Best Apps for Toddlers

It’s sunny today. It was yesterday too. And has been for about a week. It finally, finally, feels like spring. Mother nature was in the dog house for quite some time, so it’s a good thing she finally got her act together.

Our AC went out on Tuesday, and we had to replace the entire unit. I’m loving this weather and the extra time outdoors, but not when it’s 89 degrees in our house. What a drag. But, we survived.

So, are you ready for infamous Kansas 100 degree days? I have an inkling they are right around the corner, but I sure hope I’m wrong!

But don’t worry, we’ll find ways to stay busy. Me and my little squirt will stack Kleenex boxes, play with spice containers filled with marbles, climb furniture, build forts and…play on the iPad.

That’s right, I’m talking about newly discovered, toddler-friendly apps today.

So, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite 2ish year-old Apps just for you!

And…I've included a very handy iPad/iPhone child lock trick that forces the said 2ish year-old to stay within the one app and not navigate outside of it and get into your email inbox. It’s the best thing invented since the Bilibo.

I hope you all enjoy some of these as much as we have!

**Please note that we don't utilize the iPad or electronics as a substitution for play or interaction with him. We simply utilize the technology available to this generation and are loving the educational aspect if offers.

1. Peekaboo Barn, $1.99

This is the app we use the most by far. Carson can navigate entirely himself, talks and points to the animals, and has a hay day doing it over and over.

One of three Peekaboo apps from Night & Day Studios — a forest version and jungle version are also available — Peekaboo Barn is a short, simple game ideal for toddlers and pre-readers. It requires neither reading nor excessive interaction to play. After hearing a muffled animal noise coming from the big, red barn, you tap the barn doors to reveal the animal inside. The animal’s name then displays and is spoken aloud. Ten creatures appear in all, after which night falls and the animals go to sleep.

2. Fish School, $1.99

This is our second most used app. For busy toddlers, this app is great because there is always movement. With each tap, colorful schools of fish magically transform themselves into different letters, numbers, shapes, colors and more.

Fish School includes 8 fun educational activities: Letters, Numbers, Shapes, ABC Song, Colors, Differences, Matching and Playtime.

3. Elmo Calls, $0.99 (Plus additional for specific calls)

Elmo Calls is a simple app that has put a stop to tantrums while traveling in the car. At this age, it doesn’t hold Carson’s interest for long, but he gets an Insta-smile when he sees Elmo talking to him via Facetime. Once he’s a bit older, we’ll try the scheduled calls for daily activities such as brushing teeth, going potty, taking a bath, etc.

"Elmo Calls" encourages children to engage in imaginative play, practice listening skills and sing songs with Elmo! Receive video calls, audio calls, and voicemail from Sesame Street’s own furry, red monster. This app also fosters self-confidence by encouraging children to celebrate important life moments, such as visiting the doctor, going to the potty and learning the alphabet!

4. Endless ABC’s, FREE

This newly found app is awesome. And FREE! It’s basically an electronic shape sorter with letters that includes fun, animated videos and descriptions of the words after placing the letters correctly. Carson can’t quite do it himself, but it’s a fun activity for both of us to sit down and do together. He gets a kick out of me taking his finger and matching up the letters. If I take too long, he holds up his finger and “eh eh’s” until I keep going!

Set the stage for reading success with this delightfully interactive educational app. Kids will have a blast learning their ABC's and building vocabulary with the adorable monsters in Endless Alphabet. Each word features an interactive puzzle game with talking letters and a short animation illustrating the definition. Before you know it, your child will be using words like gargantuan and cooperate!

5. PBS Kids, FREE

We don’t use this app very often, but I imagine we will once Carson discovers cartoons. It usually buys us 2-5 minutes of time while trying to finish something up.

Watch videos from your favorite PBS KIDS television series anytime, anywhere. PBS KIDS features more than 1,000 videos from over a dozen top PBS KIDS television series, including Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Dinosaur Train, SUPER WHY!, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Sesame Street and Wild Kratts.

6. UnColor, $0.99

What a perfect app for ‘I-want-to-touch-everything’ toddlers! All they have to do is swipe away to reveal the hidden drawing.

