New York State of Mind

We love New York. We don't have a t-shirts that say it but it's true. This was our 14th trip to the "Big Apple" together and our 2nd with Sadie.

This trip into the city was different than our first as parents. Most notably was the fact that Sadie slept for most of the last trip and I carried her in her Sleepy Wrap. This time we brought the stroller and she slept there too, just not as much.

We stayed at The Double Tree Times Square which was a beautiful suite hotel with a great view.

Best of all, we were literally in the middle of Times Square. Here's Sadie, in her nightgown, waiting for Mommy to pick up dinner. This was right across the street from our hotel (TKTS steps).
During this trip Sadie saw her first (off) Broadway show. Kinda crazy, right? Taking an 18 month to the theatre? Yep. The show was John Tartaglia's "Imagine Ocean". You may be familiar with John from Disney's "Johnny and the Sprites" or if you are a theatre dork like us, he's from the OBC cast of Avenue Q.


The show was a black light puppet show. Sadie had fun but there were some tense moments in the dark because it wasn't just "theatre dark", it was black light dark. Also, we ended up forfeiting our front row seats when we got there because the stage was close, framed and we were warned not to grab the puppets. That didn't sound like a lot of fun so we moved to the very back, away from anyone we might annoy.
Sadie was a good girl. She enjoyed the show but lost interest during some of the slower parts and wanted to run down the aisle. The songs were good (all pre-recorded) but the most exciting part (remember, we're theatre dorks) was that John Tartaglia was in the audience and SITTING BEHIND US. Yes, this was SUPER exciting when he appeared because he wasn't actually IN the show so we weren't expecting to see him. After the performance Sadie was able to meet "Johnny"so not only did she see her first show, she "stage doored" for the first time too!

D also saw a show, "How to Suceed in Business Without Really Trying" with Daniel Radcliffe. I was jealous but opted to skip seeing a show since the tickets were $150 each. Plus, I'd already seen Harry Potter on Broadway a couple of years ago in Equus and in Equus I saw enough Harry to last a lifetime (entire scene done completely naked, limp wand wagging all around the stage).

Of course, a trip to NYC with a child (or without) woudn't be complete without going to FAO, Toys R Us Times Square (we rode the ferris wheel), and American Girl.

Sadie made out like a bandit at American Girl. The rule HAS to be, to ALWAYS bring a doll with you when you go or you'll spend big $$. We ended up buying her "Bitty Twins" which are a set of Boy/Girl toddler aged dolls. We gave her the girl doll right away and we have the boy stashed away for Christmas (this year, or next).

Other things.... We went to SoHo which as a terrible, awful experience that involved Sadie peeing on the floor of the subway train (ask yourself how that happened, it was something straight from the exorcist). We ate at our favourite tourist trap restaurant, Juniors. We went to the New York Public Library, and we crashed The Plaza to go visit Eloise.

Onion Rings at Juniors (they're more like Onion Donuts)

Sadie with Eloise at The Plaza

Waiting for the Subway

The trip into the city was exhausting and probably seems (to me) like a lot more fun looking back at the pictures but it was HOT, BUSY and riding public transit with a stroller was HELL. We'll do it again, of course, but I don't think we'll be going south of 34th until Sadie (and future child) can walk on and off the Subway. If anyone is actually interested in hearing about our subway ride, just let me know! lol

Sesame Place

Finally, right? I’m so bad with trip reports and reviews.




Sesame Place was a lot of fun but I wouldn’t say it was entirely what I had expected and/or I’ll know better for next time. The park was busy (Saturday of the 4th of July long weekend, DUH) but it wasn’t so busy that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. When we first arrived, already in our bathing suits, we went straight to a small wading pool area where Sadie and Ryan both had a great time splashing around. The park was mostly water with some dry attractions and shows. I wasn’t expecting that I’d spend the day walking around the park in my bathing suit but that’s exactly what ended up happening. After some more water we ended up at the stage show “Elmo Rocks” which was a blast! During the finale Sadie was in the middle of a pre-school mosh pit complete with confetti and streamers flying around. Loved it!

