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As I spend my Summer with my 2- and 4-year old daughters in Toronto, I’ve come to realize how many great outings there are for kids in the city. We’ve spent endless afternoons playing with the hose in our backyard and going to the local parks, but for those days that we need a little more adventure, my 5 favourite spots are:

1. Riverdale Farm. A great (and free!) destination for little kids and located in the heart of Toronto within historic Cabbagetown. Riverdale farm was the site of Toronto’s first zoo. You can tour the Farm’s scenic 7.5 acres along pathways through wooded areas, around ponds, and into butterfly-herb-flower-vegetable gardens. Cows, horses, donkey, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, rabbits, and farm cats may be seen along the way in the barns and outdoor paddocks. There is a great picnic area just outside the farm’s doors that everyone is welcome to use. During the Summer, the farm hosts a Farmer’s Market every Tuesday from 3pm to 7pm.

2. Toronto Zoo. One of my family’s (year round) outings. This a gorgeous zoo, with all the usual attractions with over 5,000 animals, and is set in the beautiful Rouge Valley, with over 10km of walking trails. During Summer months, make sure to visit the Kids’ Zoo, a great interactive area for little kids, and the Splash Island (although this gets quite busy on warm days). The Season’s pass offers a great value if you plan on going at least twice during the year.

3. Centreville Amusement Park on Toronto’s Centre Island. Nestled in over 600 acres of parkland just across the harbour from the city, it offers over 30 rides and attractions for little kids – from antique carousel rides to pony rides to motor boats…and my little girl’s favourite, the mini train that circles around the amusement park. And just the ferry ride over to the island is a great experience on its own for most toddlers and little ones. There is no admission fee for Centreville, but all-day ride passes are available for the attractions.

4. The Toronto Beaches. This is another one of our favourites. We like to spend a few hours on the beach, playing on the sand and relaxing by the water. Once my little girls get bored, we stroll up to the playground at Kew Gardens (in my opinion, one of the best playgrounds I’ve seen in the city) or grab some lunch at Lick’s on Queen Street. Bring lots of beach toys and snacks and just relax on the beach; weekdays are your best bet to avoid the crowds.

5. And on a rainy day….the ROM. I like to visit the ROM during colder months, but on a rainy day in the Summer, this is a great destination for little kids. Once again, the Membership offers a great value if you plan on going more than twice during the year and you won’t feel guilty spending just an hour or two if that’s all your little ones can handle. My 4-year old daughter just loves the new dinosaur exhibit, while my 2-year old can’t get enough of the CIBC Discovery Gallery with lots of interactive activities for kids. Make sure to visit the new cafeteria as well, with great options for little ones (and yummy food for grown-ups!).

Enjoy the warm months while they’re here!

Maria

PerryWinkles Kids

Now in its 46th year, the Muskoka Arts & Crafts’ Summer Show is Muskoka’s oldest and largest outdoor art show. Set in a beautiful park, the Summer Show features 200 creative artists from across Canada including fashions for adults and children, leather and silver accessories, woodworking, stained glass, pottery and much more!

PerryWinkles Kids brings you fine children’s fashions this Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 20th.  Visit us in Booth #157 to see our collection of smocked dresses for little girls and cotton cardigans.

When?   Friday, July 18, 2008, 10am-7pm
Saturday, July 19, 2008, 10am-5pm
Sunday, July 20, 2008, 10am-5pm
Where? Annie Williams Memorial Park.  Located at the corner of Santa’s Village Road & Wellington Street in Bracebridge, Ontario.
How much? Admission by Donation
Free Parking

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Girls’ Smocked Dresses

New York and babies aren’t exactly a match made in heaven but having a baby shouldn’t stop you from going to New York City, as you’ll discover a new side of this fantastic city. 

My first concern when heading there last week with my 10-month-old was transportation.  You would be insane to rent a car in a city that is dominated by aggressive drivers and yellow cabs.  Taking the bus proved a little unwieldy, as you are expected to fold up your stroller to get on the bus, but to my surprise cabs were a lot more laid back about taking babies than I had expected.  Although we ended up walking most of the time, it was a relief to know we had a viable option if needed.

The highlight of this last trip were not the fantastic dining experiences or wandering aimlessly from shop to gallery through the Village but, rather, the playgrounds in Central Park.  I had never noticed this before but there are play grounds every few meters in Central Park.  In fact, there are 21 playgrounds in this one park!  Also, on the Sound end, right by 5th Ave. is a Children’s Zoo.  I just love wandering aimlessly through this park and seeing where I end up after each turn.  I’m still amazed that a place can be so serene and be stuck in the middle of Uptown Manhattan.  The perfect escape from the crowds and the shopping when traveling with a baby.

