Happy to be Inside

It is sunny but COLD outside and K, M and I are SO happy to be home for the day! Mark is picking up C and P so we don't have to venture out at all.

Yesterday was a different story. I was on the road from 8 am until 4 pm with children in tow. P, M and I set off for Manhattan through the newly fallen snow. Wind was blowing in our faces and we were cold by the time we got to the end of the block and went into the subway. We warmed up for awhile at P's oncologist office. His blood counts were all normal. Yay! I had been worried because he has lost weight, had a couple of fevers and seemed a little tired. I'm always thrilled when I find out that I am worrying for nothing.

The three of us walked from 3rd avenue across town to 6th avenue to get a faster subway back to Brooklyn and take P to school. Okay...I admit..we made a quick stop at H&M to return some furry booties that wouldn't stay on M's feet. The snow wasn't really accumulating but it was still blowing all around. We got to school at 12:30 and then M and I had 2.5 hours to kill before picking C and P back up. What to do? There isn't really anywhere to just hang out indoors and we couldn't go to the playground. I decided to go and check out the clearance sales at the "other" Target (not my usual one). The 35-minute walk there took me past Brooklyn College which was a flurry of activity for the "State of the City" Address given by Mayor Bloomberg.

M had some milk and I some coffee, we walked around Target and then set off back to the elementary school. By this time, the sun had come out and the wind had died down but it was still cold. I felt like I had been out in the weather for days by this point but C and P were thrilled to play in the snow when they got out of school. I must be getting old.

Back to the subway to go towards home and pick up K from her pre-school. She wanted to know if I had the car outside. Ha! I do have a license but I NEVER drive in the city.

We got home at 4 and the kids wanted hot chocolate. I was exhausted so I gave them a chocolate truffle instead and sent them to the basement to play. I do make hot chocolate sometimes though!

Anyway...yay for a day inside. We made cinnamon cookies this morning...as requested by K. She needs her purse to make cookies. See photo.

After Dinner Dance Party

Now this is family fun. Check out these moves!

A Belated Birthday Post

K turned four on December 28th! We celebrated with a party on the 27th. Three of her very best friends from school came and our christmas guests were still in residence so we had a nice crowd for snacks, games and cupcakes. K really had a blast. I think she enjoyed playing freeze dance the most. She is suddenly so much more grown up...articulate and imaginative...she is a great big sister to M and a loves to play pretend games with P. Her teachers say she is a "delight" and a friend to all in her class. She has developed an interest in the more traditional "girly" stuff in the past year...dolls, lip gloss, purses!!! (K's purse obsession is a whole separate post)...and her very best friends are girls. She isn't immune to drama...she cries at the sight of something I've cooked for dinner at least once a week.

According to New York State...she will be ready to attend Kindergarten next year. The cutoff is Dec. 31 so she would be the youngest in her class. Why, oh, why didn't she just wait a few days and enter the world in January? Through my semi-extensive research I have determined that NY and CT are the only two states (that I can find) that have that late cutoff. Most states have Sept. 1st as the date by which a child must be 5 to enter Kindergarten. I don't think the I would be so concerned if our school's K program wasn't so intense academically. K will be expected to be reading by December...really right at or before she even turns 5. Some european countries don't even teach reading until children are 7 years old. Additionally...Kindergartners only have recess 2x a week and full-day kindergarten is mandatory in New York City. Kindergartners have homework most nights.

I've been weighing the pros and cons for months and I have no answer. K is tall so she won't appear young if she does go. I have no idea if she is ready academically. She pretends like she can't count in my presence and then I hear her counting with her dolls...up to 20. She is loving pre-school but she only goes two days a week. She does have some anxieties about change and being away from me.

I think that some parents are perceived as wanting to give their child a leg up in school by holding them back. This is not my motivation. I just really want K to go to school when she is ready.

The boys did just fine in kindergarten but it was a big adjustment for C. He was stressed by the schedule and had a hard time focusing on another 1-2 hours of homework after 6 hours of school. He had no recess at all. P has really embraced every part of school...but he was also the oldest at the start...being 5.5 in September.

I am up way too late and I'm thinking that this post makes no sense! The kindergarten question will be there tomorrow.

Baby M Has Teeth!

