M is for Dr. Markel

How convenient that Lexi's dentist's name is Dr. Markel and we had an appointment this week.... although, I am sad to report that for the first time ever Lexi was a completely uncooperative patient. She became quite frantic when the dentist started brushing her teeth and really put up quite the fight. He decided that since her teeth are in really great shape anyway, not to push it. He said that she is just trying to get attention and probably some of it has to do with the baby. So we'll go back in 6 months and he anticipates that she'll be a completely different patient. I am happy to hear that her teeth are in great shape- he specifically mentioned that her enamel looks "beautiful." All the credit for brushing habits must go to dad. He is a super brusher, and hopefully Lexi has inherited that.



After the dentist, we headed over to a playground in nearby Central Park. Lex had a fun time climbing and running, but then settled on the tire swing (forever her favorite!). She had no one to swing with, though, so I pushed her for a little while. Then, all of the sudden, a group of 9 year old girls came running over and wanted to play on the swings. Their teacher was right behind them and asked me if it was okay for them to play there- which of course was really wonderful! They did all the work pushing and swinging and Lexi just fell in love with them. Later, when it was time to leave, she had to run around the whole playground looking for each girl to individually say goodbye!

M is for Museum

Today we headed over to the Museum of Natural History. Our intent was to attend storytime in the Discovery Room and when we arrived we ran into some friends we haven't seen for quite some time. We got to explore the museum for a little while, and then got our turn in the Discovery room where Lexi headed straight for the dinosaur dig area. ((Did I ever mention that lately she is extremely interested in dinosaurs and is set on being a paleontologist when she grows up?)) After play time, the teacher read us a book about Mammals (did she know it was *M* week???) and we talked about the characteristics of mammals (they have hair, drink milk from their mommy, and something about the inner ear) and then went to see a special exhibit of mammal paintings by John James Audubon who made a name for himself with his bird paintings.

A Salt and Battery

No, I didn't get jumped again. But our friends Stew & Carolyn came down to the city a few weeks ago. A friend of theirs had a film in an art festival here, so we all got to go. But before that, we ate at A Salt & Battery, which is apparently a really good place for fish-n-chips. It was featured on Throwdown! with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. Not being a fish-n-chips connoisseur, I couldn't really say. In fact, this was my first time eating fish-n-chips. I ordered the cod, but was told that cod is now endangered so they no longer serve it. So I went with the pollack instead. Now, I am by no means a seafood girl. I don't really like it at all and will basically never choose to eat it (except for crab cakes and shrimp). I am happy to report that this experience was, in fact, very good. And we'll definitely be going back for their deep fried candy bar. Sinfully delicious!

M is for Mail

Next week is *M* week around here. We would LOVE to receive some MAIL. So please send us something- a postcard from your home city, a cute card, a funny photo. We'll be happy to receive anything (other than bills). Oh, and please address it to Alexis or Ella (or both). Everyday Lexi asks "Did I get anything today?" You'll make her day. Promise.

First Fridays

The Children's Museum of Manhattan has a free event (thanks, Target!) on the first Friday of every month. We typically make it there every other month to take advantage. This was the first time Ella has been since she learned to crawl, so it was extra exciting for her to hang out in the baby area and explore all the sensory exhibits. This photo was taken while she played with the laser harp- as your arm/head/hand moves through the space, you are able to create sound. She loved it!

Ella crawled up some stairs for the first time while we were there... this is the same staircase that Lexi first climbed years ago.
(Insert video here... I'm having a hard time getting the video to upload. I've tried it 3 times now with no luck. I'll have to try again another time).

We ran into the Horeys while there and they convinced us to eat at Ollie's afterwards. Lexi was anxious to get her hands on some chopsticks and did very well with them. Of course, she had a little contraption to help her keep the sticks together. Matt could use one of those, too! Let's do it again, Horeys!

Lexi-isms

me: "Hey Lex, let's do our "I" collage." (during "I" week)
L: "I don't have any energy for that. I only have a little bit of energy for paper plates. Then I won't have any energy left." (she wanted to do a paper plate craft first).


After our trip to the circus way back in January:
Dad: "Tell me about the circus, Lexi."
L: "No. I have to wash my hands."
Dad: "Well, you can tell me at the same time."
L: "No. I don't think so! I have to focus on that."


Helping is the best part of being a family!


Do people use stockings to catch fish? (after watching me put on some fishnet stockings on Sunday).


We're killing the Easter eggs! (during a session of dying eggs- get it? Dying. Killing.)

Ella Pulls to Standing

She's working hard these days- busy crawling around the apartment and exploring her home. On Sunday, she pulled herself to standing for the first time and today I captured her on video. She smiles a bit in this video, too, giving you a good glimpse of the cute dimple in her left cheek.

