Auntie's Ark: May 2012

Thursday, May 24, 2012

DAY TWO - Shopping

After a long healthy night sleep of 12 hours, Noah awoke to his new apartment with ease. I encourage him to say "up" if he wants to get out of his crib and he responds correctly. We have breakfast, and get ready to go out for the morning. First stop is grocery shopping. Next we make a trip to Marshalls where we find him some bodysuits and socks that fit. He's a size 6! He also gets his first pair of sandals. Then we stop at another store and buy his first pair of shoes. He thinks he's a big boy and needs some underwear.
Next we make a trip to Marshalls where we find him some bodysuits and socks that fit. He's a size 6! He also gets his first pair of sandals. Then we stop at another store and buy his first pair of shoes. He thinks he's a big boy and needs some underwear.

Once we get everything inside, it starts pouring rain out! We made it by 1 minute. Noah goes down for a nap and I put away all of the goodies.

Once awake, we have lunch! He loves eating in his new chair. One of his tasty new fruits is honeydew.

After lunch he sleeps again. Wow, he sleeps a lot! You would think this would give me enough time to rest, but it doesn't. I cleaned up his toys, cleaned the house and I think snuck in a shower and he was up again. We go outside for a walk with his new shoes on. Surprisingly he doesn't try to take off his socks or shoes. Before dinner Noah plays with some of his donated toys and creates some masterpieces!

Before bed he gets a bath and Kuma becomes more and more fond of him. Noah enjoys the attention from the cats and mimics their meows! He goes to sleep early and happy ready for the next day!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Day ONE - Landing in New York

Late Tuesday night, Noah and I get to LAX. We spend time walking around the terminal, checking out the tourist souvenirs, and watching the handicap carts beep past. Noah prefers to walk himself pushing the stroller and impresses everyone with his strength. He walked the entire gate area stopping to say hi to everyone and pausing in front of those who didn't look up.

At 10:30pm he was still awake, struggling to keep happy. We boarded the plane, took our seat and made friends with the lady who gave us the window. We were delayed 30 minutes and finally Noah fell asleep just at takeoff. He slept nearly the entire flight, only waking to change positions and clap, yes while sleeping. 5 hours later (delayed another 30 minutes) we land at JFK at 7:20am EST. He gets a diaper change in the seats after peeing in my lap and we meet my friend at baggage claim. He sang on the way home despite his lack of sleep:

First stop is Target. It opened at 8am and I was in the door. I had a crib built in my spare bedroom the night before by a generous Craigslist donor and a friend who was cat sitting for me. It needed a mattress and I planned to take 10 minutes to just buy that necessity but came across aisles of baby items and decided to grab a cart full. Who knew when I'd have a friend with me again to help carry stuff into my second floor apartment. Baby gate, security locks, creams, bulk diapers, wipes, bath toys, nightlight etc etc.

The second we walked in Noah was smitten with his 2 new furry friends, my cats Kuma and Monkey. They surprisingly took to him as well! He explored the apartment a bit while I made his new bed. He was able to get to sleep by 9am without any fuss. I frantically cleaned the place as best as I could without waking him, which meant skipping the vacuum. When he awoke from his first nap he quickly showed me what needed baby proofing in the house. He pulls open any available cabinet, knocks over anything unstable, pushes furniture and loves pushing buttons, throwing cell phones and remote controls. My cell phone broke the first hour.

In the mid morning a neighborhood mom came by with her daughter Zoe and brought over a highchair for him to borrow. He sat and had lunch and enjoyed every bite displayed by lots of humming and head bobbing. The evening was full of more play time including art, and having fun with new donated toys and chasing the cats followed by dinner and a bath.

After his bed time another friend of mine came over and installed child safety locks on all of my kitchen cabinets! He and his wife also donated bags of clothes, books, toys and another highchair to keep. I joined a neighborhood mom's group before arrive back to NY and the community has been extremely supportive and donated dozens of items for Noah. My friends have also been a great help stepping up on short notice. You are all amazing! I can't wait for the months to come with my little man watching him take his first steps, sing, dance, talk, play, make new friends and enjoy being loved!