IMG: Sxc.hu

 They look at the colorful pictures and oooh and ahh as each page is turned, some will be handed a book to grab and turn the pages, others will simply stare. There is one thing each little one has in common with one another, they are all under the age of 2 years old.

What? Babies in story hour? Yes, more and more libraries are recognizing that babies love to be read to and it also teaches them more about handling books, so they are starting programs for little babies. Now not all libaries will have it but many around the country do, all you have to do is ask. Who knows they could be meeting once a week and you’ve been missing out.

Here is some information on the baby program, “Library S.T.A.R“:

Library S.T.A.R. (Sure They Are Ready) is a training program designed for library professionals, but equally valuable for any organization whose work involves children 0-5, and their parents/caregivers.

For those that don’t know what to ask, call down and just ask if there is a “Baby Storytime.”  My local library has one for babies 9-18 months old they read short stories, sing nursery rhymes and finger puppets to delight the children. Others open their doors to babies as young as newborn to 24 months old and include music and smells. Either way this is a great experience for mom and babies, babies because it is teaching them young and moms because it gets mom to interact with others like herself.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Sxc.hu

NameYourTune.com has come out with their name for the decade…. “AIDEN” AND “MADELINE.” They state one reason is because of the many spellings that can be made from these beautiful names. For those that may not know, NameYourTune.com actually makes personalized songs with your child’s name, one reason they would know this. Here are a few names that were popular for 2009. Do you have any boys with these names?

TOP BOY NAMES OF 2009
Aiden/Aidan/Aden
Matthew
Owen
Ethan
Jackson
Evan
Braden/Braeden/Brayden
Noah
Jack
Zachary

TOP BOY NAMES OF 2000-2009
Jacob
Michael
Ethan
Christopher
Jack
Daniel
Zachary
William
Joshua
Ryder
Neither of my boys’ names are on this list, however I purposely named them something that would be different from all the rest. I think it worked. Do you have a son that has a name that you know no one else will have?

TOP GIRL NAMES OF 2009
Madelyn/Madeleine Madelynn
Madison
Emma
Hannah
Olivia
Audrey
Isabella
Grace
Taylor
Emily

TOP GIRL NAMES OF 2000-2009
Emily
Madison
Emma
Hannah
Olivia
Samantha
Ashley
Ava
Elizabeth
Alyssa

I do have one of my girls’ names on here but not the other one. Do you have a daughter’s name up here? What about your own? As you know I’m Elizabeth and still appear on the list, even if it is at the bottom.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Ferree

 When they make them they make two more halves, one for him then and one for his lunch. Don’t ask me he loves these instant meals.

Yesterday, the three had left barely any peanut butter left in the jar and on the table. Little A has been known to grab the jar, open it (not to worry it is plastic) and reach inside to get a taste. So when he did this time I didn’t stop him, instead I swooped him up and placed him in his high chair. I dropped a plate in front of him, a spoon and a piece of bread. He proceeded to put the butter all over the bread, now I had meant to put jelly on it but by the time I was going to he had given up on spreading it. He had the bread in pieces on his tray and was dropping them into the jar, stirring it and taking them out one by one and eating them. This was his way of making a sandwich. Got any stories to share with me?

TIP: Sometimes moms must decide to pick and choose our battles, at least he was eating.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Elizabeth Ferree

noticed that Little A tends to sleep more now, however not all the time, instead he likes to sleep in the day a lot.

Since Little A has something he is very clingy but only when he wants to be, he can get extremely moody too. How many of you have a little one like this? Now think how many of you have an adult family member like this? I’m guessing it runs in the family, but for little ones at this age they don’t understand what is wrong with them or why they feel this way so they get scared and other times they are just frustrated.

When it comes to sleep it is best that they sleep a lot because it helps quick the cold sooner. Their body is able to fight the germs a lot faster for some reason. Of course this can definitely get a baby/toddler off their normal sleeping schedule, which can also iritate mom and dad. Thankfully we can have two different schedules since my husband works during the day and I stay home. If Little A sleeps more in the day it means I’ll just take naps with him and stay up with him at night.

Tips:
-  Try making sure your little one gets at least 8 hours sleep.
-  Naps are a good thing, even for a 2-year-old or adult
-  Have them drink plenty of fluids
-  Wipe things down, especially if you have school-age children.

What tips could you leave for parents going through this?

