Easter fun

Although I was wary of the mess, I decided to continue my mom's tradition of coloring eggs for Easter. The kids really liked it. Mila hogged the bowl of red dye. Shay's creations included "a princess", "the king of the eggs", and one that "looks like Gangham style"!

Mila also enjoyed her stroller Easter present from Nana!

Hoping spring has finally sprung!

Shay spotted the newest art installation at Madison Square Park from the bus, and another passenger chatted us up about how it was made out of (metal) nails. We took advantage of the nice weather and went to take a closer look. Kids (& adults!) were so excited to not be bundled up in 5 layers.

Visit to American Museum of Natural History

Things have been so busy, there has been no time to blog! I got a job (!) and have been adjusting to the commute, complete with double drop offs & pick ups. To make things even more interesting, Shay's school is still not open following the hurricane, so we continue to make a bus-subway trek after dropping off Mila.

We got a little break when my job and Shay's school were both closed for Good Friday. Since Mila's daycare was open, we had a Shay-Mama day and went to the "dinosaur museum". It was definitely worth the 45 minutes it took to get there - Shay had a great time!

Mila growing up

Though it's hard to believe that Mila is already 1 1/2, none of us can imagine life without her. Inspired by my high school friend & fellow mommy-blogger Jessica, here are some of Mila's current highlights (though I was actually thinking of doing this before I saw Jess's post on her adorable daughter, Lyla - I swear!):

- fave foods: tomatoes; blueberries; any kind of pasta; cheese; yogurt
- words: papa, mama, boots, shay ("date"), duck, dog, cat, fork, help please, up, down, baby, thank you, more, backpack, flower, pig, 'scuse me, thank you, mad (with crossed arms - learned from Shay), milk, 'nana (banana), el'phant (elephant), hat, flower, agua, eat.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some - she's quite a little talker now. 
- fave activities/toys: dancing!; giving kisses to everyone; putting her hands in her pockets; reading (she'll often be very quiet & I go looking for her to find her perusing a pile of books); playing with her baby dolls; cooking pretend food; grabbing toys from her brother and running away as fast as she can.

Snow day 2

It was still cold, so the snow stuck around for another few days.

Our second day, we remembered to bring out a few toys. Shay had fun making snow angels and "hunting for polar bears".

I thought that the snow would be melted by the 3rd day, but the playground at Union Square park was still nearly covered. Though we hadn't worn our snow boots and had a few slips, we still had fun. Shay rode his scooter the whole way there - must be over a mile! - with no complaints.

Cold weather kids

We just had a snow storm to go along with the cold weather that we have been having. The kids have been doing pretty well in it (better than us parents!). Shay likes wearing his coat from Nana and constantly covets other kids' cold weather gear ("when I see the Mohawk hat, it makes me want one"). Mila loves her "boots", but hates being confined by the rain cover on the stroller. It just pisses her off for some reason.

Snow meant a snow play day, and the kids really had a blast. Just like in one of Shay's favorite books, A Snowy Day, he wanted to take home a snowball in his pocket.

View from the plaza in our apartment complex