Another milestone for my last baby. She was nine months old on December 21st and had no teeth but we could see that they were coming. On Dec. 26th...I checked and still none had emerged. The afternoon of Dec. 27th I could feel two teeth had broken through...one on the bottom and one on the top. Two more have since arrived for a total of four. She was toothless a week ago and now has a mouthful! The "firsts" (first tooth, first step etc.) are always thrilling. This time it is a little bittersweet. I feel like time is rushing by and I am trying to suck up every moment of M's babyhood and no matter how hard I try...I just can't get enough of it. Thankfully...she still isn't really crawling and she loves to cuddled and held. There is no doubt that she will soon be moving though...crawling, standing, walking is coming quick and I'll be excited and happy for her when it happens. I just hope that she wants me to hold her and cuddle for many months (years?) to come.

The Wii Comes to Our House

A year ago we decided to stay away from video games for as long as possible. I pictured my children blankly staring at the screen shooting things for hours. I thought there brains would atrophy and they'd never talk to us again. I also thought they'd just forget about wanting it because there is so much that keeps them busy.

A few months ago I that C was not forgetting about video games and instead was asking more and more frequently for a "personal video game system". I didn't want to just give him (them) whatever they wanted but I didn't want to just say NO because of some vague idea of mine that all video games are BAD. It seemed like lots of families that we knew had a Wii and liked it. They said that it was for the whole family and at least it gets everybody up and moving around. I read that the Wii was more interactive and some of the games are easy enough that even children K's age can play.

We caved! We let "santa" bring the Wii. Actually, I did most of the caving and Mark remained skeptical but didn't stop me. The boys were very excited when they realized that there wildest dream had actually come true on christmas morning. I had been pretty careful to maintain the pretext that we just aren't a "video game family".

Everyone (even Mema, Papa, Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris) enjoyed creating a Wii character and trying out the Wii sports and Uncle Mark's vast video gaming experience was very helpful in learning the ropes. C has become very frustrated and even cries when he can't navigate some part of a game well. What's fun about that? We got some more educational games and we haven't tried them yet....an ocean exploration game and an African safari game.

Did we really need a Wii? Will it be nice that the children won't be begging to go to their friends houses that have video games? We aren't totally convinced that the Wii will be a great thing for our family in the long run. I am looking forward to trying some more games though.

Christmas in the City

Today we made our annual trek into Manhattan to experience the sights and sounds of Christmas in the city. I planned to just post the pics and let them tell the story but my camera batteries died halfway through the day. Then my Iphone died too! I did get plenty of good pics though. We took the subway to 34th street and arrived at Macy's to see Santa a 10 a.m. The kids were very excited this year to see the big guy. We had lunch early and the crowd was starting to thicken. I met a man on the elevator who said he was from Tennessee and this was his first and only trip to NYC because it was just too fast for him. I explained that it is crazy right now and in that neighborhood because there are so many tourists visiting! He didn't seem convinced.

I forced the whole family to stop in at my favorite store H&M for 5 minutes and then we were on our way to Rockefellar Center. We saw the windows at Lord and Taylor on our way and lots more lights and decorations as we walked down 5th Ave. After the Rock Center tree we ducked into St. Patrick's cathedral to say a quick prayer. The kids were annoyed that we had to go to church on a Wednesday. It was a quiet and peaceful moment. We finished the day at "The Station" at the Citigroup building. It is a big intricate model train display and this is its last year in operation. Citigroup has canceled it because of the expense. Our favorite holiday train display is a casualty of the economy.

We got back on the subway very tired...I hopped off at Wall Street to pick up a wedding gift for my cousin at Tiffany's. Wall Street is beautiful...there is a huge tree and an american flag light display right outside the New York Stock Exchange. I had no idea! I wish I had been able to get a photo of it. Poor Maggie was a trouper but fell asleep at dinner.

December?

Beautiful day in Brooklyn today! Sixty degrees and sunny while New England and the midwest were icy and cold. The little girls and I played at the playground and went for a walk in Prospect Park. We saw the ice skaters, a saxaphone player and a waterfall. K liked the waterfall best. M yelled at a squirrel that got close to the stroller.

I thought about staying home all morning and working on the laundry, wrapping, cleaning, cookie baking, etc. etc. etc. but I'm glad that we enjoyed the day outside. I can do that other stuff tomorrow. Christmas is in 10 days!