A visit to the Byward Market

by Vicky I love the Byward Market this time of year. The pumpkins, squash and sunflowers are out, and the fall colours are just stunning. On Sunday, we were looking for something to do outside with the kids, and decided to take a drive downtown. There is so much to see, do and eat in the Market, and we definitely covered all three of these categories!

Street parking is free on Sundays, if you can find a spot. We cruised for a while before heading right to the parking garage on Clarence. We walked through the courtyard and threw some pennies in a fountain. Then we walked right up to Sussex to check out the giant spider in front of the National Gallery. This was very amusing for Joel, he spun around and around the spider's legs and giggled when I pointed up to the net of spider eggs hanging from the middle. This led to some interesting questions about how the spider had babies in her tummy and if it was  just like the way he was once in my tummy.

Next we walked down Sussex and stopped to look at models of downtown Ottawa. We talked about the buildings and the different streets, pointing out the peace tower and Major's Hill Park. We collected acorns and maple leaves and then took the elevator next to 700 Sussex back down to the market.We walked back down George and checked out the totem pole, and looked at some beautiful bunches of flowers. (I wish I had bought some).

 

There were buskers and musicians to watch, but little people were hungry! I suggested we get a Beavertail, you can't really visit the market without eating one. But guess what? Little people didn't like Beavertails! Shocking I know! (Daddy ate it).  So we wandered through the streets window shopping, and made our way to the Moulin de Provence bakery, (where you can buy the famous Obama cookies) for another snack - a pumpkin cookie fit the bill.

All in all, the Byward Market provided nearly 2 hours of entertainment on a beautiful sunny almost-autumn day.  Add in a couple of history lessons (and an Entomology lesson on spiders!) and our afternoon was also educational.

I encourage you to take in what our city has to offer! I know I often take for granted all the beautiful and historical landmarks we have right in our own backyard. Why not play tourist for a day with your kids, I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much as we did.

Vicky is the mom to 3.5 year old son named Joel and 1 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

Why I love Chapters. And it's not for the books.

by Zach I've always liked Chapters bookstores. They have books, places to sit, and the staff leaves me alone when I read stuff and then put it back on the shelves.   Since I've had kids, I've come to appreciate Chapters even more. Big, reasonably clean, air-conditioned, and no sharp tools for the kids to injure themselves (or anyone else) with.   However, the Chapters Rideau (47 Rideau Street, right downtown at Sussex & Rideau) has a particularly fond place in my heart, for one reason: Thomas the Tank Engine. They have what is, by my standards, a huge Thomas playset in the kids area, on the 2nd floor. I'm not familiar with the whole collection of Thomas toys, but it seems to me they must have all the trains, plus a ton of tracks, bridges, a roundhouse, and so on. There's plenty of pieces to play with, and lots of space around the play table for more than one kid at a time to get in there and start moving things around.   The tracks are all glued together, and onto the table. This may discourage creativity in designing new railway tracks, but I imagine helps keep things from wandering out of the store, or from falling over and thereby requiring parental hands to put everything back together.   Sometime in the relatively recent past they re-designed the kids area slightly, opening the space by, I think, removing some shelving. There's now a few extra kid-sized, colourful tables and chairs next to the train set, and, to my delight, some grownup sized chairs. If you're lucky, you can read something while the kids move Thomas and his friends and frenemies around. There are also bathrooms relatively nearby. I strongly recommend scrubbing everyone's hands after going anywhere within six feet of the Thomas playset.   But wait, that's not all! When I used to take my daughter, when she was around a year and a half or so, she greatly enjoyed the escalators in the middle of the store. We would go up, and then down, over and over. They're got wide steps, and she could navigate them pretty well, including doing the walking-up-the-down-escalator routine. If possible, I suggest going early in the morning before you really have to start dodging people who are actually trying to use the escalators to get to the books.   A little while ago, they added boxes and boxes of scooters and wagons to the kids area. A few are unpacked and available for use. I feel a bit anxious about kids speeding around in a relatively small area, on the 2nd floor, close to the escalators, but, if it buys a few more minutes of relative calm ...   Needless to say, there's books, too. We tend to use the library more than we buy new books (all our bookcases at home are overflowing, anyhow), but it's a great place to pick up a birthday or baby shower present. Who doesn't like books? At least, if you have the space for them...

Zach is a dad to a four-year old girl and a two-year old boy. He doesn't blog but he is married to Capital Mom who does.

Driving around in my automobile

by Lara I have a friend whose baby slept through the night - 7pm to 7am - from the time he was 6 weeks old. And he was all happy all the time during the day. I hated her.

Ok, I didn't, but I was a wee bit jealous seeing as how I have had three babies and none of them slept more than about 1.5 hours at a time for the first three months and did A LOT of crying and not sleeping during the days too.

I had to come up with a lot of strategies to not lose my mind and to make sure my babies got some sleep.

Obviously every baby is different but I thought I would share some of what I did :

1) Baby wear.

This was more difficult to do with twins (although I did it and still do it a lot when they are fussy).  I have many types of carriers.  I really liked my long stretchywrap when they were little, and as they got older I really liked my mei teis.  I have a Kozy and a more structured carrier that I found easier to use to get babies up onto my back on my own called a Beco. I HIGHLY recommend just putting your baby on and bouncing around the house (or go for a walk) when they won't sleep. SO effective!

