Lower Manhattan
Mommy Joins Maddie for Lightning Lunch Break
After getting a bit of rest, Maddie was in search of a little action for her lunch break on Friday afternoon. And as luck would have it, her mom had just enough time to squeeze in lunch with the family. We met at a local spot called the Liberty House with amazing views of Lower Manhattan. At this point, even Maddie seemed impressed.
That is until we sat down. I don’t know if her seat had electricity coursing through it, but she instantly started thrashing around like there were ants in her pants. I whipped out a dried plum just in time to calm the savage beast – but it was obvious that Maddie was a little too pumped up. We had to stay on top of her before she was able to put together a special shock and awe campaign for her fellow diners.
We used a variety of Jedi Mind Tricks including food and entertainment to keep the baby in a civil frame of mind. Much to our surprise, things were shaping up very nicely. The food came out fast, but Maddie’s patience had finally run out. Just as her meltdown was taking shape, the server saved our skin with a box of crayons.
We took the crayons through our normal progression of keeping Maddie’s interest for as long as possible. First we helped her examine the box before releasing the crayons inside. Maddie seemed interested in the coloring aspect for a while, but soon lost interest and was ready to start chomping on them.
The baby took great offense when she realized that she would be allowed to eat the crayons and it obvious that it was time wrap things up. We thanked the waiter, called for the check and started giving Maddie a quick tour of the grounds. Even though it was brief lunch, we all had a great time and can’t wait to do it again.
Maddie Takes Grand Tour of Battery Park
Shady Baby’s Amazing Race through Manhattan
A doctor’s appointment for Maddie deep in the heart of Lower Manhattan turned into a race through the city this morning. All it took was a delayed train for our plans to go up in smoke.
Instead of a pleasant ferry ride, Maddie ended up slugging it out on the Path system underneath the ever-soaring Freedom Tower. But before she could do that, we all had to overcome the obstacle of getting Maddie onto the path and through the turnstiles.
There’s no area wide enough for the stroller, so I handed the baby off to my wife and rested the stroller on the turnstile. This created a mini logjam of people as Maddie looked on with great interest.
She still had no idea what she was in for. Once got into New York City, the crowds were as thick as bugs on the bumper. This area is not for the faint of if you are pushing a stroller occupied by a fearsome honey badger.
People were inches apart, all battling for pole position and Maddie was starting to feel a little bit claustrophobic. She snapped her mighty jaws at anybody that ventured too close to her stroller and emitted a series of short grunts.
Maddie noticed far too many near collisions because of all the people who had their snouts buried too far into their cellular devices to bother paying attention to what lay in front of them. One clown had to spin to avoid the stroller and then nearly snapped his ankle on the curb. Poor Maddie was getting more and more anxious as we cut across the island towards toward the doctor’s office.
However, once we got to the doctor’s office located in a quiet and secluded area of Front Street, Maddie exorcised that mean old honey badger and resumed being her ever-charming self.
After the appointment, Maddie took some quiet time to feel the ebb and flow of the city. We all enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch and walk on the East River. Then we took a nice slow ride home on the ferry which seem to delight Maddie. She noticed every detail as we all took in the sights and sounds of the ferry ride home. Once again, Maddie is showing a resiliency and maturity that is very surprising for 7-month-old girl.
