New York Life

Kiwi Crate Holiday Boxes + Giveaway

November 6, 2013 / Cheese, Giveaways, New York Food, Product Reviews / 10 Comments

While this year isn’t the first holiday season for the toddlers, it is the first year that they are starting to understand what’s going on. This makes me super excited, because I LOVE holidays. I really love getting arty and crafty with Cheese, so trying out the holiday Kiwi Crate holiday boxes were the perfect way to get her involved in preparing for the biggest holiday in our year, Christmas. For our friends celebrating Hannukah, we asked our friends with a crafty toddler to test drive Kiwi Crate’s Handmade Hannukah.

Kiwi Crate boxes are so great for parents like us – people who like the IDEA of being crafty, but whose craft boxes contain little more than crayons, markers and stickers. If we want to make something special, we don’t have any of the right bits and pieces, and, to be honest, I would have no idea where to get things like a few pom poms and ribbon bits that each project requires. Kiwi Crates contain everything you need for the entire project – including things like glue and paint brushes. I LOVE the assumption that we have nothing to being with because, to be honest, we don’t! We have a TINY apartment and have no room for keeping bits and pieces of things in case we need them for crafting in the future.

All Kiwi Crate boxes are also generously stocked with supplies. More than you’ll need for each project, so you have spare materials to customise projects to your child’s preferences, plus have left over materials to make something else with next time.

The Kiwi Crate model is based on subscriptions, where you sign up for a new craft box to be delivered to you every month. They also offer single crates ($19.95 each), each one filled with enough materials for 2 – 3 projects, holiday crates and stocking stuffers.

Kiwi Crate Box One: Crafty Christmas Box, by Christine Knight

The box I was testing out was the Crafty Christmas box ($19.95). It includes materials to make three Swirly Ornaments (for hanging on the Christmas tree), a Gingerbread House and Paper Candies to decorate the house. The kit comes with a user guide for parents or older children, with very detailed instructions.

Gingerbread House

The Gingerbread House instructions had multiple options for house decorating ideas. Now, remember Cheese is only TWO. I had to give her a hand with a lot of the projects, like assembling the house and gingerbread man pieces. It was still a lot of fun for her, even though she couldn’t complete the projects on her own.

She was very interested in certain tasks, like sticking stickers on the roof of the gingerbread house, and especially pouring the paint into the ornaments. She wasn’t interested in anything that took too long, so I had to assemble everything in advance so it was ready for her to add her part or she’d wander off to play with something else. It was a really fun way for us to spend time together, and for me to explain to her what everything was and what it meant.

It was also great to let Cheese experiment with different materials that she wouldn’t usually play around with. She loved pasting the pom pom balls to the Gingerbread House and placing the sticker tiles on the roof.

Swirly Ornaments

The ornament kit was much easier to do with a two-year-old. I prepped the area and pieces and gave the ornament bases to Cheese to squeeze paint into. She really loved that she could squirt the squeezing the paint into the ornaments by herself, and enjoyed turning them to see the colors swirl together. This project was a bit messier (paint!), but also a lot easier for a smaller toddler to work on as there were a lot less steps involved.

After the paint squeezing and swirling, the project was pretty much finished. The ornaments were left to drain excess paint and then dry over night, and Mommy was needed to cork and tie them up, ready for hanging.

Both Cheese and I really enjoyed the craft projects. I’m not a super creative person when it comes to thinking up craft ideas, so I loved being given the framework and materials, and the freedom to decorate however Cheese saw fit. We will absolutely be ordering more of these boxes as Cheese gets older and can tell us what crafts she wants to do.

Kiwi Crate Box Two: Handmade Hannukah, by Dayna Brandoff of chaostheorynyc.com

My daughter Tess (2 and 1/2 years old) and I made the menorah from the Handmade Hannukah box ($19.95) this morning. The box comes with candle holders (that look like slanted cups), tissue paper, paint and glue, plus a dreidel.

The project got off to a great start. I showed her how to do one of the cups — thin layer of glue, then tissue paper, then more glue. She did every step pretty much on her own for the next cup. The next three cups, however, she really only wanted to be the glue painter — which was fine — that was two out of the three steps (although I definitely helped with the second round of glue-painting to make sure the tissue paper would really stick). I will say that the project was not able to hold her attention for nine cups worth of time, so decorating the last four was mainly Mommy’s job. We both had a ton of fun peeling the dried glitter glue off our hands afterward. And Tess was definitely proud of the finished product — and loves the special little battery operated candles. But convincing her to save the batteries until Chanukah? That’s sure to be a challenge.

