New Year's Play

Our wild and crazy New Year's Eve plans included a playdate with Drew (laughing at one of my hilarious jokes, right), Stefanie (playing peekaboo with Nick, also right) and Dan Kaufman (below, holding a sleepy Drew). The Kaufmans made made a pilgrimmage out our way from Greenwich Village (or the "Willage," as we When Harry Met Sally Fans call it) for sandwiches and "da-dohs" (Nick's word for anything in the cracker or chip family).

A swell time was had by all. Nick didn't toss any toys directly at Drew, who's just shy of seven months, this time (as he did when we visited the Kaufman abode in October). But the Nickster did try to engage his young friend in a game of catch. Drew's already sitting up on his own and looks ready to stand any day now. We have no doubt they'll be turning double plays by summer.

Since our ace babysitters were unavailable (Grammer was working and Janice is still in Barbados), we decided to stay in for the evening.

(Rob here: Yes, we stayed in despite the overtures from the kind nuns in the apartment to the left of us and the young couple in the apartment to the right of us. This is our life now -- possible partying with nuns on New Year's Eve! Aimee and I will no doubt be featured in the "Fanfair" section of the February issue of Vanity Fair...)

Anyway, we made lasagna and brownies, drank champagne and watched the Central Park fireworks from our living room. Bring on 2006!

On New Year's Day we continued our annual (begun last year) tradition of visiting the Museum of Modern Art. (Since there are no good college football games on Jan. 1 anymore, we might as well start off our year with some culture, right?)

We wanted to see Nick's reaction to OOF now that he's a big boy (and can recognize the word). Alas, after a tour of the fifth floor's gallery of painting and sculpture (where we checked out the Pollocks, Van Goghs and Mattises) and a tasty lunch of pannini, brussels sprouts and roasted cauliflower at the MoMA cafe, Nick fell asleep in my arms (right). So we parked him the stroller and checked out the Pixar exhibit. Cool stuff.

(Rob here: I agree. The Pixar presentation was fascinating. Especially the "Pixar Zoetrope," which has to be seen to be believed. It includes this six-minute film that uses special 3-D, wide-projection technology. Amazing. No silly plastic glasses required. I mean, has Pixar made a bad movie? What other studio has its track record? None, that's who. And by the way, that scraping sound you just heard was the soapbox I just kicked across the floor...)

Nick was thrilled to see Janice ("Niss!") when she returned from her vacation on Monday. I was not as thrilled to return to work for the first time in almost two weeks. Not realizing it was still a holiday for the rest of the world, I waited in the rain for the bus for 35 minutes. Boo. It did give me time to write out my New Year's resolutions:

1. Start running again (at least three times a week ... I'm not sure I could complete a 5K right now).
2. Catch up (via phone, e-mail or IM) with at least one friend a week.
3. Join a tennis league.
4. Learn Spanish with Nick.
5. Eat and pump more iron.

(Rob here: I have resolutions, but I haven't decided which ones I want to keep yet. More on that soon...)

Happy New Year! (Yes, Happy New Year!)