circus weekend!

this weekend we hopped in the car and went to the circus!  we have a poster from my circus days hanging over our dining table, and penny faces it every day.  the clown she knows the best, besides me, is sandor - and when she found out she was going to meet him, she was beside herself.  the only thing that made her as excited was knowing she was going to give muffins to the clowns.
patiently waiting outside the coliseum:

animal open house!

there are elephants over here.

penny had almost no interest in the adventure, which is fine.  we got to watch all of the proceedings from our seats.  the show was great!  penny spent most of the time asking "where is the ringmaster?" or "is it time to give the clowns muffins?"

after the show, we were picked up and brought back to the alley, where all the clowns were so nice to us.  penny was being very shy, but luckily, clowns know how to deal with shy kids :)  all of the swag came out of the trunks - i get the feeling our next circus trip will get her a little more comfortable with clowns.
yay for circus day!

Sportsball!

spring forward!

we sprung ahead, and penny's brain is still processing.  i tried to ease the shock by setting her alarm 15 minutes earlier per day for the four days leading up to the time change, but still.  her naps, her meals, everything's a little wonky.
this morning, alex and penny got on the subway with me, and after some major subway weirdness they went to the central park zoo and i went to work.  then they joined me for lunch and penny helped me out a bit - it was really nice!

last weekend, penny and i went to the harmony playground in prospect park, where i had never been!  she and alex had been together once before - she had a great time showing me how to use all of the playground equipment :)

penny's grandparents brought over alex's old record player, and she has been enjoying a bit of hi-fi entertainment!

we're looking forward to spending more time outside now that the weather is warmer and we have more daylight to play in!

Penny & Alex are at the Transit Museum!

two weeks!

two week's worth of news to report!

last weekend we went to the museum of natural history!  we decided to become members, in the latest of the steps we're taking to make us feel more like grownups.  we took penny to the planetarium, where she got her own seat, looked up at the stars for about two minutes, then climbed into my lap and fell asleep for the rest of the show.  it was pretty spectacular, and alex and i thoroughly enjoyed it.  once it ended, we were both nervous about how penny would wake up, and we were walking out as slowly and quietly as we could.  she popped her head up off my shoulder, took a beat and said "wow!  that show was GREAT!  it was so funny!"  we then walked over to the butterfly exhibit, which is lovely.  however, it is 80 degrees and humid, so my camera instantly fogged up and stayed that way, and penny started sweating.  three butterflies landed on alex's head!
we ran around the museum looking at dinosaurs and fish skeletons, then packed up our stuff and headed home.  it was a great time.

penny fell asleep on the subway, and we decided to head straight to a playground, where we played her new favorite game "the farmer in the dell", which involves running around a tree singing "the farmer in the dell".  fruit leather is optional.

 this weekend we tried to go out, but the wind was insane.  we spent some time cooking, some time cleaning, and towards the end of yesterday, penny asked me to trim a toenail that had been bothering her.  our deal has been that when she let me clip her finger and toenails without crying or making a fuss, she could have her nails painted, so yesterday penny got her first manicure!  it's pretty striking, considering how tiny her nails are.  she loves it, and has gotten a ton of compliments already.  hopefully this means we can trim her nails with more regularity - since she still has this weird elbow pinching obsession, i think i'm going to benefit most!

valentine's day surprise?

so last night, as i was taking penny's valentine's day photo, i thought it would be nice to make a video with a valentine's day message.  and then this happened:

i told alex his cover had been blown, and we all ended up having a lovely valentine's day morning anyway :)

happy valentine's day!