.

i think i was more anxious than bailey. new school. new teachers. new friends. BUT as i mentioned in my earlier post, i should never doubt bailey. she did GREAT and had a lot of fun. meeting time. snack time. lunch at school. although today was a truncated day, i think she'll really enjoy her full days (starting on the 23rd)!

GO BAILEY GO!

at 19-months of age, bryn's vocabulary is still somewhat limited. although, the words she DOES know, she certainly says with FORCE.

to date, her go-to words are:
• SHOES - she says this almost every morning with desperation and brings each of us our shoes because she wants to go outside.
• BYE - she says this while waving to dogs/birds/people in the street
• HI - similar to usage of "bye"
• BALL - she likes to point out every ball she sees (especially at the toy store around the corner from our new apartment)
• GRACIAS - she actually uses this correctly when she means to say "thank you".. it's pretty cute.
• NO - she says this a lot because she is actually QUITE independent
• MAMA - maybe it's my pregnancy hormones, but she usually says my name with distress and wants to be carried after she says "mama"
• BABY - she points to all babies in the street and says "BABY". also, she refers to her dolly as "baby." compared to bailey, she's actually MUCH more interested in dolls and babies. let's hope this trend continues post-arrival of baby boy lillvis.
• LALA - ok, this isn't a real word... but this is what she says when she wants water. i think because she's trying to say AGUA.

other TOTALLY random words she says (with less force and with less frequency):
• APPLESEEDS (a nearby playspace we just got a membership to)

• JORGE (our nanny's boyfriend)

• MOJO JOJO (the villain from the powerpuff girls)... apparently as of this morning, she also says "buttercup" - another powerpuff girl



addendum: i keep forgetting a lot of other words brynny knows. bailey keeps saying, "add that to the list."... so here goes... she can also say SIT, CHEESE, PLEASE, EYE, STUCK (sounds like DUCK), DADDY, SHH and i'm sure i'm forgetting others. but have no fear. bailey will remind me to add it to the list.

sausage fingers, swollen feet, and heartburn for 2 more weeks. then — sleepless nights. WOO HOO!

kathie (bailey's first nanny) asked her to be a flower girl in her wedding this weekend. it was VERY fancy and a chance for bailey to dress up like a princess. there was no rehearsal and VERY LITTLE instruction as to what to do. BUT the lesson for me (that i've been taught over and over again) was to never doubt bailey. she did a FANTASTIC job. she sprinkled rose petals down the aisle perfectly so there were only 3 petals left by the time she hit the front of the altar. she walked at a steady pace and stood smiling the whole time (even though her tiara of flowers kept falling off her head and even though her brand new shiny shoes were a little uncomfortable).

so.. like bailey, brynny's hair has not been super abundant. nonetheless, it was starting to grow to a point where the wisps were getting in her eyes. so we made the decision to get it trimmed. here's a pic of her first time at the salon.

she now looks like the little dutch boy but is much happier!

we started talking about leaving our 38th-st apartment awhile ago. knowing that a 3rd baby was on the way meant it would be ideal to have more space. also, knowing that bailey would be starting kindergarten in a year (and that it would be ridiculous to pay for private school for 3 kids), finding a better school district also made a lot of sense. what this translated to was a fair amount of surfing streeteasy and trulia AND visiting neighborhoods on the UWS, tribeca and even westchester. nothing seemed to be a good fit until we saw an apartment on 67 and amsterdam. it seemed to be the right mix of price, location (for commuting to work), school district, size and amenities (washer/dryer fiasco aside).

so after our first broker viewing in mid-july, things proceeded pretty quickly. AND we found ourselves packed up and moving at the end of that month.

now, we've been living in our new hood for over a month, and we're finally settling in. the neighborhood is much nicer (much more of an actual neighborhood). and it is super kid-friendly. tons of playgrounds and museums and indoor playspaces for kids. i still personally miss the amenities of the old building and the 1 minute commute to work, but as matt points out, as i'm 9-months pregnant and i'm just grouchy. ;-)

when i rub away the veneer of grouchy pregnancy, i know we are TRULY truly blessed to have found such a good fit for us. oh, and did i mention, bailey is now enrolled in a pre-K directly across the street from our new apartment? oh right, and that our church is now within walking distance? there's a lot of upside. :-)

also, the move was good in helping us pare down again (all the crap we've somehow managed to accumulate over the last 3 years). here's a video of all the boxes we had. and here's a pic of our NEW playground around the corner.