Lil Tyan - her first vid! And some thanks..

It has been sheer madness since the baby arrived - I still haven't found the time to catch up on ANY drama serials as I had done with Kaylen except for my weekly indulgences - The Real Housewives of New York City, Glee & American Idol - and that is even with help from my lovely parents for the past couple of weeks... I shudder to think how disconnected I'll be to the world once they leave. hahah..

So anyhow, so here is a video of the lil bugger.

Introducing Tyan - pronounced 'Tee-yearn' without the 'r' sound....... 19 April 2011!

She is doing very well now and is gaining weight slowly but surely. At birth, she had a great apgar aka 'how loud you can shriek on a scale of 1 to 10' score of 9 & 10 upon delivery and I think she pretty much maintained that.

I am doing okay so far with the weird sleeping hours so my daily clock is pretty much turned upside down. I am still trying to figure out how to work my usual daily routine with the additional family member. To be honest, the books I'd read about having a newborn in the house isn't far from the truth - the laundry did double, the lack of sleep does take its toll so truly every moment I get to sleep, I should so I don't rack up any sleep debt. And, a potty-trained 3-year-old and a newborn together, in theory, should work out fine but put into practical, it can be a little daunting to cook, do housework or even shower. Let's see how I will be able to work this out in time to come!

The hubby has upped the ante in my perception of him as a daddy & a hubby, be it spending time with Kaylen, doing almost all the time-consuming household chores and even doing the ferrying around even as he went back to work. By the way, I have graded the topmost time-consuming household chore to be folding clothes. In the final weeks of pregnancy, I had sworn off all folding of clothes. I think I have folded enough for a lifetime and then some.

Respect! But sorry pal, you don't get to be mentioned as Superdaddy like you were in the Motherhood magazine after Kaylen's birth!

And a massive thank you note to my parents. Just the thought of them having to endure the arduous >24 hours journey again despite having missed 2 flights out of LA (and therefore 2 days), hanging around the airport hotel during their last trip to visit us in Oct 2010!

And what's even more touching is that their 5 weeks here was purely to see their grandchildren, do my confinement and to ease our transition with the family addition. So save for some neighborhood shopping spots and some online shopping, I applaud them for coming all this way to help us cook every single meal, cleaning up after us, having evening walks with Kaylen so we could take a breather and even bringing the garbage out thrice a week. And every time I walk out of my bedroom door, be it at 5am or 3pm, I see my mum in the kitchen preparing my confinement food. By golly, the hubby had packed food to eat at work too every day!

Thanks mum, for using up hell alot of leave to come here to work so very hard. I really appreciate it!

But the love doesn't stop here. My in-laws, who have graciously waited till after my parents leave, will be here the following day!!! Thank you for being so understanding!! Till the next update!

'Empire State of Mind'

[Chorus: Alicia Keys]
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

Well the song's got a nice ring to it and it was exactly how I felt once the NYC skyline from our boltbus rambled into sight - I love it after being in 'quieter' Dallas and even historic Philadelphia.. I miss the bright lights, the hustle and bustle of city life, sidewalks swarmed with people having coffee at all times of the day (Orchard Road coffeehouses and void-deck kopitiams alike) and of course, being able to grab groceries and snacks just minutes away from where we stay..  

While I was expecting women dressed up in designer garb similar to what I saw in Gossip Girl and Sex and the city, I was swooning to see alot more bag ladies in NY than I have experienced in the months in Dallas, even in more upmarket areas of Highland Park & Preston. Just seeing the multitude of yellow cab and hearing the sounds of police sirens at all times of the day in NYC gave me a lil buzz.. I love it!

Kaylen was a dream as we hammered the pavements of NYC together for more than 6 hours each day - from lower east side, Soho, to the iconic Times Square and enjoying an ice-cream at Madison Square Gardens. Our revived Peg Perego Pliko P3 was also extremely handy as K happily sits and sleeps in it at all times of the day. We were happy to even grab on to the railings of the doggie run in the Gardens as the dogs roam free and smell each other out. At nearly 3 years of age, travelling with her didn't require a luggage full of diapers, snacks and milk powder. What we needed, we bought from Walgreens and the likes.

