Opening Day

With (the new and old!) Yankee Stadium nearly in the shadow of our apartment building, it seems we're raising a budding Yankees' fan. Here's the view we see coming down the hill on 155th Street from the subway, and looking directly across the river into the Bronx.



On the left is the new Yankee Stadium. On the right, the House that Ruth Built. In the middle of the foreground is one of the Polo Grounds Towers -- a housing project built on the site where the old Giants' digs once stood.

And here is the budding Yankees' fan as he headed off to daycare the day the new stadium was christened, thanks to Mommy's friend and Yankees' fan extraordinare, Nicki, who outfitted him with a CC Sabathia jersey for the occasion. He thrilled subway riders in the evening (many of whom were coming home from the Yankees-Indians' game) by telling them he PLAYED for the Yankees and referring to the Indians as the "girls" team. Too funny...

Christmas In New York

A couple days late, but here's what we've been up to this holiday...

Mason and Mommy baked cookies on Christmas Eve morning, while Dad-O had to head off to work. Mason, as you can see, is a good helper and always willing to test the batter.








In the evening, we headed to 5 p.m. mass and took some time afterwards to take in the beautiful nativity scene and all the decorations set up at church.



Next, we headed downtown and grabbed some dinner before our traditional stop at Rockefeller Center to see the tree in all it's glory. Here are some of our favorite shots.







On Christmas morning, we awoke to find a pile of presents from Santa on top of the pile of presents that had already found it's way to our tree thanks to all Mason's generous aunts and uncles and his Grammy and Papa.

Mason opened.



And opened.



And opened presents.



Then, we got to take our turn. Dad-O, as you can see, was very pleased with his new video game.

We enjoyed a low-key day. We spent a little time out in the lobby of the apartment visiting with the neighbors and watching Mason and their little guy play with some new toys. Later, we closed out the night with a trip to visit Melissa and Kellyn next door.

Mommy was wearing her comfy sweats all day and decided that's just about the best way to spend Christmas!

The Big Three

We celebrated Mason's official birthday yesterday with a day full of family fun. Both Dad-O and I were lucky enough to have the day off so we could devote the whole day to doting on the birthday boy.



We started off with a very nutritious birthday breakfast of donuts and followed that up with opening more presents. Mason had plenty of time to play with all of them: he and Dad-O built a Lego tower taller than Mason, Mason had a ball with his new Diego Mobile Rescue Unit and then we all headed into the lobby so he could go wild with his remote-control car from Grammy and Papa.



After recharging at naptime, we headed downtown for the much-anticipated Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Mason posed for some quick pictures before we set out to find our seats.



The show did not disappoint. Afterwards, Mason said his favorite part was the arrival of the three wisemen, presumably because they were accompanied by real-live donkeys and camels (seriously, I work right across the street from the place. I want to know where they hide those animals when they're not on stage!). Of course, later, he was overheard telling his Uncle Kirty that it was the Rockettes who really stole the show. My how fast he's growing up...

After the show, we grabbed some cupcakes at Magnolia and headed uptown for one last surprise: Pizza, soda and games at Chuck E. Cheese. Mason always points it out when we pass it by, but we rarely go there. It's a special treat. Dad-O, with Mason on his shoulder walked by the door initially, only to turn around and go back, and plop Mason in front of the door -- where we were treated to a big ol' birthday smile. He was so excited.



We closed the place down and headed home, only to find our door all decorated by Mason's daycare buddies. It was so cute -- two collages, plus a card from each of his friends and a portrait of the birthday boy. Mason remarked: "This is beautiful work!"



It was that, and a pretty awesome end to his third-birthday extravaganza. We all had a great day...and will have to work real hard to top it next year!

Balloons, Balloons, Everywhere Balloons

One week, two cities, two big balloon parades.

First stop, Sunday, Stamford, Conn., for the UBS Parade Spectacular, which we attended with our friends Claire and Mike, who are Stamford residents.

The big hit of the day -- you'll never guess, no really, you won't. Gumby! Mason loved the little green clap of clay.




Thomas, predictably, was also a big hit.



Come Wednesday night, we headed to the Natural History Museum to check out the big balloon inflation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with, oh, about a million of our closest friends.



On Thursday, we joined that million, plus about 2.5 million more to watch the parade life in midtown Manhattan. This year, we watched from 48th and Broadway. Mason's favorite part (before Santa, that is) just may have been watching the antics of the cartoon M&Ms on the big screen across the street, in front of the M&M store.

There were plenty of other cool sites to see, though.




And, as a grand finale here's the kiddo's reaction to Santa's arrival on the scene.



Mason and Dad-O posed for a little Thanksgiving portrait in the middle of Seventh Avenue, which was still shut down as the parade marched further downtown toward Macy's.



We closed out our Thanksgiving outing with some delicious turkey and all the fixin's at a restaurant and then headed home for a family nap!

Live from New York, it's ... Election Day

Dad-O was at the polls when they opened. I waited a bit longer, mostly because I wanted to take the Mason Man with me. So, here we are, at 7:30 a.m. standing in line at the polling place, waiting for our turn.



Mason pulled the lever. Hard to believe that the last time we did this, he wasn't even a twinkle in our eyes. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool to share the voting booth with him.

When Mommy and Dad-O get off work, we're all three going to go to Election Plaza and await the results there. We'll see how long we last, but I'll post updates later.

*** UPDATES ***

Here's the three of us at Election Plaza last night:



A gallery of the rest of the shots can be found here.

