Milo takes Manhattan (Queens and Brooklyn,too).
Milo's first visit to the Big Apple was a huge success! Milo took to the hustle and bustle of the city with aplomb, and maintained a mostly sunny disposition while being schlepped around in cabs, subways, cars, and buses. He even slept reasonably well, in his "bed" on the floor next to Mommy's air mattress.
Our first day in the city was also Milo's two-month birthday. He marked the occasion by rolling from his tummy to his back, but only Grandma S-J witnessed this accomplishment (which has yet to be repeated). Unfortunately, the day brought fairly heavy rain, so we didn't get to stroll through Central Park or show Milo very many NYC landmarks. We did take him to a wonderful exhibit of Camille Pissaro's work at the Jewish Museum, where he met a nice woman from Milwaukee who thought that Mommy looked like someone she knows (we played Jewish Geography and came up with a few connections, but she doesn't actually know us). Milo seemed to like the Impressionist style quite a lot, although the colors were a bit muted for his taste.
Taking advantage of a brief break in the weather, we strolled down Third Avenue in search of a dim sum restaurant that turned out not to exist. Along the way, Milo stopped to check out some beautiful pumpkins, all lined up and ready for carving into jackolanterns.
That evening, Milo met his aunts and uncles on Grandpa Bill's side, and his cousin Philippe. He was a little out-of-sorts after a long day of roaming the city (and a little cranky about the Rockies' lousy performance), but he perked up when Uncle Mark showed him how to work the fancy TV controls.
On Sunday, Milo met some of his Bockian/Mermelstein relatives, including his very funny Great Aunt Rhoda.
Milo had a great time meeting his second cousins, Mason, Savannah, and Sophie. The best photos of this meeting are still in Grandpa Bill's camera, but here is one of Sophie helping out with a diaper change.
On Monday, Milo rode in the subway for the first time! He seemed to really enjoy the experience and spent most of it looking around wide-eyed. He drew lots of smiles and comments from all the people. Even busy New Yorkers love a baby!
Out in Brooklyn, Milo met Mommy's friend Karen. We enjoyed our morning coffee together in a very cool little cafe. (Milo was also completely enthralled by a fabulous red and black painting on Karen's living room wall, to the point that Mommy had to change positions so he would finish eating).
Later, after a lovely, long walk, Milo met Bryony and Willa. Willa is 20 days older than Milo and has the most adorable cheeks ever! The two babies were more interested in gazing at lightbulbs and mommies than at each other, but we had a great time anyway.
Monday night, Milo went out for a nice dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, and Mommy. After wearing Milo all day long, Mommy's shoulders were tired, so Grandma took a turn.
On Tuesday, Milo and Mommy flew home all by themselves. The trip went
very well. Lots of people went out of their way to lend a hand (even
when we didn't need one), and everyone on the airplane was very
impressed with Milo's in-flight behavior. The flight was very empty, so Milo even had his own seat.
Though you can't tell from this picture, Milo was mostly awake for this leg of our trip, which was a big change from our previous flights. While this meant that Mommy couldn't relax and read her magazine, it was lots of fun to play with Milo on the plane, showing him the clouds outside the window, changing his diaper in the flight attendants' galley, and introducing him to all the people walking up and down the aisle.
Now we're home and settling back into our routine. We missed Daddy so much!! Milo dressed up like a little pumpkin for Halloween today, and received the big "treat" of getting his two-month vaccinations. He handled the ordeal better than Mommy did!
