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Happy New Year: A New Kind Of Resolution

December 31, 2013 / Family, Kids / 4 Comments

My usual New Year’s resolutions are typically the same every year. Eat less sugar. Exercise more. Do a course to improve my mind. Find a better job. I always forget about them after I write them down, probably because they’re all things that I don’t have to really work on – they’re the things that you either DO or you DON’T DO, they’re not things that require a change from within.

This year I’m trying something new – a new kind of resolution. What I want to change the most is myself, in these simple yet hard ways. I’m often just so tired, so worn out that I catch myself saying and doing things that I regret later on. Snapping at Alec. Being impatient with Missy E. The look on her face when she tries to get my attention as I’m frantically trying to check my email on my phone and she wants me to play with her … I always resolve to try better, to do better. And so here I am, really hoping to spend 2014 becoming a better person in these few, but important ways.

Let Go: NYE Resolutions via akissgoodnight.co

Let go
I’m a grudge holder from way back. I was teased and bullied a lot when I was younger, and it’s made me someone who gets their back up easily and finds it very difficult to forgive people any perceived wrong doings. It’s basically self-defence mechanism that is unconsciously in place to protect myself from getting hurt again. Holding on to anger though is like swallowing poison – it only hurts yourself, and it kills you slowly from the inside out.

Be Brave: NYE Resolutions via akissgoodnight.co

Be brave
I hate confrontations. So much. I hate saying things to people I care about that might upset them, so I’m not completely honest with the people I care about. I keep things inside and let them fester, because I’m too scared to say them to people’s faces incase they react badly and get mad at me. This is another form of poison that I need to try and stop by being braver, and trusting that the people I care about will value me enough to listen to what I have to say.

Slow Down: NYE Resolutions via akissgoodnight.co

Slow down
I’m always rush rush rushing everyone, particularly my spirited toddler, who finds the magic in every stoop in Brooklyn. I’m impatient at the best of times. I need some serious calm breathing and relaxing, and to remind myself not to rush this inquisitive little person who sees the details in the world, and its beauty, in a way that I no longer do. I need to spend more time seeing the world as she sees it – maybe it will become a more magical place for us both.

Be Present - NYE Resolutions via akissgoodnight.co

Be present
“Put down the phone mummy!”. It kills me when she says this. I want her not to have to say this to me anymore.

Be Kind: NYE Resolutions via akissgoodnight.co

Be kind
Harsh words slip out of my mouth, particularly when I’m tired. It doesn’t make them less hurtful, or harmful to relationships with my friends and family. Why can’t I just swallow these hurtful words down and say something more constructive instead? I have so much love for my family and friends. I just never tell them in words. 2014 will be the year of speaking with love.

Happy New Year’s to everyone out there! Thank you for reading my little blog. I wish you and your family a wonderful, kind, 2014.

Images thanks to Bridget Eldrige Photography

A Day Alone With My 2-Year-Old

December 21, 2013 / Cheese, Family, Kids / 2 Comments

I’ve really enjoyed my toddler being at her 2s programs since September. Four days a week, she goes to one of two schools, where she is in either a 2 or 3 hour drop-off program. Add in the 2 hour nap, and I get several solid hours of time to myself four days a week to work on freelance assignments and my websites. Yesterday, however, was a reminder of life without school – and it was scary.

Now that school is closed for two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!!) and my babysitter is on holiday (an actual holiday, minus children – jealous), it’s just all me, all day. We usually have every Friday completely together, so I didn’t think much of our “holiday” time until yesterday happened.

