Baby's Rainy Day Play List

Rainy days can be just a little bit sunnier with some songs and nursery rhymes to help build your child's vocabulary. Try singing your favorite rainy day song over and over-- pretty soon your little one will recognize it and she'll light up when she hears the familiar tune!

1. Itsy Bitsy Spider

2. You Are My Sunshine

3. Drip Drip Drop Little April Shower

4. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

5. I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain Is Gone)

6. It Won't Rain, It Won't Rain

7. Singin' In the Rain

8. Here Comes the Sun

9. It's Raining It's Pouring

10. Rain, Rain, Go Away

11. I Know the Colors of the Rainbow

12. Mr. Sun

One of Baby L.'s faves is Itsy Bitsy Spider. We sing it in the bathtub every night (plus on rainy days, of course). She smiles at the words "Itsy Bitsy" because they sound funny to her, and she loves it when I use my fingers to make the spider crawl up her tummy.

She also LOVES Drip Drip Drop Little April Shower. She heard it for the first time today when we were listening to Pandora and dancing around the living room. Her little face lit up at the sound of all the voices. Who needs the sun when you've got an adorable toothless smile to brighten your day?

Life-After-Baby for Doggy: Another Small Moment

Indigo smells. He smells worse than he as ever smelled before. Ever. Do I dare guess what he smells like? Dead animal? Vomit? A combination of the two?

He looks sad. His big brown eyes gaze up at me through his wiry fur. I feel a pang of guilt. The last time he went to the groomer was when I was home on maternity leave. Baby L. is five months old now, and I've been back at work since January. He's looooong overdue. His sleek, short fur has been left alone so long that he now resembles a small bear.

And he STINKS. Oh, I feel terrible for him. Poor Indigo. I don't think he's been getting much sleep. Ever since L. started sleeping in her own room, he doesn't know where to put himself. He starts out in his old spot at the foot of our bed, then moves to his own doggy bed in our room, then out to the floor in the hall between the two bedrooms, then finally out to the couch in the living room, where he's more comfortable. Right now he's dozing on the floor in the hall between bedrooms, sprawled out, all four legs out straight, like he's playing dead.

What IS that smell? Ew. I look at Indigo. I can't help thinking he's hit the doggy version of rock-bottom. His fur is matted in a few places, poor dog. I know what I need to do. I need to look under his tail in case, well, you know why... I check, and sure enough. Leftovers from his last bathroom break are stuck in the fur under his tail. Ack!

I scoop him up, tell him I love him, and stick him in the shower for a good long doggy bath. He presses against my arms to hug me while I wash his back. I think it's the most attention he's had since the baby was born. I have plenty of time while Baby L. is asleep, so I give him a good long scrub, with the nice smelling doggy shampoo. I dry him off with his special green towel that we only use for him, and I brush him for a long time. He shivers with happiness at each brush stroke, and licks my hand to say thank you. By the time I'm done with him he looks, and smells (thankfully) like a brand new dog.

** Picture taken after his bath **

Blogging Awards!

Thanks sooooo much to the blog, Life of a Modern Mom for choosing Tiny Reader for two blog awards! What a HUGE compliment! In exchange for having been selected, I have been asked to pay it forward by selecting my own favorite blogs. And the winners are... (drum roll, please...):

1. a boy, a book, and a dog
2. The Literary Family
3. Two Writing Teachers
4. Mermaids on Parade
5. Dumb Mommy
6. Two Blue Lemons
7. The Reading Zone
8. The Well-Read Child
9. I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids)
10. Poetry for Children
11. The Brooklyn Tart
12. A Year of Reading
13. Baby to Green
14. Literacy Toolbox
15. Teaching Authors: Six Children's Book Authors Who Also Teach Writing

Playing With Food: A Small Moment

“Oh boy! Peas!” I sing to Baby L. as I fly her special infant spoon in for a landing, right between her little pink lips.

She leans forward, eager for the pureed peas.

“Mmmmm, yummy!” I say.

The peas disappear into her tiny mouth for a second. She looks straight at me, pauses to consider the peas, and then furrows her brow. The peas reappear, dripping out of her mouth slowly, onto her bib.

Then she suddenly lights up and lets out a screetch of delight. She reaches her hands out and leans forward slowly, searching out another bite.

“Want some more?” As I scoop out another little bite of peas, I laugh as she bends her head down carefully to suck on the tray of her highchair without bonking her head.

