Good Friday Indeed

My office was closed for Good Friday so it was quite the nice little mommy and me Friday to end March.  I miss my days at home with the little bug so always cherish these one on one bonus days.  Sometimes I try to make grand plans when I have a day off but our plans for Good Friday were to just take it easy and enjoy the simple things.

We started off with extra time hanging out after the morning bottle.  As I am writing these many months later, I will admit that I really miss these quiet hang out moments.  James was content just sitting on my lap or snuggled in and playing with a couple of toys while giving me huge smiles and I would sip my coffee.  It was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute.

After a snuggle time it was morning play time.  Time to buzz around the apartment exploring and wearing ourselves out for the morning nap.

After the morning nap we quickly packed up the bob and headed out for a run.  It was a nice brisk spring day and a run in Central Park sounded awesome. 

After pushing the stroller up Cat Hill I was ready to be done and we sat on a bench for Jaime to have a bottle... but he was too busy checking out the birds. 

Back down 86th Street to the apartment for lunch and more play time.

This kid was on his best behavior.  He buzzed around the living room playing with his toys so nicely while I did dishes.  Not a single squwak or protest. Seriously being a dream baby.

(the wet spot on his sheet is from the constant teething drool. seriously, constant buckets of drool. oh, and yes, breaking all kinds of rules letting him sleep with a blanket and the monkey but he slept so much better with something to snuggle.)

After naptime we headed to Hippo Playground in Riverside Park...

Then we just hung out waiting for Dad, using a chair for teething.

Life is good.  A day off with my little bug in Manhattan doesn't suck.  True, we didn't head off to major sites or do anything especially new yorky - but it was pretty great.

March - around the house and little stuff

March our apartment started to get smaller.

We found ourselves with the usual early spring / end of winter restlessness and a mobile baby. Jaime was a super fast crawler. He skipped the army crawl and whatnot and went straight for shooting around the apartment... getting to all of the stuff that we previously were able to keep him out of by simply not putting him near it... like the stack of office boxes and crap in the overflowing bookshelf. 

And as he got better at pulling himself up to standing the shelves in the media console went from nickknacks and albums to baby toys and baby books.

Jaime wasn't quite content with just crawling, although he certainly loved it.  He needed to try walking.  Shortly after he was crawling he was trying to walk.  His proportions weren't quite ready for that but the learning farm walker helped.  He also liked trying to climb up everything.  I wasn't kidding when I said our apartment got smaller this month!

We also did a bit of running.  The weather wasn't always ideal but I kind of like running when it is just a little cold. A light jacket and you are fine and the path is basically wide open.  Feels great.

If it was warm enough we did runs with Jaime since he was now old enough for it.  We would stop at a playground after the run so Jaime could get some exercise and fun time.

If you went by yourself, you would have a welcome home committee to greet you...

We also ate a lot of cookies.  We discovered that Milk Bar is on Seamless.  It was all over.  And it is kind of sad that we get cookies delivered from a shop that is one block away... but at 8pm when the baby is sleeping and you are in the middle of a movie it is pretty much magic to have delicious cookies arrive at the door.  Those cookies are so freaking good.

Dan's birthday

Lately Dan doesn't want to do anything to celebrate his birthday.  He is such a scrooge about it. Even though he gets grumpy about anything that could be considered making a big deal, I wanted to do something to acknowledge the day. 

After he left for work Jaime and I hung up a little happy birthday banner to greet him after work.

I was going to pick up crumbs cupcakes but then saw the calorie count and promptly walked out of the store.  I left work early to try to beat him home but we ran into each other at the corner - which startled both of us and made us laugh.  (the simple things in life)

When we got home Dan of course was like " Oh My God." But he had a smile on his face so mission accomplished.

Then we scurried down the street to a Mexican place for a family dinner out... on a week night. It was the fastest dinner ever so we could be out of there and home before Jaime hit the wall.  We just squeezed in under the wire for making bedtime.

Jaime participates in a drum circle

In early March we headed down the street to a VH1 Save the Music kiddie day.  Most of the programs were for older kids.  But Jaime participated in a drum circle (watching with big huge eyes) and a storytime.

The little dude loves storytime.  He would get so excited and start chatting and then look at me to make sure I wasn't missing the coolness.  Not bad for a between naps activity break.

Run 2 of 9

Our second race was just two weeks after the first.  It came right in the middle of me and Jaime getting nasty colds.  So bright and early after being up with a sick baby and from needing to blow my nose we were headed way north to run the Coogan's 5k.

It was the hilliest run I had ever run up until that point.  And it was seriously packed.  We arrived as the race was starting (our babysitter ran into train delays so was a few minutes late).

Between the hills and wheezing it was the most challenging 5k ever. But I finished. My time was better, I shaved off 19 seconds from my average pace. That is all I have to say about this race.