Elmo Rocks:



After the show Ryan napped while Sadie met cookie monster and went on the carousel. She loved both.







We decided to get lunch and at the same time catch the parade when Sadie fell asleep. Apparently nap coordination was too good to be true! Oh well. We took the time to wander through the gift shop (Sadie got a Big Bird and Cookie Monster beanie baby) and see what other attractions were around. The day went by quickly which surprised us and soon enough it was late afternoon. At that point both kids had been on 2 rides each, and we’d seen most of what the park had to offer. The last stop before leaving was seeing “Elmo Live”. Sadie and I fit into a front row seat (I love front row) and she was more or less enthralled (mostly by Elmo’s gold fish “Dorothy”). At one point Elmo was sitting right beside her and I half expected her to pull at his head but she didn’t. I kept sneaking a peak back at Ryan and his moms and he was equally amazed with his jaw dropped in “awe” for most of the show. Too cute!

The good and bad of Sesame Place:

GOOD:
- The food was reasonably priced (for a theme park) a good portion and actually edible. The kid’s combo came on a souvenir Elmo plate and included a reusable cup. There were fresh options like Salads and fruit. It was more cafeteria style than fast food. Also, drinks were free re-fills. We got more than our money’s worth of soda/lemonade, etc. and free cold water was easily accessible for Sadie.
- The shows were really good. I wish we’d had the chance to see all of them. Even with already established long lines we didn’t have an issue finding great seats for either show by walking up/lining up right before they started.
- Easily enough to do over 2 days (we opted for just one) if you split dry attractions/shows with a day enjoying the water and then you wouldn’t need to walk around in your bathing suit!
- Lots for our toddlers to enjoy but I think with the large play structures and water attractions it will be a good place to come back to when Sadie is 5 or 6.
- The rides we chose to ride did not have terribly long lines at all even though the park was PACKED and the park was REALLY busy. The park was so busy that I’m surprised we had no complaints about it. We really were in our own little “bubble” enjoying the attractions and for some reason, the order we did things, we really weren’t impacted.

Proof the park was busy, this is what the water attraction we had been to in the morning looked like in the afternoon:



BAD:
- We’d read some negative reviews about the PEOPLE being trashy at Sesame Place and although we didn’t encounter much of it other than some really nasty bathing suits we had one bad experience. The woman behind us in line for Cookie Monster kept cursing that people were cutting in line. “Why you got to be Fuckin’ Cuttin’ in line?” over and over again. Classy thing to do in line with toddlers to see a Sesame Street Character.
- The park staff were (for the most part) completely clueless. It was the beginning of the summer but the park had been open on weekends since May so I’m not sure if that could be used as an excuse. I had to ask 3 different people where the lockers were to get an answer. The third person was a manager of some sort. I don’t think my question was complicated, at a water park (lockers, hellllo?) even for someone new.
- When we entered the park we were not handed a park map and trying to find one in the park was brutal. The plastic sleeves where they should have been were all empty and when I asked at various shops, lost and found, etc. none of the staff had them. We were told we had to go back to the front of the park which, btw, was where the lockers were too. Perhaps if maps were available, staff would have known that.

The elusive park map:



Overall, it was fun and totally worth it and I do want to go back. Next time I want to do a better job of tracking down characters or maybe doing a character lunch. In general the Philadelphia area is a great place to go with young children. There were more attractions there then we could have fit in a week. We’re really looking forward to going again!

Next up…. 4th of July, New York and Splish Splash!


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Di$ney

We’re closing in on our 45 day mark for Disney which means I’ve just paid the balance owing on our vacation and I’m really left wondering what happened.



