The Kitchen Table

Pants, Dots, Art

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was proud of these pants. They are far from perfect, but they are my first go at making my own pattern and whipping out a pair for Rabbit. Mr. Captain gets a similar pair as whatever one gets, the other does. Two of everything isn't so hard. 

Lesson One: Make sure your pattern is going the correct way so you don't bollocks a bunch of fabric into weirdly unusable pieces that are sitting under the desk waiting for Godot.

Lesson Two: Be sure you do, in fact, cut a back side to your pattern so you don't give your bubs a permanent low-rise. I'll likely take out the 3/4" elastic and replace it with 1/4" to get a little more life from these pants since I think they are bright and fun for spring.

Bama's in the background, tucked into the ball pit at the Children's Museum of the Arts, a magical place we're lucky to have easy access to. The museum hosts a laundry list of art classes for smalls to teens as well as a drop-in "messy art" time. We've managed to make it to the actual art segment a few times, but lately, with Rabbit's nap, we show up just as the sing-along starts. (Drop-in is $22 a family and includes art, singing, and a story. Membership is $250 and friends who have it love it.) There is an ambient space, a ball pit, and a small slide for getting the yayas out. We've never seen most of hte museum because we're consumed by the messy art and playspace. 

Rabbit's still too small for the ball pit.I don't mind because I think it's a bit Lord of the Flies to my liking. Doesn't mean he won't try to get in, though.

Bama and Tom, the early childhood program manager. They are gluing bits to a piece that will be mounted in the upstairs part of the wee arts area. She told him her life story while they discussed the benefits of squishy pieces vs. felty pieces of the collage.

Rabbit working out crayons and paper on the wall.

Dot paints! Ooh!

 

Dot paints. Pas dan la bouche!

Sister works on her own piece. Flubber bucket in the background.

She loves flubber. LOVES it.

Back upstairs. (The dot paints and flubber are on the lower floor along with clay, magnetic magic, hte sing-along. Upstairs are watercolors, gluing, a sand table. Also, a perfect place for Rabbit to play peekaboo with Kelsey, one of hte teaching artists. 

I can't say enough good things about CMA. It's a beautiful space, and the teaching artists seem to have endless patience and creativity when it comes to being with small children. Plus, they do interesting installations, like Love from Mt. Pom Pom from Japanese artist Misaki Kawai. The museum has been transformed by whimsical additions like a giant fuchsia dog who comes with a two-foot long comb for its fur. The New York Times is one of hte many entranced by the exhibit. (We did not, of course, see this exhibit because we were too busy being messy!)

 

Where We Went: Vermont

For Thanksgiving, we boarded the Amtrak Vermonter and headed to Norwich to see one of our favorite families. 

We left a pretty cold New York for a very cold Vermont. Snow started falling about an hour after we arrived. By morning, we had enough for sledding. But no clothes for Bama as I'd planned to get her snow gear up there as I had last year.

Luckily, the Ms are dialed into the town. Friends offered to let us use a suit, a jacket, and boots (ours wouldn't arrive from Lands' End until after we returned to New York). Wow! Bama wore the pants every day, even as the snow began to melt and drip in the warming air. There was enough on the playground to make snowpants feasible. I think, though, that it could have been 90 degrees and she would have insisted on wearing the suit she was so excited. (The friends, it turned out, didn't just loan the suit, they gave it to us. BaMa says there's a great tradition of handing down in town. The kindness of strangers.)

 

The village green is about a block from the house, next to the school, adjacent to the park, and all things good.

At Monshire Museum of Science, Bama explored airplay. This is one of several tables with tubes and airflow thrusting balls about. There's also a very cool table that does something similar, but with a maze inside. By opening or closing windows on the edge of the table, The child's choices affect the path the balls take. It's pretty cool, even if she doesn't get what is happening right now.

Rabbit explores one of the bubble tables. 

And here, he spins the wheel to make the caldera flame up or cool down. 

Baby snapping turtles, part of the rotating water exhibits on the first floor.

Insane and amazing leafcutter ants. Did you know there are multiple sizes and jobs? Soldiers are freaky big, with powerful heads and bodies that tower over the workers.

Montshire is one of those local spots that make you feel lucky to have it. In the bay area, the Exploratorium, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, and even Habibot are similar (the latter are not quite the same, as they are more strictly play spaces)

Montshire is worth a visit if you're in the area. For girls, it's an especially important destination. Dr. Ladyfriend, with a PhD from MIT, a postdoc with the NSF, and now a position at Carnegie Mellon, said she was on a diversity outreach board listening to presentations about potential fund allocations. The problem, we agreed, is that college is too late. Girls need to be encouraged early to pursue math and science (even if they don't choose those areas for a career) because they continue to track out of it by high school. By the time they get to college, many of them lack the math or science background to continue -- unless they are serious about science and doing additional coursework as some friends have done. 