“Lily… want some more? Yummy yummy bright green peas!” I say.

She takes the spoon in her mouth and sucks vigorously. She looks confused for a second. The peas are gone. She smiles a gummy smile, just for me (and the peas). Success.

Brooklyn Author Melanie Hope Greenberg!

Everybody knows that Brooklyn is the coolest of the five boroughs in NYC. We have the best pizza, the best of the NYC bridges, the best artists, the best rappers, and the best authors!

I was lucky enough to meet one of Brooklyn's finest through my neighborhood mommy-group, online. (Mommy groups are another one of reasons why Brooklyn is awesome).

Melanie Hope Greenberg is the author and illustrator of many must-have books, including Mermaids on Parade, A City Is, and Good Morning Digger. You can also collect her beautiful artwork by visiting her original art sale blog. While you're online, you should also visit her Student/Parent/Teacher Blog. Did I mention that it was selected “100 Best Book Blogs for Kids, Tweens, and Teens?" You can also visit her webpage, and even become become one of Melanie Hope Greenberg's Facebook Friends!

I had the opportunity to interview Melanie, online. Check out what she has to say about being a writer.

Me: You’ve illustrated some lovely children’s books, most recently Mermaids on Parade. What projects are you currently working on?

Melanie: Right now I am juggling various book projects to sell and publish. Even though I have published before, there is no guarantee that I will publish again. Markets change, trends change. I am trying to do my best and hope my ideas fly with a publisher.

Me: As an author/illustrator, what do you think makes a really great picture book?

Melanie: My belief is that art is always subjective and there are too many people to try and please. I do not think there is a real answer when it comes to loving art and words. Maybe it's the winning combination of talent, skills and where the public is at when that book comes out. I'd much rather go with an overall formula of good writing skills, a story that can be read over and over without it becoming stale, child friendly art, universal human appeal and heart.

Me: Do you have a few favorite children’s books?

Melanie: From my childhood I remember, Lottie and Lisa (the original Parent Trap), Little Witch, Dr. Seuss, and Golden Books. I was exposed to many books at the New York City Public Library-- the Classon Point branch in the Bronx. I hardly look around now since I try not to follow trends but to be true to my own inner visions and stories.

Me: What do you find is the hardest part about writing and illustrating?

Melanie: Waiting... Rejection...Hustling for financial balance while I create....Lack of exposure so that my books are not as popular as they could be or that my original art does not sell and sits dormant in my studio. Quite frustrating.

Me: How is the process of writing the story related to the process of illustrating? Do you write the whole story first, then illustrate—or do you start from an idea for the artwork and let the story develop afterward?

Melanie: I usually start with an idea and a 32 page thumbnail grid "map" on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. Then I can see the whole 32 page book in front of me. The grids are boxes that represent each spread and how the book pages will turn. They are labeled 4/5, 6/7, 8/9 etc. I begin write in the scene sequences with a few notes in each box. Once the story has a basic "spine" I write to fill in the details. Then I add the visuals by sketching larger boxes to create storyboards. Once I like the storyboards I create a 32 page book dummy. The dummy is what an author-illustrator must present to an editor. We are actually creating the whole book (without final art) before we even present it to an editor.

Me: What strategies do you use when you are stuck for ideas for your art or your writing?

Melanie: Research, looking at things other than art to feed me stories about real life, taking a break, putting the project to the side then coming back to it. These things refresh my creative juices. Also marketing my older books while I work on new ideas keeps my name fresh in the public eye.

Me: What can parents do to encourage children to be lifelong readers and writers?

Melanie: Start reading to them while they are very young to develop the discipline of listening and being quiet in order to go inside the imagination. Parents can instill that books have value and to treasure them. Parents can instill the value of listening to one's inner voice, and from that place art and words arise. To honor that place within and to express thoughts and ideas and the authors and artists that show the way.

Top Ten Things to Do With a Five-Month-Old on a Rainy Day

10. Bounce in the bouncy-seat!

9. Walk around the apartment looking at things.

8. Dance to reggae in the living room.

7. Take naps.

6. Go for airplane rides on mommy's knees.

5. Practice kicking at toys in the play gym.

4. Try eating some rice cereal - but most of it winds up on the bib in the end.

3. Change lots of diapers. And a few outfits.

2. Sing our favorite songs (which include You Are My Flower, Ladybug Picnic, and Little Sack Of Sugar)

1. Read our favorite books, of course!

What are your favorite things to do on a rainy day? Post a comment and share!

