O Christmas Tree

Last weekend we went shopping for a Christmas tree! I have fond memories of going to Christmas tree farms with Peter and actually chopping down the tree you choose, but alas not in New York. I'm also almost positive tree farm trees were MUCH less expensive than their urban counterparts! Last year we had a synthetic tree, but unfortunately the cat liked to eat it (which meant it spent most of the time in the closet). This year we picked out a lovely, real "tree" that is the perfect size for little hands to decorate (and redecorate). Sorin is quite proud of this new addition to our household.

Look! Snow!

This morning we woke up to the first snowfall of the year. Sorin knew exactly what it was, and was very excited. In fact, he was so excited that Sorin and Thadeous were out playing at 7:30 this morning. (Thank goodness Sunday is Mommy sleep-in day:).


And after coming in from the cold, Sorin got to drink his first hot chocolate...

Sorin and his "big boy" bed

Thank you Oma!

Sushi anyone?

Unfortunately Sorin has become an extremely picky eater, but he surprised us when he tasted and liked sushi rolls! OK, so he really just likes the seaweed/rice wrapper, but it's better than mac and cheese:). He especially likes if there are "orange gummies" (aka roe). He also likes miso soup, as long as there are no contaminating "green things." Above Aunt Nicole is patiently picking out any offending green.

Grandparents galore!

It's been a busy few weeks with visits from Oma, Opi, Nonna, and Nonno. Oma and Opi came the weekend before last, and Sorin excitedly announced to his teachers that they were coming on the airplane. When asked where the airplane was coming from he said, "the airport!" But of course! They came with us to gym on Saturday morning. Sorin has been doing gym(nastics) since last year, and (in my impartial opinion) he's really good. He can walk on a beam unassisted, swing from the bars and bring his legs up to form a basket, do a summersault, and much more. The class he's in now is a gradual separation class and that Saturday was the first day the parents stayed outside the gym. I was worried he'd be anxious, but he followed his friends and coaches into the gym without looking back. What a big boy! I'll try to post some pictures of our little gymnast in action. After some detours on the way home, lunch, and long nap, Sorin was quite insulted to find that Oma and Opi had gone out without him! The nerve. But all was well again when they arrived back at the apartment, and Mum and Dad got to go out to dinner (by themselves:). It was a great weekend!


Oma and Opi left on Monday morning and on Wednesday afernoon Nonna and Nonna arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Sorin was equally excited to see them and, like with Opi, was very much taken with Nonno. Nonna brought some great books about Christmas that Sorin loves. On Thursday we all took the train up to Aunt Jean's house for a delicious turkey dinner. Sorin got to play with his cousin Hunter (and Hunter's toys:), which he enjoyed.


Unfortunately Sorin wasn't so into to turkey--he's become such a picky eater! After a hard day of playing (and eating), the boys were exhausted on the trip home.


We had lots of plans for Friday, but unfortunately Sorin came down with a fever:(. He was definitely not himself, although by Saturday he was doing a lot better. It wasn't how we'd planned to spend the rest of Nonna and Nonno's visit, but does anything with a toddler turn out the way one plans? It was another great visit, and we'll see them again in 4 weeks!

I hear an elephant trumpeting in my ear!

Happy Halloween! Sorin's Halloween stretched over a number of days this year. Last Friday we went to a Gymboree playdate organized by Aidan's mom, Elaine. Sorin and a number of other 2-3 year-olds got to run around, climb, jump, and eat pizza and cupcakes. Needless to say he had a blast!


On Sunday we went to Grand Central Terminal for a Halloween celebration that included fantastical puppets. I was wondering whether Sorin would be afraid of the "creatures" as they were somewhat scary looking. Although Sorin was quietly watchful, he wasn't overtly scared. He was quite intrigued by the dinosaur and spent a lot of time following him around.


Last night we went trick-or-treating with Aunt Nicole and Aaron. Sorin practiced saying, "Trick or treat" and "thank you" and did very well. He was definitely into knocking on doors and walking down the stairs (we started at the top of the building and worked our way down). He was also in love with a lollipop that he got early on in the evening and wouldn't let go of it.

Maybe...

