I recently heard of “Music Together.” It is a music based mommy and me classes for infants to kindergarteners. If you are interested in this type of activities for you child visit their website and request more information for a class near you!
Garden Concerts for Kids 2009
A FREE outdoor music series for families
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays, August 15 & 16, 22 & 23, and 29 & 30, 2009
Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Central Garden
Admission: Free; no reservations required.
Enjoy the best of children’s music in the great outdoors at Garden Concerts for Kids, offering three weekends of kid-tastic, sing-along fun in the Central Garden. Make it an afternoon—come early to browse the galleries, wander the gardens, and enjoy a picnic on the grass.
For more information visit Getty’s website.
Everyone knows that fish can provide valuable nutrition to our kids. I personally love sushi and if I could afford it I probably would eat it everyday.
As a parent when feeding and eating fish, I wonder whether the fish you are purchasing is safe for your whole family. I hear about the dangerous murcury levels in fish, then wonder if I even want to feed the little bean any fish at all.
To find out which types of fish are safe to consume for your little bean and your entire family in your area, head over to Seafood WATCH where you can download pocket guides you can print and carry to the grocery store when purchasing fish so you can make informed choices that are also good for the environment.
As thrilling a sight as this beautiful brown-hued East River bridge is from afar, with its Gothic-style towers and lacy mesh of cables, the view from the bridge is even more thrilling. A boardwalk-like pedestrian walkway goes all the way across, raised slightly above the car traffic. One mile long, it should take about half an hour to traverse — except you’ll be tempted to stop more than once to ooh and ahh at the vision of Manhattan’s skyscrapers thrusting upward, with the great harbor and Verrazano Bridge beyond.
Why has the Brooklyn Bridge captured the popular imagination more so than other New York City bridges? Well, for one thing, it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1883. (Until then, the only way to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn was via ferry.) Ever since, the Brooklyn Bridge has become a byword in New York lore. The bridge has appeared in countless movies and TV shows, its outline practically synonymous with New York City.
If your kids aren’t hardy urban trekkers, walk halfway to get the view and then double back to Manhattan. Be aware that things get awfully windy once you’re above the water!
Why They’ll Thank You: It’s one thing to see a landmark, another to walk across one.
Beginning near the old mission town of San Juan Capistrano, state Highway 1 hugs the California coast all the way to Leggett, in Northern California, darting around coves and clinging to steeply shelving cliffs, with the Pacific Ocean almost always out your side window. It’s not the most efficient route to take from southern to northern California (or vice versa). Travelers intent on getting there fast opt for inland I-5, or at least U.S. 101. No, if you’re driving the Pacific Coast Highway, you’re looking for scenery — and some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world it is.
The most dramatic stretches of the drive occur where the mountains crowd close to the ocean’s edge — for instance, just north of Santa Barbara, where the Santa Inez peaks tumble precipitously to the beach, or the entire section from Morro Bay north to Carmel, where the sea nips at the toes of the Santa Lucia mountains. Each curve reveals another jaw-dropping vista, narrow strips of white foam-edged sand purling below you on one side, furrowed brown mountainsides beetling over you on the other. Surfers bob on their boards offshore — or are those seals? — and hawks coast dreamily overhead. It’s beautiful at noon, with blue skies and bright sun; it’s beautiful in a haunting fog; it’s beautiful glowing at sunset; it’s even beautiful in a wistful gray rain. It’s just plain beautiful.
Why They’ll Thank You: Riding the curves, watching the surf.
Everyone’s seen a Kodachrome photo of Niagara Falls, that stupendous curve of cascading water that lies between the United States and Canada. It’s one of those sites, however, that postcards never do justice to: To stand on a viewing platform and see, really see, how big it is, to hear the thunder of falling water, to feel the mist spritzing your face is another thing altogether.
There are actually two waterfalls here, both of them doozies: the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls. Both are around 175 feet high, although Horseshoe Falls, at 2,500 feet wide, is more than twice as wide as its sibling. Bring your passport, because the Canadian shore has the real panoramic view; both falls can be seen from the American side, but not together. No matter where you arrive from, you can easily visit both by crossing the Rainbow Bridge, preferably on foot — it’s only the length of a couple city blocks.
On the U.S. shore, head for Niagara Falls State Park: An observation tower overlooks the river, and Cave of the Winds takes you down by elevator onto boardwalks where you can walk around the base of the American Falls. Canada’s Journey Behind the Falls allows you to descend via elevator to tunnels punctuated with portholes that look out through the blur of water right behind Horseshoe Falls. The coolest way to see the falls, of course, is the classic Maid of the Mist boat ride, which plays no favorites; it departs from either shore.
