John Farrier's Blog Posts
I admit that when my wife was pregnant with our children, I was influenced by pop culture while thinking about baby names. My wife consented to "Nicholas" from the Nick Seafort saga, but she firmly vetoed my plan to name a son "Bruce Wayne." We had daughters, so it became a moot point.
Other parents are bolder. Among the most popular non-standard baby names of 2012 are Theon (Game of Thrones), Sybil (Downton Abbey) and Decimus (The Hunger Games).
Link -via blastr | Image: HBO
Sand People travel single file to hide their numbers. Dutifully, this Tusken raider travels behind his son's podracer stroller during The Course of the Force, a charity walk hosted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation just before the opening of Comic-Con
Link -via Nerd Approved
Gizmodo's Leslie Horn says that this toy should come in adult sizes. I totally agree. If I had one, I'd take it to the pool or beach immediately. The design firm Tuvie is developing the "Under the Sea." It's a floating ring that lets a child see what's going on beneath the surface of the water.
Link -via Gizmodo
Kotaku's Mike Fahey is at Comic-Con, which is taking place this week in San Diego. He has two little boys and now, thanks to what he's seen at the convention, nightmarish costuming ideas:
Thank you, young Voltron, for making my sons' future lives a nightmare of cardboard, parental incompetence and shame.
Link
In my family's possession is a lovely heirloom bassinet that has been in use since at least 1939. My father and his brothers used it as babies and so did I. So it was a joy to place my daughters in it during their first weeks.
Dorian and Lynn have a similar bassinet that has been around for 40 years. They reupholstered it with Star Wars-themed fabric. You can see more pictures of it at the link.
Link | Photo: Rebel Belle Weddings
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Bradley W. Lewis, builder of lightsabers, presented his baby girl with one. She cackled diabolically and attacked her father with it. This was their battle.
It was inevitable. Some children just hop over to the dark side without hesitation.
-via The Mary Sue | Lewis's Website
Eventually, it's time for the tyke to move from a crib to a bed. What do you do with the crib then? The parents at the A Little Learning for Two blog turned theirs into a desk. They used chalkboard paint (a thing which apparently exists) to create a chalkboard for their kids to enjoy. Clever!
Link -via Craft
The ChildMinder consists of two parts: a pad that attaches to the car seat and an alarm that attaches to your key ring. When there is pressure on the pad and the two are separated by more than fifteen feet, an alarm sounds.
Andrew Liszewski came across this gadget and says, "if you need to be reminded your baby is in the car, you probably shouldn't have kids." But commenter Tech-Ninja summarizes my thoughts well:
As a parent of a one-year old and having just made my way to the other side of a very-long and sleep deprived year; I can understand the need for this. You are not the same sane-thinking, all knowing person you were before you have kids.
No, I have never left my kid in the car, but mostly because I worry about this kind of [redacted--ed.] all the time.
Me, too. There are horror stories that you can look up on the Internet, but be prepared to have nightmares all night if you read them. Suffice it to say that when you become a parent, you become paranoid about infinitesimally small probabilities. Better to have everything in a baby's life set to fail-safe instead of fail-deadly.
Link -via Gizmodo | Photo: Baby Alert International
You can never start too early raising your children in the geeky ways. For example, I am trying to teach my 3-year old the Ninth Rule of Acquisition as the starting point of her formal education.
Kelly McQuinlan of Offbeat Mama is engaging in similar child rearing. She made a model AT-AT. Her Rebel Alliance son promptly destroyed it in what I assume is a Hoth-like nursery. No doubt this is only a temporary setback and the rebellion will soon be crushed.
Would you like to make your own diaper box AT-AT? You can find her instructions at the link.
Link
The FlyeBaby is a hammock that wraps around the tray of a jetliner seat. It has a five point harness built in to secure the child in place during the flight. Basically, it's a way to hold an infant in your lap during a flight that is comfortable for both the baby and the caregiver.
My only concern is that the design relies upon the plastic lock of the table holding up a lot of weight. If I understand the design correctly, if the lock breaks, the baby would fall to the floor.
What do you think?
https://flyebaby.com/ -via Gizmodo
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Chemical engineers at Kanto Gakuin University in Japan have developed a new type of charcoal that, when used in their machine, removes the odor of dirty diapers from the air.
Now this is obviously intended for use on adults in hospitals and nursing homes, but the researchers have also designed a home use model that could come in handy for the real stinkers that babies can leave.
But honestly, I've never had a problem changing dirty diapers. It's cleaning dirty potties that makes me nauseous.
Link -via Gizmodo
(Video Link)
It's dangerous to go alone. Take this nursery. Cole Bradburn wanted his child to grow up inspired and emboldened. That's why he decorated the whole nursery with images from The Legend of Zelda:
As soon as I found out we were having a child, I knew I wanted their room to inspire adventure, creativity, and exploration. Having a place to like that to grow up in would be amazing!
When I was a boy, the Legend of Zelda series embodied those values for me, and the beautiful cel-shaded art style from Wind Waker/Spirit Tracks seemed to be the perfect fit for a young hero’s room.
Link -via Kotaku
My daughters are 3 and 2. When I come home from work, they often scream "Daddy!" and run to the door to meet me. I love it.
And I savor these moments to steel myself for the inevitable time when they grow to hate me. For Sarah Eyre's daughter, that was the tender age of 15:
We aren’t a shouting-match sort of family, but things got out of hand and culminated with my daughter storming out the door, shouting, “You’re a f-----g b---h, I hate you!” She ran up the street to her best friend’s house, leaving the gate and my jaw hanging in her wake.
Eyre devised an ingenious method for diffusing the tension. First, she called up a local bakery:
“I need to buy a cake today,” I said. “and I’d like it to read, ‘You’re a f-----g b---h, and I hate you,’ please.”
There was silence on the other end.
“Hello?” I asked.
“You’re serious?” they asked.
“Yes. Would you need a deposit? I’d need it for this afternoon.”
There was a pause. “The cakes we have ready in the case aren’t big enough for that.”
“Oh. OK. I guess just, ‘I hate you!’ would be good enough.”
How did the girl respond when her mother presented the cake? Read Eyre's description at the link.
Link -via Offbeat Mama
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