July 27, 2018
Getting into EVERYTHING
Not walking yet, but fully capable of getting into everything he shouldn't. Little rascal.
July 26, 2018
10 Years
This summer marks Dan's 10 Year Brooklyn anniversary!!! 10 years! Wow!
In June 2008, Dan (then 22) moved from his family and home in Kansas to start an internship at a church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Small town boy in a huge city.
I didn't know him then.
Ten years later...
7 different apartments
2 different roommates
2 different jobs
2 church families
Thousands of subway rides
1 near death experience
1 wife
1 baby
1 amazing neighborhood
Probably some wrinkles and gray hairs
And a lifetime of experiences along the way...
I love looking back at the last decade and thinking about all the ways my life choices wove me into life with Dan. And how aspects of Dan's life knit him into mine. God really works in some amazing ways to bring you to exactly where you need to be. I'm so grateful that small town boy made that big city decision.
In June 2008, Dan (then 22) moved from his family and home in Kansas to start an internship at a church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Small town boy in a huge city.
I didn't know him then.
Ten years later...
7 different apartments
2 different roommates
2 different jobs
2 church families
Thousands of subway rides
1 near death experience
1 wife
1 baby
1 amazing neighborhood
Probably some wrinkles and gray hairs
And a lifetime of experiences along the way...
I love looking back at the last decade and thinking about all the ways my life choices wove me into life with Dan. And how aspects of Dan's life knit him into mine. God really works in some amazing ways to bring you to exactly where you need to be. I'm so grateful that small town boy made that big city decision.
July 23, 2018
Weekending it - Philly Style!
This past weekend we went on a mini-trip to Philadelphia!!!
I love Philly. I spent a month there doing thesis research when I was in college and Dan and I visited a few years ago. It's such an easy trip from NYC and now that we have a car it was even faster (see ya never Megabus!). Mandy had never been to Phily so we put it on our summer bucket list.
Dan, Kip, and I loaded up on Saturday morning and picked-up Mandy in New Jersey on the way there. Kip cooperated by napping in the car for the first bit.
We got to Philly around 10 am, parked the car, and walked the sites. Things are much different now that we have Kip. It was also the peak of tourist season there so we opted out of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We mainly just walked around and read lots of the historical markers and I showed Mandy some of the things I discovered from my research.
Then we headed to get cheesesteaks for lunch!
This is the place Dan and I went to when we visited a few years ago and it was SO good. The place was packed and we waited in line for close to an hour. But it was worth it! I'm bummed I didn't take a picture because I was inhaling it. It was SOOO good. Kip liked it too!
After lunch we walked through the Revolutionary War Museum. It's a new-ish museum and something new for all of us. Personally, there was FAR too much label text but good otherwise. It was crowded and we had Kip in the carrier and so we ended up moving through the exhibition pretty quickly.
The forecast for the day was overcast and rainy but fortunately it didn't start raining until later in the afternoon. We popped inside Reading Terminal Market but that's where all the other tourists were so we grabbed some cookies quickly and headed across the street to check-in at our hotel.
Kip is currently in a destroy-everything phase and cannot be contained. We let him work it out in the hotel room and then headed out a little later to explore some more.
The rain was picking up outside but we hit a few shops before deciding on an early dinner at Maggiano's. It was a choice of convenience. Kip was hitting his limit and we wanted something fast and not crowded. Since it was 5 pm we beat the rush and were just across the street from our hotel.
Originally, our plan was to get two adjoining rooms so that we could put Kip to bed at his normal time and then still hang out in the other room and watch TV. The hotel couldn't guarantee that the rooms would be next to each other and we didn't want to risk that and pay for an extra useless room. So we hoped that Kip would just fall asleep while we hung out. Nope. We eventually got him down around 9 pm which is 3 hours after his normal bedtime. I had to crawl into the pack-n-play and lay with him until he finally fell asleep and then ninja jump out of the pack-n-play without him waking up. So then, there we were all in bed at 9 pm. I'm a night owl so that was rotten for me. It took forever to fall asleep and I was worried the whole night about Kip waking up. His screams are SO loud now. He woke up around 1 am at which point we pulled him in the bed with Dan and me. It was a full-sized bed, not queen, so it was a tight fit and not very comfortable for all three of us. I was never so glad when 5:30 rolled around and we could get on with the day.