6:30am: She wakes up. I go to get her out of her room only to be told “No Mummy, want DADDY” and have the door slammed in my face.
6:45: She stops whining for Daddy and comes out into the living room, where I am already on my 2nd glass of Coke Zero. We play with the iPad, Playdoh, tiaras and stuffed animals until my husband wakes up.
9:15: My husband gets up. He needed extra sleep after getting up with Cheese during the night. I steal a quick shower while he tries to convince our toddler to eat some form of breakfast that doesn’t come in a pouch, and then heads off to work.
9:45: Cheese realises Daddy isn’t coming back. Everything goes downhill and no amount of Play Doh will fix it.
11am: I try and put her down for a nap. She’s so exhausted she’s almost rubbing the eyes out of her head. She insists “No nap!” even as her eyes are rolling back.
11:10: 10 minutes of screaming for milk and “bubbies” (strawberries). I comply with both.
11:30pm: Loud banging from her room tells me she is still awake and possibly abseiling from the ceiling.
11:33: “BOO BOO KITTY!” and more crying (she wants a hello Kitty bandaid for her abseiling injury).
12:15: The muttering and crying stops and I think she’s gone to sleep.
12:17: The voice at the door “MUMMYYYYY where aaaaare you?!”. Argh. I go in and notice she has pooed. Change diaper and put her back down to even more protesting and whining.
12:50: She has now been screaming for 20 minutes. I can’t find the noise cancelling headphones and am going out of my mind. I offer milk and try and put her back to bed.
1pm: I give up and let her out of her room. I make her a grilled cheese sandwich that she won’t touch. She eats an entire punnet of strawberries and demands chocolate milk. Nice try.
3pm: We play with all her toys while I beg her to eat something with protein or even carbs in it. Building block houses for her princesses, Play Doh again with the talking Elmo Shape & Spin that I always tread on during the night, and sing Twinkle Twinkle and Wheels on the Bus along with the iPad.
4pm: It’s time to leave the house. We are meant to be going to a Christmas party in Williamsburg but I’m too exhausted to take her on the subway. Instead we stroll towards Kids Club for an open play session. We don’t reach the end of the block before she falls asleep in the stroller. Of course. I now have about an hour of walking the streets to do to give her the nap she needs.
4:45: I find myself in Red Hook. I have walked a long way.
5pm: I walk to the new Whole Foods in Gowanus and relish shopping without someone whining and grabbing everything in her reach. I slowly browse shelves, checking out brands I usually whizz past. I find a gingerbread house already baked and assembled, ready for decorating – the day is looking up!
5:45pm: She wakes up when I’m at the cash register – somewhat surprised to find herself in Whole Foods. We stroll home.
6pm: We stop outside a church to listen to the bells. Cheese asks for “more bells!” very insistently. Sadly I can’t deliver on more bells, so we head home.
6:15pm: Home, and I’m so tired I can barely stand. I throw pasta leftovers in the microwave and serve them to Cheese for dinner, along with her beloved “bubbies”. She won’t touch a thing and demands to watch BOTH the iPad AND the TV at once. I’m too tired to put up a fight, so put Barney on the TV and her favourite video, Feist’s “1234”, on the iPad. I collapse on the couch next to her high chair and beg her to eat.
7pm: My husband gets home. I nearly cry with relief.

Only two weeks left until school starts again. Not that I’m counting down or anything.

Signs Your Two-Year-Old Is Trying To Kill You

December 17, 2013 / Kids / 4 Comments

It dawned on me today that two-year-olds are actually geniuses. They are slowly taking over the world, starting with the destruction of the two people who stand in the way of their plans for total world domination – AKA their parents. Don’t be fooled by your toddler’s small stature and cute lispy voice – they’re actually very subtly (and not so subtly) destroying your will to live. Be warned, and watch out.

Method 1: Sleep deprivation
By age two, most kids are regularly sleeping through the night. Not all of them, however. Some kids are just BAD sleepers from birth, like they come out of the womb knowing that as the years drag on, their parents will slowly but surely succumb to their every whim out of pure exhaustion. Accumulate two years of constant night waking and you’re so tired that you literally don’t know what’s going on every day. “You want puffs for breakfast, sure, go for it. While using my toothbrush to clean the floor. Great. Can I go back to sleep now?”

Method 2: The “No” word
Is there a two-year-old out there who doesn’t use this word to answer every single question and statement that’s thrown out there? It may sound like typical toddler defiance, but it’s actually a subtle way of exerting their dominance over you as the pack leader. After hearing “NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOO” fifty million times a day, you’re so happy that they’ve stopped yelling at you that you willingly hand over the iPad and queue up the PlayDoh and Disney egg videos.

Method 3: Non-Stop Go Go Go
If you weren’t already exhausted from the constant night waking, you’re pushed over the edge by the boundless energy of a two year old. Up and down stairs over and over and over and over. Endless games of catch in the living room, just to put their shoes on. Never stopping still for a second until they pass out from exhaustion themselves (and you collapse right afterwards). You’re being slowly and surely worn out until you’ve aged a decade and they’re only starting pre school.

