Great Day

We had a great day playing out in the city. We had a nice brunch on the UWS and then played into the afternoon at a playground. We ran into some friends who we have a lot of fun talking to about family life. After nap time we went to Harlem Piers Park and the little fountains were on!

I guess after playing with the fire hydrant the other day, Jack was brave enough to stick his face down near the hole. His pants are almost falling off in the videos. And Lillie doesn't quite know what to think about it all. Watch for the shot where she's standing alone kind of shell shocked by the whole thing. The water was pretty cold. The "little fountains" as we call them are just a few blocks from our apartment. The "big fountains" (not found in these videos) are outside @ The American Museum of Natural History about 55 blocks south of our apt.

928 0350 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

The fountains @ Harlem Piers Park from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Mommy's Helper

One day last week when I was changing the sheets on our bed Jack told me he wanted to put the pillows on for me. This was the finished job. I had to tell him that sleeping pillows go first, then red, then white, but he did it all on his own. I was so impressed with how well it looked.

The Bronx Zoo

On Freddy T.'s day off this past Monday we went to the Bronx Zoo. We have a zoo membership that covers 4 zoos in the city and 1 aquarium. It's a great deal if you frequent them often. One Zoo is in Central Park and we go their pretty regularly, but the Bronx Zoo is even closer (if you drive, it's a little over an hour on the train). Anyway, we weren't there very long since we can go when ever we want and we didn't see a fraction of the zoo, but we did hit up the tigers and a few other attractions then spent the majority of our time in the Children's Zoo.

In the parking lot on our way in.

The Rhino with a missing horn.

Jack wanted to see the Tigers first.

"Daddy look at the crocodile."

"And the deer."

Luckily for Jack the "World of Birds" was closed.

These buffalo (or maybe they were bison) looked like they were struggling.

Jack my prairie dog.

Jack the Lemur.

Lillie and Elliott checking out the animals in the Children's Zoo.

This bunny was Jack's favorite. He was in the cage alone and while we were standing there the started running in circles. Jack loved it.

And I can't believe he let the goats eat out of his hand. This is the kid who is scared of birds and he'll let the got lick his hand... I don't get it.

Jack and Daddy

Learning To Trace Letters

We've started working on tracing letters and numbers. You can tell in some pictures that Jack is still more interested in scribbling than trying real hard, but it's a start.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part

Oh my goodness! Today was amazing! I had no idea, but they turn the fire hydrant's on on our street when the temperature gets over 90. I pulled up from work and immediately called Susan and told her to send Jack down. I knew he'd love it. Unfortunately, when we ran across street, the guy adjusted the spray with a little pvc pipe and it hit Jack in the face. So his first reaction was crying. Once he saw how wet I got though, he loved it. He was pretty sad when we finally had to go inside. Susan was the awesome video woman!

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 1 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 2 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 3 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 4 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 5 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hydrant Fun in Harlem Part 6 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Fire Hidrant Fun in Harlem Part 7 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Personalities

In case you haven't met Lillie and Elliott in person,

maybe this picture of the way they look after spaghetti

will tell you a little about their personalities.

The Metropolitan Opera

Freddy got us tickets to the Metropolitan Opera for Mother's Day. The actual Mother's Day this year was kind of crazy, so we made up for it this past Friday night. The show was Der Fliegende Hollander. It was a great production, our first opera. We had fun. Our neighbor a floor below us preforms in it, so it was neat to see him in a few scenes. I think we both prefer Broadway Musicals, but this was a real treat and great experience.

Our First Family Documentary

I have a little updating to do but I'll start with this morning. Last week I got an email from Freddy and the only thing written in it was "go for it." Then attached was an email from some guys doing a research documentary looking for families with a child under 2 to interview and film them doing daily activities. There was a pay incentive with it, so I emailed the guy. I heard back from him a day later asking several questions about our family and wanting a family photo and pictures of our apartment. I gave him all the information and set up a taping for this morning. I told him I would not mention the details of their work on the blog but he allowed me to take pictures. It was a neat experience.

They interviewed me for 2 hours. Lot's about bonding with your child, changes in our generation verses past generations as far as parenting goes, questions about what kind of baby products I use and my experience from finding out I was pregnant to caring for an infant. Lots and lots of questions and conversation. Then they filmed some scenes of our daily routine. Diaper changing, Elliott had to take a bath, I had to pretend to put Lillie to bed, playing on the computer with Jack (which they don't usually do), Jack reading books with them, lunch time, etc...

Here is what our living room looked like:

Testing the sound, lighting, and camera angle.

They used part of the play kitchen to block out the lower light.
This was when Jack walked in from the park, he didn't know what was going on.

"Two thumbs up, we're ready to roll."

Right after the kids were shot working with puzzles on our bed.

Formatting disks from the camera from earlier footage.
Bad shot of this guy, but he was filming lunch.

This guy filming Jacks art work on the back of our apartment door.

Some of the equipment in our kitchen.

A Little Catching Up

These pictures are in no particular order, just a few glimpses into our past week.

She just looked really cute to me... that's the only reason for this one.

The kids love laying on Jack's bed and letting me get all the animals out of the animal net. They think it is so funny when they all fall on them.

Then of course they have to stand up and throw the animals off the side of the bed.

Elliott had his first sucker the other day. Jack gave him a coconut flavored one, so I'm not sure it was the best first experience, but maybe that will work to my benefit later on. Lillie was still sleeping so she missed out.

This was a LOUD activity. Jack gave them all pans and spoons, they all had a blast.

I also found a new blog that I've enjoyed reading. I come across a lot of cool blogs that catch my attention, but then I usually get bored with them (not the ones where I actually know the people). This one has a lot of crafty ideas. There are days when I wish I could just lock myself in a fully stocked craft room and make things. I have my eyes on these cool book slings. Space is a precious thing here in NYC and I have an idea of where to hand one or two of these. They are basically flat against the wall, so they function like a shelf but don't take up as much room. I hope I get to test them out soon.

Sticker Books

Thankfully Jack's decided to play with his sticker books correctly. He's really enjoyed doing the activities in his new book. Huge improvement! And much better for me.

This next picture was in February 2009.

Just Playing

Lillie and Elliott joined forces and drug this storage bin out of our bedroom to the living room. Then Lillie decided to use it to help her get the door back open... wait till you see what was on the other side.