RAIN, RAIN

Torrential downpours with gusty winds all day today, and it's supposed to continue on and off for the rest of the weekend. I'm not sure Mother Nature got the memo that it's the middle of June...in New York City. Where are our sunny, humid daytimes where we can spend the majority of the day outside giving Jack plenty of playtime and a healthy dose of vitamin D? Jack got so stir-crazy today (okay, we weren't any better) that we finally put him in his snowsuit, his rain jacket, and an old pair of shoes that are about to be given away and took him to the playground. Yes, in the pouring rain. No surprise that we were the only ones there. Jack had the whole place and all the puddles to himself. However, the thing that held his interest the most was that he learned how to hold down the button on the drinking fountain all by himself, so with one hand he does that, while he uses his other hand to cover the water spout just enough to make it spray everywhere, as if there wasn't enough water around us already. He even kept spraying his face, which he thought was hilarious. The good thing is that his new trick will be great on a sunny, humid day...if we ever get one.

TIME FOR US - THE TWO OF US

So we're going to be a family of four before we know it. Exact date: October 1, 2009. My California doctors had me set a date when I was there last week since we'll go the scheduled c-section route again. I'm cool with it; I wish I could have chosen 10/7 to match Jack's birthday of 11/7, but they didn't want me to be going that long since my official due date is 10/3. Anyways, family of three becomes family of four, but before that we were a family of two. And we're doing our best to recapture some of that before the "four" becomes a permanent part of the equation. This Friday night, we're headed out to what will most likely be our last Broadway show for a long, long time. A girl in my book club had to sell her tickets to "God of Carnage," which just won a Tony for best play. I jumped at the chance to get the tickets and luckily Adrian's mom was free. Then for our babymoon this time around, we're going to leave Jack at my parent's place while we head to the Santa Barbara area for a night and check out Montecito and Ojai (we just read in our Travel + Leisure magazine about Ojai having an outdoor bookstore that stays open late with an honor system paybox - how cool is that? I have to check it out.) Since we're only going away for one night, I wanted to go big, so I looked into hotels in the area, and then we realized we could possibly use our American Express points depending on what hotels they offered. When I checked, they had the hotel that was tops on my list, so away we go, for one night, to the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara (which is actually in Montecito, and hopefully not damaged from all the recent fires). I'm not sure how it will compare to our babymoon of Europe before Jack was born, but I have a good feeling it's going to be even better...because we're going to appreciate it that much more.

18 MONTHS

Jack is officially 18 months old today. Crazy that he has been in our lives now for a year and a half. Even crazier are the things that he is doing now - things like sliding down a slide sitting up (not sure when other kids learn how to do this, but we felt Jack was lagging on this - we blamed his big head - so we were shocked the other day when he went down without falling backwards). Or greeting every doorman with a high-five. Or climbing onto the couch or bringing us the remote so we can turn the TV on. He's also showing his independent (isn't this just a parent's nice way of saying "stubborn"?) streak. If he doesn't want what you're feeding him, he will keep it in his mouth, refuse any more bites, and then minutes later SPIT OUT the food wherever he may be. Oh, that's a fun one - nothing like finding bits of broccoli on the living room rug hours after dinner is over. He is also super sweet - giving kids "kisses" at the playground, but don't worry, all that means is he gets really close and tries to put his lips on their clothes. He waves hello and good-bye to just about everyone, including vehicles and dogs. He loves, loves, loves any sort of emergency vehicle and the accompanying siren - wondering if that will fade with the move to California. He's a good kid. We're lucky to have him. Here's hoping the next one is as good!

CS/38

We headed across the street to the playground today because we could tell it was super empty due to the grey, drizzly weather. We brought along one of Jack's outdoor balls, but of course he wanted to play with any ball that wasn't his. He immediately gravitated toward a little boy exactly his size who also had a red ball and proceeded to trade with him. While Adrian and I discussed how old the little boy probably was, we also discussed how mean his mom looked. She was wearing sunglasses, chomping on gum, talking on her cell phone, and she was also wearing those MBT sneakers that supposedly tone your butt and legs as you walk. I was interested in her mainly because I could tell she was pregnant and I'm all about comparing bump sizes at this stage. At one point, Jack and her little boy were playing and I got close enough to hear her voice and I realized in an instant it was Elisabeth Hasselbeck from "The View." It was also confirmed when she eventually got off the phone and used the name Taylor for the little boy, which Google states is her boy's name. When we got home, we kept an eye out for her since we can see the playground from our apartment and when she left we assumed she was headed to the East Side. But surprise, after my Google research, we found out that she lives up here with us - 99th and Broadway to be exact, in some 2,300 square-foot condo. She's due in August some time and she was a bit bigger than me so that made me feel good. Oh, and her son Taylor was born on November 9, so Jack is exactly two days older than him, though we did have to admit Taylor is a better runner than Jack is, but he did have a pacifier in his mouth the whole time and Jack gave that baby stuff up at five months.

DADDY DAYCARE

Exchange between me and Adrian today at the playground, after I'd arrived from the gym where I had been all morning.

Me: "Why are Jack's bottom and pants all wet?"

Adrian: "I think he might have spilled some water on himself during breakfast."

Me: "Have you changed him since he got up this morning?"

Adrian: "Oh..."