The Big Loop

Twice a week, I now have 2 hours to fill while Phoebe is in class at Kidville. We usually walk to 84th & 3rd- which is mostly uphill- a great morning workout while pushing a 40 lb. stroller. Once Phoebe is happily ensconced in her playdough or blocks or books, I take off and try to make the most of my time. It would have been great to take a yoga class or spinning or some form of exercise, but of the 6-8 places I checked in the area, none have classes at the 11 o'clock hour. Oh well. I guess I'l have to resort to the best form of NYC exercise- walking. If I need to do some grocery shopping, I hit my favorite gourmet grocer- Agata & Valentina back @ 79th & 1st, buy some fish for dinner, stock up on their yummy coffee and sesame noodles and maybe some homemade ravioli that Phoebe loves. Then I need to hit D'Agostinos for the basics like milk and toilet paper. By then, I'm loaded down and need to head home with the bags. I unpack, have a sip of water and head back for the big loop to 84th & 3rd by 12:30 to meet Phoebe in the gym. It doesn't seem like a big walk, but from East End Avenue, everything is a big walk. Mondays are also my night to serve at Soup kitchen, so after nap and dinner and bath, I leave Phee with one of my babysitters and walk back over to Lexington and 80th. Another big loop on the Upper East Side. By the end of the day, my dogs are barking. I'll come back to a (hopefully) sleeping girl and perhaps may have earned some flop time in front of the TV. My feet are aching, my legs still tingling, but it's all good. On Wednesday, I get to do the big loop all over again.

Tet 3.0

Soon after Phoebe came home from Vietnam, we were invited to our first NYC Tet celebration. Diana and 9-month old Liana (who had been back from the very same place Phoebe had lived for about 5 months) welcomed us over to their place. Both my parents and Diana's parents were there happy to celebrate with their new grand children. We ordered in Vietnamese food and dined in style. Two years later, Diana has a new little girl, Julia, 14 months old and full of smiles. She came home with Diana just 3 weeks ago from Kyrgystan, in the former Soviet Union, and she is a pure delight. For this year's Tet Celebration (it is the Year of the Tiger) we added two more Moms and three more girls to our party. Phoebe and I hosted Carol and Sammie, Elly, Margaret & Celia and Diana and her two daughters. Grandma Lynn and Jonfer also stopped by to say hello and share in the fun. The fare was bagels and lox this time and good fun was had by all.

Phoebe is at an age where we are starting to talk more about where she was born and how we became a family. We have a new colorful map on the wall and she can point out where Vietnam is and is likely to tell you, "I lived there." I get to show her where I lived in India and Australia and London too. When new people come to our home, she asks them to show her where they were born. Living in NYC, it seems everyone is from somewhere else. It's fun for her to see that everyone has an original story to tell. For some reason, the picture of Big Ben is her current favorite. We line up the chairs and the bunnies and all get on the bus (or the train or the car) for a trip to London. Maybe we'll get there together someday. That would be wonderful. Until then, we are happy in our little home, having friends over, looking at the map of the world and dreaming of all the place we will go.

Off to Fla-la-la

A week in Florida would never be my ideal vacation, but with my Parents now ensconced there for the winter- off we went! (Phoebe said: "We're going to Fla-la-la!") I can't remember the last time I went to the Sunshine State. My Grandparents lived in the Fort Lauderdale area when I was younger. My friend Carol and I were routinely sent down there during Spring Break over Passover. Our days were filled with cards and bingo and trips to the pool. My parents Florida did not involve Bingo. We were so happy to be together, we didn't care that the weather barely got above 50 degrees. We were bundled up much of the time, but we still managed to get to Del Ray Beach, have a dip in the community pool, and take a trip up to See Alana and Keith in Jupiter. Phoebe was thrilled to be back with Grammy Mika, Grampy Bob and Bromley. The house they are renting was spacious and open. We visited Devy and her singing Lobster. and even had a quick visit with Ruth Weiser (aka Sha-mommy). It may not have been warm, but it was warmer than our freezing winter in NYC. We'll take it. A little time with the ones we love is always worth the trip.

Phee & Bun go to school

It's not exactly school. It's not even pre-school. But twice a week for the past 3 weeks, Phoebe has started a separation program at Kidville called KVU- Kidville University. Like many of the classes she has taken in the past 2 years, it is filled with fun activities like art and books and music. There's 45 minutes in the gym at the end of each class where Phoebe (and Bun) get to jump on the trampoline, hang on the bars and play hide and seek (Phoebe calls it Hide & Peek) with her lovely teachers; Jess, Carmen, Sonia and Cyrene. The class is made up of 12 two-year-olds. Some have been doing the separation thing for awhile and say good bye to their grown-up with ease. Others are new to this drop-off game and there are tears. Sometimes lots of tears.

