A Proper North Brooklyn Weekend

Uncle Nick came up from Virginia to visit Alden on Saturday afternoon and after hanging out around the apartment and then taking a walk in the park, we all decided to try our luck and attempt a dinner outing at Northeast Kingdom. The small restaurant on our street is usually packed and I was worried we would be embarrassing ourselves for even considering bringing a stroller in, but it was still on the early side and we'd had luck both times we attempted such a feat at Roberta's, so we went for it. Either Alden is as charming to strangers as he is to us or the anti-baby sentiment you hear so much about in north Brooklyn is just a nasty rumor because they went out of their way to accommodate us, removing a table to the downstairs den so that Alden could nap in his stroller while we ate. This might sound like a very normal or small gesture to suburban dwellers, but here it's huge and we were grateful to be welcomed so warmly. Alden returned the favor by hanging out quietly and then falling asleep as our dishes arrived.

I wish we had taken photos on Sunday. We went over to our friends Genevieve and Jon's place for a brunch with them and Bree and Pat. Alden was a little crabby from not having slept much the night before, but we made it through brunch and even took a walk to McCarren Park to sit under the trees with the Sunday crowd for a little while. It wasn't until we left our friends for the subway that bunny let loose with his heartbreaking wail. We're getting better at coping with our own panic at the sound of his screams and I think our ability to keep calm as we transferred him from the stroller to the Ergo helped calm him a bit. By the time we stopped to pick up diapers, just half a block away, he was sleeping soundly. Whew.

So today we're taking it easy, staying in our jammies, catching up on some couch time and listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash. Not bad for a Monday.