Leave it to Grandma to come up with the best birthday gift. Olivia doesn't want to take off her brand new backpack--even at bedtime!
Maybe it's because she's got the coolest new pack on the market, from the geniuses over at Skip Hop. Branching out from their baby background, these veterans of infant gear have created some adorable products for the preschool set.
They make Mama happy too, because this brand new backpack is BPA-free, Pthalate-free and PVC-free. And at 20 bucks, what's not to love?
Olivia tested, Mama approved!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Olivia's Pick--20 July 2009
There's no question that Olivia's pick this week was her backyard, Pooh Bear, pool-side, bouncy-house birthday party! Friends, sun, cake and hours of bouncing made it an afternoon to remember.
We borrowed a bounce house with a water slide from a generous Mama friend; let me tell you, it made the party. The kids bounced around the yard like a pack of Tiggers, stopping only to shove handfuls of cake into their mouths. It was a perfect summer party for my special little birthday girl, one that she likely won't remember and one that I will surely never forget.
We borrowed a bounce house with a water slide from a generous Mama friend; let me tell you, it made the party. The kids bounced around the yard like a pack of Tiggers, stopping only to shove handfuls of cake into their mouths. It was a perfect summer party for my special little birthday girl, one that she likely won't remember and one that I will surely never forget.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Olivia's Pick--12 July 2009
Olivia and I spent a girls' weekend on the town, living it up in the Big Apple. The weather was perfect. We celebrated a sunny Sunday morning eating our bagels in the park and dog-watching. It was divine.
Being the born New Yorker that she is, Olivia suggested we spend the late morning and early afternoon at the Museum of Natural History.
Dinosaurs and other beasties ruled the day. She was most impressed by the life-size blue whale model and kept asking why it wasn't swimming. It was fun-filled and action-packed to say the very least.
Try as she did to keep the momentum going in the city that never sleeps, she wound up crashing for a monster 3 hour nap in the afternoon, giving Mama some much needed down-time.
On our way back to our little seaside Connecticut town, she looked back from her car seat at the skyline and said, "See you next time, New York!"
Being the born New Yorker that she is, Olivia suggested we spend the late morning and early afternoon at the Museum of Natural History.
Dinosaurs and other beasties ruled the day. She was most impressed by the life-size blue whale model and kept asking why it wasn't swimming. It was fun-filled and action-packed to say the very least.
Try as she did to keep the momentum going in the city that never sleeps, she wound up crashing for a monster 3 hour nap in the afternoon, giving Mama some much needed down-time.
On our way back to our little seaside Connecticut town, she looked back from her car seat at the skyline and said, "See you next time, New York!"
Monday, July 13, 2009
Olivia's Pick--21 June 2001
Our lucky little girl attended not one but two birthday parties this weekend. Both were the very best kind of summer party; both were POOL PARTIES!
We had so much fun splashing around while the pads of our fingers shriveled up like our dried fruit snacks. It wouldn't be a stretch to assert that this weekend was one of the best of her life.
It was also a nice reminder that safety and summer fun are inseparable. For kids as young as mine, life jackets are a great accessory for a pool party--or a lakeside or beachside vacation. There's some helpful "Life Jackets 101" information out there, like this from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Pool toys, floaters and rafts are all fun for young swimmers, too. Of course, the most important accessory for any waterside fun is simply a parent's vigilance. Whether they can swim or not, children are drawn to water like 'tween girls to a Jonas Brothers show. In either case, a parent's watchful eye is recommended.
And of course, if you're planning on more than just a little fun under the sun, don't forget the sunscreen.
We had so much fun splashing around while the pads of our fingers shriveled up like our dried fruit snacks. It wouldn't be a stretch to assert that this weekend was one of the best of her life.
It was also a nice reminder that safety and summer fun are inseparable. For kids as young as mine, life jackets are a great accessory for a pool party--or a lakeside or beachside vacation. There's some helpful "Life Jackets 101" information out there, like this from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Pool toys, floaters and rafts are all fun for young swimmers, too. Of course, the most important accessory for any waterside fun is simply a parent's vigilance. Whether they can swim or not, children are drawn to water like 'tween girls to a Jonas Brothers show. In either case, a parent's watchful eye is recommended.
And of course, if you're planning on more than just a little fun under the sun, don't forget the sunscreen.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Olivia's Pick--14 June 2009
"Mama, Mama! I see a bunny! I see a bunny!" Olivia was standing at the back door off the kitchen, gazing into our yard.
I looked out the window over our sink and, sure enough, there was the sweetest, smallest baby rabbit nibbling at our lawn.
"Mama, can we go out and see him?"
"Sure, angel."
So we opened the door as noiselessly as we could. And we tiptoed out, as noiselessly as a 3-year-old in close proximity to a baby bunny can tiptoe.
Before too long, the bunny caught on that he was being stalked and bounced away to safety under our hedge.
"Bunny, come back," Olivia was on the move after him when, all of a sudden, she fell down. Except, from where I was standing, it didn't look like she had actually fallen. She was on the ground, one leg out to the side, but...where was her other leg?
It was, as it turns out, stuck up to the knee in a groundhog hole in the back of our yard. She started crying while I tried very hard not to laugh. I rushed over and pulled her out. But when her foot came out of the hole, I saw only her little pink sock; the hole had kept her sneaker. Once discovered, this prompted a round fresh tears at increased volume.
