For our second day in New York, Mason had to leave in the morning for some classes at the convention center(the whole reason we went to New York). So we grabbed a couple of breakfast sandwiches and muffins from the hotels complementary breakfast and some coffee they had provided(worst coffee, but hey sometimes you just have to sugar it up ;). And walked out together, I headed up 5th while Mason headed out to the Javits Center. So Jack and I were on our own for the morning and it kinda made me excited to be on my own in the city again, baby in tow. Jack was such a good kid putting up with being in the stroller.
Our first stop was on the steps of the Public Library to eat our breakfast and watch the pigeons, Jack's favorite part, he would point out every bird he saw. After finishing up we stopped at one of the many souvenir shops along 5th Ave, Jack had fun grabbing all the shirts and helped me pick out a couple of mini New York license plates for him and Max with their names on them. We continued up 5th in the chilly wind, and made our way to F.A.O Schwartz. We were there so early they were not even open yet so I held my Jack while we waited outside the doors and he fell asleep on my shoulder. Finally they opened the doors and Jack woke up just in time to see his dream come true, he went strait for the stuffed animals, I love how much he loves animals. He picked up a cute stuffed animal dog and decided it was his puppy and just carried and hugged it. We got upstairs to the big piano and I let him loose to run and dance across it, he thought it was pretty awesome. We walked around for a bit and Jack found a magician's hat, put it on, and would not take it off. I saw that they were having a story time so we stayed for that, it was fun to pretend I was a mother living in New York taking my baby to story time at F.A.O Schwartz :). So we sat and listened to a few stories with all the other little city kids with their nanny's(at least most were with a nanny). After picking out the perfect Taxi and New York book for Max we left to head into the park.
Jack was mesmerized by the horses as we entered through the South East corner with all those horse drawn carriages lining the edge. We made our way down to the famous bridge, and sat there for a bit while Jack pointed out all the birds and ducks and buildings, a little Jack's dream come true. I headed across the park towards Columbus Circle to meet Mason for lunch. But as we were walking, me carrying Jack and pushing the stroller along, Jack decided he was done and tired and hungry(and teething didn't help) but he threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen him throw in the middle of Central Park(well edge). He was screaming and crying, not really knowing what he wanted. He wanted me to hold him but would try to get out of my arms once I held him. A lot of people looked as they walked by, they either looked annoyed or smiled in a sympathetic way. Funny thing, people in New York ignore a lot of things, but a baby screaming and crying caught their attention. Finally I held him in my arms and gave him a swab of baby numbing stuff for his teeth hoping it would help. I am sure people walking by were not sure was I was doing, holding my baby tightly while sticking a q-tip all over his gums...ah fun stuff I tell you. Finally he let me hold him and fell asleep, poor guy. I made it to Whole Foods at Columbus Circle, good memories of grocery shopping there and heading down on the 1 train. After getting some water and a snack I headed down Broadway to meet Mason for lunch.
We decided on a pizza slice from Two Boots and one from Ray's(although it is no longer called Ray's). Cute Jack stayed asleep all through lunch so i made sure to save him half a slice for when he woke up. We made it back to the Javits Center to walk around and ask questions before the end of the day.
We walked back to our hotel and took a break and let Jack run naked and free and watch a cartoon before heading out to dinner. For dinner we decided on one of our old favorites down on 18th,
Pete's Tavern. It is a cool old tavern with a pasta special on Monday nights: pasta dish, salad, and a glass of wine. It was so fun to go back and have it be exactly how I remembered. It is the oldest restaurant in New York City and used to be a Speak Easy during prohibition. After dinner we went around the corner for dessert at
One Lucky Duck.
We made our way back to our hotel and crashed.
[my shoulder is not abnormally tall, it is the music note on the window..:)]
[coolest kid]
[the hat he found]
[pointing out some ducks]
[he was done for the day by this time]