IMG: This is where I found my sick little guy most of the day.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Sxc.hu

B1G1 ½ off: Jumbo pk diapers/training pants (Walgreens) $8.99

Target:
10/$9 Gerber baby food (2pks)
$21.49  23.2oz Similac

You can get a $5 Gift Card when you purchase 2 Luvs big pk diapers.
$16.99 Luvs big pk diapers
$8.99 jumbo pk Huggies/Pampers Cruisers

Kmart:
Gerber clothing is on sale and when you $15 you get $5 GC or spend $25 and get a $10 GC.
$19.99 Huggies big pk

CVS:
Huggies/Pull-ups  jumbos $8.97

Not as many deals as I was hoping for, however if you go to your favorite brand diapers website you are sure to find some coupons there. I know Huggies has them for $2 off. Hurry over and grab those up. Don’t forget some stores will double coupons and others let you use their store coupons as well as the manufacturer coupons, which really helps out.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Amazon.com

The book isn’t that big, but it is a pop-up with 6 full pages. The pictures are very colorful and they pop right up. Little A loves thumbing through the pages and popping up the pages, especially the baby in the bathtub. But I’ve also noticed that he tries doing the signs that are shown right off to the sides of the pop up. For example: One child is showing tapping his fingers together to show the “more” sign, another shows a boy rubbing his fists up and down his body for “bath.” Those two examples are Little A’s favorites and yes he does use them.

It doesn’t matter if your child is deaf or you just want to teach them a few sign words to give them a bit of communication with you. It teaches a few signs, gets the toddlers to look at the baby to see what will happen next.  For us, the only issue we had were the tabs are a bit tough to pull down. But we figure after it has been used a bit they’ll loosen up.

The book is available at Amazon.com for $13.59 right now. This would make a great stocking stuffer, birthday gift or baby shower gift.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Ferree

Finally, when it was all done I strung up the new lights. A few days later we made Reindeer Candy Canes with the kids and had them hang them on the tree.

Today he found the rest of the candy canes that had not been used in the arts and crafts session. What did he do with it? No, he didn’t eat them, instead he put them all on the tree and clapped for himself. He was so proud that he decorated the Christmas tree all by himself. I couldn’t help but smile, clap and of course take a picture.

Here are a few tips for getting toddlers to help with decorating the tree and keep them safe doing it:

- Ask them if they want to put something on. My advice is don’t give them something breakable, just in case it falls.

- tinsel isn’t always good. But if it must be done watch your child closely. This is a fun item to toss on the tree, even for little ones but you need to make sure they don’t stick it in their mouth or wrap it around their finger.

- No turning on the lights. Explain to them they can’t turn on the lights, the plugs are OFF-LIMITS. My son always runs for the plug if we haven’t turned the lights on, no matter how much we tell him no. Now we have been hiding the plug inside the tree to give us that few minutes to stop him.

- Make sure the tree is steady. You know little ones, he/she may try pulling on one of the branches. Check the tree and see if it is steady, sometimes those screws don’t always go into the trunk right. If it is a fake tree you know the legs don’t always lay straight. One thought might be to use fishing line or floss and hang it to the ceiling from the top of the tree just to make sure it won’t tip over.

- Get a fake mini tree. If your tree doesn’t seem to be left alone, you may want to try to get your little one their own small tree about their height so they can decorate it and feel like it is something that they can touch. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to forget about the big one.

Post from: Babylune

This has made me wonder if babies don’t have some type of thing where they think they are the only ones. I mean obviously they learn there are others out there, but NOT others in your home. Any picture of a younger child is a picture of them, any picture of a sibling that doesn’t look like they do now is not them. Could this be because they haven’t seen a sibling’s looks change? Possibly. Even if you have a small chronicalogical (sp) album of just the baby and let him/her flip through it they will not believe.

The above picture is Little A looking at SoccerBoy’s picture album. He got really into it and took over an hour looking at the pictures.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Ferree

Earlier today I was uploading “Elf” into the DVD for Little A, he had grabbed a diaper and was playing with this sisters’ toys. I thought nothing of it and went about loading his movie, that is until I heard, “Mom help!”

When I looked over I see that Little A has a dirty diaper beside him (thankfully just pee) and a new one all on, except he couldn’t strap it just right as it got stuck under him. But you could see he took the initiative and all. He was so proud once I helped him he kept repeating, “I did it!” Yeah I think he’s ready.

A few months ago we went through the whole thing when he’d run to his potty and go. But that was short lived, where he once carried his potty in all the rooms he now has it in the bathroom but doesn’t really use it. What would you do?

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Graco/Amazon.com

A little infant girl was found hidden amongst two strollers and a toy, in the backseat of the car. No clue if the mom would’ve told police she’d been there or where mom had disappeared to as that part isn’t made clear. The woman was arrested and is now being charged with child abandonment.

A few minutes later the man was arrested. No clue why they’d just leave their child unless they did not realize there was someone watching them and they just left her in the car during burglaries. EEek. Scary thought.

KXII reports:

Police early Monday arrested a man and woman on complaints of receiving and concealing stolen property. The infant’s mother also faces an additional complaint of child abandonment.

Police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow says an officer first spotted the car parked illegally on the wrong side of the street. Two people were inside the vehicle, but the officer saw the woman walk away from the car toward a house.

Wardlow says a 7-month-old baby girl was later discovered in the back seat of the car, covered by two strollers and a large toy.

Hopefully the baby was being taken care of. It was never mentioned if the baby was inside a carseat or on the back seat.

Post from: Babylune