Toddler

Your preschooler has mastered the iPad, but you’re falling a bit behind when it comes to cool new tech. Time to get with the times before the holiday onslaught starts (and before your kindergartener needs to give you a tutorial on the Kindle).

Get your hands on the hottest gadgets and gleam a little expert advice at CNET Gotham, a five-day (free!) pop-up event that introduces NYC to the best new technology in a sleek downtown showcase, starting tomorrow. Check out the Nolita location to play with of-the-moment gadgets, attend how-to sessions and workshops, chat with CNET’s tech-obsessed editors and get a few ideas for your holiday gift list. Parents can download the scoop on family essentials like setting up social media privacy, video game suggestions for kids, and the season’s best cameras or phones (don’t miss the tricked-out living room, an interactive exhibit that shows how gadgets can work in the real world). Check out the online schedule of special events for the full lineup — including Saturday’s Adobe kiddie photo session that will give you a great professional portrait of your little one (ages 4+, 12-5pm) to share for the holidays.

It’s geek chic.

When: Wed.-Sun., 11/9-11/13, 11am-7pm; Free.
Where: Openhouse Gallery, 201 Mulberry St. (at Spring St.), cnet.com/gotham.

Any high chair your little one will sit in long enough to eat a few spoonfuls of organic peas is a good one. But not all seats are made equally.

BabyBjorn has just introduced its sleek, slim, space-saving high chair, perfect to blend in small-but-chic city apartments. Compact, portable and lightweight, it’s easy to hide when you have child-free friends over for cocktails and simple to transport to the in-laws’ house in the ‘burbs. Plus, the ergonomic design means your babe may be so comfy he’ll finally finish a meal without a meltdown. Available now for pre-order exclusively at giggle, the cool and clean white chair will ship at the end of July — just in time to start on solids.

Available at giggle.com.

Your kids love to ham it up in front of the camera — and although the shots you snap with your iPhone are pretty priceless, you’d love for a professional to preserve the precious age they’re at.

Opening tomorrow on the Upper West Side, PhotoOp family photography studio is just the place to get your little ones in front of the lens. Led by creative director Brian Marcus (who has photographed a fair share of celebrity weddings, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner), the studio has a team of senior-level photo stylists to capture your kids’ most memorable moments in both modern and classic family portraits. Take a spin though the sample closet for accessories such as a denim jacket or pink tutu to add pop to the photos, pick out a colorful backdrop like a candy wall, and strike a pose. A sitting fee includes retouching, editing and a digital slideshow, and there are plenty of packages and a la carte options to choose (depending on how many 8×10s the grandparents will want). The studio also offers birthday party options (you can’t go wrong with dress-up clothes, snacks and your favorite soundtrack) and photo-based keepsakes as a token of your star treatment.

That’s a wrap.

422 Columbus Ave. at 81st St., 212-362-1911, photoopnyc.com. 

Sesame Street was originally based on NYC’s urban landscape (the set culled inspiration from the Upper West Side, Harlem and the Bronx), so it’s only fitting for city kids to jump on board with the timeless show’s latest techie twist.

If your 4-year-old has already taught you the intricacies of the iPad, he’ll love playing around with the latest app. The Monster at the End of this Book, a classic children’s story starring lovable Grover, is now available as an app designed specifically for the iPad, with interactive animation, sound and music. In honor of the book’s 40th anniversary (the original first appeared in 1971, if you can believe it), the 2011 version still features everyone’s favorite furry blue monster as he hilariously tries to prevent little readers from reaching the end of the book. But this time you’ve got educational add-ons like word highlighting and activities that encourage critical thinking and listening skills.

Just don’t spoil the “surprise” ending.

Visit itunes.com/appstore.

Ever noticed that your kid is dressed even better than you are? The local stroller and preschool sets really step up when it comes to cutting a figure, and this fall is no exception.

