Elle and I have been living it up in NYC since Friday. We came here because my niece, Elle's cousin, had the opportunity to play at the 125 year old Carnegie Hall. And luckily the trip coincided with a few other events both personal and work related.
On the personal side, we have gotten to see many beloved friends -- one who had a new baby boy! (Yea!) and another who flew in on a red eye from San Francisco so that we could have a girl's weekend with Elle and her loquacious 2 year old daughter (My SF friend is 7 months pregnant and has incredible strength and stamina). Seeing beloved friends in Connecticut and across NYC (Upper West Side, Chelsea, and TriBeCa), spending time with family who flew in from CA and TN, and doing a little work has made for a very busy time and Elle and I have experienced "the good, bad, and ugly."
But to be honest it is very much mostly good.
The Ugly
Our "ugly" was getting splinters in our hands. Seriously. Elle and I had paused on the boardwalk along the water
and somehow managed to get splinters in our hands within seconds of each other. I was pretty distraught to have hurt Elle and so rushed to try to find a pharmacy to obtain tweezers to try to pull the splinter out. I was nervous because it was just Elle and me and I didn't know how I would manage to hold her hand and tweeze out the splinter. Right then, I passed a Japanese spa and decided to walk in and ask if they had tweezers and could help. I was lucky that I did and that they were so nice because they had sterilized tweezers and it took a big effort (with a lot of crying) to get the splinter out. But we persevered and succeeded. I was so grateful!
The Bad
The only "bad" from this trip is on the sleep/restoration aspect. In order to see as many beloveds as possible, Elle and I have been sleeping across the whole New York City area and frankly our sleep has suffered. Especially Elle's. She has had to sleep in new surroundings almost every night, and honestly she has outperformed reasonable expectations about all that change. Add to the strange surroundings is the fact that we are rarely near a place where she can sleep fully during the day. Instead she has had to grab cat naps in her carrier or whenever she can. So with disrupted sleep at night and minimal naps during the day, it hasn't been the most optimal rest for Elle.
The Good
Spending all this concentrated time with Elle in so many situations drives home how it feels like there are 1000s of moments of little joys, which arise when I am with her. So many that they flit across my consciousness and many leave no lasting memory just the impressions of happiness.
A few examples of joy moments that I do remember from this week come from strangers reacting so positively to Elle. Random people on the subway and throughout New York City are enthralled with her. In fact, one woman who played with her on the train said that she had been having a rough day but Elle's smiles and engagement had made her day better. A homeless man complimented Elle on her bow as we walked out of the subway and loved her smiles at him so much that he told her "I love you" as we passed out of earshot. Other people laugh at her giggles and excitement of being out in the city.
Her joy also makes me see more clearly the joy of my sister's kids, Elle's cousins. The four who are here with us range in age from 8 to 16 and they are so terrifically sweet with Elle. My heart expands in happiness as I see the affection and tender interactions they give to Elle.
I see even more clearly how lucky I am to have them as nieces and nephews. I also feel so lucky to see beloved friends love on Elle. And it has also been so wonderful to see Elle Catherine Sarah Korol's aunts. Her aunts Catherine and Sarah are such amazing mamas and they shower all those mama skills on our joyous Elle. We have had so many good moments this trip with both friends and family.
We feel so so so so grateful.
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