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing

Up to now, 9 months after lugging my diaper bag everywhere I go, I have been pretty happy with my Skip Hop diaper bag, a gift from a friend at my baby shower.  It’s handy and fashionable, durable and spacious enough to hold everything I need for the day.  I was very disappointed last week when one of the strap clips cracked.  As you know, a diaper bag that you can’t carry over your shoulder or snap onto your stroller is, simply, useless! 

To my great relief Skip Hop customer support was immediately responsive to my issue; I was told that the store where the bag was purchased would replace it.  Sure enough, the store asked no questions nor needed to see a receipt to replace the damaged  bag with a new one.  Even better – I lucked out with the new model that now has me raving about Skip Hop’s product development.  Basically, they have addressed all the little annoyances that the old model had.

The new model of the Duo Deluxe has magnetic closures, which means no sweaters caught on the velcro; the lining is now a contrasting colour, which makes it easier to find things inside a black bag; the strap now has a shoulder pad; and, my favourite new feature, the new clips mean you don’t have to switch straps when you go from hanging it on your stroller to putting it on your shoulder.  I love the new model!  So, deep down, I’m glad I got a defective bag the first time!

I’m convinced that good customer support is what sets great companies apart.  And I’m definitely checking in frequently with Skip Hop for new models, since they seem to be so in touch with their end users!

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing

This Summer we will be back at the Muskoka Arts & Crafts Show in Bracebridge, Ontario. Now in its 46th year, Muskoka Arts & Crafts’ Summer Show is Muskoka’s oldest and largest outdoor art show. Set in a beautiful park, the Summer Show features 200 creative artists from across Canada. Shop for PerryWinkles Kids’ hand-smocked dresses there from July 18th to 20th.

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing

In the past month, my daughter Clara, now 7 months, has graduated from her original choice of baby toys. She no longer lingers on the grabbing toys but is fascinated by balls and anything that rolls, as well as stacking blocks.   Also on her favourites list are stuffed animals that make noise.

Having gained more control of her movements she can now pick up balls the size of her palm, as well as get her hands into beachballs. She is still at that fascinating stage where she can’t not reach for something if you put it in front of her, which makes distracting her from getting into dangerous things easier.  But the wonderful thing is she’s also learning cause and effect so you can almost see her brain light up when she shakes a toy and hears a noise coming from inside it.  Then she figures if she shakes the toy really quickly more noise will come from it…and if she bangs it against another toy!…soon we’ve got a concert going on!

Clara’s current collection of favourites includes:

1. A beachball that is not fully inflated so she can grab easily with a couple of fingers. ($2 at Gymboree)

2. A colourful ball that makes noise and she can grab with both hands.

3. Small, animated balls that fit easily into her hand.

4. Mandarins that she can push around and quickly grab and get her teeth into. (She needs to be supervised during this activity, lest she actually eat the citrus fruit that her stomach is not ready for yet!)

5. Stacking blocks are fun to hold with all its textures, sounds and colours but even more fun is stacking them and letting Clara hit them and watch them tumble.  We can do this activity over and over again without her tiring of it!  ($15 at Manhattan Toys)

 I can’t wait to see what the next stage will bring!

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing

Here in “deepest darkest Peru” everyone has an opinion about everything when it comes to raising babies.  Of the tips that our local cleaning lady, Denise, has shared with me over the past month some show local folklore and others practicality of people with few means.

Noticing how much hair I was losing, something I thought a normal post-partum effect, she said with full conviction that the reason I was losing hair was that my baby sucks her thumb.  Thinking I had misunderstood I asked her again what she meant and she repeated the same thing perfectly serious.  My baby does indeed suck her thumb but I suspect my hormones are also still adjusting less than six months after giving birth.  Also according to Denise, Clara is going to be a chatty baby because she sticks her tongue out often.  (She also happens to be teething…)

When my baby had an eyelash stuck in her eye she said I should blow in it.  I softly blew in but she laughed at me, grabbed her eye open and blew hard and loudly into her eye.  My baby didn’t even flinch, as if she hadn’t just had someone pretty much spit right into her eyeball, and the stuck eyelashes easily slid out of her eye onto her cheek.  Problem solved.  She shared that another way to get rid of this problem is to express some breastmilk into the baby’s eye.  I haven’t tried this method yet but I’m starting to believe that I should take this lady’s tips seriously.

When we fed my baby peas for the first time Denise shared that this vegetable is known for causing gases and that they should be cooked with aniseed to avoid making the baby uncomfortable.  When my baby got her first teeth she told my sister, who was the first to notice, that she had to give her an allowance for good luck.  I’m not messing with Peruvian folk beliefs so I’ll harass my sister about that allowance!

