Little Dreams... Some Sweet, Some Not

Way back in late August, Odette took her first nap in her big crib and while I know this is not the most exciting occasion to most, it was a big one for our little girl and she looked so sweet that I had to share some photos.

The first attempt: she never actually fell asleep.  Maybe, just maybe, my taking a hundred photos of her distracted her from actually falling asleep.  She did enjoy laying there, watching and listening to her mobile, which plays the french song "J’ai La Memoire Qui Flanch" and has the cutest gray and white bunnies and bears riding fish.

The second attempt:  One day later... success!

While our little girl is drifting peacefully off to sleep, our little boy had his first nightmare that he has been able to tell us about.  Funnily enough, it happened only about 20 minutes after we tucked him in last Thursday.  He started to cry and when Josh went in to check on him and find out what happened, Olin said "Daddy, Santa no come to the new house!".  To make sure he understood, Josh asked Olin, "You don't want Santa to come to our house this year?" and Olin answered very emphatically with a "no!"  

Update:  Ironically, as I was typing this, Josh just came in to our room to report that it happened again.  Tonight, Olin made the "stop" gesture with his hand and said: "No Santa, no reindeers!"

Although surely traumatizing for Olin, I can't help but think it may be a bit of an early Christmas present for me and Josh! (only kidding). 

So Long Summer

This past Saturday, after the excitement of the carnival, we came home and took naps to re-energize for dinner to celebrate the last day of summer.  We thought it appropriate that for this farewell dinner we enjoy some of our favorite summertime treats from Luke's Lobster and Ciao Bella.

At Luke's, we got our shrimp rolls (for Josh and me) and grilled cheese (for Olin) to-go so that we could enjoy them in Central Park as we are painfully aware that our picnic days are numbered.  And in a moment of parental pride, once in the park, Olin shunned his grilled cheese and asked for Josh's shrimp roll, which he ate in its entirety. (Thanks again, Josh, for sharing!)  He does seem to be developing a palate more like that of his adventurous daddy rather than that of a 2 year old and we could not be happier about it.  

Because we got a late start to the evening, it was way past Olin's bedtime by the time we got to the gelato portion of our celebration and that was definitely a highlight for him.  He kept asking "is it nighttime?" like he had never been in the dark before because he is so used to going to bed when the sun is still shining brightly at 7pm.  And if our late evening wasn't enough, it was the first time that Olin got his very own gelato at Ciao Bela and he picked his flavor, strawberry, all by himself.

It was a great summer, but the start of fall could not be more perfect than it has been in NYC this week so we are pretty excited for its arrival as well.  Well, all of us except for Josh because it seems that his box of warmer clothes might have gotten lost in our move.  So if you see photos of Josh in shorts and polos in the next few months, that is why.  Only kidding, we will probably buy him a sweater or something.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Fete Paradiso

It's no secret that we love all things French so when we heard that a restored vintage carnival from France called Fete Paradiso had taken up temporary residence right here in NYC, we had to check it out.

The carnival was not on the island of Manhattan, but on a tiny island just off the coast called Governors Island so the trip, in addition to a very long cab ride, necessitated a ferry ride.  Needless to say, just the journey there was a highlight for Olin and it was Odette's first boat ride!

Although both kids seemed completely satisfied by just the ferry ride, we pressed on and made our way to the carnival.  And oh my goodness, am I glad that we did because this carnival was pretty incredible.  We immediately felt like we had been transported back in time to France in the 1800's as we stepped into the park.  I honestly felt like I might see Toulouse-Lautrec painting the scene from an easel somewhere nearby.  It was truly magical and a day that Josh and I will never forget.

Olin's very first carnival ride, The Dragon.  In retrospect, it wasn't the best idea for us to let him pick the ride because it was by far the fastest of all and we had to ask them to stop the ride early when he got scared and wanted off.  (Luckily, it was only Olin and Josh on the ride at the time!)

 Recovering from The Dragon with a snack... lemon crepes, of course!

Next, something a little more our speed, the carousel...

He also tried his hand at one of the games.  I don't think we are ready for the big leagues quite yet, but he got an "A" for effort.

And little miss Odette was as sweet as ever...

She rode her first carnival ride too, which was appropriately, the pink chariot on the carousel.

 She loved it so much, she rode it again with Daddy and Olin...

 Olin made no secret as to his favorite ride though.  This little orange bus stole his heart and we didn't hear about much else after he discovered it.

Lunch time!  There were no funnel cakes, but we did have a pretty delicious Croque Monsieur and the entertainment during lunch was kind of amazing.  Pre-kids, Josh and I would have probably sat there listening to french music and drinking wine (yes, they had wine - it truly was our kind of carnival) for hours!  Alas, Olin gave us a generous thirty minutes.

And a teeny-tiny video of Olin on his aforementioned favorite ride, which he had to ride twice, but would have rode all day if we would have let him.  He had to be pried out of that bus both times by the ride operator.  It was kind of embarrassing for the whole family.

 
C'est tout!  Merci beaucoup, Fete Paradiso!

Little Lady in Flight

After a few days in Indiana a few weeks back, on September 4th to be exact, Josh, Odette and I flew from Chicago to L.A. with Santa Barbara as our ultimate destination while Olin stayed back to spend some time alone with grandma and grandpa.  The flight was Odette's first so of course we took a hundred photos! 

It was one of those magical travel days where everything went well... we got a first row parking spot at O'Hare, the headwinds were unusually light so the normally 4.5 hour flight was only 3.5 hours and Josh nearly made friends with a celebrity while waiting at the gate.  It was Danny Pudi from Community with his wife and their 1.5 year old twins.  Josh and he knowingly smiled at each other (because, you know, both were flying with kids) and he wished Josh luck with the flight as he eyed Odette  Well, as it turns out, they were seated in the row behind us and it wasn't Josh that needed luck, but Mr. Pudi because his kids screamed the entire flight!

As expected, Odette on the other hand was wonderful during the flight.  She slept much of it and when she was awake she was all smiles.  Ditto for the return flights in which she ultimately went from coast (LA) to coast (NYC).  And while we missed Olin terribly, it was so nice to be able to give her our full attention during this big "first" for her.  Thanks again grandpa and grandma for taking care of Olin for us!

Also, a few Instagrams of the milestone...

Hello Los Angeles!

Pictures of our time in California to come...

Odette's first flight reminded me of Olin's so I thought I would share a few photos of little mister as well.  His first flight was at 4 months (on March 1, 2011) from Denver to NYC and if I recall correctly, he was perfect the entire flight.  My goodness, he was a cute baby!

After the flight, he also had his first taxi ride, documentation of the start of his obsession with all things taxi.

Have a great weekend everyone!