It's a Boy! -----Again!

We went for our Level 2 ultrasound and after about an hour the baby decided it would be a good idea to appease Matt and Leah and show us its goods. Short of some kind of genetic mishap this baby is definitely a boy. Unlike with Leah who turned out to be a girl. Her sono was nowhere as clear as this time around.

Matt is happy.

Leah on the other hand? Completely miserable. She is grieving the loss of her proposed baby sister. She has a few months to come to terms with her great dislike of boys as siblings. She did tell her teachers today that "It's okay because he will have a girlfriend some day and leave the house and we can go back to being a normal family with a little sister."

Whatever logic works for her. She is already planning for sibling #2 and this one isn't even here yet.

Truth be told no matter what Leah is going to be an amazing big sister.

Impromptu NYC Trip

For this week's Friday "Leah and Mom" time we headed to Manhattan. When we got to Penn Station I asked Leah "Uptown or Downtown?" and she chose downtown, off we went.

We walked from 34th Street to Chelsea. I took her to the former "Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion" on 6th Avenue. It used to be the Limelight. A club I spent most of my youth in back in the 90s. Leah hears a lot of stories told among my friends about those days and wanted to see what the building looked like. Much has changed over the years. We also stopped at a few stores on the way down to 14th Street. We walked over to Union Square and we visited with the artisans at the market. Leah stopped and spoke to some of them, all on her own. The artisans were nice and generous with their time and answered the question she had regarding the different medias. Everything from jewelery to photography to paintings to custom t-shirts.

We picked up some apple cider and apple cider donuts to have as a snack later on in the day. Next up with walked down Broadway, stopped at the Halloween store, then went by Grace Church and walked around. I used to spend many days in the church for various different charity functions and I always enjoyed the history and beauty of the building. Leah seemed to appreciate it some as well. We also made our usual stop at the Strand Bookstore and met up with a friend who works there.

After the Strand we walked down to Waverly Place because Leah wanted a picture with the street sign that says "Waverly Place". She loves the show Wizards of Waverly Place and they always show the area down in Manhattan and the street signs.



We then strolled past NYU and over to Washington Square Park where we spent the next three hours. If someone were to ask me what summer in the city means to me...well the fountain at Washington Square Park would be it for me.



Leah enjoyed the fountain and played in it for a good solid hour.

After the fountain she sat to watch the Yogi & Contortionist show starring "the Black Supernatural". The guy is amazing. Leah loves street performers. Anytime we head to Manhattan I always make sure to bring a few singles with me because she does stop to enjoy many performances in the parks and streets. She always wants to give something.

As if the fountain wasn't enough she followed up with the sprinklers at the playground.

We had our apple cider and donuts for snack time.

As always where there is sand, there you will find Leah.

After an hour or so at the playground we headed over to Dojo's for dinner. Still love the place. The best fried calamari, with the most delicious dipping sauce. Leah had their chicken fingers with soba noodles. I asked them to make me something they no longer have on the menu, best soba noodle soup ever. They said 'no prob' and it was well worth it. Leah of course ordered her usual Shirley Temple as well.

Dinner was followed by a walk back up Broadway to the movie theater. We saw the newest Ice Age movie. It was funny and a perfect way to end the day. When the movie was over we walked over to Union Square and Leah got an ice cream sandwich. We sat by the stoop and people watched. Lots of interesting people to watch. There were some break dancers and also some old school skater kids (not kids anymore) I used to hang out with a long time ago. All grown now, mostly professionals but they still ride at the park. We also stopped to listen to the different musicians out in the park. Leah danced to nearly all of them.

We headed to the subway and took the N train to Herald Square. We walked by Macy's and then headed to Penn Station.

We had a lil adventure on the LIRR on the way home. The train left the station as it should and then suddenly stopped, pretty hard stop and for about 15 minutes we didn't go anywhere. Just sat in the tunnel while the engineers tried to figure out what exactly was wrong. Then we went in reverse back into the station and had to transfer to another train. Took an extra 45 minutes to get home. The train engineer chose not to collect tickets on the way due to the delay. Save the ticket for our next time heading into the city.

I love NYC and I will always consider it home, especially the Village, NoHo and SoHo. As much as I enjoyed my years as a youth in those parts I could not have imagined how wonderful sharing those things with Leah would be. She loves it. The noise doesn't bother her, the crowds don't bug her and she is really right at home there.

Happy 4th!

The 4th of July marks a special date, every year. 30 days till Leah's birthday!!!

30 days till she turns 5.

30 days till she is officially a big kid. Officially out of pre-school age. Officially not our lil baby anymore.

She is already developing the personality she will have when she is a lot older than 5. Boy are we in trouble with this one! lol. She has an attitude that encompasses many emotions that are all easily expressed on her face. She likes to push the envelope and see how far she can take things. She makes testing limits an art. Not losing our patience with her can sometimes be a practice in the labor of love for us.

She is quite the chatterbox. She can hold conversations with those younger than her and those much older than herself. She enjoys telling stories. She loves remembering her dreams and if asked she will happily tell you all about them. 99% of them are really weird.

That is another thing that stands out about Leah. She isn't the typical lil pre-school girl. She does have the same interests and enjoys the same type of play as her classmates but she also loves those things which would normally be 'weird' to kids her age. She shares our love of science fiction from her father's obsession with Star Wars to her mother's obsession with all things occult. She loves vampires and is slowly moving into the world of respecting my love of zombies and horror movies.

She has an eclectic taste in music, art, movies...basically everything. She is a little renaissance woman in training, our girl crosses back and forth from the Bohemian to the jappy suburban and she makes the strides without tripping along the way. She loves Rocky Horror Picture Show and also adores the Jonas Brothers.

She is lovable and caring. She has compassion and empathy. Two things that cannot be taught. You are either a compassionate person or you aren't. It is innate with Leah. Probably the thing I love most about her. That and her love for dance. If there is music on Leah will be dancing. Whether it is moving her feet to the beat, bopping her head or just swaying back and forth. You can be assured that no matter what kind of music it is she will be doing something.

All in all she is a happy kid we have to keep an eye because if we don't I have no doubt she will get into small amounts of trouble here and there. Overall we are proud of our little girl. She is going to be a wonderful young girl who will one day grow into a beautiful, respectable young woman.

We have a lot of changes coming along in a short period of time. These changes have not been easy on Leah but she is dealing with them. In many way she is excited and scared at the same time. It has been just the three of us for so long and now with the introduction of her long awaited brother or sister, plus turning 5, starting kindergarten in a new school with new kids...that is a lot for an adult to handle, forget about a 4 year old. Nevertheless she has been supportive and helpful through out the whole process.

Only 30 days to go.

The 4th - Part Two

We spent the afternoon at a friend's house in Dix Hills. Leah and my friend's niece spent the afternoon swimming and playing together. BBQ and good company. Can't go wrong with that.

Afterward we went over to our neighbor's parents' house and spent the evening with their family and friends. They go all out with fireworks and put on a real fireworks display for everyone in attendance...everyone in the neighborhood really. Leah is not fond of fireworks but did enjoy watching the display from indoors.

This year she held sparklers for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

It was a great night.