iPhone App Of The Moment - Endless Alphabet

Stickman is still a big favorite in this house but we found a new favorite app today its so seriously cute, totally engaging, and addicting. You can put that mommy/parent/caregiver guilt away because its also educational. Called Endless Alphabet from Callaway Digital Arts, little ones can learn the alphabet, spelling, and vocabulary but most importantly they have fun, fun and FUN.

A word comes up and a voice says the word. Then hilarious interesting creatures come knock them off so the word then is in grey & the letters are mixed around in color.

Click on a letter and it animates with creature like features then says and repeats the sound of the letter. When you match it to the correct spot, the letter is said. Then the creatures act out the word and a definition of the word is spoken. Its sometimes a funny definition. For example, the definition of tangle is "A tangle is a mess of rope or strings. Hair gets tangled all the time."

Callaway Digital Arts adds new words weekly. So letter sounds, definition, spellings, matching, oh I couldn't be more happy with this app but wait there are no advertisements or in app purchases (see this post to learn how to turn off auto in app purchases for other apps that may have it).

OH its FREE so go get it NOW!!

Do you have any other favorites from Callaway? I'm tempted to try all their other apps since I'm super impressed by this one

Car Seat Safety

To find your state's car seat law you can search the web - (Your State) Car Seat Law.

Besides obeying the law, more importantly its about saving a life. Car crashes are the number 1 killer of kids 1 to 12 I'll let that sink in.....NUMBER ONE!!!.

In a perfect world I would have my little one rear face till its time for her to drive a car...if only she would stay a little peanut, but I don't think I'm that lucky ::sigh::. I WILL proudly be THAT mom. If she complains about being the only kid her age still in a booster I will say "Hey aren't you late for college orientation?" (Totally joking...maybe) I don't mind the comments about her rear facing "that looks uncomfortable" "her legs are going to get broken" I know I've done what I can to ensure that she's as safe as possible, a broken leg is better than a broken neck you know.

There is no "perfect for all" seat, as one needs to fit your car and your child. Please see below for some links that I frequent.

NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  choose the right seat

Nationwide Inspection Stations - you could have a nice rear facing seat with high limits but if its not installed correctly its worthless. 7 out of 10 are installed incorrectly


Got a question? FB page Car Seats for the Littles is full of knowledgeable car seat techs instead of "Write Post" click "Ask Question"

The Car Seat Lady FB


Great overview from Cincinnati Children's Hospital these people are in the Trauma Services Department and don't want to see anymore preventable heartache

More safety resources I just found out about today


If you have any amazing links to share please do so in comments.

Thanks for reading!

Pete And Repeat Were Sitting In A Boat

Pete fell out, who was left REPEAT          All. Day. Long.

Kids a little older than my 2 year old are usually repeating because they don't think you heard them. The toddler age totally WANTS to talk about something with you and the ONLY thing they can think of is "I like dirt" 5,000 times an hour. So I've found that expanding on what they are repeating helps them learn plus slows down the number of repetitions. So ask some questions to get that toddler mind rolling like

• What grows in dirt? 
• What else do you like? Do you like grass?
• Is dirt soft or squishy or hard?
• What happens to dirt if you add water?

Another one of my toddler's example is "I like to jump" ask questions like

• How many times can you jump in a row? Lets count!
• Can you Hop? (Skip, Twirl, etc)
• What animals jump? (hop)
• Can you jump high, can you jump low?

I have a friend who told me today of her daughter saying "The stove is hot" because the stove is hot and hey did you know its hot? So expand with

• Why is it hot?
• What else is hot?
• Is your drink hot?
• Is an ice cube hot or cold?

I could go on & on but you get the idea. :) Have fun! 

How to turn around a fuss bucket

Tonight I turned fussing around with a joke I heard fussing so I asked "is that a fuss bucket I hear? Are you a bucket of fuss?" much laughter and "YES"
I usually use the "if you're fussing that means you need a nap" but the laughter way was so much more fun & effective. What are ways you turn your toddler's fussing around?

Toddler's most favorite iPhone app of the moment

This app was introduced to us by a 9 year old but is loved by the toddler. I even like to play it so that's why I'm telling you. It's called Stickman 2. I use the free version but there is a paid one I just don't know the difference. Check out some screen grabs of our fun.

I'm Changing

Do you love yourself? If you're like me you have flaws, many many flaws, but I hope you can look past those or at the very least not vocalize any of the personal critiques. There are children in my area being seen for eating disorders at 8 years old. Yes 8. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. 


Scary Facts (via anad.org)

• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner 
• 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat 
• 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.

So Moms & Dads here are some things I've done and some I've heard...

• Lets stop talking about being fat, (phat is okay because well you are). If you think your child's chub is cute then criticize your own, you're confusing the little one. That child's chubby chin is freaking adorable and so is yours. 
• Don't tell them you work out to "get skinny" or "lose weight" you workout because its healthy and fun. 
• Stop the "that's bad food" food can't be bad, its food, it can be healthy or unhealthy but not bad.
• Teach them to be the boss of their hunger, no more telling them they have to eat more. I've now created a container that my child can get into with random foods that she can access at any time. If she doesn't like dinner or is hungry before dinner is ready, she can go to that container & choose whatever she wants. 
• No more "rewards" (exception is potty training in our case) no more "if you eat dinner we will get ice cream" 

 Are you guilty of any of these & willing to change? 

In App Purchases

I was down $1 on my itunes card & after wondering where it went I realized I did not have my phone set up as secure as I thought.

Luckily I have Apple which is pretty easy to turn off in app purchases. I would like Apple even more if this was set to OFF from the beginning making people turn it ON but I digress.

Apple
Settings > General > Restrictions > Turn "In App Purchases" to Off
or you can set "Require Password" to immediately or after 15 minutes which as long as you don't give your password out to the kids :)

If you have products that use the Android Market you are not so lucky I've heard. Now I don't have Android so I have not personally tested this but here are some ways.

Android
- Set a PIN for purchase *not available on all devices click here to see how to see/change your version 
-  if running version 3.1 or higher > Google Play Store > Menu > Settings > Set or change PIN > enter PIN code > OK > Re-enter PIN to confirm > Check box "Use PIN for purchases"

Other ways that might work if you don't want to upgrade your version
- remove your credit card or put a gift card that has a $0 balance.
- install an app that will require passwords to certain apps "App Protector Pro" does cost $
-  turn on airplane mode when the child is using it. This will not allow you to get calls or text messages till turned off


So hope this helped.