So, yeah. Hotel rooms and an 11 month old don't really work well. We all got up early and found a popular donut shop for breakfast.
After that, we couldn't do much since it was still so early and many places were closed entirely on Sunday or not opening for several hours. So, we packed-up and Dan drove us about 40 minutes to an outlet mall where we shopped before heading home.
We all had fun and it was a pretty smooth trip, considering. It wasn't the adventuring vacations that Dan and I are used to but I'm grateful we got out and did it anyways. Hopefully we can go back in a few years when Kip is bigger.
I love Philly. I spent a month there doing thesis research when I was in college and Dan and I visited a few years ago. It's such an easy trip from NYC and now that we have a car it was even faster (see ya never Megabus!). Mandy had never been to Phily so we put it on our summer bucket list.
Dan, Kip, and I loaded up on Saturday morning and picked-up Mandy in New Jersey on the way there. Kip cooperated by napping in the car for the first bit.
We got to Philly around 10 am, parked the car, and walked the sites. Things are much different now that we have Kip. It was also the peak of tourist season there so we opted out of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We mainly just walked around and read lots of the historical markers and I showed Mandy some of the things I discovered from my research.
Then we headed to get cheesesteaks for lunch!
This is the place Dan and I went to when we visited a few years ago and it was SO good. The place was packed and we waited in line for close to an hour. But it was worth it! I'm bummed I didn't take a picture because I was inhaling it. It was SOOO good. Kip liked it too!
After lunch we walked through the Revolutionary War Museum. It's a new-ish museum and something new for all of us. Personally, there was FAR too much label text but good otherwise. It was crowded and we had Kip in the carrier and so we ended up moving through the exhibition pretty quickly.
The forecast for the day was overcast and rainy but fortunately it didn't start raining until later in the afternoon. We popped inside Reading Terminal Market but that's where all the other tourists were so we grabbed some cookies quickly and headed across the street to check-in at our hotel.
Kip is currently in a destroy-everything phase and cannot be contained. We let him work it out in the hotel room and then headed out a little later to explore some more.
The rain was picking up outside but we hit a few shops before deciding on an early dinner at Maggiano's. It was a choice of convenience. Kip was hitting his limit and we wanted something fast and not crowded. Since it was 5 pm we beat the rush and were just across the street from our hotel.
Originally, our plan was to get two adjoining rooms so that we could put Kip to bed at his normal time and then still hang out in the other room and watch TV. The hotel couldn't guarantee that the rooms would be next to each other and we didn't want to risk that and pay for an extra useless room. So we hoped that Kip would just fall asleep while we hung out. Nope. We eventually got him down around 9 pm which is 3 hours after his normal bedtime. I had to crawl into the pack-n-play and lay with him until he finally fell asleep and then ninja jump out of the pack-n-play without him waking up. So then, there we were all in bed at 9 pm. I'm a night owl so that was rotten for me. It took forever to fall asleep and I was worried the whole night about Kip waking up. His screams are SO loud now. He woke up around 1 am at which point we pulled him in the bed with Dan and me. It was a full-sized bed, not queen, so it was a tight fit and not very comfortable for all three of us. I was never so glad when 5:30 rolled around and we could get on with the day.
So, yeah. Hotel rooms and an 11 month old don't really work well. We all got up early and found a popular donut shop for breakfast.
After that, we couldn't do much since it was still so early and many places were closed entirely on Sunday or not opening for several hours. So, we packed-up and Dan drove us about 40 minutes to an outlet mall where we shopped before heading home.
We all had fun and it was a pretty smooth trip, considering. It wasn't the adventuring vacations that Dan and I are used to but I'm grateful we got out and did it anyways. Hopefully we can go back in a few years when Kip is bigger.
July 20, 2018
Weekending it
Playing a little catch-up and recapping last weekend.
Last Saturday, we got a wild hair and made a spontaneous trip to Asbury Park, New Jersey to check out the boardwalk. Mandy, Dan, and I are all summer lovers and are trying to make the most of our favorite season. Now with a car, we can be spontaneous, expand our destination locations, and since Kip naps so nicely in a moving vehicle, we thought...why not???
