Happy Hanukkah!

Photo from the very inspired A Design Affair.

I'm in the New York Post today!

Not Page Six, but still fun. My thoughts about girls' Halloween costumes are at the end of Would you let your child trick or treat in this?

How 'bout you? Should kid's costumes be more Amish Grandma or Hoochie Mama?

Ladybugs

My lil' pumpkins

Who wore it better?

Picture Day

Let me set the scene:

It's a beautiful day, fall leaves perfectly changing color, blue sky, a slight wind. My daughters, because it was Picture Day at school, our well-attired, beautifully coiffed, a vision. I say, "Let's take a photo by the tree with all the red and orange leaves. It'll look so great!" They groan. They agree to take photos separately. I take them, they look as lovely as I had hoped.

"Now, let me just take one of you two together!" They protest. I take it anyway. And this, is what I get:

Go Phillies!

FYI: Just in case you're wondering, this photo is from October 2009. Unlike his mom, Aaron is not ageless.

From the summer - Happy Birthday Aaron!

The first in a series of summer events that I was unable to document due to my blogcation.

Baby turns one!

Gwizzly Bear!

The kids have started calling me Gwizzly Bear!!! at particularly high decibels. I'm not sure why, but I admit that it is a nice mix of totally annoying and completely endearing.

Howevs... if they are going to keep this up the least they can do is get me this shirt:

Tomorrow is Labor Day. . .

. . . and that means my blogcation is over! So ready your online bookmarks for the posts to return!
Until then, I'm going to enjoy this last day of summer vacation having the perfect mother-daughter day with my son. First we dressed-up and did each other's hair, then a little shopping, followed by a spa lunch of raspberries and grilled chicken with a side of cous cous. A little time in the backyard lying in the sun, and then back inside to the couch where we ate an entire cherry pie while watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon.

Happy Summer Vacation to Me!

Big City Mom is taking her first ever blog-cation and will be back in the fall. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my summer and take a break from blogging - and by enjoy I mean completing a inter-state move with three small kids and visiting my ailing father in the hospital. Anyway, I'll miss my usual blogifications but will look forward to posting again when things are a little more settled down.
In the meantime, read Edamames in the Pod. It's pretty much everything I'd want my blog to be, and more.
And have a happy summer!

We're Moving to the Garden State!

That's right, Big City Mom and her family are headed to New Jersey. Just when you thought we couldn't get any less Big City then living in Westchester, we really up our un-City-ness by moving to Jersey. (In terms of miles from Manhattan, the new house is about the same as our current one).

For those of you unaccustomed to finding out major Big City Mom news via Blog, my apologizes.

For those of you used to it, my apologizes just the same.

End of the School Year Melancholy

The end of the school year always makes me sad in a schmaltzy, sentimental way. Which is hilarious, since I tend to hate everything about my role in the kids schooling. I hate the driving back-n-forth in the ridiculous traffic and pick-up lines. I hate the whole being-on-a-schedule and must-be-on-time thing. I hate making lunch day in and day out. And most of all, I hate having to nag Molly to do her homework.

But with a mere few days left, it's as if I'm someone else. It's as if I loved everything about school. I can't believe tomorrow is my last Friday Volunteer day in Kelly's class! I can't believe Molly will never, ever bring home another first grade art project! And what I really can't believe is that this fall I will have a Kindergartner and a Second-grader.

I know this is hardly an original thought, but it is so true, they really do grow-up so fast.

Baby Aaron eats his first solid food.

That's right, at dinner tonight (technically, this afternoon - we dine early) Aaron ate his first solid food. I'd been meaning to give him something he could pick-up with his own little hands for a few weeks now, but hadn't gotten around to going to the store and getting him anything suitable for baby's first meal yet.

But today - finally - I had time to go to the local health food store and get him some nice low-salt Oatios for his first meal. Followed by gluten-free, sodium-free mini bears. Mmmm.

Eat-up baby, it only gets better from here.

I have a new blog.

It's called Random Handprints, and it's at http://randomhandprints.blogspot.com. I'll still be posting pictures of the kids and random stories here at BCM, but most of the blogging will now be at the new, non-geographical-specific Random Handprints address. Hope to see you there!

Big Day for the Kaby

Kelly gets her first library card!

It is also makes a nifty eye patch:
Or, if the mood strikes,

An equally adorable ear patch:

Happy Lag B'omer! Happy Birthday Jewish Mysticism!

For those of you who are not familiar with this (very fun) Jewish holiday, it was yesterday. Lag B'omer commemorates the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, and is also known as the birthday of Jewish mysticism.


To celebrate, we went to a really great party hosted by the local Chabad chapter here in Larchmont. We jumped in the bouncy castle, ate yummy barbecue, sang songs, shot bows n' arrows (a Lag B'omer tradition, who knew?) and flew kites.

The best part, besides seeing lots of friends and hearing updates about many of our beloved morahs at the Chabad Early Learning Center, was watching Molly stick to the giant velcro wall:

For those who are interested in learning more about the holiday, here is info from the Chabad.org website:

Lag B'omer is the thirty-third day of the Omer, a minor festival falling between Passover and Shavuot, commemorating the end of a plague which killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva’s students; also the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar.

If you don't know what the The Omer Count is, click here and all will be revealed.

Guest Blogger at Big City Mom - Welcome Sarah!

This post is from the very talented and optimistic photographer, Sarah Sloboda. Sarah shares her tips with us for getting the best photos of the little ones this springtime:

Spring is the perfect time to experiment with photography because you can get outside and enjoy the sunshine, the kids can run rampant, and you can turn off the flash and take advantage of the natural light. Some of my favorite places to shoot in New York City are listed below - I recommend letting the kids run free, and experimenting with the direction of the sunlight and backdrops.

