last year. Our apartment was dark and overrun with mice, I was overworked with insufficient child care, I was with the kids by myself frequently while Jason had to work around the clock, and things were generally just not going the way I expected. Baltimore represented a fresh start and a big change and has been exactly what we all needed. Now, all those bad feelings have melted away, and this weekend I saw NYC with new eyes again. All the life and the people and the delicious food and the kids on scooters and the elaborate playgrounds and the walking and subways and the taxis and the tall buildings and the different neighborhoods and the park and our friends and and and...