Jack's Big Music Show sure is swell.

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Jacksbigmusicshow_2About a month ago I blogged about Madame's favorite show, Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin, and that post has generated the most comments I've had so far on this blog. People love the show, and with good reason, it rules. Anyway, I thought I'd try to give out some more links to stuff related to the show. LET'S ROCK THIS CLUBHOUSE!

Also on MDD -
Jack's Big Music Show (09-29-2005)
Holiday gifts. Kids. Jack's Big Music Show. (12-01-2005)

Fifteenth month developments.

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My Madame turned 15 months last week, and the older she gets it seems like the fewer big milestones there are for her. She's walking everywhere now, can understand almost everything I say to her, and has developed a real personality completely independent of my wife and I. Eventually I'm going to have to stop measuring her developments in months, but for now I'll try to keep it up.

  • Walking. She was walking last month, but now she's really a pro. Up and down hills, uneven surfaces, rocks, you name it - she's walking on it. She's finally got the hang of shoes as well, which is a good thing. Because when we first put them on her we didn't think she'd ever wear them. As it turns out the shoes we were putting her in were a little too small, so we skipped right to size five and we haven't looked back since.
  • Eating. We turned a corner the other day at lunch time. She was being kind of finicky with her yogurt (which she normally loves) so I decided to let her take the spoon herself. Now she insists on feeding herself, which is good and everything but it definitely slows things down. So now thanks to a moment of simple (but brilliant nonetheless) insight from modern day mom, we rock two spoons, one for Madame and one for me. Between the two we're having much more success.
  • Kisses. No matter what I do, I can't get her to give me a kiss on the cheek. She's great at hugging. If you ask usually she'll give you a squeeze and a pat on the arm, but no kissing yet. She's never been a very cuddly kid so I guess it makes sense, but it's kind of funny how that one thing she just won't do.

NYC recap.

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I still feel like I'm recovering from our long weekend in New York. Here's a quick roundup:

  • Weather. Sucked. It rained every day and was cold. But I didn't go there for the weather.
  • Travel. Traveling without a toddler is really great, and Jet Blue is now officially my favorite airline. Live television, leather seats with extra room and they don't skimp on the drinks or snacks. I'm not sure I'd be able to put Madame on mute until she's older (like their ad suggests), but I'm willing to try.
  • Shopping. Great. We didn't do much shopping, but we did hit the places we can't get to that regularly, including picking up a few sweet gifts at Bombalulu's.
  • Friends. The best. My modern day godson is a beautiful, almost perfect baby whom I rarely let go of. It's amazing how much I forgot what a small infant was like.
  • Food. We had some of the best meals while we were in NYC, and while the wood burning grill in the Gramercy Tavern is still a personal favorite, the best meal we had was at this crazy Asian restaurant in the meat packing district called Spice Market. From the outside it looks like an ugly building, but inside it feels like you walked right into a kung-fu movie. Combine the tavern scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with some sort of shadowy, red-lit Asian club and you kind of get the idea. And the food was outstanding.

Vegas costume ideas. The good and bad.

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SlotcostumeHere in Las Vegas everything is about the dichotomy. The winning and losing. The hit or stay. The Elvis and Liberace (well, maybe there's not so much dichotomy there). This year we've decided Madame is going to be a duck (it's her favorite animal and the quacking is about the only sound she will make on cue), but what if we were looking for some advice around town? Just like always, we'd have to separate the bad from the good.

On the losing side we've got this costume ideas for kids page from the LV Review Journal. They suggest that instead of dressing your kids up in boring witch or vampire costumes, dress them up like Vegas icons. Sure, there's always Elvis, but why not a showgirl or high roller/trophy wife? The trophy wife thing is outright creepy, and the slot player (pictured) is just too messed up for me to come up with a comment.

On the winning side, one of the modern-day-great-aunts tipped me to a cool article from the makeup artists at Cirque du Soleil about creating a character with your kid for Halloween (OK. I know they're technically Canadian, but they've got like five shows here now so I think they count). They suggest doing some creative research - thinking about what the character will be like (happy or scary etc.) and then they give some tips on how to create it. For instance, here's some advice for making a scary character:

When it comes to selecting scary colors Eleni suggests white, red and black: "Start with a foundation of white, or sculpt the face by making artificial hollows with dark shadows under the cheekbones, around the eyes and under the nose. That can look really freaky on kids, because it ages them. By the way, you don't need expensive professional stage makeup to carry this off. The Halloween makeup you find in stores is good enough. But make sure you really blend the colors well, especially around the eyes."

