{"id":208,"date":"2014-01-27T00:53:42","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T08:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/?p=208"},"modified":"2015-08-18T00:46:28","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T07:46:28","slug":"review-for-baby-play-time-at-books-and-cookies-santa-monica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/review-for-baby-play-time-at-books-and-cookies-santa-monica\/","title":{"rendered":"Review for Baby Play Time at Books and Cookies (Santa Monica)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"featuredgraphic_BooksAndCookies_BabyPlayTime\"<\/p>\n

During the first several weeks of first-time parenting, I was more or less home-bound. \u00a0My parents stayed for a few weeks to help, but once they left, and it was just the baby and me waiting for Daddy to come home from work or the occasional visitor to see the baby. \u00a0I took daily stroller walks to retain my sanity, but what I really needed was social interaction and so did my baby. \u00a0I learned about Books and Cookies through a mommy meetup group I joined when my daughter was around two months old. \u00a0It was my introduction to the world of indoor play spaces and a new social circle of parents I never knew existed.<\/p>\n

Boy is this place adorable! \u00a0As soon as you enter, you see the bookstore\/reading area. I loved seeing my favorite book from third grade on the shelf, \u00a0Ramona the Pest (Ramona Quimby)<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0 The next section is the caf\u00e9 and store. \u00a0The coffee is good, and so are the mac and cheese bites. \u00a0Everything smells wonderful and there are smiling faces to greet you and help you with whatever you need. \u00a0Then there is the activities center, where the all the activities are held.<\/p>\n

I take my child to Baby Play Time<\/em>. \u00a0An instructor leads the first 20 minutes of the 50 minute time block.\u00a0 Everyone sits in a circle on the rug with toys in the middle, and it starts off with everyone to introducing themselves and their baby. \u00a0Then, there is singing, playing, and stories. \u00a0I wouldn’t be surprised if instructors had to audition to work there. \u00a0Every instructor I’ve had has a fantastic singing voice. \u00a0Because we are in\u00a0L.A., I’m sure several of them are actor\/singers. \u00a0The songs are to tunes we all know, so they are easy to remember. \u00a0I sing them to my daughter all the time and she loves them, especially the “Charlie Chaplin” song. \u00a0The remaining 30 minutes is “free play.” \u00a0More toys are brought\u00a0out (including a tunnel, which all kids seem to love), and the parents chat while watching their children play in the brightly decorated room. \u00a0Most parents opt for the prepaid visit package\u00a0(Buy 8, get 1 free \u2013 expires 1 year from the date of purchase), so I usually see some “regulars,” which makes for good social interaction. \u00a0It’s also fun to see everyone’s kids grow. \u00a0It’s a great outlet to ask and learn about how other parents how they deal with the same things you are dealing with. \u00a0I’ve discussed everything from my fears about flying cross-country with baby to baby’s acid reflux problems. \u00a0Recently, I learned about a parent’s bad experience with not gradually introducing cow’s milk.<\/p>\n

Books and Cookies helped me keep my sanity, and I look forward to experiencing the rest of the activities it has to offer.<\/p>\n

Relevant links:<\/h5>\n

http:\/\/www.booksandcookiesla.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the first several weeks of first-time parenting, I was more or less home-bound. \u00a0My parents stayed for a few weeks to help, but once they left, and it was just the baby and me waiting for Daddy to come home from work or the occasional visitor to see the baby. \u00a0I took daily stroller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[906],"tags":[56,55,54,58,57],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-announcements","tag-books","tag-indoor","tag-play","tag-santamonica","tag-socialize","eq-blocks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/featuredgraphic_BooksAndCookies_BabyPlayTime.png?fit=759%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p46LgQ-3m","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":638,"url":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/books-and-cookies-monica-andy-pop-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":0},"title":"Books and Cookies & Monica + Andy Pop-Up","author":"westsidemommy","date":"March 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We went to Books and Cookies today for Baby Playtime. I learned from one of my mom groups they are moving locations. They haven't announced where yet. After class, we checked out the Monica + Andy pop-up store I read about in Racked LA. Monica, the owner, was very friendly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/category\/news-announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/MonicaAndAndy_Aria_withMonica.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1494,"url":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/guest-post-get-yourself-in-the-picture\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: Get Yourself in the Picture!","author":"westsidemommy","date":"July 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm happy to include the following guest post by Francine Michelle.\u00a0Francine Michelle\u00a0is the founder and CEO of Video Baby Books (www.videobabybooks.com), an innovative company that captures and documents little ones from the womb and beyond, in addition to educating parents on the importance of keeping track of milestones for more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/category\/news-announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/homemovies_FrancineMichelle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/homemovies_FrancineMichelle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/homemovies_FrancineMichelle.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7782,"url":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/socal-moms-great-big-family-play-day-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":2},"title":"SoCal MOMS Great Big Family Play Day 2017","author":"westsidemommy","date":"May 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, May 7th, my family and I attended SoCal MOMS\u00a0Great Big Family Play Day in Griffith Park as media guests of CityMoms App.\u00a0Last year's event was a lot of fun, so we knew this year was going to be a blast. The event took place on the picturesque grounds of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/category\/news-announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/GBFPD_main.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/GBFPD_main.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/GBFPD_main.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/GBFPD_main.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/GBFPD_main.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":228,"url":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/on-my-nightstand-books-im-reading-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":3},"title":"On My Nightstand – books I’m reading right now","author":"westsidemommy","date":"January 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a habit of reading several books at once. 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