Jordyn's First Trip to NYC

My uncle wrote a play somewhat loosely based on his parents' (my grandparents) lives. It was produced for the first time in NYC with only three showings, so my whole family went down this past week/weekend to see it. My dad and brother went down early and saw the play on Thursday night, my brother left on Friday, and my dad babysat Jordyn while my mom, sister, and I saw it on Saturday night. The play was really good, very funny, and I was pretty impressed.

I'll be honest - I was a little worried about this trip. My parents, Jordyn, and I were all staying in my parents' one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. I was worried about the close quarters, how it was going to work with Jordyn sleeping in a pack n play in the bedroom with my parents, and just spending so much time with my family (not that we don't already spent too much a lot of time together!). Other than the bedroom and the bathroom, the rest of the apartment is really one room - the kitchen, living room, dining area are all open and connected.We put the pack n play in the bedroom so we could be in the living room after Jordyn went to sleep; otherwise we would've been relegated to the bedroom. But then my parents had to sneak in there to go to sleep later on, and I was worried about her waking up. She didn't, though, and she slept through the night all four nights we were there.

The only really bad part of the trip was the beginning of the ride home. My sister rode home with us (she'd taken the bus down), and both she and Jordyn were cranky. She was in the back with Jordyn, and I tried to tell my sister to stop looking at and talking to her so she'd fall asleep (it was 2:30 and she hadn't napped yet all day). She started yelling at me, and saying all kinds of rude, inappropriate, and totally un-called-for things (i.e. "You need to get laid so bad"). The worst part, though, was that my mom actually defended her!! My sister was saying that ten more minutes wouldn't matter (which I agree with, that wasn't my point), and my mom kept agreeing with her and defending her, even though she was being so rude. I was SO upset and hurt by both of them. My sister fell asleep, and when she woke up when we stopped for gas, she apologized to me, completely on her own - I had said nothing. It seems to me that if she apologized without being asked, it kind of stands to reason that my mom shouldn't have been defending her. Of course, it turned out that my sister was expecting an apology from me, too, but I didn't give her one. All I'd been doing was ask her to stop engaging Jordyn so she'd take a nap, which I think is my right as a parent to do!

Anyway, otherwise the trip was great! When we got there on Wednesday afternoon, my dad babysat Jordyn (he couldn't wait to; he hadn't seen her in four whole days!) and my mom and I went out to get pedicures, eyebrow waxes, and mini-massages (it was just supposed to be the first two, but there was a special...). We went out to dinner that night, and I got one of my favorite pictures of Jordyn ever:

The cropped version. If you can get past the tiny bit of broccoli stuck in her bottom teeth, it's an awesome pic!

On our way out of the restaurant, a man at a table near us stopped me to tell me what a beautiful and good baby she is. She was in an exceptionally happy and giggly mood at dinner, and I guess he'd noticed!

On Thursday, my parents and brother went to the U.S. Open, something I have no interest in whatsoever. So Jordyn and I did our own thing. We met a friend of mine (from Camp Sunshine, and she's also a child life specialist in an emergency department) for a late breakfast, and then went to the west Village (on the way to which Jordyn slept through her very first NYC subway ride) to visit our pseudo-cousins. We got to see their apartment that they recently completely re-designed, and it's amazing. I mean, it's not often you see a 2 bedroom - one of which is a master suite complete with a walk-in closet, 2.5 bathroom, laundry in the unit, apartment in Manhattan! Then we went to Times Square. This was my bright idea, because I really wanted to show Jordyn the lights and excitement of it, but the timing ended up being all wrong. She was tired, and it was daylight, so the magic of all the lights wasn't so magical. It was totally overstimulating for her with all the people and the noise, especially in her tired state, and it was basically a big fail. We did go to the Disney store, though, and I got her a second Minnie Mouse as a back-up for her Minnie Mouse lovey (one of which is now at my parents' house so I don't have to worry about forgetting to bring her lovey on the nights we sleep over). Then we went back to the apartment and ordered in for dinner with my mom, while my dad and brother went to see the play.

Friday my parents, Jordyn, and I went down to lower Manhattan because I really wanted to see the 9/11 Memorial. I hadn't been there before. We had lunch first before going to the memorial, and Jordyn got really tired and cranky, but was too overstimulated to fall asleep. My dad ended up walking around with her to get her to sleep while my mom and I went to the memorial, and then shopping at Century 21. My dad went to the memorial after he got Jordyn to sleep, and then met up with us at the store. That night we went to my uncle's birthday party that he threw for himself at his apartment (it was a small, low-key party). I was planning to stay for a very short time, since Jordyn was going to need to go to sleep, but she hung in there and was great for a couple of hours. When we left, my parents wanted us to take a cab, but I didn't want to take Jordyn in a NYC cab without any sort of carseat. So my dad walked us to the subway, and we were fine, even though I had to carry Jordyn and the stroller up 60-something stairs, with the diaper bag backpack on my back, when we got to our stop. Ugh! The subway with a stroller is *not* easy, as I learned several times over on this trip! Jordyn didn't go to sleep until about 11:00 that night, but she slept through until about 8, and then went back to sleep from 8:40 to 11:25!!!

Before the trip, I'd posted on FB that we'd be in NYC, and asked if anyone in the area wanted to get together. My old friend Z, who I haven't seen in probably 15 years, messaged me, and it turns out she lives literally around the corner from my parents' apartment! She invited Jordyn and I over for lunch on Saturday, so that's what we did. It was a nice Shabbat lunch with about 8-9 other people, and it was great to catch up with Z and to meet her brother and their friends. After going back to the apartment and getting ready for the play, the plan was for all of us to walk over and then down through Central Park for an hour or so down to where we were meeting our cousins for dinner prior to the play. It was so incredibly humid, though, that my mom and I gave up and went shopping instead. :) Jordyn had fallen asleep, and my dad wanted to walk, so my mom and I took a cab down to near the restaurant and shopped for 45 minutes in some air-conditioned stores. Then we had dinner where Jordyn met some of her cousins for the first time, and then most of us went to the play while my dad took Jordyn home for bedtime.

Sunday morning (well, noon or so), we went to brunch/lunch with another cousin whom Jordyn had never met before, and then drove home.

Whew! It was a lot of fun, but a busy whirlwind of a few days! Jordyn's favorite thing was walking (almost running!) down the NYC sidwalks, arms out to the sides or waving around (she wanted nothing to do with holding anyone's hand), without a care in the world. It was kind of funny, because she'd randomly turn and start walking in a different direction, usually to follow a dog or a person. She did a ridiculous amount of walking for a not-quite-13-month-old!

While some areas of the city were overstimulating, I think she really liked all the stimulation of new people, sights, and sounds. I'm so glad she was able to meet some of her cousins, finally, and for them to meet her.