Method 4: The Wet Noodle
This clever tactic saves toddlers from leaving any place where they’re happy. Toddler goes completely limp and boneless, like said “wet noodle”, sliding through your hands into a puddle of whiney child on the floor. The wet noodle is sometimes accompanied by the more traditional tantrum of lying face down and pounding ones hands and feet on the floorboards. Designed to embarrass the crap out of you in public, this highly tactical maneuver guarantees that your two-year-old gets to stay in the playground/toy store/ice cream shop as loooong as they want.

Method 5: Nap Refusal
For two years now, you’ve been surviving day to day based on one constant – the sacred nap. At age two, something happens. The nap isn’t a guarantee anymore. It’s now a battle of the wills between you and your toddler. And as with all battles with toddlers, you already know who’s going to emerge the victor – the little voice that’s yelling “muuuuuuummmyyyyy …. NO NAP!”.

Method 6: Hunger Strike
Kind of like the Hunger Games, it’s a battle to the end, with only one winner. The toddler who has refused all the nutritious food you’ve lovingly slaved over by shoving frozen mini pizzas in the oven, then condescendingly agrees to only eat, you guessed it, more puffs.

Method 7: Cuteness
Here is the true genius of the toddler. Just when you’re ready to give up and you think you can’t take it for another minute, they do something that is just so INCREDIBLY cute that you forgive it all (SUCKER) and give them your exhausted heart to trample all over again.

Game, set and match.

Holiday in Paradise: Mayakoba, Mexico

December 16, 2013 / Cheese, Family, Mexico, Travel / 1 Comment

It’s been a long time since we’ve been on a holiday – not a trip, where our purpose is to see family, but a vacation where our only intention is relaxation.

We booked a stay at the Rosewood Mayakoba in the Riviera Maya, following a recommendation from our close friends who vacation there frequently. Sunning ourselves in the warm Mexican sun by a pool and doing nothing else sounded exactly what we needed.

It was the first time in Mexico for all of us. I usually prefer traveling where I see a lot of the local culture and history, but this time, with a very energetic two-year-old, all I wanted to do was relax and swim.

Mission accomplished at the Rosewood Mayakoba, where we spent four blissful days doing absolutely nothing. Our routine: wake up in the morning, take a dip in our personal plunge pool, then stuff ourselves at the buffet breakfast (there were CRONUTS every day!). After lunch, stroll on down to the beach and spend the afternoon having lunch, playing with Eloise in the Rosebuds playroom if the sun was too hot, then playing on the beach and swimming in the pool.

We booked a babysitter three nights out of five so we could have some together time, and enjoyed some amazing meals around the resort and at the neighboring Banyan Tree (Saffron Restaurant was amazing). Our last night we had room service, which I actually thought was the best meal we had all trip.

We’ve stayed at a lot of hotels and resorts in our years of travel, but this trip to Mayakoba was special. The Rosewood is set up to pamper guests, and help them fulfill their every need. Every staff member went above and beyond to take care of us, remembering our names, that I was vegetarian (!), and continually trying to make our stay the best it could be. The end result – we had never felt so relaxed, welcomed, valued and pampered.

At a fancy resort, you expect that little kids might not be welcome. The Rosewood however also went above and beyond to make Cheese feel special (if a spoiled toddler can possibly feel even more special, that is!).

Kiddie pack (also included a beach ball). Robe and slippers for loan.

A sweet kids’ kit on arrival, a clean and well-stocked playroom, constant effort by the staff to make sure she was catered for – milk in our room, kiddie cups everywhere we dined, staff remembering her name and greeting her all throughout the resort, and fun activities like a special eco tour of the lagoon by boat, just for kids. By making Cheese welcome, we all felt comfortable and welcome.

At such a relaxing resort, it was impossible to resist the siren call of the spa, where I had a massage and a pedicure like no other. I was reclined backwards in a zero gravity chair, with a weighted mask over my eyes and my feet pampered. I was so relaxed I think I might have fallen asleep.

Alec and I both agreed that our Mayakoba vacation was possibly the best trip we’ve had, and can’t wait to visit again next year.

A Day With A Toddler At American Museum of Natural History: The Hit List

December 6, 2013 / Cheese, Eat & Explore, Indoor Play, Manhattan Munchies, Museums & Galleries, New York Food, Snack & Play / 1 Comment

Right, so this cold snap means we need to find places that are warm and entertaining for a toddler, FAST. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is the the perfect place to take an active kid. It has enough rooms, exhibits and general cool stuff to occupy kids of all ages all day — and their parents too (praise be!).

