Playground Chatter: What Makes Your Baby Giggle? 10/27/2010

We recently asked parents what gets their babies giggling. They gave us tons of great suggestions on Facebook and Twitter!

We know that you have your own bag of tricks, but maybe you will find some new ideas from some of our community’s tried and true recommendations for putting a smile on baby’s face. Whether it takes pig sounds or patty cake, it’s always fun to find new ways to get a great big laugh out of your little one.

LifeofthisSAHM tweeted, “We just have to do baby kisses. I don’t know why, maybe it tickles, but it works.”

Kikicomp tweeted, “Blowing raspberrys on tummy or pulling funny faces nvr fails.”

Brenda agreed, “Blowing rasberries on my grandsons feet!!”

Annie shared, “My hubby likes to blow on baby’s stomach. That sends baby hysterical with laughter. The sweetest sound ever.”

Honey suggested, “Make piggie sounds n tickle.”

Renee agreed, “The pig sounds works for my little man too! He thinks it is the funniest thing ever!”

Carol said of her son, “Thomas loves to grab our spinning office chair and literally pushes us close to it so we can run after him and he giggles his little bum off! Hilarious!”

Leigh Ann said, “I sing patty cake to him and hold his hands to make the motions. It gets him every time.”

Nanci told us about her games, “We play moma’s going to eat you up…they love it and I get to smother them in kisses. Grandpa plays where’s your belly button with them…he is, after all, their most favorit-est person in the whole wide world!”

Tanya shared, “I take my nose and wiggle it on his back, sides, and arm pits. Plus making high pitched noises too.”

Susie said, “My daughter is 6 1/2 months old and we do I’m a little teapot and she loves it. Oh and playing peek a boo! Pretty much anything makes her laugh!”

Tressa said, “Nibble on her toes, she loves having her feet played with or laugh at her.”

Carla said, “My almost 5 month old giggles like crazy when he sees his favorite Baby Einstein toy, it’s a green octopus that came with his activity gym. We take it everywhere.”

Jennifer told us, “My 6 month old thinks that her 5 year old brother is the funniest thing a live…she also likes it when we tickle her or make sing to her.”

Shakeri said, “My 21 month old laughs at the word ouch.”

Crystal told us, “My 3 month old loves it when I make silly faces while I’m changing her! esp when I sing about how smelly, cracks her up.”

Lisa suggested, “Tickle them on the inside of their thigh right where their diaper stops. Gets them every time!”

Amanda divulged, “He likes farting noises! I stick my tongue out and blow, he thinks it’s hilarious!!!”

Shauna told us, “I put a toy on my head and pretend to sneeze, this makes my fourteen month old laugh out loud every time. Then he tries to put toys on his head and do the same. I could do this over and over and always get big laughs!”

Kelly told us, “My daughter, Kate, is 17 months. All we have to do is twirl with her in the curtains. We go round and round and as soon as we get to the end, she wants to go back the other way.”

Angel said of her granddaughter, “I take a drink from my bottle of Propel (flavored water) and say ‘grandma’s bottle’ and she thinks it’s hilarious.”

A big thank you to all those who shared their tips and tricks! We enjoyed hearing about what makes your baby giggle at all ages. If you have more stories or suggestions to add, feel free to share them with fellow readers in the comments!

Baby Einstein Halloween Fun: Baby Octoplush Costume 10/22/2010

 
Halloween is right around the corner! If you’re still on the hunt for the perfect costume, we’ve got another adorable Baby Einstein-inspired suggestion for you.

What ‘s blue, has 8 arms and a huge smile? Your little Octoplush baby! This one will take a little bit of sewing, but trust me, it’s still easy and can be done in no time at all.

What you’ll need:

1 large blue felt square
4 large blue socks
2 baby blue socks
Blue tee-shirt or onesie
Tissue paper
White Hat
Colorful stickers
Cardboard
Scissors
Pen
Needle & thread

Crafty Fun:

• Take your blue socks and stuff them with tissue paper.

 

• Take the ends of the socks and sew them shut leaving about an inch at the end to work with later. Don’t worry if your stich isn’t perfect.

 

• Decide where on your blue tee or onesie you want to sew the new octopus arms and get sewing. You will want to do a double stich to make sure that the socks are really tightly sewn on and won’t fall off as your baby is moving around. Also keep in mind that your little guy will probably be enjoying most of Halloween from the seat of his stroller so try to keep the arms to his front and sides.

 

• Time for that bowtie made easy! Just take your cardboard and draw a bowtie.

 

• Cut it out and use as your stencil to cut the same shape from your blue felt.

 

• Glue your felt to the cardboard and leave until dry, then glue your dried bowtie to your tee shirt and let it dry overnight.

 

• Accessorize your baby with a white hat. A sun hat would be adorable, but any white hat will work just fine. When dressing your baby don’t forget his blue socks. Once you have the whole outfit on, place one of the colorful stickers on each of his hands and feet and at the end of his new octo arms. Voila, your own little Baby Einstein octopus! Of course, remember to bring his octoplush along for all of the trick or treat fun!