"MwaaaalssshhhhMySHOOOOOO!"
I brought her inside, dried her tears and offered up a second pair of shoes. (I had peeked down that hole and it was pretty deep. I wasn't about to stick my hand down there after a well-used sneaker from Target.)
Despite the lost shoe, she was calm and smiling within minutes. She's also had considerable fun recounting her harrowing adventure to friends and family.
She hasn't even soured on the bunny in our back yard, or rabbits in general. As I type this, in fact, she has recruited her Papa to go out and look for our backyard bunny. But this time, she's doing it barefoot.
I looked out the window over our sink and, sure enough, there was the sweetest, smallest baby rabbit nibbling at our lawn.
"Mama, can we go out and see him?"
"Sure, angel."
So we opened the door as noiselessly as we could. And we tiptoed out, as noiselessly as a 3-year-old in close proximity to a baby bunny can tiptoe.
Before too long, the bunny caught on that he was being stalked and bounced away to safety under our hedge.
"Bunny, come back," Olivia was on the move after him when, all of a sudden, she fell down. Except, from where I was standing, it didn't look like she had actually fallen. She was on the ground, one leg out to the side, but...where was her other leg?
It was, as it turns out, stuck up to the knee in a groundhog hole in the back of our yard. She started crying while I tried very hard not to laugh. I rushed over and pulled her out. But when her foot came out of the hole, I saw only her little pink sock; the hole had kept her sneaker. Once discovered, this prompted a round fresh tears at increased volume.
"MwaaaalssshhhhMySHOOOOOO!"
I brought her inside, dried her tears and offered up a second pair of shoes. (I had peeked down that hole and it was pretty deep. I wasn't about to stick my hand down there after a well-used sneaker from Target.)
Despite the lost shoe, she was calm and smiling within minutes. She's also had considerable fun recounting her harrowing adventure to friends and family.
She hasn't even soured on the bunny in our back yard, or rabbits in general. As I type this, in fact, she has recruited her Papa to go out and look for our backyard bunny. But this time, she's doing it barefoot.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Olivia's Pick--8 June 2009
Central Park has always been one of my favorite things about New York City. It's an oasis, a sea of life surrounded on all sides by the steel and concrete on which New Yorkers build their dreams. The park makes the noise and the pace of the city a bit more bearable; inside its lush greenery, you can come up for air.
Yesterday, Olivia and I spent the day (the perfect, glorious, sunshine-y day) exploring the park. After poking around the flea market on the Upper West Side and stowing our treasures in canvas bags hanging off the stroller handles, we made our way east into Central Park.We entered at Strawberry Fields and watched the tourists snapping photos. We saw penguins, puffins and polar bears. We snooped on one of Manhattan's most famous residents with a high powered telescope. (It's someone we've enjoyed reading about recently.) We admired sailboats as they glided silently past. We joined a mad tea party, already in progress.I
t was one of those days when the universe conspires to spread smiles on the faces and joy in the hearts of Mamas and little ones everywhere. It was as perfect a day as any in my memory. And I got to share it with her.
Lucky, lucky me.
Yesterday, Olivia and I spent the day (the perfect, glorious, sunshine-y day) exploring the park. After poking around the flea market on the Upper West Side and stowing our treasures in canvas bags hanging off the stroller handles, we made our way east into Central Park.We entered at Strawberry Fields and watched the tourists snapping photos. We saw penguins, puffins and polar bears. We snooped on one of Manhattan's most famous residents with a high powered telescope. (It's someone we've enjoyed reading about recently.) We admired sailboats as they glided silently past. We joined a mad tea party, already in progress.I
t was one of those days when the universe conspires to spread smiles on the faces and joy in the hearts of Mamas and little ones everywhere. It was as perfect a day as any in my memory. And I got to share it with her.
Lucky, lucky me.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Olivia's Pick--31 May 2009
Writing! W-R-I-T-I-N-G! Olivia has burst through the initial barrier of literacy! This weekend (with a fair amount of assistance from me, I'll admit it) she wrote her name! In hot pink sidewalk chalk on our slate patio, the letters O-L-I-V-I-A are clearly and gloriously legible.
I felt like throwing a party.
She made calls, told the grandparents and reveled in the general hooplah Mama and Papa were making. But despite all that, her memory of The First Time She Wrote Her Name will doubtless fade into the mists of childhood experience.
But not for me. I'll never forget it: The bright pink color of the chalk and how she had it smeared on her forehead. The navy batik shirt she was wearing, and how it tied in the back. The way she went running, yelling "Papa! Papa! I wrote my name!" The hug I gave her and the way her skin smelled like sunshine, sunscreen and the ocean.
These things, I will not forget. Not for the rest of my life.
This is how it was, the day that she wrote her name for the first time.
I felt like throwing a party.
She made calls, told the grandparents and reveled in the general hooplah Mama and Papa were making. But despite all that, her memory of The First Time She Wrote Her Name will doubtless fade into the mists of childhood experience.
But not for me. I'll never forget it: The bright pink color of the chalk and how she had it smeared on her forehead. The navy batik shirt she was wearing, and how it tied in the back. The way she went running, yelling "Papa! Papa! I wrote my name!" The hug I gave her and the way her skin smelled like sunshine, sunscreen and the ocean.
These things, I will not forget. Not for the rest of my life.
This is how it was, the day that she wrote her name for the first time.
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