I also really liked that there’s plenty of tissue paper and mod podge left over to do a similar project on recycled jar . . . .I think we will probably make “vases” for the grandmothers for the holidays using the same technique!

GIVEAWAY

The generous folks at Kiwi Crate have offered Brunch With My Baby readers the opportunity to win a crate of their choosing. Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

Competition is open Wed November 6, 2013 EST to 11:59pm Tues Nov 12, 2013, EST.

Entry open to US mailing addresses only.

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Brunch With My Baby were sent product samples for reviewing purposes. All opinions are our own.

Taste Buds Kitchen Cupcake Kids Class

October 22, 2013 / Cheese, Indoor Play, New York Food, Snack & Play / 0 comment

Cheese is really into “helping” me in the kitchen these days. She likes to “help” spread Vegemite on toast, “cut” vegetables and “crack” eggs in a bowl. She’s been so interested in food preparation lately that I thought I would give a Cupcake Kids class at Taste Buds Kitchen a go.

The class theme for this week was Pinkalicious (the theme changes every week), based on the bestselling kid’s book series of the same name. A cute table is set up for 10 kids and their parents, ages two to six, with all the ingredients laid out, ready for mixing. Cheese was the youngest kid in the class that day by a fair amount (she turned two in August). The kids were on average, ages four to six.

The above photo pretty much encapsulates how the class went. Cheese was thoroughly enjoying trying all the ingredients. She followed the simple directions, like which ingredient to put in the bowl, but mixing was a bit hard for her to really get right (time to step in, Mama!).

I’ve always loved baking, since I was a kid too, actually. I’ve been wondering how to introduce baking to Cheese, so this class was not just fun for her, it was also educational for me to see how I can teach my toddler how to bake. I have to admit, I thought the class was just cupcake decorating. If I’d known it was baking from scratch I might not have been so game to bring her, as it’s definitely not something I would have thought she’d be into and for which she would be able to sit through a class.

After mixing through the ingredients, it was time to spoon the mixture into cupcake pans and have them placed in the oven to cook. Notice how they’re all pink?

While the cupcakes were baking, Chef Maggie read Pinkalicious (which I’d never read before, so it was fun for me too, ha!), while the kids listened and colored in a special Pinkalicious-themed coloring sheet.

Cheese was really into the book. A few months ago, this would have been a disaster (Read: toddler running ALL OVER THE ROOM) but since she started preschool last month, her concentration has definitely improved. She was up and down a few times to wash her hands again and get some food to eat, but over all she was really into the activity.

After the story came the frosting. The cupcakes hadn’t quite finished baking, so we frosted some previously prepared cupcakes while the others were still baking. After a quick lesson in the right way to frost, it was over to the kids, or in my case toddler, to let them do their stickiest. Cheese was in heaven. Didn’t want me to help (of course), so her cupcake looked kind of . . . like a toddler decorated it 🙂 She really enjoyed picking up hearts and pink sugar and sprinkling them on top (and tasting a few).

We were given a sweet little container to place one of our decorated cupcakes in to take home, while we enjoyed eating the other cupcake right then and there (of course).

Cheese really enjoyed the class (she was going on about the “cake cakes” all the way home), and it was a fun activity for us to do together. I think she was a little young for the class, but not by much. I would definitely take her again when she’s a little older — probably in winter when I’m desperate for ways to entertain us both. As with a lot of things that I get stressed over (for nothing), Cheese proved me wrong in her ability to handle her first baking experience. Even though her attention span did wane at times, the class was a success for the both of us.

Taste Buds Kitchen
109 W 27th St
212-242-2248
Cupcake Kids is held every Saturday morning at 9am. Classes cost $45 per child.

Brunch With My Baby attended as a guest of Taste Buds Kitchen. All opinions are our own. We happen to love, love, love cupcakes.

Happy Family Tot Giveaway

October 16, 2013 / Giveaways, New York Food / 34 Comments

I have a confession to make. As much as I personally love eating out (make that eating in general), Cheese is happy to just eat fruit and vegetable baby pouches at a restaurant. While we’ve been able to introduce her to enough solid food she’ll now happily eat, she is a total baby pouch addict, particularly when we’re on the go.