And if you should happen to need a good supply of fake blood to complete your look, Isabelle Fink has a recipe for you: A mixture of corn syrup and red food dye. "And if you want it to really gross out the neighbors," she adds, "put in a little Vaseline to get that lumpy, clumpy look!"

HOMETOWN FAVORITES: Halloween, Vegas-Style [Las Vegas Review Journal]

Halloween tips from Cirque du Soleil experts [CirqueduSoleil.com via Mary Ellen - thanks!] Subscription required, or use the Bug Me Not Firefox plug in.

An autumn vacation.

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I haven't written anything this week, and it think I'll take a few more days off. Modern day mom and I are leaving soon for a long weekend to New York City to visit friends and meet my new modern day god-son. We're not taking the Madame, and although we'll miss her, we're really looking forward to going on a trip with just the two of us. If there are any recent must-see things in NYC you can recommend, drop me an email or leave a comment.

I'll be back next week with lots of stuff to write about into the holiday season.

Visitors from around the world.

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OK. I know this is pretty weblog-insidey (much like my previous post) but this is pretty cool. Last night I found this service that will map any web site's last 20 visitors on a Google map for free. You just put a piece of code on your website template, and in an hour it will start to show you where people are coming from. And for a small donation, they'll give you more than 20. Here's the link to the Modern Day Dad visitor map.

Check out Gvisit.com [via Smelly Monkeys podcast. Thanks boys!]

Tagging, but not nearly as cool as graffiti.

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I guess I'm not paying attention enough, because dad blogger thDad tagged me, and apparently I'm it.

Here's the fifth sentence of my 23rd post.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that things aren’t so simple for everyone.

A pretty obvious realization in any context, but it was after all only my 23rd post. I hope I'm getting better at this blogging thing.

Since my OCD prevents me from being the killjoy that stops this weblog chain letter, now it's my job to tag someone else. Ideashak, Digital Dad, and More Diapers,  I'd like to see the fifth sentence of your 35th post (if it's a picture, re-post the picture).

Good deal on games.

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Princess_monopolyNormally I don't shill for Amazon so blatantly, but this is a pretty good deal. Right now they've got a two for one sale on all Hasbro, Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers games, with free shipping. It might be a good time to stock up on the classics you remember playing when you were a kid like Sorry! Or get your kid a new-school classic like Disney Princess Monopoly Jr., where you:

"Choose your favorite princess and dash around the gameboard to buy homes for as many Disney friends as you can! Then when other players land on your spaces, they must pay you to visit."

Princesses, capitalism and paying for friends. So many mixed messages in one game!


Check out the 2 for 1 sale on games at Amazon.com  Offer expires 10-15-05.

NOTE: I just tried this and it's pretty confusing. What you have to do is go to purchase the more expensive item, then click the "second one for free" link in the "Special Offer" paragraph on that page. Then get the coupon code for the cheaper item on that page and follow the step by step instructions

If that doesn't work (it didn't for me), then make sure you get the coupon code for the cheaper of the two items, put both items in your cart and use the coupon code when you check out. It should work then.

Jack the Cuddly Dog.

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JackthecuddlydogLooking for an alternative to those Baby Einstein videos? This morning Madame and I watched Jack the Cuddly Dog, a home-brewed kid's DVD from self-proclaimed "baby dudes" Max Reynal and Doug Morrione. Similar to Baby Einstein, it's a very mellow, soothing show, with colors and shapes and classical music. But unlike Baby Einstein, the baby dudes are going for something a little more organic. The music is played on a real piano; a lot of the video shows real footage of animals, flowers, parks and beaches; and throughout the whole thing a hand drawn Jack the Cuddly Dog pops up to wave hello.

The video says for ages 6 months to 2 years, but for my daughter (almost 15 months now) it was way too mellow. She did enjoy the shape animations and the video of the animals (she's a big fan of ducks) but the DVD seems really geared towards infants. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that if watching someone else play with toys while synth-Mozart plays in the background calmed her down eight months ago, this video would too. And personally, I'd rather listen to a real piano.

Jack the Cuddly Dog [website]

Another "I'm old" moment.

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So last night the modern day mom and I went to see Green Day at the local arena.  I was never the biggest fans of the whole "pop punk" thing, but friends of ours had offered last minute tickets so we figured it would be fun. We were right, the show was great and it was a good time (and not just because we got a babysitter and were out on a "school night"). As expected there were lots of young kids there, but the fact that I was closer in age to the parents chaperoning their pre-teens didn't make me feel old, it was the slow songs.

