Dante says Hello!

Besides his intense love and fascination for all things swing related Dante really loves animals and there isn't a dog on the street that he doesn't come up to and pet as soon as he's been spotted. This extends to other creatures and there's a man who brings a big green parrot into the playground. The parrot talks and I was saying Hello! to it a bunch and suddenly Dante was saying Hallhoo, hallhoo as well. Then we went back to the swing.

Memorial Day Weekend

The weather was beautiful over Memorial Day weekend so we spent most of the day outside in parks at the beach and at BBQs. Dante wants to run around and explore everything, so I let him run in the park, swing until he's dizzy and push the stroller on the sidewalk - guiding his way so he doesn't smash into people and poles.

Patti was in town and we spent the day strolling in Prospect Park and posing with flowers in the botanical gardens with my friend Scott. We headed off to a rooftop BBQ at an enormous, funky artist loft in Bed-Sty. Rahav brought Dante and we enjoyed the warm sunset, feasted on fresh corn and bacon wrapped mushrooms oh and keeping Dante from torturing chihuahuas. Yes, he's totally into playing with any animal who will let him approach. Of course, all animals are Caaaaa. Aaaaaaa. Caaaaaa.

Memorial Day proper, we hit Long Beach and spent the day sheltering ourselves from the heavy wind. We finally gave up after a few hours and met up with Darcy and Kate in Sty oval for a late afternoon picnic. That was a much better idea!

Status Report on Dante

Dante's growing like a weed - it's amazing how tall he is next to other toddlers his age. He's close to three feet tall already and towers over some 2.5 and 3 year old boys. And his feet and HUGE! But oh, he's so adorable and alert and active and fun!

He's really aware of people now and is no longer attached to mom and dad at the hip. We took him to a kids arts and craft center and he was smiling, flirting and even snuggling up to other mothers. He welcomes sitting on other people's laps and letting them read him stories. He used to only let mom and dad hold or touch him. Somewhere around my birthday that eased up and he's getting more social week by week.

Dante is also more comfortable being in his own space. He used to follow us around the house like a little shadow. Now he can quietly play all by himself, even if I leave the room. He can entertain himself for more than an hour with his playhouse, or cars & buses, or stacking and nesting blocks or walking around talking on the remote/phone or chasing the cat around the house with strings and balls. He does love Orion!

His new fascination is with helicopters, planes and street buses. Teresa takes him to the helipad on the west side highway and he delights in watching them take off and land. Must be the noise, the wind the spinning propeller and overall grandness of the helicopters. Now when we're on the street and he hears a plane over head, Dante will stop, look up and point to the plane in the sky. He does the same with street buses, which is a challenge because buses pass by every few minutes. Dante wants to stand still on the street corner and stare at them until they are out of side. Inevitably, another one is close behind. Then I have to pluck him up and carry him off :-)

Dante loves to wave, blow kisses and say bye bye over and over again. He's now saying Hi, Thank you, Caaa caaa caaa whenever an animal is near. Sty town has turned into a forest with all the landscaping

Mother's Day & Brother's Visit

TBA

Impromptu Photo on The Bus

I took this picture of Dante on the bus this morning while riding to the office. Usually I take the metro but today there were five 14D buses lined up in a row with a few people on each. It was a drizzly but calm morning and Dante was in a playful mood. So I scooped him up and let him stand on the seat next to me and feel the breeze on his face while we rolled across 14th street to 8th avenue where daddy was waiting with open arms.

Dante at the MOMA

I took the following day off from work to chill in the city. I took Dante and met Naomi at the MOMA and saw the Olafur Eliasson exhibit. It was a fantastic manipulation of various light sources. With one in particular, he used a yellow light that caused all colors to turn either black or white. It was trippy.


With another one, he set up four intense white film lights and positioned them so that they created a smoke box, or smoke and mirrors. It was a great way to spend the day - hanging out with my d and checking out local art :-)

May 1st: Christine's Birthday

I had a party at the apt to celebrate my May First birthday. Dante and Orion stole the limelight as everyone wanted to hold and play with them. Despite the downpour, fifteen people came and we listed to music, chatted and devoured the homemade carrot cake Rahav made me (hold the nuts please). I thought Dante was not going to make an appearance. When I got home from work at 6pm, I tried to put him down for a nap while I got the house ready. Instead, Dante screamed his head off for an hour and then passed out red-faced and exhausted. I knew half the reason people were coming was to see Dante, whom many had not seen since last Summer. Well, thankfully, he awoke about 9pm and entertained mommy's friends until 10ish when he just couldn't keep his adorable eyes open any longer.