babysitting

what a rainy day it was today!!! and it felt so cold, especially after the gorgeous monday that was yesterday. kendall's nanny called in sick so reinforcements were needed. aurélien hadn't slept well and hadn't napped the day before, and it looked like he was going to repeat the pattern today. i ended up pushing him in the stroller around the neighborhood, block after block after block . . hoping he would nod off for at least an hour's nap. of course the drizzle intensified and by the time he did finally nod off, i was quite wet (thankfully, his stroller had a good hood as i had refused the plastic tarp when starting out). with him asleep, i slipped through the open door of the new bakery and ordered a cappuccino and a slice of whole wheat flax seed banana bread (soooo good).

uh oh. what's this? someone is awake already?! (sigh) c'est la vie! i think he slept for 30 to 45 minutes, and i managed to wheel him to the apartment with only one hand on the stroller and the other holding the still warm cappuccino.

it was a fun time and greg helped me get back to kendall's where i stayed over to help with dinner and a bath and then bed.

babysitting

morgana and i covered for kendall's nanny today, who couldn't be in as her son was sick. morgan took the morning shift, audrey (who is kind of the substitute nanny) took the afternoon shift, and i took the evening shift. this was aurélien's morning visit with us.

 

he hadn't been over for awhile and i think he was a little bewildered between the cats and us, but he's so good natured and flexible with his different caregivers.

and so this was the ninth day of christmas.

about sunday

it's been a busy sunday with taking care of the kittens, talking to korrina and morgana, friends visiting to say hi to the kittens, going for a walk with greg, helping kendall prepare meals for the week, doing laundry and then finally getting dinner on for us . . 

i was going to connect with first unitarian's zoom service this morning, but it was set aside for other concerns. i was glad that greg, chanda and her girlfriend emily and i were able to sit down and eat together at least. connecting as a family each week is important to me. with chanda working and going to school, it sometimes takes a bit of effort to accomplish. i also miss the zoom meetings the five of us would have fairly regularly during the height of covid. it sounds funny, but it's not easy to find time that we can all be together on the computer. 

one of the kittens is not doing well. he's been having diarrhea and vomited twice this evening. i've been in touch with the foster team and they will try and get a vet appointment for him tomorrow. i made some sugar water for him in case he seems dehydrated during the night (1 quart water, 3/8 tsp table salt and 2 tablespoons sugar). i don't have any other electrolytes in the apartment. i read online that there is a powdered form i can keep on hand for emergencies.

pluto is lying by my feet as i type . . 

 

aurélien falling asleep over his lunch today.
 

at veniero's with greg . . 

cheesecake and coffee (iced coffee for me at 3 in the afternoon, which is why i'm still awake at this moment when i should be sleeping . . )

greg and i passed a special ceremony on 14th street in the meat packing district this afternoon . . 

sunday night dance concert

 

 it was an evening of firsts: first night out to a public event since covid for the grown ups and first concert ever for the little one.

 

i had reserved our time to enter little island several weeks ago, when my cousin let me know that her friend leo sandoval would be performing a free concert there with his company, music from the sole. we were surprised by how crowded it was . . i don't know why i thought it wouldn't be crowded, when i'm well aware that everyone and their cousin has been pouring into our neighborhood at night to have dinner and drinks out on the town!

we entered little island and had to walk up to the glade. we thought that they would allow kendall to stay down below with the stroller, but that was not possible, so we rolled on up and unloaded the little one and wiggled our way into the audience. greg stayed with the stroller at the very top. he's not one for wiggling betwixt people and fortunately for kendall and i, he did not mind staying with stroller and bags and just listening to the music.

aurélien was a little stunned at first, i think, but slowly warmed up to the experience and started bouncing to the beat. he enjoyed looking around at everyone and watching the children who were sitting behind him.

 

i loved every minute of the concert. it was so joyful and uplifting and everyone around us was dancing and clapping and enjoying it also. it felt good to be so happy.

our view of the river from where we were sitting . . 

and of downtown . . 

the moon is almost full . . 

looking northeast to the empire state building . . 

 

(after the concert i did go up to say hello and it was very nice to meet him after hearing so much about his dancing and visits with my cousin.)

heading back down . .

 

and back onto manhattan island . .

 

and past the cunard pier 54 arch . . (pier 54 was where the cunard ships lusitania and mauretania docked, and where the survivors of the titanic landed after being rescued by the carpathia in 1912).

 

the whitney museum brightly lit, but quiet on a sunday night.

 

maybe beginning to be a little tired?

lovely evening tunes from the bar entwine . .

 

good night now, sweet dreams.

helping with bed time

it was a long day today and i helped with aurélien's bed time routine . .

trying to get some of the food bits off so they don't swim in the bath with him . . 

minerva joined in the fun . . 

she's such a good furry big sister . .

a bike ride and a dance performance

i biked downtown to see korrina using greg's citibike key as two of our personal bikes have flat tires.

she already had her apron on and was set to start her work day. they've been packing up as her company is moving to the time out space in dumbo (down under the manhattan bridge overpass) tomorrow for a few months until their new space in queens is completed. i think that's the way i understood it to be . . or maybe they'll be in dumbo for more than a few months. it sounds like a good space since it's right by the brooklyn river park, with a bunch of other eateries and a lot of foot traffic from local residents. greg and i look forward to visiting it . . we can just ride our bikes over the brooklyn bridge and voila.

i couldn't resist riding along the river path on the way home even though it was crowded with joggers and pedestrians . . 

it was so busy with children's baseball teams on ball fields and on park grass, yoga groups, work out dance groups, people walking their dogs, people pushing their babies in strollers, families at the playgrounds, bikers and joggers, musicians and dancers. people can't get enough of being outside and being together.

 

roses are blooming everywhere and they are so fragrant.

at 4 pm chanda and i headed to new york lives arts for ellen's dances by very young choreographers. somehow in the midst of covid she and a few of her students got it together for a performance, and new york live arts graciously offered dates for the event. we all had to show our vaccination cards, have our temperature checked, sit appropriately well distanced, and wear our masks. it was very well organized, everyone was happy and excited for the show and to see good friends dancing again. i was tempted to take a few photos but didn't as i know ellen doesn't like that at all. she had a class graduating and since they were doing two shows (today and tomorrow) she let them talk about her for this show and take a snippet of her hair (she'll do the same for them tomorrow-usually the class has only one performance as nine other classes perform over the weekend-this year there are only two classes). it was a fun and emotionally touching event. we gave ellen some sunflowers that i had bought at the green market and said hello to several friends. i'm glad we got to go.

----

kendall sent a few pics from upstate. minerva has been allowing aurélien to pet her and he's been learning how to do so without disturbing her. it's very sweet.

he's also been helping mama plant the herbs this year.

it's also very hot and humid now. i think it went up to 90 today. 

i posted our beach visit from may 10th and from this past week - here and here, and i posted about the two visits i made to the new floating island park here and here, and a visit to see korrina in queens here. there's some other posts sprinkled betwixt too.