When your toddler is afraid of Santa Claus

Sofie is terrified of Santa. Getting her near him was torture. This is a surprise because she talks about him all the time now that Christmas is approaching. Last year was fine, this year, not so much. Any tips on how to desensitize your child to the horrors of that white beard? Please leave them in the comments!

Podcasts for Toddlers

As I mentioned before, there are a few free video podcasts out there that are great for toddlers.  I like to have a few in my iPhone to use as a distraction in the event of a meltdown.  Here are my reviews for two of them.

Sesame Street:  Sesame Street has a weekly podcast featuring the "Word on the Street".  The podcast begins with the usual Sesame Street intro with Murray interviewing people in New York asking for a definition for the word of the day.  Usually there will be an animation or two to accompany it.  Followed by a celebrity giving an example of the word of the day.   Lately there has been a special segment featuring Abby Cadabby at the end.  This is a stellar podcast in that it is a 6 to 8 minute episode of Sesame Street you can take with you.

They Might Be Giants:  I feel really lucky to have found this one.  The alternative rock band, They Might Be Giants, has released a few albums directed at children ("Here Come the ABCs", "Here Come the 123s", and "No!").  If you have not heard them, they are fantastic, and very educational.  The podcast is a puppet show put on by the two bandleaders, John Flansburgh and John Linnell, interspersed with animated music videos of songs off these albums.  They are humorous for both adults and children.  There hasn't been a new one in several months, but I expect them to return with the release of their next kids CD, "Here Comes Science".

You may have to use iTunes or a similar program to subscribe to these podcasts.  Either of the links above have great directions on how to proceed.  It is possible to download old episodes.  Personally, I downloaded them all and have them all loaded into my iPhone, just in case we get stuck in an elevator or something.

Tinkerbell, Old and New

Sofie and I have watched the original Peter Pan together a few times now.  One thing that always strikes me is Tinkerbell's lack of morality.  In the movie she tries to get Wendy killed, and reveals the location of Peter Pan's hideout in another attempt to get Wendy out of the picture.  Her murderous jealousy is a stark contrast to her cute demeanor.  She comes around in the end, but who knew fairies were sociopaths?

Disney has found it in their wisdom to release an entire movie based on the origin of Tinkerbell.  It went straight to video, which is always a bad sign, but the trailers looked well made.  Disney also showed it on the Disney Channel in HD over the weekend.  I saw it as a great opportunity to screen it with Sofie before we go buy it.  So Monday morning we fired up the DVR and began viewing the movie.

We made it to the first commercial break (about 20 minutes) before Sofie lost interest.  She is usually able to watch long movies without getting bored, but this one did not hold her attention.  The CG in the movie is excellent.  The writing is okay.  The voice acting is good.  But Tinkerbell herself is so different, she may as well use a different name. 

So where we once had an image of a jealous little mute pixie, there is now a very talkative young fairy, that likes to interrupt, has a strong talent for inventing fairy tools, and is capable of tailoring her own clothes out of leaves.   I am not sure if the sociopathic side of her comes out at any point later in the movie.  It's still in the DVR, so if we ever find out, I'll let you know.

UPDATE:

Took a couple more sittings, but we got through the whole thing.  It's not terrible.  I think it would be great for little girls aged 4-10.  The message I took away from it is "Be yourself, but don't try to go beyond your capabilities.  Know your limits, and don't rock the boat."  Maybe that's not the best message for little girls to hear.

The Fine Art of Distraction

Unless they are watching TV, kids are highly prone to distraction.  This can be a powerful parenting tool when out in public.  I've found that well timed distractions can often prevent tantrums and public meltdowns.

Obviously, distractions are not always practical.  The best advice is to pay attention to your little ones while out and watch out for stressors (i.e. hunger, fatigue, discomfort).

I would recommend that the following items are part of your usual gear when out and about.

• Food:  Nothing beats a little snack.   Especially near mealtimes when little ones tend to get the most cranky.  For instance, a little baggy with some Cheerios.
• Books and Toys:  Always have a book or toy out of standard rotation so you can distract with something they haven't seen before, or haven't seen in at least a week. 
• Stickers:  When age appropriate, stickers can be a dramatic attitude adjuster.
  
• Stomach raspberries:  Pick that kid up and blow a few raspberries on his or her stomach, and you'll get a smile almost everytime.