So, with that in mind, I did a little happy dance when Happy Family offered to send us some of their goodies to try on the kids. Here are the results of the Toddler Taste Test:

Happy Tot Super Toddler Bars
Little J: He loves snacking on “bar” (that’s what he calls all granola bars) on the go, so on a screamy, whiny car ride I threw one of these babies in his direction (I unwrapped it first. And I didn’t really throw it at him. That wouldn’t be nice.) He ate the whole thing and didn’t seem to notice that it was a healthier alternative to his usual Nature Valley bars (sugar, sugar, and more sugar). The bars are all organic and have Chia seeds (a superfood) as an ingredient. I was excited about it too, because I often like munching on Happy Family snack products myself (their Happy Yogis yogurt drops are really yummy). Unfortunately, the Chia seeds kind of overpowered the whole thing for me. But since this isn’t really about me, and Little J liked it, I’d say it got a kid-rated thumbs up of approval.

Happy Tot Greek Yogurt
Little J: This little guy has been refusing anything in a pouch or of a creamy consistency since he was about seven months old. The other day in school the class “cooked” some yogurt with honey and cinnamon. Everyone else loved it, but Little J wouldn’t even look at it. I gave my pouch to another mom friend of mine whose child is in the same camp as Cheese, and loves yogurt and other pouch foods.

Happy Tot Coconut
Cheese: This was a total winner for the little lady. She really enjoyed the berry flavor, and squeeze every last drop from the pouch (with a little assistance — anyone else rush to squeeze up from the bottom before their kid announces they’re done, and the pouch is only half empty?) and I liked that it was an alternative to yogurt, as I’m trying to expose her to other kinds of “milks” and dairy alternatives, like coconut.

Happy Yogis
Cheese: We use these as a treat for Cheese. When we’re out and she starts getting fussy (particularly in the stroller or on the subway), I whip out a bag of these yogis and she’s happy to sit there stuffing her face with them till they’re gone. I love that this “treat” is actually good for her, and she enjoyed the tart berry flavor (she doesn’t like sweet things very much).

GIVEAWAY!
The kind folks at Happy Family are giving one lucky Brunch With My Baby reader a pack of Happy Family Toddler Food (value at $25). Basically, you get what’s in the pic below — one pack of Happy Yogis, one box of Happy Tot Toddler Meal Bowls, four Happy Tot food pouches, One box of Happy Tot Super Toddler Bars, plus a Happy Family reusable bag like in the pictures above. Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!

The giveaway is open Wed Oct 16 2013, to 11:59pm Tue Oct 22, 2013.

Entry open to US mailing address only.

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We were sent some Happy Family baby food to try out for this article. All opinions are our own.

petiteParade and Stride Rite at NY Fashion Week

October 10, 2013 / Kids, New York Life, Shopping / 2 Comments

The kind folks at Stride Rite invited me to attend their show at the petiteParade, the junior branch of NY Fashion Week. From my first row seat (wooo!!) I watched two parades – the showcase featuring collections by Andy & Evan, Floatimimi, Oil & Water, Stella Cove, SUOAK and Sweet Lola, and then the Stride Rite Children’s Group runway showcase.

The hosts of the showcases were twins Tristin and Tyler – two very sassy kids with their own website about their adventures in the big city.

It was impressive seeing little kids confident strutting their way up and down the runway, showing (for the most part) no hesitation at the wall of cameras at the end.

The Stride Rite Children’s Group runway showcase was a sneak peek at their Spring 2014 collection – full of floral accents and pops of bright color.

Flowers in the hair, spring sandals on the feet.

Denim, flowers and pretty sandals.

Superheros! Love this nod to Kill Bill.

I really enjoyed the show, seeing these gorgeous children modelling trends for next spring. I’m a big fan of Stride Rite shoes (Cheese has basically worn them since she started walking), so it was really fun seeing the spring line before it hits stores (and also before winter hits – I’m totally in denial).

Oscar de la Renta for Kids Trunk Show

October 10, 2013 / Kids, New York Life, Shopping / 2 Comments

I was excited to receive an invite to a trunk show for Oscar de la Renta for kids, hosted by Rosie Pope.

The clothes were just gorgeous – super pretty dresses and outfits, with delicate lace and beautiful floral prints.

Snacks! Love some sweets to eat while perusing lolly-coloured clothing.

Lots of floaty, fluffy dresses in pretty pastel and vibrant hues.

This dress was a favourite – the hand stitched lace was just exquisite.

I splurged and ordered this dress for Cheese. I thought it would suit her personality – easy to wear, super soft fabric, bright print that will compliment her bright blue eyes. Um, spoiled much??