 

Rainy Day Indoor Play

The Children's Museum of Art moved from the east side to the west side at the end of September. We'd never made it last fall, or winter, or summer, to try out the drop-in art classes. But now that it's a little closer, so close we spent two hours in line waiting for Bama to become a Baby Tiger, we've made it, GASP!, twice. 

The first time we went was nearly our last. The place was crammed in spite of its three floors of art areas well-maintained by an incredibly patient staff. Art for 45 minutes or so followed by frenetic but fun music featuring Tom, CMA's early childhood program manager, and Annie, one of the teaching artists. They have great chemistry and fabulous rubbery faces. Drop-in ends with a story. It's all a bit fast-paced for me, but it's also close and Bama loves art so ...

We went again yesterday.

It was busy, but not mayhem, and we saw friends from Bama's school, which made it more fun. They both got to have a drum, even though Rabbit opted to bang and lick his.

Bama can't get enough music. She loves her birthday guitar, she loves these drums. She made it clear that we are lacking a drum, a tall drum, in this house and that must be remedied. She put it on her Christmas list to Santa.

 

Ferry Fun Sunday

I have a list of things to do before we leave NYC that last year, when we were to be here for a year, seemed necessary but unwieldy. On it, sledding in a park. (Last year, I tried to take Bama when I was 38 weeks pregnant after the first blizzard. It didn't happen.)

On the list: Staten Island Ferry. Like all good local "things to do," in New York or elsewhere (I still have not been to Alcatraz except to work a catering event at it; Coit Tower when I was 18), most of our New York friends have never done the ferry. 

But, with kids especially, it's genius. For starters, it's free. Then, you get an excellent view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (still free). And, you get to see Roosevelt Island, cruise through the water, and you can have a cup of coffee while you're on board.

 

Bama and friend O saying good-bye to Manhattan.

Rabbit: I like this bench. I like this boat. I like you!

The gaggle on our return. O and M, Bama and Rabbit. 

Post ferry, post Shake Shack, 1 Train Uptown return. 

Here's the last bit of genius regarding the ferry. You never need get wet or snowed upon. Take the subway, dash 15 yards to the ferry building door, board. Done. 

At the other end, get off (indoors), walk 100 yards, make a right, pass the fish tanks (fish tanks!), and get back on. Still indoors. Still free. Still so awesomesauce I'm giddy.

Day at the Park

In truth, nearly every day is a day at the park, but when friends come to town, we always push for meeting in Central Park. We don't get there enough on our own, which is silly because we love it. I love it, Bama loves it, Mister loves it, and now Rabbit loves it, too.

Lucky us when the M&Ps came to town. We hooked up in Columbus Circle where the girls ran around in circles while A and I looked for coffee for me. Desperate me. 

One majorly happy family. I love these people.

So does Rabbit, no matter how serious he wants you to think he is: What? This is my New York face!

Up the big rocks by Heckscher Playground. Mama M led Bama and S up and over and around into a secret house with a sofa.

There are thirteen parks in Central Park? But we love Heckscher. We keep going back for its sun, the rocks, the great expanse of space in the sand and the swings and all of it. 

 

Storming the castle!

 Showing off our new ribbons. I think S might have negotiated for them.

Big hugs good-bye from the big girls.

Rhinebeck Sheep, Wool, Girl

Mister and I woke Bama bright and early to dress her and whisk her north on Amtrak to Rhinebeck for the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival, commonly known to knitters as Rhinebeck. I had everything ready to go the night before, including her Nova dress which I'd blocked (oh yes I did!) and a lot of snacks, books, crayons. We had a two hour train ride, and while I hoped she'd sleep, I didn't think it likely.

Alert and keen for her adventure! We picked up coffee and egg sandwiches at Penn Station before getting to the train. A very nice woman held our place in line while I ordered the sandwiches, then, as we stood before the escalator to go down to the train, the Homeland Security (maybe?) told the guy behind us to grab my stroller for me. Thanks!

On the train, eating a pear and reading her beautiful and beloved book, The Little Red Fish, a magical story whose beautiful illustrations tell about Jeje's adventure at the library. A colleague, Clare LePell, gave it to me as a babyshower gift along with Henry Works, a story about a bear/Henry David Thoreau. 