How to Play The Woooooooooooooo! Game

I've always been pretty good at being silly. Having spent my entire life surrounded by small children, I'd say I'm pretty much an expert in silliness at this point.

I'm sure you've met people in your life who did not know how to be silly. In fact, you may be one of those people. So, if you happen to have trouble thinking up silly things to do with kids, here's your first lesson: How to Play the Wooooooooo! Game.

Now that Baby L. is almost five months old, she's really developing a great little sense of humor. And one thing she thinks is just HI-LAR-I-OUS is when I say Wooooooooooooooo! You have to start in a low pitch and get higher and higher up to a little squeak.

If you really want L. to crack up, you start the Wooooooooooo! from a foot or two away from her and then zoom your face in closer to hers as your voice rises. She usually cracks up by the second or third Woooooooo! Patience is key.

So, for all you non-silly people, now you know how to do at least one silly thing. When you come up with some more silly things to do, post them in a comment on this page!

Love Letter to Todd Parr

Dear Todd Parr,

Your colorful books grab Baby L.'s attention like no others. She scritchy-scratches her little fingers over the bright smiley faces again and again, trying to pick them off the page!

When I'm reading to L. she loves to hang on to one side of the book with one hand and reach out and touch the pictures with her other hand. It's as if she's discovering what's a picture and what's an object.

No only that, but your books teach all about topics of great importance to babies! Baby L.'s fave right now is The Peace Book. But she also really digs The Family Book, Reading Makes You Feel Good, and It's Okay To Be Different.

I originally bought these books to support the New York State Social Studies curriculum for Kindergarten and first grade. They're the perfect books for the School and Community, Self and Others, or Families social studies units if you're a Kindergartner, or Families and the Community if you're a first grader!

Thank you Todd Parr. We love you!

Love,

Mommy and Baby L.

Our Favorite Song Lately

You Are My Flower

The grass is just as green, the sky is just as blue
The day is just as bright, the birds are singing too

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

The air is just as pure, the sunlight just as free
And nature seems to say, it's all for you and me

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

So wear a happy smile and life will be worthwhile
Forget your tears but don't forget to smile

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

When summertime is passed and snow begins to fall
Just sing this song and say to one and all

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

~ Sung by the Carter Family

Touchy Feely Books

Baby L. learned to grab things just about a week ago. She loves to grab at her toys, and especially at books. She must get her love of books from her mama!

I love it when she wraps her little fingers around the outside edges of her board books - It looks like she's about to turn a page! So cute! It's her first step toward developing concepts about print!

She loves-loves-loves her touchy feely books-- her books that have parts that are textured. Our favorite touchy feely book is Good Puppy!, a fabric book that has nice soft crinkly ears on the dogs, perfect for developing fine motor skills. Lily oogles at the vivid colors, perfect for encouraging her to study the details in the pictures. And she loves to grab on to the soft pages and pull on them (usually toward her mouth). We also love our Dwell Studio and Usborne touchy feely books.

Plus it’s just fun to say "Good Puppy!" on every other page. Indigo, our dog, loves hearing those words too! He’s never far away when I’m reading to Baby L., and his little ears perk right up when he hears us reading that one. Pretty soon he'll be turning the pages too! Good puppy.

P.S.

L. is not the only baby who loves her touchy feely books, either. Here's another mom's post on a boy, a book & a dog. Mama L & Little D love their textures (and their dog) just as much as we do!

Songs to Sing About Peace and Love

Baby L. loves it when Daddy B. and I sing to her, so naturally we sing all kinds of songs: counting songs, alphabet songs, silly songs, animal songs, and sweet soft lullabies, just to name a few.

Our favorite songs of all are the ones that carry a little meaning - but are still really easy to learn and remember. Here's our gift to you: Ten easy-to-remember songs to get you thinking (and singing) about peace on earth with your little one. To hear each song, just click on the titles!

Peace Like A River by Elizabeth Mitchell: Elizabeth Mitchell is our favorite children's artist to listen to in our house. Check her out and you'll see why! On her website you can listen to songs, and even download a songbook so that you can sing along.

We Shall Overcome, Pete Seeger's version: Baby L.'s favorite civil rights anthem, along with This Little Light of Mine. Still appropriate today, don't you think?

