Astoria Mommas!

A few months ago, I met a group of moms and babies at a playground in Astoria. Arden just started playing with their kids and the moms told me that they get together fairly frequently and that I could hang out with them sometimes if I wanted to. Little did they know that was something I had so longed for since the day Arden was born. Other moms who lived close to me that I could support and have fun with and have Arden play with their babies. In NYC, when so many of us have moved here to pursue love and life and careers, we are often far away from family. That can leave a momma feeling rather alone and unsupported. Well, the Astoria moms have taken matters into their own hands and formed a wonderful family of their own. It's funny that I still hesitate to say "we" since they are such a tight knit group and some moms have been together since their babies were newborns - but, we get together for after-nap playdates, trips to the Manhattan Children's museum (Arden and I didn't go :(), playground romps and Friday afternoon happy hour.

Yesterday, Arden, Penny, Mew and I hosted four beautiful moms and babes. We had a great time! The babies ages range from about 7 1/2 months to almost 2 years old. The babies play so well together and the moms have a wonderful time too, as you can imagine.

Cheers Astoria Mommas! Thank you for welcoming Arden and I with open arms!

Odin and Jesse. Odin saying, "Puff"!

Moms - Katie, Jenn and Mara with babies Shyla, Jesse, Arden and you can see a bit of Liora playing piano

Mara and Megan

Liora, Megan's baby

I tried and failed to capture Arden kissing Liora on the top of her head. It was so sweet!

The Destructor Returns

Maybe I should say the demolisher has returned. Arden has her appetite back in full swing on the fourth day of recovery post crazy virus. On the last day of her illness I finally had the idea to buy some baby food again for her to try. I would have done anything to get her to eat even a bit. It was a huge hit as she can apparently now just feed herself with a tolerable amount of mess. She also loves being able to ask for it buy name saying "Peach" for the peach banana oatmeal type and "Pear" for the pureed pears. She ate 6 jars of the stuff yesterday. I better take out some stock in Earth's Best. This is what the destructor ate this afternoon for a late lunch:
-1 4 oz jar of organic peach banana oatmeal
-1/2 chocolate peppermint dove candy (I feel bad if I don't give her a taste of what I'm having sometimes)
-1/4 skinless boneless but breaded chicken breast
-1/2 baked sweet potato
-1/2 cup frozen veggies (peas, carrots, corn and green beans or "bean beans" as Arden calls them
-1/4 croisant
-6 Goldfish crackers (she may have wanted to eat more but those things are addictive and I finished them off)
-2 oz of organic pear puree

Virus

And I don't mean the kind that effects your computer. I mean the kind that knocks your 17 month old out for 10 days with a fever reaching to 103. For all of you that knew Arden has been sick, it seems that today is a turn around day for her. She is actually eating, walking on her own and interested in playing. Nothing to make you grateful for a healthy, happy child than 10 days of a very sick kid.