I'm so silly!

Sheep shearing! A good introduction to the sheep because they are out of their pens, which are inside the dark barns, and looking lovely. Bama wondered if one of the farmers would be snipping the big ball of yarn between one of the sheep's legs. The farmer laughed. I laughed. We had a penis talk. Don't want to cut off the important bits, now, do we?

Sheep of many varieties, goats, llamas, and alpacas. You can touch them, ask questions, smell them. It's amazing. We came home with alpaca teddy bears, one named Luke for Bama, another for Rabbit when he gets a bit bigger.

Peeking.

Afterwards, we walked back to my friend KK's house. She'd picked us up from the train, then walked us to the fair. We spent hours looking at animals, eating lamb (of course!), and touching yarn. We barely covered half the site. 

Back at KK's, we rested a bit. Bama explored as many toys as possible. She was especially excited about the guitar. This girl. Give her an instrument and she's happy. Not long after this photo was taken, she was outside, running around with the big kids who are living the perfect childhood life. Outside as much as possible, making up games, creating fantasy worlds. Fairies, animals, whatever in the yard and woods by the house. They reminded me of my own childhood. We spent an inordinate amount of time creating worlds, looking for seeds, whatever. Glorious. (And best for cognitive development.)

Dinner with the KKB's, then back to the train. My girl was done by the time we reached Penn Station. Poor thing fell asleep in the stroller somewhere between 34th and 33rd Streets. I had to wake her to get home, wake her when we got home. But, wow, she loved the day. She's mentioned something about Rhinebeck every day this past week.

Next year, a few more $$ for wool. Oh my head. I wish I knit faster.

Baby Tiger

Mama, she said, Baby tigers don't roar. Then she giggled.

Mister was out of town on business through Saturday evening. What's an exhausted mama to do on a probably rainy day with her cubs?

Moomah for breakfast! We shared oatmeal and greek yogurt and put it all away. I don't think I've seen Carver eat so much.

Then to the Children's Museum of the Arts grand opening of its new space on Charlton St. I wanted to take us last winter, but we never made it for the drop-in art. Hopefully, we'll get it together this fall/winter.

The street was packed with strollers, toddlers, and parents. After doodling on a sidewalk paper, we moved on to go inside until we saw the face-painting.

Face-painting, like bubbles, strollers, and dollies, is like crack for children. If you bend, you are committed. Do not think of getting out of line. Two hours (TWO) later, the baby tiger was born.

(Why two hours? I thought it would take 30. You tell your child, who is now missing lunch and getting close to nap, that you aren't waiting anymore and wait for the hysterics and you decide if it's worth it. To me, it was not. We were all tired, kind of happy, but tired, so waiting was the way to go. We weren't alone. The parent grumbles were loud: ONE face-painting artist (and how her hand didn't seize up, I don't know) for the opening of a children's art museum? And, she did detailed faces. Last year, Juniper got a sweet little bumble bee in longer time. Sweet, but not as beautiful. 

Baby Tiger was thrilled. Each child was thrilled the second the artist flipped a mirror up for them to see, up cracked wide grins and sparkles where uncertainty had been over what was going on with the brushes and cold and sponges and glitter. She smiled and waved at people all the way home. 

Two hours is nothing. Rawr!

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For those of you wondering, Carver will get his day on the blog. It's tough at nine months in the city. He's in a carrier or stroller a lot. We don't have the luxury of the mamas' group we were part of when Juniper was born. (I'm still tight with them, thank goodness! Ten out of eleven have had or are having our second ... it's different this time for all of us.)

Coney Island or Bust!

My friend and I have been talking about where to go with the girls. I have a "New York before we leave" list, but they are from here and have some of the same, and some different! on the list. In part because we know different things, but also because when you're local, there are things you don't rush to do. Me, have only been to Alcatraz to work a catering gig. Coit Tower the night before I left for college and it wasn't my idea.

Big hits on our lists: Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium. We made it to the zoo in early August when Pace was in town. These kinds of trips are not uneventful. We had to load two more carseats into Natasha's family-fantastic car. Then strollers. Then adults. And my coffee. We barely made it.

Now the aquarium is a straight shot on the F Train to Coney Island. Elevator at my station, ramp or something at the other end. Rain was predicted for the week. We got some, by the way, not enough to clear out the horrid humidity and the vestiges of a summer that needed to be over (Hello, Fall!!), but we thought, if it rains, let's see fish!

Did we firm up this plan? Yes, this morning but crazy texts. I can get us dressed and out the door in thirty minutes! I said, engaging in my usual game of "I can get this family out the door" akin to the 70s game show about music. We agreed, via text, we'd meet up on the train.

