Uptown Girl

When Sandy hit, we became Upper West Side residents thanks to my cousins George & Carol. They were so very kind to take us in for the week and really were the only reason we survived the storm without major issues! We are forever grateful to their kindness and compassion for taking us in!

For Sloan, this was a pretty exciting week. As you'll recall Sandy hit just before Halloween. We had already dressed her up and she's too young to go trick-or-treating, so really it was all about her taking it in. First up - pumpkin carving!

(L-R) The pre-carve pumpkin, Sloan, George 

It's hard to see, but the outline of the pumpkin...they let me carve it!
I can't remember the last time I had anything to do with carving a pumpkin. 

My audience as I carved the pumpkin

The finished product!

 George and Carol put a sign up in their building to let people know they are open for Halloween. Quite a few spooks stopped by throughout the night, including their grandchildren Nicky and Callie. Callie is 7 and she and her friends were pretty excited about a new baby being in the house. They didn't care that Sloan wasn't dressed up, but they liked her Halloween bib.

Look at those svelte little legs! 

The fun didn't end with Halloween though. This was the week that Sloan really started looking at things. You could tell she knew she was in a new place, and we were able to get her to track faces a few times that week. We were also without the bouncer chair, so there was always someone holding her. You can imagine how disappointed she was when we had to come home!!

Cousin Em with the burp

Out cold. 

Reading the paper with mom 

Carol & George were so wonderful to take us in and we really appreciated their hospitality. It was a great excuse to be able to spend some quality time with family that is close by, but we don't get to see nearly as often as we should. They were kind enough to babysit for us one night so we could go to dinner with a friend as well. I'm pretty sure they were tempted to just keep Sloan and let us go home empty-strollered!

One last snuggle from George & Carol 

Just before we walked our 4 miles home we stopped at Paula's apartment to see her family that was in town. The whole Jobson-Allegretti family has been so concerned for Sloan, and supportive of us, since Day 1. They were so delighted to meet her!

Jobson-Allegretti clan