Our vacation started out with a great room only rate for a deluxe resort (Wilderness Lodge) and it has morphed into an expensive beast. Flying is expensive* and I’ve always maintained that by not flying we’ve saved a lot of money. Now I know that is true. Here is the example:

Driving
$400/gas - estimate of stopping 4x each way, not including gas onsite
$200/hotel – estimate for 2 hotels (one each way)
$100/food – estimate for 1 breakfast, 2 lunch, 2 dinner.
TOTAL: $600

Flying –
$1200 – 3 return airline tickets
$250 – 2 week rental car (not including gas)
$300 – 2 nights at airport hotel (we are arriving late at night and leaving early in the AM)
$160 – estimate for Airport Parking/Airport Limo if we can’t convince my mother to drop us off/pick us up.
$50 – estimate for 2 dinners
TOTAL - $1960

I’ve calculated we are paying $50 for every hour of driving we are saving. I can see why I’ve won this argument in the past.

The vacation itself went from 7 nights at a Deluxe resort to 12 at a value (twice the time for the same price), upgraded to include free dining that is actually only saving us $50 (entire vacation) because it meant we couldn’t use our cheap room only rate. Then there is the special event ticket for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party ($110), pre-purchasing our PhotoPass CD ($100), tickets to “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” ($185 for ONE day!!) and on and on and on…

Holy $%*& The mou$e really got us this time!!!

*Flying could have been cheaper if we had done the following (I refused all):
- Left from Buffalo, New York
- Considered Charter flights
- Purchased only 2 adult tickets

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Stuff

I'm, uh, still working on that post about our totally fabulous vacation but I'm extremely lazy when it comes to getting on a computer with an SD slot. In the meantime, I thought I'd write what's been going on in the 2 weeks since we've been back!

- I didn't end up going to my Aunt's bridal shower this weekend. The icing on the cake was that not only did she plan her own shower (so tacky) but she asked for cash in lieu of gifts to help pay for her husband's immigration expense. I couldn't do it. I do not want to be a victim of this as well, I don't want my money involved and I don't want to fake happiness for my Aunt who I think has acted foolishly.

-We've found out where our beloved fertility doctor has moved and she's completely "betrayed us" by going to our previous clinic, the one we HATE. Using her is no longer an option since she's the assistant to the RE that I despise the most and would prefer to never see again. So now our options remain the same as when we didn't know where she was. We either stay at our current clinic with the doctor that we haven't met or we check out the Dr. at our old clinic that has come highly recommended by several people. My apprehension with going to the recommended Dr was being at our old clinic and the chance of the above mentioned RE that I hate performing a procedure on me however; it seems there may have even been a development there as well. The recommended doctor used to be listed as part the clinic's team and displayed prominently on their website as such. She's now tucked away on a hidden part of the website under "affiliated physician" (I had to search to find her). This means she uses the facility for IVF but is officially a private practice. Since I'm not supposed to be talking about TTC #2 until October at the earliest, I'm only going to add that the ONLY thing tying me to the clinic we're with right now is the guided ultrasound IUI. I can't ignore the claim that guided IUI has a 50% higher success rate. I had one guided IUI and only one BFP.

-I've started working on Sadie's bedroom and I'm completely overwhelmed by it. I was pretty excited to start painting last weekend, cleared out a bunch of stuff to our basement storage and packed what was left (mostly) into her closet. I was excited to assemble her bed and didn't even want to wait the 72 hours I needed to prep her mattress. Everything was good until I clued in that I should have painted the interior of the closet FIRST. Oops, remember, it's now FULL. Not only that, I'd bought new bi-fold closet doors and those need to be primed and painted before being hung. So while I'd like to do things quick and dirty I'm going to need to be patient. Patience so far has meant a complete lack of forward momentum. Sadie's new bed is blocking half of the stairs to basement and stuff is starting to pile up again. Where are we going to stash stuff we take away from Sadie when we lose that room to good use?