 

For other great DIY costume ideas, be sure to check out our Baby Mozart and Baby Caterpillar costumes. We hope you and your little one have a great first Halloween together! 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: A Special Message from Baby Einstein Founder Julie Aigner Clark 10/19/2010

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, we’d like to share a guest post from Baby Einstein founder Julie Aigner Clark, a two-time breast cancer survivor who knows all too well of the physical and emotional toll a serious illness takes on a family. She recently wrote a children’s book titled You Are the Best Medicine in order to help parents explain their illness to their kids in a caring way and share her experience on how families can get through it with love, hope, courage, and gratitude. We are deeply moved and inspired by Julie’s story and are happy to share her words with you.

Sometimes it’s hard to say thank you in a way that communicates just how deeply you feel gratitude. Sometimes it’s just too big. When my younger daughter, Sierra, was nine months old she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Three months later, when we took her to one of the leading pediatric neurologists in the country, he gave us a prayer. “I wish I could say this to every parent that walks into my office: your daughter does not have cerebral palsy.” Imagine. Imagine the gratitude that we felt.

It is the same kind of gratitude I felt hearing these words: “Following chemotherapy, there is no evidence of disease in your body.” Thank you, doctor. Thank you for telling me that I will have another birthday, another Christmas, another walk in the sun. Thank you. 

Somehow it doesn’t seem enough. Every day I look up at the sky and I say Thank you to the blue or the gray or the white. Every day I am grateful.

It seems to me that the best way to express this is by giving back. And so I try to do it. I’ve made babies smile and have helped children stay safe and now, in the wake of my own cancer diagnosis, I’ve helped children to understand how important love is when someone they know has cancer.

October is breast cancer awareness month, marked by pink ribbons on buildings and races across the country. October is the month that I found out my breast cancer had returned for a second time, and it is also the month I decided to take what was terrible and make it something better.

I wrote You Are the Best Medicine because telling my babies, who are now lovely young women, that mommy had cancer was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Sadly, my experience is not unique. In the United States alone, over 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Many of us have children. Or are children.

For me, the love, support and hope that my kids had during my treatment were critical. In recognizing this, I wrote a children’s book to help other adults with cancer explain to their own children just how strong they make us. We are so grateful to our children for this. And for all the research that has helped cancer survivors and for all the people who run those races and post those ribbons, I am thankful beyond words.

I hope that someday, no one will need this book. I hope it becomes hopelessly outdated. But until then, I am grateful to have been able to help someone through its publication.

 Julie Aigner Clark founded The Baby Einstein Company in 1997. She is pleased to be donating 100% of the proceeds of You Are the Best Medicine to UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is happy to announce that Baby Einstein has donated several copies of the book to cancer centers around the country.

Baby Einstein Halloween Fun: Baby Caterpillar Costume 10/15/2010

Still can’t decide on the perfect costume for baby’s first Halloween? Last week we shared our Baby Mozart Koala idea, and this week we have another exciting option for you! Everyone loves the colorful Baby Einstein caterpillar and we have a homemade costume trick that’ll transform your little one into the sweet crawling critter.

What You’ll Need:

1 large square red, green, purple and blue colored felt
1 yellow tee-shirt or onesie
1 sheet of butterfly stickers
2 barrette backings
Lipstick or rouge
Cardboard
Scissors
Fabric glue
Plate
Sharpie or fabric marker

Crafty Fun:

• Place a plate on a sheet of felt and trace the plate with your fabric pen. Do this with 3-4 different colored felts

 

• Cut out the circles and place them aside

 

• Next take your tot’s yellow tee shirt and lay it on a flat surface once again. Make sure that there are no wrinkles on the tee for best results.

 

• Add glue to one side of the felt circle (try to apply glue to the side with the Sharpie markings) and place scattered on the front side of the tee. Let dry overnight.

 

• You can jazz up your felt circles by tracing the outer edges with Crayola glitter pens.

 

• While your tee is drying cut out 2 evenly sized triangles cardboard pieces of the same size. This will be for your little caterpillar ears so judge the size by your baby’s size.

 

• Cut them out and use as a stencil on your red felt to cut 2 felt triangles.

 

• Glue the cardboard to the felt and leave until dry.

 

• Once dry, fold down 1/8 of the larger end of each triangle. Take that lip and place a strip of glue and then stick on the barrette backing (you can use the back to old ones or find backings at your local craft store)and hold for 3-5 minutes or until dry.

 

• Once your tee is dry place the butterfly stickers all over the tee.

 

• Now that you have your costume ready dress your little caterpillar.

 

• One last step! Give your baby a smudge of rouge or lipstick on each cheek to match our Baby Einstein caterpillar’s rosy cheeks and you are ready for baby’s first Halloween!

Stay tuned for another great Baby-Einstein themed costume idea next week. We hope you and your baby have a great first Halloween together!

Guest Blogger Spotlight: My Son’s First Day in Day Care by Find My Car Seat 10/13/2010

We’re excited to have Find My Car Seat as this month’s Baby Einstein guest blogger! This month, she discusses her decision to return to work, a step that can be extremely difficult for new parents.  Read on to hear about how she handled the separation anxiety with her little one when he went to day care for the first time.

