We see the Gowanus Canal every day on our commute into the city. It sparkles out the subway window during the two elevated stops on the F train.

The water looks rather pretty from up high, though surrounded by trucks, debris, and warehouses. Up close, it stinks to high heaven and is filled with goo. Charlie loves to look for it before we hit the tunnel to 7th Ave. (His other two landmarks are the Statue of Liberty and the “gorilla”–a blow-up ad for car sales.)

On Columbus Day, when Charlie and I were flying back from GA, we passed over NJ. Out the window we saw a lovely, glimmering river, surrounded by forest on both sides. (Our two NJ-native friends say this must have been the Delaware River.)

Charlie looked out and said, “The Gowanus Canal!”

I’ve noticed something weird this fall. It took a few weeks for it to sink in because Charlie and I were away and doing other fun things that kept us away from our local playground.

Used to, we’d spend the morning in the playground, when the older kids weren’t around to outrun a toddling Charlie. But now, when we go at 11 before our lunch at the pizza place across the street, Charlie is the oldest kid.

He loves babies and is very gentle with them, so I don’t worry about him running them over. But it is an odd sensation to be at the jungle gym–or, like yesterday, in the park and the bigger playground with the sandbox–and see no kids over the age of two.

All of Charlie’s peers are in some sort of preschool, as he is most days. We’ve entered a new stage.

I posted part one of “Getting In…Kindergarten” a while back.

For those who have an interest in seeing more parents confront NYC private school admissions, parts two, three, and four are now available on Youtube.

The emphasis on testing in this film and in the whole school process is especially interesting in light of a book I just read, Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. It seems that IQ is very flexible and can gain or drop 15 points from the age of 4 to the teenage years, and many really smart kids don’t actually have fully developed intelligence until they are 11 or 12, way beyond the time that schools test for that kind of thing.

(Of course that also means that those IQ tests I took in first grade, to get me into the gifted program, are null by now. I could be 15 IQ points less intelligent than I was in kindergarten. Hmm. It does kind of feel that way sometimes.)

Kylie, Kathryn and Nanny are coming to Brooklyn for a post-Thanksgiving visit!

Charlie was asleep when I found out, but he’s going to bust a gut when I tell him. He loves sharing his favorite places with those he loves. I’m pretty sure “Bunny-Turtles” (Sean Casey Animal Rescue) will be on the list. (I’m having fun thinking about all the fun we can have, too.)

Chime in if you know somewhere I MUST take them.

Charlie’s daycare was on our local CBS station last night in a discussion of daycares “going green.” The video clip is here.

Fedkids is pretty good about being eco-friendly, though I do remember that when we first got there, the parents had to beg and plead for organic milk. And don’t be fooled by the mention of organic snacks. The kids still mostly ask for Cheerios.

The video features the indoor playspace and Charlie’s BFF Maryn with her mom Kristen and brother Newie.

Yet more photos and videos I should have put up a long time ago, from this spring. At this rate, maybe I’ll be caught up by next summer.

Absolutely pathetic. It has taken me six months to get these photos uploaded, Flickerized and put on to this blog. Ugh. In any case, click on smiling Charlie to see the March 2009 birthday fun. (And if you compare six-months-ago Charlie to the Charlie in the apple pictures, the difference is amazing. He’s grown at least two inches since then.)

There are more than a hundred photos–fair warning–and four videos. You can tell the videos by the little arrow in the lower left corner.

We finally got a key to the East Fourth Street Community Garden. It’s a beautiful space, and now we have an intimate green space for relaxation and a place to compost our veggie trash.

Also, we’re learning about worm bins. They eat our garbage and Charlie thinks they will be good pets. We’ll let you know if we get around to owning a bin of our own.

I hate to see summer go, but the best thing about fall’s arrival is apple picking along the Hudson.

This year we went to Dubois Farms, in a light mist that gave us lots of mud and puddles to play in, but didn’t wet us too badly.

Charlie insists that apple picking means seeing chickens, lambs and goats up close. The pictures kind of point to his bias.

Luckily the orchard also had lots of apples, which we’re still eating. Yummy.