Xavi's first pie.

And we don't mean pizza! Even though he is still an American and not yet legally Australian, Xavi celebrated his first Australia Day in style by sampling a meat pie (with ketchup) and a lemon curd tart at Pie Face on Broadway. Monica read about Pie Face in the Dining section of the Times last Wednesday, and it seems to be doing a roaring trade. We will be back again, although it is quite a schlep from where we live. According to Kate, Pie Face is at Westfield Bondi Junction, and is not "Bondi Beach's favorite cafe", as they are promoting it here. But the pies and other products were pretty good, though a bit pricey: $5.95 + tax for a plain pie (but the ketchup was free). From there it is just a couple of blocks to MoMA, so Xavi had his first visit to an art gallery as well. What an afternoon! He seemed to like the art gallery and took more than half an hour to get bored.
Pie Face, Broadway & W. 53rd

Happy Australia Day; I'll give the pie 8/10

Xavi's first taste of a lemon tart (couldn't take a photo of him eating some meat pie; all hands on deck required then!)

Jackson Pollock's "One:Number 31"

Andy Warhol's "Gold Marilyn Monroe"

Central Park last Sunday (Jan 22nd)

The park is always beautiful the day after it snows although it was overcast most of the day. It was all gone Monday after the warm rain on Sunday night so we made sure we got over there to enjoy it while it lasted.

The Mall...not really hot dog weather

Bethesda fountain and the Boat House lake - slightly different from when there in the summer with Genevieve when Xavi was a newborn

Definitely good conditions for sledding

but not so great for jogging...

...or swinging

Xavi's first snow - finally

NYC and Xavi finally got some snow today, about 8-12 cm (3-5 inches). Only about 10 other years in the past century when the snow arrived this late. It won't last long; forecast to be 11 deg C and rain on Monday.

fun in the snow on our terrace

Kids having fun in our apartment block's garden

Xavi's not so sure (and wearing Ugg boots for Australia Day)

When walking on the Upper East Side...

... need to be bundled up in this kind of weather

Xavi is 7 months today... and to celebrate he had his hair cut!

As per recent photos, he was looking like a koala with his "woollen earmuffs". So Monica took him to her hairdresser yesterday and he looks much more like a handsome little boy now. He weighs nearly 8 kg, eats 3 meals a day, sits unaided playing with his toys, puts everything in his mouth, loves going for a swing. Goes down very easily by 7pm but still wakes twice during the night. Monica has bought a copy of Dr Ferber's controlled crying book. if only Xavi knew the implications...

Treecycle Mulchfest

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, 17 deg C: unbelievable for the first week of January; more like May. It was the annual Christmas tree recycling day, or "Treecycle Mulchfest" as the Parks & Rec Dept calls it. Last year more than 50,000 trees were recycled. Unfortunately most people just dump them on the sidewalk for the Dept. of Sanitation to remove with the rest of the trash. Because it was such a beautiful day, after dropping of our tree we headed to Eataly for a pork braciole (Xavi likes the crust), a swing in Madison Square Park, then home for dinner (pumpkin, sweet potato & broccoli soup), a bath and then bed.

All I want for Xmas is one front tooth!

Xavi's first tooth appeared last week, although today was the first chance to get a picture of it! he'll have to be careful or he'll soon be weaned...