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles: When I taught fifth grade, this was one of my students' favorite songs to study. Kids love the Beatles (and so do I!). More recently, this has become one of my favorite songs to sing to Baby L. - it makes a great lullaby!

Imagine by John Lennon: Need I explain? Of course this song is on our list of favorite peace songs!

Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon: Yes, I realize this is the third Beatles/Lennon song on the list. So what?

We Are the World: When I was a kid, we did the "Hands Across America" thing at my school. Remember that? Around the same time, we all learned We Are the World. The video is awesome.

From a Distance by Better Midler: Cheesy, I know, but kids still dig it!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? by Peter, Paul and Mary: To this day, I have my elementary school teachers to thank for all the Peter, Paul and Mary songs I know like Puff the Magic Dragon, Leaving on a Jetplane, and this one.

With My Own Two Hands by Ben Harper & Jack Johnson: Some of the first graders I taught didn't even know that there were Curious George books-- they had only seen the movie! But along with the movie came a really good children's album - so we have that to be thankful for.

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong: These days, when I do workshops for teachers, I often use What A Wonderful World as an example, because everyone loves this song, no matter how young or old. Even adults will sing along to this song-- and that's saying something.

As a teacher, I always used songs throughout the day, especially for what we teachers call "shared reading," to study how words and language work and to spark conversation. Singing not only helps babies and children develop phonemic awareness, but the songs we sing also introduce new vocabulary and ideas. For more songs about peace and love, try these resources: Culture of Peace, Spinner, and Rolling Stone.

Writer's Block

So, you’ve been trying to keep a journal ever since you found out that a baby was on her (or his) way, but whenever you have time to write (which is never), the words just don’t come pouring out the way they ought to.

Here are a few strategies from Writing Workshop to get the writerly juices flowing:

1. Think of just one tiny meaningful moment to write about in great detail, bit by bit, instead of trying to summarize everything that has happened since the last time you wrote. It might even help to start with dialogue to get things rolling. (i.e. "Could you wash the bottles for me?" I asked.)

2. Try writing detailed descriptions of important images. Close your eyes and just picture something important that happened, and remember it as a snapshot. Now write down everything you see.

3. Still not happy with how your writing is going? Topic choice is everything. Continue writing and thinking about your happiest and most joyful moments, but also consider moments of uncertainty, frustration, or fear. If there’s a new baby in your life it shouldn’t be hard to think of moments like these! You may find that it’s not only a huge relief to put these moments down on paper, but it might turn out to be some of your best writing.

Keep writing! Keeping a notebook is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself and your family.

Taking Care of Memories

Everybody always says it goes by so quickly. As children we heard our own parents say it about us, and once you become a parent, everybody reminds you constantly that your baby is becoming older by the minute. "It goes by so fast..." people say. "In the blink of an eye..." "They grow up so quickly..."

I swear that when I come home from a day at work, my four month old baby girl is a little bit bigger than she was when I left in the morning. It’s almost magical. I never thought I would say this, because before Baby L. I just wasn’t much of a baby-person, but I wish she could stay a little tiny baby forever!

Since I can’t slow her down, I do the next best thing. I save everything – from her hospital bracelets, to her first onesie, to her special “My First Thanksgiving” socks. Anything that was a “first” or a favorite gets saved… at least for now, anyway. Eventually I’ll narrow it down to the things that seem most important.

Whenever I come home from one of L.'s doctor’s appointments I dig out her baby book and get everything all caught up. I figure this is as good a routine as any since she gets weighed and measured at the doctor’s, so I can fill in all the latest details while everything is fresh on my mind.

There are a million things that I don’t want to forget when Baby L. gets older, and the baby book doesn’t have spots for everything, so I also keep track of all of L.’s firsts on a baby calendar that my mother-in-law gave us as a shower gift. The calendar came with little stickers for the big events, like Baby’s First Smile and Baby’s First Laugh, and I just write the rest of them in by hand. It’s so cute that I gave one to my friends, A.S. & J.W., when they were expecting their daughter!

On top of the baby book and calendar, nearly every moment of L.'s first few months is captured either in photographs or on video. On Snapfish I even made one of those cool photo albums that come in hardcover, bound like real published books.

Not only that, but I also ordered a baby-safe ink pad so that we could make our own handprints and footprints. I had to hold Lily down and grab her slippery little hands as best I could to try to get a print of each one for the baby book. There are smudges everywhere, but we did it…. eventually.

