a nice place to visit...

And maybe I could live there.* I'm talking about New York City. For my past several visits, I've looked upon the harried parents, dragging their kids to and fro, silently loving my live as a Northern Virginian suburban. But on this last visit, for Thanksgiving, I found myself really seeing how awesome NYC could be for kids. There were so many parks to choose from near my brother's apartment!

The Hudson River Park, easy walking distance, was so nice! Of course, it was about 65 degrees that day and everyone was thrilled to be outside on a November day, but still. The organization of all the little areas --  even a place for skateboarders, who sometimes I feel get the shaft -- was amazing.

The kiddie playground was amazing. The play equipment must have been so expensive. This was no Little Tikes stuff. I bet it was European or something.

This is Levi, trying to fit in with the other cool New Yorkers. Of course, he would have had to trade in his Stride Rites for something a little higher class, but we're from out of town.

*Disclaimer: This is totally make-believe talk. After having lived in a house five years and amassed a houseful of large furniture, I think that -- and my dependence on free parking, closet space, shopping malls, etc. -- has firmly ensconced me in suburban life. And I'm good with that.

my lists

I love lists. I don't know how I'd get anything done without them. Grocery lists, daily to-do lists, master to-do lists, honey-do lists, packing lists... I'm particularly thankful for my packing lists. I type all my lists and save them, which then saves me a TON of time later on. Now, whenever it's time to start packing, I open up my most recent list (or the most similar one based on type of trip) and resave and revise.

Once I have the list perfected (which I do by mentally running through each day and writing down everything -- and I mean everything -- that we need), I print it out. I'll then cut the list into sections according to where I need to use it. Levi's list goes in his bedroom, the travel bag/car bag/purse list stays in the kitchen, my list goes to my bedroom. If I remember something as I go, I'll write it down on the list and then later input that change into my document so I have it correct for next time. When I'm finished packing, but there are still things left to put in at the last minute (toothbrush, Levi's sleeping buddy 'Raffe the giraffe), I write that on a piece of yellow notepaper and put it on top of the bag to be checked off in the morning.

I've also recently started writing up the "big things in car" portion of my list, so I know how many big items to account for when loading up the car. Mommy/Daddy suitcase, Levi backpack, Chloe backpack, stroller, diaper bag, etc. It helps keep things sane, especially for air travel. We should have seven things, do we have seven things?

It might seem a little over the top, but ask my hubby... ever since I started using this method for packing, he says it's so stress free and he appreciates it so much. Oh, and he knows not to cross anything off the list without my permission. That's my job. ;)

crossing bridges

Motherhood is about one step at a time. I feel that there are a lot of new firsts coming up in the next 6 months or so that I have a hard time fathoming. Some examples:

1. Getting rid of the binky. Levi only uses it for nap and bedtimes now. I think we've gotten rid of it in the car, except maybe the long road trips. I'd like to get rid of it around 18 months, though. How will that work??

2. Transitioning to a big boy bed. Granted, I think we have a little while for this one, but the thought of Levi being free to move around in his room at night? What will he get into? What if he leaves his room? I know I can't keep him in a crib until he's in high school, but still!

3. Watching him get on a school bus with a total stranger and drive away from me. How is that going to go down?

4. Letting him play outside with friends down the street and ride his bike or walk to the pool by himself. Many, many years from now. Many.

I try to make myself feel better about these things by thinking of all the bridges we have successfully crossed that seemed insurmountable at the time.

1. Taking naps in his crib. There was a time I never thought he'd sleep anywhere but in his bouncy seat. That lasted all of, oh, five months.

2. Keeping him "entertained" all day. When he started growing out of that newborn phase where he'd be eating or sleeping at all times, I freaked out about "what am I supposed to do with him when he's just... awake??"

3. Grocery shopping with him. It's not always pleasant, but we manage!

We've come a long way, buddy!

Levi's first ride on the D.C. metro.

the observer

Today I took Levi to a playdate at a local Chick-fil-A play zone. Of course he's still a little too small to go up and around all the tunnels and down the big tube slide, but there were plenty of little things for him to do on the ground level. His favorites were playing with the steering wheel type things and standing at the bottom of the slide, running away in laughter whenever someone would come down.

However, before he began playing, he had to take it all in. Levi has always been the observant type. He must always assess a situation before diving in. That's not to say that he hides behind my legs in fear of the unknown. No, he genuinely wants to take it all in first. Today he stood stock still, watching all the other boys zipping around him, for a full ten minutes. Ten minutes is an eternity to toddlers. When his ten minutes was up, he walked off and started to play. I love my little observer!

taking a break

So we thought we found the perfect house. Five bedrooms, hardwood floors, nice back yard, good neighborhood, etc. Then we did the inspection and spent some more time in the house. It's hard to really put a finger on the biggest reason, but we decided that it was not the right house for us after all.

I wasn't excited about the house. I didn't want to share pictures with people. I was mourning the loss of my house more than dreaming about the new house. And trust me, I tried to get excited! I know I'm not the best person when it comes to accepting change, but after lots of discussion, we know it wasn't the right house for us.

So next steps: we are taking our house off the market until early spring. That might be late January or sometime in February, depending on what our realtor suggests. We really love the team we are working with and trust that they'll steer us in the right direction.

Things that make me happy about waiting until spring:

1. Better inventory of houses for sale.
2. Better crop of interested buyers.
3. We get to spend our holidays without the stress of home buying/selling/moving.
4. When we do go back on the market, we'll already be ready for our staging since we've painted and installed our new granite. It'll just take a good weekend of cleaning and putting a few things away, and we'll be ready.

Real estate, we will meet again soon.

lunchtime conversations

This is how conversations go during lunch at our house:

Levi [pushing finger on his nose]: Nuh?
Me: Yes, that's your nose.
Levi: Nuh! Nuh!

Sometimes I'm tempted to draw out the conversation further by asking him where his hair is, but I stop myself when I remember that his fingers are covered in some type of food. I'll ask him again later.