App's for Parents - Wee Sing & Learn ABC

I am a mac guy, and thanks to the pushing of my beautiful wife, I got an iPad for my birthday.  What I didn't realize is how many apps are out there for parents, whether it is entertaining kids or just to help run the house.

So as I come across apps that have helped us, I will pass them along to you.

The first is this app:



It is a pretty amazing learning app.  It has a whole bunch of different sections in it, and my daughter loves them all.  In the "read to myself" section, my daughter loves to push the different buttons with pictures of stuff on them, and then the app will say what it is.  Kaylee has already learned multiple words from this one amazing app.  She is constantly asking to play with it too, which could be a good or bad thing, since she always seems to want to play when I'm working on something.

So check it out, they make an iPad version here:



and an iPhone version here:



As always, be on the look out for Tuesday's adventure!

Toy Thursday - Mother's Day Off

Today is Thursday and that means a new toy!

Toy Thursday is all about a toy or piece of equipment my wife and I have found useful.  Again, I can't guarantee your results will be exactly the same, I'm just throwing out an opinion and what has worked for us and others we know.

Today's Toy Thursday is going to be a little different.  It is a day to give Mothers some time off!  Sunday is Mother's day, so Dads, here are 5 things to help you when you give your wife a break!

1. Gyro Bowl - The Spill Resistant Kids Gyroscopic Bowl with Lid

Dads, get this.  While you give your wife a break, you can let your little one munch done on some goldfish.  Plus, when you get bored

For some reason this thing did not get that great of reviews on Amazon.  I have to say though, it worked for us.  My daughter walks around the house without a care in the world with her little snacks.  A lot less spills for Mom!  We do have to be careful though.  We are on our second Gyro Bowl when my daughter through it off her highchair and one of the plastic pieces on the inside broke.  So keep it away from heights!

2. Boppy Pillow with Slipcover

This one is to save your arm.  If you have ever hold an infant or toddler for any length of time, you know it is only a matter of time before your arm falls off.  This is the pillow that will save you.  Enough said.

3. Cheap Inflatable Ball

Yes, one of these.  I can't even post a link, because the only place to find these $2 balls is at your local grocery shop and maybe a Walmart.  Kids love these things though!  This is hours of running around and chasing and playing!  Dads definitely need this, for entertaining the kids, and also it is some good exercise!  Give Mom a break and get in shape all at the same time.

4. Roku Box

This one is for helping Dad cool down with the kids after running around chasing that ball.  The Roku Box Can stream all sorts of services that you already subscribe to like Netflix and Hulu Plus.  Netflix has all sorts of family movies and TV shows, including stuff like Sesame Street and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heros.  It is also a great way for Mom to get some alone time and watch a movie she will enjoy!  It is a gateway to get the things you already have on your computer to your TV for pretty cheap.

5. Kindle Touch

This one is for your wife.  While she is taking a break she can read!  If reading isn't necessarily her thing, you could always go the Apple iPad route.

So Dads, give mom a break this Mothers day!

And everyone stay tuned to our next adventure this Tuesday!

Dad And Naptime

Fear is something living inside everyone. You may be afraid of something simple like the dark or something crazy like a green polka dot elephant. Some may be afraid of being alone, or standing on a tall building. There are fears of spiders, ants, buffalos, and armadillos. Some people say they aren’t afraid of anything. Well those people are afraid of admitting that something makes them hesitate. Nothing in life is certain, but one thing you can count on is fear will impact your life at one point. It is just a fact of life. For kids, one of the earliest fears they have is abandonment. It is why they cry when being dropped off at school, or run away from nursery workers at church. They are afraid they are going to be there forever. That fear can come and go, and is brought on by a variety of events.

For Kaylee, she started randomly experiencing this fear around nap time just around the fifteen month mark. My wife and I tried to figure it out, and we are guessing this was brought on by the week before. That week, Kaylee had fallen asleep a few times at my parent’s house just before Kristin and I had run some errands and a second time we had gone out for our anniversary. She did not really show any signs of worry. In fact, when she is with her grandparents she outwardly appears like she could care less if we are there. With good reason too, at my parents’ house she has all sorts of treats she normally doesn’t have like ice cream and cookies. So it was strange that this particular week she was glued to Kristin and myself. She did not want to take a nap. This is somewhat normal for a kid her age, but the way she went about protesting about it was different.

