Happy Birthday Maya!

4 years old! Maya and her classmates celebrated with her at Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge park with an Olivia themed event, lots of Uruguayan specialties and a piñata and lots of mini cupcakes.

She is very excited to be four, and asked me all summer when her birthday was, and if she was four yet and if she could now go to pre-k. Going to pre-k is a big deal apparently because it means she will be in her separate classroom and be the oldest group in her preschool.


On that note, pre-k thankfully starts tomorrow for a half day of school. I am ecstatic at getting back into a routine. Although our summer was lovely - most of it spent in East Hampton with time divided between YMCA camp, beach, pool, yoga and horse back riding! Maya started taking lessons and we went together to the barn once a week and both rode - it was nice to get back into it having not ridden regularly since college. And Maya loved the whole experience from getting the horses ready, to her lesson, to the sponge bath she treated her horse to afterwards. Merrylegs is the name of her white pony by the way and she talks about her frequently.

  We've spent the last several weeks taking advantage of all those fun city family amusements that we hadn't gotten to all summer - Natural History museum, Bronx zoo and I think there is a Renaissance faire trip in the future - any excuse to be outside in a medieval princess dress and eat a turkey leg. Some pics from her birthday party. Happy September everyone!

Closed

Our first time in our apartment....

... and our last.

These pictures have the same orientation. The space behind Brain in the first picture is the kitchen, you can make out the doorway also behind Lynn that became the door behind me in the second picture. There are also a few more people in the picture that didn't exist before. We will miss our cozy 2 BR, our first experience as home owners and the place where we became a family, having moved from Murray Hill when Maya was 3 weeks old, and welcoming Laila home to it the day after she was born. Where we said goodbye to Kahlua, and welcomed Burger. Maya started school, we both changed jobs and I transitioned into full-time mommy hood. Couldn't imagine packing more into 4 years then we did while we lived there. But it's all in the planning for the next big change sometime next year. Onwards!

Happy 1st Birthday Laila!

 Awwww.. little girl turned 1 year old. The year was a crazy blur managing two kiddos, part-time work and planning for our future moves, but she is at an adorable age if I do say so myself - has already taken several steps on her own before hitting the 1 year mark but doesn't trust herself, only two teeth (bottom) but we're working on that and already a dessert connoisseur (did Maya have sugar before a year old?). Hey it's the second, you're a little more relaxed and probably so are they.

But we had a little celebration for Laila (albeit in the middle of a hail storm!! no seriously hail the

size of peas crashing to the ground as we stared
 out the windows in the lobby of our new apartment building wondering when we could make a run for it!). Laila had herself an ice cream party at Malu, local shop with several brave neighborhood friends who came out with their kids despite the end-of-the-world summer thunderstorm we were experiencing.

It was super cute - ice cream for everyone and strawberry ice cream cake for Laila. Of course when we got home the storm was over and the clouds parted, I'm sure rain (and hail?) are good luck on your birthday in some cultures.

After her party we packed it up and headed to East Hampton to celebrate again with Tata and Abuela for a double whammy re-do for Laila and a happy birthday to my mom who turned 45 +/- the next day.

Nice dinner, and two cakes of course for a double singing. Happy birthday Laila! Happy Birthday Mom! What should we do next year? :)

Swagger Wagon

Oh yeah! We went there. The NYC Hennessey clan is now rolling in a minivan- 2012 Toyota Sienna XLE to be exact. Here we are checking out our new wheels on our first day. We are loving our new car now that we have figured out how to get in and out of our tight fitting garage without hitting anything - and took it for a little road trip to Wellesley this weekend. Maya loved her widescreen DVD player and we all loved the storage and general ease of being in a new car.

And if you're still not convinced.... don't be a hater!!!!

Spring Training

9 months old!

Laila the menace

The little crawling speed demon is now pulling up on everything and anything that might get her even an inch off the ground, and before really mastering the whole balance thing and getting herself back down she likes to show you how she can hold on with one hand, or no hand at all. This has quickly led to her learning how to bend at the hips and throwing herself back to land squarely on her tush. She is quite the busy body, evan tackling the playground steps this week for the first time. Very motivated to move perhaps to try and keep up with her sister. Favorite activity right now seems to be pulling clothes out of the laundry basket and sometimes taking the bully stick away from the dog for a taste herself. Delish. A little video catching her red handed.

Belle Paris

We did it! Trekked 5 kids through the streets of Paris for a whole week. We met with the Breits and cousins Noah, Anna, and Nathan for a family reunion in the belle city.

Our itinerary included lots of walking, the big sites (eiffel, arc de triumph, Notre Dame, Tuileries, Seine, Sacre Couer, ...) several playgrounds and carousels (they're everywhere!) a day trip to Euro Disney, the science museum, lots of ice cream eating, cafes, crepes, delicious goodies from local food shops, bread, pate, croissants and more bread, a parents dinner out night and several family meals together at home.




Laila was a total trooper, taking all her needed stroller naps. She really started to crawl while there and is now obsessed with pulling up on everything - we often find her standing in her crib waiting for someone to rescue her because she's not great and getting herself back down. Totally untrustworthy.

And would you believe that we had sun and 70 degree weather the entire week! It was marvelous, and quite cold when we returned to NY. We did get bumped off the flight on the return but they put us up at a nearby hotel and almost completely reimbursed our ticket, so no complaints.

Maya had a total blast with her cousins, especially big cousin Anna and she was sad to leave them. Overall a great trip that will hopefully be repeated in the future.