I really loved Rosie’s diaper bag range, particularly this bag – I’d totally use it as a regular bag!

Brunch Special: Authors Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus: From Nanny Diaries To Motherhood + GIVEAWAY

October 9, 2013 / Giveaways, Guest Brunchers, New York Food / 8 Comments

Today’s Brunch Special is courtesy of Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, local authors (and moms!). The friends wrote the bestseller, The Nanny Diaries, and have just released their latest book, The First Affair. Emma lives with her husband, Joel, and three-year-old son on the Upper West Side. Nicola, a New York native, lives with her husband, David, and her three-year-old, Sophie, in Brooklyn.

Did having kids change your NYC lives?
Absolutely! A block has never been so long. And we both marvel at the lack of storage space in strollers, the weight of diaper bags, the ordeal of getting your kid ten blocks in a rainstorm. When our kids were little we had raw envy of our friends in the suburbs, throwing the kid and the groceries in the car.
Nicola: I remember pushing the stroller and a carton of diapers uphill in a headwind that was biblical.

Where are your favourite places in the city to go with your kids?
Nicola: We love the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Prospect Park Zoo for toddlers — it’s small and very manageable. The fabulous thing about Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens is that every restaurant, no matter how fancy, is kid-friendly before 7pm so I take Sophie out every weekend.
Emma: I’ve taken up permanent weekend residence at the Met Museum. It’s always amazing to see people lined up on the steps when the family entrance is opened to all. It’s the best-kept secret. And even if you’ve been up since 5am there’s something magical about having an entire exhibit hall to yourselves in the opening hours.

Where do you like to take your families for special occasions?
Nicola: I love Red Gravy on Atlantic because it’s quiet enough for old and young to hear small voices.
Emma: I like Elizabeth’s on Columbus because they have a reasonably priced kids menu and it’s organic.

What’s your number one tip for dining out with young kids?
Nicola: Start young and do it frequently. We made sure Sophie went out to eat at least once a week and now she can sit quietly and entertain herself through a three-hour meal. Have a go-bag filled with all those little doo-hickeys you get from birthday parties, plus crayons and playdoh. When she was a baby I would raid the kitchen and hand her a whisk or a wine stopper. She’d be fascinated for long enough for us to enjoy our food. It doesn’t always go smoothly — bring the iPhone in case of meltdowns. Emma agrees that it’s all about coming with a deep bag of tricks.

How did having kids affect your friendship and work partnership?
We just say thank god our kids magically arrived four months apart because it’s invaluable that we’re both trying to schedule flu shots. We both can’t take work calls between 5:30pm and 8:30pm (when LA ALWAYS wants to talk). We both have weird stains on our clothes. It would be so hard because, even having been nannies, you do not understand the life-force suck that is parenting until you’re in the trenches.

How do you fit in writing and parenting? How do you balance both of these important roles?
No procrastinating allowed! We make the most of every hour, every minute. While we’re figuring out our next scene, we fold laundry. While we’re on a conference call with our editor we throw the chicken in the slow cooker. Then we get the kids to bed and lie on the floor.

Your breakthrough novel, The Nanny Diaries, was loosely based on your experiences with nannying. What were some of the things you thought you knew as a caregiver that were challenged when you had your own children?
Honestly, it was really hard and rewarding work then, and it’s really hard and rewarding work now. We will say that when we were nannies we were also in college so sleep deprivation was a result of studying hard or going out. We were usually able to catch up on weekends if we needed to. When you’re the mom there’s no laying on the couch for an entire Sunday watching rom-coms to get back on track. We now reminisce about those Sundays the way people talk about honeymooning in Paris.

What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced when feeding your charges and how have you applied some of those lessons in the feeding of your own kids?
Nicola: Sophie has gone through long stretches where I swear she was solar-powered. But the girls I nannied for who went through long plain pasta phases one day loved sushi so I breathed through it. The biggest thing I try to do (which is hard because we’re all pressed for time and who wants to make something that won’t be a slam-dunk) is re-introduce things she’s passed on previous nights. It always pays off but it takes patience. Serious patience.

Tell us about your latest book, The First Affair.
It’s the story of Jamie McAlister, a White House intern sucked into a torrid affair with the President of the United States that threatens to destroy them both. It’s our sexiest book yet, but as Moms we wrote the kind of book we want to read, something thrilling that keeps us turning the pages!