We hit a good bit of traffic on the way there and looked for parking for awhile as well but eventually made our way to the boardwalk. By the beach, Asbury Park is pretty nice and was definitely making an effort to revitalize. Some areas of the Jersey shore are what you imagine the Jersey shore to be...kinda run down and trashy (we're talking about you, Atlantic City). But you could tell Asbury was trying to step it up. There were nice restaurants and cute boutique stores. None of the bad t-shirts shops or seedy kitsch. We didn't go down to the beach since you had to pay (boo) and we hadn't planned on it anyways. We just found a spot for lunch and then walked the boardwalk afterwards.
We even got some shaved ice before heading out!
Dan and I definitely plan on coming back, just the two of us, for our annual anniversary beach trip. Traffic aside, it was a pretty quick trip!!
Tomorrow we are headed to Philadelphia for the weekend!! Mandy has never been there (neither has Kip) and Dan and I are going for the cheesesteak sandwiches!!
Last Saturday, we got a wild hair and made a spontaneous trip to Asbury Park, New Jersey to check out the boardwalk. Mandy, Dan, and I are all summer lovers and are trying to make the most of our favorite season. Now with a car, we can be spontaneous, expand our destination locations, and since Kip naps so nicely in a moving vehicle, we thought...why not???
We hit a good bit of traffic on the way there and looked for parking for awhile as well but eventually made our way to the boardwalk. By the beach, Asbury Park is pretty nice and was definitely making an effort to revitalize. Some areas of the Jersey shore are what you imagine the Jersey shore to be...kinda run down and trashy (we're talking about you, Atlantic City). But you could tell Asbury was trying to step it up. There were nice restaurants and cute boutique stores. None of the bad t-shirts shops or seedy kitsch. We didn't go down to the beach since you had to pay (boo) and we hadn't planned on it anyways. We just found a spot for lunch and then walked the boardwalk afterwards.
We even got some shaved ice before heading out!
Tomorrow we are headed to Philadelphia for the weekend!! Mandy has never been there (neither has Kip) and Dan and I are going for the cheesesteak sandwiches!!
July 19, 2018
Kip's First ER Visit
Last Thursday morning (a week ago), Mandy and I were in the bedroom chatting and Kip was on my bed. He was sitting there quite contentedly with Mandy on one side of him and bed pillows on the other side. I was getting ready for the day and I looked over at the bed and within literally a half a second Kip turned away from Mandy and crawled right off the bed. It happened so quickly there was literally no time to prevent it. He fell about 4 feet and landed on his face. I will never forget that image or that heart sinking feeling knowing I couldn't get to him in time to prevent the fall. We felt horrible. It could have easily been so much worse than it was. Praise God for that blessing.
Kip started crying instantly and he had a big rug burn on his cheek where he he hit the ground. Oddly, he only wanted Dan to hold him. Clearly he is the better parent. I called the on-call nurse at the doctor's office but she wasn't available until later in the morning. We frantically Googled symptoms of concussion in a baby and tried all kinds of things to get him to settle down. He didn't exhibit any odd symptoms but just seemed more startled and upset. After about 15 minutes he had stopped crying and was sitting on my lap when he spit-up a little bit. We decided that was symptom enough to take him into the ER to get checked out. I wasn't willing to wait an hour or more for the nurse to call us back.
Mandy, Dan, and I scrambled around to finish getting ready and jumped in the car. I've never been more grateful that we have a car now and that a hospital is just a short drive away. We got to the ER around 8 am and at that point, Kip was acting like his normal self again. Naturally. But we got checked in and after only a few minutes wait, the doctor looked him over. The first thing she said to me was, "babies falling down and getting injured is extremely common." Which, I knew, but it's not something I want to have happen again. She said he looked fine and examined his head, eyes, mouth, nose, and ears for any signs of bleeding. They apparently don't do CT scans unless the baby went unconscious or was vomiting regularly. The radiation exposure of the scan, apparently, is more risky than a concussion especially if the child doesn't even have a concussion. Apparently. She suggested we just stay a couple of hours for observation. Dan headed into work and Mandy and I tried to entertain Kip in the waiting room and eventually got him to sleep (we got the ok from the doctor to let him eat and sleep). We were back at the apartment about three hours later and I stayed home with him and Mandy the rest of the day.
Kip played, napped, and ate normally. Just a little battle wound on his cheek.
