NJ Saturday

We spent most of Saturday in NJ, something we don't do often now that we're car-less (or officially close to). We needed to bring the crib and other stuff to storage. So Katie ended up spending some of the morning with my mother while Peter and I took care of the stuff. Here they are at my parents' house.

We went to visit Oma, and I wish it had been better than it was. It had been longer than usual since we'd seen her (we usually go every Friday) and I can't say that she's changed as much as there's an inconsistency in visits. My parents go a lot and some are better than others. So it shouldn't be surprising to me that this one was not terrific. Disappointing nonetheless. Katie was a good sport about visiting Oma, as she usually is, and having Daddy there was a special treat. They read a great new book Dima bought her called "The Listening Walk."

Big Girl Bed

Here's Katie going to sleep in her big girl bed for the first time. She couldn't have happier.

And here's Katie when I went to check on her before I went to bed.

So I turned her around

And here she is before she got up in the morning.

Transitions

Here's Katie asleep in her crib for the final time. She really could have gone into a "big girl bed" last year, but being NYC people, we don't have a basement and we didn't want to have to deal with trying to get the crib out of the apartment before we had too. At this point, we decided we had to. Katie's about as tall as an average 4-year-old and I was afraid she was going to break the crib if we waited any longer.

Katie couldn't be more excited to get a "big girl bed." She's been looking forward to it for months. After much debate, I finally decided to get her a BIG big girl bed. I had no specific reason for doing this, but we got her a full bed. There were 2 general reasons. First, the real bed has a very high headboard and I thought it looked a little funny in a twin, a full might even it out more. Second, I liked the idea of being able to cuddle in bed. Our cousins in Colorado bought full size beds for their children for this reason and I thought it was a great idea. And fulls are only 14 inches bigger, so for 14 inches she can have more space (a restless sleeper, our daughter) and Robin sleep in her bed for a sleepover. And we're hoping Meadow might like the bed too...

So here's Katie sleeping on the floor last night. We had our favorite guy from our favorite baby supply store come take apart the crib (have I mentioned we're not handy in the slightest???) and he had to do it yesterday. Not to worry. Katie slept really well in her "bed" on the floor.

Natural History Museum

Last Sunday we went to the Natural History Museum. As I mentioned before, it's always been a favorite of mine but not so of Katie. This time was a little better, but only because we ran into a surprise visitor. Aunt Lesley was there! Katie and I didn't know she was meeting us there so we were surprised when we bumped into her.

Here are Katie and Daddy at the H2O=Life exhibit. You walk through water vapor at the entrance.

And here are Daddy, Katie and Aunt Yeshey with the elephants. Katie liked them - no politcal comments please.

Dima, the Bat Mitzvah Girl

We had an exciting day on Saturday - it was Dima's Bat Mitzvah! Yes, my mom decided to have a Bat Mitzvah 53 years later, as we inscribed in the kipot. So here is Dima before the ceremony getting ready. My sister Rachel just got back from Prague and brought her an antique yad with which to read from the Torah. Dima was one of 8 adults in the B'nai Mitzvah class and it was exciting for everyone. I'm particularly proud of my mother because she couldn't read a word of Hebrew before a few months ago and she learned and she persevered, was tutored, and practiced. And there she was reading from the Torah! This was particularly thrilling for us.

Katie was very excited it was Dima's Bat Mitzvah, but truth be known, she spent most of the time playing with "my new friend Talia." Talia is 4 days older than Katie and her parents are friends with our friends (Ariel's parents - we met at their house in August). The girls had such fun playing together in a preschool classroom and then at the reception. Katie couldn't be happier having both Talia and Robin to play with.

Amazingly, Katie sat quietly on my lap for the Torah and Haftarah portions, which is the quietest she's ever been in a religious service. Good for Katie. And for a special surprise, Aunt Elizabeth was there! She extended a layover between San Francisco and Paris so she could see my mom become a Bat Mitzvah!

In case you're wondering, most Grandmas do not become a Bat Mitzvah. I believe the story goes that my mother decided she didn't want to go to Hebrew School in 4th grade so she stopped going. My uncle had a Bar Mitzvah as did all of my mom's cousins, but somehow she escaped. I imagine it is so much more difficult to learn Hebrew as an adult so it makes us especially impressed with my mother.

Mazel Tov Dima, I kvell with pride...

Talia, Katie, and Robin hanging out like teenagers

ballet playdate

Katie had a playdate with Anna after ballet yesterday. The ballet teacher told me that both girls were so excited all class and talked about how they were going to play at Katie's house. Why does it not surprise me that Katie's already a chatterbox in class? Anna moved here recently from Houston and is adjusting to city life well. But while she and Katie were looking in the refrigerator, Anna said to me "where's your kitchen?" Small apartment galley kitchens don't register yet.

The girls had a great time and were very involved in pretend play. Turns out that Anna's grandparents live in Dallas too and they're also called Nana and Papa!