Pick up your copy of The First Affair from Amazon.com.

GIVEAWAY
We’re delighted to offer Brunch With My Baby readers the chance to win an autographed copy of The First Affair, the new novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

Competition open Wednesday October 9, 2013 to 11:59pm EST Wednesday October 16.

Open to US mailing addresses only.

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Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus are the authors of The Nanny Diaries, which was declared by Newsweek a ‘phenomenon’, the longest-running hardcover bestseller of 2002 and was made into a major motion picture in 2007. They are also the authors of the New York Times bestsellers Citizen Girl, Dedication, The Nanny Returns, and Between You and Me; The Real Real and Over You are their first two young adult novels. Their most recent novel, The First Affair, hit stands in August 2013.

STOKKE Scoot Review and GIVEAWAY

October 2, 2013 / Cheese, Giveaways, Product Reviews / 146 Comments

I’ve been known to own a few strollers (four — not all at once — to be exact). But the hunt for the perfect stroller is eternal, especially as one’s needs change with the different ages and stages of a child’s (and your) life. When I bought my main stroller, before Cheese was born, I really didn’t consider my living situation well. Third-floor walk-up, with nowhere at the bottom of the stairs to store a stroller. I bought a stroller that was super heavy (too heave for me to carry down stairs) and that needed the bassinet or seat removed before the bottom part was folded. Really, this stroller was suited to someone living in an elevator building, and so I didn’t actually use the stroller much after a few aborted attempts where I kicked my shin on the bottom bar, until we finally did move into an elevator building a year later.

We are huge fans of STOKKE in our home, with Cheese’s nursery filled with the Sleepi bed and Care: Change Table, and the Tripp Trapp highchair in the living room. STOKKE is known for their innovative designs and well-made pieces, so I was excited to check out the STOKKE Scoot. It has all the features that make is suitable for urban parents like myself. Check out my husband’s and my road test of the STOKKE Scoot around our home ‘hood in Brooklyn.

The Fold
The STOKKE Scoot comes all in one piece, so you don’t need to remove anything to fold it (except anything you may have stored in the basket underneath). It’s a bit tricky to master at first, as you have to follow a few steps before you can fold it: first, retract the handlebar. Then, fold it by doing the following: lift the bottom portion of the seat, push the seat backwards, then push the button on the wheel axle and pull it up to collapse the stroller into one slim piece. I know it sounds complicated (then again, try to express in words how to fold any stroller on the market these days and you’ll have a similar list), but once you get the hang of it, it’s fast and easy. Remove the cup holder from the handlebar and it balances on its side for easy storage in a small NYC apartment like mine.

Collapses In One Piece
One of the biggest things that I love about this stroller is that it collapses into a sleek and thin silhouette — in just one piece. Living in NYC, this is an essential for making life easier for parents. It means being able to call a car to get home if you find yourself in torrential rain (been there!!) and easily throw the whole stroller in the back without having to first remove the seat of the stroller and then having to fold the body of the stroller. It also means you can go out to any restaurant without needing to check if you need to bring an umbrella stroller or carrier instead of the SUV-stroller, because when folded up, the Stokke takes up little real estate. Since we love to eat out, this feature alone was like hitting the holy stroller grail.

Storage Space
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that you can never have enough storage space in your stroller basket (or anywhere, for that matter). There is a huge basket underneath the STOKKE Scoot, with plenty of room for groceries, or a huge diaper bag and sand pit toys. The stroller sits quite high, so there is a lot of vertical space as well, and it’s all easily accessible from every side. The only improvement I’d like is for the back of the basket to sit a bit higher so it keeps items in even better. When you tilt the stroller to go over things like steps or curbs, items can fall out if not well-secured.

Weight
It’s a hefty stroller, weighing in at 26 pounds. It can accommodate kids from birth (with the STOKKE Scoot Softbag) to 50 pounds — making it a great long-term investment. It’s also a very sturdy, well-made stroller, but doesn’t feel heavy to push. It’s also tall rather than wide, giving it less of a footprint (which is valuable when you need to take it on the subway or park it in a small corridor or apartment).

The Ride
The Scoot features four-wheel suspension, so it’s a smooth ride for Baby, even over Brooklyn cobblestones. The handlebar is adjustable, which is great for changing the height when my husband (who is 6′) takes over the driving from me (I’m 5’7). It’s comfortable to push around for a long period of time, and is easy to steer, even with one hand (not that I’m texting while driving, or anything).

