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Versions of Perfection

perfect
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

This is the current background on my phone. I cannot seem to look at it enough. Yes, this is my family, still is, oh better check one more time. Yep, still there.

Telfer set up the high chair last week and Cate seems to love having her very own chair.

Appearances can be somewhat deceiving. This is probably the third spoonful of food Telfer has fed Cate (not that I am keeping track of course). Henry looks so peaceful in the picture but is still having a rough adjustment. He's stopped vomiting and pooping in the apartment but is now tearing out patches of his hair around his tail. Poor puppy.

Triumph

cate at brunch
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

On several fronts: Cate and I are now old pros at traveling on the subway. Usually someone helps but if not, I just bump the stroller down the stairs. Tomorrow's outing: a visit to the Cloisters. Anyone want to go view medieval art and tapestries with me and Cate?

We also found two good sitters through an ad on craigslist. I was initially nervous to use CL, but both sitters are extremely nice and absolutely over-qualified. One girl is in a PhD program, the other in a speech pathology program. I think they can handle studying in our apartment while Cate is asleep. Tonight is our first date night. We are thinking about dinner and then braving the crowds to see the new Harry Potter. Could be fun? Could be stupid?

Pacifiers

which pacifier should I use?
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Cate loves her pacifiers. Anyone opinionated on the best age to give them up? Methods? Please don't tell me six months! I am not sure I could respond nicely!

On our apartment

flor tiles in entryway
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Exersaucers are SO CLASSY.

Um, we love our apartment. We are both homey people and I am so glad we love this place; otherwise, I would be a little less content to be at home so much with Cate.

Two recent little projects I want to share:

Flor Tiles (1).

We did not have any rugs on our hardwood floors in our house in Redlands. Rugs are really expensive and we could never decide what exactly we liked. I was afraid I would choose something that I would tired of in a couple of years (I know myself). But, the baby is on the brink of crawling and then she'll be walking and...a rug seemed like a necessity.

I finally decided on flor tiles, modular 20" carpet squares that can be configured in any pattern or size. Since we will only be in this apartment for one year, we can then reuse the carpet tiles in a different configuration in our next house. They might go from the living room to the laundry room to the garage...you can keep reconfiguring the tiles based on need and wear. I bought six tiles for the entryway and twelve tiles for the living room. So far we have been really pleased.

living room
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

magnet boards
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Kitchen Wall (2)

I literally have one drawer (1!) in my kitchen. I brought a very pared down selection of my kitchen supplies but when we got here, I realized I still brought way too much for the storage available. We were walking around our neighborhood and saw that the local used bookstore, Morningside Bookshop, was going out of business (a sadly common occurrence) and that they were selling sturdy rolling metal bookshelves for $60.00. Telfer rolled one home (8 blocks) and now I have room for the ridiculous amount of bowls I brought.

Yesterday we finished covering two of the magnet boards in heavy paper with decoupage glue (thank you Martha Stewart!). Telfer has to help me with all crafty endeavors as I cannot cut straightly or glue anything properly...but they turned out pretty well, no? Regardless, the boards add some needed color to a narrow little kitchen.

Change

even more traumatized
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Poor Henry. This picture perfectly captures his (long) adjustment to life in NYC. He's doing a little better this week. If the day is normal, Cate and I walk him in the morning and Telfer walks him in the evening. We live literally a block from Riverside Park with a beautiful promenade and a dog run. There are so many dogs here in the city...

Cate is doing great. She is sleeping completely through the night (7 to 7) and I am like a new person. She loves all the attention she gets on the street and makes new friends everywhere we go.

I am finally decompressing. It's so nice to have such a slow-down but strangely off-putting. I have been buried in novels, rereading the Morningside Heights trilogy (takes place in our neighborhood) when Cate is napping and walking all over the neighborhood when she's awake. I love it here. I love the walking, the grocery stores, hotdogs, the church we are attending, the bagels, the food delivery, and the conversations I hear in the street. I will especially love getting a babysitter(s) lined up a couple times a week so we can go to dinner...

Telfer's fellowship is going well. When you've been in the same place for eight years there is a definite period of adjustment when you go to a new institution. He's remarkably, admirably resilient.

NYC Cuteness

Cate's cuteness translates in NYC. As if we were afraid.

 

Pictures. 

Set 1: in a Cate-sized chair. The picture session ended like you expect. She slid off the chair but I caught her just in time. 

Set 2: sitting on our bed wearing a new dress from Grammy and Grandpa Chris. A little bit tired, but sweet tired. 

Set 3: Swinging for the first time in NYC. Enraptured with the experience! 

And speaking of swinging...this was just this afternoon.