The first week, I stayed for class on both Monday and Wednesday. It was wonderful to see how well Phoebe does in new environments. She's amazingly adaptable. The second week, I left after the first hour. Phoebe was not happy to see me go. I wasn't too thrilled to be leaving her in tears. I was able to hang out in the hallway and peek in to see how she was doing. Eventually, she calmed down. Perhaps that moment was harder on me than it was on her. In the third week, I tried to leave after just a little while. Again, tears and lots of clinging on to her ever-present Bun, always a comfort in hard times. But this week, Phoebe was ready. Over the weekend we talked a lot about "School" and how she goes by her "Self" and Mommy does errands. She would say out loud, "Mommy will meet me in gym." She was processing it all, getting ready for the Monday morning drop off. Today, on the way to class she told me she might "cry a little." The she said "Bun might cry a little." I told her she could comfort Bun so she wouldn't be sad and I'd meet them both at gym. The hand-off was seamless. Neither Phoebe or Bun cried this time and Mommy is happily ensconced in Starbucks across the street with time to update my blog. My little girl is growing up, taking one little step at a time towards the life that awaits her.

My Intrepid little traveler

A trip home from Vermont by car shouldn't take more than 4 hours. When it takes 11 hours, you can expect a 2 year old to lose it at some point. Not our Phoebe. She was a travel trooper to make her Mama proud. We were about an hour into our trip south when the car started acting funny. Jeff said he could feel it jumping under him and thought it might be the transmission. We had just gone through the bustling downtown of New Lebanon, NY and quickly turned around cajoling the car to make it into the local gas station. From there, we called our road service provider. They suggested a flat bed truck to the nearest Audi dealership. Phoebe thought it was an "adventure" as we climbed into the cab of Frank's tow truck. Twenty squirmy miles later we landed in Pittsfield, Mass at their local car dealer. We unpacked our snacks and whatever toys and books we had on hand. The dealership had some puzzles and toys handy in their lounge and we settled in and waited to learn our fate. It could be worse. It could have been night time, it could have been further from our path. I could have been with anyone else or no one else. Phoebe was amazing. She made friends with the car salesman, played hide and seek around the cars and basically just amused herself. When we finally learned it was a wiring problem stopping the gas from reaching the engine, we were given a clean bill and sent on our way.

Back in the car, way past naptime, we drove through the beautiful towns of Lenox and Great Barrington. I've never really explored that area, but it made me want to go back someday. By dinnertime, (still no nap) we decided to stop in Westchester for some food. Jeff knew a local Italian place near where he used to live. He called some friends nearby and they came over to say hi. Peter and Julie were impressed by how grown up Phoebe seemed. Our little one had noticed that she and Peter were both wearing stripes. She said they were "Similar, but not the same." (yes, a proud moment for Mom.) Back in the car (still not sleeping) we made it all the way into the city and all the way upstairs with a fully awake girl. We had left Vermont at 10:30am and arrived back in NYC close to 9pm. It reminded me of our 5 hour delay flying out to LA last summer and the very first trip we took together from Vietnam to Hong Kong to Home. 22 Hours with my Intrepid girl. If she could handle that, she can handle anything. I can't wait to see all the places we will go in the future– hopefully with fewer delays and a lot more fun.

Holidays Cheer

Lots of Horowitz's, Yates' and Birches to go around this holiday season. We put some miles on our borrowed car (thanks Debbie!) making our way up to Connecticut where Christmas celebrations were hosted by Chip Yates and family. Despite the fact that they had to leave the next day to go to a family wedding in Baltimore, Chip and Kris and Caitlin and Wyeth put on a beautiful meal and filled their house with trimmings of the season. How nice it it for my Jewish/Vietnamese child to also get to experience Xmas with her father's side of the family. I say, the more to celebrate, the better. The overload of gifts for Phoebe- between 8 days of Channukah and Xmas made me worry she would expect presents every day for the rest of the year. (I have been known to hide things in the closet to save for a later date, but that's our secret.)

We piled Phoebe, Justin, Michael and me and Jeff back into the car to proceed onward and upward to Vermont where the Horwitz's would be waiting. We got to spend time with our California cousins, Aunte & Uncle J in our lovely country place. I often thought of how precious these moments are- especially with the Grandparents. The dark side of my brain knows too well that we won't have them forever, and while I try to keep those thoughts a bay, I can only flip the picture to see gratitude in the moments we have. Phoebe is only 2 and 4 months old. Will she remember anything of this time? My great hope is that this time will last a good, long time. One thing Jeff and I have in common is we both really enjoy time with our parents and look for opportunities to get us all together. With my parents going ot Florida for the whole winter, I have to adjust my thinking and just look forward to seeing them in a warmer climate when we visit in Februrary.

But back to Vermont. The weather was kind of mild and a little rainy, but we did get one day of sledding off the back steps in. I love seeing Phoebe interact with the girls. She knows them as "Chlo-Jo" and loves the attention she get from them. Having Justin and Michael there too filled out the picture for me. It's fun to have the house filled with kids of all ages. We played You-Don't-Say and Spite & Malice and Michael's favorite- Cranium. The day we left, a real snowstorm began. We drove in it for a little while with Jeff at the wheel steering us back to our humble abode, safe and sound.

Cousins

Aunt Jane came in for a visit, so we decided to invite some of our Kaplan cousins over for some pizza and giggles.
Kathy Brooks came in from New Jersey with Jessie- now a 23 year old U Penn graduate looking into graduate programs in Architecture and Matt, a junior in High School. Felicia (Sita) came with her Husband Rob and Daddy Jeff joined the party too. Phoebe was in fine form and was happy to spend more time with her cousins and Aunt.