Recline
The Scoot features a full recline, that you engage by unclipping a clip on each side of the back of the canopy. It features four recline-to-upright positions: facing you, upright or reclined, and facing away from you, upright or reclined. There is only reclining position — all the way back. It would also be great if there was one button or clip you could use to recline the stroller so it could be done smoothly with one hand, but I didn’t find it as awkward as I expected it to be when I used it, and Cheese had a really good nap in her little cocoon.

Canopy
It has a decent canopy, with a cute little visor that flips out (and zips off if needed), which, when tilted downwards, provides that extra bit of sun protection for your kid’s legs. There is a zippered section in the canopy that, when open, lets air circulate better on a hot day, and lets you take a peek at what your kid is doing in there (or, in my case, making sure important apps aren’t being deleted off my iPhone).

Adjustable Footrest
I love that I can adjust the footrest to my toddler’s feet so they’re not dangling down. And SHE loves that she can climb up and into it all by herself. What a fun, new game!

Accessories
The Scoot comes with a rain cover, mosquito net and cup holder. You can order car seat adaptors ($79.95) for Maxi Cosi and Peg Perego car seats. There is no bassinet with this stroller – but, to be honest, since I never used the bassinet for my toddler when she was a baby, I wouldn’t let this deter me from buying. You could absolutely use it from newborn age by clipping in the car seat for the first few months.

The STOKKE Scoot retails for $599.99 and comes in a range of colors (brown, red, dark navy, purple, beige and black melange).

GIVEAWAY

The very kind people at STOKKE are giving Brunch With My Baby readers the chance to win one STOKKE Scoot in the color of her choice. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

The competition opens Wed, Oct 2 to 11:59pm Tue Oct 8, 2013.

Entry open US mailing addresses only.

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We were sent a product sample to aid us with this review. All opinions are our own.

Spuni Review and GIVEAWAY

September 25, 2013 / Giveaways, New York Food, Product Reviews / 18 Comments

I’ve gone through a lot of baby cutlery with Cheese, with both good results (i.e. spoon helps shovel food into her mouth) and bad (i.e. food spills off the sides before spoon lands in her mouth), so I was super excited to hear about the new spoons by Spuni.

Spuni are ergonomic spoons designed to be the perfect fit for infants’ mouths, resulting in easier feeding for Baby, and less mess for Mom to clean up. Spuni is the perfect tool to help your baby transition to solid food. The recommended age for using Spuni is when the parent believes the infant is ready to make this transition — usually around 6 months and up.

The spoon’s handle length is just right for feeding infants — an infant spoon needs to be long enough for a parent to maneuver (the short and stubby ones are great for toddlers, but not infants) — plus it is easy for a parent to hold (and not too skinny like other spoons I have tried).

But what really makes this spoon special is the spoon tip. The unique tulip design makes it easier for babies to slurp food off of it.

Now, Missy Cheese is older than the target age, but boy do I wish I’d had this spoon when she was younger, as it’s a million times nicer to use than the ones I used while she was on her first solids. Here why:

It doesn’t fade or yellow with use.
It fits just the right amount of food (not too much or too little) for a toddler-sized bite.
It’s dishwasher-friendly.
It’s comfortable for an adult’s hand to hold.
It’s sold enough for a young toddler to use to feed themselves.
It’s really attractive (the colors are so pretty).

Cheese really loved the spoon. Like me, she was attracted like a bird to the beautiful colours (ours came in Giggle Green and Peekaboo Purple). She’s using toddler cutlery pretty confidently these days, and was excited to use her spoon to “chop chop” her eggs, and then placed the eggs on it to eat.

You can buy your own Spunis from spuni.com or Amazon for $18 a pair of spoons. Follow Spuni on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google +.

GIVEAWAY

The kind folks over at Spuni have offered Brunch With My Baby readers the chance to win one of two sets of their awesome new spoons. Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

Competition opens Sept 25th to Tues Oct 1, 11:59pm.

Entry open to US mailing addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We were given a set of Spunis to aid in our review. All opinions are our own.

Great Kids' Classes for Fall: Kidz Central Station

September 23, 2013 / Indoor Play, New York Food, Snack & Play / 0 comment

As New Yorkers, we pride ourselves on certain qualities: we’re cosmopolitan, confident, and open. We love our city because of the unique opportunities it provides us to experience the best in education, culture, art, and science. Of course, as parents we would like to share these values and opportunities with our children, too. But the curse of having so much available to us is that the choices can be overwhelming. We at Kidz Central Station can help!

