Local Company: Pure Play Kids

I finally placed an order with the locally-based and owned company Pure Play Kids. I'd been seeing the company's toys at my friends' houses and I was starting to get toy envy. We got these two felt playmats (Sea Life and Transportation, right) for an upcoming plane trip. Of course I'm bringing the iPad, since I'll be traveling with 2 kids by myself with a layover, but I'd like to last at least an hour- maybe two!!!- without technology.

The wooden animals from Pure Play Kids are beautiful- my friend has several and they are large and sturdy. (I put them on my wish list.) This bus is also a great piece.

Check out the very nice Facebook page with useful tips, links, and coupon codes!

From the Pure Play Kids website:

Pure Play Kids offers one of the largest selections of battery-free, TV-free, creative playthings in the USA. We have a sharp focus on creativity, safety and natural materials. So whether you seek wooden toys, cloth dolls, natural teethers, Waldorf toys or the perfect baby gift, Pure Play Kids has you covered. Additionally, Made in America toys are the bulk of our offering, and the remainder are fine European toys. Kid-powered is the term we use to describe our products. Let kids provide the motion, sounds, storyline and characters that drive the toys – not vice-versa – and witness a flourishing of imagination, confidence and skills.

I also love that many of the pics on the site are taken in Stamford, like this one of the garden/beach set at Cove Beach!
Click here to read more.

Bartlett Holiday Showcase Event Thursday

On this Thursday the 15th, the Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens is holding a Healthy Children’s Holiday Showcase. The purpose is to show off their new Children’s Indoor Classroom and an outdoor space called the Nature’s Explore Classroom in the Woods. Besides the tours of the space from 1-3, there are other events going on all day that look like a lot of fun:

ALL DAY: Crafts, Indoor and Outdoor Tours, Shopping, Cookies and Hot Cocoa
11-2pm Mediation 101. Starts on the hour
11:30am – 1pm Winter Wonderland Story Time with Fairy Deb
1-3pm Winter Crafts, Welcome Critters and Science in Nature’s Classroom. Plus tours of the Outdoor Natural Playground and Learning Space (Messy Materials Area, Climbing Area, Building Area, Nature’s Music)
3:00pm Stroller Strides: Making Every Day a Workout with Shanae
3:30 – 4:30pm Kids Concert with Dre Towey

I’ve got a bit of a back issue going on (did I mention I had another baby 8 days ago, and that pregnancy hormones can make your joints loosey-goosey, and for some reason I am super-susceptible to these hormones!) but I may try to hobble up to the Bartlett because this looks like a blast. That's the new baby to the right, looking like a cupcake. She's awesome.

Also, Pure Play Kids, a locally-owned online toy store, is having a trunk show at the event, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Bartlett. I’ve been ogling the store online for 2 years now and have yet to buy anything. (Hey, I’m not done Christmas shopping yet.) I want to see their stuff and meet the owner!

Click on the flier image above to read a bit more, including a little note at the bottom about a road detour.

Hope a bunch of you can make it, and if not, spread the word to your friends, and of course, you can always go to the Bartlett another day. We are so lucky to have these outdoor spaces in Stamford! Click here to read more.

All-Weather Option: Stamford Museum and Nature Center

I love the SMNC! It's one of the few easy things to do with young kids in Stamford. You don't need to plan ahead like if you register for a class, and there is always something to see. (Namely, many types of animals.)

I actually love the SMNC in bad weather. When my sister and her kids were here last February, we had a cold but great outing. The maple sugar shack was already up and rolling, and we had the it almost to ourselves. Going to SMNC in winter is even easy with an infant- just wear them to keep them warm against your body. (I love *babywearing in winter!)

My husband and I took the kid to SMNC on a rainy Saturday morning this November, and we DID have the place to ourselves. "Are you sure it's open?" the husband kept asking, even after we had driven in and parked. "Look, the gate's closed!"
"That's to keep the turkeys in! It's always closed!" I said. "You just open it and walk through!" (He was hoping it was closed because he didn't want to walk around in the drizzle.) I wore the kid, even though he's getting heavy, and we stayed dry under an umbrella. If you are feeling restless, SMNC is a great place to walk around at any time of year.

*Babywearing Tangent (Don't read if you don't care):

This is me babywearing last year. Babywearing in winter is awesome. With the kid against you, you don't have to worry about if he/she is warm or not. You just know, because they're the same temp you are, so you adjust your layers around the kid accordingly. Recently, my sister got me a fancy babywearing vest, so I no longer look like a babywearing hobo with mismatched clothes. (No offense, hobos.)

And this is me babywearing this year, in my fancy new babywearing vest! Marie Claire rated the Peekaru vest as one of their "41 Gifts We Don't Want" but I'd say that writer is misinformed. (With a little research, she's have known that the grey size medium quickly sells out at Metro Minis on the Upper East Side.) I, despite being a babywearing fanatic, also used to think the Peekaru was probably not that useful... until my sister got it for me last month and I was in its cozy heaven of cuteness!!!

If you've babyworn, you know how much easier it is to navigate a crowded place without a stroller. Packed tourist destinations, escalators, stairs, no problem. It's also safer to have them higher up. Last month I had the kid in the stroller in the city- and someone ASHED ON HIS HEAD!!! I promptly put him right into our ERGObaby carrier and wore him for the rest of the night, navigating Times Square and Toys R Us without fear of some idiot dropping a cigarette on him or knocking him in the face with shopping bags.

