Day 7: Final Stretch.

The words, “better than expected,” never sounded as good as it did when it came out of our doctor’s mouth. Not that we didn’t take good care of her wounds before, we just changed the way cleaned them, and I believe, it made the difference. We are on for removal of the stitches tomorrow early in the A.M.

As for today, we spent the better part of the day at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM). They had a blast (operative word is “they”). Since we can’t let Madison out of our hands, it’s just tough. We headed back to Central Park so that they could let off more steam. Tomorrow is going to be a long day so we figured that we get them in early.

We are packing up to go home as I write. Check back in on Friday for more updates because I won’t have time tomorrow and Thursday I am just going to be too darn tired to do anything but run my Thursday Night Trainings.

Madi's different faces...

Day Six: Downtown

No change in Madison’s status, which it a good thing. Everything looks good and in place. In two days, they are taking out her stitches. Tomorrow we are going to head over to see the doctor to see what are next step will be.

Today we decided to head downtown and visit Ground Zero. It kind of brought my spirits down being over there. It was quiet and solemn. We checked out Wall Street and walked around down there. We walked into Tiffany’s and Noemi tried on many rings ranging from $30,000 to $80,000. She was going to try on a $1.1 Million diamond ring but then they asked us to go into a special room and with the girls, it just wasn’t going to be comfortable. Yes, I said a Million Dollar ring. It didn’t amaze me that they had one, what amazed me is that someone will go in and say… “Hey honey, do you like it? Let’s get it.”We were going to ride the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty but time got the best of us and then we headed to Chinatown for some dinner. Grub was good.

I couldn't help but take a picture. Isn't she getting huge?
Noemi has been wanting me to take a picture here for over a year. Perfect timing!
This is where George Washington was inaugurated.
My Proud American Girls!

Day 5: Coney Island

The adventure today took us to Coney Island. I have been coming to New York since I was born (well, there was a brief 16 years in between that I didn’t visit but I kind of made up since then). Heck, I was born here and do you know that I have never been to Coney Island? So today, we decided to head over there. We just missed the season of Coney Island but that was a good thing. Less people and Madison couldn’t ride all those rides anyway. Funny thing is that when I mentioned to my mother that we were going to go, she told me exactly how to get there from Midtown. How she remembers that and not her own phone number, I will never know. There were a few attractions still opened though.

We got there and the weather was beautiful. We took some nice pictures and had a great time. We walked the boardwalk, hung out on the pier, laughed and played. I even took the girls (minus Noemi) on the big Ferris Wheel called the Wonder Wheel. They had a blast. We toped off the day eating at the famous “Nathan’s Hot Dog”. It was nice (we both agree that I still make a better dog at my BBQ’s though).

As for Madison, every time we clean her wounds, we get anxious about it’s progress. However, when I look over the close up pictures that I have taken of her, they look great! She’s not in any pain, but you can tell she’s uncomfortable. Although it’s quite taxing on us when we take her outside, we know that it does her well to get out and have some fun. We have to apply ointment to her almost every hour but we know it will pay off.By the way, I decided to let the “dirty lip” grow while I was here. That’s what I call my poor excuse of a mustache. My genes only allow me to grow about 20 hairs (at most) on my lip and since we forgot to bring razors, I thought it might be funny. Well, after looking over some of the pictures today, I decided to spend the cash and buy me some razors. Noemi and I were laughing at how I looked like a Mexican today. Never again will the “dirty lip” appear on photos.

Getting better...
What else could a man ask for?
Subway tickets... $4, Nathan's... $16, Flight to NYC... $900, Family being together... Priceless
No really... does it get any better?

Day 5: More Pictures

This is my best Mexican impersonation.
On the pier.
The top white basket is where we were.
In front of Nathan's and Mia being Mia.
My favorite picture.

Day 4: The Adventure

Today we went on our adventure of New York City with the girls. We walked and we walked. Started the adventure going down the longest street fair I have ever been in. I think it started on 57th Street and ended on 42nd Street. From there, we headed to Broadway to go to the Toys R Us store. The streets were packed. Couldn’t tell we were in any recession while I was walking around the stores. We headed up 5th Ave and checked out the stores that Noemi will be attacking soon. The Disney store was there and the girls almost had a conniption when they saw the entire princess dress collection. We took many pictures in the store with different Disney characters.

