Philadelphia Moms

A Girl!

Hi all!  So I had a baby girl a week ago and will be taking a short maternity leave.  Posting will be light (well, lighter than even usual--sorry about that), but as soon as I get back into a routine, I'll be posting with all sorts of new info about having a newborn (and toddler!) in the city. 

Ciao!

eBeanstalk

You may have noticed a link to eBeanstalk on the sidebar under "Places Much Cooler Than Here."  We're a partner here at Philadelphia Moms with eBeanstalk, because it's wonderful resource for parents who are looking for educational, age-appropriate toys.  It's one-stop shopping for toys and baby/child products.  They also provide great advice from child specialists.  Which is fantastic, because I need all the help I can get.

Too Late for Bunnies

So, I promised you more bunnies before Easter and didn't deliver, right?  God, I'm a jerk.  An absent-minded one too.  Well, better late than never, I suppose.

I wound up purchasing the Manuella bunny, which incidentally, has those annoying beanie filler things in the feet.  You know, that stuff that if the toy ripped open (or hmmm, was chewed open) would spill everywhere causing a lovely choking hazard?  Probably a somewhat toxic choking hazard.  Regardless, I had to get one anyway (because sometimes I am guilty of allowing cute to trump safety; clearly my parenting license should be revoked)and Manuella also makes an elephant and a duck, among other cute things.  Piccolini carries the elephant as well as the bunny in their Rittenhouse store. 

If you're looking for other cute and perhaps safer stuffed animals, head over to Happily Ever After, which has a decent collection of miYim bears, bunnies, monkeys, you name it, available in their store.  You can read my review of miYim products over at SafeMama.com.  Happily Ever After also stocks a number of Kathe Kruse toys, which are made with all natural materials. Kathe Kruse has some adorable rattles and soft toys for infants.  Including this bunny.  Which is darling, despite it being a little too late for bunnies. 

Outside City Limits

Just a quick note to let you all know we'll be adding a new feature here at Philly Moms.  A "Suburban Edition" will run the first Friday of every month and will be composed by Philly Mama's friend, "Main Line Mama" unless otherwise noted.  The Suburban Edition will focus on stores and activities outside of Philadelphia.

The focus of this site is still for first time parents who live and work in the city, the walking, the in-and-out of stores with strollers, the playing with children minus a backyard, etc.  But a reader living in the 'burbs wrote in about some lovely baby-related places in surrounding towns.  Since us city dwellers do venture outside city limits, the idea of a Suburban Edition was born.

Here at Philly Moms, we're always open to new ideas and topics so drop a line if you have a topic you'd like to see covered.

Stay tuned for a post on Friday from our Main Line Mama!

Edit on That Last One

I got a note from a mom commenting on the Adventure Aquarium's food choices and it got me rethinking about what I wrote in my last post.  I wrote that there were "plenty" of healthy of food choices and I realize now that's a bit of an exaggeration.  There were 3 or 4 "healthy" (salads or wraps) choices.  My son has food allergies and I usually have to resort to bringing his own food with us everywhere. After thinking about it, I realized that, all allergies aside, my 18 month old probably wouldn't eat a salad or wrap--they're probably just a little too complicated for him still. 

So, there is a food court with assorted options; questionable how many of them would truly count as healthy.  I realize those of you reading this blog take what I write here seriously and I would hate to misrepresent something.  Of course, there will always be differences of opinion (you may love a place that I can't stand), but if I realize, after the fact, that I've written something that isn't exactly true, I'll correct myself.

Wishing you all a pleasant week.

Go City Kids

So we're doing a little maintenance over here at Philadelphia Moms, and you may have noticed that posts and ads were appearing and disappearing over the last week.  I'm hoping we've gotten most of those issues resolved, but you may continue to see some changes.  Hopefully for the better.

Also, I wanted to tell you about this site I stumbled upon while doing some research: Go City Kids.  Did you know about this?  Because for the life of me when I was trying to research day care centers and other kid-type things I couldn't find a whole lot of info all in one place.  And yet, here it is.  How much easier my life would have been if only I had found this sooner.

There are other cities available too, but for our purposes, I've linked the the Philadelphia-focused one.  I'll provide a link on the sidebar too.

Now, I'm off to mix myself up a margarita.  It is Friday, after all.

Welcome!

Welcome to Philadelphia Moms--a site dedicated to being a parent in the City of Brotherly Love.  I'm a first time mom and I've been navigating my way through the city, with an infant in tow, for the last 11 months.  When I first had my baby and was out on maternity leave, I had no idea where to take him in the city.  Where would I change him if I was out shopping?  Could I still meet my girlfriends out for a drink with a baby? (cue the line from the movie Sweet Home Alabama: "You have a baby...in a bar.") Why do so many places in Philadelphia seem to involve stairs and thus seem stroller-inaccesible?

Well I've learned a thing or two over the last year.  I don't claim to be the hippest girl on the block but tune in for regular updates on my take on being a parent in Philadelphia.