Spring is in the Air!

Well, they do say that March is in like a lion and out like a lamb and this year it just may be true. And if you happen to be spending the last days in sunny, balmy Mexico then that's absolutely true! That's right, I'm going on a semi work trip to Mexico City. I'll be traveling with one of my girl friends from work, spending a few days in the city (complete with my very own bodyguard), seeing the studio where the network I'm with (Azteca) films their novellas, sitting down for some good food and drinks in a culinary destination city and spending one day exploring the Mayan pyramids outside the city.

Having a fun girls night!

While there's a part of me that really wants to keep traveling all over and exploring the world, being grounded with my family lately has been much more of my focus, for easy reasons. Taking a 48 hour trip to LA to basically show my bosses how much I rock (we won the business I was out there pitching, btw. And the LA team specifically asked for me on another pitch coming up too) was so hard when I thought about leaving Bill and Mo. But in the end it was great, not only for my job, but to get back to being just me, just for a bit. Not me plus another human plus over-thinking every possible scenario plus just wanting to get from A to B as quickly as possible plus the ever-present meltdown risk. I actually enjoyed hanging at the airport (well, Shake Shack at JFK and the sake bar in LAX helped that), I loved having a quiet room to myself and the thought of an uninterrupted night of sleep. And the morning I got back there was nothing better to me than to see my beautiful family who I'd missed so much. While spending 4 days in a foreign country where there's a chance I could get kidnapped seems a little more risky, I think in the end it'll be fun for me and refreshing for our whole family.

A lovely walk to Mission Chinese. Nice to be able to do that again.

And on that note, I'm trying to get out a little more on my own. This past Saturday Amena and I had an amazing girls night dinner at Mission Chinese Food, which was everything I dreamed of and more. And also SO baby friendly. Going backwards a bit too, Mo had her 18 month appointment on Friday morning. She passed the weird questionnaire they had for that age (I guess basically to determine that she wasn't deaf or showing signs of autism)- she scored 22/23. They said they're concerned if the results are under 20. She didn't really grow at all, only 1/2 an inch which I found surprising and she's just under 21 pounds. We have noticed very recently that her appetite has picked up and she is loving some good fat foods (whole milk yogurt, cashews, avocado, etc) an the doctor said not to be concerned about this as at her age she's so active and we'll reassess at her 2 year appointment. And since the weather's been better we've been doing lots more trips out and to the playground.

Some fun at Mo's playdate with Jaz last Friday

Mo's vocabulary is even better than a week ago. She can fully say please, thank you, nose, bye bye, daddy, mama, hi, hello, yes, choo choo- she says this to the cars- no, and lots more. We're working on her saying her name, home and the names of other VIP people. She can pick out most animals when you show her pictures and if getting so much better with her Mandarin game on my iPad. We're thinking about potty training (waiting until closer to 2 when they reinforce at school and also when she'll have her own bathroom at home). She loves baths, hates having her diaper changed and still wakes up in the middle of the night and cannot be soothed until she's in our bed. Soon, I hope, this will change.

My favorite girl!

She loves picking out her clothes on the weekend, also loves that vest!

And finally (drumroll please) the contracts are signed! We're all negotiated, all signed, all about to be homeowners to a gorgeous house in Danbury on May 16th! Of course... still so many things can go wrong, namely with Bill's buyer for the co-op, but our amazing NYC realtor is ON IT and keeping everything moving as it should to ensure there are no further delays and we're throwing our first pool party Memorial Day.

Upcoming

• Lots of interesting things happening at work. I'd love for one of those things to include either a promotion or a raise but politics are politics as I've come to accept.
• Holy Moly, I'm going to Mexico!!!
• Bill goes to LA and Chicago one fun whole week in April, still a little TBD.
• We close the apt on April 30th, figure out where in the world we'll live for 16 days then close on the house on May 16th.
• Oh, and Mo's new cousin is expected to arrive sometime near the end of May, it'll be a fun, busy month!