Twomims

Ok, we’ve all been there. A lovely and lively dinner out with the fam, and you’re nearing the bottom of your bag of tricks. Coloring, cars, actually eating. The kids are ready to go but you would really like a few more minutes to linger over your dinner. Enter the iPhone. Here are my kids, ages 2 and 4, top picks for iPhone Apps.

#5 Bubblewrap (Free)

Yes. Bubblewrap. Why are the simplest ideas always the most obvious? This is one app that never gets old, and has them saying, “Again! Again!”

#4 PhonyPhone ($0.99)

A clever invention, give them an app that looks like a phone. (We all know that’s what they really want to play with.) This is a great app, don’t get me wrong, but even my 2-year old knows that the button at the bottom of the iPhone takes him back to the main screen. So as he grows bored with the numbers and dialing, he’s right back re-organizing my home screen.

#3 Preschool Adventure ($0.99)

This app has 6 different sections to pick from: colors, numbers, shapes, body, matching and sounds. Although it’s geared more towards my pre-schooler, it’s my 2-year old that really enjoys it. It has a simple interface of tapping pictures to hear their name and a little bit of motion.

#2 Dora and the Crystal Kingdom ($1.99)

With two boys, I was really looking for a Diego app when I came across this one. What can I say, branded material works. The kids love this one. Not only does Dora tell you a bit of a story, there is a coloring book feature and a fun motion game.

#1 Ballonimals ($1.99)

This app is so cool that I’ve shown it to a lot of adults. What else would you expect from Ideo. The video shows it all. You actually blow into the phone to inflate the balloon, shake it to make the animal, tap to interact with your creature AND pop it! With many different animals to make, this one never gets old.

Alt title: SEVEN STEPS TO SLEEP TRAINING FOR WORKING MOMS

I don’t think there is a bigger struggle for a mom returning to work than SLEEP. You want it. You can’t have it. You are a baby-cereal-covered zombie dialing in for a conference call on your stapler, and it’s time for something to change.

You’ve heard about letting the baby ‘cry it out.’ I couldn’t do it. Here are the seven steps I followed, with great success.

1. Know why the baby wakes up

When a baby wakes in the middle of the night to nurse, he is most likely not searching for food but instead closeness and bonding. The baby sees the momma and wants that closeness, even if he isn’t hungry.

2. Break the habit in stages – Start on a Thursday

This process begins on a Thursday night because it will be a tough night, and it is important to have at least three consecutive nights to get a good start.

3. First, Dad puts the baby to bed

Mom leaves the house an hour before the baby goes to sleep. The baby gets the message from dad, ‘It’s just you and me, kid!’ This happens for a couple nights.

4. Second, No nursing from Mom

After the baby is asleep, dad is the only one to go in and see the baby when he awakes. He can hug, cuddle and even offer a bottle a few times. The only thing off limits is mom, until morning. Step 3 and 4 happen simultaneously.

5. Now, only one bottle in the middle of the night

So, you hopefully have had some success where the baby is decreasing night wakings, finding them unsuccessful (i.e. no mom).  We allowed one bottle for a couple nights, typically around 4 am.

6. Push back the night waking time, one hour at a time

Now you gotta get rid of the 4 am feeding. Here is where a little crying comes in but it is very ‘kind’ and doesn’t break your heart like true CRYING IT OUT.

Here’s how this stage works: For example, he wakes at 2 am, Dad goes in and pats him but doesn’t pick him up. He’ll probably get furious when dad  leaves the room. Dad waits 5 minutes, goes back in and pats him and leaves the room again. The KEY is every time it was the same thing: Dad comes in, pats three times, says “time for bed” and then walks out.
This way it doesn’t become a form of entertainment for the baby. It is predictable and boring. DO NOT PICK THE BABY UP! If the baby is standing in the crib, go ahead and lay the baby back down, pat three times and say “time for bed.”

This can continue for an hour… You can also increase the time from 5 minutes to 7 minutes between pats. At the end of an hour, that’s enough crying. Dad would usually feed the baby a bottle, pick the baby up and then rock a little bit then put back into bed.

7. Welcome to 6 am, MOM!

Now the baby is awake at 6 am. MOM feeds the baby to signal, “YES, this is the time that we can get up.” Then MOM has to stay awake with the baby. Resist the urge to just put the baby back to sleep. This is the training to the baby so they understand what you view as the correct waking hours. Yes, it’s early and tough, but it’s better than night wakings.

Aside: Honestly I got to the point where I enjoyed the bleary-eyed 6 am wake up call… before the rest of the world woke up, before I had to become my work self…. as a pure and simple time. It was just me and baby. Still dark outside with just a whisper of pink sunrise coming through the blinds, and only her gurgles to break the silence. We’d be sitting on the floor of her room – she’d be exploring board books while I watched her, thinking, Yep, kiddo, we’ll figure this thing out together.

Special thanks to Nancy Birkenmeier of the St. Luke’s Sleep Clinic, the sleep angel!

Little Angel #1 has been at her new preschool for under 3 months, but yet I have already been hit by Tshirt sales, wrapping paper sales, two different book sales drives and a couple various pay-to-play activities. I am not complaining, I love the potential for involvement and general buzz around the school.

The most recent drive has been a put-a-piece-of-your-kid’s-artwork-on-something sale. Seriously, you can put it on anything. It goes way beyond a tote bag or mouse pad to include yard flags for $25 and ceramic soap dispensers for $44 (!?)