Every time Kristin had her a sleep, or so she thought, and tried to put her in her crib, Kaylee would jump up and start crying. She sensed the mattress or something, and would not let herself go into a deep sleep. Finally, after almost an hour I went into the room to give Kristin a break. I sat down in the rocking chair with Kaylee and got her sleeping. So I slowly stood up, determined to get her into that crib. You see, I have a full proof maneuver to get her into the crib that I use every time she falls asleep in the car and I transfer her from the car to the house. The maneuver is simple. I rock her all the way down, like a pendulum, until her little head and back are touching the mattress. It works 100% of the time. I’m awesome at this dad stuff. Well, I was at least. This day the pendulum maneuver (I am currently getting that move trademarked) failed. As soon as I pulled her away from my chest, her arm shot out and latched onto my armpit like a monkey who just dropped his banana. Her eyes opened for a full two seconds and shot a gaze into my very soul as if to say, “DON’T YOU DARE EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING ME IN THIS ROOM BY MYSELF, THIS IS YOUR FIRST WARNING!” I got a little scared. So I rocked her a little while longer and watched the clock. I would give her a full three minutes from the time her breathing went into that heavy sleep breathing that babies do and then once again try “The Pendulum Maneuver” (its officially mine, don’t even think about stealing it). Once again the arm grip of death latched onto the backside of my armpit and her eyes pierced the innards of my soul shouting, “THIS IS YOUR SECOND WARNING FATHER!” That was it. The Pendulum Maneuver had failed, and all hope was lost. Any alone time for Mommy and Daddy were gone now. No, I couldn’t’ give up and surrender to this baby. I would defeat her! I just had to make an adjustment to The Pendulum Maneuver. The part that was waking her up was the separating her from my chest, so I simply didn’t do that! I held her tight, and slowly crawled into the crib with her. Then i slowly laid her onto the mattress, rocking her the whole time. She did wake up for a second, but saw me there in the crib with her and went right back to sleep. Aha! Who outsmarted who now!

Well, I guess, she still is winning at this point since I find myself in this crib, on my side facing her, with her right hand under my neck, while she is asleep staring at the ceiling. I was determined to prevail. She would take a nap, and know that Mommy and Daddy were in the living room right outside her door. So I slowly started to get out of the crib, when the scariest thing in the world happened. She sensed the movement on the mattress and her eyes flung open. I tried to lay back down, but it was to late. In one motion she turned on her side and her left hand grappled me around the neck while her right hand, that was already under my neck, latched on completely. She now had me in a headlock, and stared at me with her eyes wide open and communicated to me, “THIS IS YOUR THIRD AND FINAL WARNING FATHER!” She then closed her eyes and went back to sleep. At this point, I was ready to give up. I could just take a nap with her, I was getting tired after this whole ordeal anyway. I was pretty much scared to death as to what would happen after this third and final warning. Could I really just give up though? Of course not! I had gotten this far. I realized what was setting off her highly sensitive motion detectors was the movement of the crib mattress. At this realization, I slowly just grabbed the four sides of the crib and pulled myself straight up and out, instead of rolling to the end of the mattress. I bet I looked like a ninja. A really cool ninja.

This worked! I left her room quickly and quietly, some would say ninja-like, with my arms raised. Kristin and I would get some quiet time after all. We were so excited! I told Kristin of my adventure, and of my relief that I did not find out what happened after my third and final warning.

It was then time to enjoy our quiet time... all 27 minutes of it.

At least I got a good story and Kaylee dropped the whole super attached thing after this. Technically, it happened again the next day while I was at work, when I received a call from Kristin. She had said she finally got her to fall asleep for a nap, but she had to get in the crib with her! I immediately exclaimed, “what have we started?!” Luckily, Kaylee was back to her normal self the next day. :)

If you have a great nap time story, or any other improvements on “The Pendulum Maneuver” (movie rights pending) leave it in the comments!

Toy Thursday #6 - LeapFrog My Pal

Today is Thursday and that means a new toy!

