Pumpkintown

Love, love, love the Hamptons in the fall. The farms are all bursting with produce. We made our third annual pilgrimage to Hank's Pumpkintown last weekend outside of Bridgehampton, and bought enough pumpkins, apples and indian corn to sink a ship. The apples went to school with Maya (it was our turn to provide the snacks) the pumpkins were carved, some will be roasted and the rest are decorating our front door and dining room table. We've certainly gotten into the spirit of the season.  There were tractor rides, and hay rides, a corn maze (which is fun for about 45 seconds and then you just really want to get out and can't figure out how), mountains of pumpkins and play equipment for the kids. The trip made for some fun pictures, especially when you compare how small Maya was last year in relation to the pumpkins.. hee hee.

Two weeks earlier we flew to Rochester to visit Roshni and her family. Maya and Liam did well playing

together and being roomates for the weekend.

Fall Milestones

Ahhh September. My favorite month of the year, lots of sunshine and cooler temperatures mean open windows and bearable subways rides, and it's safe to turn on your ovens to roast all the amazing produce available at the farmer's markets.

This month we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary (that's right folks, count 'em - FOUR years!) with a dinner cruise on the Hudson river and around New York harbor. We started on the west side at Chelsea piers, went south on the Hudson, around the southern tip of Manhattan and up the East River a little before turning around and sailing south to New York harbor. The highlight of the cruise was sailing right by the Statue of Liberty (picture below although a little hard to see and doesn't do it justice). It was very fun, the NY waterways provide you with a whole new perspective on this crazy city. Highly recommend.

The other significant milestone was little Miss Maya starting nursery school and she's done so well with the transition it's been so fun! She whines a little when I leave but settles down very quickly and continues with whatever art project or activity she is engaged in. I've started my part time work schedule (which I'm loving) and need to be at work during the hours that she is at school and the fact that she has transitioned into school quickly and easily has made the whole experience very pleasant and fun. I pick her up at 2pm and we come home for a nap.  Here she is on her way to her first day at school with her Disney princess lunchbox. So grown up!

Happy Birthday Maya!

Although this post is coming a tad late, we did do a good job of celebrating Maya's 2nd birthday on August 30th. Yes, little munchkin turned 2 and firmly secured her status in toddlerhood. We celebrated with cake at home and presents from family, followed with an informal and very festive gathering of neighbors on the shared terrace of our building. Luckily we have quite a few neighbors who love to gather and have children all around the same age. They played, ran, ate pizza, cake and cupcakes, sang happy birthday and opened gift bags before heading home for some much needed baths :)

Maya was a very fortunate little girl and received presents from all her buddies, several books and alphabet cards and puzzles. We gave her a scooter which she is far from mastering and currently entails her standing on it while we pull it along (the intention was to foster some more independence). To further mark her 'twosome-ness' she can tell you how old she is when asked, and has started school at Little Ones, a nursery school across the street that is well attended by several kids we know. So far she's had an additional visit to drop off some items and meet some of the teachers and see the space. This Tuesday she attends school for an hours, Thursday for two and maybe in an additional week build up to the full schedule of 9-2pm. We'll see how that goes (fingers crossed).

Some pictures of her birthday celebration.

The Burger has landed...

... and is so far doing very well adjusting to life in the big apple. He plays well with his older brother Bailey who has accepted him into his crate at night, has dealt with the tugs and pulls and hugs of the resident toddler and has come along with with the concept of leash walking and pottying. He's a sweet as can be. A little video of the boys with Maya laughing in the background.

Jamaica

We just returned from a week long trip to a Beaches resort in Jamaica. We enjoyed our first resort type vacation.  Lots of different pools and a water park with slides even Maya could go on which she loved - 'more slide, more slide' became her phrase of the week.

We also took advantage of the child care center, dropping Maya off most mornings so we could head to the beach for a while, picking her up just before lunch. She did pretty well. We even dropped her off one night so we could go to dinner which was a fun little experiment. The fact that she handled the drop off with minimal drama made us optimistic about the fall when she starts at a nursery school 2 days a week.

 Nice to be home too, even if it is back to reality on Monday morning

Along came a Burger.

We have succumbed to the scrumptious sweetness of puppy smell, surrendered to too-cute-to-be-true pictures of puppy eyes and floppy ears, and finally gave up when we realized that Bailey was still sitting by the door after we left for several hours because he still has not gotten used to being alone.   Despite our best efforts to remain a one dog household, we have failed profoundly and as result Bailey and Maya have a new little brother  -  and his name is Burger.

The smallest of the 4 boys in the latest Hennessey litter of 6 long haired dachshunds, Burger has started to steal hearts at his very young age of 3 months.  He's a lover who asks to be held and give kisses. Although we were resisting for a while, we had given the option of adopting a Hennessey bred hound some considerable thought. Bailey was clearly in need of a friend but needed his companion to be the emotional rock that Kahlua was, visceral wreck that he is. Working full time and being in a NYC apartment with a resident toddler - made puppies or a rescue dog needing training and time to adjust challenging, and a little more than we felt we could handle.  So after some careful consideration and planning for the little guy to join us at the end of the summer to give him a little time to grow up and learn some doggy manners, we committed to the dog. It was the best option for us and the right thing to do by Bailey.

Of course now that I know he's headed this way I can't wait to have him! Maya will love her new roommate, she's always asking to see the puppy pictures ever since we went to Wellesley to see the 10 day old litter. She spent some more time with Burger man and the rest of the crew last month, (at 8 weeks old, seen here trying to eat Maya's shoe) when pulling ears, tails, biting and shredding papers were the preferred puppy activities.  The several puppy crates in the kitchen created a personal petting zoo.

The best thing is that Burger is coming to visit this weekend in East Hampton and spend some one-on-one with his older canine brother, who will undoubtedly skulk that he has to put up with a puppy, though I'm confident he will grow to love the idea, and Maya the Menace who is going to be all over him yelling 'puppy! puppy!'.  Burger & Bailey - have to admit, it has a nice ring to it.

Hot town, summer in the city

Despite the heat, it'll be alright
In the summer, in the city....
In the summer, in the city....