-I'm on new meds. I know I've come on here a lot with my woes but I never really talk much about where I am with my treatment or what's going on. My doctor had raised my old meds to the highest dose I had ever been on. It took a few months before it really sunk in that the new dose was doing more harm than good. I was angry all the time. I was constantly fighting with D and even had a few embarrassing public outbursts including a moment of road rage where I flipped off someone who in turn slammed on their brakes in front of me and came at my car waving their fists saying they were going to kill me. That was a wake up call that I needed to stop with my constant need to instigate shit (online, at home, in public) or I was going to get myself in trouble. I mentioned to my doctor how I felt and she wanted me off my meds ASAP. Apparently when you start feeling homicidal rage, it's not a good thing. I have to admit I was sceptical about switching. My meds had worked for me for so long (15 years) but things had changed after I had played around with them during TTC and being pregnant. I'm now on Zoloft and I'm feeling good. There were moments when I thought I was doomed during the switchover but the result has been a calmness I haven't felt in years. I'm also supposed to be going for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) but right now I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. The clinic I have been referred to charges $195/hour and I have a pathetic $500/year in coverage.

-Sadie is in the early stages of terrible twos and for now it's pretty adorable. She fake cries a lot and throws little tantrums. We can see her checking to see if we're watching. The other day I walked out of the kitchen and left her on the floor crying. Next thing she was toddling down the hall with her hands fanned out over her eyes (so she could see) trying to find me. Sorry sweetie, I'm calling your bluff! She's also started to do some annoying "get our attention" tactics like driving her baby doll stroller right into the dog. Her baby doll stroller is one of the first things that are banished to her unfinished bedroom each day. She continues to be "active" and completely fearless. My co-worker called her "more like a boy" the other day and I have to admit I've noticed that too. I love the fact that she's leaning towards being a tomboy. She's NOT like the other little girls she plays with (or pushes over). She loves trucks, trains and cars. She loves her baby doll too, I think it adds weight to the stroller for when she's running after the dog. Oh, and RUNNING.... We took down the baby gate the was blocking her from entering the kitchen from our dining room and she has since taken to running in a giant circle through the kitchen, into the dining room, through the living room and back into the kitchen. Over and over... catching her for a diaper change is now EXTREMELY difficult!!


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NYC

10 months:

18 months:

I haven't had the chance I thought I would to blog because WiFi has been surprisingly sparse or billed at $13/night! Bummer. I have a great trip report to publish when we get home though!

On the road to Philly

I'm going to try to do something completely different this vacation - blog as I go! That way I won't feel guilty when I don't have a documented trip report.

We hit the road yesterday to make it down to the Philadelphia area a day before the borders were likely going to be madness (Canada Day). This is our 4th roadtrip of that length (8 hours) with Sadie and I'm starting to feel like a pro! We left at 7:30 AM and arrived at our destination at 6:30 PM. It was a long day and I was tired but Sadie held up remarkably well.

How we entertained Sadie:

"Learn to Play Piano with Elmo". This book is a lot of fun. It comes with a small keyboard attached and inside are songs to play on it. The best part is the "piano" is a nice sound (crazy, right?) and doesn't get annoying at all. Sadie loves pounding on the keyboard and if she ever lets us, I bet playing the litte songs will be fun too!
"AquaDoodle Travel n Doodle". This is pretty cool. You fill a "pen" with water and it scribbles in blue. Sadie loves it and it works out amazing for when she decides to draw on herself, her Mommy, her car seat, etc.

And of course, we had the holy grail of road trip sanity, my iPhone, loaded with episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. What would we do without it??? I love my iPhone!!

One last secret to our success was letting Sadie have time to be a kid. Normally we'd rush a trip like this to try to get to our destination as quickly as possible but from now on we'll save that for when we fly. We decided to stop at the half way mark for some "fun" at the Discovery Center in Binghamton, NY. We LOVE this place and were happy to fit it into our schedule.

Eating Lunch at the "Story Garden"

Peter Rabit's Garden

When we get home we're getting her a broom!

Holy Cow!

Shopping at the Grocery Store!
Pooping at the Grocery Store (Isn't it good we toilet train?)

