Inverse Relationship

The consistency of my blogging is inversely related to the amount of nighttime sleep Declan is allowing. So what do you hope for these days? Be honest.

Middle of the Night Discoveries: Suburban Edition

2:30am Friday - Suburbia streets are eerie during the middle of the night. I thought a wolf was going to attack me during my trek to the car to retrieve the car seat.

2:30am Saturday - A computer chair makes a pretty awesome rocking chair.

Dear Danny

These days life is so busy I have limited time to chat with Danny. Sometimes he only knows what Declan and I are up to by reading my blog. So excuse the personal note:

Hi Hunny,
Hope you're having fun in the Poconos. I know we didn't talk about my flights to KS but all the small details just add up to - I make a connection in Dallas on the way back, want to meet me there? Also, by the pictures, you can tell we made it. There's been a lot of eating, baby gawking and of course Skip-bo winning. Laura learned how to play A Thousand Years on the piano and performed a special musical number for our arrival. Thanks for the new camera, it has been the best. Oh and most importantly -we miss you!
Love,
Declan and Jennifer

Not in Manhattan Anymore

All these shenanigans for a little bit of this:

Lessons Learned - Travel Edition

A few thoughts:

Breastfeeding in public becomes a little trickier on a full airplane. Have you seen how small those seats are? When in doubt repeat the mottos - "Modesty Shmodesty" and "A mothers gotta do what a mothers gotta do".

Flaunt your happy baby upon boarding the aircraft. It doesn't matter if he is smiling or sleeping. That way everyone can see how cute he is so that when he is screaming bloody murder they will remember that he is not a brat. Also it wouldn't hurt to jokingly apologize during this introduction. Then your bases are covered at the end of the flight. Either you can say, "I warned you" or you can listen to the praises of how well behaved your baby is. If a happy boarding baby cannot be guaranteed you can start this process in the waiting area although this will not be as effective because these people may not be sitting in close proximity to your assigned seat.

In summary, I do not recommend attempting partner-less travel. Always travel with a ratio of at least two adults to one child.

Thank Yous - Travel Edition

Flying alone with a 4 month old is not for sissies.

Thank you fellow bus riders for your silent prayers. I hope we were not flying together or you got a double dose of crying baby.

Thank you TSA employees, fellow travelers and innocent bystanders. They say it takes a village to get a screaming baby through security. I can vouch for that.

Thank you man who sat next to me on the flight to Chicago. I thought you were fake sleeping because Declan was wailing until you started to snore.

Thank you Chicagoan that walked along side me at the Chicago airport and asked if I was going to be alright alone. I know you were returning home but would you have really cleared your schedule to stay with me had I said no? Oh and the tip about the caramel cheese popcorn - maybe I'll get some one day.

Thank you multiple strong men for lifting my suitcase into and out of the overhead storage and onto and off of the plane-side baggage cart. I'm strong enough to do it but like to have others serve me.

Thank you nice man for offering to take a turn holding my baby. I put the offer in my back pocket until you requested multiple Bacardi's from the in-flight beverage cart.

Thank you other young mother traveling with a happy little baby. I thought we were doing it together (alone) until I saw your husband.

Thank you woman on my flight to Kansas for offering your iPad for my baby's entertainment. I'm sure he would have loved Angry Birds but his mean mom doesn't let him play video games.

What? Did you say...

Flying!!

A Monday in Central Park

Last week when the weather was gorgeous I had a moment where I realized that at the end of the day I am going to be exhausted no matter what I do so I might as well spend some days really wearing myself out in Central Park.

Yesterday morning we headed over to my visiting teacher's apartment and she ended up feeding me lunch (how awesome is she!) so I called an audible and Declan and I headed to Central Park afterwards. There are no pictures to document this outing because I didn't have my camera but in the end I probably would have forgotten the memory card even if I remembered the camera so its a moot point. We entered around 72nd, passed through the quiet zone of Strawberry Fields and paid a short tribute to John Lennon. Then we scooted across to a bench near the pavilion above Bethesda Fountain. It was fun to make this trek because these were some of the exact steps that I took with Danny on our wedding day. I of course have walked through these parts millions of other times but our wedding day will be one that I will never forget. I sat on a bench, fed Declan and had the best seat in the house for people watching. By the way, what do all these people do for income? There were TONS of people out and about in the middle of a Monday afternoon.

While Declan and I sat in the shade, I read the plaques on the benches next to us. People can donate money to the park and I believe $75,000 can get you a dedicated park bench. I've always told Danny that if I were rich that's one thing I would definitely do. One of the benches was dedicated in memory of a lady who I imagine loved Central Park and it read "Unforgettable She Was". What a beautiful sentiment. 

I find it important to mention here that while we sat and watched the amazing characters that NYC has to offer I downed 6 homemade chocolate chip cookies, complements of my other visiting teacher. (did I mention how lucky I am?). Declan and I hung around the lady of the fountain for a little while and then strolled down Poets Walk. There were musicians out in abundance and one man was playing a song on his saxophone that I swear was in a movie set in NYC. By this point, Declan had fallen asleep but I got this crazy idea that it would be super fun to take him to Heckscher Playground and push him in the swings. I ended up only checking out the playground because I realized it was silly to wake my sleeping boy to basically place him in the swing because we all know I really wouldn't be doing too much pushing. Plus maybe his first time on the swings should be with the whole family.

We exited the park at Columbus Circle and immediately I felt tired. Something about being back on the street helps bring reality back and the dread that the 3 hour detour might not have been the best decision. In the end I got back to our apartment and napped for 2 hours. All in all another day of falling in love again with the city.