Time Out Egreck!

Ari was playing with his Uncle Egreck the cat, when all of a sudden he announced:
"Egreck's happy! Egreck's mad! Egreck, go to time out!"

Wouldn't It Be Nice?

There are a lot of things that would be nice right now. A vacation by the beach, having more money, a manicure/ pedicure...I could go on and on.

I cannot believe I am saying this, but I would abandon those fantasies for one simple wish: I would love for Ari to be potty trained.

When this baby arrives in the winter, I hope that I am only changing one and not two.

Help me out people! How can I accomplish this feat?

A Trip to Wolfe's Pond Park

This morning I woke up at 8am. Today of all days, Ari decided to sleep in! Unfortunately, we had to be in Manhattan by 10am to catch a bus. We were scheduled to go on an exciting trip today to Wolfe's Pond Park, a free city park in Staten Island. I sluggishly made my way to the kitchen and made some coffee while Ari watched Blue's Clues.

By the time we made it out the door, it was 9:30am, clearly not enough time to get to the city and make the bus. I decided I'd better drive if I wanted a shot at making it there on time. Unfortunately, three blocks into driving and traffic was not agreeing with me. I called the director of the school and let her know that I was not going to make it to the bus. Instead, I would drive to Staten Island and meet the group there.

She said that was fine, but remarked that she had been waiting for us to arrive so the bus could leave. Keep in mind the last time these moms saw me I broke down crying in front of them because Ari was behaving so badly. Now I'm holding up the bus trip. Great!

It all worked out. Thankfully. I made it to the park in time to meet the Park Rangers!

Ari listened intently as the Rangers talked to us about the hike we were about to take around the park.

Then he was given a "nature badge."

As he was listening he got so comfortable that he held another mom's hand.

And then he realized that it wasn't my hand and dropped it quickly.

The Rangers showed us all kinds of fun things. Check this out. This is a seed:

Here it is up close:


This seed grows into this tree:

But the most exciting part of the trip was our visit to the beach. Yes, you read right, Wolfe's Pond Park has a beach.
Okay, so the water was brown. But what do you expect? This is New York City! It was so hot, I could have been swimming in toxic waste and I wouldn't have cared.


Now you may be wondering: Is that a maternity bathing suit? No it's not! It's a plus sized swim suit purchased from Walmart in Texas.

The beach was great, and the water was warm! Ari loved it too.

After we left Wolfe's Pond Park, we started to drive home and this happened:

I was still really hot, even though the air conditioning in the car was on full blast. After all, I am pregnant. So I called my friend and Staten Island native, Donna to advise me of the closest ice cream place. She said:
"You must go to Ralph's Ices! It's the best!"
So I did.

And I got this:

It was amazing.

In the words of Richard Scarry from his masterpiece Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,
"My hasn't it been an exciting day?"

For more on Wolfe's Pond Park click here

The Baby is...

Content to keep its legs crossed. We traveled all the way to the end of the earth in Manhattan to find out that my baby does not want to reveal its gender. Not only that, but the ultrasound technician tells me that I have a condition called placenta previa, which apparently means I may not be able to deliver vaginally. Great! Just what I wanted to hear.

Of course I immediately called my midwife to ask her about the condition. She said it's a condition where your cervix is blocked by your placenta. This makes it impossible for the baby to come out through the birth canal. However, there is hope. She said that the condition usually resolves after 20 weeks. I hope that's the case for me.

I'm so disappointed! Now I have to wait another two months to find out what this baby is! And if it is a boy again, we're in trouble because Wil and I can't agree on any boy names!

Will There Be Another Bris?

For record, my brother (who recently had a baby girl...well actually my sister -in-law did all the hard work but anyway) is convinced that my baby is another boy. Today is the day we find out for sure. Will there be another bris or not? Stay tuned for the verdict.

Seeking Advice on Grabbing, Hitting and Other Undesirable Behaviors

Hi. My name is Sarah Fader and I have a problem. My two year old son, Ari (who I love more than anything in the world) grabs toys from other kids. He also hits other children. Though I realize that this behavior is normal for his age, I still don't know how to discipline him effectively. I don't want him to keep these behaviors up well into his elementary school years.

Are you the parent of an older child? Older than say two? How did you deal with these behaviors? Please post a comment and tell me what worked for you.

The Old Me

Ari and I went to visit my college roommate, Staci, on Long Island the other day. I hadn't seen her in a while, so I was excited to hang out. I told her I would be getting to her place at around 10am. Due to traffic, I made it around 10:30am. Okay, I admit I was a half an hour late.

She opened the door and the first thing she said was:
"Wow! I wasn't expecting you till noon!" At first I was offended. Noon? Who did she think I was arriving two hours late? What a rude thing to do! Then I realized that she remembered me to be a late person. Since having Ari, I have become much more punctual. I am no loner absurdly late for things.

We were hanging out with Staci and a friend of hers that I didn't know. Staci was telling her friend how I used to do laundry in college.

"When I saw Sarah do laundry," she said with a smirk "I realized that you don't have to separate colors and whites!"

Essentially, 19 year old me would literally throw all my clothes into the washer, put some detergent in and press the start button. Forget washing instructions, fabric standards, I had no time for such things. Sadly, I can't say that has changed. I'm still really lazy when I do laundry. I don't separate anything out and I wash it all in warm water.

We also reminisced about how I used to sit on the floor of our dorm room and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without a plate. Today I use plates.

Despite the fact that I have evolved to using utensils and plates, I still don't know how to clean my house. I am entirely overwhelmed by the prospect of it.

To sum it up, I've made a chart.



Now it's your turn! How have you changed?