The nurse from our pediatrician's office called me back while we were at the hospital and gave us some things to look out for and scheduled an appointment with our doctor for Friday morning just to get checked one more time. Everything was good. We mentioned to the doctor that Kip doesn't seem to be aware of edges or heights yet because he literally didn't even hesitate when he crawled right off the bed, as if he thought the bed was seamless with the floor. The doctor said that depth awareness begins to develop around nine months. Since he is still on the early side of that developmental milestone, she suggested we wait a few months to see if he begins to enhance some depth perception before seeing an eye doctor or neurologist. It's really hard to help babies practice spacial awareness, like height, without it being dangerous. What are you supposed to do? Let him sit on the bed again and see if he tries to crawl off? No thank you.
For now, Kip is not allowed on our bed unless wedged between two adult bodies (like when he occasionally co-sleeps). We are trying to help him learn to turn over on his belly and slide off of the couch or something just a foot or so off the ground. Good grief, you really can't take your eyes off of him for a half a second. So anyways, yeah. First ER trip and first panic inducing parenting moment I'm hoping to never repeat.
Kip started crying instantly and he had a big rug burn on his cheek where he he hit the ground. Oddly, he only wanted Dan to hold him. Clearly he is the better parent. I called the on-call nurse at the doctor's office but she wasn't available until later in the morning. We frantically Googled symptoms of concussion in a baby and tried all kinds of things to get him to settle down. He didn't exhibit any odd symptoms but just seemed more startled and upset. After about 15 minutes he had stopped crying and was sitting on my lap when he spit-up a little bit. We decided that was symptom enough to take him into the ER to get checked out. I wasn't willing to wait an hour or more for the nurse to call us back.
Mandy, Dan, and I scrambled around to finish getting ready and jumped in the car. I've never been more grateful that we have a car now and that a hospital is just a short drive away. We got to the ER around 8 am and at that point, Kip was acting like his normal self again. Naturally. But we got checked in and after only a few minutes wait, the doctor looked him over. The first thing she said to me was, "babies falling down and getting injured is extremely common." Which, I knew, but it's not something I want to have happen again. She said he looked fine and examined his head, eyes, mouth, nose, and ears for any signs of bleeding. They apparently don't do CT scans unless the baby went unconscious or was vomiting regularly. The radiation exposure of the scan, apparently, is more risky than a concussion especially if the child doesn't even have a concussion. Apparently. She suggested we just stay a couple of hours for observation. Dan headed into work and Mandy and I tried to entertain Kip in the waiting room and eventually got him to sleep (we got the ok from the doctor to let him eat and sleep). We were back at the apartment about three hours later and I stayed home with him and Mandy the rest of the day.
Kip played, napped, and ate normally. Just a little battle wound on his cheek.
The nurse from our pediatrician's office called me back while we were at the hospital and gave us some things to look out for and scheduled an appointment with our doctor for Friday morning just to get checked one more time. Everything was good. We mentioned to the doctor that Kip doesn't seem to be aware of edges or heights yet because he literally didn't even hesitate when he crawled right off the bed, as if he thought the bed was seamless with the floor. The doctor said that depth awareness begins to develop around nine months. Since he is still on the early side of that developmental milestone, she suggested we wait a few months to see if he begins to enhance some depth perception before seeing an eye doctor or neurologist. It's really hard to help babies practice spacial awareness, like height, without it being dangerous. What are you supposed to do? Let him sit on the bed again and see if he tries to crawl off? No thank you.
For now, Kip is not allowed on our bed unless wedged between two adult bodies (like when he occasionally co-sleeps). We are trying to help him learn to turn over on his belly and slide off of the couch or something just a foot or so off the ground. Good grief, you really can't take your eyes off of him for a half a second. So anyways, yeah. First ER trip and first panic inducing parenting moment I'm hoping to never repeat.
July 18, 2018
Day-venture with Mandy and Kip
This summer I decided to take some random vacations days. One day to adventure with Mandy and Kip and one day to adventure with Dan and Kip. Of the three of us, my schedule is most flexible with taking days off and if I don't use em, I lose em.
This past Friday I spent the day with Mandy and Kip.
We took the subway into Manhattan and the ferry over to Staten Island.
After we got off the ferry, we walked over to a random lot for a free event call Broadway in the Boros. I guess, each summer several Broadway shows participate by performing a few songs from their show, free to the public. One event in each borough. We missed the Brooklyn event in June before I heard about the event but fortunately, the timing for the Staten Island event was just perfect.