To get a better handle on some of this season’s biggest back-to-school kiddie trends, we consulted the experts. Stylesight is an NYC-based firm that forecasts worldwide trends before most of us even see them. Here’s what the children’s editors, Khalym Schell and Nicole Yee, report will be big for little ones across the city:

Geek Chic
With one eye on the Ivy League, even the tiniest tots are into collegiate looks with a hipster edge. Tailored, preppy pieces like blazers, crewneck sweaters, layered jumper dresses and cuffed pants (similar to a school uniform) are popular everyday clothes. For important play dates, retro-inspired athletic tees, anoraks and varsity hoodies are big hits.

A Little Bit Country
Country prints like plaids, gingham checks and liberty florals are showing up on pint-sized barn jackets, embroidered knit tops, cotton tunics and oversized sweaters. These looks are best worn layered — let kids have fun and be playful with this trend.

World Explorers
Young jetsetters with a hippie spirit are digging bright hues and a medley of Fair Isle patterns, ethnic and animal prints, and lots of faux fur for girls. For the urban jungle, safari-inspired khaki jackets and pants rule. Or simply throw on a graphic tee emblazoned with wild animals like lions and tigers.

Glam Rockers
Little punks are getting a bit more dressed up in bow ties, tuxedo blouses and ruffled skirts mixed with skinny jeans, jeggings and leggings. Distressed denim with wear-and-tear details means they can still be rough on their clothes and look cool, too.

For more information, visit Stylesight’s blog Small Talk.

Summer may be over, but take advantage of a little family fun to beat the fall blues.

Go
JCC Open House
Stop in for a glimpse of kid and parent-friendly classes. Try the Music for Aardvarks & Rock a Baby Concert (10-11am, ages 1-7), Movin’ Mamas bootcamp for moms and their crawling-age babies (10:30-11:30am), or the Kids Sports Expo (11am-12:30pm, ages 1-8).
When: Sun. 9/12, 10am-12:30pm; Free.
Where: JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St., 646-505-5708, jccmanhattan.org.

See
Books to Film for Children
As part of the Brooklyn Book Festival, see a series of short films based on children’s books, followed by a Q&A.
When: Sat. 9/11, 10:30; Ages 2-6; $12/Adults, $9/Kids. Check the schedule for additional kid-friendly workshops and readings throughout the weekend.
Where: BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, brooklynbookfestival.org.

Hear
The Deedle Deedle Dees
A family-friendly rock-n-roll variety show comes to The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.
When: Sat. 9/11, 11am; Ages 2+: $10-$20.
Where: Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 361 Metropolitan Ave., 347-529-6696, bk.knittingfactory.com.

Shop
Fashion’s Night Out at Destination Maternity
Join the glitterati in midtown, as Heidi Klum previews her Fall 2010 collections, Lavish by Heidi Klum for A Pea in the Pod and Loved by Heidi Klum for Motherhood Maternity, from 6:30-8:30pm. Plus, see inspiring exhibitions of maternity fashion from the 1950s to today, and enjoy moctails and hors d’oeuvres. 
When: Fri. 9/10, 6-11pm; Free.
Where: Destination Maternity, 57th St. & Madison Ave, RSVP at 212-246-2977, destinationmaternity.com.

Fashion’s Night Out at Baby CZ
Browse the classic kids’ styles, sip a little bubbly and enter to win a cashmere shopping spree.
When: Fri. 9/10
Where: Baby CZ, 820 Madison Ave. (bet. 68th & 69th St.), 212-288-8030, babycz.com.

Nothing can strike fear in the hearts and minds of New Yorkers quite like the school admissions process. The stress and frenzy surrounding school admissions has been ramped up in recent years because more families have decided to stay in the city rather than flee for the burbs. And with stiffer competition for those coveted spots in preschools and ongoing schools, we’ve seen a new crop of expensive school advisory services burst onto the scene. Time for perspective. Time for The Parents League.

Consider The Parents League your real-world school admissions app. It’s a non-profit organization made up of parents and schools. (Practically every NYC private school you’ve heard of is a a member.) It was founded almost a century ago, the brainchild of none other than Clara Spence and Maria Bowen Chapin (yes, that Spence and that Chapin), as a way to coordinate vacation and school time.

For a $130 membership fee, you get access to the association’s seasoned advisors, who have all served as heads of preschools or in an ongoing school’s admissions department. You can also attend any of the League’s workshops. Members receive the Parents League’s fab school guides plus other publications.