Unlike most children’s art apps, which expect kids to apply ingenuity to a blank canvas, Uncolor begins with all the lines colored in — and it’s up to baby to discover where the finished drawings are hiding. Tots swipe their fingers across the app’s six black screens, revealing a collection of cute, colorful animal pictures in the process. Though the idea might seem a bit lean, that’s precisely the point. Uncolor’s extreme simplicity is exactly what will keep wee ones coming back for more.

7. Jungle Jam, $1.99

Confession: We haven’t downloaded this one yet, but I’ve heard good things from a coworker. By the description, I think my little one will love the monkey’s and interactive music play. Looking forward to trying it out soon!

Music games don’t get much simpler than Jungle Jam, but simplicity is just what will draw tots to the game. Well, simplicity and cute, bouncing baby monkeys. All the action takes place on a single screen, where you can either tap a virtual bamboo xylophone to move through a basic do-re-mi scale or touch onscreen characters — including animated bananas and a smiling sun — to watch them move. The monkeys bounce in time to a simple beat, helping kids grasp basic rhythmic concepts in the process, but the bouncing is also a clever interactive tool that encourages little ones to tap and explore.

Guided Access
As promised, go here to find out how to keep your toddler in one App and from navigating outside of it into other apps.

Guys, this is seriously the best thing ever. Before I found out about this trick, Carson was constantly getting out of the app and into other apps….making all my apps dance with those little “X’s.”

Seriously, you will love this.

Here’s the basics if you don’t want to read the link:
-Go to Settings
-Choose General
-Choose Accessibility
-Choose Guided Access
-Turn on Guided Access

From there, all you have to do is go to the app you want to use, then click the main circle button on the front of the iPhone three times. A start button will appear prompting you to start guided access. To stop, simply click the menu button three times again and choose End.

Happy Apping! Yep, I just made that word up.

You can find us hanging out in our underwear. Not really. But we were yesterday.

Did you really think you would escape a post without a picture of my kid? Hah, you thought wrong.

First of Many I Presume

Well hello! Did you forget about me?

The girl that only posts every great once in awhile and it's always about her kid or a baby shower she recently hosted. Hah.

I'm not in a hole or hiding, or even boycotting the ol' blog. I'm just busy.

Busy chasing a crazy toddler.
Busy at the place I spend more time than home.
Busy hosting yet another shower (I'm a pro at these I tell ya)
Busy watching the entire Friday Night Lights series and drooling over Tim Riggins.
And busy getting our very first ER trip outta the way.

Yep, my rambunctious all-boy of a child experienced his first trip to the emergency room.

I felt exactly like you would expect a first-time mother to feel when her child gets seriously hurt. Fear. Heartache. Sadness. Guilt.

My Friday afternoon quickly changed when I received a message from Carson's school telling me that he had taken a bad spill, cut his head, and that the paramedics were there. 

I won't ever forgot that day. Or the messages of them trying to reach me. The fear that went through my mind. The long drive from downtown to get to my hurt baby.

It was absolutely horrible.

We arrived at his school where they had stopped the bleeding. The paramedics were still there. He had stumbled while walking in from the playground and fell into a fence, where a bolt on the fence cut his head.

I'm so thankful they changed his shirt before we got there. Apparently, the head bleeds a lot. His shirt was scary. So thankful I didn't have to see him wearing that. I was already a mess.

We took him to the ER ourselves where he got three staples in his head. Staples!

His teachers were shocked how small the cut was considering how much his head was bleeding. Although this was several days after cleaning and healing.

He did great given that he had to be held down for the doctor to clean it and staple it. Our little trooper. We were proud.

He showed no signs of a concussion, but we had to wake him up every two hours that night just to make sure. Boy, were we excited about that.

By the time we were discharged, he was trying to climb the medical equipment and wanted to push anything with wheels. Chairs, medical carts, fluid bag rollers. You can take a guess how the waking up every two hours went.

But after a few days, our boy was back to normal.

Making my house a mess. Cutting new teeth. Taking more spills. The bookcase jumped right into his forehead and caused a line bruise.

AND, that couch ran after him at Landon's birthday party last Saturday and broke open the scab. He just so happened to fall right on his wound, creating a goose egg under the staples.

