When a child who is about to turn four asks for a Mario birthday party, most parents would oblige with paper Mario tableware and a cake with the appropriate icing. But one family went the extra mile, hand-crafting the treats, decorations, costumes (yes!), and games around the theme of Super Mario Bros! A good time was had by all. The birthday boy's uncle posted lots of pictures at Behemoth Gaming. Link -via reddit

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A nine-year-old girl shows off her shuffling skills at Tianenman Square and near the Olympic Stadium. Her father joins her for the finale, so you will know where she learned these mad skills. -via a comment at reddit

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Learning new stuff is hard! Coordinating hands, fingers, and arms takes a lot of practice, but it's what a baby's gotta do if he ever wants to play with toys! -Thanks, Lily Landes!

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A two-year old boy helps to tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. He has a real future as a storyteller! -via Buzzfeed

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While recording some footage of pianist Colin Huggins performing at Washington Square Park, photographer Senén Llanos caught a beautiful interaction between a father and child. http://www.senencito.com/my-blog/2011/5/23/a-beautiful-moment-i-witnessed-in-washington-square-park.html-Thanks, Senén!

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The little girl is supposed to be the star of the show, but one young man behind her has boogie fever! -via Buzzfeed

The most popular names for new babies in 2010 is out, and the influence of the Twilight series of books and movies has influenced the lists. Both the top names for boys and girls are characters from the franchise. For baby girls:

1. Isabella
2. Sophia
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Chloe
10. Mia

And the top ten boys names are:

1. Jacob
2. Ethan
3. Michael
4. Jayden
5. William
6. Alexander
7. Noah
8. Daniel
9. Aiden
10. Anthony

Link -via Parenting

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Dress a bunch of babies and toddlers in their best finery, take them to a fancy restaurant, and serve them dinner fairly unsupervised. That makes a fine ad for Dutch company Olvarit's new varieties of baby foods. -via the Presurfer

Time for spring cleaning! Moms know that no matter how much work is involved, it's easier to do it yourself than to motivate and supervise help from children. However, good parenting means getting little ones involved in housework, especially since they caused most of the mess you're cleaning. Here are ten ways to motivate your children by making housecleaning fun!

Hunting for loose change. This is one idea where your child can get an actual reward and make it very exciting.  Have them clean under the seat cushions, sort through drawers, clean under the bed, anywhere they can possibly find coins.  Afterwards you can make it educational by counting the change and dividing it into types.  Naturally, if there is enough change, you can have them save the money for some future trip to the store, or put it in a savings count.  Even collect it in a jar until having enough for something special.

Expiration Date Detective. This is one for the kids that can read dates. Have them go through the items in your ice box, cupboards or pantry where you store cereals and other items with possible expiration dates. Have them find the ones that need to be thrown away. You can show them the best way to dispose of each of them. Be sure to reward them for doing a good job.

The Sorting Game. Take the mess out of your kids’ toys. Give them the kind of storage options where they can play with their games and toys as they want, then have a place to put them away later.  You can also make a game out of letting them pick out any items they’ve outgrown to be donated to the goodwill.

Read the rest at Change of Address. Link

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A giggling baby. A dog. And bubbles. If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will! -via Urlesque

Tristin Saghin and his family were visiting his grandmother in Mesa, Arizona when his mother discovered his 2-year-old sister floating in the backyard pool. She pulled the child out, and Tristin started performing CPR, a skill he learned from watching television. Paramedics responded soon afterward, and the girl is expected to fully recover. Link -via The Daily What

Seven stories by Dr. Seuss that appeared in magazines sixty years ago but have never been available in a book will now be published in book form. These stories were in written as the author was changing from writing in prose to his more familiar rhyming poetry.

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss, who died in 1991, will be available September 27. It includes "The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga," about a rabbit who is saved from a bear with a single eyelash; "Gustav the Goldfish," an early, rhymed version of the book A Fish Out of Water; "Tadd and Todd," a tale passed down via photocopy to generations of twins; "Steak for Supper," about creatures who follow a boy home in anticipation of a steak dinner; "The Bippolo Seed," in which a scheming feline leads an innocent duck to make a bad decision; "The Strange Shirt Spot," which was the inspiration for the bathtub-ring scene in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back; and "The Great Henry McBride," about a boy whose far-flung career fantasies are only bested by those of the real Dr. Seuss. The stories were published in magazines in 1950 and 1951. Random is publishing the book as a $15 hardcover.

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories will go on sale September 27th (my birthday). http://www.randomhouse.com/book/43160/the-bippolo-seed-and-other-lost-stories-by-dr-seuss to story. http://www.randomhouse.com/book/43160/the-bippolo-seed-and-other-lost-stories-by-dr-seuss to sales page. -via The Daily What

Adults, with their experience, pretty much agree on how to perceive people, objects, and situations in the real world. Children, on the other hand, are more fluid because the world is newer to them. They also have a tendency to see possibilities as opposed to a static current state. Jeff Wysaski at Pleated Jeans has 13 of these comparisons that will make you smile. Link

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You know that period in a child's life where he/she knows what jokes are, and even knows the common forms, but doesn't have the experience or context to know how or why they are funny? That's when they want to make up their own jokes, which are hilarious in how totally un-jokelike they are! -via Buzzfeed

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The cat is training the baby for a lifetime of service to catkind. Inside, this cat is laughing as much as the baby is. -via Arbroath