Jailbreak!

Saturday morning, Alaina made a bid for freedom. She was moving so fast our security camera only captured these 2 grainy pictures before she was off like greased lightning:

As you can see, she was fully aware she was being monitored and even took a few moments to shoot us a mocking glance before scooting off. The girls are clearly more close knit than we gave them credit for since Gaby refused to give Alaina up or offer any useful information regarding her whereabouts.

We finally found Alaina downstairs with the cat playing video games.

All the commotion made Danielle and I hungry; and we had one of our odd Outback cravings. Since we live so close, we decided to risk it and try lunch with the kids. Believe it or not, this was our first time going "out" to eat with Gaby and Alaina in NYC. We've done it multiple times in RI, which wasn't much of an issue since the girls love being passed from lap to lap. But with just Danielle and I, we weren't sure what was going to happen.

In a nutshell, it did not go well. Things got off on the wrong foot when we arrived 1 hour before Outback opened. So it was a choice between sweating in the park, or looking at electronics in the nicely air conditioned (and next door) Best Buy.

I think you know what happened. The girls go to the park every day. But Danielle had yet to see the really cool LED TV I saw earlier in the week:

Look how thin! Makes our LCD flat panel look downright portly!

Upon entering Outback, we quickly realized how QUIET the place is during lunch. Uh oh! Din. We need Din! Gaby's fussiness initially manifests itself not with crying, but loud "talking." This is how things started, so Danielle hoped putting Gaby on her lap would quiet things down:

Gaby quickly picked up a beer-soaked coaster and made it a toy:

Unfortunately things didn't get any better and Gaby thought it was a great time and place to practice her singing voice. Technically she didn't throw a tantrum, but not even Outback is the right place to start yodeling at the top of your lungs:

So, lunch was to go. Actually, Danielle in her infinite kindness, told me I could eat my steak at the restaurant if I would schlep her salad back home with me. After much arm twisting I relented.

It was not all pandemonium, however. We had a homecoming of sorts when we returned to St. Vincent's NICU for the first time since Gaby and Alaina came home. Not everyone was there, but we were able to snap a few pictures of some of very helpful people that made the girls' progress possible.

Irma and Jackie:

Susan, nearing the end of a very long shift:

It was an emotional moment for everyone. Seeing the people, and hearing the beeps, buzzes, and alarms that filled the NICU brought back a flood of memories for Danielle and me. Glancing around I noticed an x-ray on the wall, and I had to remind myself that those weren't one of our girls' intestines being imaged. But the x-ray belonged to someone's baby, and that baby means the world to a lot of people. Of course, that "lot of people" includes the great people at St. Vincent's.

It was an undeniably happy visit. And we can't wait to go back and see everyone we missed!