The AMHN has plenty of special exhibits on as well as the permanents like ye olde dinosaurs. If you’re planning a day at the museum (and with toddlers, two hours often feels like a whole day), make sure you visit these toddler-pleasers:

Origami Holiday Tree
The Origami Holiday Tree is a tradition that goes back 40 years at the museum. Volunteers start folding the ornaments in July to complete the hundreds of creatures that are displayed on the tree. Every year the tree has a different theme — this year it’s Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful, in honor of the Museum’s new exhibition The Power of Poison. The animals are mostly easily identifiable, even for toddlers, so you can easily spend a long time just at the tree, asking your toddler to show you the different animals, and pointing out those they they might not be able to identify themselves. It’s also a good photo op.

Dates: Through January 12, 2014
Entry: Included with general admission

Dinosaurs
Everyone’s favourite dinosaurs are crowd pleasers for the toddler set too. We like to let Cheese loose in the dinosaur rooms and watch her roar at the T-rex. If your kid (or spouse) is a dinosaur freak, take the “Dino Tour” suggested by the AMNH website to help visitors take in all the dinos on offer. The most entertaining part of the dinosaur exhibits for us is when Cheese tells her dad that the T-Rex needs to brush his teeth (see pic above).

Dates: Permanent exhibit
Entry: Included with general admission

The Butterfly Conservatory
These beautiful insects flutter into the museum every year. Entry is timed, so you need to buy a ticket for this special exhibit, and play close observance to the rules. I’d suggest taking only babies or older toddlers who can follow directions into this exhibit, as the butterflies are within toddler-reach at all times. The butterflies like to land on visitors — making for some very exciting times for toddlers when they experience their light touch. An enchanting experience, not just the toddlers.

Dates: Through May 26, 2014
Entry: Additional ticket required

Whales Of The Deep
This exhibit is fascinating for adults, and fun for kids. There is a life-sized whale heart that kids can crawl inside, and a massive sperm whale skeleton. Cheese’s favourite part of the exhibit was the sound chamber where you could spin a wheel and select a whale, and then listen to its distinctive sounds.

Dates: Through January 5, 2014
Entry: Additional ticket required

Frogs: A Chorus Of Color
This live exhibit features frogs in bright orange, blue and red. Toddlers and kids of all ages will enjoy seeing such a large variety of frogs from around the world. It’s a rare chance to get up close to these critters, not to be missed for frog-lovers of all ages.

Dates: Through January 5, 2014
Entry: Additional ticket required

Milstein Hall of Ocean Life
The 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound model of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling is a must-see for every visitor. The hall has recently been renovated, and now features 750 sea creatures, including computerized glowing jellyfishes, and includes modern technology in the exhibits, such as high-definition video projections and interactive computer stations. The best spot in the room is lying directly underneath the whale on the floor. No kidding. It’s amazing how different the world looks from down there.

Dates: Permanent exhibit
Entry: Included with general admission

American Museum of Natural History
79th Street and Central Park West
New York, NY

After (or before) your visit, check out these delicious places to eat that are right around the corner.

Grinches and Goat Cheese Tarts: Children's Museum of Manhattan + Cafe Lalo, Kid-Friendly New York

December 3, 2013 / Cheese, New York Food / 1 Comment

We often repeated this dually awesome combination of play for kids and great food for everyone during super hot summer days. Now it’s the opposite problem. Hail, sleet, cold rain, and snow! Visiting the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and Cafe Lalo is still one of our best indoor bets, with some pleasant updates.

Cafe Lalo does desserts extremely well. It’s what they’re famous for, and the reason we usually visit. Our go-to item in the summer is the Lalo Special (frozen yogurt and berries, $11.50). Now that the weather has cooled waaaaay down, we’ve branched into the more savory items on their menu. One of the really fun things about Cafe Lalo is that they feature dishes from all over the world. This visit, we tried the Baked Salmon Salad ($14), Fresh Mixed Seasonal Berries ($7), Goat Cheese Quiche (served with Mediterranean Salad, $11), and the French Fries ($7). The dishes were solid. Not extraordinary but really good, warming dishes, perfect for lunch before playing with a toddler. The quiche had big chunks of tart goat’s cheese, with a flaky crust. The salad had great seasoning and super-juicy tomatoes. Cheese picked at the French fries and berries — both of which were absolutely delicious, by the way. Ripe berries, even though it was off-season.