Easter Festivities

To celebrate Easter this year, we attended a community Egg Hunt on 135th & St. Nicholas- in the shadow of City College (where Matt got his Masters). It was a beautiful day- warmer weather and lots of sunshine. They had a clown who painted faces, a cupcake & cookie decorating station, the egg hunt itself, and an easter bonnet making table. Lexi had a great time. It was a nicely organized community activity.












Later that afternoon, Grandma Susan came over and brought all the things you need to dye easter eggs. She and Lexi had a good time "killing" the easter eggs (in Lexi's words). Lex even thought it would be a good idea to dip her hand in the mug, resulting in a neon pink skin color. We scrubbed it off as best we could, but there were still faint remains of it on Sunday. Good thing it matched her dress.



Speaking of which, I have no photos of the girls from Easter Day. Or any of us, for that matter. But for the first time, Alexis willingly went up and sang with the rest of the primary- and did a great job! Grandma Susan cooked dinner for us and we had about 10 egg hunts in our little apartment as Lexi wanted to hide and seek over and over and over again.

All week we had been practicing this hymn as I suspected we would be singing it in sacrament meeting. Lexi loves to sing, but she really doesn't know any of the hymns, so in an effort to help her participate more in sacrament song singing, we've started learning a hymn each week. Imagine my dismay when they announced that we would indeed be singing that hymn, but in SPANISH! Oh well. Lex still sang the Alleluias.

Daddy's Day Off

One thing we love about Daddy's job is all the holidays he gets off. He can't choose when to take vacations in his line of work- since we get 2 months in the summer, and then several weeks throughout the school year (Christmas, Winter Break, Spring Break, not to mention all the Jewish holidays etc etc). Good Friday is one of his days off. So we headed over to the Bronx Zoo. We are "members" and can get in anytime we want and have access to all the special exhibits there, like the Gorilla Forest, the Children's Zoo, the Butterfly Garden and we can also ride on the Bengali Express, the tram, the sky ride and the Bug Carousel at no extra charge. So imagine how bummed we were that half of these attractions were opening THE NEXT DAY. Seems they had been closed for the winter season. Bummer. We did get to see a tiger feeding, though. Lexi was pretty scared at first. I don't know if she thought the tiger was going to come out and stroll among the zoo guests, but once she realized the tiger would remain in her cage, she was enthralled. The tiger shares her name: Alexis.

Let me just say here, too, how Alexis does not stop. She's like the energizer bunny. She keeps going and going and going. We took the train to the zoo, which I have never done before. We accidentally got off 2 stops later than we needed to and as a result ended up walking at least a half mile just to get to the entrance. Then we walked through the whole zoo a couple of times backtracking and using the same paths as we discovered exhibits were closed, and being diverted around construction. Then we spent time in the Children's Zoo where she energetically participated in every exhibit she could- her favorite being able to run up to the top of a tree house to then slide down a slide (inside the tree) over and over and over. And over. And over again. Then back across the whole zoo. Skipping and jumping. And running. The Whole. Way. Phew! We were exhausted just watching her.

It was a bit cold and windy, but we had a fun day.

Arctic Birds


Butterfly in the Butterfly Garden (a greenhouse where you are surrounded by real, live butterflies)


On the Bug Carousel:


My two little birdies:


Spread your wings and fly!


Sliding inside the tree:


A Prairie Dog watching me quite closely:


Snacks for Alexis the Tiger:


Have you ever heard a swan trumpet?:

St. Patrick's Day

We had to do something for St. Patrick's Day... seeing as we have Irish blood in our veins and all. We didn't make it down to the big parade on 5th Avenue. I went a few years ago, and remembering how crazy it was, I didn't dare venture there on my own with 2 children, even to see our friend Marcus play the tuba as he marched by. Plus, Lexi had to be back uptown for preschool at 1 o'clock. And no. She cannot miss a day. Because I said so.

So, we settled for making little "shamrock sticks" (don't ask me what these were for- no real purpose at all). We also made a pot of gold and a little shamrock garland. For dinner we had Irish stew with a side of Irish Soda Bread- first time that I have made either one of these recipes and they were very delicious. We also dyed our milk green. Just for kicks and giggles.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Ella is 9 months

Frances

Our next door neighbor recently passed away. We were pretty friendly with her. Matt changed light bulbs for her on a regular basis. We had her over for dinner on Christmas Eve. She loved our girls. She had been living in this building (in the same apartment) since the early 1960s. She once told us that she paid a whopping $263 in rent a month! For her rather large 3 bedroom abode. She was a hoot and always made us laugh (in a good way!) She was a great neighbor, too, as she never played her music too loudly or complained that our kids were too rowdy.

In cleaning out her apartment, her family gave this doll to Alexis. We talked about naming her Frances (after our neighbor) but I think Lexi has come up with some other name since then. Alexis loves this doll so much. When she first got it, she just stared and stared at it and commented on all its features: "I love her eyes. They're green! I love her hair! It's like Rapunzel's! Her dress is so soft!"

