Happy Birthday to E and Z’s dad ..

Leap year baby gets a special birthday today. Ezra, Zoe and I cannot wait to blow out some candles with him… happy birthday! We love you!

Photo found on pinterest.com

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Stay-cation last week; Bodies Exhibit

Yes I finally did it. I finally took Ezra to the Bodies Exhibit since no other kid’s anatomy exhibit satisfied him. He LOVED it. I couldn’t take photos because it was dark, it wasn’t allowed – and it felt a bit disrespectful to photograph actual dead bodies (yes, for real – and there’s enough controversy around that part of the show to begin with). But I did get a quiet shot of Ezra’s favorite part of the exhibit: the digestive system. A real one – splayed out in a case for him to examine for a long, long while. I wish I could say he seemed ready to be a future doctor but he hated the ‘blood’ room and is squeamish about any (even a pin prick) display of blood. He did totally ‘ace’ a brain game during the exhibit where he moved a ball with his mind. It’s fascinating what kind of interests unfold the more a child grows. I wonder what this all will lead to … if anything?

We did end up getting to somewhere warm and sunny during winter break – which is why I’ve not been tending to my blog until now. More photos from sunny Florida to come soon!

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Then and now

Wow – What a difference a year makes. Here are pictures of Zoe taken last February, and then some newer ones shot last week. What a big girl! I had always wanted to do a series like this of Ezra .. an annual shot on the same background that would really highlight his growth. Maybe I can continue Zoe’s on the chair? They grow too fast ..

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Skate Date

I went on a date with my little man – to Bryant Park to ice skate. This is the last week that the rink is open. It’s so unseasonably warm today in NYC that it’s hard to imagine that we were doing a cold-weather sport just days ago.
I wish I could say that we made it around the rink several times but this wasn’t the case. We got cold and very sore within the hour (and a little roughed up by the ‘winter break’ crowd). It was fun regardless and it made me realize how much I need more practice! Afterwards Zoe and her dad joined us, and we got to treat ourselves to a pickle from Pickle Me Pete and some cream-chocolate-and-berry-covered waffles at Wafels and Dinges. Yum!

Zoe joins us after skating for a little nosh in the park

glad I tagged along!

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Stay-cation Brooklyn fun – part 2. Film Biz Recycling

This fun movie prop shop use to be located in our fine borough of Queens – Long Island City to be exact. We visited when they were nearer to Silver Cup Studios a couple years ago and apparently they needed to move to Brooklyn for a larger space. What a great idea – their motto is this: “Film Biz Recycling (FBR) is a not-for-profit organization, creating socially responsible and sustainable solutions from media industry waste.” You may find an item here that appeared in an episode of The Sopranos or a movie — and you might even be able to buy it and take it to your own home. There are objects for rent that are so whacky – they may never have any use outside of a sci-fi film. Then there are also some objects that every movie set (or home) would need. The best part about stopping in is .. just generally reminiscing about all the little things that you may have had in your own past, and forgot about.

I'm ready for my close-up!

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Our Stay-cation; hanging in Brooklyn

So far our stay-cation has included tooling around Brooklyn for a day. We went to a Charity Bazaar and found some frog rain boots for Zoe, more board games and a ton of great kid books. We had the kids romp in a playground for a bit, and then went to a movie prop house that once resided in Queens. It’s nice to be exploring the boroughs while everyone else is away. Sometimes the parks are quieter – while all the other families are vacationing or in NYC museums.

Yay! No uniform and lots of outdoor time with friends!

Zoe gets a new purple coat from friends..

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School Days

Ezra’s school has had some fun events lately – one being a Math Night party. It was great to not only see all the students out of uniform and kicking back on a Friday night, but the teachers pulled out board games as some of the best examples of how to get your kids counting and strategizing. Ezra loved learning how to make change and liked handling pretend dollar bills. Zoe enjoyed the pretty Lakeshore educational games. Seriously — check these games out. With their big, chunky, rubbery pieces in bright colors – pattern making was fun.
Now we are on to a week of winter break – more board games during our ‘stay-cation’ and then a little romp somewhere new later in the week. How about you?

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New York City Police Museum

Some time ago we read about The New York City Police Museum on the mommypoppins.com list of the 100 Top Things to Do with Kids Before They Grow Up. We finally got downtown to check it out. This old police precinct was turned into a site for exhibits (currently there’s one on 9-11 police response) and the downstairs level has some old police artifacts like uniforms, photos and pistols behind glass. There’s even an open jail upstairs that kids can try out, and a play area on the entrance level with a slide, 2 police vehicles to play on and miniature police uniforms to dress up in. The kids had so much fun – we are hoping to get back there again. It’s a great indoor option when you’re in the South Street Seaport area.
Have a great weekend!

Zoe watches a kid test for fast response!

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Rubin Museum on Fridays

One thing I’ve regretfully learned about having a second child is this: that poor child spends a great deal of time chasing after his/her older sibling’s schedule and doesn’t get nearly as much attention as they should. For the first time in a long time I went to a movement class with Zoe – and only Zoe – in mind. It was fun. In fact, I was even a little reminiscent of the time when I took Ezra to these classes with lots of reference to animals, lots of instruments to handle with little fingers and then ‘clean up’ by placing back into the ‘to be disinfected’ bin, and a game of gathering-under-the-parachute at the end. These things all become ‘old hat’ when you have your second or third child. Poor Zoe hasn’t been as obsessed about, or as dragged-to-trial-classes as her brother because frankly — we just don’t have as much time to do it. But the funny thing is .. she was more capable of falling right into the thick of it all. She did appreciate this little movement class at the Rubin Museum. In fact, it was fascinating to see her personality come out. While Ezra would cling to me in these situations, Zoe was assertive and downright competitive about racing ‘like a snake’ on the foamy floor mats. What a gift she is, contradicting all that I got familiar with in raising Ezra. I had to chuckle when the instructors proudly announced that the children would be able to paint their OWN animal faces on — this is something that ONLY people without children would think of: as Zoe a.) tried to eat the paint off the brush b.) made a huge mess of her clothes and c.) used the red paint that didn’t come off for days. But it was all worth it in the end.
We hope to get back this Friday – but we will probably avoid the red paint this time.

Zoe's best friend Mia rings the 'good bye' bell..

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A little romance

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a clip of Ezra’s first kiss… an oldie but a goody. If you can’t view it in the body of this post, check out a younger Ezra with Lea here: http://vimeo.com/36765769

I hope you’ll watch ’til the end to see some heavy romance going down (and I hope you’ll have a little romance for yourself today)!

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