Regret

I counted Bohdin's change yesterday and he had enough money for two mystery cars. He had bought a Hot Wheels/Matchbox mystery car on our previous visit and wanted to get more. Before going to ToysRUs we went to Brooklyn to meet somebody I know. As we were waiting for her eldest daughter to get out of school, Bohdin noticed the ice cream van parked outside. It was kind of cold and misty out but that wasn't going to stop Bohdin. I told him I wouldn't buy him an ice cream cone but he could use his mystery car money to get one. He agreed and bought a small two dollar ice cream cone covered in sprinkles. After leaving my friend's house we walked past the school again to the subway stop. Bohdin started crying loudly. He wanted to return the ice cream and get the mystery cars instead. Even this morning he is still so sad. It's hard to let him live with the consequences of this decision. I'm the one who suggested he use his money to buy an ice cream cone. I didn't try to talk him through the decision to make sure it was what he really wanted. To appease my conscious, we'll buy him two mystery cars and put it in his Easter basket.

On the subway ride back I was talking to him about regret. People often make decisions they wish they could take back. I didn't realize I would make one myself so quickly. Before leaving my friend's house I had Bohdin pee. Bathrooms can be hard to come by around here. I didn't take my own advice and right around the time Bohdin started feeling regret about his spending decision I was regretting not using the bathroom myself. By the time we got off the subway I needed to pee so bad I was seriously contemplating finding an alcove and peeing on the ground. I had to pee that bad. Bohdin was a trooper and quickly followed my blind quest for a bathroom. I walked into a hotel and found relief.

My friend's daughter V- is a few months younger than Bohdin. He played mostly by himself while we were there. Nyla was all over the place. At one point I found her in the room with the other girls, just hanging out. Bohdin and V- didn't speak until they watched Harold and the Purple Crayon together.

V- Why are you wearing mittens?
Bohdin - They are not mittens. They are gloves.
V- Why are you wearing gloves?

V- He has eyebrows on his eyes.
Bohdin - His eyebrows are above his eyes.

Bohdin is such a stickler for precision. I can't imagine he'll be very popular if he's always correcting people. Maybe he could be a teacher if he could tone down the attitude in his voice as he corrects someone.

Bohdin has good observation skills. One time he noticed that I had boarded the wrong train. I had just assumed it was the right train. Yesterday he was preoccupied but did a better job counting stops than me. I didn't argue with him about his miscounting on the train yesterday and good thing because it turns out that I was the one who was wrong. Bohdin also loves to sort and organize things. When I get around to it, I'll teach him spelling with pattern recognition. He hasn't asked to learn spelling in a while so that has fallen further down the to do list.

Smooth day

Prior to leaving yesterday I wrote an itinerary with detailed directions. With small kids it is easier to not wander aimlessly or appear unsure. Everything went pretty smoothly. We never even had to wait too long for trains. Our first stop was the legendary Doughnut Plant. It was a smaller building than I expected with a smaller selection also. Since this was the first and probably last time we'll have those doughnuts I bought a hazelnut, lemon, and coconut with coconut cream. The lemon and hazelnut were okay but not worth the high price tag. The coconut cream was really good.

 

Our next stop was supposed to be Shake Shack for hamburgers and some play time at the playground. I thought I knew the park Shake Shack was in but apparently I didn't. We were at the wrong park. The playground at this one was much better and the kids had fun playing. It was lunchtime and I thought we would walk towards Pommes Frites instead of the chocolate store I had on the list but Bohdin wanted to see the chocolate. Luckily on the way to the chocolate store we passed a halal cart that had won a vendy award. We got the lamb and chicken combo plate. Bohdin now says he LOVES lamb. It was the tastier meat on the plate. We also stopped and bought some chocolate bread for Buddy. Bohdin had some the previous day and we thought we would get some for Buddy.
 