Why They’ll Thank You: Roaring water, mist, and rainbows galore.
For some people, it took a hurricane for them to realize they should have visited New Orleans. Here was a true original among American cities, a place where people danced with parasols at funerals, ate beignets and po’ boys, believed in voodoo and vampires, and threw plastic beads off parade floats. Despite its raunchy Bourbon Street reputation, it was always a great family destination.
The part of New Orleans least affected by the disaster was its prime tourist area: the French Quarter, one of the few areas that had been built above river level and escaped heavy flooding. The French Quarter — or as local signs have it, the Vieux Carré — is, despite the name, a Spanish-flavored fantasy of wrought-iron balconies and tiny flower-filled courtyards and alluring louvered windows, its centerpiece being gardenlike Jackson Square. Just walking around here is entertainment, but several attractions are especially appealing to families: the touristy-but-fun Historic Voodoo Museum, the kitschy Musée Conti Wax Museum, and the Old U.S. Mint which, despite the name, is all about New Orleans jazz history and Mardi Gras traditions. At the open-air French Market that runs along Decatur Street from Jackson Square to Esplanade Avenue you can dine on snacks like gator on a stick. Really.
Why They’ll Thank You: They’ll know what it means to love New Orleans.
There is definitely something otherworldly about this stark monolith rising out of the Wyoming pines and prairies. The Northern Plains Indians called it Bears Lodge, and it has sacred meanings for them too. Even seeing a picture of it is unforgettable, but visiting Devil’s Tower in person — well, that’s more special than you’d imagine.
The flat-topped cone that became Devil’s Tower used to be under a shallow sea, but once the waters receded, centuries of erosion gradually wore away the softer rock around the hard igneous cone, leaving it exposed. Today the cone thrusts 1,267 feet above the surrounding pine trees and prairie grasslands. The flat top gave Steven Spielberg the idea of an extraterrestrials’ spaceport for his movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and a parachutist did land on top in 1941, drawing great publicity — especially since he then had to figure out how to get down!
For most of us, the best way to experience Devil’s Tower is to take the 1.3-mile paved Tower Trail that circles around the base. It’s very kid-friendly, being mostly flat (after a steep climb at the start) with benches and interpretive stations along the way. Take your time walking so that you can examine this rugged pinnacle from every angle and in different lights. Bring sketchbooks and try to draw its stern majesty.
Why They’ll Thank You: An icon of the West with mystical power.
When you think about it, Mount Rushmore is one of the oddest monuments ever: gigantic chiseled faces of four U.S. presidents — why four? Why those four (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt)? And why in the South Dakota Badlands? Crazy as it is, darned if another group didn’t raise money to carve another mountain nearby with an even bigger sculpture, depicting American Indian chief Crazy Horse.
Mount Rushmore was the passion of one individual: Gutzon Borglum, a Danish-American sculptor from Idaho, who was hired by South Dakota to make a memorial to draw visitors to the Black Hills. Borglum chose this peak because it was hard granite, the highest in the area, and it faced southeast, where it would catch good daytime light. A 1-mile Presidential Trail leads from the monument’s museum to viewing terraces at the base of the mountain; take a guided tour so the kids can learn all the curious history.
To many Native Americans, Mount Rushmore is an intrusion on sacred landscapes, so the Lakota tribe initiated their own project 17 miles away. Sculptors began to hew the image of Chief Crazy Horse astride a thundering stallion in 1948 and 50 years later only the chief’s nine-story-high face had been completed. Still, even kids should be able to trace the form emerging from the granite. When finished, Crazy Horse will be so big that all four heads on Mount Rushmore can fit inside it.
Why They’ll Thank You: Giant statues for American giants.
Even the youngest dinosaur lovers — and aren’t pre-schoolers the biggest dinosaur fans there are? — can interpret the fossil record left in stone at Dinosaur Valley: The huge footprints in the rocks here are so unmistakable it’s easy to picture the prehistoric theropods and sauropods who made them 110 million years ago.
You’ll find the prints beside the Paluxy River, which winds through this shady, lovely 1,500-acre park about an hour’s drive southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. Late summer, when the river is low, is the best time to come. You can discern the footprints best when the rock is just slightly underwater. Tracks can easily be seen at two spots in the park: The main site is across the northwest parking lot and down some stone steps to the river; upstream is the Blue Hole, a sinkhole with many more brontosaur tracks (it’s also a great place for swimming, so bring your suits).
