Baby K's First Wedding

M and I took off last Friday and made our way to Queens to celebrate KF and MU's wedding. The church ceremony was literally minutes away from where we used to live. As we exited off the Grand Central Parkway, it brought back so many memories from when we used to make the drive home from Chinatown. It's amazing how much hasn't changed in four years -- the potholes in the road are exactly where we remember them to be, the gas station on the corner of Union Turnpike and Main Street remains standing, the Key Food parking lot continues to be filled with cars, and even the stores along Union Turnpike are still the same. It was a bittersweet moment; if we weren't so pressed for time, I would have been tempted to have M drive by Eden Rock to see our old building.

I was excited for my friend as she entered into this union with her long-time mate. Among our childhood friends who grew up together and managed to keep in touch these past two decades, she's the first to start dating her (now) husband, and the last to get married. There was never any doubt that the two of them would tie the knot, it was just a matter of when. And the way they did it was absolutely perfect. The ceremony was short but beautiful; the 60 or so guests who filled the sanctuary made the affair more intimate and private.

I was also excited because this was baby K's first wedding, and one of the rare times I had the opportunity to put her in a dress. She wasn't on her best behavior during the ceremony, especially when she let out a loud shriek while the priest was talking, but we managed to keep her quiet for the most part with Cheerios. We also had to keep the hymn books away from her, otherwise they would have been torn to pieces. The key is to bring QUIET toys with us the next time we go to a wedding.

After the ceremony, KF and MU had their reception/lunch at Kyoto Sushi & Thai Restaurant, conveniently located across the street from the church. While we were standing outside the restaurant, it suddenly occurred to M and me that we had dinner there once -- it was probably not long after the restaurant had first opened up. Being the small world that it is, turns out that I went to college with the catering manager responsible for this event.

Baby K was long overdue for her nap, and ended up sleeping in my arms as we left the restaurant. I could not believe how horrific traffic was on the way home! It took us three hours to get back! I was disappointed that we wasted so much time stuck in a car on a beautiful Friday, but at least we got to bake in the sunshine. In retrospect, we probably should have just stayed in Queens and headed back out after rush hour, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Hopefully there'll be more beautiful days to enjoy as we launch into spring.

Here's to wishing KF and MU a wonderful new life together!

A photo to share with all you baby K fans out there... here she is sporting her new dress and taking mommy for a walk after the ceremony.

Serious Silliness For All Ages

I have become a big fan of Sandra Boynton. Never heard of her? Wait until you have kids! Sadly enough, I probably find more entertainment in reading her books than baby K does at this point... although once in a while, baby K would bring over "Moo Baa La La La!" and plop herself down on my lap for me to read to her. (I love it when she does that. It's really the sweetest thing in the world!)

Some of Sandra Boynton's more popular books are seen all over the children's section in every bookstore, but when I went onto her website, I was surprised to see how many other books she's written that I have not heard of. I will have to look into expanding baby K's collection the next time we go shopping.

The Big Storm

Our plans to head out to Chinatown to celebrate my mother-in-law and nephew's birthdays fell by the wayside when we lost power Saturday afternoon. We were all packed and ready to head out the door when the lights flickered (and went out), the refrigerator's soft humming was silenced, and the furnace ceased its cranking of heat through the vents. At that moment, we were still thinking of putting our coats on, but then it occurred to us that we wouldn't be able to get the car out of the garage without some intensive manual labor involved (I've never tried lifting up the garage door by hand, but I can't imagine it being light). I was still expecting the power to come back on at any minute (wishful thinking on my part!), but M was more realistic. He started getting out all the flashlights and checking the sump pump in the basement. Fortunately, it was still light out, so we had some time to dig up our candles and place them in strategic locations (i.e., out of reach from baby K) before it got dark.

Evening time came, and I happen to be looking out the window in the kitchen when I saw our neighbor's 40-foot tree collapse into our backyard. We were very fortunate it didn't hit the house and that nobody got hurt. Aside from the fallen tree, M and I had to take turns emptying out water from the sump pump so that our basement wouldn't get flooded. It was disheartening (and very concerning) when after buckets and buckets of water were poured down the toilet, it looked like we barely made a dent and water continued to rise in the sump pump. Thankfully we managed to hold off the water from infiltrating our basement floor before the power came back on hours later.

Baby K was obviously too young to know what was going on, but she was more needy than usual that night, probably wondering why it was so dark and when mommy and daddy would turn the lights back on. We had her go to sleep a little earlier, which kind of worked out being that it was daylight savings time and she would've had one less hour of sleep anyway. With no heat in the house, we put her in our bed so she could keep warm under the down comforter.

There were some minor inconveniences but we got through them. Our problems are trivial compared to those with damages to their houses, floods in their basements, fallen trees on their houses and/or cars, and those still without power in their homes. I pray that all will be restored quickly, and that mother nature does not hit us with another one of these in a very long time (if ever again!). I also look forward to the day when I can go home and see our backyard cleared of the 40-foot tree. I must say, that monstrosity is certainly becoming an eyesore!

Tampa Trip

While we had sunny skies on most days, the temperature in Tampa was surprisingly not as warm as we expected it to be. It was down in the 40s or 50s in the morning and early evenings; only in the brief afternoon hours did we get to enjoy some warmth from the sun without feeling a chill in the air.

This was baby K's second time flying and she did very well on both legs. On the way there, she napped for a majority of the flight, which was a great reliever for me. I even got to enjoy some of "Iron Chef America" on the Food Network (thank you for the Direct TV inflight entertainment, JetBlue!). On the way back, I kept her busy with an old "Parenting" magazine that I let her shred to pieces. Sure she made a mess all over the area (which we did clean up), but I'm sure the neighboring passengers would appreciate that over a crying baby any day.

We stayed at the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel in downtown. It was categorized as a 3.5 star hotel according to Priceline, but I wouldn't give it anything more than 3 stars (and that's being generous). Service was decent (I appreciated how the valet attendants remembered our names and would greet us with Mr. and Mrs. Yong -- but then again, they probably just wanted more tip), free Wifi was a plus, but the rooms were in need of some major renovation. I was also disappointed that we didn't have a refrigerator to use (this is probably the first decent hotel I've been to that doesn't have a mini-bar). It was a pain having to buy milk for baby K each day instead of getting a quart-size one that we could refrigerate over the period of four days we were there.

Though we survived our second trip with baby K, it's not easy traveling with a young child. Between the packing, lugging the car seat, stroller, suitcase, and diaper bag through the airport, and keeping a toddler entertained, I have to wonder... is it worth it? Wouldn't it be so much easier just to stay home? I think we'll try a cruise (leaving from NY/NJ) for our next vacation.