Our next stop was Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven. They have large windows where you can watch chocolate being made. It wasn't as cool as I though it would be. Mostly we saw a lot of chocolate going into very elaborate molds. They were producing Easter stuff so they had lambs, chickens, eggs, and rabbits. Inside the store they also had tvs set up that did show how chocolate is made. As we watched it Jacques Torres came over and gave Bohdin and Nyla a chocolate egg. The chocolate was quite good. Definitly a top notch chocolate. There is a kid area with a small table and crayons. I put Bohdin and Nyla over there while I paid for a chocolate bar. Nyla had wanted to color earlier. After I paid Bohdin comes up with a half eaten chocolate egg in his hand. The kids had finished the free egg quite some time ago. While I had been paying Nyla grabbed another egg and opened it. Bohdin probably took it from her and ate it. The lady who had been at the counter earlier had gone to the back of the store. I looked around and waited to be helped. I found a tray of sample brownies that were incredible. While I was waiting, Nyla grabbed another chocolate egg and unwrapped it. That was it. I picked her up took her over to the counter and paid for the chocolate. Nyla was walking toward the subway station and dropped a piece of her egg on the sidewalk. She picked it up and continued to eat it. Some people saw and gave some weird looks. I don't blame them. NYC sidewalks are gritty. I paid one dollar for a small chocolate egg. She was going to enjoy that egg even if it had some questionable dirt on it now.

Bohdin found some discarded subway tickets and gave two to Nyla and kept one for himself. Nyla was playing with her card and putting it in her mouth. This was even worse than the chocolate that had fallen on the sidewalk. She didn't listen to me when I told her to stop. When we boarded the train several men saw her putting the ticket in her mouth and told her not to. One shook his head when she did it. She stopped and hasn't put it in her mouth again.

Bohdin and Nyla both love the pigeons of NYC. We spent a while watching these pigeons eat some scrap of food.
 

 

Nyla insists on having her own seat on a subway or bus. At one point we were on a subway. Two seats were available so I stood while the kids sat. Nyla scooted close to Bohdin to creat a space and then patted the space. It was such a sweet gesture. I told her thank you but I would just stand.

Walking

Yesterday the kids and I went into NYC while Buddy was tied up in meetings. I didn't have much time to look at routes or destinations or anything. The trip through the tunnel was much faster and we arrived in NYC quickly. I decided to walk to a restaurant several blocks away. I don't know why I didn't buy a subway pass. I should have. It wasn't a terribly long walk, just under a mile. Afterward we walked to the ToysRUs in Times Square which again was just under one mile. The toy store was the one place he wanted to visit. He chose it over FAO Schwarz because of the giant train table I think. It felt like we were there for a long time but I'm sure that's my boring perspective talking. We walked back to the bus terminal and caught the bus back to the hotel.

Both times on the bus I was lucky enough to have some help. When I boarded the bus in front of the hotel, the kids zoomed ahead of me and found a seat. I fiddled with my money because I somehow lost the nickel I had in my pocket for part of the fare. I finally just shoved another dollar into the driver's hand. As soon as he gave me the change he started driving the bus. I had to walk the length of the bus because the kids had chosen the very back seats. A man held his arm sort of across Nyla's chest so she wouldn't fall off the seat. The same man (I think) carried Bohdin down the stairs of the bus as we got off. On the way back to the hotel, we didn't make it off the bus fast enough. We were near the back exit and I had a hard time trying to convince Bohdin to walk toward the back of the bus instead of the front. While I was telling Bohdin which way to go the bus started moving again. Some people on the bus told the driver to wait. He stopped the bus again. A lady carried Bohdin off.

Nyla on the bus Monday night
 

In Times Square Monday night
 

The giant train table at ToysRUs
 

The Hudson River with NYC in the background outside the hotel
 

I was tired of walking when Buddy was done for the day. I didn't feel like going back into NYC. We drove the car 2 miles to a pizza place in Hoboken. (Grimaldi's - I already told Paul but just in case anybody else was wondering) I thought the pizza was really really good. I can't think of a better pizza I've had. Buddy prefers deep dish so he wasn't as wowed as I was.

Memorable

I have been without internet for several days and I have no idea when I'll get it back. In the meantime I'll write so I don't forget.

On our walk past the pond Friday Nyla kept saying "ack, ack, ack, ack". It took me a while to figure out she was trying to say quack quack. She saw the geese in the pond. There are ducks in the pond as well but I didn't see any at first glance. Later I asked her to say more animal sounds. She tried "f" for woof. She says meow while signing cat. Moo sounds like "mmm". Nyla LOVES animals.