You know that moment in a big arena-rock concert where the band plays the slow ballad and everyone holds up their lit cigarette lighters? The kids today don't do that anymore. Now everyone holds up their lit-up cellphones. Cellphones. Goddamn I'm old.

Pumpkin routing.

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Pumpkin_dremelSo, have you finished making your Bugaboo cup holder with your brand new rotary tool and are looking for new things to do? Have you thought about vegetable applications? Apparently Dremel has, because they're selling a pumpkin carving kit, complete with a orange and black tool and carving patterns. According to their web site, it will make carving pumpkins "as easy as tracing a drawing."

It's my favorite - the totally cool but at the same time really useless product. I guess it all depends if it's worth $30 to be the most badass pumpkin carver on your block.

Dremel Pumpkin Carving Kit. $29.99 at Amazon.com  [via Digg.com]

This one wasn't adopted by Ma & Pa Kent.

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Yesterday morning I saw this on the AP wire:

LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is a dad - again.

Alice Kim Cage gave birth Monday to a boy, Kal-el Coppola Cage, in New York City, said the actor's Los Angeles-based publicist, Annett Wolf...

Now, of course congratulations to the both of them, but what struck me funny about this was the baby boy's name, "Kal-el." For those of you who may not know, Kal-el is the "real" name of comic book hero Superman (here's the Super Family family tree). I've heard that Nicolas Cage is a big Superman fan (he sold his comic collection in 2002 for millions), so I'm not surprised. But I guess I am a little disappointed.

I'm not one to worry so much for the kid - kids are resilient and there certainly isn't a shortage of kids with different names out there. But can't Nicolas Cage get outside of himself for one second and think of a name that doesn't have anything to do with his own personal obsession? I didn't name my kid Le Corbusier or The Great Mazinga, not just because my wife would never agree, but because my kid has to live with the name long after I'm dead.

Then again, the more I think about it, what the hell. Everyone's gotta have a name, it's not that bad, and at least it's unique. According to the Baby Name Voyager, over 60 out of every million babies born in the US in 2004 were named Elvis, which, if we're worried about naming kids after personal obsessions, would have been way worse.

Actor Nicholas Cage and wife Alice parents of boy [San Jose Mercury News]

A short dad blog roundup.

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Not much to write about this morning, but other dad bloggers do:

Jack's Big Music Show

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Jacksbigmusicshow_1Has anyone else noticed how awesome Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin is? The show is about three puppets (Mary, Jack and his dog Mel) who have a band in a clubhouse behind Jack's house (Mel the dog plays the drums of course). They play songs, encourage kids to dance, and are visited by all kinds of non-puppet people. Some are musicians who come over to play music with them, and some are people like the "music fairy" who grants music wishes  The show kind of reminds me of the puppet/human interactions of Sesame Street (apparently two of the creators used to work on Sesame Street), combined with the wackiness of Pee Wee's Playhouse. The music is fun and playful without being annoying, and my Madame loves it (though she'll dance to anything, even the music on a freaking car commercial).

With a lot of average shows for preschoolers out there, it's great having one I don't mind sitting through.

Jack's Big Music Show [Noggin.com]
'Sesame Street' alums add zip to 'Jack's Big Music Show' [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

Also on MDD -
Jack's Big Music Show sure is swell (11-02-2005)
Holiday gifts. Kids. Jack's Big Music Show. (12-01-2005)

Is that a monitor in your diaper?

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RespisenseI can't figure out if this is a good idea, or if it's something created to capitalize on hyper safety-conscious new parents. A South African company has recently developed the RespiSense - a small device that when put in a baby's diaper monitors breathing patterns. Then, if the monitor detects a 15 second pause in breathing, it will vibrate to stimulate the baby back into breathing. The claim is it will help to prevent "cot death" or as we call it, SIDS.

Their web site doesn't have any data on it's efficacy, or even a single testimonial from anyone in the medical field. Apparently they are beginning real testing now, but I'm surprised that they can sell it at all (I guess the rules in South Africa are different than here in the US). It will be interesting to see the results.

RespiSense Buzz for SIDS [Medgadget.com via transporttrends.com]

Intelligent nonsense.

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With so many important things out there for open and honest debate, why are we (Americans) wasting time on proven scientific theory? As I'm sure you've heard, parents in a school district in Pennsylvania have mandated that a four paragraph statement be read by science teachers in biology class, saying that "intelligent design" is a legitimate alternative theory for the origin and evolution of life. Now there's a big court battle and it seems like all of America is debating something that isn't even worthy of debate (even The Daily Show did a whole week-long series of shows called "Evolution, Schmevolution").

