I tip my hat to funny baby jokes such as this .....

Dr. Visit

A woman and a baby come into the doctor's office.

She is taken into an examining room and waits for the doctor.

After arriving there, the doctor examines the baby, and finds him not gaining much weight and asks the woman, "Is he breast fed or on the bottle?"

"Oh...he is breast fed!", replied the woman.

"Well then, strip down to your waist," orders the doctor.

She takes off her top and bra and sits on the examine table.

The doc starts pressing, kneading and pinching both breasts for quite a while in a very detailed and thorough examination.

The doc motions to her to get dressed, then the doctor says, "No wonder this baby is so hungry. You don't have any milk!"

The woman with a wry grin on her face responds, "Well of course I don't, I'm his aunt!"

Mommy By Mistske - my new piece of literature

You know when you have something really good and you always just expect it to be there and then one day, when you least expect it, it's gone? Well that was how I felt about the bookstore in the building that I work at.

The B. Dalton bookstore that has homed my "What's different?" books, the first book I ever bought my son as well as various cookbooks that I plan on using one day was going out of business.

To commemorate the store's closing I thought I'd buy one last book to hold to it's memory. Though the store was almost bare, I was able to find a diamond in the rough.

I am always on the look out for mom books that are inspiring or relatable. The title of the book sold me 50%- Mommy By Mistake and then the other 50 was the inscription. The books is about a self-employed woman who was living her single life to the fullest when she became pregnant out of the blue. Though I am only five chapters in, the book is hitting very close to home so far. From her pregnancy, to wanting to gain friends, to the difficulty of traveling with a baby, the book is hard to put down.

While I love to get lost in my (well...my boyfriend's) Zune on the way to work, I have now dedicated that time to read this book. It must be a gripping novel since I'm nervous about where this is going to lead. Will someone get pregnant again? Will she bump into her son's father and tell him that he has a son? Will she get married? Will someone's baby get hurt? All very plausible...

Now...on to chapter 7. Stay tuned....

New York Trains vs. Chicago Trains

VS

So during my visit home, I was very excited to see how to maneuver around New York using the trains with a baby. Since I use the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) quite often to get around Chicago, it was bound to be easier in NY considering the MTA (Mass Transit Authority) is one of the largest train systems in the world, right? Well, let me tell you....

After taking the train to Midway in Chicago, I totally forgot that there was none from LaGuardia to the city. Whoops. Being a native New Yorker, you can imagine my embarrassment of getting lost not once, not twice but three times on the train. Either we got on the wrong one or went in the wrong direction. Why? Because New York is so thorough in their transit system that they not only have trains numbered but lettered, on many different platforms, with many elevators (and escalators) and they even have three (that's right, THREE) A trains all of which start at one stop but end at three separate stops.

With all of this being said, the train rides were not bad. They were pretty frequent, there was always a spot for us to sit down (believe it or not!) and there were many other moms on the train who were traveling as well.

So here is a breakdown of pros and cons that I've experienced from both transit systems so far.

Chicago

Pros

• There is elevator access at three downtown locations
• The trains run pretty late (if you happen to be out clubbing with your kids)
  
• There are heating stations at the stops so you feel like a lil Chicken Nugget while you wait
• The stations are pretty clean and rat free
• There are trains that take you directly to the airport
• Many stations now have flat screen tvs with the weather and time
  

Cons

• There are only three elevator locations in the loop
• There are times that the elevators don't work (like the ones in the airport)
  
• The trains are narrow so you can't really fit the stroller on the train without blocking someone in
• You tend to get really dirty looks if you get on a train at certain hours (especially rush hour)
  

New York

Pros

• There are many, many trains to take you to almost every part of the city
• The trains operate 24 hours
• The trains are very spacious so you have room for stroller
• Believe it or not, people are very courteous to help with the stroller
• There are news/snack stands in some of the stations
• There is plenty of room to change a diaper in the stroller and no one gives you funny looks (I know first hand)
• The newer trains have screens that list the upcoming stops

Cons

• It is very easy to get lost or confused (Con- there are lots of maps in the stations)
• There is a very annoying alarm goes off every time you open the doors
• There are many, many stairs to use if there is no elevator. Many, many...many stairs
• There are some pretty strange people on the train, but with a population of 10 million there's bound to be a weirdo or two
• There is no direct train that takes you to the airports

So which train system is the best? It is hard to say without being biased, I mean being from New York I'll always think that what the city has to offer is better than anywhere else. Although Chicago's trains are cleaner my vote is for New York! The reasons I deem New York the winner are:

1. You get one hell of a workout going up and down all those stairs
2. There are more train cars and they are bigger, longer (giggedy) and can fit more strollers
3. You can take the train almost anywhere without having to worry about transferring to a bus or walking too far.
   

What are your thoughts of mass transit? Do you have any interesting stories? Email them to me at mitc@momsinthecity.net

Great Christmas Gift Video

This video is definitely one of my favorites. Who knew that Nintendo 64 was that great. (Obviously not enough people otherwise they'd still be around, right??)

iPhone application "Shake Baby"- FAIL!

So I'm sure you fellow moms have heard about this application already, but it still shocks me that someone thought that this was a good, and profitable, idea!



This application for iPhone has crying babies and you shake the iPhone until the baby stopping crying and has two red X's over it's eyes. Apparently this was released on a Monday by Apple themselves but removed by that Wednesday. For shame Apple. Two thumbs down.

Read more here!