Buddy has his quarterly get together this week for work. The offices are spread around so this is the week they have a whole bunch of meetings in person and stuff. We briefly attended the one in Gettysburg. We skipped the one in Portsmouth, VA. This one is in NJ just across the Lincoln Tunnel from Manhattan.

Buddy took a separate vehicle with coworkers yesterday so Bohdin, Nyla, and I drove up ourselves. It's a 3.5 hour drive and I knew that was too long for Nyla in the car without a break. I planned a hike and then another stop or detour in Philadelphia for that yummy gelato. Nyla fell asleep immediately in the car but woke up soon after our hiking destination. I decided to just stop in Philly. The gelato was so good. Bohdin declared that he likes gelato more than ice cream. He had chocolate, tangerine, and blood orange. I had caramel, papaya, and my new favorite flavor: basil. Buddy thought it sounded gross because he was imagining pesto but it's actually just sweet, basily, terrificness. There was a group of two women at the counter with us also. After sampling the basil she also got it.

Nyla fell back asleep in the car which is highly unusual for her. We headed north and I had to stop for gas. After starting the car again, the GPS wouldn't turn on. That wasn't fun. The trip ended up being a bit longer because I didn't go the quickest route. We made it though. Buddy had a meeting soon after we arrived. By 5:30 we were able to leave the hotel for dinner. The wind was a bit blustery and I wanted to drive somewhere instead of walking to the bus stop and then walking in NYC. Bohdin really wanted to go to NYC and we did end up doing that. Traffic was backed up in the tunnel and it took longer than Nyla had patience for. Eventually everybody just got off the bus prior to the station. It was much faster to walk. We had a pleasant walk and ate dinner in a Szechuan restaurant. The people that worked there were impressed that the kids would eat such spicy food. It was a bit spicy but not overwhelming. I ordered the pork belly with chili sauce. Once I told Buddy that pork belly was bacon he felt a lot better about eating it. I probably would have felt the same way. The mind must approve regardless of what the tastes buds say.

Since I had no internet I was unable to find the bus data for the trip back. We assumed the bus that took us there would also take us back. That didn't prove true. We eventually got off the bus and walked through a pretty sketchy neighborhood. We passed a young lady with a very bloody nose walking quickly and saying something we couldn't understand. It didn't look like the kind of neighborhood one would want to be in at night. It took a while for us to get any sort of bearing. We were north of the Lincoln Tunnel entrance and we needed to be south. Buddy suggested that the kids and I stay in a grocery store we passed while he got the car. It was an excellent suggestion. Bohdin was cold because he didn't find a bathroom quick enough earlier. His pants were very wet. The grocery store was much nicer than I expected. In fact the grocery store was nicer than the ones in our area. We picked up some breakfast stuff. Buddy ran the mile back to the hotel and picked us up.

It was so late by the time we made it back. The kids were both exhausted. Bohdin thought it was a good day. I bought him and Nyla a matchbox vehicle at the grocery store. Nyla woke up, pooped, and threw up at 5:30 in the morning. It's already 11am and I don't know what we'll do yet today.

The cleaning never ends

My days are filled with cleaning and organizing and more cleaning. This is why moving sucks. Cleaning the oven and the windowsills and all those little spots that have been neglected since our arrival. It will be worth it when Bohdin can have room to play outside and can run without disturbing anyone. He's also looking forward to a garden. I was making salsa the other day and he took a seed from the pepper and planted it. I don't have to remind him to take care of it. He says he loves watering and picking. We'll try to grow a few things in containers this year.

We walked to the redbox in the grocery store on Wednesday to pick up a free movie. Buddy watched it that night and then left it on a shelf so I wouldn't forget to return it. I was cleaning the kitchen and making breakfast when Nyla walks in with the empty case. I take it from her and ask her where the video is. She sort of shrugs and points vaguely while walking to the kitchen table. She sits down to eat and I repeat the question. No response. I search around for the video and finally find it in the dvd player.