It isn't worthy of debate because of one fact. "Intelligent design" isn't science, it's a belief. If you introduce the supernatural, or anything that can't be tested or proved into a theory, it isn't science. It's a belief that is perfectly OK for anyone to believe, but only science should be taught in public schools. The other thing that burns my ass about arguments for "intelligent design" is that people (purposefully or not) misunderstand and misuse the term "scientific theory" as meaning a "scientific guess." Kenneth R. Miller, the Brown University biology professor quoted in the article, has a more pithy explanation than I could give:

"Scientific theories are not hunches," he added. "When we say 'theory,' we mean a strong, overarching explanation that ties together many facts and enables us to make testable predictions."

Why are we wasting time on this? It almost feels like a distraction from more important stuff America should be arguing about - like why it is or isn't a good idea to buy a Bugaboo stroller? Where's The Daily Show expose about that!!

OK. I'm done. Sorry for the (kind of off topic) rant.

Pa. Case Is Newest Round in Evolution Debate [Washington Post]
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense (A great .pdf file that's definitely worth a read.) [Scientific American via Boing Boing]

Fourteenth month developments.

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Like my wife put it the other day, Madame is right on the verge. There were some huge developments this past month, but they aren't complete yet. It seems like every month I'm so amazed at the new stuff she's learning and doing, and I wonder if I'll feel this way until she moves out of the house. Probably.

  • Walking.  This is (obviously) the big one. The crazy thing is, she got really good at standing, and then one day she took 4 or 5 steps. Every day after that she's been taking more steps, and now she can walk for fairly long distances. Crawling is still more efficient for her, but that balance is going to tip soon. We've been experimenting with shoes for her too, but she absolutely hates them. They're like cement on her feet, and she'll stand and give you this look like, "what the hell are you doing to me?"
  • Teeth, teeth and more teeth.  This past month it seemed like all the rest of her teeth started coming in all at once. Her teething must be painful, but she's been a pretty good sport about it actually. Every now and then she'll grab her cheeks and give me the crinkle (a look like "um, this is really uncomfortable"), but she doesn't freak out. And I've lost count at how many there are.
  • Talking.  My little chatterbox is never at a loss for something to say, but she just hasn't quite figured out the words yet. And the older she gets the more frustrated she seems to get at the fact that we can't quite understand her. I thought about doing some of that baby sign language stuff with her (I never saw how useful it would be until recently), but I'm still not convinced. We're getting by fairly well with pointing, which is kind of like sign language, right?
  • The pickle lip.  Before this past month there was really only one way for her to show displeasure - crying. But now she saves crying for the really upsetting stuff, and when she's just generally unhappy (like when I take something away from her or tell her not to climb up the stairs) she gives me the pickle lip. Where she learned to stick her lips out and give a sour-puss like that I'll never know. Maybe it's genetic, because my wife says her grandma used to give the exact same expression when she was annoyed. Either way it usually just makes me laugh, which is the wrong reaction when she's doing something I don't want her to.

Endtroducing the Minnetonka High Percussion Ensemble.

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Damn this is cool. Brian Udelhofen, a teacher at a Minneapolis high school arranged and then taught his after-school percussion group to play two songs off of DJ Shadow's Endtroducing ("Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Changeling"). The kids had to spend an unbelievable amount of time rehearsing because it's perfect - with live drums that sound like drum loop edits and everything. Someone should give this teacher a raise or a grant or something.

Check out the video here (direct download link - 67MB wmv).

School band play "Endtroducing" with real instruments [Music Thing via Waxy.org] 

MDD in the NY Times.

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Earlier this week I gave a comment to a reporter from the NY Times for an article about strollers that came out this morning, so if you're visiting MDD for the first time, welcome.

As for the article, I make no apologies for loving my stroller. And like I told the reporter, I haven't personally come into contact with anyone who was annoyed by it (at least anyone who would come up and tell me).  If anything my experience is the exact opposite. At least a few times a month a stranger will come up to me and ask me about the stroller, where did I get it, etc. I can't help the intentions other people project on me when I'm using the stroller, nor can I be responsible for careless or thoughtless people who are using them.

Anyway, I'm always happy to have new people checking out my site, so please stay and look around for a while. I've included a couple of links on stroller-related stuff, or you can search the site for keywords like "bugaboo" or "stroller".

Supersize Strollers Ignite Sidewalk Drama [NY Times]

Also on MDD:
Bugaboo cup holder. Round one., and, Round one results. (my most popular search referral)
Expensive stroller saves baby, "spendthrift" dads vindicated.