The highlight for Noemi was when Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty introduced herself and asked Madison what Madison’s name was and she said, without hesitation, “Cinderella”. Princess Aurora smiled and told Madison (or “Cinderella” as her Highness likes to be addressed) that she also had a friend named Cinderella. It was quite funny. My highlight was getting to dance with the girls at Rockefeller Center while listening at some great street music. And no, I didn’t lose any one today. Enjoy the pictures…

Noemi and the girls at Rockefeller Center


Look at Madison doing a Curtsey... isn't that funny?

More Pictures from Day 4...

At Columbus Circle.
My Tough NYC Girls.
Okay... they couldn't hold the serious face too long.
Madison's Dip.
Mia's Dip

Day 3... Everything but boring!

I am glad to report that we stopped giving Madi her pain meds. She is much more alive and a lot less sensitive. She doens't mind us cleaning her wounds at all right now. That's normally a good sign as it shows that there might not be any infection. I am no doctor but I remember my many wounds. Whenever there was pain, there was infection. We have been keeping her inside to let things heal. Maybe tomorrow we will take her out for a little.

After Mia's afternoon nap, she and I went out for a little fresh air in Central Park. As I am strolling in the park hand in hand with Mia, warm cup of coffee in the other, I kept thinking how fortunate I am to have my family. How lucky I was to be who I was. I was so inspired, I was going to write it down (well, take notes in my palm pilot). It was a beautiful day, 70 degree's at most. As I sat there in just plain bliss, I watch Mia climb over a little pyramid in the middle of the park. As I wait for Mia to run around the cememt pyramid, I am just smiling... and waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Wondering why it is taking so long, I get up from where I sat and start heading over to the other side of this "pyramid" wondering what Mia is up to. She wasn't there. It's so funny how one minute you are thinking life is just grand and then 1 second later, the wonderful sound of children laughing actually sounds like there is mass mayhem. To say the least, I kept really calm. It was pretty much one of the longest 60 seconds. I found her crying walking with a mom looking for me. Whew... (to really say the least). And to all those who are thinking... "how incompetent could he be?" Hey, either you have lost your kid at one time or your dumb butt got lost once too! But I was also thinking... "how incompetent could I be?" It's all good. Made me wonder of all the crap I did to my parents growing up... gheez, this is going to be a long repayment plan isn't this?

After that, we had a great time. We came home, all watched Shrek 3, and ate good ol' New York style pizza. See you tomorrow.

She's looking amazing...
My lil' model
No words...

My Rock Jumper!

Day 2

Today we took Madison to go see the doctor to make sure that everything was good. So far so good. Since the office is right next to the Shops at Columbus, we took the girls there for a little walk. The weather has been really nice the last two days… lower to upper sixties. After lunch and a nap, I decided to take Mia to Chinatown via the subway. She had a blast. What a big girl she is already. It just seemed like yesterday that I was blogging about her adoption. We talked, we laughed, we played, it was great. I know that being a little girl cooped up in an apartment and then in the hospital must be taxing, so I figured it was a well needed escape.

She got to play in the park in Chinatown and then we had a little appetizer at one of my favorite noodle shops. We bought home some good roast pork, spare ribs, and roast duck for dinner. I picked up some dessert for us and we headed back home. I must say though, I was a little nervous taking her there. I don’t know why, but I was.

She’s funny. She kept asking if we are in “New York”. I guess the concept is pretty new to her. Now that she is older and can somewhat reason, she is trying to figure out what we mean when we tell her that we are “in New York.” She calls the apartment her “New York casa.”

As for Madison, she is looking great. Her wounds are very clean and for the most part, she is not complaining when we clean them. I have been taking some really close up pictures of her face so that we can document the changes. If it looks really glossy, it’s because we put a lot of ointment on it… doctor’s orders. When I came home, mommy and Madi were reading up a storm. She loves to read. She takes after my sister. We ate the good grub and they went to bed… all three of them. Noemi has her allergies and they are wearing her down. I attribute the allergies to one thing… STRESS. She got them after giving birth to Madison. She says that it must have been the pregnancy. I say, It was the stress of two kids after the pregnancy.
S
o, I am up, taking in today. I just love it!

Everyday it's getting better!
Mia taking a picture of us!
Madison taking a picture of us.
Mia and Papi on the L train.

Papi's Dim Sum Date.

