New York City Recap

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

First off, I have to say that New York City is NOT a baby friendly area. Tell me, my dear NYC readers...where in the heck do you go to change your baby's diapers? I did not find a single location in NYC that had a baby changing area. The hotel, the restaurants, Ellis island, nothing.

Wait, I take that back. The Upper Breast Side had a beautiful family restroom with a nice changing table in it.

But that's it...no place else. LAME.

Now that said, New York was fun and the Ergo was a live saver.

We only got to trek into the city on three days since I was working on Monday and Friday. That said, we saw a great deal of the city, most of it on foot. You can check out all of the pictures on my Picasa Web Albums, but here's the list of what we managed to fit in...

Rockefeller Center
Times Square (including the M&M store)
Radio City Music Hall
St. Patrick's Cathedral
St. Basil's Cathedral
The United Nations
The Diamond District
The Garment District
Madison Avenue
Park Avenue
Central Park (including the Zoo and Children's Zoo)
FAO Schwartz
the Subway
Battery Park
Ellis Island (skipped Liberty Island since it was raining)
The Upper Breast Side
and a decent amount of shopping...

What I didn't get to do... eat New York cupcakes. I keep hearing about how popular cupcakes are in New York now, but we could not find a single place selling them.

Overall, the trip went well. Emmitt was an angel. The only time he really cried was an ear-piercing fit that he pitched in the taxi on the way to the airport. (I gave the cabbie a very nice tip for not complaining.) In fact, on Wednesday night he not only survived a dinner with some of my business friends that lasted until 10pm (he fell asleep) but he then managed to hang out in the hotel bar with us until 2am. He mostly slept in his stroller save about a half hour where he woke up, played with everyone, ate and then went back to sleep. In other words, Emmitt can party better than his mommy can.

So a few pictures in case you are too lazy to click through to the full show...

Emmitt and I on the ferry to Ellis Island. (Yes, I look like crap...you would too if you walked several miles through the pouring down rain...and no, his head isn't always like that in the Ergo, he just learned that if he leaned back like that, people laughed at him and talked to him...the hat didn't hurt either I'm sure...)



No disrespect meant to my Catholic readers, but I must admit that when I saw this, my first thought was "Oh! So that's how Buffy always had an endless supply of Holy Water!"



The candles were absolutely beautiful. My best friend (who went to play Nanny) grew up Catholic and stopped to light one while we were in St. Patricks' Cathedral.



New York Pizza is fantastic!



The Central Park Children's Zoo was a thousand times cooler than the regular Zoo. If you ever go and can only hit one, go to the Children's Zoo, even if you don't have kids with you. If you do have kids, all the better. Here I am, hatching out of an egg...



Nursing in public was no problem in New York. Never had so much as a look from anyone, unless it was a smile. Here's a shot of me nursing Emmitt on Ellis Island in the entrance area of the museum. (and yes, I'm wearing the Lactivist shirt that reads Milk Jugs.)



Two recurring themes throughout the week? Love of Emmitt's boots and love of the Ergo. I lost track of the number of compliments I received on his boots (Robeez Boots) at around 60, proving once again that Emmitt is also more stylish than his mommy.

As for the Ergo, well...people were amazed to find out that there was a kid in there. It looks so much like a backpack from the front (and backpacks are so common in NYC) that when Rachel or I would turn while wearing him, at least one person would end up saying "oh! look at the adorable baby!" In fact, I had someone stop me in the airport to ask me if I was using an Ergo. (And I promise to get my review up soon...but again, love the thing!)

Only other thing worth noting was the little girl that sat in front of us on the flight home.

her: "Your baby is cute...is he going to cry when we take off?"
me: "I don't know, he doesn't usually because I feed him when we take off."
her: "oh. The baby on the last plane screamed."
me: "Well, hopefully he won't, but we'll see."

And no, he didn't. :) He happily nursed and fell asleep.

Labels: Just For Fun, Life as a Mom

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