There's a song by Laurie Berkner (a children's singer) that goes, "This is me, this is me, this is me and my energy..." I think Sorin has adopted it as his theme song. He has serious energy. All the time. It's a good thing for me that there is another boy in the house with energy to match! Sorin and Thadeous love to roughhouse and get silly together. They have little games like "I'm sitting there!" in which they compete for the same seat on the couch. Above is a picture of the two boys being silly at the playground, and below they are dancing (aka running around the living room like nuts) together.


This morning we went to the diner, and Sorin sat like such a big boy in the booth.


Sorin's vocabulary continue to expand, as does his syntax. He's forming much more complex sentences and it's really neat that he can carry on a conversation. He had a long chat with Nonna on the phone tonight, and he likes to tell me about his day and who he played with. He is also a big negotiater. When we said it was time to leave the park this morning he said, "Two more minutes Mama." Sorin's new thing is that when he doesn't know the answer to something right away (or at all), he'll say, "Maaaaayyyybeeeeee...." It's very cute.

Some catching up

Since I've been remiss (again) in keeping up with Sorin's adventures, I thought I'd throw together some pictures of the little guy in action.

At the 92nd St. Y street fair:




Playing with chalk and Madison Square Park:


At the Lincoln Center fountain:


Hanging out with his "favorite" kitty:




Seeing double?


In one of his favorit haunts, the sandbox:

Oma and Opi come on the airplane

Sorin eagerly anticipated Oma and Opi's visit, telling his teacher in the morning that "Oma and Opi are coming on the airplane!" When Oma arrived he was excited to see her, and very curious about her suitcase. Much time was spent rolling it around the apartment, pulling up and pushing down the handle. Opi didn't arrive until after Sorin was in bed, but bright and early the next morning Sorin went with his grandparents to a diner for breakfast. Not that I underestimate his attachments, but Sorin isn't really used to other people taking care of him so I was a bit surprised that he left without batting an eyelash. "Bye bye Mama, bye bye Dada!" After breakfast they spent a long time in the playground (Opi is a great climber) and then headed to FAO Schwartz where Sorin apparently loved the large keyboard. After nap (or, in this case, lack thereof) Sorin wouldn't hear of Opi going out without him, so off the boys went. Later the two guys spent a lot of time building train tracks and tunnels. It reminded me of when Ali was little.


Oma brought some new books, which Sorin loves. One is a Rosemary Wells book (author of Noisy Nora, one of my favorites) about Max and his sister Ruby. It's part of a series, and in this one Ruby tries very hard to get her brother to tidy up his room. The other one is another of my favorites, Going on a Bear Hunt. After the third or so reading (of many!), Sorin could narrate right along. "Oh no, we've got to go through it!" I continue to be impressed by his capacity to understand stories, and love the progression from simple books (like Moo, Baa, LaLaLa) to the current more complex ones. Sorin was sad to see Oma and Opi leave, but hopefully we'll see them again soon.

A conversation with Sorin

A taxi, a train, and a car (oh my!)

Last weekend we went to Connecticut and Rhode Island to visit Grandma Candy and Aunt Gloria. To both save money and sanity we decided to take the train to Stamford and rent a car from there. It worked out really nicely and made the trip quite easy. We spent Sunday afternoon at Aunt Gloria's house with lots of teenagers and cats. Sorin was very sweet with the cats and was set on petting all four of them. He particularly liked Chelty, who is very old, and Louie, who is just a kitten. Aunt Gloria also has a trampoline in her back yard, which was a huge hit. After dinner we had delicious carrot cake, and because it was a cake we sang Happy Birthday (to Daddy again). Here is Sorin blowing out a candle.


On Monday we went to the Mystic Aquarium, which was beautiful. It also falls into the category of a place where you can touch things! We saw beluga whales, sea lions, seals, African penguins, sting rays, jelly fish, fluorescent fish, and much more.


A highlight was a special bird exhibit in which you could feed the birds with bird seed, still in its husk, attached to a tongue depressor.


After the Aquarium we went to downtown Mystic (yes, that's where Mystic Pizza is) and fed a swan swimming in Mystic River. We also saw the draw bride go up, and many beautiful boats (including one from Hamilton, Ontario!) go by.


After a much-needed nap (for all of us), Sorin got to enjoy a swim in Grandma Candy's pool--and a game of water basketball.

The Children's Museum

A few weeks ago we took a trip to the west side to visit the Children's Museum with Manik, Simran, and Zorovar. One thing I've learned being the parent of a toddler(and a busy one at that!) is that going places where you can touch things is key. And you can touch everything at the Children's Museum! It's basically a big playroom with an educations bent. Sorin loved playing, touching, doing, and climbing. After the museum we had lunch with Manik and the twins, and Sorin was his usual entertaining self.


