New {Yorker} Friend Friday

Here is the first post of a new series I'm trying out, called "New {Yorker} Friend Friday," where I will share about a fellow New Yorker whom Biet befriends each week.  Of course, this means that we need to get ourselves out and about in the city and make some new friends!  With a face like hers, though, I doubt baby girl will have any trouble on that end.

We live in a city with eight million other people. Its so easy to go about my day, working long hours & running errands & riding the subway & moving about the hustle and bustle, and forget to stop and chat with the person standing next to me; forget to ask someone else how their day is. With so many people moving about this grand city, I just know that there are some spectacular friendships to be had. I want Biet to feel a deep connection to her neighbors, to her community, and to her city. And I think the best way to foster this is to slow down and reach out to our fellow New Yorkers. 

So it might happen at the coffee shop or deli as we order a bagel with cream cheese.  It might happen at a crosswalk waiting for the light to turn.  It might happen in the park, or at the museum, or in the grocery store.  It might happen when we're all out to eat as a family, or in the back of a taxi riding uptown, or squeezed into a packed subway car.  It might happen on the other side of town, or right here in our apartment building. A smile, a conversation, a new friend.  

Biet met her first new friend at Union Square Station, waiting for the Q train. It had been a long day, we were both tired and cranky and itching to get home. Then we heard a strong drumbeat and a cheerful song coming from the middle of the platform, and we met her new friend, Mr. Drummer Man. While we didn't actually exchange names with him (that would have required him to stop playing and man oh man was he on a roll!), he did drum little Biet to sleep. He completely turned our day around, and gave me a much-needed reminder of why I love NYC so very much. Plus, he was more than happy to pose with baby girl! So here's to new friends, friends!

A Tradition

 We didn't have a Christmas tree this year. We didn't do the whole Christmas morning present extravaganza. We didn't light a shamash for the Channukiah. We didn't even hang the stockings. No, this year, our holidays were, in a word, mellow. Gaby and I come from very different backgrounds and different religious upbringings, each with their own traditions. We consider ourselves a very spiritual family, although we no longer practice any specific faith. We want Biet to know the deep joy of the holiday season, to understand her rich and diverse heritage, and to experience all of the warmth and magic of this time of year. So we sat down with each other for a long discussion, and decided that from now on, when the holidays rolled around, our little family would focus on two things: the act of giving, and tradition.

The only dilemma is that, for a multitude of reasons, many of our family traditions have become faded and lost over time.  We don't have any old family recipes to bake, songs to sing, places to go, or people to see. We could have gone the traditional route, like we had enjoyed in past years - tree, lights, hot chocolate, shopping, mountains of gifts, Santa, cookies, stockings, candy canes, and eggnog - but, for some reason, now with Biet, that just didn't feel personal enough.  What we make of our holidays will become Biet's memories, her childhood, and her traditions. So we decided not to let mass media, or pop culture, or holiday sales determine that part of her history. We decided to choose each tradition carefully, and with purpose. And we started with one: volunteering.

After our lazy Sunday Christmas morning, we all dressed up, grabbed the giant plate of cookies I had baked the night before, and hopped on the train to midtown to meet an extraordinary group of people. These people also forgoed the tree and the stockings and the gifts, though not by choice. They each awoke on Christmas morning and made their way to the second story of a little building on 46th street to enjoy good company and a holiday meal; because they had no feast at home in the oven, and no family there to share it with.  Gaby mingled and greeted everyone, holding his daughter, in her Sunday best, proudly (oh my did she bring a smile to everyone's face!), while I did dishes in the kitchen and helped prepare the food. A single tree stood in the center of the room, twinkling with white lights, and surrounded with donated gifts. We stayed as long as baby girl could manage before her nap, gave what we could, and made a few friends in the process.  This was the first time I had volunteered, and it was a blast. It was such a meaningful way to spend Christmas day, and reminded us of what the holidays are truly about: coming together, community, and giving.  I feel that this brand new tradition is a priceless gift to Biet.

After saying our goodbyes, we strolled around midtown, took in the sights (its funny but when you live in New York City, you sometimes forget to enjoy all of the majestic attractions the city has to offer), and stopped by the iconic Rockafeller Center tree. We snapped a few pictures so that Biet will see that her very first Christmas tree was the best and biggest in the world! Then it was back home to put a roast in the oven and cherish and be grateful for all that we have.  I feel very proud of our first family Christmas. I know that each year forward there will be more and more bells and whistles {advent calendars! gingerbread houses! Channukah celebrations! tamales (an almost-forgotten tradition of my late grandmother - more on that next year)! home-made gifts and ornaments!}, and I look forward to experiencing them as Biet grows. But this year, it was simple and quiet and magical.

