Alice and the City.

Alice in Times Square. June 2012.

Over the weekend, we three took a quick trip to New York to visit family.  We drove and left late Thursday after Alice had gone to sleep for the night.  We tucked her snugly in her car seat and then us adults sat together in the front and had some much needed time alone together.  To talk.  Or not talk.  To watch the road in silence.  To discuss current events or our future as the darkness passed us by.  And when Alice awoke the next morning, we were in a new city, in a new state and ready for her first trip into New York City.    

We took the Moby and a diaper bag.  No need to fuss with a stroller in such a chaotic place.  We had lunch.  We walked.  We sat in Bryant Park.  Alice had a full-blown meltdown.  You know, the type of meltdown where she is so pissed that she can't even eat.  We were those parents once again.  People stared.  We bounced and jostled and walked.  Luckily the beauty of the park and the promise of a beautiful evening were much more interesting to passersby than Alice's wailing. 

Alice eventually calmed down enough to eat and then, after her belly was full, we walked back to Penn Station with a quick stop in Times Square.  I knew Alice would be in awe of the lights and the noise and the people and I wanted to capture that.  I was right.  She loved it.

As we took the train back to Long Island with Alice asleep on my chest, I imagined that she was dreaming of all that she had seen in New York that day.  And maybe she was dreaming about the day she would come back again.  With us or on her own as a young woman.  To explore more of that fascinating city.

And hopefully with no meltdowns.