Celebrations abound

There is much to celebrate today. We're celebrating not only Hanukkah, but also a change in perspective. I can no longer think of Sean as a baby. Between the cruising around, tormenting his sister, climbing on the dogs, etc. He's quite the little boy. 

But there was something today that finally made me put it all together & realize he was not a baby anymore. He's relating to his world in a whole different way than he used to. He's no longer a passive participant just along for the ride anymore. He's an active participant with wants & likes. He also has some dislikes that he's not so shy to tell you about. 

Something about the way he looked out the window. It was like he realized there was a whole world out there & holy goodness he was going to look at it all at once! 

 

Tonight as we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah. I was granted access into a world only known to those that have kids. Well... really those that have hard headed, do it on their terms, kids. 

As we were eating, I stopped to talk. I didn't look at my plate or my food. Where was it going? Sean wasn't hungry. He had stopped eating & was almost asleep. 

So then why when I went back to get my fork, it was missing. Not only was my fork missing, but my whole plate was too. It was sitting in front of Sean and he was doing this.

Someone care to tell me when he decided he was gonna do this? Not only do it, but do it with finesse!!! What else is that little stinker hiding? What else can he do that he is just choosing not to? I bet it's standing without assistance or walking. You know.... he does seem to get to places awfully quickly when I'm not looking. 

Everyone had a good time. 

 

And when we got home we opened some presents & Meredith & Sean opened their gifts from their Bubbe. They each got their own Zoobie. I'm sure once Sean comes down from his "WOW!!! Paper." high, he'll really appreciate his. Meredith is sleeping on hers & using her blanket. Thank you bubbe. 

A new wonder

When I found out that we were going to host someone from the Flat family again this year, I was so excited. We were going to be able to go on more adventures & more trips. We were once again going to be tourists in our own city.

What I hadn't counted on or expected (?). No that's not it. Accepted? Yeah that's it. What I had not accepted was that this year my children would be older. What I had not expected (yup it fits now) was that I was going to see my city, the one I grew up in, through not only Flat Samantha's eyes, but also through the eyes of a 7 year old, named Kayla, a 3 year old named Meredith and a 1 and a half year old named Sean. I hadn't expected all these feelings of wonder to fill me up. And yet here they are.

It's so exciting to me to think about how Kayla is relating to her Flat family member. It's fun for me to see Meredith really getting involved this year in the hosting of Samantha. Meredith asks is Flat Samantha is coming with us here or there. And it's even more fun for me to see Sean relating to his city. Relating to his sister. Relating to everything in a fun & exciting new way.

So thank you Kayla for sharing your Flat Samantha with us.

So.... you wanna know what we've been up to? Well....... We needed a girls' day. So on a very lazy Sunday afternoon we gals packed up & headed for a mani/pedi. Samantha was a little shy at first, but once she saw all the colors of polish she could choose from, she made herself right at home.

Meredith walked in & sat down like she owned the place. If fur was still en vogue for little girls and Meredith had one, she have dropped it down off her shoulders & one of her minions (a.k.a mom) would've been right there to catch it. We relaxed, we chatted, and we had fun. The only thing missing was maybe a mimosa for me & shirley temples for Meredith & Samantha.

Come on. Really diva?

And after our mani/pedis, it was off for some pizza. Samantha got a little oil on her shoe, but that was ok. Little miss diva decided she needed new ones anyway.

Yesterday was another big adventure for us. We met Rob at work for lunch. We made it take your Flat family member to work day. Or rather to someone else's work as the case may be.

We rode the train again & had lunch at the atrium in the Citigroup building. I got a talking to for taking pictures in a federal reserve building. Whoops!

Samantha settled in very nicely to her role. Even deciding 5 minutes into it that she was on a coffee break.

Samantha was a good supervisor. She watched Meredith work very carefully & even managed to nitpick. She's going to very well in the working world someday.

Seany was, of course, asleep on the job. Silly kid. Doesn't he know the boss is watching?

Then it was time to punch out & head home, but not before seeing some sights. As we crossed Park Avenue, we realized that we were going to pass a waterfall wall that's in the book A City Is. We had just read it.

We alsop passed a piece of the Berlin Wall. We told Samantha all about it's history.

On our way home, we stopped at St. Patrick's Cathedral and we also walked through Rockefeller Center again. This time getting really close to the ginormous Christmas tree. We also stopped to watch the zamboni clean the ice on the skating rink.

And tonight we celebrated Hanukkah. We explained to Samantha what Hanukkah is. After Rob & Uncle Freddy said the prayers,  Samantha helped us light the menorah.

Lady M's Christmas Show

Seriously. It doesn't get any cuter than small kids singing songs.

Please excuse the zoom. I was trying to make sure everyone was included. :)

Now that's a walrus!

After school today, I took Meredith, Sean & Flat Samantha to the aquarium. You know how much we love the aquarium. We totally pink puffy heart it. There is some maintenance & construction going on since it's the off-season, but we always have fun anyway. Today was no different. And.... it turned out to be the perfect day for it. The weather was absolutely perfect. 

First up was the big tank. We stopped & waved hello to our friendly rays and various fish. We looked for the moray eel, but I think he was sleeping today. Samantha was so excited that she could be that close to the fish. It was almost like she could swim with them. Boy was she in for a treat when we visited the sea cliffs exhibit underground. 

When we stopped to eat lunch someone exclaimed, "Look Flat Stanley!!!" Not many people have heard of the Flat family, but those that have get very excited about it. In fact it's the 2nd time this week someone has gotten very excited to see someone from the Flat family. 

After lunch we were off to the sharks. Now..... our shark tank isn't much right now, but the NY Aquarium is planning big things for the shark tank. And Meredith LOVES the sharks. 

After that it was off to the sea cliffs to visit with the walruses, seal lions & penguins. Samantha & Meredith watched as the walruses swam around & up to the glass. Meredith showed Samantha how to "tickle" the walrus as it went by. 

Next up were the sea lions. They were either having a really bitter debate or playing a game of tag today. Either way even I enjoyed watching them this time. 

Usually when we're at the aquarium, there are a TON of people and the octopus is hiding from the chaos. Today, though, she was out. There were hardly any people visiting today & those that were there were pretty laid back. She's so cool. 

Samantha thought the tentacles felt yucky. Meredith agreed. 

Penguins are exciting too. Especially since it was feeding time. How cool is Samantha that one of the handlers let her get up close & personal?

On our way out we even got to see some handlers doing some training with the sea lions we had just seen underneath. 

And of course the measure of how good a day it was...... if someone falls asleep in the car, it was an awesome day!