Monday, December 13, 2010

Home


We made snowflakes and hung them in the living room windows. At night the light from the street projects the snowflakes onto the ceiling. It is really pretty.



Lilly made herself a bed on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf.


The crossing guard at Abby's school gave us a real New York style buggy. It has a seat in the back meant for the older sibling, but Abby is too big. It also has a cover to keep out the cold wind and rain. We have been using an umbrella stroller that I got at a yardsale for $5. It has been all over Manhattan and certainly done its job. The umbrella stroller folds up small to make it easy to take on the bus or subway and is light enoguh I can easily carry it up the steps that we run into on a regular basis. This is not a handicap friendly city! It will take some time to get used to "traveling" with the new one, but for just going on walks it is much nicer. Lilly likes to sit on the back seat like a big girl. She can also climb in and out of the front seat and enjoys playing in it at home.



Lilly's new cup. She is getting better at drinking out of a cup without spilling, but still needs help. We keep her sippy cups full of water and in the fridge. She will go to the fridge and ask "open" and "drink." Sometimes she goes down the line and takes a sip from each cup. Othertimes she recognizes the girls water bottles and says "Katie and "Abby" and takes them each their cups.


Lilly has a double dose of love for puzzles in her blood. Both Serena's grandma and Kevin's grandma love puzzles and worked them all the time during our childhoods. Abby introduced Lilly to the more difficult puzzles (not the single pieces in the hard frame). They worked this castle puzzle together and then when Lilly wanted more Abby shoed her how to put the dragon puzzle together. It is more like a logic problem or a game and does not have a specific correct way. The pieces all fit each other, so it was perfect for Lilly to play with. She will get something out and say "play" and take your hand. She invited Kevin to work a puzzle with her this way.

Someone recently asked Lilly if she had sisters. She has an amazing vocabulary, but that is a word we don't ever use. So she said "no." I explained that she didn't know that word but that she does have a Katie and an Abby. She clearly says their names.

Like the cups above, she will identify things that belong to each person i nthe family. When I am folding laundry she will point to a pice of clothing and say the persons name. Last night in the bathroom she did that with each towel hanging up, stating who it belonged to. When she got to hers she said "mine!"

She identifies people as "the Mommy" or "the Daddy" every where we go. I had been agreeing and saying "Yes, that is a Daddy" although I had no idea if they were a parent or not. She has done so well with gender identification that we have been trying to teach her the words boy and girl instead of mommy and daddy. It is so cute though to sit in the bus with her and she go down the row of seats, pointing to each person and say "That's the Daddy. That's the Mommy. etc." all the way down the row. She did the same thing at a church potluck for each person who sat at our table.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Packages




Artwork and the grand ceiling at the entrance to Whittier Hall, Teachers College, Columbia University.







From the street their are staircases leading down from either side. I have to carry Lilly and the buggy up the stairs and then Lilly, the buggy, and the packagedown the stiars!
You have to have a special ID to get in the handicap door. Lilly often won't walk and has to be carried so it is easier to just take the buggy. She loves to go out and if she even thinks you are talking about going somewhere she asks to go and says "jacket", "hat", "I go", "bye-bye". If she is left behind she cries really hard.


When we get packages they go to a building on capus. An e-mail is sent to Kevin with a number and discription and then Serena goes during the day and picks it up. You have to scan your ID card top get into the building. A guard is at the entrance and lets you in the door that goes to the offices.
If you are watching a map, this building is on Amsterdam between 120 and 121. The Teachers College bookstore is next door (we go there often) and AppleTree Market is across the street.

Radio City Music Hall
















Lego Store by Rockefeller Center


"Creativity and Imagination shall be the stability of thy times"
Sign above stairs in Lego floor. All of the signs and displays were made of Legos.



One of Serena's favorite sights of the day. This huge column held buckets of Legos- every color andsize and shape imaginable. They were sold in bulk so you just picked out the individual pieces you wanted.
Papa, we sure wish you could have been here to see this one!



































































































Saks Fifth Avenue


I sure tried to get good pictures, but no matter how I angled the camera you still mainly see reflections of the buildings, people, and me! The videos at the bottom let you see how some of the scenes moved. It was very impressive. Certainly worth seeing.





















The only store windows we made it to. May try to see the others our next trip.







Downtown Manhattan



We had been on 41st Street all this time. We walked from 7th Avenue past 6th, 5th, Madison, Park, and Lexington. We then walked back to Fifth Avenue and then ehaded north. Grand Central was warm and we were there a long time. Lilly fell asleep as soon as we left and we buddled her all up in her buggy. Katie was hungry again and ate a real New York hot dog. You can see the vendors cart behind her. She rated it a 5 after Target, Papa's on the grill, the school (!), and I foget the other one.





Build A Bear Store










American Girl Store window. This is Abby's number one place she wants to go see.













St Patrick's Cathedral, a famous building.


















Just a neat looking building.
















Huge Christmas decorations.
This woman was like a mime. I am not sure what she would be called. She was dressed up like the Statue of Liberty and greeted tourists and encouraged people to take her picture. She did not speak, but instead used motions.

We stopped at 50th Street and Fifth Avenue and then crossed over to 8th Avenue to catch the bus.








Train Store in Grand Central Station





This store was SO COOL!! Souveniers of every kind. If we had the money we could have spent a fortune in here. There was a model train set up the length of the store. The lights and decorations were hung from the ceiling.