2. White noise

White noise reminds babies of being in the womb. It calms them, it seemingly drugs them into a state of calm.  It was my saviour.

Some people use the kitchen fan, some the bathroom fan, some the vacuum - I used my hairdryer. For about a year both times, my hairdryer lived on the floor in the nursery set on cold.  In really trying moments it would be run on full blast and babies almost always calmed right down, often falling asleep. For us, only REALLY powerful hairdryers worked so it can't be a cheapo low voltage one.

We still have a white noise machine going almost constantly in my daughter's room.  Graco makes  a great one that is also a nightlight and you can plug an MP3 player into for other uses.

3. The car

Do you get drowsy in the car? I know that if I'm not driving I almost always start to pass out on long car rides. I think my parents programmed me for it, and I'm FINE with that.  I have attempted to do the same with my kids :)

When my babies wouldn't sleep I often would say "fine, let's go for a drive!" - with Kiernan it was often one of the few ways I could get a decent length nap.  Not eco-friendly, I know, but driving up and down the highway for an hour sometimes gave me the break we both so desperately needed.

With the twins, I explored back country roads and my husband and I are still known, on occasion, to take a REALLY fussy baby for a drive at night to get them to sleep when nothing else will work.

And I've seen a lot of the city and countryside during my drives!

Oh, and also a lot of this:

What do you do to get through the fussy crying periods?

Lara is mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Driving around in my automobile

by Lara I have a friend whose baby slept through the night - 7pm to 7am - from the time he was 6 weeks old. And he was all happy all the time during the day. I hated her.

Ok, I didn't, but I was a wee bit jealous seeing as how I have had three babies and none of them slept more than about 1.5 hours at a time for the first three months and did A LOT of crying and not sleeping during the days too.

I had to come up with a lot of strategies to not lose my mind and to make sure my babies got some sleep.

Obviously every baby is different but I thought I would share some of what I did :

1) Baby wear.

This was more difficult to do with twins (although I did it and still do it a lot when they are fussy).  I have many types of carriers.  I really liked my long stretchywrap when they were little, and as they got older I really liked my mei teis.  I have a Kozy and a more structured carrier that I found easier to use to get babies up onto my back on my own called a Beco. I HIGHLY recommend just putting your baby on and bouncing around the house (or go for a walk) when they won't sleep. SO effective!

2. White noise

White noise reminds babies of being in the womb. It calms them, it seemingly drugs them into a state of calm.  It was my saviour.

Some people use the kitchen fan, some the bathroom fan, some the vacuum - I used my hairdryer. For about a year both times, my hairdryer lived on the floor in the nursery set on cold.  In really trying moments it would be run on full blast and babies almost always calmed right down, often falling asleep. For us, only REALLY powerful hairdryers worked so it can't be a cheapo low voltage one.

We still have a white noise machine going almost constantly in my daughter's room.  Graco makes  a great one that is also a nightlight and you can plug an MP3 player into for other uses.

3. The car

Do you get drowsy in the car? I know that if I'm not driving I almost always start to pass out on long car rides. I think my parents programmed me for it, and I'm FINE with that.  I have attempted to do the same with my kids :)

When my babies wouldn't sleep I often would say "fine, let's go for a drive!" - with Kiernan it was often one of the few ways I could get a decent length nap.  Not eco-friendly, I know, but driving up and down the highway for an hour sometimes gave me the break we both so desperately needed.

With the twins, I explored back country roads and my husband and I are still known, on occasion, to take a REALLY fussy baby for a drive at night to get them to sleep when nothing else will work.

And I've seen a lot of the city and countryside during my drives!

Oh, and also a lot of this:

What do you do to get through the fussy crying periods?

Lara is mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Taking your monkey to Two Monkeys Coffee and Tea House

by Amy Joe and I are big fans of hanging out in coffee shops talking and getting work done, so when we first heard about Two Monkeys Coffee and Tea House while I was still pregnant it seemed like a great idea.   Two Monkeys is in Barrhaven in Cedarview Square. It was opened last year by two local parents who wanted to give other parents a place to relax while their children could be entertained. The front of Two Monkeys is just like any other coffee shop, a few tables, a cozier seating area and the counter where you can order countless drinks and tasty treats. Walk down the hallway past the bathrooms, however, and you find a small play area with toys scattered, a blackboard on the wall and soft mats on the floor, as well as couches and chairs where moms and dads can while the kids play.   We go to Two Monkeys a couple of times a month, and we have since the baby girl was born. I found it to be a great place to sit and talk with other moms, especially when mine was the youngest of the group. They have good coffee, great pastries and soups and sandwiches that are healthy and tasty. The staff is very helpful and they do have free wireless for those who like to take along the laptop and get some work done while the kids play.   I do find that Two Monkeys is not great for older kids who may notice the lack of variety in the available toys sooner than little ones. The play space is small and fills up quickly, so it’s not a place to plan a play date, but if mom and dad just want to sit and read the paper while the kid expends a little energy, I would recommend giving Two Monkeys a try.

Amy is mom to 8-month-old Maggie and a 4 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that's on her mind. She loves getting active with her family, including husband Joe who blogs about his dad experiences at Grover's Cape.