So, it turns out an 8-month-baby is an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ENTITY than, say, a newborn. In many ways they are a vast improvement on their squashed, red-faced little counterparts, but unlike a newborn, an 8-month-old does not sleep all day. Nor can you plop an 8-month-old on their back, dash out of the room to use the bathroom, and be confident they’ll be in the same spot when you get back. Which, um, I may have learned the hard way recently. What? He was fine, just a little tangled up in some chair legs.

Also, they want stimulation. My god, always with the “learning” and “developing” and all. My son Dylan is in constant movement: grabbing at this, pounding on that, eyeballing all the many, many items he plans to shove in his mouth. He gets frustrated and squawks if he’s left in one place too long, because the world is quickly revealing itself to him in its many sights, sounds, and flavors, and he’s got stuff to DO.

Much as I might want to, I can’t always spend every minute of the day engaging him in Baby Einstein calculus flash cards and immersive Latin lessons, so right now I’m pretty interested in various baby-appropriate distractions. What, OH WHAT, can I give my baby to occupy his time for five or six minutes in a row? Here are my current top picks: Read the rest of this entry »

My boy Riley is going to be three years old at the end of this month, which sort of freaks me out every time I think about it. He’s getting so BIG! And wait, I thought all this bratty behavior we’ve been experiencing recently has to do with being three, are you saying I’ve got more than a YEAR of this to go?

With birthday presents in mind, here are the things we’re planning to gift his way this year: Read the rest of this entry »

Every summer I buy a few new things for the kids to play with.  You will notice that the toys on my Summer Toy List are OUTDOOR toys.  I am sure this is just a coincidence.  Ahem.

My two older boys, ages 9 and 7, each have one of these Super Soaker Aquashock Sneak Attacks.  Evidently these are awesome, but I am only going on hearsay:  what do I know about water guns, other than that they take children OUT of the HOUSE?  We have one main rule about water guns:  even if they are called Sneak Attack, you may not Sneak Attack anyone who is not playing water guns.

The Backyard Safari Bug Vacuum is…a bug vacuum.  The child or children take it OUTSIDE with them, and they use it to suck up bugs. (The child or children can also be asked to suck up bugs that are inside the house.)  Then they can examine the still-living bugs in the little capture vial, which includes a magnifying lens.  When they are done freaking the bug out with their peering, they can release it unharmed.  We have one main rule about bug vacuums:  release the bug OUTSIDE.

Even knowing small boys as I do, and even with my husband Paul’s enthusiasm for the purchase, I was still unprepared for the amount of fun the Stomp Rocket is.  I was like, “Oh, I get it:  you stomp on it and the little nerfy rocket thingie pops up in the air. Wooo.”  But man, that thing LAUNCHES.  It goes so high, you can stand around and WAIT for it to come down.  We have one main rule about stomp rockets:  if they go over the fence or get stuck in a tree, please write down the location on this notepad and do not bother me about it until you’ve lost three.

What are your kids playing with this summer?  It is only just barely July, and I could use a couple more ideas.

It’s been a month since my baby had his first birthday, and it’s time to call the winners of the Best Birthday Present for a One-Year-Old competition.

First prize goes to the Fisher-Price Baby Gymtastics Bounce and Spin Zebra.  My parents gave this to Henry, and he lovvvvvvves it.  So do his 3-year-old siblings:  the twins are a little big for it, but can still play on it.  It spins Read the rest of this entry »

I recently discovered that my 3-year-old LOVES having tea parties. His play is an uncomplicated exercise that basically involves repeatedly pouring out pretend tea for those in attendance, while asking over and over and over (AND OVER), “Want MORE?”. If these parties were based in reality, his stuffed animals would be long expired, their bladders having burst and their systems succumbed to electrolyte imbalance triggered by water intoxication — but as long as he’s not practicing for any upcoming fraternity hazing activities, I find the practice fairly charming. 

Well, for the first ten minutes, anyway. It tends to get a little old after that. Oh, did I mention that I am a Honored Invitee of these events? And that I am expected to say “YES PLEASE” over and over and over and over, while knocking back cup after cup of invisi-tea? Not only that, but I must supply the squeaky voices of the bears and so on, because they too would like some tea, MORE PLEASE!

Anyway! So: tea parties. We’ve been using random cups and things from around the house, but I’ve been considering the option of giving him his own tea set. I know, a tea set for a boy? WHY NOT JUST BUY HIM A BRA.

In poking around online, I came across a number of cute sets that aren’t too, well, girly. Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy using a girly tea set, mind you, but some are even too foofy for ME. In case you happen to be looking for your own Non-Floral Tea Set, here’s what I found: Read the rest of this entry »

Last summer I went on a car trip with a toddler and a newborn. Um, that was really fun! As you might imagine!

One thing that made a world of difference was the DVD player. Sweet, peaceful Steve bought us several happy hours during the day in the car, particularly toward the end of the day when traffic got bad and no one was in the mood for another car game or car song. I really, REALLY recommend an in-car DVD player of some sort (and a few fresh DVDs) if you are driving a long distance.

Toys for long trips are tricky. Ideally they should be hand-held, one-piece, non-messy, non-noisemaking, and long-entertaining. It’s hard to hit all those bases, but here are a few that came close. Read the rest of this entry »

My daughter has her third birthday coming up. She likes dinosaurs, so I spent an evening on Amazon.com looking for dinosaur stuff—ideally stuff I could get shipped for free. The evening went by so FAST. I thought, “You know, this was supposed to save me time over going to the store.” But look! I found some great stuff! And if YOU need dinosaur gifts for a child, perhaps this WILL save YOU time!

The first thing I found was Read the rest of this entry »

Father’s Day is my least favorite holiday to buy for. Guys want boring stuff that is boring to shop for. Oh, not ALL guys: I’m sure SOME guys are like, “You know what I’d love for Father’s Day? New towels for the bathroom! And let’s go out for brunch!” But most of them want things that are expensive and who even knows what they are: Ooooo, a TI-nspire Cas! Whatever that is! And all the gift guides assume that dads drink beer and play golf. Sigh. Well, I have a few–A VERY FEW–Father’s Day gift ideas to make the process less painful: Read the rest of this entry »