Raising a boy is an adventure I tell ya. 

What staples ma?

The staples were removed this week (10 days after). Only a minute of crying.

I'm absolutely positive this trip won't be the last. I wish it was, but I'm realistic. I'm raising a rough-housing, adventurous boy who likes to push the limits.

Of course he is fine, but I can say with confidence that the feeling you get when you know your baby is hurt, well...it's unforgettable. Gut wrenching, scary and awful.

Now Carson, please stop falling and hitting your head. I've had enough adventures with you to give me at least a couple months grace period.

Mama needs a break.

Sometimes, Being a Parent Bites

Parenting is hard work.

Definitely the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my 29-year lifetime.

Parenting scares you, surprises you, humbles you, challenges you, makes you a better person, and sometimes forces you to do things you don't want to do.

I had to be a parent last week. 

By putting my foot down and doing something about the biting that was happening at school.

I wasn't keeping track of the incidents at first because I assumed it would get better. And sometimes, it seemed Carson may be provoking the behavior. 

I kept telling myself, biting is a normal occurrence amongst kids. All kids do it. Carson could be the biter some day. That poor kid, he doesn't understand. Those poor parents. I bet they feel awful.

Before I knew it, Carson was getting bit a lot. I'm talking excessive. For a couple weeks, it was almost every day.

So, I started to be more assertive with my questions. I expressed my concerns to the teachers and the school. I heard, The child does bite other children, but Carson gets bit the most. We are aware of the situation and are working with the child. 

I bit my tongue as my child continued to get bit. Carson's the main target...his teacher would say. I hoped and hoped it would get better. It's just a phase, this will pass is what I told myself.

Honestly, maybe it would have passed. I still don't know the answer. Maybe this much biting is completely normal for kids. Is it?

If I had to guess, he probably got bit 15-20 times. The most recent bites were the worst and non-provoked by C. Some of them occurred when they weren't even playing together and the child came up and simply bit him. One on his back stayed around for a week and another on his knee made mama cringe.

Imagine chomp marks on your child's body as if they were a snack. I hated it.

My biggest fear was that Carson was going to turn into a biter. One of these times, he'd retaliate and bite back.

I asked his pediatrician. He confirmed that the children needed to be separated. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear him say that. No Krista, you're not crazy. This isn't ok.

So that next day, I grew a pair and asked for the children to be separated.

The school was accommodating and moved the child to another room, although, I do feel they should have approached me first with how much it happened.

While I'm extremely happy that Carson won't get bit anymore, I feel for the biter. I feel for the other kids he might bite. I feel for everyone involved, honestly.

I know this is all just part of parenting, but it's hard not to question your judgement, your opinions, your parenting.

Did I do the right thing? Should I have waited longer? How would you have handled it?

Family, Work & Technology

I've been busy. I think I say that in every post I write. Literally.

Busy is our new normal. Which really makes it the norm, and not something that is supposed to make me go crazy. Organized chaos I call it.

I'm getting more used to it. I promise. It only took me a year of having a kid.

Anyways, there's three main things that consume my time: Family, work and technology.

Outside of work, you'll find me toting a toddler with snot on my sleeve, attempting to communicate with my husband daily, and iPhoning (is that a word?).

Whatever you want to call it. Electronics are consuming our lives.

Did you know that Americans now consume 12 hours of media a day, compared to five in 1960?

That's sad.

From 5:00-8:00 p.m., it's simply mad chaos at our house. We have our routine and it's our new normal, but it's non stop. And can get ambushed by a toddler that didn't nap all day, throws a crying fit, won't eat dinner, falls and busts his lip, or throws his entire dinner on the floor.

Once we put said toddler to bed and finish duties for the next day, Brian and I usually find ourselves snuggling on the couch, or in bed, in front of the TV with either an iPhone or iPad in hand. Why?

To make sure we don't miss anything on Facebook? So I can catch up on Instagram?

If you're like me, you get anxiety over getting behind. Even in social media...yes, I'm weird.

I'd imagine most people are like me. Over consumed by social media and the world wide web, but can't simply cut back. Please tell me other people are like me.