Part 5... Back in the NYC

Came in yesterday with the family. We brought Mia this time. I guess we like to complicate things but we really missed her every time we came her without her. The plane ride and everything else went great. The girls did great. We got a great surprise when we got here to our apartment. They had just renovated it. It really looks great. We took the girls to Central Park as soon as we settled in so that they could let off some steam. It worked.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am today so we got up at 4:30am to get ready. It is quite cold here (to Miami standards) and at dark-thirty, it's really cold. We got to the hospital right on time and Madi got admitted quickly. It looks like she is an expert when it comes to the hospital. She let the nurses prep her without complaining and even walked into the operating room with a smile on her face. What a champ! We prepared Mia on what was going on and took her to our favorite breakfast spot near the hospital while we waited for Madi to get out of surgery.

Doctors say that all went well. She looks good. They cut here and tucked there, lifted this and stitched that. Looks like we are far from over but they say she is making great progress. Here are some pictures of the last two days.

Sisters in action!

Mia, Madi, and Mommy

The crazy thing is that they climbed by themselves up there!

Right after surgery!

These doctors are amazing!

Almost done...

We went to go see the doctor today again to see how Madison's healing was progressing. He was very excited to see that everything held together perfectly. We were quite excited to know that he doesn't see the need for any more cartiledge. We have a couple more surgeries left to even out her lip and even more laser treatments, but I think the tough part is past us. She really looks great.

After that, we went to the Central Park (again...) but we spent a lot of time walking around. Noemi has found a new love now. The park is truly beautiful this time of year. She rode the carosel and swings but the weather was so nice we just walked and walked. I can understand why people have a place in the city. Noemi and I have put it in our goals to own a vacation place in the city. We will start taking reservations for the guest bedroom in the next few weeks.

She will be getting her stiches out tomorrow morning and probably do some more laser therapy. We will be heading home after that.

Hear are some pictures of the photo op that Madison had this afternoon. Man... we are sooo blessed!

Isn't this just awesome?

More Pictures

Central Park Carosel
Central Park in the Spring
The Profile...
Tulips in Central Park
Madi in Central Park

Just hanging out in the NYC!

I guess the operative word in the last post was… “uneventful.” And that’s the way we like to keep it during our stay in the NYC. Don’t get me wrong, I like adventurous, just not when it involves Madison’s surgery. We have had fun here though. Madison ask to be taken to Central Park every day so that she can go on the swings, we do a lot of walking, we do a lot of eating (especially of the Chinese persuasion), we visit family, we do a lot of dream building, and did I mention a lot of walking?

It is funny going to Central Park this time of year. It’s Madison, Mommy, and me, and all those nannies taking care of their kids. You can tell the tourist here with no problem. They are the ones with their actual kids. It got warm here during the weekend (65 degrees) and it was as if the summer had arrived. People were in their shorts, flip flops, in their bikini’s sunbathing in the Park. Crazy. Kind of like opposite of when it drops to 60 in Miami, where everyone wear’s their ski outfits. Different place, same crap!

Madison is doing great. Her nose looks great and her lip is beginning to show signs of evening out. Like I have mentioned in many other posts, she is very strong. She allows us to clean her wounds without much fuss. Mind you, we need to be talking about Snow White or Cinderella while we clean her wounds, but she lets us without a hassle. I have got to hand it to Noemi. She manages to come up with different lyrics to songs every night she puts her to sleep. Her lack of understanding the lyrics to English lullabies has actually been an asset. She makes up songs as they go. Madison asks her requests on the type of song she would like to hear that night and BAM!, Noemi comes up with it on the spot. Some night’s it’s about Snow White and how she is here in New York with us, or sometimes it’s about Beauty and the Beast in North Carolina. Quite funny I tell you. But Madison loves it. Poor thing, she won’t know the lyrics of any damn song when she get’s older because none have been the same yet.
Here are pictures of the last few days. Enjoy… we sure did!

Late Show with Madison Louk
Mommy and Madi in Times Square
Part 2... (refer back to October's Blog)
Madison's Sexy Eyes
Madison and Brianna

Day 3

Quite uneventful day... Thank God! Poor Noemi isn't sleeping much. Madi keeps waking up every so often. We feel bad for Madison's sleeping arrangement but it really is the best way we have found to keep her safe from herself. We went to see the doctor today and all is good. She is a little bloody but expected. Obviously she hates when we have to clean her wounds but that is understandable. We made it out to Central Park today and that was nice. It is beautiful out here. In the evening we got to eat out with some friends that were also up here doing a procedure for their daughter. It is nice to share stories with people who can understand the pain. They really are great people. We are blessed to have them as friends. You can check out their website at www.porkchopsarah.blogspot.com Here are some pics of the day. Enjoy... we sure did.

Central Park was just more beautiful today than ever!
Our lil'New Yorker
A stroll with daddy...
Everyday she is getting better!