I thought I would walk to the store quickly by myself and return the movie last night after Buddy came home but Nyla really wanted to come with me. It was a nice evening and although I had to carry her halfway it was still pleasant. I only took my keys with me since I didn't have any pockets. When we arrived at the store we couldn't return the movie. The box was full. I couldn't rent a new one because I didn't have my wallet and I couldn't call Buddy because I didn't bring my phone. We stood around for a while waiting for somebody to come rent a movie without returning one but no luck. By the time we made it back home, Nyla was really tired and went straight to bed.

 

Another one lost

I went and saw another potentially great house yesterday. I told the realtor I would take it without even consulting Buddy. It was too late. Why don't people delete listings once they are taken? A lady showed up to see the house while we were still there. It's not just happening to me. I hope something comes up soon. I refresh craigslist a million times per day now and check the mris daily. One needs to be fast in this market. Well fast if you're looking for water privileges. There are tons of places without but then why move? We can have a patio garden and save probably a thousand dollars a month.

I have been trying to clean the place up but sometimes life gets in the way. Yesterday Bohdin made the sauce for the enchiladas and while we were looking for a pan we decided chocolate cake would be yummy. So we made chocolate cake. Bohdin did most of the work. He doesn't know how to measure an ingredient without letting some of it fall. Nyla looked even dirtier before I took her shirt off. She loved the sauce for the enchiladas so while Bohdin and I were prepping them, Nyla stuck her hand in the sauce and licked it off her hands repeatedly. Bohdin was worried that she would eat all of the sauce and after eating the sligtly dry enchiladas I think he had a point.

 
 

The time change has not been kind to us. Nyla is completely thrown off of her sleep pattern. She is going to bed much later. Somedays she won't nap until late afternoon. Other days she goes to sleep midmorning. On top of that, she has been restless at night. The nights that she sleeps soundly, Bohdin wakes up with leg pain. It's happened twice this week. The first time he was crying and ended up taking a bath. The second he just laid uncomfortably until he fell back asleep. We're all tired. Well maybe just me since Bohdin and Nyla are running around the house right now.

Being picky

We have looked at every house available that we might consider. Only one house met all of our needs. Buddy is in love with the idea of waterfront. Bohdin wants "something cool" outside which means a hill or balcony or both to run on. I want something that is not ugly inside and preferably one story. Unfortunately our perfect house had already been rented. People really ought to delete their ads when they are no longer available. So for now we'll wait. We have the luxury of being patient. I don't have high hopes for finding another house like the perfect one. Most of the waterfront homes are either shacks or huge. Large houses are generally not rented for the price we're looking to pay. In reality we'll probably end up near a beach instead of on a beach. Here is what a beach looks like in this area.

 

We took some of our stuff to a storage unit and have been cleaning up in preparation of leaving. I only had a few boxes and Bohdin wanted to pack his things. I had been talking to him about moving all week telling him that all of our stuff would go to a new house. After we dropped of our stuff Bohdin was wondering why we weren't going to live there. I think we can do better than a small storage unit.

Taking a bath the other night I loaded the foam duck with water and squeezed it out, pretending he was peeing. Then I told the duck that he should pee in the potty not the bathtub. Bohdin said if he did that we wouldn't have any more water in the bathtub. Always the practical one. I was driving around post on Friday looking for boxes. I became lost in one of the neighborhoods. I was talking to Bohdin about it and he suggested I use the GPS. Why didn't I think of that? It didn't work because we were too close to the NSA but it was an excellent idea.

When we arrived home I overheard somebody showing a unit in the building next to us. I scooped Nyla up and told Bohdin to follow me. I chased them around the building. When I caught up to them I breathlessly went into a spiel about our unit. It turns out that the lady showing the unit was not a realtor as I had assumed but the owner of the unit. I'm surprised she didn't punch me.

The lady below us had her baby so she will be home for several weeks all day. In the past I would let Bohdin and Nyla be noisy during the day and tried to stop the running and jumping in the evening. Bohdin and Nyla have found quieter ways of playing. The jump on the cushions or the bed often. My kids were not meant to have downstairs neighbors. That's why we're leaving.
 

Bohdin puts his hands in his pants sometimes because he's a guy I guess. Nyla copies him now.