Transgender At Five

Last week The Washington Post posted a new article titled: Transgender At Five. It's a very interesting article about a child named "Kathryn" who at the age of two decided something must have gone wrong in her mother's belly because she is in fact a boy, even if not biologically. The article tells the story of how the family educated themselves and accepted him for who he was. It shows first hand the difficulties the family goes through and how, although not something they wanted, they have become poster boys for Gender Dysphoria and have to educate everyone around them. It's a wonderful read and I  just wanted to take a second to share the story with you and applaud the Mother and Father for being more than supportive of their child's emotions, wants and needs. -C

Read the story here

Our Weekend + Mother's Day in Photos

Well HELLO blogger, long time no write! First off heres some THD news: We may be adding a third "hipster dad" soon which would mean a new blog design and a lot more posting! But enough about that! I just wanted to throw up some cute photos & captions from this past weekend. We had a very busy and fun filled three days complete with a very lovely Mother's Day so here we go!

Friday morning I dropped Sierra off at daycare and sadly went to work but the day flew by and the girls met me downtown for a family art outing. We went to the samson projects gallery in the South End of Boston to see "you dont deserve me" the new solo exhibition from one of my favorite artists and people, Steve Locke, who I had the pleasure of being taught by at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Here are a few of the pieces from the show. If you're in the area you should totally check it out. The work is amazing!! For directions and info check out samson's website here.

A lot of the paintings featured men sticking their tongues out which Sierra loved and walked around the gallery sticking her own tongue right back out at them. It was adorable and awesome to see her enjoying art. At around 7:00 we headed to our local vegan pizza shop and went home for Family Movie Night. We watched "Bee Movie" -- awesome. "WHY IS YOGURT NIGHT SO DIFFICULT?!"

Saturday morning the weather in Boston was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. It had been raining for about two straight weeks so as soon as we woke up we got out there and enjoyed it. We have been meaning to go to this awesome playground on the Charles for months so we finally did it and it was well worth it. Although a lot of the structures were geared towards older kids - a zipline included - Sierra still enjoyed herself and we saw lots of baby ducks which was awesome. After a nap and some lunch we headed to Foxboro to see our favorite soccer team, The New England Revolution.

Not only was the weather awesome but we won 4 - 1! Sierra also got to see her favorite part of the game, Slyde the Fox, the team's mascot. GO REVS! After the triumphant win we headed home where Sierra proceeded to stay up until midnight against our wished but finally passed out - and so did we.

Although we thought it was going to be raining for Mother's Day the sun decided to come out and play and the day was beautiful just like Saturday - thanks Mother Nature. In the morning we let Mama sleep in and Sierra and I called / FaceTimed all of our favorite Mamas to wish them a Happy Mother's Day!


There is a little warehouse near our home that holds Antique sales every Saturday and we are frequent visitors as you can see :-). It's on the Brighton/Watertown line and not to be missed if you're in the area. The guy is super nice and you can haggle down to basically whatever you want he's even given us stuff for free just because he thinks S is cute!

After we wished everyone a Happy Mother's Day we started our own with some vegan breakfast at the Allston Diner which you HAVE to try if you're in the area. They do vegan and non-vegan and it's so delicious / affordable. You won't be disappointed.

After brunch we hit up another playground near the diner where Sierra played with some new friends and ran so much she passed out once we were back in the car. With the sleeping toddler we decided to just drive around Boston and finally parked near the Charles for some windows down feet out the window relaxation.


After Sierra woke up we headed home to refuel with some lunch and possibly a beer. I cleaned out our sun porch while the girls blew bubbles in the driveway aka "our yard". To end the daywe headed out to Nahant Beach which is a 30-40 minutes drive from the city but well worth it. We had a nice picnic for dinner, dipped our feet in the water and watched the sunset. All in all it was a great weekend and I can not wait for the summer / more great weather! -Craig

That thing about "they grow up so fast"...

100% true:

WINNER for: Happy Easter! HOP GIVEAWAY !!!

On April 8th we put up a contest for a really sweet giveaway for HOP on Blu-Ray/DVD, a HOP Nintendo DS game and two HOP books! We used a random line picker to choose a winner and want to say CONGRATULATIONS to our winner Beth McAlpine! Please send your mailing address to thehipsterdad@gmail.com and we will get the prize out to you right away! Thanks to everyone who entered and even if you didn't win I HIGHLY suggest you pick up HOP at your nearest retailer or line. I watched it Easter Sunday w/ Sierra and we both loved it!!! Keep your eyes peeled for another cool giveaway in May! Thanks guys. xo -Craig 

Watch the Trailer: 

Our weekend via Instagram ♥ v.2

This weekend was wonderful! We hung out with lots of friends and did lots of fun things. Saturdays weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage! Description of each photo below the big collage! Hope you all had a great weekend too!

xo Craig

1. Uncle Will and Sierra watching some Yo Gabba Gabba! on YouTube before heading out for the day. xo

2. Sierra checking herself out in the mirror at Forever 21 on Newbury St.

3. Liz, Andre and their adorable baby Eila (of Dear Husband, Dear Wife, Dear Baby Blog), Uncle Will, Aunty Jill and Jill's little brother Bruce along w/ myself, Lauren and Sierra enjoying our last meal at our beloved Otherside Cafe! They are closing in just under a week!! :-(

4. Sierra stealing a kiss form baby EIla!

5. Sierra needed a nap and passed out in the car so we parked along the Charles and enjoyed the beautiful weather, the breeze and some tunes on the radio.

6. When Sierra woke up we went to a graduation party for our pal Kate (of 4 if the Magic Number Blog)'s brothers' Grad party --- which had an open bar. Thanks for the whiskey Dan!