And perhaps the piece de resistance - they’ve got the inside track on spots that open up (because of under- acceptance, families that leave the city, etc.)

Labor Day and those preschool application calls are just around the corner. It’s not too late to join and get help for the upcoming season. Events to program into your BlackBerry/iPhone/Android phone:

Preschool Admissions Workshops
When: Wed., 8/18, 5:30-7:00pm & Tue., 8/24, noon-1:30pm
Where: Parents League office, 115 E. 82nd St. (bet. Park and Lex. Aves.)

Independent School Event - Day Schools
When: Tue., 9/21, 4:30-6:15pm
Where: Loyola School, E. 83rd St. (bet. Park and Madison Aves.)

The Kindergarten Admissions Process, A Panel Discussion
Representatives from The Chapin School, Friends Seminary, Riverdale Country School and St. Bernard’s School will serve as panelists.
When: Tue., 9/21, 6:30-7:30pm
Where: Park Avenue Methodist Church, 106 E. 86th St. (bet. Park and Lex. Aves.)

Kindergarten Child Interviews: What You Should Know and What They Should Know
Representatives from the 92nd Street Y Nursery School will be speaking.
When: Wed., 9/29, 6:30-8pm
Where: The Diller-Quaille School of Music, 24. E. 95th St.
Visit parentsleague.org for a full list of events.

NYC is a great place to have a baby. We’ve got incredible doctors, classes, pre- and post-natal services, (not to mention scores of fellow new moms on the streets pushing strollers). But with all of these choices, navigating urbanbabyhood can be a hell of a lot of work.

Time to get Mommywise, a high-end concierge service for expectant and new moms. Mommywise offers fully customizable packages of services and can help with just about anything. The company can assist you in finding health care providers, including OB/GYNs, midwives, pediatricians and psychologists, plus other members to round out your bambino team- baby nurses, doulas, massage therapists, fitness experts, acupuncture specialists, lactation and sleep consultants, personal chefs, green house cleaners, etc. Mommywise will create reading lists and tag-team with you when you register. Better yet, their consultants can lend a hand in baby product assembly. And they’ll even demystify the strange new world of mommy-and-me classes.

So you can de-stress, decompress and go about the business of being a mom.

Visit mommywise.com. Package prices range from $490 t0 $1,250, and concierge services are available at an hourly rate of $120. A 20% off summer promotion is available through August 31st.

This weekend in New York - rap, rock and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird. And on Monday, learn about a nine-room house that’s easily worth more than any Classic Six in the city.

Hear
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
Definitely not your typical kiddie fare. And we’re loving that. Combine rap, funk and reggae with dragons, mermaids and robots, and you’ve got Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. It’s “Kid Hop,” upbeat hip-hop music with kid-appropriate lyrics. Perfect for any urban baby and parent. The concert is part of 92Y Tribeca’s B.Y.O.K. (Bring Your Own Kid) Sunday concert series.
When: Sun. 4/25 at 11am. Tickets, $15 per person, are available at 92y.org. Kids under two are free. (All ages)
Where: 92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St.

And

Earthrockers, a Kidrockers Concert
How suitable for Earth Day. This concert features the beach-town sounds of bands Real Estate and Apollo Sunshine and integrates a little environmental education. A portion of proceeds will go to the non-profit organization 1% of the Planet.
When: Sun. 4/15, 1-3pm. Doors open at noon. boweryballroom.com. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Adults must be accompanied by a child and vice versa. (Ages 3-13)
Where: The Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St.

See
Carnival of the Animals & The Firebird
New York Theatre Ballet
A recession-friendly presentation. See two shows for the price of one! Each performance is only an hour long and includes interactive elements, along with a talk from director Diana Byer about what’s taking place behind the scenes. Carnival of the Animals, set to the music of Saint-Saens, is about a magical forest and its creatures who befriend a pair of lost children. Igor Stravinsky’s music sets the tone for The Firebird, a story based on a Russian fairy tale about a young prince capturing a firebird.
When: Sat. 4/24 at 11am & 1pm and Sun. 4/25 at 11am, 1pm & 3:30pm. $35 for adults and $30 for children. Tickets available at nytb.org. (Ages 3-10)
Where: Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St. (bet. Mad. & Park Aves.)

