Three Days with Noah

Yesterday and the two days before, I spent some very special time in New York City with my daughter and her newborn baby. Her husband left for a two-night conference, and I was the one called upon to sleep over. Noah is 8 weeks old and our first grandson, so I knew it would be an adventure. Baby-world is something I had kind of forgotten about, residing somewhere in my foggy distant memory, where the hours just slip by and the day disappears. 

On Tuesday we walked and walked all around the city with the baby in the uppababy stroller, it being a pretty warm day for New York City. Then we returned to her upper east side apartment to regroup – feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby, entertain the baby, and repeat. We somehow managed to eat out at a lovely place nearby, sharing a salad and a filet mignon entrée while Noah slept in his stroller. It was uncrowded and a special treat to be out on a Tuesday night.

My other daughter joined us for brunch on Wednesday; she had a cancellation in the middle of her day. We again walked around, meandered down Second avenue and up First Avenue, stopping occasionally at a hardware store or a Sephora, while the other one of us waited outside with the stroller. We picked up dinner – chicken, string beans, hummus and cucumber salad and had a cozy night at the apartment as it poured much of the afternoon and evening.  Noah was up so much of the day that he slept 7 hours straight that night – 9:30 – 4:30!  It set a record for the longest sleep of his newborn life. I must confess that I did not look forward to these nights beforehand in the tiny apartment. But sleeping in the same room as Noah, he in his little bassinet, is something I shall cherish. He made little gurgling noises throughout the night that my daughter confirmed as normal for a newborn. 

I left the city yesterday after we savored tuna on a bagel at Tal bagels, Noah in tow. She walked me to the subway, and we said our goodbyes and hugged. We knew we had shared something truly important.