We can't go anywhere without our phones. Or sit in a waiting room of a doctor/dentist appointment and not check our Facebook. Or remember the number of a friend without checking our contacts. What's a payphone? What's map quest?

I love my phone. I love technology. It's a camera. GPS. My grocery list. A mini computer, really.

I would most definitely use it in an emergency situation. Remember when cell phones were primarily for emergencies?

I love it and I enjoy social media, I really do, but something needs to change for us. We need to talk more. I never thought a simple conversation would be hard to come by.

We need to lessen our electronic usage and make time to have conversations. Find a balance between quality, family time and the electronics.

I'd imagine it only gets worse as kids get older. We've already reverted to kid apps and videos when Carson is screaming in public or throwing a tantrum at home. Do other parents do this?

Which brings me to my biggest fear and purpose for this post: Kids and technology usage.

If a child sees you do something, they are going to want to do it too. Hence, my husband and I spending too much time on our phones/pads.

Carson's doc said he shouldn't watch TV or digital screens (i.e. iPads/Phones) until age two.

Well...we've already ruined that one.

Don't worry, we're not sticking him in front of the TV or anything, but he has watched it when it's on and he does enjoy watching videos (of himself mainly) on the iPhone.

What's your take on technology usage for kids? What age is too young? Do you limit usage time at home? How do you balance it amongst your family?

Meet our new pet.

I haven't posted in awhile.

Because life is busy.

Big Boy is cranky at night.

I'm up to my eyeballs in crafting.

We're sick.

And tired.

But it's the holidays, friends.

It's been a couple of weeks since Carson's birthday and things have yet to settle.

But he has. Into his new abundance of toys.

Every inch of the floor is nearly covered, with new things that sing, talk, move or make noise.

He even received something that takes up a quarter of the room. Literally, I'm not kidding.

Introducing the newest member of our family:

I'm surprised I am just now telling you guys about the tiger. We've all grown to love him.

I'll admit, I hated him at first (sorry, Grandpa Kutter).

He takes up a lot of room, and likes to scare guests at night when they forget he is there (Nana Jana), but he's fluffy, soft and huggable. Carson loves him. I mean, LOVES him.

If I can't find Carson in the mornings, I know exactly where to find him. In the guest bedroom zoo with the tiger. (The tiger lives in our guest bedroom because we have no other room for him.)

He's life-size, people.

Carson's favorite thing to do with the tiger is jump on him and bounce. He just laughs and laughs. It's pretty adorable.

If Carson is fussy, we go visit the tiger because I know it will cheer him up.

So this past weekend, we caught Carson bouncing on Jake like he does with the tiger. We thought it was funny because Jake is extremely patient with Carson, and just lets him jump all over him. Such a good dog we have.

It's funny, right? Our kid jumping all over our dog like he does a life-size tiger.

Funny until Carson's teacher informs Brian and I this week that he is jumping on other kids.

One of us laughed, one of us didn't. I'll let you guess. Apparently, him and another friend think it's hilarious to jump on each other.

The other friends? Not so much. Who knew a new pet could cause such riffraff?

You guys, I'm raising a bully.

Pressure

I've been feeling a lot of pressure these days.

It's like I'm running through a hailstorm, desperately trying to find somewhere to step inside, but every door I try is locked. So I continue to get nailed. All I have to do is find the one door that will let me inside, and I can't.

It's been occurring for several weeks now. This pressure I speak of.

I have knots in my back, and I've never had back problems before. I'm not sleeping very well. My mind is constantly racing. Ambien hasn't even worked (yes, I resort to drugs when I can't sleep for weeks at a time, don't judge).

Brian has asked, "Are you stressed? Are you having anxiety?"

Yes, we're busy and life is chaotic. But, that isn't slowing down anytime soon. And yes, I'm a planner and tend to be an over-analyzing perfectionist, but not able to handle pressure? No, that's not me.

Ok, I am an over-analyzing perfectionist. Couldn't be closer to it if I tried.

But today, after reading a friend's blog (about pulling the plug on her blog), I had an epiphany. Yes, a bring-you-back-to-high-school-reading-lesson epiphany.

No, I'm not pulling the plug on my blog (sorry friends, you're stuck with me).