Here are some pictures of the lovely city! First off, with K with her handy backpack (from a lovely Aunt Marian), containing snacks and water bottle.

 Off to the apartment in Gramercy Park. A classic stairs on the facade, with potted plants, butterflies and birds chirping from the nearby entry-by-key-only Gramercy Park.

 Once we had met the host and finished all the arrangements with checking in and out & directions to the nearest grocer's and laundromat, we got ready to walk out the city.

How to resist taking this huge poster of Carrie Bradshaw? Paul couldn't and didn't as he knew that I really liked her. And I bet he did too. Her shades were a tad too MIB for my taste but who else can pull that off? ;)

 Leave it to K to spot a window display of little duckies in a beautiful concoction in the sea of pingpong balls.

 We strolled by Madison Central Park to check out the resident squirrels. Did u know squirrels are considered pests to young shrubs and trees as they gnaw on them for food esp in the early spring when their acorns have sprouted and new food sources are still not available? As a last resort, they will even eat birds' eggs. Interesting snippet as I can no longer look at them as the impersonators to Alvin & the Chipmunks! ;p

Then we chanced upon a quirky Gershwin hotel a street away from the throbbing pulse of the Theatre district.

And finally I see a milliner!

Music in the city. Seemed like they had plonked a colorful piano within every couple hundred of meters.

Such randomness. Seats plonked between 2 busy streets just outside Macy's.

We stopped to sample every single cupcake shop wherever we went. I remembered it to be mildly exorbitant with prices ranging from USD5 -9 for a single one, but we are on holiday and they were heavenly.A great pick-me-up for all the walking we were doing.

Dinner at a family restaurant a few streets from our apartment - Friend of a Farmer' - the place had a great vibe, lovely candlelit audience plus it was starting to drizzle so we weren't too particular. It had great reviews but perhaps we didn't order quite the right thing (oh yes, my iphone went flat before I could source for food recommendations) but a hearty meal nonetheless. A gin tonic for me to end the dinner. It was heaven enough for me.

Back to the apartment where we got once again, impressed by how homely it felt, complete with a fresh vase of my favourite hydrangeas. More pictures once I have finished sorting out the huge album from the trip.

A fantastic place to wind down after the long road travelled thus far.

An after-dinner snack from yet another cupcake bakery. ;)

A simple outing to the Corner Bakery Cafe

We had driven past this cafe for the longest time since it is just round the corner from some of my favourite shops. It was a really cold day and I was wondering whether the food there is any good.. I didn't want pho and Paul didn't want Indian so we trekked over there... it was really cold and hence trekking was really, the right term.

The promise - the Chicken Pomodori Panini

I was curious about what 'panini' means so according to wiki:

In Italy, a panino (Italian pronunciation: [paˈniːno]) is customarily made from a small roll or loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta or a rosetta. The loaf is cut horizontally and filled with salami, ham, cheese, mortadella or other food, and sometimes served hot after having been pressed in a grill. A toasted panino, colloquially called "toast" by Italians, is made out of two vertical slices of pane in cassetta almost invariably filled with prosciutto and a few slices of processed cheese, grilled in a sandwich press. In Central Italy, there is a popular version of panino which is filled with porchetta, i.e. slices of roasted pork. It is traditionally served without any kind of sauce or topping.

In the United States and the UK, panini are typically grilled or toasted and invariably contain cheese.

Some maintain they are the same as 'toasties' but with a different shape.

The actual sandwich did turn out pretty decent, pictorially and really tastefully.. I liked the coffee but Paul thinks it's so-so) The coffee's from Java City which promised that each bag of coffee is handroasted and air-cooled... oh well... I will definitely head back in again to try out their coffee again... too bad my coffee machine is too strongly watted to be converted for use in the US... off for some online shopping for something decent for the tenure here!

The bread bowl was filled to the brim with yummy corn soup titled the Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder (Aw, I just found out on the site that the soup alone has already 220 calories)

All finished and done!

The kitty cat getting fully kitted out - the scarf was a lovely pressie frm Nat *thanks!*

Back into the cold! Brrrhh!