Romanian Food and Playground Fun – Pookie Moment of the Week

Ok, I know I said that I would stick to just ONE Pookie Moment of the Week, but I’m breaking my promise again. This week, I have 2 Pookie Moments for you to check out!

On Monday, we went to Romanian Garden in Sunnyside, Queens for a taste of the homeland with the whole family. Pookie had a fabulous time. As usual, he thoroughly impressed everyone with his eating skills. And he ate SALAD! What? And then he proceeded to run all over the restaurant. Thankfully, it was practically empty, so no one seemed to mind.

On Tuesday, Pookie, Oma, Opa and I went to William Sheridan Playground in our neighborhood, and Pookie had a total blast. He of course did some swinging, some sliding, some climbing, some bird-chasing and lots of running around. His new favorite thing to say is “that way!” The cutest moment though was when he tried to make friends with some bigger kids. He walked right up to them and tried to show them the piece of bark that he had picked up off the ground (“look what I have!”). And they completely ignored him! They were like “go away, baby!” So my poor little munchkin just walked away. On to bigger and better things…

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Pookie’s not gonna lose any sleep over it!

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Again I couldn’t choose just one! – Pookie Moment of the Week

The idea behind my Pookie Moment of the Week posts is to choose Pookie’s most significant moment of each week, but this week, there were so many truly significant moments to choose from, so I’ve decided to share them all. I hope you don’t mind… 🙂

Last Wednesday Pookie went to the dentist for the first time! Because I had read that babies should have their first dental visit around 6 months after their first tooth erupts, I had really felt like I was slacking. But after visiting the dentist, I feel reassured that we’re perfectly on track concerning Pookie’s dental care. Phew! Pookie’s first trip to the dentist couldn’t have gone better. We went to Bitesize Pediatric Dentistry, and let me just say that this will be one of those places that I will miss when we move to New Orleans. Yep, it was that great! When Dr. Malhotra started examining and brushing Pookie’s teeth, it wasn’t going so well until the doctor’s very sweet assistant put Pookie’s favorite (also the only one he’s ever seen) cartoon, Moana, on. Then it was smooth sailing. Overall, Pookie had a great time, was incredibly well-behaved and was rewarded with a ball and a ballon! And I can’t say enough great things about Dr. Malhotra.

Last Thursday Pookie got to see his Oma and Opa for the first time in 7 months! So that was definitely an extremely significant moment! Pookie was so happy to see them, and he clearly remembered them (Facetime was a big help!), and Oma and Opa couldn’t be happier to be reunited with their munchkin.

Last Friday we celebrated Passover! It was our first time hosting, and it went so well! Pookie of course had no idea what was going on, but he had a blast! He loves being around a lot of people (I think he gets this from his Papa!), so he was in heaven.

On Saturday we crossed an item off of our bucket list by having brunch at the Red Rooster in Harlem! Pookie loves going out to eat, so he had a great time. And then he had an even better time stalking birds and walking and walking around Harlem and Central Park and then hanging out in the front seat of the car pressing buttons and honking the horn.

On Sunday we celebrated Easter first at home over breakfast and later on with our friends in Jersey City! To say that Pookie had a fabulous time would be an understatement. We tried to show him how to “pock,” but he didn’t really get it. He enjoyed his gifts and enjoyed eating his very own mini chocolate bunny. Later on, at our friends’ house, he thoroughly enjoyed being around so many lovely people and getting SO much attention. He ate so incredibly well that one of our friends nicknamed him “54” after the number that she says will be displayed on his football jersey! (Ha! I don’t think so. I’m thinking tennis will be a safer sport for him to get into. But we’ll see I guess…)

On Monday something bad happened. We were enjoying a lovely visit from RR’s aunt and uncle when I accidentally opened the door to the playroom over Pookie’s toe. Thankfully, he only got a very superficial scratch above his toenail, but it REALLY hurt him when it happened, and he cried and cried and cried, and I wanted to cry and cry and cry. By now you can barely see it. Suffice it to say, I’ll be extremely careful to not let that happen again.

Other than that, it has been a fabulous fun-filled week! In the future I’ll try to be more selective with my Pookie Moment of the Week. This week I just couldn’t hold back!

 

 

A Successful “Clean up” – Pookie Moment of the Week

If you’ve ever been to a children’s sing-along, you know that the singer usually will pass out various fun props throughout the class. It usually starts with musical instruments like shakers, maracas and bells, and then we put those away, sing the “clean up” song and make way for the puppets, then the dreaded sticks and finally the colorful scarves. This is all great unless you have a child who very quickly becomes attached to each item and absolutely does not want to give them up. I have always watched other children give the items back like it’s nothing when it’s time to “clean up” while I’m stressing out and struggling to get Pookie to let go of the items.

Well, this week, Pookie made me so incredibly proud. During our weekly sing-along with Miss Annie, it was time to “clean up” the musical instruments (these are the most difficult to give back!), and I simply told him, “Go put those shakers into the box,” and I saw the gears in his head turning as he put one shaker into the box, looked at me, and then put the other shaker in the box. OMG! I couldn’t believe it! It was that easy! Because it wasn’t about “giving up” a toy that he was enjoying, but about following an instruction and helping out, he was happy to do it.

This was without a doubt Pookie’s Moment of the Week. I unfortunately don’t have a picture of the moment, but here’s a pic of him with the cow puppet on his hand and a video of him walking a toy puppy and crying whenever the puppy fell over on its side.

Thanks for reading!

No quiero quesadilla – Pookie Moment of the Week

So, not all of Pookie’s moments of the week have to be good moments, right? After much thought, I decided that Pookie’s moment of this week was when he threw a total fit at dinner time on Tuesday. Normally, he’s such a good eater, but on this day, when I placed his delicious shrimp quesadilla in front of him, he basically got ultra pissed off at me, refused to eat and started screaming. The night before, he loved the quesadilla, so I’m not sure what happened here.

