modern day dad

Blogging at ABC 2009 - The All Baby & Child Product Expo

2009 is year-two for me at the ABC Expo, and even though the economy is not what it was last year, you'd hardly know it from attending the show. There seems to be just as many booths and products as last year, and once again I'm trying to blog about all of them.

Well, not all of them exactly. Just the products and companies that have something new or interesting to show. And even then there's absolutely no way I'm going to be able to get to everything. So if you're interested in what I'm writing about, go over to this page at Babble.com's gear blog Droolicious (where I blog about products for parents and children).

And fair warning to companies showing stuff at the show - if your product has "Mom" or "Mommy" in it's name and it isn't something that ONLY someone female could use, then chances are I'm going to pass you by.

The highlights so far:

A fairly big write up of the new Orbit G2 stroller.
The Bugaboo & (RED) promotion and brand new (RED) Cameleon in black denim.
Jennifer Garner's favorite stroller, the Maclaren Grand LX Custom.
New Paul Frank designs for Clek Olli car booster seats.
An awesome infant bath tub called the Puj Tub.
A genius camera accessory designed to get infants to look up at the camera - the Shutter Buddy.

Modern Day Dad at CES 2009: The Consumer Electronics Showcase.

So tomorrow I'm heading out to my sixth (can it really be six?) CES - the consumer electronics gadget extravaganza here in Las Vegas. And like last year I'll be blogging about a lot of what I see over at Babble.com. In fact this year I even got a special "Blogger" pass which, as far as I can tell, gets me free lunch in the blogger lounge (while supplies last), extra attention from exhibitors, and the slightly condescending looks from those holding orange "Press" badges.

Oh, and I got a free bag which, even though it says "CES" all over it, is pretty sweet.

I'll be looking mostly for anything related to children, parents, parenting or (of course) dads. If you've heard about anything that I should check out, please leave a comment and let me know. This show is so massive, it's going to be hard to even get to the stuff I'm planning, let alone find stuff I never even thought of before.

Wish me luck.

[Check out my posts from CES 2009 over at Droolicious on Babble.com]

Modern Day Dad at the ABC Kids Expo 2008 in Las Vegas

This year I'm attending for the first time the ABC Kids Expo convention here in Las Vegas. Basically, imagine every baby/toddler/child/parent related product you've ever seen in your whole life, and then imagine all of them in two giant convention hall floors. Today was my first day, and I have to say that after the first few hours it was all a little overwhelming.

I'm there primarily on assignment from Babble.com, where I blog about products and other cool stuff for kids and parents. If you're interested in what I'm writing about, check out my Babble feed (upper right hand corner) or click this link to see all the posts.

Babble Live at the ABC Kids Expo.

Matt Damon's Diaper Bag Up for Auction

In case you haven't heard, the Johnson & Johnson's Celebrity Hand-Me-Down auction is going on. They're selling "used" baby items from celebrities, all to raise money for charity. There are eight items in the auction, all from celebrity moms except Matt Damon, who is offering a diaper bag.

Here's where the "Celebrity Auction" starts to piss me off.

Jennifer Lopez's Nursery and Other Recent Posts On Babble

Casablanca Cribs in Jennifer Lopez's Nursery
Jennifer Lopez has a (typically) ostentatious nursery and published pictures of them in People Magazine. But the crib is actually quite nice if that kind of decor is up your alley.

Audible Launches New Kids Site
Download audio books for your kids and stop putting Spongebob on their iPods.

7 Days of BPA-Free Plastics: CamelBak Water Bottles
Something to check out when you reach post-sippy cup nirvana.

Jessica Alba Gives Tastybaby
Jessica Alba gives baby food as a party favor for her shower. Seriously.

Mariah Carey Has a Hello Kitty Boo-Boo on American Idol
Mariah Carey is obsessed with Helo Kitty apparently. And she wears the same Band-Aids on American Idol that my kids wear.

Big Deal: FLOR Carpet Tiles for Kids On Sale
FLOR has a couple of child themed carpets on sale now.