I’ve become addicted to keepsakes, in the hopes that the more keepsakes we save, the more I’ll remember later on. I smooshed Lily’s hand into a special baby-safe plaster mold to make a handprint ornament. Her little hand print fit right in with the bunch of “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments that we received as gifts, and the personalized pillow from one of Lily’s aunties. Not to mention the special baby picture frames, the digital photo slideshows set to music that I’ve created, the handmade sweaters that people have knitted for her, this very blog… and the list of keepsakes and artifacts goes on.

I can't help feeling a little tight in the throat when I think about my little baby getting bigger and bigger. Since I can’t keep her from growing, at least I can keep some of her things, just for the sake of... well... just keeping.

I guess that’s why they call them keepsakes.

Books Can Be Like Like Old Friends

Caps for Sale, The Runaway Bunny, and Millions of Cats. Those are just a few of the zillions of favorite books I remember from my own childhood.

Maybe you've saved some of your books from when you were a kid. Maybe you've received a couple classic titles as gifts. Or maybe you went out in search of those old books on the web or in a vintage book store. It's always fun to revisit a book that you haven't seen in a long, long time. It's like reconnecting with an old friend.

Everybody has an old favorite or two. Click here to read about another mom who remembers her favorite books and reads them to her daughter: Bedtime for Frances--and Lil Bits, Too.

What are your old favorites? Post a comment and share the love!

Street Smarts for Babies (& Grown-Ups Too!)

In my neighborhood there are a few streets in particular that make me nervous when I’m out and about with the baby and dog. The corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Graham Avenue is notorious for traffic, big trucks, unruly bicyclists, and frequent accidents. Meeker Avenue, which runs under the BQE is not well lit at night, and is home to the ramps to the highway, where cars race through red lights and speed down the three lane avenue. My own street, Grand Street, is noisy and congested, and the lights take so long that impatient pedestrians rarely wait for the lights to change to cross the street – they just walk right out into the slow-moving traffic, signaling to drivers, “Please-don’t-hit-me” with their hands as they cross in front of city buses and Mack trucks.

Now that I’m a new mom, I’m much more careful about crossing the streets around here. All the safety rules that I learned when I taught babies, toddlers and preschoolers at the Burlington Children’s Space have been coming back to me, one by one. Here’s a quiz to find out how street smart you are when walking your little one around the ‘hood.

Safety Quiz!

1. Do you always look both ways? Even on one-way streets? Bicyclists in our neighborhood sometimes do not follow the rules of the road, and don't always ride in the correct direction on one-way streets.
2. Do you wait for the lights to change? Even if you have jaywalked your whole life, it’s never too late to change.
3. Do you stay on the sidewalk while you’re waiting? And do you stand back a foot or two from the street? Cars jump curbs all the time. Haven’t you ever noticed how beat up the trashcans and light posts are on street corners? What do you think has been running into them and leaving dents? Squirrels?
4. Do you hang up your phone while walking with your child? Talking to your child while you’re on your walk helps you stay focused on your little one, and incidentally, helps develop their ever-expanding vocabulary.
5. When passing in front of parking garages or blind driveways, do you slow down and look in front of your baby’s stroller to check to make sure there isn’t a car careening out the drive? Some garages have a bell or horn that goes off when there is a car on its way out – but with all the ambient city noise its easy to not to hear it, even when the alarm’s sounding five feet ahead.
6. Do you watch out for taxis? (That’s a no-brainer).
7. Are you careful about passing dogs? Even the cutest dogs might be fearful of small children. And no matter how friendly your own doggy may be, it’s better to ask the adult if it’s okay for the child to pet a dog.
8. Do you put the stroller’s brake on if you need to stop to dig something out of your purse? Even if the stroller doesn’t appear to be rolling away? Better safe than sorry!
9. Do you use the crosswalks? Crossing the street between parked cars when you’re walking with a baby or small child isn’t the safest thing in the world.
10. Did you teach your babysitter? If you have a babysitter or nanny who will be taking your little one for walks, it might be a good idea to take at least one walk together.

How did you do? Did you get all ten? For more ideas on neighborhood safety visit Stroller Patrol. Call me overprotective, but I suppose you can never be too careful. I’ll be making sure to look both ways the next time I’m crossing a one-way street.