Later that evening Auntie Nicole came over and brought one of Sorin's favorite books, "Good Night, Gorilla." Here the two of them are enjoying it together.

I do it mySELF!

These are words we hear a lot these days from Sorin (aka Mr. Independent)! It usually starts first thing in the morning with his milk. Sorin opens the fridge himself, takes out the milk, climbs on his stool and puts it on the counter. He then allows one of us to pour it for him while he moves the stool over to the microwave, which he then opens. The cup goes in, and then he closes it and pushes "three-oh-start." Once it's done ("beeeeeep") he opens the door, puts the lid on the cup, inserts the straw, and bends it. The funny thing about all of this is that he narrates his actions. Of course any deviation from the routine (or, goodness forbid, we do anything that HE usually does) and we definitely hear about it:).


Sorin can put on his shoes by himself, and if he's struggling and you ask him if he needs help the reply is usually, "I FINE!". He doesn't like if you touch the bar behind the tricycle when he's peddling. He also doesn't like help climbing. Sorin spent a long time trying figure out how to climb on the above camel, but was very clear that I shouldn't get too close. The independent streak also means he likes us to stay put while he takes off somewhere. He'll say, "Stay here Mama--don't cry!" and then scoot away. The other day he announced, "I got to go to JERSEY!"


We celebrated Thadeous' Birthday a few weeks ago, which of course meant cake! Sorin loves chocolate (yes, he is our child:). He and I had a great time picking out the cake, and he insisted on carrying it home on his lap in the stroller. It's fun that he can understand when we're going on a mission, and then is cognizant of how the earlier purchase results in singing Happy Birthday and, of course, a yummy dessert.


Sorin also made a new friend recently. Aunt Nicole brought her friend Aaron by, and Sorin was absolutely smitten. The highest compliment Sorin can give is to show someone his toys, and boy did he show Aaron a lot of them! He also showed off Emily (Look, Aaron, there's my kitty!). Above Sorin, Aunt Nicole, and Aaron are using bristle blocks as a hats. They also made towers and cities, and the next morning when Sorin came out to the living room he pointed to the previous night's work and said, "That's Aaron's tower!".

Congratulations Danielle and Heath!

Danielle and Heath tied the knot on July 26th in a beautiful ceremony overlooking Lake Ontario, and although Sorin didn't go to the wedding, he did come to Toronto to hang out with Oma and Opi so that Thadeous and I could go. Sorin and I flew to Toronto on Saturday (so that I could go to Danielle's stagette), and as usual he was an exceptionally good traveler. At Oma and Opi's he skinny dipped in the wading pool and loved to play with the hose. The three of them also at out at Swiss Chalet, which apparently was a big hit. The best part was that the waitress gave Sorin a toy (but functional) watch, which Sorin loves. (That's my watch! I wear my watch!).


On Sunday we all headed to the cottage, which was Sorin's first experience on a beach. He got to ride on the car ferry (with Opi's SILVER car--his emphasis:) and definitely liked the hammock. Sorin also had his first canoe ride! For the most part he liked the beach and lake, but between it being a new situation and not feeling totally himself (still getting over last week's virus, which he shared with me) he wasn't entirely enthusiastic all the time. Oma was a bit disappointed, but hopefully next year it will be a bigger hit.




On the way back to the city we stopped at the Elmvale Zoo, which I had visited as a little girl. Elmvale is this tiny town about 1.5 hours north of Toronto, and one wouldn't expect a jungle zoo there. But the zoo is amazing, and the animals seem really well-cared for. It's the first time Sorin had seen many of these animals live (as opposed to in books), including giraffes, tigers, flamingos, and lemurs. He also rode on a pony and pet a goat!


As I said before, Sorin hung out with Oma and Opi while Thadeous and I went to Danielle and Heath's wedding. It was in a beautifully restored art deco building with a stunning view over Lake Ontario. Danielle looked absolutely gorgeous, and everything was meticulously planned with fabulous results. I'm so glad we could be there!


On Friday night Danielle's parents had a party for the out-of-towners, which Sorin did attend. He had a lot of fun playing in the garden and got to spend a little time with his Auntie Danielle, too.