After my first day back to work, I walked into the daycare room to pick up my son, then 16 months old.  He saw me and smiled like I never saw him smile before.  He reached his arms out to me, and as I picked him up he threw his arms around my head and hugged me tighter than I had ever been hugged before.  This was the first time that he had ever hugged me with so much emotion. 

Going back to work was a hard decision to make.  I wanted so badly to be a stay at home mom and be there for every moment of my son’s life.  But I also really missed my job.  After taking a year off from teaching to be at home with my son, I was asked to come back to teach part time.  Thus began the epic battle of emotions.  I felt so guilty even toying with the idea of putting him in daycare.  I told myself I was being selfish for wanting to go back to work and that if I wanted to be the best mom I could be for him, it meant making sacrifices.  I thought about my boy crying and no one being there to make him feel better.  I thought about him sleeping and waking up in a strange crib to a strange face.  I thought about him accomplishing something and no one noticing or praising him for it like I would.  All of these thoughts brought me to tears.  People tried to make me feel better about it by saying things like, “It will be good for him to be away from you so he can get over his separation anxiety,” or “Being around other kids will help him become more sociable,” or “He will learn to be more independent.”  I realized that there were positive aspects to both sides.  After struggling with this for a few weeks, I decided to try it for a year and see how I felt and how he did. 

I am lucky enough to have the daycare just a few doors down from my classroom, and every time I walked by that first day I would stop and watch him for a few minutes.  He was playing.  He was smiling.  He was happily babbling and communicating.  He looked like he was having fun.  And I was having fun too.  It was then that I realized that being away from him for a couple hours a day just made me love him even more.  And as he threw his arms around me that first day, I knew that he loved me just as much as he did the day before – maybe even a little bit more.  

This is a guest post written by Lauren Dzuris. To read more, you can visit the Find My Carseat Baby Blog. Also, be sure to share your experience with returning or not to returning to work after having a baby in our comments section! Whatever your decision, we’d love to hear your two cents.

Baby Einstein Halloween Fun at Home: Baby Mozart Koala Costume 10/08/2010

It’s almost time for your baby’s first Halloween and you are probably beginning to think about your lil pumpkin’s first costume. It has to be fun, original and express their funny little personality, right? So what better than to make one inspired by that Baby Einstein toy he’s been toting or the book he’s enamored of? We have a few easy ideas to make your baby’s first Baby Einstein Halloween costume at home with just a few handy items and a touch of creativity!

Baby Mozart

Your baby’s favorite cuddly blue koala can become your inspiration for your Baby Mozart costume made easy.  

What you’ll need:

Red baby tee-shirt or onesie
Your baby’s jeans
1 large blue felt square
1 large yellow felt square
A soda bottle lid
Cardboard
2 barrette backs
A Rainstick Pal
Fabric Glue
Sharpie or fabric marker
Scissors

 Crafty Fun:

• Lay out your yellow felt and place the soda bottle lid on it, face up or face down will work just the same.

 

• Trace 3 circles with your fabric pen, cut them out and place aside. You’ll need them in just a bit.

 

• Next lay out your red tee shirt on a flat surface. If it’s wrinkled you will want to iron or use the old shower steamer trick so that your homemade buttons will stick properly.

 

• Place glue on one side of the yellow dots and evenly place them vertically down the front of your tee. Let dry overnight on a flat surface.

 

• Take cardboard and draw a large oval. This will be for the bear ears so use your judgment on the size.

 

• Cut out the oval. Now hold it with the circular edges top to bottom and cut in half horizontally (save some cardboard for later). 

 

• Use your oval halves as a stencil to cut the same shapes from your blue felt. Again you’ll need 2 pieces of blue felt for the ears.

 

• Glue your felt ears to one side of the cardboard and leave until dry.

 

• Once dried fold the bottom inch back so that your ear can almost stand on its own. Take that lip and place a strip of glue and then stick on the barrette backing and hold for 3-5 minutes or until dry.

 

• Now for the last step! Trace your best bowtie shape out of cardboard, cut it out and use it as a stencil to cut the same shapes from your blue felt.

 

• Glue your felt to the cardboard and leave until dry.

 

• Glue your dried bowtie to the tee-shirt and let it dry overnight.

Dress your baby in his new Baby Mozart tee with jeans as the perfect bottoms and clip the barrettes loosely in his adorable locks. And that’s it…really! Oh, and if you have one of our Rainstick Pals around let baby hold it as his very own conductor baton.

Extra Tips:

• If you are a crafty sewer you can swap out felt buttons with real ones. Just gather old buttons from your house and sew them to your tot’s red tee

 

• If you have a blue jacket around add it to your baby’s costume for the full effect.

 

Do you have a tip for making your own Baby Einstein themed Halloween costume? Let us know and don’t  forget to share your baby’s adorable Baby Einstein Halloween pictures with us on Facebook. Be sure to check back next week for more costume ideas!