A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend, we busied ourselves with two trips to the city and an IMAX presentation.

Sunday, J and I went to the city in order to share our adoption story with prospective adoptive parents who are in the process of registering with our agency. The intent was to be available for a brief 10 minute Q&A session so that the prospective parents in attendance could hear about an adoption experience from the proverbial horse's mouth, me in this case, prior to the formal portion of the seminar.

Ten minutes quickly turned into upwards of an hour where I answered a deluge of questions: what was the orphanage like; what was the total cost; were you nervous in country; what was the exchange rate; and so on. The prospective parents also got an opportunity to meet Matty, who was uncharacteristically reserved.

After the meeting, we went to Pier 17 and did some shopping in the financial district. I happened upon an amazing gourmet food store, Zeytuna, a kind of Zabar meets Whole Foods meets Dean and Deluca, where I carted a chutney for nutty cheeses, ancho chile powder, and my favorite European chocolate (Milka) among other things.

Matty saw 'Lady Liberty,' as the kiddos refer to the statue, the Empire State Building, and the Manhattan sky line; however, he was most impressed with the boats on the East and Hudson Rivers. Maybe some of Peter the Great's love of boats and water is generationally reproduced in the citizens of St. Petersburg.

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York

After the city, we took Matty to his first movie; an IMAX 3-D presentation of 'Monsters of the Deep.' This was perhaps a poor choice as Matty was frightened by the three dimensional images and screamed aloud numerous times before abandoning his glasses altogether.

Monday, we trekked to the Bronx and found we had the zoo to ourselves: it was 25 degrees without the wind chill. Matty was agog with the animals.

Littlest's take on polar bears

Boppy looking for a real life monster of the deep.

Four peas in a podMatty at the duck pond

As of late, the favorite past time of the kiddos is to don costumes and accessories. In fact, one of Matty's recent words is 'Spiderman.'

The next Carrie Bradshaw? Holy smokes, it's Batman!
Peter Pan
Bop will tell you she's not a princess; she's a QUEEN.