Learn
The Pregnant New Yorker’s
Alternative Health Expo
Head down to Nimble Fitness to learn about prenatal and labor massage, hypnobirthing, breast feeding, and pre- and post-natal fitness. Janet Markovits, founder of The Pregnant New Yorker group, has pulled together a variety of pregnancy experts to give you an education. Demos, classes, mini consultations and samples are all part of the session.
When: Sat. 4/24, 1-4:30pm. $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Register at thepregnantnewyorker.com.
Where: Nimble Fitness, 42 E. 12th St. (bet. B’way and University)

Analyze This
The Nine Rooms of Happiness
Clean house. Lucy Danziger, editor in chief of Self magazine, and Catherine Birndorf, a psychiatrist and expert on women’s mental health issues, discuss their new book, The Nine Rooms of Happiness: Loving Yourself, Finding Your Purpose, and Getting over Life’s Little Imperfections. The two use a house metaphor to describe how women need to clean their “emotional architecture” and break self-destructive patterns. The house analysis teaches women how to determine what’s most meaningful to them and to find pleasure while coexisting with the inevitable messy room. Gives new meaning to the phrase “spring cleaning.”
When: Mon. 4/26 at 7:30pm. $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Tickets are available at jccmanhattan.org.
Where: The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.

A Mars day trip, shadow dancing (unrelated to Andy Gibbs), tap dancing, MLK Day activities and Jerry Stiller. Serenity now!

Go
“Mission to Mars” on the Intrepid
Saturday an exhibit spotlighting the red planet opens at the Intrepid. Front and center: a full-scale model of a Mars Rover. On weekends, museum educators will hold interactive, multimedia demos where you get to touch Rover artifacts, a piece of solar panel and parachute material. FYI … the USS Intrepid acted as a space capsule recovery ship for Mercury 7 and Gemini 3 NASA missions.
When: Runs 1/16-6/30. Hours: M-F, 10am-5pm, Sat. & Sun. 10am-6pm. Free with admission.
Where: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, (46th St and 12th Ave.) intrepidmuseum.org.

Do
ShadowPLAY
New York Hall of Science
Experiment with colorful lights, crystal-themed shadow puppets, colored gels and tubes in this new interactive exhibition. Dancing encouraged.
When: Sat. 1/16 and Sun. 1/17, 10am-5:45pm. Free with admission. Check nysci.org for additional dates.
Where: New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 718-699-0005.

Create
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Diversity Craft
Head to Central Park to partake in a community art project led by the staff of Belvedere Castle.
When: Sat. 1/16 (rain or shine), noon-3pm; free.
Where: Belvedere Castle, Central Park, mid-Park at 79th St. 212-772-0210, centralparknyc.org.

Make-a-Wish Balloons for MLK Day
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Kids can decorate make-a-wish birthday balloons to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. The projects will then be displayed in the museum’s lobby window.
When: Sat. 1/16 and Sun. 1/17 at 1:30pm; free with museum admission. (All ages)
Where: Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave., Brooklyn, 718-735-4400, brooklynkids.org.

Dance
American Tap Dance Foundation’s Open House
Tap dancing. Gregory Hines, Gene Kelly and Savion Glover made/make it look so easy. Saturday kids can sample a class to see if they’re able to master the fancy footwork that provides such an aural and visual feast for audiences.
When: Sat. 1/16, noon-1pm; free. (Ages 3.5-18)
Where: American Tap Dance Ctr., 154 Christopher St. (bet. Greenwich and Washington Sts.)#2B, atdf.org.

Heads-up
Jerry Stiller Book Reading
Next Wednesday, funnyman Jerry Stiller reads from two selections from The PJ Library Collection to launch the PJ Library program in NYC. PJ sends out Jewish-themed books and CDs to children free of charge if the kids live in a PJ region. A fee-based subscription is available for families living outside PJ regions.
When: Wed. 1/20, 3pm; free. (All ages)
Where: JCC in Manhattan, 344 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St., 646-505-5708.