Phonics 4 Babies

I recently had the opportunity to preview the new DVD Phonics 4 Babies for the Parent Bloggers Network. The DVD I received was Baby's First Words.

I had high hopes for this DVD. The DVD features colorful puppets and Mallory Lewis, daughter of Shari Lewis of Lamb Chop fame. The DVDs indicates that it is geared towards helping babies and toddlers learn things such as vowel and consonant formation, combining vowels and consonants, and the first 200 words. I couldn't wait to try it out on Holden, my 20 month old.

I was a bit disappointed. Ms. Lewis was engaging; the puppets were endearing; and I think the DVD is well done if a bit annoying. (But then, don't we adults usually find shows that our children adore to be annoying?) Words and sounds are clearly articulated and repeated. There is no doubt in my mind that if Holden were a bit younger, he would have gotten something out of the video.

The problem? Holden was bored.

Holden, like most second children, is much more verbally advanced at 20 months than his older brother was. His vocabulary is already well beyond 200 words and he forms complex sentences. Frankly, sometimes I'm floored by what comes out of his mouth. I'm not trying to be a bragging mama here, but Holden is just, well... Holden. While he enjoyed the music and singing in the video and liked watching the puppets, he just wasn't engaged by the word games and word sounds.

So would I recommend it? Yes. I just wish we'd had a copy of this video when Holden was just turning one or had one of the other videos in the series covering letter and number recognition. I think even Hollis, at 3, might have learned something from that. So, if you have a somewhat verbally advanced little one, you might want to start this series a little earlier.

The Barney Effect

I have a theory. The annoyance level a parent will experience from a kids' show is directly proportional to the amount a child will love it. A perfect example is Barney. Frankly, Barney annoys the crap out of me. If the purple devil comes on TV, I will immediately switch the channel to anything other than Barney. I'd find soft core porn to be more acceptable viewing material for my children. Why? Because they love that annoying purple blob and I don't want them to get too attached. Listening to "I love you, you love me" in that annoying sing song voice makes me want to punch something.

I recently had the opportunity to review the new DVD series Baby Loves Spanish for PBN. I love the premise. We should be teaching our children foreign languages as early as possible. My kids are little sponges and I couldn't wait to try the DVDs out on them. There are seven videos, each with a different theme. One DVD covers basic words, one family, one colors and shapes, one basic words.... You get the idea. The sisters who created the series are both lifelong Spanish speakers and they're both moms. I had high hopes.

Unfortunately, the series is a bit amateurish. My husband, viewing the videos with us, remarked that he thought he could do a better job in our backyard with the camcorder and Windows Movie Maker. At the beginning and end of every DVD, the sisters sing the Kids Love Spanish song (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) and do a very awkward dance. It actually hurt to watch it. I ended up just fast forwarding through the dance and music number as much as possible.

What I did like? The repetition. Each video shows clips of many different children and adults saying the Spanish word or phrase, interspersed with video illustrating the concept. For example, the word "perro" was repeated over and over by many children, interspersed with videos and pictures of dogs. I really liked that my children were hearing the many variations of accents and pronunciation. I think it made both of them less hesitant to try the words out for themselves. While my youngest, at 20 months, immediately started parroting the words along with the video, it took Hollis (my shy guy) a bit longer. But Hollis, my 3 year old, did begin speaking along with the video. That's unusual for him.

It was also very cute to watch Holden saying "hola" to everyone in the Mexican restaurant we went to last weekend. He seemed to instinctively pick up that the wait staff spoke Spanish and, because he had limited exposure to Spanish prior to watching the Baby Loves Spanish videos, I can only assume that the video helped him make this connection.

As I mentioned earlier, the Law of Barney dictates that, because I found the videos to be amateurish and a bit annoying, my kids loved it. They keep asking to watch BLS and enjoy rotating among the various videos. More importantly, they do seem to be picking up a few Spanish words. I'm making an effort to try and use the Spanish words from the video in our daily life as well.

Would I recommend the video? Yes, if you'd like an effective way to help your toddler learn some basic Spanish words. Oh, and if you're impervious to The Barney Effect and tone deaf.

Do You Have Style?

I did a major purge of my wardrobe this weekend. You see, I've finally gotten off of my butt and decided to do something about those extra "baby" pounds I've been carrying around. (Although I must admit that I think most of those pounds are related more to my love of cheese and all things carbohydrate than any babies.) I've lost 25 pounds since May and I'm determined to get down to a healthy weight for me.

For some insane reason, I've been hanging on to all of those suits and nice clothes that no longer fit me on the off chance that I might gain weight again. (Who me? Gain weight? Never!) Suits are expensive, but c'mon, Lawyer Mama! Let go of the baggage already!

Anyway, this clothing purge was inspired by Nina Garcia's The Little Black Book of Style that I read for PBN. Nina Garcia. From Project Runway? And fashion director for Elle magazine? Yes, that Nina Garcia! Of course, I am borderline obsessed with Project Runway, so I jumped at the chance to read the book.

The book itself is a cute little black hardback with stylish silver and hot pink accents. Tres chic, of course. There are colored illustrations throughout the book by Ruben Toledo, an artist married to fashion designer Isabel Toledo. The illustrations, and the fashion ideals they depict, are fantastic, aside from the fact that all of the women illustrated are stick thin. But because I believe the drawings are intended to depict fleshed out fashion sketches, it makes sense and really adds something to the book.

Now let's talk about content. The book is a quick read; there are only six chapters. My favorites were the first three chapters, titled "Be Your Own Muse," "The Basics," and, "Inspirations." The first several chapters emphasize how a woman can be stand out with fashion instead of being a slave to the latest trends, how to build the bones of a great wardrobe, and depict the relationship between fashion, style, and art. But Ms. Garcia emphasizes that the first, and most important, accessory for every woman is confidence.

Now, I love clothes. I can't always can never afford to buy designer clothes, but I do frequently occasionally indulge in my first love - the purchase of shoes. I'm no Imelda Marcos, but I've found that wearing an absolutely adorable pair of red pumps can invigorate a somewhat boring black suit. Ms. Garcia seemed to reinforce the idea that I'm on the right track, so I loved the book even more. I mean who doesn't like to have their completely uninformed decisions approved by a style maven?

Now this book certainly doesn't have all the answers. What I didn't like were the interviews with those in the fashion industry. They all seemed to parrot vague, amorphous answers in response to thoughtful questions, questions many women would love to have answered. At one point Ms. Garcia asks Roberto Cavalli the key to wearing animal prints. His answer? "Look for your natural inner animal magnetism. Be confident and have fun with fashion." Nope, not a real answer. I'm not really sure how to channel a leopard, but if anyone knows, please clue me in.

The Little Black Book of Style did give me some ideas about how to add some absolutely fabulous pieces to my wardrobe to make it uniquely me. Every now and then we all run across a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes that are amazing. You know the piece. People are always asking you where you got that great skirt/pair of earrings/beaded bag. When you wear it you walk taller and straighter, your hips sway a bit and you feel amazing. Ms. Garcia gives us permission to make that confidence and those amazing pieces the center of our wardrobes. After all, confidence never goes out of style.

My favorite pair of heels.
Fabulous.