I'm simply feeling pressured.

Pressure to blog. 

With pictures in every post, of course.

Pressure to not have to resort to frozen meals for dinner.

Because frozen pizza doesn't win you the mommy of the year award.

Pressure to have a spic and span home.

Because people will judge me if I hire a cleaning lady.

Pressure to get my pre-pregnancy stomach back.

 C'mon, it's been almost a year, what is taking so long?

Pressure to dress my kid cute for school.

 He cannot wear sweat pants everyday, can he?

Pressure to capture the perfect picture of my kid.

Then, post it to Instagram, Facebook and my blog.

Pressure to make his first Halloween memorable.

Because he's totally going to remember it.

Pressure to make a big deal out of every milestone.

And be sure to document them...pictures included.

Pressure to be the one who starts our family traditions.

If I don't, who will? 

Pressure to not feed my kid ice cream before he turns one.

Apparently, it's not ok to feed your kid sweets before one. 

Pressure to plan the perfect 1st Birthday.

Complete with color-coordinated and themed everything.

Pressure to finish C's baby book before said birthday.

I have all these pictures, and no book to show for it? 

Pressure to please everyone else.

And keep a smile on my face.

Pressure to keep up with all the other craftastic, artsy, involved moms.

What is this a competition?

Pressure to not scream and fall apart when I really want to.

For the love, quit your whining Krista.

Now, I know some of these sound extremely silly.

Especially since we have the east coast in shambles after Sandy. Including one of my dear friends who lives in Hoboken and just went six days without power.

But it's seriously a problem for me. I am pressuring myself about things that shouldn't even warrant pressure.

Who cares if we eat a frozen pizza for dinner or Carson's birthday plates don't perfectly match. Why am I causing all this anxiety and worry? Why do I care so much?

I come from a family with worry genes. I worry too much, and feel off kilter if one little thing isn't perfect. It's not ideal, nor who I want to be, I wish I could let go and not care...but it's the way I am.

I don't know...

how an anal, detail-oriented, obsessive planner (I have no idea who that might be) will learn to come to terms with not making everything perfect.

But I do know...

that something needs to change. I need to relax. Let things fall into place. Redirect my energy and focus on things that really matter. Don't sweat the small stuff.

I'm not the perfect blogger. I'm not the perfect wife. And I'm definitely not the perfect mother. But I do the best I can.

Lucky for me, I married one of the good ones. He's patient and laid back, and continually tries his damnedest to get me to relax. And puts up with my moodiness and antics when PMSing goes into overtime.

And that sweet, precious kid of mine? He doesn't give a damn about what he wears to school, how many pictures his baby book will contain, or if his birthday cake will be homemade or store bought.

If you're feeling pressured, mom or not, join me and just let go. Even if it's just for a day.

I must say, writing this really did help. Thank you for listening. Now go vote.

Learning to Sleep

We have Carson's 9-month appointment tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how my boy has grown, ask some feeding questions, and leave the office without getting shots. Yep, at 9-months, no shots. Wahoo!

However, I can hear it now, standard questions I assume most doctors ask,  "Is he sleeping in a crib? Are you co-sleeping?"

One month ago, my answers to these questions would have been yes, he's in his crib and sleeps all night long (most of the time). Done and Done.

But nope, that hasn't been the case lately. I swear he's teething. I blame everything on teething. Fussy? Teething. Not sleeping? Teething. Slight fever? Teething. Loose stools? Teething. Not eating? Teething.

Teething causes lots of things to go awry. Brian says I've been blaming teething for 6 months. Maybe, just maybe, I am just trying to point fingers and pinpoint reasons for his lack of routine. Stupid teething.

I don't know what the deal is, but his sleeping has altered. He wakes up a lot throughout the night. And now  that he is upright, he just stands at the crib rails and wails.When he was sick, he did the same thing and would only sleep while being held. So what did we do? Held him, all night long.

It got better though. He went back to being a sleeping angel. But now I feel like we are taking steps backward. Great nights of sleep are spotty and extremely inconsistent.

We've tried rocking him back to sleep, but he wakes right back up once you set him down in the crib. About every hour. Well, I'm not going to do that back and forth all night long. No thank you.

