peek a baby | parenting news, rants & reviews

Do You Still Have ‘Gimmes’ Left Over from the Holiday Season?

Posted in Parenting by jessica on January 26, 2012

Particularly in a city inundated with tourists during the holiday season, it can be hard to come down from the ‘gimmes’ even after the trees have been turned into mulch and the Chanukah menorahs have been put away for next year.
Claire Haas, vice president of education for Kiddie Academy, has some suggestions to help parents find teachable moments in the midst of the holiday craziness which also hold true for the rest of the year:

1. Children can help chose outgrown clothes, old toys and books to donate to a local charity (I would add that even passing things on to siblings, cousins or friends with younger children can help children learn to re-purpose their own no longer necessary stuff for the good of someone else.)

Wordless Wednesday: Shark!

Posted in Wordless Wednesday by jessica on January 24, 2012

Have you ever seen a cuter, cuddlier shark? Working on his crawl strokes

Tagged swimming, wordless wednesday | 7 Comments

A peek Into My Kitchen: Sweet & Salty Caramel Apples (nut-free)

Posted in A Peek Into My Kitchen, Food and Drink, Products, Uncategorized by jessica on January 20, 2012

To be honest, it has never really occurred to me to cook with pretzels. Every once in a while, I’ve seen a recipe for Pretzel-crusted this or that and I’ve definitely watched an episode or two of Chopped in which pretzels were one of the mystery ingredients…but I don’t generally think of them as more than a snack food staple in my pantry.

That’s actually one of the reasons that I thought it would be fun to do this post–to stretch my culinary imagination a bit.

Trying to figure out what to make, I had a “eureka!” moment. My nut-allergic son rarely gets to eat fun, frivolous carnival food like Caramel Apples because they are generally coated with peanuts. I threw a handful of pretzels in my food processor, dipped some apples in melted caramel and then in the pulverized pretzels. Voila! Nut-free caramel apples which still have the salty-sweet element which is generally provided by roasted peanuts.

Pocoyo Squeeze ‘n Play (review and giveaway)

Posted in Giveaways, Products by jessica on January 19, 2012

My 2 1/2 year old daughter isn’t really all that familiar with the characters from Pocoyo or the show itself (currently on Nick JR., PBS and Univision) However, when she opened the box with this soft 9-inch tall guy inside and heard 3 different sounds he makes when you squeeze his tummy, she immediately declared him her new baby.

This little guy has found his way into a doll stroller, a doll bed and into my daughter’s high chair (it was time for his lunch.)

I love that my kidlet didn’t need to be familiar with the show to immediately make friends with Pocoyo himself. Imagine the reaction that a die-hard fan of the cartoon would have?

My one issue is that I really don’t love toys that make noise…particularly toys that don’t have volume control. Thankfully, my daughter is more into toting Pocoyo around than actually squeezing him…though she does enjoy his little giggle.

The lovely folks at Bandai are providing one Squeeze ‘n Play Plush to a lucky winner!

He is perfect for all kids 18 months and up and retails for $19.99

Wordless Wednesday: Space Fest!

Posted in NY, Wordless Wednesday by jessica on January 17, 2012

On Sunday, my family spent the day at the American Museum of Natural History Space Fest being wowed by all the amazing space-related activities.

A huge highlight was getting to design and build our very own space craft out of bubble wrap, paper and balloons to safely carry a raw egg over the side of one of the museum’s balconies. Yep, we got to toss a bubble wrapped egg over the side…I think my 5 year old was more than a little disappointed when it made the trip safely

Oh, and how many 2 1/2 year olds can honestly say that they have seen sunspots through an real telescope? I hope she was able to focus her eyes better than I was, because I couldn’t really see a darn thing