I attended her funeral in the heart of Harlem. Did you know they're not called FUNERALS anymore, but HOMEGOINGS? Lots of Hallelujah!s, Amen!s, and Praise God!s. It would have been interesting to have known Frances in her younger days. Seems she was quite an energetic lady who worked hard, loved a good time and was a generous soul. May she rest in peace.

They Might Be Giants

The Might Be Giants

On Saturday we went to see They Might Be Giants at Borders in the Time Warner Center. They were promoting their new kids CD, Here Come the 123s. We have their first CD, Here Come the ABCs, and Lexi loves it to death. So we headed downtown and joined lots and lots of other fans for this free mini-concert. In attendance were even TMBG fans that didn't have children. They sang songs from the ABCs album, as well as some from their new album, and a few "old favorites" like Dr. Worm and Particle Man. During one song, they told everyone to "jump in the air" and as the entire group starting hopping, you could feel the floor move and sway. Kind of scary! I kept thinking we were going to wind up in the stockroom of the Williams-Sonoma beneath us!

I actually really like this kids music. It's something that I can handle Lexi playing over and over, because at least it's by a group that doesn't sound like they are primarily targeting children. They are fun children's songs with a bit of an adult music sound. You know, if you like They Might Be Giants. Their music can be a bit of an *acquired taste*.

They have a FREE fun podcast every Friday night which you can get through the iTunes store.

Butterfly Exhibit

We got some tickets to see the "special" exhibits at the Museum of Natural History. For those of you who don't live in NYC, here's a tip. You technically do not need to pay full price to enter the AMNH. Admission is "by donation" so you can actually "donate" a dollar a peruse the galleries to your heart's content (whether that be an hour or four). However, in order to see any of the IMAX movies, the butterfly exhibit etc, you do have to pay full "price". One of the girls in the singles ward here gave Matt some tickets, so we took the girls and Grandma Susan and enjoyed hanging out with the butterflies for a little while.
We also saw a dinosaur IMAX movie which has turned Lexi on to the idea of being a paleontologist. When I asked her what a paleontologist does, she said, "They dig up dinosaur bones and put them together in a museum!"

Ella had a fun time feeling the huge ball of ice in the Water exhibit.

Creepin' and Crawlin'

When Daddy left for work this morning, Ella was still trying to figure out hand-knee coordination. Over the course of the morning, she has figured it out and is well on her way to speeding around the apartment. Watch out, Lexi! Here comes the little destroyer!

The Cookies

 

Remember when I said I was going to make these? I finally got around to it. Overall, I guess they were good. They were a little more labor intensive than I like in a cookie. I'm a mix-the-dough-together-plop-it-on-the-cookie-sheet kinda girl. Not a huge fan of rolling out dough. Or multi-step cookies. (But I do feel differently about insanely time consuming desserts like Lemon Cheesecake.) However, I thought I'd take one for the team and bake these up. I did things a little differently than the recipe said (like, I didn't roll out the dough. Surprise! Instead, I just rolled the dough into little balls, placed them on the sheet and pressed them down into a round shape.) I also didn't end up "dipping" the cookies in the chocolate- seemed to be easier to me to actually spread the chocolate on the back side. Also, I stuck the finished products in the fridge to harden up the chocolate- it was way too melty melty for eating. In the end, they were kind of messy to eat anyway, and the caramel/coconut topping didn't really adhere to the cookie part (maybe I needed more caramel to the coconut?) But the grand consensus was that they were de-lish. I actually don't know that I'll make them again- kind of worth it to me now to spend the $3.50 on a box (or two or three) once a year. It cost me at least that much in ingredients plus my time and effort. Okay, so they weren't as great as I expected or hoped. But everyone here actually liked them. Go ahead. Try 'em. I'd like to hear what you think.

D is for Doughnut

 

During D week, we attempted homemade doughnuts. They didn't taste quite like the ones you would get at a donut shop, but as Matt pointed out, they're not supposed to taste like a donut shop. We used a whole lot of crisco to fry them (very healthy) and they ended up being a tad bit doughy in the middle, but it wasn't unbearable. And they were ever so delicious. We got the recipe from a massive book I have by the same people that put out Cooks Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen shows.

8 Months Old

 

Here are Lexi & Ella on Ella's 8 month "birthday".

And some footage of Ella clapping.

Christmas- by Ralph Lauren

 

 

Just a shot of the beautiful dresses Grandma Susan bought for the girls this year.

Inferno

Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces. If I were more eloquent, I'd leave some great tribute to the man I love. But I am a woman of few words. Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces.

(P.S. We celebrated with the rest of Matt's bishopric & wives over a fabulous dinner followed by a lemon cheesecake, which I only make once a year cuz it pretty much takes all day. But, man, is it worth it.)