Bundled Baby Girl

One of the newest challenges in my life these days involves two tiny arms, two tiny legs, one chubby face, and multiple layers of knitwear.  That's right, with the arrival of winter, I have become acquainted with the art of baby-bundling. Let me tell you, it's not easy keeping a squishy 20 lb human warm in the chilly winter months. Thanks to hand-me-downs, though, we've ended up with a small collection of baby snow suits. So our daily dressing ritual this time of year goes a little something like this: cloth diaper, long-sleeved onesie, baby sweatpants (or leggings + leg warmers), sweater or hoodie, tiny socks and tiny snow boots, then a snowsuit on top of that, a mini knitted hat, & baby mittens.  We go through this routine every time we need to run to the market or take Nico out for a walk.  Each time I dress her up, I think of that scene from "A Christmas Story" where the mom bundles up her son so ridiculously that he literally can't move. I am totally going to be one of those Moms. I am not satisfied until my daughter resembles a giant marshmallow (a toasty warm marshmallow!). Lucky for me, little Biet isn't old enough to protest yet.  Miraculously, she doesn't yet seem to mind the relentless layering. So bring it on, winter snowstorms- I've got this baby-bundling thing down.

These Days...

Apologies apologies! It's been awhile since I've updated the blog, so I do apologize. Life has been a bit hectic for the past couple of weeks. All of a sudden, our lives became about just one thing: moving. If you've ever had to move in New York City, you know what I'm talking about. Finding a new apartment is hard enough, finding a new apartment with a 4-month-old is, quite simply, a TON of work. We've been commuting every day for the past two weeks all around Brooklyn to see potential new homes (nursing on the subway and changing diapers on the floor of vacant apartments has become commonplace), dealing with a slew of brokers who handle said apartments, & collecting boxes from local businesses to pack up our home, all whilst both working full time & trying not to disrupt Biet's schedule. My apartment standards have raised so very much now that we have Biet. Now, a place must not only feel right to live and cook and sew and make music in, it must be worthy of my daughter. In each place we saw, I was acutely aware of the fact that this would be the place where Biet learns to crawl, to walk, and to communicate. The apartment we chose would become the backdrop of her very first memories. So we were picky.

And all the craziness and pickiness and stressfulness of the search for a new home paid off. Because today we signed a lease. We found it, and we are so grateful. It's a little scary- moving to a new neighborhood in a new borough with a new family, but also thrilling. I am utterly in love with our new apartment. Utterly. I can feel that it is the beginning of a new chapter of our lives. And just in time for this big change, the weather changed. A crisp chill blew into the city, letting us know that autumn is here. We're layering on sweaters and hats once again, and lacing up our fall boots. Biet has been alive for an entire season. She just turned 4 months old! And Gaby just turned a year older! We had a small gathering at home for his birthday with a delicious double chocolate cake made by yours truly.

Here are some photos of our life, these days. Many more will be coming shortly. Many more posts as well (because of course I have to post about our new apartment and the big move and Biet's new best friend and our adventures in the new neighborhood)..

The last picture is the outside door of our new (big+bright+hard-wood-floored) home (in 10 more days!!)..

The B

If (or shall I say when) we find our dream apartment in the park-side neighborhood we've discovered (and now LOVE), then our local subway will no longer be the F-train, but instead the B. This means that when she's a bit older, little Biet will learn how to ride the B train. I like the thought of that. I can almost see her, metrocard in hand, toddling through the turnstile eagerly & fearlessly. I'll tell her stories about the days when we used shiny tokens to get on the subway instead of cards. And she, a street-smart tiny New Yorker, will tell us how how the B stands for the Biet train. Oh, the adventures to come!
Here are some more photos of our little trip to Prospect Park by way of the B-train..

Subway to The Highline

Biet is becoming a subway-riding pro (or rather Gaby and I are becoming stroller-folding baby-wearing metro-card-weilding pros) lately. We were all feeling the urge to get out of our neighborhood the other evening, so we hopped on the uptown train, then walked cross-town, and finally arrived at... The Highline.  

We hadn't been there in nearly a year (I'm pretty sure the last time we walked along the ethereal garden in the sky was right before I was pregnant) and in our absence a whole new section of the highline opened- & it just keeps getting better! Now the mix of pathways and plants stretches twice the distance along the raised abandoned rail tracks, winding through the area's industrial architecture along the way. We strolled along in the dark, enjoying the city view from up high, and at the end of the tracks we decided to keep on strolling, all the way home.

So we walked the 30 blocks down and 10 Avenues over & finally arrived at our cozy apartment, happy & exhausted.  Biet slept for most of our outing, but decided to awake for a snack and a dance on our way home.  She woke up just as we were passing another street piano, so we all took a break and listened & swayed to the music for awhile.  The man playing was an elderly gentleman, dressed as an old-time cowboy.  He played AMAZING classical music without any sheet music.  It must have been an unusual sight: such a tiny baby out in the nighttime, dancing with her Mama in the middle of the street, to Beethoven being played by an ancient cowboy.  But New Yorkers are a little crazy like that; we set our own hours, play music if we want to, & make our own adventures.