The visitor center has replicas, foot skeletons, murals, and diagrams to help kids visualize the dinosaurs. What’s more, outdoors stand two immense fiberglass models, one of a brown T-Rex and the other of a green Apatosaurus — relics of the Dinosaur World exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Scientists still argue over what the head of the Apatosaurus should look like, but hey, we’re all still learning.
Why They’ll Thank You: Dinosaurs walked here.
“Awesome” doesn’t begin to do justice to this vast battleground, where thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers clashed for three sultry July days in 1863. As Abraham Lincoln himself said in his famous 1864 speech here, this land has been consecrated by blood — over 50,000 deaths — and an almost-eerie atmosphere hangs over this tranquil patch of rolling farmland, now peppered with war monuments.
The park visitor center has an excellent light-and-sound presentation with a scale-model map of the battlefield, which is quite helpful — after all, the battle raged over a large patch of country in the course of four days, and there’s a lot to keep straight. The Cyclorama Center, next to the visitor center, a 360-degree depiction of Pickett’s Charge painted in 1883, is the sort of pre-video-era special effect you rarely see these days. And after a three-year restoration project it’s looking better than ever.
Audiotapes are available for self-guided driving tours around the 250-acre battle site, but it’s worth it to invest in a personal guide, who will ride with you around the battlefield. These guides are gold mines of Civil War information, tailoring the tour to your particular interests and dishing out biographies of the commanders and the physics of cannon fusillades.
Why They’ll Thank You: Brother fought brother on this bloody ground.
The National Air and Space Museum is pretty much the star player on the Smithsonian museum team, at least as far as kids are concerned. Its thrills begin as soon as you walk into the sleek entrance hall and see the historic aircraft dangling from the ceiling — the Wright brothers’ 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and the Friendship 7 capsule that took John Glenn into space. Whether you come here for the history, the science, or just the technothrill of seeing so much heavy metal, Air and Space delivers the goods.
Besides gawking at the famous planes hanging out in the lobby, kids love to walk through the Skylab orbital workshop, and other galleries highlight the solar system, U.S. manned spaceflights, and aviation during both world wars. You can sneak in some hard science education with “How Things Fly,” an interactive exhibit that demonstrates principles of flight and aerodynamics (the wind and smoke tunnels are especially fun), and get into some heady astrophysics with “Explore the Universe,” which probes theories about how the universe took shape.
The second part of the museum is out near Dulles Airport in Chantilly, Va., where two gigantic hangars — one for aviation artifacts, the other for space artifacts — accompany a 164-foot-tall observation tower for watching planes land and take off at the airport. The space hangar is the length of three football fields — it has to be in order to house such huge artifacts as the space shuttle Enterprise, rocket boosters, spacewalk capsules, and a full-scale prototype of the Mars Pathfinder lander.
Why They’ll Thank You: Historic flying machines soaring in the lobby.
While it’s awesome indeed to stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon, something about that monumental chasm makes you long to just dive in and discover. Any number of hiking trails lead down into this great natural wonder, raft trips ply its waters, and helicopters buzz overhead—but surely the most memorable way to explore the Grand Canyon is to pick your way down the steep, narrow trails on the back of an ornery mule. Let the trail-wise mules find their footing on the stony paths while you gaze around you, drinking in the unfolding vistas of this vast network of canyons.
The best options for kids depart from the North Rim and are offered by Canyon Trail Rides. Children as young as 7 can try out the mules on a one-hour scenic ride along the rim; at 10 years and up, they can do half-day trips. If the kids are 12, they can take a full day trip, going 4,300 feet down and back up the North Kaibab Trail through a terrain of bright red rocks to Roaring Springs (aptly named — you’ll hear it well before you reach it).
The real classics, though, are 1- or 2-night packages that go to the bottom of the canyon and include sleeping arrangements and simple meals at Phantom Ranch, the only lodging available below the rim. Don’t expect luxury — it’s all bunk-bedded cabins and dorms, connected by dirt footpaths and shaded by cottonwood trees. Book quickly: These Phantom Ranch trips are so popular they fill up as soon as reservations are accepted, 23 months in advance.
Why They’ll Thank You: Discovering what’s in that hole in the ground.