So, we resorted to co-sleeping. Gasp! I know, it's a no-no in mommy world.

But, Moms and Dads need sleep too, and sometimes, you have to do what's best for your sanity. It hasn't been a ton of nights, but more nights than we would prefer.

So last night, both Brian and I decided we were going to put a stop to this before it becomes a habit. We made a pact at dinner that we were both going to stay strong and let him "cry it out."

I felt good about it.

We have some experience with "crying it out," but only for when he first falls asleep for the night. The middle of the night...when sleep is abruptly interrupted is a whole different ball game. I tend to do whatever I can just to get sleep. Hence, Carson has us trained to pull him into bed with us.

First of all, listening to your baby cry is just heart wrenching. Not running to comfort them is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It sounds silly...until you experience it.

I sat there with two doors between us and just listened. Even a pillow over my head didn't help. I had to find the willpower to not run in there and pick him up. And kiss him. And tell him I love him.

"This is good for him Krista," was on repeat.

He woke up every hour for about 10 minutes starting at 10:30 and finally stopped at 3:30, when he gave us a good stretch with no crying. The few times we allowed ourselves to check on him, he appeared to be in a very uncomfortable position or slammed up against the rails. It was obvious he was falling asleep while standing and wailing or trying to get there.

It was a tough night, but he hasn't made a peep yet tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed that tonight goes better. And if it doesn't? We'll keep trying. And learning.

See, that's the funny thing about parenthood. They are learning just as much as we are.

Breaking Point

We went to church this past Sunday, only Carson's second experience. I know, bad catholics right here. I'd say having a baby is somewhat of a good excuse, but then again, he's pretty easy to take places these days.

I'm not enjoying the response/prayer changes in Mass. For anyone that is catholic, you know what I'm talking about. How is something that has been so familiar to me for almost 28 years just going to all of a sudden change? I seriously don't know if I will ever adapt.

Lent is coming up. What will I give up this year? Two years ago it was chocolate. And last year, I was newly pregnant and sick as a dog, so I was lazy and didn't give up anything. Again, bad catholic. Do you see a trend here? :)

Anyways, we're in church. This past Sunday. Sitting in the worst possible seat in the house. Seriously, we couldn't have picked a more annoying... like nails on a chalk board annoying...spot to sit.

A family of eight was sitting right behind us, (that's six kids people!) that were extremely noisy and distracting. If I had to guess...they had a 4 month old, a set of twins about 2 years old, a 4 year old and a six year old. Now, I'm not here to judge because clearly, the parents had their hands full, but there was a slight issue with discipline.

The constant noise/crying was one thing, with them not even removing their child children or politely going to the sound proof room, but my experience with their 4 year-old was another.

Let me say one thing real quick. I love kids. I love watching kids in church. And I love having conversations with kids. I love kids. Ok, moving on.

Their 4-year old child was very interested in Carson. He wanted to smile at him, touch him and help him. And by help, I mean taking his hand, grabbing Carson's pacifier (that wasn't in his mouth) and trying to shove it in Carson's mouth. His intentions were good and I know kids don't understand, but it was the parents that bothered me.

Not only did they allow the youngster to repeatedly touch (less than gentle pats) Carson's head, they repeatedly let him take his germy slobber-covered hand and try to shove a pacifier in my baby's mouth. It took several interactions for the mother to even say anything, and she still continued to allow him to do it afterwards.

I was seriously cringing at the thought of the germs being transferred. Luckily, Brian took care of the situation by politely saying, "I don't think he wants that buddy."

Ok, maybe I'm being a little too dramatic. Carson is fine, doesn't seem sick. But it got me thinking.

At what point do you throw your hands in the air and stop trying to discipline your children? When you have six children? Or just when you have no energy left?

Since my baby is still little, I have no idea what it's like to raise a toddler. I am the least knowledgeable person when it comes to this matter, so I'm sincerely asking.

Does it get to a breaking point when you've exhausted all your energy and patience and simply stop trying? Maybe allow them to eat whatever they'll get down? Or let them sleep with you? Or let them have a pacifier when they should have outgrown it?

At what point do moms just say "to hell with it" and how do you get back on track?