Beachy Birthday Fun

Yesterday was Mikro's big day, and once again my spine refused to get with the plan, so we bagged our field trip, and headed to our local park. Kev took the day off, and in what is becoming a birthday tradition, he and Mikro had a foam sword fight on the beach. We did some birthday beach combing, complete with gifts from Old Father Hudson. (We found a crayfish fishing lure and a raptor claw shaped bit of sea glass, which are likely to become necklaces for Mikro.) Afterward, we tried to find the resident (but elusive) owl population. (We could hear them, but the foliage was thick enough that we couldn't catch sight of them...) On a rain-in-the-forecast Monday morning, we had the park nearly to ourselves.





At home, we played some board games. Stixx is fast becoming a Mikro favorite.

Mikro was in an experimental mood this week, so I picked up spaghetti squash (which we had never tried before) for dinner. Silly me, the squash was too big for any pot we own. That made for adventures in the kitchen, as did our as yet unsuccessful quest for the beaters for my hand mixer, which Kev washed and put away (perhaps in an alternate dimension) after my last foray into Gluten Free baking... So, plans for a dinosaur cake on indefinite hold till the appliances cooperate, we once again indulged in the ridiculously rich and delicious vegan and GF fudge that Mikro adores, this time with candles.



At bedtime, I got a huge hug and was told that he had a great birthday (and he really wanted to stay up till midnight, to see it through to the very end, but we chased him upstairs anyway...) Since the schools are off this week for spring break, and it is Mikro's considered opinion that his birthday deserves at least that prolonged a celebration, I'm letting him slack off a little on academics, in favor of playing with the birthday loot. He's already into the LEGOs, and is hatching plans with his dad for a robot building project...

My kid is actually *eating*!!!

If I could, I'd throw him a parade! Picky food allergic boy is making huge progress.

Today he had spicy lentils and falafel!

Yesterday he ate spinach dal!

The day before, he begged for rice and beans.

He likes butternut squash, sweet potatoes and spinach! Carrots and beets are not of the devil. Broccoli, regular potatoes and green beans are, unfortunately. He will eat salad mix (though nothing too bitter or kicky. He picks out the arugula for me or the lizard...)

Potatoes and eggs are a favorite, as is rice crust pizza with spinach & soy cheese. He also loves bean enchilladas and veggie tacos. And as ever, soy yogurt (now in a variety of flavors with fruit in them, not just vanilla!) and hummus and GF breadstciks.

The kid who wouldn't do crunchy now eats GFCF granola bars and potato chips!

The kid who hated fruit will now eat bananas, fresh raspberries (he'll pick 'em off the bushes in summer), canteloupe and applesauce. But he still hates strawberries, oranges, watermelon, non-mushed up apples, blueberries and pineapple.

He loves Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Mint SILK soy milk. (I still can't get him to drink almond or rice milk.)

He's interested in earning to cook and being helpful in the kitchen. He is actually looking around when we shop for things he would be interested in trying! Aliens have obviously inhabited his body...

And OMG, it is cheaper to bulk order lots of gluten and dairy free foods from Amazon than to drive to my supermarket and pick them up. I just bulk ordered a bunch of vegan and gluten free veggie soups from Amy's Organics, and OrgraN falafel mix, and gluten free spaghetti, and I've forgotten what else. (And I got lots of holiday treats from Vegan Essentials- Hurray for vegan marshmallows!)

Now to reorganize my entire kitchen to make it all fit... Mikro will be well fed this winter, and I am freaking ecstatic!

Architecture, the Armory and Eats!

On Saturday, after Bristlebots, we took a walk around the city, starting at Union Square (which was far more congested due to the farmer's market, than the artists!), pausing for hot apple cider in the park, and meandering north east to end at Grand Central Terminal.

Come along on our walk and enjoy the city where Kevin and I grew up, and where Mikro spends lots of his time learning.

