Blog Contest!

It has been brought to my attention (by a friend who nominated this blog) that The Bump is running a blog contest in several categories, including "best local blog." This is described as "[g]roup or solo, these are the blogs that keep you up-to-date on everything happening in your area, from where to take baby on the weekends to that new boutique that just opened up. . . . "

Feel free to check it out and vote for "Philababy with Fun"!

Sprayground!

We finally tried out the new Sprayground at Second and Reed. The space is really beautiful and impressive. Part of the park is the sprayground (fountains spewing water for the kids to run through) and the other section contains high-tech playground toys. Ample street parking exists, although we walked. The children with whom we went loved the sprayground section, but not Jeremy. He only liked sitting on the toys (in his swimming gear). (Incidentially, his swimming gear came from Lands' End where I must say I have found very high quality high items for great prices, and always with free shipping. I like to look in the "Overstock" section on the Lands' End website.)

Regardless, I'm so glad we checked out the new sprayground and perhaps better luck for us next summer!!

Beach Time!

Living in Philadelphia affords easy beach access! We took Jeremy to the beach for the first time last week and we all had a blast. We went to Ocean City, NJ and stayed in the Scarborough Inn for two nights. This was a perfect place to stay -- we were about two blocks from the beach and the inn, while historic, was so well-maintained. The inn has thirty-one rooms including four "suites" (two small bedrooms connected by a bathroom). We had one of those and it was perfect. It would have cost $205 per night for the suite (including a wonderful breakfast), but we had a 20% special so only paid in the $160s per night! Excellent value!

Jeremy loved the boardwalk, sand, and ice cream. Not a big fan of the ocean yet, but that gives us much reason to return year after year!! A beach mini-vacation is really perfect - driveable, relatively inexpensive, casual, and very child-friendly.

Music Class!

This month we start music class (again) after a summer break. Jeremy has been enrolled in music class since last September when he was four months old. We really love it and highly recommend it. We do The Music Class (at the Old Pine Street Community Center, and they also have other locations throughout Philadelphia and the rest of the country). Other options in Philadelphia are Music Together and Do-Mi-Sol Kids. In the beginning, we enjoyed the class because it gave us an activity and a schedule. In the later months, especially after he could sit up, Jeremy enjoys the instruments, the other children, and learning and listening to the music at home and in class. We can't wait to start the fall class!!

Pediatricians

Yesterday we had Jeremy's 15-month appointment -- time flies! Living in a major city (with the nation's top ranked Children's Hospital in five specialties) provides numerous fantastic choices for pediatric practices. If you select your practice before birth and if the group is on staff at your hospital, the doctors will visit your baby in the hospital. For a nominal fee, expectant parents can meet with pediatricians and select a practice. It's a great opportunity to see the office and meet the doctors.

We considered Society Hill Pediatrics (which we use and with which we are very happy -- it's a group of four energetic, engaged female doctors and a few nurse practitioners -- I am a big fan of the advice line every morning from 8-9) and Queen Village Pediatrics, which is well-regarded and operates out of three locations (and seems to have a nice new website since I looked into practices in the spring of 2008!). Other popular options include Center City Pediatrics (this is a relatively new and now popular group started by Eric Berger), Zavid King Barlett Pediatrics, Jefferson Pediatrics, and of course CHOP General Pediatric Faculty Practice.

Young Scientists!

Yesterday we went on a field trip with 8 adults and 7 babies(!) to the Academy of Natural Sciences. Some of us took Phlash, and it gets easier each time! (See an earlier posting for a description of Phlash.) En route, we admired Logan Fountain. This part of Philadelphia is beautiful and we should definitely explore it more. The museum normally costs $12 per person (butterflies are an additional $2), but it is buy one get one free with a WHYY membership. The Entertainment Book also has a buy one get one free coupon. Of course the museum also has multiple membership options. On this trip we visited the live butterfly exhibit (fascinating to watch butterflies' births, but very warm and humid!), live gecko exhibit (fun to spot the hiding fellows), and some of the dioramas. The highlight was "Outside In" -- the children's museum. The babies left their strollers to explore on hands and feet (and knees) and loved it. For the most part we had brought our own lunches, so we dined in the cafeteria (where they did not have enough high chairs for our large group, but we managed)!

Story Time!

Although we have attended story hours on and off for a while at both libraries and at bookstores, Jeremy has recently started to LOVE books. I think we are going to start attending regularly. Story hours are great and stimulating for all ages -- babies love to observe other babies/toddlers -- and they are free!

On the Free Library of Philadelphia's website, you can search under "events" for a program near you. The schedule is subject to change, but currently Tuesdays at 10:30 AM the Independence Branch (7th and Chestnut) features "Toddler Storytime" and the Charles Santore Branch (7th and Carpenter) features "Preschool Storytime" (where we went today). These sessions were certainly NOT limited to toddlers or preschoolers; many very young babies were present.

Bookstores are also a great locale for story hour. Headhouse Books (lovely independent book store at 2nd and Bainbridge) has a nice session on both Tuesdays and Fridays at 11AM. It is often only 30 minutes, so don't be too late, as I have learned! Barnes and Noble (Rittenhouse) has Storytime on Wednesdays at 3PM.

So, this is just a start and is current as of today, but check the websites or call for the latest schedule.