Month: October 2012

Pumpkin Picking & Painting at PS9 in Brooklyn

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Yesterday we went with our friend and neighbor and our little ones to PS9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The kids ran around the school yard, picked a pumpkin and then painted them inside the school cafeteria. Mylo has taken to calling pumpkins “cuppin.” His friend Olivia calls them “punky.” It’s downright adorable.

Picking their cuppins' and punky's!

Picking the pumpkin was a whole lot of fun but painting it was even better! The kids just ate it up. And after making a whole big (washable) mess, they then went and made a mess out of eating Halloween cupcakes!

Painting their cuppins' and punky's!

A Picasso in the making!

Playing in the school yard for half an hour wasn’t enough to make their works of art (pumpkins) dry so we left them in the cafeteria and went and had brunch at Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights. Mylo, who went to bed the night before battling some sort of virus, fought his nap and started to take a turn for the worse. Jason rushed home with him in a cab while Shelly and I walked our strollers the one mile stretch home.

Despite my little boy not feeling well at the end, it was a wonderful fall day in Brooklyn!

The finished product.

 

 

Baked Ziti at Sam’s Restaurant and Pizzeria in Brooklyn Inuduces Labor

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Everyone knows at least one tall story about something that supposedly induces labor. Spicy food is a really popular one. Raspberry leaf tea is another. And more than one woman has whispered to me about the labor-inducing powers of sex.

So needless to say I was a little skeptical when someone informed me that the baked ziti at Sam’s Restaurant and Pizzeria in Brooklyn is legendary for sending women to the delivery room. However, I was nine-months pregnant at the time, and the woman who told me said it so matter-of-factly, it was as if she was telling me the sky was blue.

I told my mom about the ziti rumor at Sam’s and she was intrigued. So intrigued in fact, that we ate there the night before my due date. The waiter, Louie, looked at me and my burgeoning belly and said “What can I get you’s.” I said the baked ziti and waited for him to wink or give me some sort of sign that I had come to the right place. But instead he said nothing. So my mom pressed him and he confessed, admitting that dozens of women have had the ziti and claim to have gone into labor shortly after. He even told us how he was born in the apartment upstairs “before your time,” and that his mom had the ziti, too.

Louie, the waiter at Sam's, was born in the apartment upstairs.

What I remember about the baked ziti at Sam’s was that it was delicious. I also remember being incredibly full afterwards. But I will mostly remember how contractions started in the early morning hours following dinner. Was it the ziti? Or was it just my due date? Well, I know what Louie would say. He keeps the secret of his ziti under wraps, but with a little prodding Louie is the first to confess it’s magical powers .

The baked ziti at Sam's before...

Days later, when we were home with our baby, my mom insisted we go back to Sam’s to tell Louie the good news. He couldn’t believe it, and yet he could…

These last two years I’ve chalked up the ziti at Sam’s and my going into labor the next day as a mere coincidence. That was until my good friend Melissa went to Sam’s the night before her due date, had the baked ziti and also went into labor in the early morning hours on her due date. Was it the ziti? Well, we know what Louie would say…

The baked ziti after...

Documentary Film, “Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives”

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I just learned that there is a new documentary film making the festival circuit about Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives. Wonderful! I also learned that as of right now, there’s no planned screening in New York City. Not so wonderful!

This past March, not long after I miscarried, I saw Ina May speak at the 92 St. Y in Manhattan. That evening would have been more profound had I had a baby in utero, but it was just as moving and invigorating. I mean how could I not get excited about listening to one of my heroes speak to fellow moms, doulas and birth activists, just a few feet away from me? There is something so comforting, so reassuring and so empowering about this mother of all midwives.

Ina May Gaskin, interviewed by Jennifer Block, holds a hand sewn quilt with the embroidered names of hundreds of moms who lost their lives during childbirth.

Check out the trailer below, like their Facebook page and hope this important documentary makes its way to NYC soon!

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Bikes, Booze & Babies!

