Gracie Gets Some Love

Grace started the day with a nice early breakfast at Yorkville Diner with Max. They shared cheerios, banana, pancakes and books. It was very romantic. Then we went back to play at Max's apartment. Grace was in heaven getting kisses from Max, playing with his mop and broom and pretending to go to sleep in his bed. All this activity before 10am, too. Afterwards, we hit the park to swing, play and dig in the sandbox. This afternoon, after waking up grumpy from her nap, we watched Dora the Explorer and then met Charlie Winter for a walk to the park. They kept trying to hold hands on the stroll there; it was so cute!

Bathing Beauty

Grace had a great morning at Parkbench, where she played, had snack, gave a baby a bath and sang songs. Row, row, row your boat is her new favorite. She also enjoyed Free to Be Under Three. After that, things went downhill - she got her fingers stuck in the elevator door and a few hours I pinched her thigh with the stoller buckle. Poor Grace. To make it up to her, I treated her to Tasti-D-Lite and a visit to play in the toy aisles at State News. Tonight Aunt Meredith and Jason came over to play with Grace and babysit. She had so much fun with them and forgot about her injuries earlier in the day.

Chillin' Out Maxin' and Relaxin' All Cool

This afternoon Grace enjoyed laying in the grass and relaxing at Central Park, exactly what Daddy would have been wanting to do on his birthday. Unfortunately he had to go to work :(

Happy Birthday, "Ma"!

Happy Birthday, Grandma! Today we went to brunch at Blue Water Grill with the Gleser crew to celebrate, thanks to Uncle Zman's awesome planning skillz. This afternoon we went to the park and got to spend some time with cousin JoJo. Grace played, practiced her signature "what? who? where? huh?" expression and ran off and insisted on sitting in a stranger's lawnchair. Alex had to carry her back kicking, screaming and clawing. She can be a little stubborn at times. She knows what she wants.

Aunties Jana & Jenn

This morning Grace put on her Jana dress and new shoes and hit the park with Daddy to break everything in. Here are a few shots of her admiring the look in our mailroom. Afterwards, Grace and I went to a ladies lunch with Jana and Jenn. Gracie was thrilled to hang out with two of her 223 South 41st Street Aunties. Week 71 Album.

Fun Friday

Today was beautiful, and Grace and I enjoyed as much of the outdoors as we could. On our walk to the park this morning, we stopped at the tulips on Park Avenue to take a picture; they only last 2-3 days so we didn't want to miss our chance! When we got to the park, we saw some friends and fed some animals. When Grace decided she wouldn't wear her hat anymore, we went shoe shopping. She is now a size 5. Afterwards, it was so hot that the only thing I could imagine eating was Japanese. So we snagged an outside table at Amber, and Gracie tried Japanese for the first time - lettuce with ginger dressing, tamago sushi, dumplings, chicken teryaki and more. I think her favorite part was probably the chopsticks.

Thursday Morn with Miller

Miller and Alexa came east this morning to play in the park and join for Storytime.

Head Gear

In addition to being able to say "on top [of my head]", Grace now knows the words headband and barrette; however, she doesn't like to wear either one for more than 3 seconds. Same goes for hats.

Grandma Time

Yippee! Grandma came in today to take Grace to Parkbench, have lunch and join us for Free to Be Under Three. Gracie was so proud to have "Ma" in attendence. Tonight Grace and I had a fun girls' dinner with Henley and Sofia.

Park Expert

Madison Square Park yesterday, Central and John Jay Parks today. At this rate, Grace will be ready for an internship at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation next year.

Fair as Snow

Grace and I met Aunt Dina, Uncle Teddy and Maya in Madison Square Park to play and enjoy brunch at Almond. After a killer 3 hour nap, Alex and I took Grace to Central Park. It was so beautiful today! Despite covering her in 55 SPF, Grace still got a little red. It's her first burn of the season and most definitely not her last. Week 70 Album.

Tough Girl

Grace has taken a serious interest in babies, especially since her cousin was born. Here is Grace feeding and cuddling her baby this morning. Just as she commands the animals in the park, she tells the baby to "eat, eat" too. This afternoon Grace went to the doctor to get a shot in each arm. She was so tough - didn't cry for the first one and only shed a tear or two for the second.

Gracie & Maya: BFFs Already

This morning we went to Central Park to listen to some musicians and feed the goats at the zoo. Aunt Dina and Maya came uptown to hang out, and we met them on Madison Avenue for a nice walk back to our place. Grace made an attempt to help tuck Maya into her blanket before we took off. When we got home, it was storytime with Max (19 months) & Jonathan (3 weeks), Ayla (2 yrs) and Maya. Grace was so sweet with her cousin, offering her toys, playing the harmonica (also putting it to Maya's mouth) and more. When Aunt Dina got Maya ready to go and in her stroller, Grace imitated Aunt Dina by rolling her mini stroller out to the elevator side-by-side with her Aunt. As the elevator doors closed, Grace screamed"Aya! Aya!" She didn't want her cous to leave :(

Grandma Time

Grandma came this afternoon to visit, and Grace was thrilled to show "Ma" around the park. Grandma pushed Grace for a long time, sang to her (b/c Grace kept demanding Grandma continue) and read to her. When we got home, I took off and Grandma feed her dinner and stayed through bedtime. What fun!

Potty time? TBD.

This morning we went to the zoo, despite the slightly cool weather. Grace had a blast watching the polar bears eat their 10:30am snack. This afternoon we went to Giggle to look at potties. Recently Grace has been going to the toilet and saying pee pee or poo poo. She definitely gets the idea. When we put her on, she gets nervous and tries to squirm off...so I thought of introducing a little potty to see what she did (even though I'm going to see if she'll just go straight to the big one). Grace had a blast getting on and off, reading on it and even putting different toys on the seat when I told her that they had to make pee pees. Since she was willing to pretend with animals and even herself, I think she might be ready. Stay tuned.

Little Miss Patience

Give the girl a chair and a book, and she'll wait all day for the doctor.

Hanging with Her Grandparents

Mom-mom and Grandpa took us to lunch at Fulton today and then entertained Gracie until naptime. She was thrilled to see them and took a serious interest in Grandpa, who was throwing Gracie up and down and reading her books. After a nice nap, Grace watched some of The Masters with Daddy. Tonight we went dinner and a show - Rock of Ages - with Mom-mom and Grandpa. Week 69 Album.

Third Avenue in Bloom

This afternoon Mom-mom and Grandpa came to play with Grace, and Mom-mom patiently read her book after book. Later on Alex and I took Grace to the park. She was having a great time in the swings, on the slide and on the playground...until she tripped on some cracked asphalt and skidded on her nose. It was awful, although definitely much worse for us than for her. Poor thing. There was more blood and tears than I was ready for at 16 months, but Grace moved on from the incident when she was distracted by a Central Park squirrel. "Eat, eat," she yelled at him, stopping the tears and whimpering. Then she chased him up a tree. And that was that.