The USS Wasp (and a fuzzy caterpillar)

On Sunday Sorin and I had the opportunity to take a private tour of the USS Wasp, an amphibious carrier that is docked in NYC for Fleet Week. I have never been on a ship like this, and it was truly an experience. First of all, it's huge! Apparently it carries about 1100 crew and then an additional 2200 people who are being transported. I pretty much forgot I was on a boat most of the time, it's more like a large building. We saw the medical facilities (an ICU and three full operating rooms), the captain's office and dining room, the officer's quarters and dining room, the bunks (wouldn't want to be tall on this ship!) and mess hall, helicopters, tanks, and the hovercraft they use to move the tanks from ship to shore. It was very impressive. I'm not sure Sorin will remember it, but he definitely enjoyed the experience.




On Saturday we met Marna and other friends in Central Park. Dada found a caterpillar, which Sorin thought was the coolest thing. Well, that is until he got an icecream sandwich:). We played in the Billy Jones Playground for a while, the highlight of which is a long stone slide that is built into the ground. Thadeous took Sorin up and as they came down together the first time Sorin was screaming and struggling. I thought he was scared, but didn't really understand why. When they got to the bottom Sorin turned right around and started to climb back up--apparently he was upset because he wanted to go down himself! Such an independent little guy.

Baa Baa Blacksheep

Sorin's latest passion is singing. A few weeks ago we heard him over the monitor in the morning, before he had called for us, singing "E-I-E-I-O" and "twingle twingle little star" (mis-spelling is intentional:). He has a fairly big repertoire, but his current favorite is Baa Baa Blacksheep. He'll sing it in the morning, while he's at the table, looking out the window (see video), in the bath, and my personal favorite was when he sang it at the top of his lungs while we were walking back from Central Park. He sings bits of songs that I didn't realized he knew, like "Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo." Another cute thing about this age is the things he says. The other day we were watching a ferry boat go up the river and he said, "Bye bye people, see you next time." In the morning he'll often say, "See you later Dada, kiss kiss!" And then there was Monday morning. He woke up uncharacteristically early and I told him it was still nighttime and he should go back to sleep. He fussed for a while, and then we hear, "I need help! I need help!" Thadeous went into his room and he was sitting on the edge of the crib rail, his legs dangling over the outside, hanging on for dear life. Apparently it's time to think about a bed.

Happy Birthday to Sorin! (I want cake!)

We celebrated Sorin's Birthday on Saturday (a few days early) with family and friends. Oma, Nonna, and Nonno were all there (Opi, unfortunately, was sick). It was also a special treat to see our friends Liz and Rob, who we haven't seen since we were married (!) and meet their baby Michael. Lou Gallo, a musician and the former music teacher at the CFC, gave a great performance that kept Sorin rapt. At the end a few of the kids "sang" into the microphone. I was surprised when Sorin wanted to since he's usually quite shy, but up he went. Here he is--although his performance mostly consisted of chewing the microphone!


Sorin has been to enough parties now that he knows after you sing "Happy Birthday to you..." you get to eat cake. So after we sang to him, Sorin immediately announced, "I want cake!" Here are Sorin and Mama with her Elmo creation.

A busy weekend and a visit from Grandma Candy

We spent a lot of time in Central Park this weeknd--it's finally spring! On Saturday afternoon Sorin and I went to the Central Park Zoo with Gray and his Mom, Heather. The boys were very cute together, pointing out the animals and of course playing with the chain barriers. Sorin really liked the monkeys and spent a lot time commenting on what they were doing (Monkey cleaning! Monkey sleeping! Monkey jumping!). We went to the park again on Sunday with Dada and rode the carousel (it's a really fast one!) and played in one of the playgrounds. As you can see Sorin climbs like a monkey!



On Monday Grandma Candy and Wayne came to visit. Sorin stayed home from the Yellow Room with Dada, which was huge fun, and they all had a great visit.


Just another "Sorin-ism" I couldn't resist blogging about. He continues to love books, but now he likes to read to himself and, in this picture, the kitty! One of his favorites is The Wheels on the Bus, which is an illustrated version of the song. On the back is a picture of Raffi, and Sorin asked who he was. I explained that Raffi sang that song to children, and then found the song on one of our Raffi CDs and played it for him. He wanted to listen to it over and over again, and was flipping through the pages of the book along with the song.