7. Kate's little boy Kieran (who you can see more of here) was trying to get a sip of cider but Mama says no way jose!

8. We ended our Saturday with a family stroll back to the Charles and watching the geese swim around.

9. On Sunday we celebrated Mamas b-day a little early w/ some cupcake making (and vegan batter eating of course!)

10. Sierra posing while listening to some of our Record Store Day scores.

11. Sierra taking the Rav for a test spin in the Whole Foods parking lot (we were parked I assure you all driving was imaginary… the beeping was real though).

12. Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles w/ Mama!

From Troy to Boston: Adeline's Daddy & Family come for a visit! -- PART 2

So meant to post this last week but life got int he way so here we go! So on day two of "Don Does Massachusetts" we explored some neighborhoods so they could get a feel for the different parts of Boston. We checked out Back Bay, Brookline and a few other places. I won't bore you make you jealous with the details but here are some cute photos from the day! It was a lovely day shared with new pals and we miss them already! -Craig


(p.s. If you missed part 1 read here!)

For lunch we went to one of our favorite spots The Otherside Cafe which sadly is closing in less than 20 days! Glad Don, Rachel and Addy got to try it out before it closes it's doors. Here are Sierra and Addy enjoying some cucumbers and sunnies:

Here is Don on double swing duty for the girls. I die from the cuteness.

Sierra shredding up the playground!

Rachel taking a nice picture while Addy is eyeing the boys on the basketball court.

Addy enjoying the sandbox.

Apparently my daughter is half puppy and enjoys the feel of the open air on her tongue?

ACTION SHOT! Best part of the photo is Rachel's face.

She used to be frightened of this bridge and here she is enjoying it for the first time (with a little help of course!)

A thank you note to Mama.

It's 10:05 PM and I am currently nursing a sore face (with a beer) due to being kicked by my loving daughter. I wanted to write a quick thank you note to my loving and caring partner. She normally handles bedtime as Sierra is still nursing but she was feeling pretty under the weather today so she tagged me in to get Sierra down for the count tonight. After 7 stories, including three different OLIVIA books Sierra got up and ran out of her room to our room and jumped into bed with Lauren. Lauren was OK with it but eventually I got Sierra again and tried to lie down with her on the couch with all our pillows, blankets, loveys and even a foot tall stuffed owl. Well after a few moments she was on the search again for Lauren who even in her "I'm about to vomit" state took her and tried again. I decided to do some dishes when 10 minutes later I was greeted by a laughing, running and jumping toddler at 9:45 PM, which is an hour past the time she's normally sleeping. At this point I was beginning to lose my patience and scooped her up and brought her into her bed, layed down with her and said "It is bed time we are going to sleep!" to which she began screaming MAMA!! MAMA!! and began kicking. Enter Super Mama who in 5 minutes flat got Sierra happy AND sleeping. I think I'm a pretty good Dad but there's a thing or two (or fifty) I could learn from Sierra's Mom who is never without patients or love for her baby girl neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness (or a "im about to vomit" moment) will be deterred from being a good Mom.


Thanks You Lauren. Truly.

WHO ME??!?!?

Happy Easter! HOP GIVEAWAY !!!

First off let me start by saying Happy Easter! Since it's Easter we figured why not have a eastery-themed giveaway! We have a HOP themed gift pack that includes:

·         HOP Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

·         HOP Nintendo DS Game

·         HOP Book Meet the Easter Bunny

·         HOP Book Chicks vs. Bunnies

Prize Pack valued $70

The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes an All-New Mini Movie and additional content to extend the fun even more.  Plus it has 3 ways to watch so your family can enjoy HOP anytime, anywhere (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)!

About HOP

From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family. Now available on Blu-ray & DVD!

Heres how you win!!

We have one gift pack to giveaway and you can enter to win by:

• Liking HOP on Facebook
• Being a follower of TheHipsterDad + Leaving a comment on this post with your name, website and what you are doing / did for Easter!
• Winner will be picked at random two weeks from today!

Watch the Trailer: 

Happy Easter everyone!

Currently Sierra is gorging herself on jelly beans and playing with her new Lalaloopsy dolls so I figured I'd take a quick minute to say Happy Easter to everyone! We woke up around 8AM and started the festivities of opening Sierras Easter basket and hunting for plastic eggs filled with money and the yummiest vegan jelly beans ever from Surf Sweets!


Well time to get back to Easter! Hope your holiday is going as well as ours is going! -Craig

 

From Troy to Boston: Adeline's Daddy & Family come for a visit!

If you guys aren't familiar with the awesome daddy blog "Adeline's Daddy" you need to get on that. I stumbled upon Don's blog soon after beginning this one (about a year ago) and we began corresponding regularly about graphic design, parenting and just general chit-chat. Over the past 6 months we've became really good (internet) friends and talk daily. After many conversations about it, Don and his beautiful family drove down from New York to Boston for a possibly exciting new chapter in their life but also to finally meet in the flesh and take our bromance to the next level. Kidding about the bromance part..... sort of.


So at around 6:00 Don, Rachel and Addy came over and it felt like seeing old friends even though we had never really met. Hugs all around and after a few "let me feel you out" moments the girls were running around and playing together while the adults sat and chatted about their trip and upcoming week. It was a wonderful night filled with some drinks, delicious food from Veggie Galaxy and lots of laughs.


Can't wait for the rest of the week & truly happy to have met such great new friends. -C

The girls getting their art and tea on! It was too much cute to handle.

p.s. Don also blogged about our first meet up: READ HIS BLOG POST HERE.