Below are our picks for some of the best New York City-centric classes for the Fall.

Art Adventures and Story Art-Ventures
Does your child lean towards the Pollock school of art (i.e. great when it lands on paper. Not so much on your couch)? If so, encourage your little artist by enrolling her in a creative adventure. Claire’s Creative Adventures, based on the Upper East Side, boasts a variety of offerings for students ages 2 to twelve. Art Adventures and Mini-Art Adventures introduces children to modern and contemporary artists and gives them the supplies to try their hands at creating their own masterpieces. Field trips to city galleries draw on the wealth of art displayed around New York. Does talent run in the family? Try the Parent/Child Workshop together. To give your child some artistic inspiration, sign her up for Story Art-Ventures at Let’s Gogh Art NYC where students from ages 2 to 4 are read a popular children’s story in every session, followed by the completion of a unique art project related to the story. The class also incorporates age-appropriate math, science, writing, geography and history concepts. Depending on the theme, students might also sing, dance and play games.

Little Scientists and Magical Math
Many of the best minds in the country are based at New York’s myriad institutions of higher learning. If your child is a budding brainiac, check out these intellectual outings: Little Scientists, offered in lower Manhattan by Little Peep Prep for kids from 16 months to 3 years old and by the 14th Street Y in the East Village for ages 3 to 5, provides a venue for mini-Einsteins to conduct hands-on experiments and to discover the natural world. If your son or daughter has more of a mathematical bent, Little Peep Prep’s Magical Math for students from 20 months to 4 years old provides children the opportunity to count, sort, match and explore a variety of materials, allowing them to naturally understand the relationship between everyday life and math.

Animal Care
Healthy, local food is a New York obsession. We sign up for farm shares and patronize farmer’s markets, but your city kid may wonder what, exactly, a farm is. Nurture your child’s curiosity and/or love of animals by signing her up for the Animal Care class at the Art Farm in the City, an indoor organic farm on the Upper East Side. Students from ages 4 to 7 participate in a variety of stories, games, and other activities. Every session includes actively caring for the animals in the farm’s indoor petting zoo, up-close encounters and time to record observations. Before it’s time to go, students can read an animal-themed book or just relax with a favorite creature on the farm.

¡HOLA! A Playgroup in Spanish
There are hundreds of languages spoken around New York City. It’s never too early to begin teaching your child a second language; in fact, as we’ve previously discussed on Kidz Buzz, young children’s brains are primed to learn new languages. The ¡Hola! program hosts Spanish-language playgroups and after-school programs for aspiring polyglots from ages 18 months to 8 years in multiple locations throughout Manhattan and Queens. The program focuses on a wide repertory of concepts to build vocabulary and to help children acquire the correct use of phonetics from a native speaker while also enhancing children’s cognitive abilities, fine/gross motor skills, and social and artistic capabilities.

PopFit and JumpLife KIDS
New Yorkers are some of the most physically fit people in the country, but students sit in classrooms for most of the day during the school year; and, with the decreasing prevalence of physical education classes in schools, it’s more important than ever to help your child stay active throughout the year. PopFit Kids‘ signature class (and their junior class), develops “The Fab Five” (Cardio, Balance, Flexibility, Strength and Endurance), in students ages 3 to 8; through energizing circuits, dynamic drills, exciting games, yoga, and more. JumpLife‘s appropriately-named kids’ class in Tribeca caters to older students, ages 8 to thirteen. The unique 45-minute trampoline workout distinguishes itself from other classes by its atmosphere of non-competition, where students can express themselves and avoid the pressure of organized sports.

The suggestions above only scratch the surface of the wide range of fun, educational, and enriching classes listed at Kidz Central Station. KCS does the work of finding and researching kids’ classes for you. Visit our website, where you can sort offerings by activity type, age, price, schedule, and location and peruse the in-depth descriptions and reviews to identify the perfect class for your child.

Lauren Pohl is the founder of Kidz Central Station, a website where parents can search for and book fun classes and activities for their kids. Lauren lives with her husband and two kids, her four-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son, in Manhattan.

Britax Carrier Review + Giveaway!

September 16, 2013 / Giveaways, New York Food, Product Reviews / 77 Comments

On the surface, the Britax Carrier doesn’t look much different from most other carriers on the market. Believe me, I’ve become quite the baby carrying expert over these past two years. I must have tried nearly half a dozen carriers in the hopes that just one might be comfortable for long treks around the ‘hood or in and out of the city.