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Jason and I took a vacation sans child to Napa Valley at the end of the summer. We stayed in a small town in wine country called Calistoga. We rented bikes, bought bag lunches at the town general store and used a map to guide us to the wineries we were in pursuit of. We. Had. The. Best. Time. Ever.

We met another couple along the bike path, Gina and David of San Diego, CA. They too, were vacationing without their children. It was an instant friendship, almost as if we had been friends for years. I guess good wine has a way of making that possible!

In order to get to this one winery, Dutch Henry, we had to bike up two, ginormous half mile hills. The guys tackled the hills without breaking so much as a sweat. Gina and I weren’t exactly looking for that kind of workout, but we survived it nonetheless. Well I did. Whether it was the wine, the hills, the menagerie of animals at Dutch Henry, or a combination of the three, Gina got a little sick. But she eventually rallied on. What a trooper!

Our favorite winery along our bike excursion was called Lava Vine. The place was pretty much a party. If you’re ever in Calistoga stop in, I promise you won’t leave.

There’s something so earthy about wine country. It smells like one big, pungent cork. I will always remember the light, carefree feeling of my wine buzz, coupled with hot California sun on my shoulders as we rode alongside vineyard after vineyard.

We didn't plan our outfits. Swear.

We ended our booze cruise with an awesome olive oil tasting in town, followed by happy hour at the cottages where Gina and David were staying, a dip in the hot springs pool at our hotel and dinner out at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena.

The next day, with a slight wine headache, we texted with Gina and David as we drove south and out of beloved Napa.

Next stop: San Fran!

My niece Diya is so incredibly cute. And she’s SO incredibly active. A typical Taha. That child didn’t stop moving and she was just two months old! It was so nice to get to meet her and watch Aki and Sarita navigate their way into the world of crazy, sleep-deprived parenting.

As much as we want to have another child of our own, seeing how much work they are putting into it, was somewhat of a deterrent. It’s sad that I nearly forgot what it’s like, but hey, it won’t stop us from trying 🙂

I was so nervous to hold her. Sadly, I don't remember when Mylo was that tiny 🙁

 

 

Sidi’s Back!

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This is a partner post. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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Today, my dad resumed his weekly childcare visits with Mylo. Since I went back to work when my son was about eight months old, my dad began babyitting Mylo at least one day per week. And when my mother-in-law is in France each summer, he comes to Brooklyn from his home on Long Island to be with Mylo two days per week.

But all that changed in August. My dad’s love of sports and challenging himself physically finally caught up with him. For the last couple of years he developed what started out as an aching pain, and wound up as debilitating pain, in his leg. After many doctor’s visits, MRI’s and second opinions, it was determined that he needed a total hip replacement.

I’ve missed running with my dad these last couple of years. What began as a hobby became a way of life for my dad over the last decade. I ran a marathon first, but when the extensive training began to take a toll on my younger body, and my love life, my old man eventually surpassed me in running long distances. He even became a seasoned “ultra runner.”

Before the start of the 2003 NYC Marathon

The decision to do the surgery was a no-brainer, however the decision to speed up the date of it, happened almost overnight. It was a big adjustment for everyone, namely Mylo, who was used to having “sidi” around a couple of days out of the week. But I know it was just as tough on my dad. Holed up at home unable to drive, or to sit comfortably on anything other than a special highchair, I know that his romps around Brooklyn with his grandson, were sorely missed.

Sidi and Mylo in Brooklyn a couple of weeks before the surgery

I’d be remiss not to mention my mom’s role in all this. She woke at the crack of dawn to accompany my dad to the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City on the day of his surgery. She was there to help decipher doctor/healthcare speak. And she was there when he woke up and came out of surgery… all while having her trusty iPad on hand. If she wasn’t playing Words With Friends she was playing Scramble With Friends. Lucky for us, my mom hasn’t feasted her eyes on FoxyBingo.com… yet.

So things are back to normal. Mylo’s in daycare Mondays and Tuesdays. He’s with his “goomah” (my MIL), on Wednesdays, with Sidi on Thursdays and with me, on Fridays. We save the best for last in this family. LOL