I have a 7 month old and wanted to share my experience that Sigg bottle has been the best sippy cup for my little bean. I bought other traditional bottles parents get their kids, but my little one didn’t really like it…. until….. when my brother bought her a Sigg bottle with kid’s bottle top
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If you haven’t tried it you should. Your little one might love it as much as mine does.
First 5 California site has useful information for new and expecting parents. This site is run by California government and has information regarding health and education for the youngest Californians.
You can search your area for services available to your area. Oh also call 1-800-KIDS-025 for your free “Kit for New Parents”
When I got pregnant with by bean, I immediately started searching for names. I avoided any names that were popular, because I didn’t want my bean to be one of many little Emmas that would attend her school.
My name was popular at the time of my birth and I always had two or three girls with the same name in my class and I hated it. I guess there are benefits of having a popular name – you don’t have to spell it to the person when ordering coffee at starbucks. However that wasn’t enough for me to name my bean from the popular name list.
Social Security Administration has posted popular names of 2008. Use those names if you wish or avoid it like the plague.
How did you name your baby? From your favorite movie, book, family member or just made up?
Kids Rhythm Club is a FREE drum circle for Kids where they explore music making through rhythm, song, and fun activities. Drums are provided by REMO and no reservations needed.
It is recommended ages for kids: 2 to 12, but all ages are welcome.
REMO Recreational Music Center is located at:
For more information visit Remo.
In my on going concern of protecting my bean from all possible harm, I realized that even with all my planning and provisioning, I would not be able to cover every inevitable harmful scenario. The result of this mental exercise, I need to learn infant CPR.
RED CROSS
I start my search with The American Red Cross. The American Red Cross offers an online course
Child/Infant CPR
Time allowed for course: 14 days
This web-based course teaches American Red Cross CPR for children (ages 1-12) and infants (under age 1). Students will learn how to recognize and respond to breathing and cardiac emergencies. This course may take up to 3 hours. To earn CPR certification, students must pass the online test and then attend a skill session to perform and review skills.
CPR certification is valid for 1 year.
Course fee: $40.00 USD
They also offer standard courses
This 4 hour course provides individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and provide basic care for breathing and cardiac emergencies for adults.
Learning Objectives:
Length: Approximately 4 hours
Certificate Validity: 1 year
If you would like to schedule CPR training for a group of people of 10 or more at your site, please call (310) 445-2688 or see more information at Workplace Safety
If you need to take a CPR class for yourself, American Red Cross has community classes available. Please call 1-800-627-7000 to get course schedules and to register.
Here’s a map of all the Red Cross locations:
Okay, I lied, those locations above are not all. There is a Santa Monica Red Cross office as well. They offer CPR classes for free. Here is a list of their offerings:
32410: Adult CPR with First Aid
32407: Adult, Infant, & Child CPR with First Aid
32415: Adult/AED, Infant, & Child CPR
32800: CPR for the Professional Rescuer
32302: Infant and Child CPR with First Aid
Waterpark Lifeguarding Instructor
YMCA
The Los Angeles YMCA offers a ton of courses in a variety of subjects. They also offer a variety of CPR classes. My local YMCA, the Westside Family YMCA offers the following courses:
| Community CPR with AED and First-Aid Classes | ||||
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| Sign up and be CPR and First-Aid certified, for you never know when the world might call upon you to be a hero!
CPR and First-Aid Certification classes are offered on the following Saturdays from 10:00am – 2:00pm: CPR w/ AED & First Aid Class Fees
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In addition, the Santa Monica CPR Training Center also looks like a great resource.
They offer the following:
We offer the following CPR classes:
BLS for Healthcare Providers $60.00
Heartsaver AED (includes CPR) $55.00
Heartsaver CPR $50.00
Family and Friends CPR $40.00
BLS Skills Test (call for appointment) $65.00
Please call about First Aid classes.
I also found some other online resources:
The University of Washington has some online help, illustrations of proper application of infant CPR and a video.
UCLA also offers some CPR courses, however I didn’t see anything specific on Infant CPR.
onlinebabycpr.com also offers a free course
Since my baby bean was born and until about a month ago, I used Pampers Swaddlers
About a month ago, I got a coupon for Huggies Diapers
I am going back to Pampers swaddlers. The problem is, now that my bean is 15 pounds, she is going to be graduating swaddlers soon. Pampers only make swaddlers up to babies who are 22 pounds and under and for me that means that I can only use it up until my baby bean is about 19 pounds.
So which brand of diaper do I move on to after she graduates swaddlers? I never thought I would be contemplating diaper brands but here I am…..
Possible choices
