NYC PART 4: SUBWAY AND UPPER EAST SIDE

Here we come to a close on the NYC series; a short trip but boy am I stretching it out here on ye ol' blog. Recap: I posted photos from my sister's wedding here, and then the rest of the photos to part 1, 2, and 3. This trip will always be near and dear to my heart because 1) it took us out of the norm, 2) all my favorite people in one city! 3) for such a joyous occasion and 4) I don't when the next time a trip like this will happen.

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Let me also interject here to share some things on my mind as we are back to the day-to day, of no particular import or theme, just that they are things I am itching to jot down somewhere:

I am filled with dread about summer ending. There's nothing I can do about that except brace myself. I'm also starting to make a list of things to combat the onset of blues that inevitably come with the decrease of daylight. Is this the year I get some sort of light therapy lamp?? 

I have about 18 things that I need to do in the evenings in the house to get ready for the week and then a solid eight or nine routine things each night for the next day, and as I patter about the kitchen being efficient and intentional and all that, I'm also checking off to-do lists and doing things like thinking about that text I'm going to send, thinking about it so hard that at the end of the thought I'm sure I've already sent it, and come to find out five days later that I never had.

I employ my stern voice with Sloane, reminding her about this and that, and hating myself when I hear the annoyance creep out, already feeling the weight of how much I am going to miss her five minutes after I put her to bed that night.

I think my heart will break into a thousand pieces when I think about how I can't get back these days with this amazing four year old and adorable one year old, ever again.

The other day Logan waddled after Sloane as fast as she could wanting Sloane's juice box, which Sloane would have gladly shared (she had immediately asked me upon receipt of juice box, "Mom can I give some to Logan?") but I said Logan wasn't allowed, and of course Logan was distraught about it all.  After a few minutes of this, Sloane couldn't stand that she couldn't share her juice with Logan so she asked me to put it away for a little while, out of sight, and then asked for something else that she could give to Logan instead to soothe her.

I still listen to podcasts whenever I can and once in a while there is a story that moves me to tears, gives me pause, and I look up from the work on my desk smile into the air at nothing in particular and feel all the feelings.  These can arise from a funny story, two unlikely people connecting, the glory and mystery of science, personal journeys, a well-crafted sentence. How rich I am to exist here on this earth, I think at the top of my lungs. 

The exhaustion of the end of the day cannot be overstated. Neither can the joy of seeing my girls when I pick them up at said end of the day.

On our last day in NYC, we decided to take the subway to church, which ended up being a hilariously bad decision with all sorts of mishaps but we don't regret it one bit: Sloane loved the train, Logan got her morning nap in the stroller.  It was a disastrous and delicious morning.  

After we checked out of our Airbnb we headed over to my sisters apartment on the Upper East side to meet with family and gaze at each other happily.  Their apartment was beautiful! I didn't want the weekend to end! I missed my family terribly even being in the same room with them!

This is me taking respite in Sharon's room to nurse Logan. I nursed Logan all weekend long, all over the city. I had thought that I would have weaned her off by this weekend (I weaned Sloane around this time, at 13 months) but after a couple of sicknesses here and there and the traveling schedule, I was glad for the ability to nurse her.  I am still figuring out how and when is best for both of us to wean, taking it a day at a time.

And then some random photos that I had on my phone from afternoon that I thought I should unleash here: Ken and Paul, my dad, my baby.  We walked over to a nearby sashimi place after leaving the apartment and put sushi in our bellies to fortify us for the drive home. Amazingly, the drive was free and clear (the only time this has happened in recent memory!) and we tumbled back inside our house late in the evening, with armfuls of sleeping babes.

That's that.  I'll leave you all here with a photo that Sloane took of Ken and myself at the Airbnb before we left NYC.  She was really proud of it.