Another side of New York City...

Mom and Dad loaded me up this past Thursday and took me off on another trip to New York City. Mom again had some work to do, so Dad and I came along for the ride. I got to ride on the train again, except this time, since I'm walking now, I got to wander around the train a bit. Mom and Dad were pretty impressed that I was able to keep my balance as well as I did on a moving train. I'm getting pretty good at this walking thing, and even though the train was a challenge...I nailed it!!

The trip up wasn't bad, and we arrived in time to check out the Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit showcased a TON of Tim Burton's early sketches, notes, and movie props throughout the years. Dad has been jonesin' for this trip since he heard about it. Mom was also pretty excited, but in a more reasonable way.

Mom was super cool, and pushed me around in my stroller, while Dad got to walk around, since he was so excited about it. She got to see a lot, but after awhile, Dad took over, so she could see some stuff she missed, and all three of us really enjoyed ourselves, in spite of the crowds.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit, so you can just take my word for it that it was a cool exhibit, but WAY too crowded.

I got to take a few peeks at some items that were actually at baby eye level (which weren't really very many...thanks MOMA) I was REALLY bugged out by a scarecrow prop that was in the movie section of the exhibit, (As seen below) but beyond that...it was a very good time.

Next time, let's try and work on some crowd control, and put a few more things down at my eye level. Thanks in advance.

Mom had a last minute suggestion, after the museum since we didn't have any specific plans...

F...A...O...SCHWARZ!!

Our hotel was in a different spot this time, and the weather was gorgeous, so we walked down for our first visit to this famous, AMAZING toy store...I haven't really had many opportunities to go to a toy store...I pretty much just take what I've been given, and move on from there...

Now that I could walk, Mom and Dad thought it'd be fun to let me walk around this huge toy store, in addition to my stylish ride.

I got to watch some other kids work at the Muppet Workshop, where they were building their own Muppets. It was SO cool...Mom noticed that at the top of the display, there were some animatronic squirrels, which were a lot of fun to look at. Of course, they only tended to move when you blinked, and so it was fun, but frustrating at the same time...

It was totally worth the wait when one of the toy squirrels finally moved at the right time, and we got to see it.

As it often happens, I had to get my diaper changed mid-visit...and let me tell you....FAO Schwarz knows how to set up a classy changing room...

From the mood lighting, to the earthy colors that accent the room...the provided wipes, and classy artwork...everything was so lovely. I could have hung out in there for quite some time...just unwinding and relaxing...

But there were other babies that had to be changed, and more toys for me to see, so we carried on...

Mom let me run around a bit after she changed me, and I made my way directly over to the collection of stuffed ducks and cows.

This was the first time I had seen so many of the same toy! I mean...I get to have one of any toy I own...but here, there were dozens of the same toy.

I decided to try and help the store out by bringing a few of the stuffed ducks down the aisle and putting them on a separate shelf. I figure that spreading them out throughout the store would give them more chances to be purchased, and also to get some space to themselves. (Dad went around and put them all back where they belonged after I was done...eh. I tried.)

While I walked around, a tub toy caught my eye. It seemed like a simple toy: A whale that acted as both a shape sorter, and floating toy, where you could squeeze the tail and have water shoot out of its blow hole. I started pulling several of them off the shelf, and tried to make it look pretty obvious to Mom and Dad that it was the one toy I wanted from this place...

They got the hint, and I got to take it with us! I carried it throughout the whole store, and the guy ringing us up was smart enough to get the toy back to me quickly enough so that I didn't miss it too much and start crying...

Last but not least...we visited the Big Piano...yep. THAT Big piano...I watched a few kids dancing on the keys, and making music come out of it, just like the classic Tom Hanks/Robert Loggia moment in the film "Big".

I knew that I was too small to go on the keyboard (Mostly because I was too light to make the keys light up and play music) but I really enjoyed watching it (With my new toy in hand, of course) I watched for a few minutes, and Mom and Dad promised they'd take me back soon so I could run around on the Big piano!

Mom and Dad figured that there were certain sections of the store that I wouldn't appreciate until I was a bit older, so they promised that they'd take me back here someday soon.

We walked across the street and ate at a place called "PopBurger" which was actually pretty good. It was a small, hole in the wall place that was surprisingly roomy, and had some pretty tasty food. Mom and Dad really enjoyed the place, while also giving me some french fries and hamburger...Mom says that they "Created a Monster" by giving me french fries...which I don't think is accurate at all.

I merely want french fries all the time, now.

You'll note the appearance of my tub toy on the table...yeah, I wasn't letting THAT thing out of my sight anytime soon.

On Friday, while Mom went to work, Dad met a friend for breakfast that he hadn't seen since college (About ten years ago!!) After that we met up with Mom, so we could all walk around together. We had a quick lunch (Where I got to try a few strawfuls of a Black and White shake, which was just superb!) and then started walking around...until we headed on over to Penn Station to wrap up our trip and head home...

The train ride was really hard, since I hadn't quite napped as much as I had wanted to, and our train was not only late, but also had to stop in Philadelphia for almost an hour because some of the doors on our train weren't closing.

Suffice to say, I also wasn't allowed to run around on the train as much as I had been on the way there...

All in all, another successful trip! We had a lot of fun, and even managed to enjoy our tiny tiny hotel room.

Next up...we go back in time to take a look at my recent trip to Connecticut last weekend...my first of 2010, and my first trip to CT since I started walking!!