So, I am basically thinking no way. Overpriced scam!

…Until I open the packet and see what she’s drawn. It’s pretty good! And I ask her, “Tell me about your picture.”

Here’s what she said, “They said to draw something, and I thought mmmmm, I think I will draw my mommy and my baby because I love them.”

HEART MELT! I immediately begin calculating how much it would cost to get the ceramic trivet, tote bag, notebook and coasters.

Then I said, “Well, honey, this is so pretty! Is that me in the middle?”
“Yes, and that’s Ellie.”
“Well, that is so sweet. And who is this?”
“That’s just somebody.” Pauses… “I guess it’s daddy.”

So basically she was in on the scam the whole time. Daddy wouldn’t have bought the stuff anyway.

by Guest Blogger, Barb Adams

Guru of Steve Adams Studio and author of Notes from the W.G.

Last day of summer.  Everyone grab your kaleidoscope and shake.

You’re watching Mad Men, right?  The character I relate to the most is Sally, the Drapers’ ten year old daughter.  That was my perspective in the late fifties, early sixties.  Thankfully, my mom was a lot warmer than Betty.  As a ten-year-old, I really thought my options for a career were nurse, teacher or secretary.  My artistic bent lent itself to drawing on reams and reams of outdated stationery that my dad brought home from the office, but I wasn’t thinking “how can I make a living doing this?”

In the late sixties, everything went boingo.  Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, the pill, and Title IX meant that the world was busted wide open for me and women coming after.  Coming from a family that had attorneys going back three generations, I stepped in line and went to law school.

A career switch to managing a photo studio after having kids left me striking that balance between work and family, which is a never-ending walk on the tight rope.  And the funny part is, just when you think “OK – the kids are launched” they come boomeranging back into the picture, having lost the roommate in the apartment, or signing on for grad school.  And then your parents, the ones who were the rock during all those early years, are slowly but surely requiring a lot of time, attention and care.

So there you find yourself on the bridge, looking back at all the frantic early years of building a business, scheduling orthodontia appointments, figuring out the craft project for the Brownie troop, soliciting ads for the school Buzz Book, etc. and looking forward to more of the same, except there’s been a twist to the kaleidoscope of your life and it all looks just a little bit different.  Same colors but different shapes.

Enjoy every moment, ladies, because it all starts whizzing by at warp speed the farther down the road you get.

Expecting MIM and guest blogger Laura Unverferth shares with us her top picks for her new bundle of joy. Check out Laura’s other great finds on her design blog Ruffle or her baby blog Little Frills.

I’ve always loved Dwell Studio’s transportation series…from the baby bedding to the bibs. A perfect color palette and pattern for the nursery (if it’s a boy). They have designed all the matching accessories you would ever need.

This little orange rocker from Argington is my favorite…they have several really beautiful children’s furniture collections, made from renewable and sustainable harvested wood.

I just purchased this print from Sweet William’s shop on Etsy…a great mix of modern and vintage imagery. I cant wait to frame it!

Im a huge fan of Warhol, I was so excited when I found his children’s book Andy Warhol’s Colors.

This ‘just hatched’ canvas from Dotty Spot Designs caught my eye…clean and contemporary decor that you can customize with your baby’s name and date of birth.

I had big plans for a recent half day off from work: finish painting a mural of ‘mod’ pink trees on my older daughter’s wall.

We had talked about the trees and she seemed excited, especially since they were going to be PINK.

So I settle into the project. Things are going well. The glossy paint I chose looked amazing against the eggshell finish of the wall.

By the time she arrived home I had one nearly finished. I tell her, “I have a surprise for you!”

We excitedly run up the stairs. I open the door. She squeals. She laughs. MIM moment = shining success! Mom of the Year!

Then she abruptly stops. Turns, looks at me and deadpans, “Why is it trees?”

I am thrown. She’s not happy! I stammer, “But we talked about this. You said you liked trees in your room… remember? It’s pink trees.” I instantly feel like I am at work. (“But we said we’d try progressive and daring at the briefing. I thought we all liked the idea…” Grasping.)

Then she gave me a look that was a glimpse into my future – she morphed into a teenager before my eyes and said, “I like flowers. I want pink flowers.” And that was it.

Yes, this girl knows what she wants. Wonder where she got that from?

At the tender young ages of one and three, my boys are into some pretty cool stuff. They eat Thai food, listen to the Shins, and go to gallery exhibitions. Their rooms are adorned with Hatch show prints, Shepard Fairey and Andy Warhol posters. Now more than ever we as parents have access to really cool gear for our kids. We don’t have to succumb to the Winnie the Pooh nursery and out of the box birthday parties. Here are some of my top picks for cool kids gear this season.

The Indie Rock Coloring Book

Finally, a coloring book with style and it’s all for a good cause. Courtesy of Andy J. Miller and proceeds benefit the (Red) organization, which raises money for the AIDS-fighting Global Fund. Coming this summer and available on Amazon.com.

Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Sets

If your kids are going to be playing Lego’s, why not learn about a fabulous architect at the same time.

Boodalee Bedding

The World in Teal bedding from boodalee is the choice of my 3-year old. It features the great pyramids, the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower. I love this as a cool graphic alternative to the standard cars and baseball theme for a boys room. Available at www.boodalee.com.