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grandma lam came to new york with uncle sam (a.k.a. triple ju's) to celebrate her 70th birthday. after one night in new york (drinks at hotel griffou and pasta tasting at babbo), we rented a car and drove north to go apple picking at liberty view farms.

it was the first time apple picking for grandma, uncle and bailey! and as it was not a busy weekend day, we got a private tour of the owner's home, goats, chickens, and garden. after that, we went to a great organic restaurant in new paltz then drove north through williamstown to north adams. we stayed overnight at porches inn, a great bed and breakfast across from mass moca. bailey did better than anticipated on her first roadtrip. i cycled through toys on the ride and brought a lifesaving CD from her music class.

the next day, we went to mass moca to check out the sol lewitt exihibit then headed to boston where we met daddy. the drive through the berkshires was truly gorgeous. a few locals had warned us that the changing leaves had already changed. fortunately, they were wrong. the orange, yellow and red canopies were brilliant. again, roadtripping with bailey was better than expected but still challenging. i think my brother wanted to burn the CD by the end of the ride, but as soon as he turned the volume down on the CD, bailey would turn the volume up on her crying. after three hours of driving, we arrived in boston just in time for bailey's bedtime.

though a bit rainy, the next day was a great fun-filled, busy day of sightseeing in boston. we had amazing seafood at neptune oyster, went to fanueil hall, followed the freedom trail, walked along charles street and newbury street. the last day was a lazy day in harvard square as all of us were suffering from a bit of a cold.

all-in-all it was a WONDERFUL trip. happy 70th grandma lam!!!

one of my new pastimes has been surfing craigslist for baby gigs. about a month ago, i found a listing for a baby casting call for a language dvd series called little pim. so i sent in a photo of bailey and the next day got an email about attending a shoot!

one rainy morning at 8:30am, bailey and i took the train to park slope. in a huge brownstone, the basement was set up for the shoot and the dining room housed all the "talent." it was a fascinating scene. a lot of these kids were seasoned professionals. their parents had brushes in hand along with wardrobe changes. and after talking to a few, i realized that most of them had agents (including tate, pictured here with bailey.)

for me and bailey, it was a fun experience. they had toys set up and to bailey, it was just another play date. after about half an hour, we were called to the basement where bailey was ready for her closeup. in her short 8 months of life, it has become abundantly clear. bailey loves attention! she crawled across set. played with a few toys. and smiled for the camera.

whether or not she made the final cut has yet to be determined. but we went away with a $20 gift card and a pretty fun experience.

so... i did it again.

last night while on craigslist, i found another baby casting call. i emailed her pic and got a call at 10am this morning. the auditions were only a few blocks away, so after a quick bath (due to the most explosive poop to date), we were there by 11:00. this time, we were called in for a fisher price audition. after the elevator doors opened, we were greeted with a ton of screaming, smiling, nursing, bouncing babies. surprisingly, we didn't have to wait long. they gave us a sticker with the number 10 and soon called us in for bailey's audition. they had brand new jumperoos that aren't on the market yet and an odd looking froggy contraption that bailey got to test ride. she loved every minute of it and was told she "aced her audition." again, who knows what will come of it. but it was a fun hour spent away from home on yet another rainy day.

today bailey and i went to the children's aid society where they have open play every day from 1-3pm. it was a magical, padded room with filled with balls, foam mats, costumes, a baby water park, bubbles and a slide. initially apprehensive, bailey was frozen in one spot for a couple minutes until i coaxed her to start crawling with a big rubber ball. once she started moving a smile broke out on her face, and she was off. we had a blast. here's some video of her wearing a silly viking hat while crawling all over the joint and a pic of her in a merlin cape.

bailey started clapping the same day she legitimately started crawling. she has also been saying "mamamama" a lot. hooray! for the record though, "dadadadada" was first.