Toy Thursday is all about a toy or piece of equipment my wife and I have found useful.  Again, I can't guarantee your results will be exactly the same, I'm just throwing out an opinion and what has worked for us.  One of my daughters favorite stuffed animals is the LeapFrog My Pal Violet which Grandma got her for Christmas.  She loves this thing, and I have to admit it is pretty cool.  They also make a boy version called the LeapFrog My Pal Scout.  They look like this:




I have to admit they are pretty awesome.  You actually create an account with LeapFrog and then plug the toy into your computer and fill out some questions.  The questions are simple like what is your child's name, favorite color, animal, food, etc.  The toy will then call your child by their name and make up songs with their name and favorite stuff.  You can also pick an assortment of other songs that will show up when certain paws are pushed.  It is a great toy which my daughter wants to bring everywhere, and I get a kick with how customizable it is.

So check out the LeapFrog My Pal Violet for a girl and the LeapFrog My Pal Scout if you have a boy!

Also, be on the look out for this Tuesdays adventure as well as any updates!

Dad And The Secret Code

I have to admit, I would love to be a spy. I think I would be awesome at it. I have seen and studied every Burn Notice episode on USA. I have also seen every Mission Impossible and Borne movie, so I’m basically already trained in the important stuff like hand to hand combat and how to lose a tail. I think that is how you spell tail. You understand I mean someone who is following me when I say tail right? I don’t actually have a tail, although that would be pretty cool. Imagine the balance I would have! Anyways, back to the spy thing. I thought I knew all that I would have to know about the trade until my daughter, Kaylee, came along. Thanks to her, I now have over 15 months of secret code breaking experience along with multiple months of non verbal cues training. That’s right, I can now tell what someone wants even though they don’t say a thing! Well maybe this won’t work on everyone, but it works on Kaylee!

Most people don’t give kids enough credit. They definitely know what they want in their mind from a very early age. When I say “early” age, I mean as soon as they pop out of mommy, and perhaps even when they are in the womb. I know this because you can see a baby getting frustrated when you can’t figure out what they want. In the first few months it is pretty easy because there are only three things in their world: Eat, Sleep, Poop. So you just go through that cycle and hope you hit the mark. There is also only one sound they make at this point. That sound is crying. As they get older their wants and needs grow as does their frustration when you can’t figure out what they are saying. It’s like a volcano getting ready to explode. I personally love the “babbling” that starts to happen, and the language that each child starts to develop that is unique to them. I feel like I’m a spy with my daughter all the time. She will say something to my wife or myself, and no one will have a clue as to what she is saying except us.

Now this secret code language took some practice to master, and still my wife and I have not perfected it. Kaylee will walk up to me and say something like “Ah da da oh wa wa.” And then I just stare at her. She then will say it again, but even louder, “Ah da da oh wa wa!” I immediately know that this means now, “Father, would you please as to be so kind as to hand me my cup that is filled with wonderful h2o so that I could quench my thirst?” The first time she said this though, the next 10 minutes was a game of walk around the entire house as Kaylee points to 1,000 different objects randomly shaking her head “no.” The secret code is not only words though. There are many non verbal cues. The best example of this was on a car ride the other day. I was sitting in the back playing with her while my wife was driving, and Kaylee looked at me. I knew something was coming, she had that look in her eyes. She said, “da da,” put her right arm above her head with her fingers stretched out, made the sound “bbbbbbbbbbrrr,” then shook her head and body. Go ahead, guess what that means, I will give you a second.

It meant she wanted me to take out my iPad and open up the app that has the dancing elephant on it. She wanted to dance to the music it played. Twelve months ago she was only asking to be fed or a diaper to be changed. Now she is wanting a dancing elephant to play music so she can get her groove on. The one amazing thing about trying to decipher the secret code is when we do figure it out, Kaylee claps her hands and yells, “YAH!” I know this secret language is not going to last long as she continues to grow and is able to form the english language all the way, but I’m going to try and enjoy every second of this game we play on a consistent basis. I know my skill level is growing when the amount of YAHs outnumber the no head shakes I get.

So thank you, Kaylee, for better preparing me for my future job as a spy!

Have you ever had to figure out the secret code of a child? If so, comment below!