People, you know that a large part of the subway is underground, right? Down we go, trying to get to the 10:24 train (about an hour later than I'd planned). Texting frantically! It turns out, Bird and her mama are on the train behind us. 

Rabbit, Bama, and I hopped off at 4th Ave./9th St. in Brooklyn to try to get on the same train. This spot, it's like Colma but less ugly, more ugly, weirder. The cemetary is split by the train. Look left or right, see a sea of memories. I wish I had better shots of the headstones, and of the clusters of them. All from my iPhone.

We didn't meet up at that station. More time-underground-delayed messages. We hop on, shuttle to the next station, off, then on. This time, we're on the same train, different cars. We all have to get off at King's Highway because there's track work. All of us off, down the stairs, up the stairs (two strollers, two toddlers, infant in ergo! oh my!). Natasha and me wondering how people do it. How do New Yorkers who don't look like I look -- casual, unkempt -- do it. (They use car services or don't do outings like this, the nanny does.) 

Then. 8th St./Coney Island. The smell of the Atlantic. A bit of the boardwalk, us wondering why hadn't we done this earlier? 

And, fish. I'm going to have to add a couple of pictures to the post, from the first fish tank of wonderment. Rabbit was agog watching the colors, but you won't see much of him as he was mostly with me while I was taking photos.

 

There are a few sections to the aquarium. We went through the outside section, walruses, northern fur seals, California sea lions, seals, otters. I'd never seen a walrus. My new favorite!

The girls looked like this for most of the day, which began at 12:30 or so:

I can't say the shark exhibit moved me much, not compared with Steinhart, for example, but you could zip behind the seals, penguins, and other swimmers to see into the tanks (and catch some seahorses!).

The walruses were doing laps, with a tidy turn at this window. They come from the murk, turn, and vanish. It's awesome. I told Natasha I wanted a cup of tea and to stay there all day. It was incredibly soothing.

Checking out the whiskers.

A koi pond and turtles. The girls are watching the fish teasing one of the swimming turtles who is on his way to a baby and another turtle on the bank. Baby turtles are cute! Natasha's grandmother has had turtles in her backyard forever. She can call to them and they'll come lumbering for melon. 

We rolled home at 4:45. You got that right. A dinner of curry soup, with star pasta instead of udon because we were out and I'm creative, everyone in bed, more or less, by 8pm. 

When I asked Bama what she liked the best today, she said the seahorses, the walruses, and the turtles. Oh, and I think she really liked all the fish. And the seals. And the ....

... you get the picture.

 

Maker Faire, NYC-style

Mister and I have gone to two Maker Faires together, both in California at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. Ugh. I want to like the Maker Faires, I do, but both rounds have been crowded, hot, and filled with really neat exhibits sandwiched between Wacky Uncle Al's garage experiments. For at least one of those faires, Bama was tiny. Maybe I was pregnant for the other? 

When Mister proposed going to this year's NYC faire, I agreed because it was out in Flushing, Queens and a field trip is always a nice way to spend a Saturday. (Yes, I said Flushing.)

We aimed to be there at 10am, arrived at 11am. "Hello Queens!" Bama cheered as we exited the 7 train.

I expected hordes.

Hordes of upper middle class people streaming through Flushing, making haste for robots. Instead, it was a calm procession of (generally middle, upper middle class) families and couples and small groups headed to the New York Hall of Science (I'm in science love!). It made for a striking juxtaposition, and Mister thought I was cynicical, when I said, "Follow the white people" to the faire because it was a parade of a different complexion from its route. I can't help but point out my own discomfort at what feels a little like flaunting ... hey, look at us! We're enlightened and creative! And mostly white! Let's go to the fair ... with an e!

But once we passed the gate, it was like visiting Old Faithful. More! Show me again! What's that? Cool!

First stop, MakerBot turtle shell racers. Zippy little robots driving around a mini-track. 

  Onto the solar-powered carousel where we met up with my friend, KJ. Off to the lifesize Mousetrap. A game no one I know has ever actually played, even if it was around. The rules, the set-up. Bring on Monopoly, instead. As we stood in the late morning sun, listening to the warm-up, I thought, "Glass half-empty. Get on with it!" It was pretty cool, watching the bowling balls do their thing and hearing the CRUNCH! of the car as the ginormous weight dropped on it. 

