NYC Recap

A few weeks ago Ryan went to New York City for a conference and we decided I would fly up on Friday morning and would have the weekend in the city together.  NYC is one of our favorite destinations and we were looking forward to a weekend away even if it was only two nights.  When we have gone before (See here and here) we have done more of the touristy things and this time the plan was to eat, drink, walk and sleep. We managed to accomplish all of that :)  

Our first stop Friday afternoon was at Shake Shack.  We've eaten here every time we've gone and it is definitely a favorite of ours.   It was raining all day but it didn't stop us from walking around Central Park, the Upper West Side, Soho and Midtown.  

We had late dinner reservations both nights but honestly this worked out great.  We had a late start to the day on Friday so a dinner reservation at 10 PM was just right.  It's hard to imagine doing dinner this late but that seemed to be the norm in NYC.  Ryan had picked out dinner spots for both evenings and they were great.  We loved the atmosphere at Alder and the food was awesome. We would definitely recommend this!  

We slept in Saturday morning and when we looked out the window the weather was gorgeous! Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the 70's.  One of our favorite things to do is walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and even though it was packed we managed to fight the crowds and enjoy the views while getting to the other side. 

We were hoping to eat at the Grimaldi's but the line was crazy long so we settled for a new pizza place next door in the original Grimaldi's location. We've eaten at both now and I think we would definitely pick Juliana's.  It was a good thing we walked a lot because we definitely ate a lot of good food while we were there!

We walked back over the bridge after lunch and ended up spending a few hours in Central Park.  I was regretting my shoe choice at this point so it only made sense to stop at The Boathouse for a quick beverage :)

We did more walking, made another beverage stop in Rockefeller Plaza and ended up back at our hotel at 7:30 that evening.  We stayed at the Refinery Hotel which goes down as one of our favorite places we've ever stayed when traveling.  It was modern, yet very comfortable, and our room was surprisingly quiet.  

We had another late dinner that night and this was definitely our favorite meal of the trip.  We chose it for the great food reviews, promise of 90's hip hop music playing and lastly, by the name - Charlie Bird.  

We had such a great trip and even though it was short, we enjoyed just a few days away.  The boys stayed at "Camp Mimi" and by all the pictures I was sent, they all had a blast.  Not too mention they were exhausted when they came home!  A win, win in my book :)  

Charlie at Five Months...

Charles Davis... you are five months old!

At 5 months you are happy, smiling, content and such a joy to be around!  You are turning in to such a content baby boy and I'm not sure if things are just easier the second time around or if you are truly more relaxed than your brother.  I'm going to go with the latter.

The only thing not so great this past month has been your sleeping patterns.  We've gone back and forth with trying to not use the swaddle and ultimately we ended up with you back in it.  You seem to wake up with the more freedom your arms have.  Your pediatrician also told me to cut out the bottle at night.  She said you weigh enough and are old enough to not need this and it was time you learn to soothe yourself back to sleep.  Once we cut out the night bottle you seemed to wake up every hour or two.  We were constantly going up to give you your pacifier and soothe you back to sleep.  We were trying not to get you out of the crib and rock you so you did not get dependent on that as well.  I think we're at the "cry it out" stage so hopefully things change this next month so we can all get some more sleep!

Don't be fooled by this pic.... I took this one morning right before you woke up and you were all smiles.  This was a rare occasion though that you actually slept like this!

At your doctors visit you weighed 15 pounds, 2 ounces and were 26 inches tall.  You are in size 2 diapers and wearing mostly 6 month clothes.  Your pediatrician continues to comment on how strong you are and can tell that you are a very determined little boy.  She thinks you are going to struggle with wanting to be mobile but that your body won't be ready yet.  Should make things interesting around here and I feel bad for your big brother. I have a feeling you'll be beating him up vs. the other way around!

You still like to nap in your bouncy chair and the few attempts I have made to nap in your crib have not gone well. I have a feeling you won't fit in your bouncy chair for much longer but as long as it's working and you fit we'll keep going with it!  I know eventually you will transition to your crib for your nap but it will be on your time.

We brought out the jumper this past month and you love it.  This has been really helpful so we don't have to hold you all the time.  Now, someone needs to be near you when you are in this and we usually send your brother over there to entertain you.  He loves to bounce you (which can be a little scary!) and plays with all the toys on the jumper which makes you laugh.

We tried food with you this past month but you didn't seem too interested.  You tolerated a few bites of sweet potato but I decided it was more work than worth it.  Lately you seem to show more of an interest in things we are eating so I'll think I'll try a few other veggies and fruits this next month and see how that goes.

We went to the doctor three times this past month!  The first time was for your well visit and you checked out great and then got a few shots.  You were so happy until it was time for shots and then you screamed and screamed.  The second time was for a rash and red bumps you had on your face and hands.  Thankfully this wasn't anything serious and they went away pretty soon.  The third time was for pink eye.  All of this happened in a week's span.  I know the first year can be rough, especially when you are in daycare, but hopefully this next month will be less eventful!

You are rolling over to your back when we place you on your tummy.  You seem to be pretty content when we place you on your tummy but you like to roll over every now and then.  You legs and arms sure are moving so it's only a matter of time until you are crawling and really getting around!

Charlie boy - you are such a sweet little boy and we love having you in our lives.  Looking forward to this next month!