Just a quick update re. the packing - so far, I have found the amount I packed for Tabitha to be just about spot-on, allowing for washing once a week. You can see on the packing list what I packed for her. All of her clothing, sleeping bags and most of her accessories (bibs, blankets, shoes, hats, bathers, bedsheets, toys, books) fit neatly into one medium/large suitcase.
In the past, I have been a bit of a 'live out of the suitcase' kinda girl. I didn't used to properly unpack if I was staying somewhere for a week or less. But with a baby, I really recommend unpacking everything properly - all of the clothes folded into drawers and hanging, blankets and accessories and bits and pieces out, books stacked on a shelf. Rummaging through cases of baby stuff would not be fun!
If you keep everything folded, you just neatly move it from the case to the drawers etc., then back into the case again at the end. It makes packing and unpacking a cinch.
We checked into our accommodations in NYC - the AKA Central Park serviced apartments. Great location (a block from Central Park, a block from 5th Avenue and the Plaza Hotel, and a five minute walk from Columbus Circle, with all the subway lines, Whole Foods and great shopping and restaurants). The rooms we have are perfect - large by New York standards, with a kitchenette. My friend Miss Kitty-Cat (check out her great blog!) recommended AKA, and it is spot on.
With regards to feeding Tabitha while we've been on holidays, it has been difficult to offer her as much variety, and fresh fruit and vegetables, as we would at home. Food here tends to be quite salted (even plain cooked vegetables), and Tabby was eating plenty of bread (bagels!) and bits of protein (smoked salmon, chicken, steak, ground sirloin burger) but not much fresh fruit and veg.
So being in a place with a kitchenette is a relief - I went to Whole Foods (AKA The Happiest Place On Earth - Disneyland for Foodies) and bought a capsicum, a cucumber, some melon and blueberries, a couple of avocadoes, a pear, some freeze-dried fruit (apple and banana), some oatmeal and some brown rice cakes. For breakfast, I am able to give her some avocado on rice cakes, with some fruit, in the room. Then I can cut up some capsicum, cucumber and fruit, and bring it with us in a little container. That way, she can have a little of our lunch / dinner (protein and some cornbread/bagel/bread), with some fresh fruit and veg.
I also prepare a little Boon Snack Ball, filling it half way with pieces of freeze-dried fruit and some plain organic Cheerio-type things. These balls are available in Australia, and are really useful for portable snack entertainment!
I must say, also, that it is great to be breastfeeding when on holidays. I know that Tabitha is getting nearly all the nutrition she needs, as she's still taking 6 - 8 breastfeeds a day. Tabby was ill, with a stomach flu, on the way over and for the first couple of days, and would not take any solids. It was a real relief for me that she could get everything she needed (for nutrition and to help her get better). It's easy, too, because it's portable, with no preparation or washing required.
In fact, on this trip so far I have even breastfed Tabitha on a helicopter, when she was fussing because of the pressure in her ears! Yesterday, we took a helicopter scenic tour over Manhattan and the other Boroughs of NYC. We were in the air for a little under half an hour - it was a brilliant way to see everything! Tabitha had to wear a little life-jacket. She was most UNimpressed about that - I think it was scratchy around her neck.
Here is Tabitha with The Daddy out on the helipad (Pier 6, down near Wall St).
Getting in to the helicopter:
Headphones for all - to cut down on the noise, and so the pilot could tell us all about what we were seeing down below:
Statue of Liberty:
The site of the former World Trade Centre Twin Towers:
The Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building (click on the photo to make it bigger, to see the Chrysler off to the left of the ESB):
Cheeky monkey! She was in the Ergo attached to The Daddy, but when her ears started to hurt a bit, she lent over and had a feed from me. It was funny to be breastfeeding in a helicopter!
The view of Central Park, the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir, Upper West Side, Harlem and Queens:
You can see the Dakota, towering high, cutting into the Reservoir:
Project housing in Harlem:
Yankee Stadium:
Some amazing mansions, with glittering pools, in New Jersey, sitting right on the Hudson River, overlooking Manhattan:
We then caught the ferry to Staten Island and back, past Lady Liberty:
For dinner, we caught the subway into Harlem, to eat at Amy Ruth's soul food and Southern kitchen. I am a massive soul food fan, and could happily eat my weight in classics like chicken'n'dumplings, fried chicken, cheesy grits, barbeque, cornbread and Creole-spiced catfish!
We ate smothered chicken and waffles, fried chicken and waffles (with lots of maple syrup!), macaroni cheese, collard greens, cheesy grits and cornbread. There are some quick iPhone snaps below, which do not capture the deliciousness!
For dessert, The Daddy had sweet potato pie, while Tabitha and I shared an enormous serving of banana pudding (vanilla wafer cookies, banana-flavoured pudding - which is sort of like homemade thickened custard - and fresh banana slices).
I would not be at all surprised if I come back 5kg heavier - despite the non-stop walking we are doing, I am consuming frightening amounts of food: bagels with an inch of cream cheese and piles of smoked salmon for breakfast, hot dogs, pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, waffles, fried chicken, macaroni cheese, ice cream sundaes, barbecue ribs, truly phenomenal desserts... Never mind, it's just a month, and I'm enjoying every minute of it!
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