Going to BK, 2/8-9

Annie and Lara seemed pretty open to when I would join them in Brooklyn. 

I booked my train ticket for Wednesday, 2/8, and while I had a few things to tie up in the days preceding, I found myself spending a lot of time aimlessly wandering around, telling anyone who would listen that I had a new addition to the family, showing the pictures that are now in the previous blog post, and having difficulty focusing on anything resembling work.

The train ride was pleasant and uneventful. I had a lightweight novel to read and nearly finished it (thanks, Alan!). The subway trip on the Q from Herald Square to Brooklyn was easy, and I arrived around 5:00pm. Here is my first time meeting my grandson.

I saw it as my role to help out in any way I could - quite the opposite of what a Chinese mother/mother-in-law would see as her role. (There's a good story here, but that's for another chapter.) 

Lara had an appointment, so I went to work on dinner. Since they lived with me before, and since I was using everything out of their refrigerator, it was a pretty familiar outcome.

There were, of course, a few things to get used to working in someone else's kitchen. Besides the obvious, one thing I had to get used to was cleaning up everything after food prep and eating. I left some food out for Lara and we were lucky that the roaches didn't get to it first. Apparently, they don't wait until night to dine with impunity.

I love their little apartment dishwasher. It was a great baby gift for me!

While Sol was feeding well and subsequently sleeping well, he did not stay asleep for long. Annie thinks he was sleeping only about 20 minutes at a time, so both moms were pretty sleep-deprived. Fortunately, Annie's milk was starting to come in and that kept him full longer than the colostrum, so when I arrived on day5, he was sleeping a little longer.  

I heard him a couple of times on Wednesday night, but at 4:00am, he was crying persistently, so I took him for a little while. It felt nice to walk him and sing Tom Chapin songs. It felt reassuringly familiar. Eventually, we all got back to sleep.

Here he is on the changing table the next day.

And here is a great hangout for mom and baby.

My tasks for the day included walking the dog and cleaning up after dinner. I managed to get in a ride on Annie's bike an Wahoo smart trainer that I bought for her last xmas. I have the same trainer at home so it was the same torture. All of my friends on Strava can see that.

Sol was awake in the afternoon, so I carried him around while Lara made dinner and Annie took a bath. They had a nice romantic dinner while Sol and I did some male bonding.