Along the way, we noticed the Armory at 26th Street, and were invited in for a tour by a very nice young National Guardsman. This is a neighborhood I've passed through, but not really spent any time in. I never knew the building was an armory, much less that it is the home of the Fighting Irish, the 69th Infantry Regiment, which has a long history and leads off NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade every year. Inside, we were amazed by the architecture, and learned a lot about the building, and the 69th's regimental history. The Gaelic on the 69th's crest, flanked by Irish Wolfhounds, translates to: "Gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked."

You can take a virtual tour here.

The building has also been used for professional basketball games, art shows, and other purposes, and was the site of a historic 1913 art show that introduced Modern Art (and Native American art!) to America.





After leaving the Armory, we stumbled over a restaurant that serves Gluten Free italian food! Mozzarelli's rocks! They had a GFCF pizza with veggies and soy cheese which Mikro could eat! This is the first time since he was diagnosed with food allergies that Mikro was able to go into a restaurant and order something off the menu to eat! (Usually, Kev and I order, and we bring with us something that Mikro can eat.) So I can't begin to tell you how happy this made me:



After stuffing ourselves with amazing food (the GF artichoke pizza was DE-licious!), we continued our wanderings, keeping an eye out for interesting architectural details. Most of these shots were taken along Lexington Avenue.

For awhile, we had a bit of a bird theme going...



These last two are from the Chrysler Building, of course:



More to see...
Aquatic life at the Chanin Building:





Grand Central Terminal and its famous ceiling full of constellations:



We even watched a wedding party take photos in GCT...

A bit of halloween:

Mikro is FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't seem to get my head around the fact that this wonderful little person has been here for five whole years already. Time sure flies.



We spent most of the day at our local park, playing on the playground and walking on the beach.



Then we went home and opened presents. He got some speed racer stuff, some dinosaur stuff, a dinosaur board game that he LOVES, an easel, and a really cool microscope thingee called Eyeclops that projects onto the TV.



















Afterwards, we had cake. We found those tricolored chocolate covered cookies in a gluten free (actually, Kosher for Passover-- it is a great thing his birthday falls when it does, because Passover food tends to be gluten, and often also dairy, free and thus Mikro-safe) version, and stuck a candle in them. He wasn't completely in love with the taste, so he also had a dinosaur shaped piece of gluten free brownie with a candle in it.





He had fun, and it seems like his birthday has morphed into birthday week, because we have more fun stuff planned for the weekend.

Happy Easter! Spring Has Sprung! Let's Have Fun!

Mikro's easter basket had a paleolithic flavor. Actually, it was pretty much dinosaurs, bugs and birds. No basket involved. He had a tin pail, a plush ladybug backpack, and an enormous egg. The pail was full of small nesting paper mache eggs, which had pom pom insect and easter critters inside them. He got gluten and dairy free chocolate lentils (faux m&m's) from Chocolate Emporium, in little plastic cases shaped like ladybugs and butterflies, which I picked up at CVS.



Inside his ladybug backpack, there was a Go Diego Go reptile rescue egg, which contained a plushie iguana. There was a bird shaped water whistle, a blow up puffer fish, a pair of birds which sing when you shake them, and two volcano eggs that you put in water, which causes the volcano to erupt (or split apart), revealing a tiny dinosaur. He also got a magnetic Tickle Bee game, which he figured out pretty quickly.



We have been reading The Enormous Egg, a children's book in which a hen hatches a triceratops. So the huge paper mache egg from either Hearthsong or Magic Cabin (can't recall which) was just perfect. Especially since I filled it with a triceratops puppet.



And the last thing was a Mushroom Maypole toy, which resembles the bug carousel at the Bronx Zoo which Mikro is obsessed with...



It was a beautiful warm day today, and we spent most of it playing outside. Yesterday was Kev's birthday, and today he flew the RC plane I gave him. It's one of those foam ones, so safe to fly near people and houses... Most of our neighbors were around, and the kids had a blast together. Mikro and E played in the leaves and sandbox. Later he played tag and little kid informal soccer with C and C. We told C & C's dad where to get the planes, and he drove off and got one. The dads played with the planes, with some help from their boys. Both Mikro and C managed to get their planes stuck in a tree, but the daddies managed to get them down by tossing basketballs at the branches... All in all a very nice, fun and friend filled day.