Category: Baby Love

Classic Kids’ Books

We enjoy reading to Clara, and are always looking for new books.  I love this roundup of 20 Classic Books for Kids from Canadian Parents’ website.  There are a few from my own childhood that I completely forgot about (Blueberries for Sal, The Poky Little Puppy), and there are a few that I’ve never heard of (Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Story of Ferdinand).  I’m adding a bunch of these to my holds list at the library!

Best Kids Apps

Say what you want, but I am pro-technology for kids.  Of course, I think there should be limits placed on the amount of time a kid spends with a smartphone in their hands, but in general, I’d much prefer to see a child playing with n iPad (and actually interacting with it) than just passively watching TV. Everything in moderation, right?

Anyway, if you don’t mind sharing your smartphone or tablet with your kid, you might want to try some of these apps out:

There’s a Monster at the End of This Book is an interactive story app based on the Sesame Street book of the same name.  My nephews (aged 3 and 6) can’t get enough of this one.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App features a make-your-own story and drawing tool, all based on Mo Willem’s hilarious “Pigeon” books.  We’ve played this with our 9 month old daughter, but mostly Ian and I just like to play with it ourselves.  That pigeon is a riot.

Elmo Loves ABCs for iPad. Seriously, what kid doesn’t go nuts for Elmo?

I haven’t tried it, but Swiss Miss recommends Count the Animals, an app for toddlers and pre-schoolers learning to count.  It comes in 16 languages!

For more kids’ app recommendations, check out this article that the NY Times just ran in their travel section.  And of course, check out BestKidsApps.com where you can search for the best apps for kids of different ages, search by different prices, different types of apps, etc.

Oh, and PS – if you’re going to let your kid play with your iPad, you better get a really good case for it so they don’t break it.  I have my eye on the iGuy by Speck Products.  Isn’t it adorable?

[image above by Flickr user speedye]

Flying with Kids

Nothing drives fear into the heart of this experienced traveller like the thought of flying with a kid.  We did it successfully back in September, on our trip to NYC, but that was a pretty short flight.  What if we want to go a bit further?

A friend and her 7-month old babe are flying to San Francisco this week, and I’ve been thinking about them.  That’s a 5 hour flight from Toronto (longer if you do a layover).  Yikes!  In order to try and help her out, I compiled a list of blog articles I’ve read about travelling with babies:

Ten Tips for Traveling with a Baby from Cup of Jo

Tips for Flying with a Baby from Hannah of akhmatova

Traveling with a Toddler from You + Me

Up, Up and Away from Coos and Ahhs

A bajillion handy articles from the Canadian site, Have Baby will Travel

And in this weekend’s NY Times, there’s a great article about flying with children.

Have you flown with your little ones?  How did it go?  Do you have any more tips?

[image via here]

Mommy Humour

Being a new parent is delightful and amazing, but also mega stressful.   One of my favourite ways to relieve stress is to laugh, so lately I’ve been indulging in some Mommy Humour.  I’ve been enjoying the TV show Up All Night, I just finished reading the hilarious book Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay, and I adore comedians Samantha Bee and Allana Harkins’ mommy blog, Eating Over The Sink.  Sometimes a good laugh is all you need to get through the tough times.

[illustration above from DadCentric – click here to see the whole series]