If you are like most parents your experience with selecting books to read to your baby goes something like this...take whatever books were gifted to you by a warm wishing friend or relative, and hope that baby is at least interested enough to sit through peacefully so you could start a bedtime routine, or practice for all the reading you will do in the years to come. Once in a while though, your baby seems to wake up from the book trance or squirm on your knee and come alive when they encounter that special kind of book. Below are those books which our daughter literally would squeal and squack at - making reading a delightful and fun play experience.
1) Where is Baby's Bellybutton? By Karen Katz. This lift-the-flap book was our daughters absolute favorite book from the age of 6-8 months. She was just so surprised when we'd ask "Where are baby's eyes?" and then lift the flap to exclaim "Under her hat!"
2) Toes, Ears, and Nose. By Karen Katz. Our family bought us a set of Karen Katz's books after the great success of Where is Baby's Bellybutton and this book along with Where is Baby's Momma? were a part of it. These books are delightful for babies 9 months and up because they do tell more of a story than offer a hide and seek of body parts. Our daughter loves this book now, but I think she will really appreciate the overall story over the next year or so.
3) Peek-a-baby. By Karen Katz. As you can see, Karen Katz is our favorite author for baby books. We love her lift-the-flap concepts and funny illustrations. Peek-a-baby is on target with Where is Baby's Bellybutton because it appeals to the peek-a-boo playing starter set - ages 6 months and up. So your little one can start enjoying this book earlier.
4) Moo, Baa, La La La. By Sandra Boynton. Our daughter has been enjoying the lyrical sing song of this story since she was only 2 months old. I think some of that had to do with her momma's voice but, as all babies think their momma's voice is special, the same technique should work on your little one. I memorized this story after reading it several times and would then just tell it whenever my daughter was getting fussy. She liked to hear me say "The cow says Mooooooooooooooooooo...." And she hasn't gotten bored with it yet.
5) Good Night Moon. By Margaret Brown, Margaret J. Wise. We actually have 4 copies of this book, and we received all 4 copies as gifts. You will inevitably end up with at least 2 for the same reason, but do keep both copies since you can take one with you on your travels and not worry about destroying or losing it. We try to read this one before bedtime if our daughter is still awake after her last bottle to set the stage for bed. She will sometimes look for it on the side of our glider as if she is anticipating that we will now read Good Night Moon before she is put into her crib for the night.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 12:26PM 
Car Seat Sun ShadeSummer parenting with babies and toddlers still requiring the use of a carseat can be rough. When that car heats up in the summer sun, the metal buckles and strap snaps can scald a little baby's delicate skin. Often times we will need to run the air conditioner in the car for a good 3-5 minutes before putting our baby in the carseat and have to undress her to account for the heat trapped from the cushions. 10 minutes of A/C blasting later, she's cold and we have to throw a blanket over her. This Car Seat Sun Shade, available through one of my favorite catalogs for innovative baby and children's products One Step Ahead, is an amazing shade that keeps your child's car seat a temperate 69 degrees. It has an elasticized edge that makes it easy to put on and take off. It retails for $8.95 also making it the best bargain baby product for the summer. Another great option is a sun shade that attaches to the side window on the back seat of your car, which also serves to shield baby's eyes from the sun. This item is also available on sale from $14.95 to $7.95 gtpm One Step Ahead. 