The baby boy party

Katie and Robin went to our friends Beth and Stephen's son's bris on Friday. Not knowing what a bris is exactly, Katie called it either "the baby boy party" or "Rina's baby's party." Rina is Baby Nate's 2-year-old sister. The girls played during the actual ceremony and didn't notice a thing. Later I heard Katie call "Robin! Robin! Robin!" I went to see what she wanted. Katie had gone in the potty, but she called for Robin. "Why did you want Robin? Did you want her to wipe you? Did you want her to get me?"
"I wanted Robin to watch me." Yes, my daughter wanted an audience to go potty.

Beth & Steve used to live around the corner from us and now live in a beautiful house in the suburbs. We were sitting in a nice size den and I realized that the rug that takes up a small portion of the floor in this one room, used to cover their entire living room floor in their NYC apartment. On the way home, I asked Katie if she'd like a house one day. "I want a house Mama so all my friends can come play in my backyard. I want a backyard."

Independent Kid

Yesterday was one of those no nap days. Katie didn't manage to fall asleep and I didn't push it. I figured she'd go to bed early. Her newest thing is to have "2 dinners. First I have one dinner, then I have dinner with Mommy and Daddy." She had her first dinner at a regular time and I thought we'd get out of the second dinner because Peter got home a little late. No luck. It was about 8:30 when we sat down for dinner and Katie didn't last long before she started making silly noises and doing silly things typical of a tired Katie. So we told her to leave the table and go to her room. About 5 minutes later I realize that it's a little too quiet so Peter goes to check on her. Katie put herself to bed! She was on the couch with puppy and under a blanket. Oh well, no bath last night.

Pinata

We went to our neighbor Sophia's birthday party on Sunday. We went swimming, had pizza and cake, and then a pinata. Can you think of a more fun way to spend a Sunday, especially among the 3-year-old crowd who love pizza? The pinata was fun, though I was surprised that Katie didn't strike it very hard. Few kids did and it fell to Sophia's older brother to rip it open at the end to let the littler ones scramble for the candy and toys.

Besides the party, Katie was pretty cranky on Sunday. She spent Saturday with my parents and Robin because Peter and I had Ethan's Bar Mitzvah. I gather the girls didn't sleep long. Robin, who is now 4 1/2, woke up in the middle of the night and cried for her mommy and daddy. Katie, the little cousin, said to her, "it's okay Robin, don't cry. You'll see your mommy and daddy tomorrow." So cute. And the girls went to visit Oma - and there was a puppet show. And they baked chocolate chip cookies with Dima.

Dancing Katie

I'm sure lots of little girls go through this phase, but Katie is really into dancing at the moment. Her 2 current passions are ballet and music and will continually dance around the house and play DJ for her CDs. Dima and Dipa came over for dinner on Sunday night and she had a great time showing off. It was fun to see them and Katie enjoyed the bbq they brought.

I took Katie to ballet on Tuesday and it was adorable to see the little girls in their pink leotards and tights lined up to go in and sitting in a circle for pick up. No tutus and no moms allowed at this ballet class. Katie does great and she came home talking about how "me and Sophie B. were making funny faces and the teacher told us not to laugh." My first thought was who's Sophie B.? How fun she's now making friends with other kids, completely on her own without me or Ania there. Her own peer group. I love it! And of course, this being the UWS, there's more than one Sophie in her class...
Dima & Dipa with Katie and Meadow.

Katie and David Grover

Our friend Marcia told us that one of her daughter Abby's favorite kiddie bands was playing on the UWS on Sunday. So we went. David Grover is kind of an old-school kid performer and a favorite of my nephews when they were younger too. Old school, however, doesn't seem to thrill Katie. Who knew she has such definite taste in music? A lot of his music was folk songs, which I love, but Katie didn't seem to care for. For example, David Grover did Polly Wolly Doodle and Katie had no reaction, but she loves the Dan Zanes/Sheryl Crowe version. We all had a good time, especially when he did fast moving favorites like Hound Dog and Oh Bla Di. Katie wanted the other kids to dance more, the way they were at Milkshake or The Sippy Cups (and we've heard that other David Grover concerts are better). Katie loved dancing and once the other kids were up, she didn't stop.

It was another great NYC days. We went to the concert, then we walked to one of our favorite brunch places (Nice Matin) and walked home. Katie discovered something interesting at brunch If you sneeze with your mouth full, food sprays everywhere. Yes, she practiced that quite a few times after she figured it out. Not our finest UWS brunch experience. She also likes to comment about the number of potties that restaurants have. This restaurant had 2 ("just like we do at home"), Gennaro has 2, but Lisca only has 1.

"I want it just right"

Katie just started taking showers on Saturday. She had been afraid of them for a long time and suddenly her interest was sparked and she specifically asked to take a shower on Saturday. All was great Saturday and Sunday - and showers are good thing because it means it's easier to rinse her very long hair. Tonight, however, it didn't go too well. Katie wasn't happy with the temperature of the water and Peter spent time time trying to fix it. He asked if Katie wanted it hotter or colder. She replied, "Daddy, I want it just right." Guess you can tell she's a fan of Goldilocks.