My city-dwelling sister ordered me the Peekaru the next day, and I wore it the next time I went to see her. We got stared at admiringly all day. I'm serious. No one could resist our adorableness. I felt like a walking ad for the Peekaru.

(Yes, I'm wearing him while pushing a stroller in that photo! I've had hip problems ever since I had him, so if I'm walking 60-70 blocks like I did that day, I bring the stroller in case my hips get tired or sore.)

So, Marie Claire, thank you for bringing the Peekaru to the attention of thousands of people, even if it was to mock it due to your severe ignorance. If even one person discovers the Peekaru from your article, I'm delighted. Click here to read more.

Harvest Festival: Room for Improvement

I think the Stamford Museum and Nature Center is the best place for kids in Stamford, but I was disappointed in the Harvest Festival.
By the time I got there at 2:30, they were out of cider and cider donuts, which were pretty much the only reason I went. On top of that, I had to pay 5 bucks for the event (for non-members it was $10). The kid and I didn't do anything except look at the animals. I wasn't interested in face-painting, food or story-telling.
I am taking this as a learning experience to get there EARLY next year. It started at 11. I'll be in the parking lot at 10:45 at the LATEST! I was trying to avoid the crowd, and full parking lots, but now I realize that you have to leap into the fray if you expect to get anything good in Fairfield County. Lesson learned.
Still, I hope next year the planners will recognize that at a family event, some people will arrive later because of nap schedules, and perhaps reserve some of the goodies for the later shift!

At least it was a beautiful day, the kid was well-behaved, and I ran into like 6 of my friends (who also missed out on cider and donuts).

They also ran out of popcorn, which I didn't notice, but my friend's kid was not happy about that. Click here to read more.

SBC Rocks the Kids' Menu!

Kudos to SBC for their great kids' menu. They offer the usual burger and chicken fingers, as well as salmon and numerous other options, WITH a veggie, mashed potatoes or fries, fruit cup, drink AND dessert- all for 6-7 bucks. Spectacular!

With prices and healthy options like that, I can order what I want without worrying if the kid can eat it too.

It was also very quiet on a Friday night at 6.

Thanks to Ryan for the great service.

Next on my list to try is Riviera Maya, whose outside patio was almost full at 7. I saw what I am pretty sure was sangria that I'm dying to try! Click here to read more.

SMNC: Antique Car Show and Baby Sheep

Last weekend the baby and I went to Stamford Museum and Nature Center so the husband could put the final touches on his iPhone app, Brix Builder. There was an antique car show going on (Model Ts to Mustangs Antique and Classic Car Show), so I tried to get there early since parking at Easter was a total mess.

I was not excited about the car show... UNTIL I GOT THERE AND SAW A REALLY COOL CORVETTE AND REMEMBERED THAT I LOVE CARS!!! I don't love cars like I love horses, or football, or babies, but I do like cars. Parking was fine, fortunately.

The baby and I didn't spend too much time with the cars, because he does not like cars as much as he likes dogs, plus the cars were in the hot sun. It was hot even at 11 am.

Instead, baby/toddler and I headed over to the playground, which was unsuccessful because
1) he's too little for the equipment
2) he kept trying to eat sticks and bark off the ground
3) he's really fast, so I had to chase him around so he wouldn't fall down the hill or bonk his head on one of many large rocks (see photo)
4) he's a good walker, but there were tree roots and rocks that made the terrain an unstable surface for a new walker and
5) it was hot and there were bugs.



So we headed over to the barn to see if we could spot some baby animals! There were over 15 baby sheep and boy were they cute! A volunteer brought one over to we could pet it, and of course some ADULTS crowded around, so my baby/toddler couldn't get close. Oh well.

We really like SMNC for quick outings. We paid 100 bucks for a family membership, which is totally worth it when you have an active kid who needs to get out of the house. Or should I say, when you are a parent who needs to get out of the house because you have a very active kid. Click here to read more.

Sorta Family-Friendly Kosciusko Park

I'm not gonna check my spelling of the park, I am THAT confident in my innate spelling ability.

Baby Q and I visited Kosciusko Park for the first time in my 8 ish years in Stamford. We went to a baby friend's first birthday party, which was held under the pavilion, which they reserved. Good for us, because the sun was hot- BAD for all of the other people who didn't have much access to shade. That's one of the negatives of Kosciusko- not too much shade. The other families and groups of friends- and the park was starting to fill up with revelers at 3:30 as we left- had to sit at picnic tables in the sun.

On the positive side, the park has a nice trail for walking along the water and a nice playground. The park is ridiculously close to downtown Stamford, a good 5 minutes closer to me than Cove (which is pretty much the best park in Stamford if you ask me). The park is just a few minutes' drive from the train station- go south on Wash Blvd and keep going, and you'll hit the park- I had no idea it was that easy.

On the negative side, the park is pretty small, and your kid could pretty easily tumble into the water (I think- I did not dare let my kamikaze kid go anywhere near the shore). There is a big baseball field, and I'm not sure what else, as I stuck to our party area. The park is not great for a young but fast walker like mine, as there are glass shards and bottle tops lying around the edges of the pavilion. I pretty much could not take my eyes off him for a second, but what else is new.

Our one little incident was a rowdy dude trying to take a picnic table out of the pavilion, one that had some of our stuff on it, which was sort of odd. I figure he had to have been drinking. His friends reigned him in- much appreciated!

I declare Kosciusko sorta family-friendly, mostly because it's just nowhere near as good as Cove. Click here to read more.