1. Brooklyn Bridge Park – There are lots of trees and buildings and bridges, so whatever your pleasure - urban backdrop or greenery - you'll find something here. Plus you can reward the kids with a walk over to the playground when you're done.

2. The High Line – The High Line boasts an awesome stroll for you, and tons of interesting things for kids to occupy themselves with while you frame the perfect shot.

3. Roof decks – Take advantage of your building's (or a friend's) roof deck! Just getting outside into fresh air has an inspiring effect on kids and adults alike. You'll find yourselves breathing deeper, and relishing even a brief respite from the confines of the old apartment.

4. Sheep Meadow – Nestled on the west side of Central Park, diagonally northeast of Columbus Circle, is the sprawling Sheep Meadow, where you can pack a picnic and sit in the sun or shade, blow bubbles, play catch, and capture memories.

5. Prospect Park – A little trip to Prospect Park will reward you with a feeling of connection to nature. Prospect Park is more wild and sprawling than its Manhattan counter-part, and you really will feel like you have traveled outside of the city. Incredibly photogenic views abound.

You can learn lots more tips at University of Sarah, and from Sarah herself this Thursday, April 8, at 12:30pm when she'll be hosting a teleseminar to Introduce "Photo Workshops for Moms." Get all the details here.

Thank you Sarah for sharing your fantastic ideas and for guest blogging here at Big City Mom!

I forgot the baby!

I always worry this will happen, and this morning it did. I was racing around the house, trying to remember everything, reminding Molly what she needed for school on this first day back from spring vacation and asking Kelly ever so nicely if she could please put on a dress or even a tee-shirt over her ever-present bathing suit. Then it was the looking for the shoes, and the sweatshirts, and the arguing over whether they needed a coat if it was going to be 75 degrees later (their argument) or if they needed at least a light sweater because it was only 48 degrees now (my argument). Throw in a heated debate on what exactly constitutes the public schools "closed toe" policy on footwear, and we were on our way. Another lengthy discussion about whose turn it was to sit where, and we were off. Two girls secure in their car seats, one mom at the driver's wheel. I pulled into the school drop off line, said "'Bye Molly! See you after school!" And she replied with her usual, "'Bye mom! 'Bye Kelly! 'Bye Aaron!" Only this time this sentence followed: "Mom! Aaron isn't here!" I tried to stay calm as I said "Don't worry, he's just at home."
Meanwhile I drove home as lickity-split as a person can when they realize they have a six-month-old home alone, and not even necessarily secured in a play pen or stroller. And to make matters worse, because I was so distraught even though school is only half-a-mile away I kept making wrong turn after wrong turn and ended up completely lost. And right when I thought to myself, I am never going to find my house..... I woke up.

R.I.P. Alex Chilton

"Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?I'm in love with that song."

- The Replacements

The Internet startles you sometimes with news of someone's death, even if it's someone you didn't even know. Today was Alex Chilton. I've spent many hours and days and nights listening to his music, and as someone who isn't really even into music, he was one of my only "favorite" artists. I spent a while trying to find a fitting tribute to link to here, but nothing really seemed to reflect my own take on the man and what exactly I thought he was trying to do - and why I thought that was so very cool.

I saw him play the 9:30 Club a lifetime ago, opening for Robyn Hitchcock, I thought I'd find the clip online but no luck. It's probably better remembered through my teenage lens anyway.

R.I.P. Alex Chilton.

Snow !!!! Or Snow &*#%!?

Looks like we're getting enough snow for school to be cancelled tomorrow. Can't decide if that will make for a fun day or a looong day. Last snowfall I outsourced snowman making to my mom who was visiting.

Here's what she built with the four-year-old:

And here's what she and the six-year-old made:

Don't ask why my kid is out in the freezing cold without a coat. But feel free to ask, "what exactly

is she doing in that photo?" Because that question I can answer - She's dancing! With the snowman!

PS The little snowman is for the baby. He didn't get any further then a trip to the porch while the rest of us were having snow fun.

Big City Mom gets a mention in Patch

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure what Patch is, but I always love a link to my blog!

Mother Earth: Oriental Trading You're No Friend of Mine

I get the Oriental Trading catalogue. For some reason this particularly offended me, on behalf of our earth mother - a whole page of disposable plastic (and paper) junk in honor of... EARTH DAY.

Are they fucking kidding? Does Mother Earth want you to make more trash or less trash? Why would you celebrate earth day with plastic erasers and plastic Slinky's? And more important, what marketing genius thought, hey maybe we can get all those save-the-earth idiots to buy paper plates if we just print Earth Day on them?

Take Action Against Childhood Obesity!

Read this.
PS I'm the Anna!

My favorite part of the day

Most nights, I am completely annoying to my kids and ask them all sing-song in my best approximation of 1950s mother-ness, "And what was your favorite part of the day?" Every once in a while they'll give a genuine response but more often then not they answer with something deep and illuminating like "eating poopy for dinner," or "hugging the baby too hard 'till you yelled at me to stop that immediately."

Still, mothering is nothing if not continuing the course even when it seems pointless, so as I sat relaxing on the sofa tonight I said, "Daddy's going to put you to bed tonight, but before he does, I just wanted to know what was your favorite part of the day?" and Kelly says just as sweet as can be, "Oh Mommy, my favorite part of the day was the part when you put me to bed."

Nicely done, Kelly. I hope it was.