Trying to get him to calm down, I offered him his Humpty Dumpty, which made him somewhat happy, but he still needed cheering up, so I brought over the potholders, which had been a hit at dinner a couple of weeks ago. I tried putting them on our heads, but he needed them on his hands, so I obliged.

This is what it took to get him to calm down and kind of eat his quesadilla. And just because it was definitely out of the ordinary, it’s the Pookie Moment of the Week.

Pookie’s runner up moment of the week was bathtime with the foam numbers and letters that I had gotten him for his half birthday last week. They are definitely his new obsession.

Happy 18 Months! – Pookie Moment of the Week

Pookie turned 18 months yesterday, so we decided to celebrate with presents and a cupcake! He’s actually really interested in learning the alphabet so we got him foam letters and numbers for the bath, as well as a wooden alphabet puzzle and a fun ball. He loved the foam numbers so much that he brought them to the dinner table and held on to them throughout dinner. The only thing that got him to release them was… the cupcake!

OMG give me that thing right now!

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We got him a vanilla ganache cupcake from Martha’s Country Bakery, and it was a hit! Those little ganache curls were perfect because he picked them off and ate them one by one instead of diving right into a pile of icing. This way, he ended up not eating so much of it and not making too huge of a mess.

Of course papa provided some entertainment during the cupcake-eating experience, and, as usual, Pookie wouldn’t allow him to stop playing for a second!

Happy 18 month birthday, Pookie!

Pookie’s Many Moments of the Week

I couldn’t choose just one moment for the Pookie Moment of the Week because this week was just too much fun! Pookie’s monkey uncles (my brother-in-law and his boyfriend) were in town, and Pookie had a blast with them!

On Friday, there was this hilarious moment when Pookie “shook it off.”

Saturday was a fun-filled day. It started out with a family brunch in New Jersey. Pookie had a great time eating everything in sight and playing with his cousins. Then we went to our friends’ gender reveal party, where Pookie was in a terrible mood, but at least he got to have this extremely sugary cookie. By the way, it’s a girl! 🙂

Fun with Monkey Uncle #2 and Mickey

So much sugar! Fortunately he only had a few bites!

On Sunday we went to Norman (we’re obsessed) with Monkey Uncle #1 and spent the rest of the day with him. We also had another family hat moment.

On Monday, Pookie had a great time being incredibly naughty at Miss Annie’s Music for Kids at Wild Was Mama. I chased him around the entire time.

On Tuesday, Pookie and I took the “boat-ee” to Long Island City to say goodbye to the Monkey Uncles, but first we stopped at a playground where he pushed around a pink ball in a pink stroller and rang some bells.

 

 

On Wednesday, we had a fun Mama-Pookie moment. Never mind the fact that his moment was really with “his” iPhone 5.

On Thursday, I took Pookie to Tribeca Pediatrics to get his cold checked out, and we had a great time making faces at each other (Look closely to check out my scary fish face). His cold is not serious by the way.

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Thanks for checking out Pookie’s Many Moments of the Week!

Two Buddies in a Choo-Choo – Pookie Moment of the Week

Running into Oscar again was Pookie’s Moment of the Week! Oscar is just the sweetest little 16-month-old who we’ve met with his nanny three times randomly. First at a sing-along, then at Little People Party and this week in the choo-choo train at East River State Park. They had a great time sitting in the wooden train car chatting it up. Well, you know, babbling and occasionally squealing and pointing out helicopters. Pookie loves him so much, and so this was the highlight of the week.

No Jacket Required – Pookie Moment of the Week

On Wednesday, Pookie got to play outside for hours without a jacket on. Yes, that’s right. On February 21st, 2018, the temperature got up to 75 degrees in Brooklyn, and this was without a doubt Pookie’s moment of the week. Just look how happy he was.

It’s a good thing he enjoyed it to the fullest though since it was very short-lived. In fact, poor baby has been cooped up for the last two days because winter has returned with a vengeance.

A Swing-Set with a View – Pookie Moment of the Week

On Wednesday, I needed to go to the West Elm store in DUMBO, so Pookie and I boarded the East River Ferry (or as Pookie calls it, the “boatie”) headed downtown. I think this was the first time he associated the “boaties” that he sees from our window with the ones that we ride in since he was really able to see the boat approach before we got on it.

After 10 minutes, we got off the boat and arrived at West Elm. Who knew that a furniture store could be so toddler-friendly? After I checked out some sleeper sofas, I let Pookie run around (with me right behind him of course), and wow, did he ever run! He absolutely loves couches and beds, so this place was Pookie heaven. This was the most he had ever walked without falling, and he just had a blast.

I had noticed that this West Elm had a Brooklyn Roasting Company in it, so I thought I’d check it out. It wasn’t too cold this day, so I thought the Maple Shay, basically just an iced latte with maple syrup in it, would be right up my alley, and it was! Actually, the Maple Shay made it onto City Guide NYC’s list of best seasonal coffees, and I can see why!

Then Pookie and I headed to Brooklyn Bridge Park to hit up the swings. I put him in one of those baby buckets (as RR calls them), and started pushing him while facing him as I always do. Then all of a sudden, Pookie started screaming “boatie” and pointing, and I realized how jaded I am. I had my back turned to the most incredible view. This swing-set sits right next to the East River and has a view of all of Lower Manhattan. You can see the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and all of the many “boaties” going up and down the river. So, I thought today I would stand behind him while I push him in his baby bucket.

Thank you, Pookie, for reminding me what an incredible city we live in.

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