Another Peruvian secret when it comes to babies is that they give them the juice of a wonderful fruit called ‘granadilla’ even before they try any solids.  It’s an exotic fruit full of seeds with a sweet flavour.  Its smooth juice is extracted by pressing it through a colander and it’s a great way to ease babies into fruits, keeping them hydrated and giving them some nutrition.  In these hot summer days down South (not to rub it in) it’s important to keep babies hydrated, as I keep being reminded!

PerryWinkles Kids

Preparing to travel with a baby for the first time is no easy feat.  Yet another challenge of holiday travel is figuring out how to breastfeed while on the go.  One obvious difficulty is finding a place that is quiet and somewhat private.  You can take the time to find these places when you’re out and about with no agenda but what happens when you’re in an airport waiting lounge or in a plane, for example, and your baby needs to eat NOW!  You’re pretty much bound to your seat or not wanting to stray too far if you’re waiting to board a plane.  Rest assured that you can still breastfeed comfortably in these situations. 

Bebe au Lait makes handy ‘hooter hiders’ (also known as nursing covers) so you can take your time preparing and latching your baby for feeding without compromising your modesty.  There is nothing worse than trying to feed in public while being self-conscious about showing some skin or some nipple!  The stress is passed down to your baby and neither you nor her are comfortable.  Bebe au Lait uses beautiful fabrics and a simple design that allows you to see your baby and the baby to see you. Their ‘hooter hiders’ are like oversized canvas bags where the handle goes around your neck.  They are a bit large and not exactly discrete but they are definitely a convenient, colourful way to get privacy.

The next challenge - how to hold your baby for the duration of the feed when you’re not at the comfort of your home with your favourite breastfeeding pillow.  My Brest Friend makes a perfect travel pillow that inflates into a sturdy pillow that doesn’t slide around and is light-weight and easy to pack to take along on trips.  You don’t need to try to support your baby with your jacket or be all hunched over when feeding on planes, restaurants, parks or when traveling.  Although I don’t see myself pulling out my breastfeeding pillow at a restaurant, I think it’s a great solution to the travel dilemma. 

Bon app, les bèbès!  Luckily baby’s meals don’t have to be compromised when we’re on the go.

PerryWinkles Kids - Fine Children’s Clothing 

As the cold weather settles in we start to wonder if it’s possible to stay warm, fashionable and comfortable while carrying our babies outside.  Slings are great for warmer weathers but trying to tie one over a jacket can prove challenging.  One solution to having to layer and wear your unbuttoned jacket around your sling or baby carrier (we’ve all seen the awkward attempts!) is the Mamaponcho.

Perfect for the Fall or Spring, the Mamaponcho has a pouch attached where your baby sits warmly and comfortably and can also be worn over your baby carrier or sling.  It’s also useful as pregnancy wear.  Made in Germany of 100% virgin wool, it retails between 162 euro and 198 euro.  Some custom orders are still hand-made by the mompreneur who created them.

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing

One thing about pregnancy is that the world becomes more social. Living in a place like Toronto, where strangers avoid looking each other in the eye or striking up a conversation, this was a welcome change in my life when I got pregnant. Sure, sometimes you get tired of everyone asking you the same questions but I liked being noticed and having strangers (mostly older women) sharing my excitement when they noticed I was pregnant. I felt more connected with those around me through my changed state.

I also learned the power of sharing my experiences with other pregnant women. Being pregnant is such a unique experience that you cannot fully describe it, hard as you may try, to those that haven’t gone through it. When you talk to other pregnant women and share the little idiosyncrasies of being pregnant you know they are getting exactly what you’re saying. So you bond naturally.

Then comes the baby, and everyone loves babies! Any time you’re out walking around people are peeking into your stroller, trying to get a glimpse of the cute little thing passing by. People inevitably have a moment of tenderness looking into a baby’s eyes or seeing a baby sleep peacefully. Once again, you feel like the world is noticing you and they know your state of mind – you are a mother.

One of the strangest experiences for me after having my baby was going out alone. This wasn’t just because I missed having her glued to me and hearing her little noises but because, all of a sudden, I was anonymous to the world. I was just one more person, no bump, no bundle, no stroller. No one took notice.

One day when I ran out to the pharmacy on my own only days after having my baby someone asked me how many months pregnant I was. I was surprised that instead of taking offense to her comment I felt happy that she had noticed me.

My experience has taught me that people welcome a reason not to remain anonymous. I may just strike up the odd conversation with strangers. I have a suspicion that they may not think I’m crazy but rather they may just smile back. One of the many lessons that my baby will have taught me, I’m sure!

Veronica

PerryWinkles Kids – Fine Children’s Clothing