The Nutcracker

I'd been dropping (unsubtle) hints to Marcus for a long time that what I really wanted for Christmas was tickets to The Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet.  The Friday before Christmas, Marcus surprised me by getting home from work early.  He apparently had one last half vacation day and planned a "Day of Surprises," as he called it.  Then after I got back from teaching, he told me we were going to the Nutcracker that night!  We ordered some yummy dinner, got ready, and after the babysitter arrived, headed down to the Lincoln Center.  

This year is a special year for the Nutcracker as it is the 60th Anniversary.
Definitely a great year to go!

The Lincoln Center

I was just a little excited :)

Inside, near the stairs

Online picture of inside the hall -- not where we sat

The show was spectacular.  So many talented dancers.  We were really impressed with all the kids in the show.  A lot of the roles were children, and they were really good!

The flower queen was my favorite -- she was amazing!

After the show, we snapped a few pictures around the Lincoln Center.  Marcus was really impressed by the fountain.

It was a great show and a really fun night.  Thanks, Marcus :)

Presents in NY

Before we left New York for Christmas, we opened some presents.  We took pictures of the few we did over Skype.  Technology can be pretty amazing.  Plus, Chase LOVES to open presents.  It was fun to share his excitement unwrapping gifts while we were about 2,000 miles away.  Like I'd mentioned before, he liked to open presents while I was in the shower, so we had to hide these until it was time.  :)

Seriously, the kid LOVES presents.

We're looking forward to letting him open more presents at Christmas -- if he doesn't open them all early...  Sneaky little guy!  haha

Santaland

I love New York City at Christmastime.  It's so festive EVERYWHERE.  One of my favorite places to go is Macy's :)  Seriously though.  They do a great job with all the decorations (and of course Santaland!!!)

This year, I decided seeing THE Santa at the 34th Street Macy's was a must.  I crossed my fingers Chase would agree and headed to Herald Square with Melissa and her two boys.  Did I mention it was pouring outside???  Yeah, quite the adventure. 

Looking like Christmas in Macys

We met up with several moms and kids from our ward outside Santaland.  They were all really excited.

Although this basically sums up our experience...

Yep, Chase was going to be great...

Thankfully there was a train so he didn't run off in the store :)

Basically Chase took off once inside Santaland.  The employees just smiled and said that he'll stop at the trains.  Obviously they've seen a few kids with Chase-like energy.  And they were exactly right.  He stopped right at the trains.

And finally we made it to Santa.  Definitely a magical experience.  Too bad I hadn't planned on being IN the pictures...  There are a couple attempts at a decent picture.  All have personality, but zero Chase smiles.

Probably my favorite :)

Crazy kid.  Maybe next year he'll smile in pictures.  Definitely not in 2014.  Maybe our New Years Resolution will be getting a decent smiling picture of Chase.  Or maybe that's just a little too much for a resolution :)

Since we were at Macy's, I decided that I wanted to go check out the rest of the Christmas section of the store.  Seriously, I love this Macy's.  It's huge, and Christmas is such a big deal in it.

Chase LOVED the singing and dancing Christmas tree

I think that made it even more exciting when my mom got one for Christmas :)
Chase remembered his dancing buddy!

More decorated Macy's Christmas trees

Now we're in the mood for Christmas!!!

Primary Nativity

At our ward Christmas party, the primary kids put on a Nativity skit.  The 2 and 3 year olds were the sheep.  The costumes weren't fancy -- they asked for fuzzy sweatshirts with headband ears.  We had absolutely no idea how Chase would do.  He's obviously never been in a play before...  

Primary kids getting ready

Two of the sheep, Darcy and Chase, heading to the nativity

Chase deciding he doesn't want to join the others to see the Baby Jesus

Darcy and Winnie wandering away 

Our little black sheep watching from afar

And playing games with the YW

All the primary kids 

Our attempt to get Chase in the pictures...

So he does take after me... No snow.  No costumes.  Oops :)  

CK Holiday Party

This year the annual CooperKatz Holiday Party was at a delicious restaurant named Millesime.  Did I mention it was delicious???  Check out the menu!  We drooled over it as we took the train to the restaurant.

Of course there were also desserts.  Yum Yum.  And check out this neat space, but imagine it with lots of pretty Christmas trees, tables for all of us, and of course amazing serving tables for the food.

We seriously look forward to this night every year.  They always pick a great place, tend to get a decent picture of the two of us, and do a great job spotlighting each employee.  

Our picture :)

This year, Ralph picked a super hero that each employee was most like and gave them the action figure and a name placard.  

Marcus was just a little excited to get his :)
CAPTAIN AMERICA
I wish I had a copy of the description to post.  It was epic.

Marcus and Ralph

Thanks for another fantastic night, and of course a great year, CK!

Filming in Sunnyside

Woke up to these great signs all over our street this week...

Not that we have a car, but those are the fun signs.  The crew of Person of Interest is filming for their TV show.  So Chase and I walked around our street to see if we could see any actors or filming equipment.

They're set up just on our tiny stretch of 46th Street.

Chase watching the big trucks.

He was really entertained by the bathrooms.
This is in front of the building next to ours that usually has all the decorations up -- though they were all down today.

Several fancier cars were parked along the street too-- some BMWs and Mustangs.

This is right in front of our door.  Big truck with nice doors in the back.  Wonder what's inside :)

We didn't see anyone famous, but the crew was enjoying a nice catered BBQ.  They were all really nice and seem to enjoy working outside in the freezing cold :)

Stitches

We had a really exciting Tuesday night.  Chase had apparently decided to help me clean up right after baby Heidi came over to play.  In the process, he got his finger stuck in a can.  Long story short, it cut his finger pretty badly.  Marcus was able to get home from work quickly and take over Heidi duty so Chase and I could run up to the Urgent Care.  

Chase was a super star.  Of course he was great while we waited a couple minutes to get called back to see the doctor.  

He pulled out magazines.

He checked on bins around the room.

He made sure the blood samples were in the right boxes.
He just looked, didn't touch :)

He also played some Daniel Tiger games.
You can see the Band-Aids on his left pointer finger.

Then we headed back to see the doctor, and Daniel had to come too.

He was not thrilled to get his height and weight taken, but then he was really behaved and nice.  He definitely didn't like pressure on his finger to help stop the bleeding, which is understandable.  The doctor decided he needed three stitches, and Chase took them like a champ.  There was some crying, but nothing compared to what I had expected.

Being strong.
No, the head injury was not related.

The second the Band-Aids were back on, he was back to his happy self.  He went back out to the waiting room to check the boxes for more samples and make sure the magazines were in place.

I think we were back home within an hour.  It was incredible.  And he hasn't complained about his finger since.  Although he does occasionally stick out his finger and whine "Can't!"

Holding out his finger.

You know, I knew this day was going to come, and I am pretty glad our first emergency doctor trip is out of the way.  The joy of an energetic little boy :)