I have to say, the desserts are still the winning dishes at Cafe Lalo — we dropped by again after playing at the Children’s Museum and took home some cheesecake. Hey, we had a big workout, okay?

We covered the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMoM) pretty thoroughly in our previous post. The CMoM has a new exhibition open for the holiday season that’s worth checking out — The Grinch’s Holiday Workshop. This exhibit is suitable for all ages, and runs through till December 31, 2013. Inspired by Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, kids can step straight into the pages of this Seussian classic holiday tale. The walls of the room are wrapped in scenes from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which is fun to see for adults and kids alike, who have grown up loving Dr Seuss.

In The Grinch’s Holiday Workshop, kids can try “sock skating” on the indoor rink (including playing games of “freeze” with CMOM staffers); pretend to steer Max, the Grinch’s “Rein-Dog” on an interactive sleigh; make Dr Seuss-themed crafts and join in on story time to hear How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and other classic books by Dr. Seuss. Check out the CMOM calendar for daily events.

The most fun for us was the “sock skating”, which was really more like slippery dancing. CMOM staffers make sure that not too many kids get on the “ice” at a time, so it’s a safe activity for the smallest of toddlers.

High Chairs: No
Stroller storage: You can’t bring your stroller inside, but they’ll store it for you somewhere mysterious under the restaurant.
Easy access: No. Quite a few steps.
Change tables: No. The bathrooms are pretty small.
Kids’ menu: No, but there’s so much to choose from, from bagels and muffins to steamed eggs or homemade waffles.

Cafe Lalo
201 West 83rd St. (between Amsterdam Ave. & Broadway)
Upper West Side, New York
Phone: (212) 496-6031
Prices: $$
Hours: Mon-Thur 8am-2am; Fri 8am-4am; Sat 9am-4am Sun 9am-2am. Holidays until 4am.

Children’s Museum of Manhattan
212 W. 83rd St (between Amsterdam Ave. & Broadway)
New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 721-1234
Hours: Sun-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 10am-7pm. Closed Mondays.

Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving 2013

November 30, 2013 / Cheese, New York Life, USA / 0 comment

A very happy Thanksgiving this year, surrounded by loved ones and friends, old and new. Thanks to our friends Dan and Sue for hosting and inviting us to their amazing expat Thanksgiving feast.

This year I am very thankful to our community of friends, for my family, and for how lucky I really am. I like to whine and complain a lot about things that aren’t perfect, but the reality is I’m so lucky. A supportive, loving husband, a healthy, beautiful little girl, living in New York City, and really enjoying an amazing life. So many blessings, so very thankful.

#Thanksgiving 2013

#Thanksgiving

After lunch was some dancing. Cheese really loves dancing lately and was loving it.

What’s Thanksgiving without pie?!

#Thanksgiving

Do I have a DreamTone? Let’s Find Out!

November 24, 2013 / Family / 0 comment

I’ve often thought about using anti-aging products but, with the steep prices and mixed reviews of the results, they’ve always been something that was on my “nice to have” rather than “must-have” list of beauty products to buy. So when Lancôme and SheSpeaks invited me to participate in a social media campaign that involved using their new innovative anti-aging skincare product, Lancôme DreamTone, I jumped at the opportunity for a test drive, even though it involved sharing a bare-faced selfie (uh-oh!). Oh yeah, and there’s even a hashtag for it: #bareselfie.

Lancôme DreamTone ($98) is an innovative new serum designed to correct dark spots, color imperfections and uneven skin tone. According to their research (global self-assessments of women of multiple ethnicities in an 8-week study), 74% of users saw glowing skin immediately after using the product, and 70% noticed a more even skin tone within seven days. After four weeks, 69% saw the appearance of dark spots reduced, with 78% seeing color imperfections reduced within eight weeks.

DreamTone comes in three shades (Fair, Medium and Dark). The results are supposedly more pronounced the longer you use it. I chose the Fair/Lightest shade of DreamTone and used it twice a day under my moisturizer for four weeks. Here’s a picture of my results (aka my #bareselfie).

While I’m not sure if my pigment markings have diminished, my skin definitely has a nice glow to it. I will continue to use the serum twice a day for another few months to get the full benefits. I really liked how the serum came in three tints, to suit all skin shades, and also how smoothly and evenly it went on. My skin felt super soft after after application, so I feel like the texture of my skin has definitely improved after using DreamTone.