Word around the Mommy Block was that this particular carrier was something special. Curious, I had to try it. Especially since Cheese is pretty vocal about not wanting to go in her stroller as often as she used to. And, short of putting her on a leash, I was running out of options to keep her in my grasp. But once I tried the Britax Carrier for myself, it was clear that this was one very unique and well designed carrier.

Here’s what I enjoyed about using the Britax Carrier:

It’s easy to put on
Straight out of the box, just unclip the buckle that folds it together and slide it over your shoulders. Clip the waste band, adjust the straps, and you’re ready to go. It’s just so easy — so easy you almost don’t need to read the instruction manual (Disclaimer: but you should read it anyway! You should always read the manual!).

It’s easy to get baby in and out
It was super simple to slip even my giant, wiggly, Cheese into the carrier. All of the clips and straps are easy to access and can be maneuvered using just one hand.

It takes you from infant to toddler
The carrier can be used for babies 8 pounds up to toddlers 32 pounds (which is basically newborn to around age 2-2.5, depending on your kid’s weight). Out of the box, the carrier is set up with the removable infant insert, which stays in place until Baby outgrows it; at which point you replace it with the older infant piece, which extends the seating area, making it more comfortable for older babies and toddlers. My Cheese just turned two and weighs 26 pounds. Not only does she enjoy being in the carrier (she actually snuggled against my chest last time I used it), but its nice being hands-free again, plus I love carrying my baby so close to me once more.

It’s REALLY comfortable to wear
The Britax carrier has a specially designed CarryLong System incorporated into it: a padded waist belt and shoulder straps, which distributes weight across shoulders, back and hips for maximum extended wear comfort. It felt very comfortable, and both my husband and I were able to carry Cheese for long periods of time walking around Brooklyn with no resulting back aches or pain (a miracle!). I can definitely feel Cheese’s weight being well distributed across my hips (as opposed to just my back), making it really easy to carry her for extended periods of time.

It’s a comfortable ride for babies AND toddlers
Baby can face towards you as a newborn, then outwards as she gets older and wants to experience the world. Toddlers can face you again, in a comfortable position where their legs can wrap around your waist. Both our tester infant and toddler really enjoyed being in the carrier (no screams of protest! Hoorah!)

What I’d change:
The Britax carrier is a front carrier only. Now that my toddler is older, I like wearing her on my back as well. If I could change one thing about the carrier, it would be to have the ability to wear my baby on my back as well as front.

The Britax Carrier retails for $129.99, and comes in black and navy. The carrier is also available in organic cotton for $139.99.

Tester #2: The Britax Carrier with an infant

We had our good friend Jenna (the beautiful calligrapher behind Love*Jenna Calligraphy) test drive the organic carrier with her four-month-old, Georgette, to get the scoop on how the carrier performs for infants.

A little bit about our tester, Jenna: she creates beautiful custom, modern calligraphy for weddings, magazine features & special styled photo shoots as well as logos & tattoos. Her clients include Martha Stewart Weddings, Balenciaga, The Knot & many happy brides. Jenna lives in the awesome borough of Brooklyn with her two girly girls, Clementine Bea, 2 and Georgette Pearl, 4 months.

Here is what Jenna had to say about the carrier:

What Mama likes:

It’s easy to put on
I love the slip-over-the-head feature. It’s easier than most carriers to put on.It’s super comfy to wear
The carrier is much softer and cushier & less stiff than others I’ve used making it easier to pack at the bottom of my double stroller and in a carry on-bag for plane travel. It’s also more comfortable in general.

The great design for new babies
The carrier has a very smart, intuitive zip in & out infant insert. I like the little hammock it creates for my baby.

What Baby likes:

The soft terrycloth fold over fabric to munch on! Also the tan color. It’s much cooler in the summer than the black one.

What Mama thinks could be improved:

Since the carrier slips on over the head and you can’t remove or flap open the back piece, I can’t lay my already napping baby gently on a bed upon arriving home. I have to slip her out which wakes her up.

GIVEAWAY

The kind folks over at Britax are offering one Brunch With My Baby reader a chance to win a Britax Carrier in their choice of color (RRP $129.99, black, navy, $139.99 for organic cotton). Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Competition opens Monday, Sept 16th, and closes Sunday, Sept 22nd, 11:59pm, 2013.

Open to US mailing addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We were sent a product sample to aid us with this review. All opinions are our own.