Good deal on Diapers

I found a good deal on diapers the other day that I thought I'd share. Now through February 28th you can get $25 off a purchase of $100 or more on any Pampers products (Pampers, Luvs or Kandoo soap). Just enter in the code PAMPERS2 when you're checking out (on the right hand side of the final "Place your order" page.

It's not like you weren't going to buy them anyway. And hey, $25 is $25.

Click this link to check out the deal or Shop for Pampers at the Modern Day Dad Store (just don't forget to enter the code.

[via Parenthacks]

Best baby monitor.

WIth the second baby there are a lot of things we are re-using, but some things we had to double-up on, like a new monitor. Creature of habit that I am, at first I wanted one just like the old one, because it seemed to work pretty well at long distances and it operated in the 900 MHz band (between the cordless phones and WiFi the 2.4 GHz band was getting pretty crowded). But the old one wasn't available any more, so I had to settle on the new model, and I'm really glad I did.

There are a couple of enhancements to it, first and foremost being the fact that the receivers are rechargeable. With all the AAAs I was feeding into the old one, this new feature is great. Plus, it's got an LED screen telling how much battery life is left, the signal strength and what channel you're on. It will even beep at you if it isn't receiving any signal at all, or if the battery is dying.

It doesn't rumble like the old one did, but I'll gladly trade that in for a battery that recharges. It's not like I've got a lawn to mow while the baby is sleeping.

Get the Fisher Price "Private Connection" Monitor with Dual Receivers (one for upstairs, one for down) for $38.72 from Amazon via the Modern Day Dad Store.

Wheeled board update.

Now that my six month old is almost out of "the bucket" and in a normal car seat, I figured I should give an update as to how Madame (my two year old) is doing with the Bugaboo Wheeled Board. At first I wasn't too sure it would be that useful, but I'm happy to report that it's working great. As she's fully in her two-year-old "I do myself" phase, it can be hard wrangling her sometimes, but that wheeled board has come in really handy. Mostly we use it for moments when we know that they'll be a long walk ahead of us, like from the car to the mall or to the doctor's office or the park. It's hard keeping her standing on it in a store or somewhere else there is a lot of distraction, but if she was sitting in a stroller I don't think it would be much easier.

As for safety, it's really not too bad - she stands up and holds on to the arms of the stroller and stays steady without a problem. And her sister really loves looking at her face to face when she's in it. The best part from my perspective is it doesn't take up any extra width (like a double-wide stroller would) and keeps the whole operation pretty compact. Which, when you're navigating a crowded mall or sidewalk, is pretty great.

Get the Bugaboo Wheeled Board for $79.95 from Amazon at the new Modern Day Dad Store.

Crawling helmet.

A few days ago I posted about these rather absurd baby knee pads to protect your child's knees from crawling, and daddy in a strange land was kind enough to point out in the comments that One Step Ahead is selling a helmet too. Actually, they call it a "Bumper Bonnet," but either way it still kind of freaks me out. Just check out the picture.

And what would the TV commercial be like?

[Annoying Friend] Gosh Jan, what are all those unsightly bumps and bruises all over Jimmy's head?

[Jan] Oh - you know Jimmy. He's always crawling into places he shouldn't and smacking his head around. I just don't know what to do!

[Annoying Friend] Sounds like you need the Bumper Bonnet. It's either that, or I report you to Child Protective Services.

[Laughter.]

The Bumper Bonnet is $12.95 from One Step Ahead. [via daddy in a strange land]

Baby Knee Pads

MDD reader Michelle sent me a link to this article: 11 Foolish Ways We Spoil Our Kids. The article itself is OK (I too am puzzled by the large cloth drapes people put in shopping carts, lest their kids actually touch the cart) but there is one thing that I've never seen before. Baby knee pads.

Where is your baby crawling that he or she needs knee pads? Construction sites? Or maybe it's for kids who crawl so much they are rubbing sores into the skin where their kneecaps will eventually be.

I'm just surprised there aren't any fingerless Baby Crawling Gloves.

Baby Knee Pads are available here for only $27.95 Canadian. Is that a lot?