We found a shady spot under a tree, set-up a little picnic for Kip, and watched performers from A Band's Visit (the new 10-time Tony award winning show from this season) and Wicked (one of my most favorites)!
It's just a few of the performers. No staging or costumes or anything but there was live music and it was free!! We also really liked watching the sign language interpreters on stage as they signed along with the songs. Very interesting! It was only supposed to be an hour long event but with the raffles and all the sponsor stuff it was more like an hour and 40 minutes.
By the time we headed back to the ferry, Kippy was sound asleep in his stroller for a nap.
When we got back to Manhattan, we took Kippy for a ride on the Seaglass Carousel in Battery Park.
He loved it.
Mandy and I picked up some fresh baked cookies before we all hopped back on the subway home. It was a perfect adventure day and everything went surprisingly smooth. Fun for all!
That night, Mandy gifted us a date night while she stayed at the apartment with Kip. Dan and I went to dinner and walked along Summer Stroll, they close off the main street in our neighborhood and the restaurants set-up seating and music outside.
It was a really wonderful day. Can't wait for my day-venture with Dan and Kip.
This past Friday I spent the day with Mandy and Kip.
We took the subway into Manhattan and the ferry over to Staten Island.
<Subway Ferry>
After we got off the ferry, we walked over to a random lot for a free event call Broadway in the Boros. I guess, each summer several Broadway shows participate by performing a few songs from their show, free to the public. One event in each borough. We missed the Brooklyn event in June before I heard about the event but fortunately, the timing for the Staten Island event was just perfect.
We found a shady spot under a tree, set-up a little picnic for Kip, and watched performers from A Band's Visit (the new 10-time Tony award winning show from this season) and Wicked (one of my most favorites)!
By the time we headed back to the ferry, Kippy was sound asleep in his stroller for a nap.
When we got back to Manhattan, we took Kippy for a ride on the Seaglass Carousel in Battery Park.
He loved it.
Mandy and I picked up some fresh baked cookies before we all hopped back on the subway home. It was a perfect adventure day and everything went surprisingly smooth. Fun for all!
That night, Mandy gifted us a date night while she stayed at the apartment with Kip. Dan and I went to dinner and walked along Summer Stroll, they close off the main street in our neighborhood and the restaurants set-up seating and music outside.
It was a really wonderful day. Can't wait for my day-venture with Dan and Kip.
July 11, 2018
Weekending it
This weekend, Dan and I took Kippy over into New Jersey for his first visit to a public pool.
There really aren't public pools in Brooklyn. Okay, well, there are pools but none we would want to go to as they are not convenient and extremely overcrowded. But, in the great wide world of the suburbs, there are many lovely public pools with ample space. Mandy found one in her neighborhood so we headed over to her area Saturday afternoon.
Initially, Kip hated it. He was glued to me the entire time and cried if I tried to set him down. The splash pad part of the pool was new and pretty awesome but the water features were really strong and overwhelming. It was basically like a splash area you would have at a water park. Not really intended for babies. So Dan, Mandy, and I just sat in the kiddie pool with Kip and he eventually got used to the cold water and started playing around.
He just takes awhile to warm-up to new things.
We also took him in the big pool in a foatie that Mandy got him. He liked it okay but kept trying to drink the water so we decided to head out. It was past nap time anyways.
We had a good time and I'm sure it will be even more fun next summer when Kip is able to walk and play a little more.
Sunday was church and napless triggered tantrums...
Happy hump day!!!
There really aren't public pools in Brooklyn. Okay, well, there are pools but none we would want to go to as they are not convenient and extremely overcrowded. But, in the great wide world of the suburbs, there are many lovely public pools with ample space. Mandy found one in her neighborhood so we headed over to her area Saturday afternoon.
Initially, Kip hated it. He was glued to me the entire time and cried if I tried to set him down. The splash pad part of the pool was new and pretty awesome but the water features were really strong and overwhelming. It was basically like a splash area you would have at a water park. Not really intended for babies. So Dan, Mandy, and I just sat in the kiddie pool with Kip and he eventually got used to the cold water and started playing around.
He just takes awhile to warm-up to new things.
We also took him in the big pool in a foatie that Mandy got him. He liked it okay but kept trying to drink the water so we decided to head out. It was past nap time anyways.
We had a good time and I'm sure it will be even more fun next summer when Kip is able to walk and play a little more.
Sunday was church and napless triggered tantrums...
Happy hump day!!!