But the set-up took time, so Bama, who didn't want to see any mice, and Mister backed away to play with the awesome bubble world, which included a human-pedaled air system to create bubbles (how's that for a lame explanation). Mister's pedaling while Bama's using both racquets to make many tiny bubbles. Also in this area, the do-it-yourself copper coil boats (think Ponyo and his candle-powered boat). 

Sesame Reads had several kids' projects to do, including making a boat or something that floats, and then seeing how many dominoes it could hold (six) before it started to take on water. We also made some paper bag puppets and raced cars to see what incline did to affect speed. Science!

We played with Lego robots. Big hit.

The Museum of Math (to open in NYC in 2012) had this incredible geometric ball (knot? I don't know) that Bama could spin, touch, poke. She loved it. She started working on building a second one with one of the volunteers but (bummer!) some of the pieces were missing. Hidden box!

It took some doing, but we made our way to Frites and Steak (despite having picked up sandwiches from Local). Okay, Mister made his way with the stroller (Rabbit came, too, saw much, and touched nothing) while we stopped and went through the PVC Misting Keyhole Tunnel. Someone small went through, 20 times?  KJ gamely joined her for a couple of laps then: "I'm very wet!" she'd yell before scooting around the sides to get through the tunnel again. KJ gamely joined her for a couple of laps then,

We hit the Etsy stand, shimmied through the craft section, and then hung out at the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir for about 15 minutes. I should make this its own post because the photo (thanks, Mister!) is so freakin' fantastic! The fish and the lobsters move and sing. Hilarious!!

 Also, on the musical front, I don't have a picture, but the Midi Controlled Musical Robots were phenomenal. Fun to look and listen to, Bama danced around them for a while before we found the fish car. If you go, don't miss the amazing fire-breathing dragon. So cool.

 

Back

I wish I'd been able to hold a camera while walking off the plane and out through security at JFK. A shot of Mister's face as he saw us coming around the corner. Bama kicking and waving. Rabbit, turning to his papa, smiling and reaching up and touching his face. 

Mmm, that face. Scrubbed, shaved, and so lovely to see. He and I both had hoped Bama would have been able to run to him, but she was in the carrier (on my belly!) because she'd been stuck in her carseat for six hours on the plane and wanted to cuddle. I was carrying a couple of bags and pulling Rabbit along (now in carseat attached to a Go-Go Kidz Travelmate).

(She's literally pulling her weight, from the airplane back to security. By the time we hooked up with Aunty Amy, I was carrying the blankets and the backpack while she had the carseat.)

After two weeks away, the three of us returned from our visit to California. We saw "lots of people!" "All of my friends!" said Bama. We did. Maybe we packed in a bit too much, especially those first couple of days, but we had people to see and foods to eat. (I'm sad Bakesale Betty's wasn't open. 11am - 1:45pm? What kind of hours are those?) 

On the food front, we got a few fan favorites: Zachary's pizza (spinach and mushroom with sausage added, thanks for sharing, Uncle A!); a quick morning at Pizzaiolo (buttermilk doughnut holes and a slice of fritatta) with Aunty Cake and Aidan; Tacubaya with Aunty Cake and Nana (the soup, oh, how I miss the soup and the chips). On the other hand, we didn't make it to one farmers' market, and that makes me sad days later, back in New York. Not one, fresh from the tree, juicy end of summer peach. Never mind that Rabbit and I went to one of our markets when we returned home, only to find some of the saddest peaches ever. EVER. What else we missed: the great hamburger at Wood Tavern; Arizmendi's English muffins, sour sourdough baguette, a slice of pizza; a quick shop for anything at Berkeley Bowl. 

We did get to see the water and some of the mamas from Bama's and my mama's group. Aunty Cake and Aunty A joined us with The Captain and Joe the Pirate Monkey. We arrived, both of my babies crashed out in the back of Minty, which I'd borrowed back from my brother's family for a few days. 

Rabbit and The Captain held a chew-a-thon while Bama and the bigger kids ran laps on the ramp and lawn.

 

Lord of all I survey!

 

 We had some satisfying tacos from a place a couple of blocks away. I think I could have had tacos every day while we were home. New York: bagels. Tie: pizza. California: Mexican. New York should stop pretending to have great Mexican food in the same way that Californians should stop defending our bagels (even the great California bagels are not as good as New York's).

I'd made plans with Aunty Jenny to linger at their place for a few hours while everyone had naps. I initially thought we'd bail, but Bama wanted to see Mr. Wilson and Aunty Jenny and Baby Roo. No naps were had, but Mr. Wilson and Bama did their best Ma and Pa Kettle impression on the porch:

Before heading inside to pour water all over the bathroom floor. Awesomesauce!