When all else fails, this is my last resort:

• Portable Media Player:  Whipping out an iPhone with a new Sesame Street video podcast can be extremely distracting.  They run 5 to 8 minutes in length, and can give you the time you need to finish up whatever errand you are running.  I plan to write up reviews on our favorite kid-centric video podcasts in the future.

If you have any other good distractions, please share them by posting them in the comments.

UPDATE:

Here's a picture of the last resort in action!

Waiting for Claus

Anticipating the arrival of St. Nick, Sofie has begun staking out one of his usual hangs.

Follow up to the Sleeping and Napping Preview

As an addendum to my previous post, here is some additional information.

Here is a typical day for Sofie at 7 months.  The times are from August 15th, 2007.

• 0635AM Wake-up
• 0640AM Milk 1
  
• 0750AM Breakfast: Fruit
  
• Nap 1 0840AM - 1010AM
  
• 1045AM 2nd Breakfast: Oatmeal
  
• 1115AM Milk 2
  
• 0200PM Lunch: Veggies and Cereal (rice or mixed grain)
  
• Nap 2 0235PM - 0405PM
  
• 0415PM Milk 3
  
• 0600PM Dinner: Veggies and Fruit
  
• 0715PM Milk 4
  
• 0735PM Sleep
  

Sofie was very much a Gerber eater at 7 months.  She was basically eating the standard Gerber stage 1 fruits: Banana, Pear, Applesauce, and Peaches. And veggies too:  Peas, Green Beans, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, and Squash.  And cereals too, which were mixed using breastmilk until she was 9 months old.  Later we would branch out into Earth's Best and formula.

Sleeping and Napping Preview

As I mentioned before, I have a data log of Sofie's sleeping, eating, and napping.  I'd like to share it because I think it might be helpful to first time parents.

Instead of hitting you over the head with raw data, I'm going to present it on a month by month basis.  This first look will cover the first partial month of data.  This data would probably be most useful to someone with a 6 month old that is sleeping through the night.  Future sets will cover an entire month.

From August 7th - August 18th, this represents roughly the last 3rd of Sofie's 7th month.  Times listed are medians.  Times in parentheses are the data range.

Waketime  6:20 (5:40-7:15)

Milk 1 6:25 (6:00-7:20)

Breakfast 7:45  (6:45-8:30)

Nap 1 8:40  (8:00-9:45)

Nap 1 Duration 90 mins (35-120 mins)

2nd Breakfast 10:45 (10:30-11:25)

Milk 2 11:40 (11:15-11:45)

Lunch 2:00

Nap 2 2:45 (1:20-3:05)

Nap 2 Duration 80 mins (35-95 mins)

Milk 3 4:10 (3:40-5:00)

Dinner 6:15 (5:45-6:35)

Milk 4 7:15 (7:00-7:40)

Sleep 7:45 (7:35-8:05)

Notes:

• Our longest period of wakefulness was between nap 1 and nap 2.  That's usually when we'd go out for walks or run errands.
• She would occassionally fall asleep on the walk, but only for 5-10 minutes.
• Once during this period she took her 2nd nap before lunch because her 1st nap that day ended particularly early.

For anyone that read this far, please leave feedback or questions as a comment.  I'd like to know if the format is easily understood.

"Wanna lay down?"

Sofie has a thing for laying down in odd places. At first I thought it
was because she was tired. But now I'm thinking she just wants to put
her belly on cool surfaces. Here she is laying down at Gymboree.

Data on Nap Schedules and Eating

I have over a years worth of data on Sofie's schedule.  Including nap times (start and stop), and meal times, and bedtime/waketimes.  This data ranges from 5 months of age to 18 months of age.  I am planning on compiling this data into more readable forms.  I'm also considering making all the data available.

More soon.

Testing mobile uploads

Just a test... and it worked :D

Visualizing a Housedad Blog

What is a housedad?  A dad that stays home with the little ones while mommy works.

About me:

My name is Jeff Sturges and I've been a housedad for 17 months now.  My daughter is almost 22 months old, and I am 34.  I held a job in software development for 6 years before leaving to become a housedad.

My goals for this blog:

• Chronicle my time as a housedad
• Share parenting tips with other parents
• Share stories about my daughter, Sofie
• Learn how to blog!

More later after I figure out more about Blogspot.