It was a great day! We arrived just in time for dinner and went to The Cheesecake Factory. They are great with kids and gave Sadie a little plate with bread and banana to snack on waiting for our food. We had a HUGE meal and then brought Cheesecake back to our Hotel! Coming soon will be "HOw to gain 40lbs while vacationing with J & D". haha

SunBLOG

This summer I’ve decided (because who are we kidding, I’m the crazy one, not D) that we’re going to invest in organic sunscreen. I’m big on the idea of covering up and avoiding but my I know I need to loosen up a bit and let my kid see the sun.


Our pre-organic favourite sunscreen is Ombrelle Kids by L’Oreal Paris. We used it last year and we’ve mostly been using it this year (more on that later). All of my research has come from EWG.org who state that only 17% of sunscreens on the market effectively block UVA/UVB, remain stable in sunlight and contain “few if any ingredients with significant known or suspected health hazards”. I would highly suggest taking a minute to go and search the sunscreen brand you are using to see how it rates (0-2 Low Hazard, 3-6 Moderate Hazard, 7-10 High Hazard) because some of the most popular brands (Banana boat Baby (rated 6), Coppertone Kids (rated 3-5) and Aveeno Baby (rated 4-7)) are hit and miss. Our sunscreen wasn’t too bad at (rated 4) and I’m ok to keep it as our “primary non-organic brand”, at least for now. During pregnancy I did use Banana boat Sport which has recently had press stating it is connected to birth defects. Crazy, right? We SLATHER this shit on ourselves and our kids. It’s not a small amount of hand cream so it’s hard to read stuff like that.

So far finding an organic sunscreen that we like has been a challenge. We’re used to the feel and texture of non-organic and organic sunscreen doesn’t compare. We’re also used to pretty smelling sunscreen (Coconut!), and organic sunscreen.... bleh. It’s like wanting delivery and getting stuck with a frozen pizza.

After researching A LOT of the options, I’d narrowed down two sunscreens we’d try. I’ve looked at so many EWG (ewg.org) reports and most of the sunscreens I’ve investigated have rated a 1 or 2 yet they have varied when looking at certain chemicals and UVA/UVB protection. At the top of my list and the two we’ve purchased were Badger and Green Beaver. I liked these two because they both have an “Excellent” UVA protection when many of the others were ranked as “Good”. They also got major bonus points for being available at Whole Foods and as such, are readily available for me to test and buy.

Badger: (rated 1) This stuff is THICK. Sadie looks like she hasn’t bathed in days after a single application. My mother hates it so much that she has practically been dumpster diving at our house to find any sunscreen other than it. I’m not kidding, she’s actually retrieved sunscreen (Banana boat baby) out of the depths of our bathroom cabinet. We’re going to use the rest of the tube ( 87ml/$16.99) and future purchases are TBD. FYI – I’d used this on my friend’s foster son who has very very dark African skin and he turned MAUVE and glittered a bit. So if your kid isn’t fair like Sadie, don’t buy this, it doesn’t blend well on pigmented skin.

Green Beaver: (rated 1) I like this stuff, sort of. It isn’t as greasy as Badger but it still has an odd consistency and it smells like a potato chip when you’re applying it. Also, it feels sticky on your skin when you first put it on but good after it’s been on for the 20 min before sun exposure. Overall I think this is our top choice so far (90 ml/$19.99).

Other brands we’ve looked at include:

Nature’s Gate – Lower rated so we avoided, rated a 2 when the other Organic Sunscreens we were looking at were rated 1.
Heiko – I couldn’t find a rating on this but it was a mud like colour, similar to a mud mask. It didn’t seem greasy but it was very hard to work in.
Alba – This is 3rd on my list for available lotions at Whole Foods it’s only downfall is that it’s UVA rating is “Good” instead of excellent.

I’m looking for feedback on the following I can't in Canada:
Earth’s Best
California Baby

Is anyone else trying Organic? What do you think?