DreamTone is quite pricey, so I would need to see more results before considering buying it in the future. I am hoping that as I continue to use the product, that I will see more results of the pigmentation reduction as I would love a more even skin tone.

Disclosure: SheSpeaks/Lancôme sent me a bottle of DreamTone to review for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

SMILING IT FORWARD with TYLENOL®

November 22, 2013 / Kids / 0 comment

Full disclosure – I am NOT a particularly empathetic person. While I’m sure I have (hopefully) many other good qualities, empathy is just not one of them. There’s one perhaps unexpected exception to this character failing of mine: my child. When she came along, many things changed. Not just the obvious (sleep deprivation, lack of personal time and space, new wing-lady 24/7), but also the surprising. My little girl opened my heart up in way no one else had been able to before.

When she’s sick, I struggle through her every cough and whimper. Boo boos result in tears shed by both parties. I feel every pain she feels as if it were my own. This, I discovered, is what it really means to be a mother – to have your heart forever living outside your body.

And who knew little kids could get so sick, and so frequently? The first fever was the worst – frantically calling the pediatrician for advice, cooling her in a lukewarm bath, carefully measuring TYLENOL® to bring the fever down. The sinking sensation you feel as a mother when your child is sick has no match to any previous experience. A piece of you is sick – the best piece of you that you value the most, and you’d do anything to make it better.

The upside is when your child comes out the other side again, healthy and happy and slowly smiling again. That slow smile that lights up their eyes, and means they’re going to be ok, that you can relax for a few moments while everything is at ease again. It’s the feeling of peace, of relief, and joy that you and your little one have survived another challenge together. Motherhood: it sure ain’t for the feint of heart!

You can help spread those “feel better” smiles by sharing a photo that makes you smile at SmilingItForward.com. For every photo uploaded, TYLENOL® will make a $1 donation to Children’s Health Fund, up to $100,000, helping to ensure a doctor’s visit is always within reach for children in need.

I have received information and products from McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., the makers of TYLENOL®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks.

These Boots Are Made For Running: The High Line With Stride Rite + Giveaway

November 20, 2013 / Cheese, Chelsea, Giveaways, New York Food, Product Reviews / 28 Comments

Cheese is one active kid. She loves to run, jump and climb, and her favourite thing in the world is a playground. Because she’s so active, I’m really picky when it comes to choosing her shoes. I tend to go for practical first, and then style, because I want quality shoes that will fit her feet properly as they’re growing, and support her little feet in their athletic endeavours. Because of this, Stride Rite remains one of my top brands when buying shoes. They’re designed with the utmost care to fit tiny feet properly. They’re durable, made from top materials, and rigorously tested to ensure a high quality shoe.

This winter, I wanted a good pair of boots for Cheese, that would keep her feet warm and enable her to keep playing and running outside without hinderance. The Stride Rite Medallion Collection Roslin is the perfect boot for my busy little Cheese.

We took Cheese and her new boots for a spin on the High Line. The boots are great for an active toddler. Padded for comfort, strong but comfortable leather for long-term wear, and easy to get on and off. These boots are made for running, not walking! They get the Cheese’s tick of approval (ie she didn’t whine and yell “off, off!!”).

The High Line is a favourite place of ours to let the Cheese run wild. It’s pretty contained and in a long, straight line, so we can let her loose without worrying about her running into traffic or hurting herself in general. It’s lined with plants as well, which change during the seasons and provide Cheese with amazing leaves and flowers to discover on her eye level, that she can actually touch (we’re looking at you here, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens …). She really enjoyed the different levels on the High Line, with ramps, steps and viewing platforms, and loves peeking over the edge at the buildings, people and fire trucks down below.

There are actually multiple sections to the High Line, but we generally just enter it randomly when we get the urge (“Hey, there’s the High Line, let’s go up!”), and exit when we realise we’re kinda hungry/cold/tired/cranky (this may or may not be the toddler). That’s the best thing about it — it’s like a get-on-get-off bus ride through Chelsea, perfect for entertaining a crazy active toddler as well as yourself.

GIVEAWAY!
The generous people at Stride Rite are offering one lucky Brunch With My Baby reader the chance to win their own pair of Stride Rite shoes of their choice.

Giveaway open from Nov 20th 2013 to 11:59pm EST Tues 26th, 2013.

Open to US mailing addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway