Graphic Design in Manhattan

Once a week I get to feel like a real New Yorker as I commute (by myself!) to Manhattan for a graphic design class. Some weeks I think wow, I am really bad at this stuff and I should just never do it again. But other weeks I am proud of something I have done. Our teacher is great and teaches us about seeing art in all things, then applying to our work. He has been teaching us good work methods and helping up get jobs done fast. I don't know how well I have done at that last lesson; we keep getting assignments piled on before the last one is even finished! And I don't usually have the million hours I would want to work on a project (something about having a baby who wants to jump on your laptop.

Here is a picture of my teacher giving a photography demonstration:

He is a cool Italian guy from Brooklyn. It makes me laugh when some of us students have a hard time figuring out what word he is saying, because his accent is so strong!

I have not really finished any projects, but here are some samples:

Big-boy Bed

Ever since he could roll, one of Charles' all-time favorite things to do is to roll/plop/crawl/run around like a crazy-man in his bed/bedroom. Especially at night time when we are trying to calm him down and put his pajamas on. I think it has become part of our night-time routine. 

This is a movie of some nap-time fun a few months ago. I thought his hair was pretty silly.

When we got home from Christmas break, Charles figured out how he could climb out of his pack and play. So he got a big-boy bed. We have really had to be creative in figuring out how to get him used to this new freedom (before we would just throw him in the pack and play and say goodnight). Our doors are kinda old so he can open them.

One tactic was to lay down and fall asleep. 

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't:

Precious:

We even got doorknob covers, and those worked for a few days - long enough for him to learn to go to sleep on his own in his bed. It didn't take him long to overcome that obstacle, and he enjoys running out to greet us a few minutes after we put him down. Luckily we only have to put him back one or two times and he goes to sleep. Usually snuggling with his (stuffed animal) puppy.

How to lose weight: Move to NYC

You will have to walk everywhere. Like allllll the way to the corner:

You will eat delicious healthy fruit (i.e. mango) that you buy from street vendors at parades:

Stroller + Baby combo must be carried up and down subway stairs (usually 2+ flights)

Yep, that stroller. Imagine the muscles we are forming . . .

(note: we love taking walks with this heavy-duty stroller that our friends are so nice to let us borrow, but we have since purchased a lighter stroller  for subway or bus-intensive travel. . .)

When you go to the grocery store, bringing a wiggly baby and a small cart reduces the amount of food you end up buying. 

Equals you probably eat less. 

Joshua is pictured here working out in the NY subway with sleeping-baby-weight on his back. 

Joshua's other trick is to stay really late at work so you just skip meals entirely. 

Does wonders for the waistline.

(just kidding, mom, we pack him extra food...) 

Charles always looks out for us - makes sure we don't eat too much of those sugary cereals.

Charles makes sure to stay fit even when it is too cold to go out to the park and climb up and down the slides:

Another weight-loss-NYC-style tip is to take your kid and a stroller and a few bags to the zoo, where you will end up pushing the bag in your stroller and chasing the kid (plus some of his buddies) around the lily pond. Really gets your heart rate going good. 

These are our secrets. Come spend a week with us in NYC and you, too, will lose weight. 

And just increase your all-around cool-ness. 

You are never alone.

This is my life:

Little Baby Charles is a little crazy tornado. He runs everywhere, climbs everywhere. Maybe we have been reading too much of the "bunny on top of the box, and under the box and in the box . . ."

Let's just say I am glad he has not split his head open. Though he has had a few split lips.

I don't have any good pictures of him climbing because he always jumps down and runs for the camera when he sees it.

We will start looking for rock-climbing classes for toddlers.

Eating with a spoon like a big boy:

This is him pouting because we told him not to climb on top of the refrigerator (kidding, he was just  found sitting on the kitchen table after he had climbed up on it. He hasn't made it to the fridge yet.).

So I have been trying to involve him more in my normal activities - yesterday we made pancakes. I let him stir and pour and flip. And eat.

The kid loves to vacuum. And sweeping. I like to give him a rag and he helps scrub the floor.

Love you, crazy kid.

Now we ride on subways and buses

The bridge that is visible from almost everywhere in our neighborhood.

We love Cookies.  We miss him, he's been mostly off the streets since winter set in.

Fun to live near the McKell's.  We thought about these wicker chairs but TJ Maxx wouldn't give us discount for the cosmetic issues

Exhausted during a walk with mom around the neighborhood park.

Ah the Pack n' Play is but a memory now.  Charles got strong enough pull himself out of it and jump on the ground.  So now he gets to sleep in a big boy bed.

Charles and Nathan finding the only remaining puddle of water under the jungle gym

Wow, what a beautiful day.  Posting this in dreary late February makes us really excited for April and May when our home will look like this again!

On the Farm with Grandpa

Dads always knows where to find the food.

We are at the petting zoo in Thanksgiving Point

 "I wuv them . . ."

Learning about Science

Archaelogy?

Fun with Super-Aunt