Overall, it was an awesome experience to be there as some of the states started to turn, and the scaffolding's rose up the side of the GE Building. We didn't last too long. We were tired, and had a tired toddler on our (mostly Dad-O's) shoulders, so we were home well before they called the race for Obama.

From that vantage point, there was much rejoicing and gleeful cheers to be heard on the streets of Harlem.

No matter which way you voted, I don't know how you can deny the significance of what just happened. It gave me a chill, and brought tears to my eyes. After all, Mason has someone who looks an awful lot like him to look up to in the Oval Office.

The Morning After Halloween

We celebrated Halloween with our little firefighter all day long yesterday. First on the agenda was the second-annual Small Idea Daycare trick-or-treating parade extravaganza.

Mommy was greeted with a "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat..." song when Mason, Kellyn and their crew showed up at the home office to collect their goodies.



After that, we took a walk around the block, and attempted to take a shot of the whole crew before Mommy had to duck back inside to do some work, and the kiddies had a little party and a nap to get ready for the evening's festivities.



In the afternoon, we took all the kids to Hippo Playground on the UWS to participate in the Hippo Playground Halloween Parade and play in the playground a little bit. There, we met up with our neighbor Emilio, who Mommy didn't recognize because his "pumpkin head" costume was such a good disguise.



Once the crowd thinned, and we met up with Dad-O, we headed out on our own to do a little trick-or-treating. We went up and down 86th Street, which was decked out by all it's residents. In addition to the usual candy, they also handed out pizza and hot dogs. Not bad!



We even had a celebrity siting, as Elizabeth Hasselbeck was hitting up the street with her kids. By we, of course, I mean Dad-O. He told me who she was after she left us. I guess I need to watch the view more!

After wandering up Broadway, and picking up a few more treats, we headed for the subway. We had planned to trick-or-treat on 95th Street on our way home, but by that point, the little fireman was all tuckered out and just wanted a ride home!

Tennis, Anyone?

A few years ago -- four to be exact -- Dad-O and Mommy stumbled upon the U.S. Open grounds on Arthur Ashe Kids Day, and had a great time just walking around the facility, despite not having a kid. So, we've had this day marked on our calendar for quite a while, as we looked forward to taking Mason out to Queens to participate in the fun.



Our first stop was the Nike SPARQ training court, where Mason was given a GIANT T-shirt (we're talking only feet visible if it wasn't tucked in!) and the chance to run through some drills.



Here's the highlight, hitting balls with a real, live tennis pro!



Later, we met up with our friends Aimee, Rob, Nick and Maddy. We mommies are already plotting to mold a doubles team out of this duo. Pretty cute, don't ya think?



This lady was Mason's biggest fan. He gave her a huge hug at the end of the drill.




This was Mommy's favorite drill to watch, and in case you're wondering why they're all shoeless, they're a little prickly about dark-colored soles on the nice Billie Jean King National Tennis Center courts!



After fighting (almost literally) for a table and the crowded food court, and refueling with some lunch we went to hunt for some big-name pros, and found none other than the two biggest.

First, we watched Rafael Nadal through the bushes. He's not one for the crowds, and was practicing on the very end practice court.

Later, we moved to the stands of an adjoining court and peered over the top of the fence.



As we were leaving, who did we see conducting interviews? None other than Rafa's chief competitor newly dethroned top player, Roger Federer.



Overall, not bad for a (free) day at the courts!

Firefighters Rule (Yet Again!)

Last Sunday morning, Mason and I were on one of our usual adventures -- as he likes to call any jaunt into the city. After all, you're never sure what you'll encounter in this great city, and this particular morning was a perfect example.

We were heading back uptown after one of our early morning treks to Trader Joes (So worth the trek, and the best time to be out 'n about!) when we saw a firetruck parked on a curb at Union Square Park.

I pushed Macey over to it, and was explaining that it was the No. 14 engine, and a hose car, as opposed the the hook 'n ladder truck that's been a (unfortunately) frequent visitor to our 'hood lately. Our bold little Mason waited patiently until he saw the firemen, and then yelled "Hello Firemen!" to them.

Besides a friendly hello, you know what else they offered? To let him sit in the truck.



Then to push the horn! He did this three times. The first time with a big, scared jump. The second time a little less of a startle, and by the third time, he was an old pro.



Alas, after about 15 minutes (seriously, they let him sit there that long and he got lots of passersby cooing about how cool he was!), he had to climb back down to reality and let the brave firemen go on their way, but he was beaming all day about his latest adventure.



He even regaled the old church lady who sat next to us on the bus with his tale. She asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up ... he answered "A garbage-truck man!" We were both expecting him to say fireman, but, you know garbage truck men do have some pretty cool rides themselves!

(Editor's note: Inspired by this, a few too many hours of Olympic coverage in our house and his swimming lessons, Mason has declared a new career goal: "I want to be a swimmer," he tells me this morning.)

Kodak Moment

I love this photo, snapped last Thursday on a ride on the Staten Island Ferry -- which Mason, by the way, hadn't ridden since he was a mere two months old. We were on board to give Auntie Nay and cousins Asani and Eli a unique view of the city (more catching up and stories of their trip to come, I promise!)

It was at the very moment I snapped this picture that Mason recognized the Statue of Liberty out in the distance. I just LOVE the pure joy reflected in his eyes, not to mention the way his hair is perfectly disheveled by the breeze in the harbor.

We've read a lot about the Statue of Liberty in our books (like this one and that one), but it wasn't until this second that he actually saw it in person.

Pretty cool, me thinks...