Thursday, December 31, 2015

Realistic Resolutions and Assistive Apps*

*Consider your face blasted with title alliteration. Boom!

When making resolutions for the New Year, there are three common themes:
  1. Improve Your Health
  2. Learn Something New
  3. Try Something New
If I may be so bold, I would like to suggest a few realistic goals that fall under these themes and apps that will help in achieving these goals.

NOTE: All of the apps mentioned in this post are free and available for most devices (iPhone, Android and Google Play), so you mostly have no excuse... mostly.


Improve Your Health: Get Yo' Fit On
There are a bazillion different exercises and diets and general fitness tips out there, so let's keep this super simple with something everyone needs—water.

Water is also probably the easiest health/fitness resolution goal with seven solid benefits. Details of the benefits can be found through WebMD.
Legend of Korra Water Bending Animated Gif
from opening title of Legend of Korra
My husband is a Water Bender. Are you?

  1. Stay slimmer
  2. Boost your energy
  3. Lower stress
  4. Build muscle tone
  5. Nourish your skin
  6. Stay regular
  7. Reduce kidney stones

Water is the great equalizer in the health and fitness world. Everyone needs it no matter what your lifestyle is. And odds are, you're not drinking enough of it. You always mean to, but then you get distracted by your day and forget. It's like flossing; we all agree it is good, but we rarely follow through to make it habit.

Perhaps you don't even know how much water you should be drinking. I aim for about 72 fluid ounces a day, but it all depends on various factors like your age, weight and activity level. Don't worry. The app I'm about to recommend will take this into account, which is how I got my goal.

Hydro Coach
HydroCoach_AppLogo
Hydro Coach


Like I noted at the top, it's free and available for Android and Google Play (not for iPhone though**). There are in-app purchases available, which are mostly ads that pop up every now and then. But if I don't have to pay for something, then I'm ok with the occasional X-button hitting to make an ad go away.

**Although I have not used it personally, Waterlogged is a similar app that is available for iPhone. I can't share the details, but it is rated pretty highly, so it may be worth checking out. Please feel free to comment below if you have had any positive or negative experiences with Waterlogged.

There is also a paid PRO version, but I haven't used it. If you're curious about it, there is an option for a three-day trial within the menu of the free app.

What's cool about this water reminder app is that you can tell it what size glass you normally drink out of and what time of day you're awake, and it will break up your awake day into segments in order to achieve your goal.

Mine, for instance, is broken up into four and a half sections. Each section has a goal of 16 fluid ounces (that's the cup size I chose and the volume unit I prefer). There is a count down between each section that will remind me that I should have drank my 16 ounces by now.

Hydro Coach Sections
Each section and water goal will be different depending on your individual variables.

The reminders at the end of each section are based on the time you tell it you are awake. I play it safe and cushion my times by half an hour or so. This ensures that the reminders do not go off when I am trying to snooze (you also have the option of setting different times for different days in case you like to sleep in on your weekends).

I was concerned that the reminders might become obnoxious, but the sound that goes off is a pleasant bubbly tone. And the notifications that pop up on my phone are usually encouraging in nature rather than judgmental. Sometimes there are even little water facts, which are also posted on their Facebook page.

I have definitely been upping my water game since I started using this app. And the gamer in me likes that I can hit a button every time I finish a glass of water and have a feeling of accomplishment. There are even achievements that you can earn, which of course, makes me feel even prouder and more motivated every time I hydrate myself.

I've also become determined to make the little water drop guy, who appears near the end of the day, happy. It brings me a strange sense of satisfied responsibility. It's like the same part of your brain that lights up when you take good care of your Tamagotchi (remember Tamagotchi?!?).

Hydro Coach - Sad to Happy
Don't worry, little guy on the left. We'll get to the party-hat-wearing finish line together.


Learn Something New: Exercise That Brain
Duolingo Logo
Duolingo

Remember taking a language class for like 1–3 years in high school? Remember how you've forgotten nearly everything you learned about that language? Well, Duolingo can help!

Duolingo
It doesn't have to be a language that you have already "learned" and then completely forgotten. You can start a whole new one. There are fifteen from which to choose.
Duolingo Language Choices

I've only tried the Spanish option so far, but I'm really curious about the Irish one.

This language app is neat because you don't have to sit through a lecture. It's a lot of repetition in both typing and speaking form. So it feels faster paced than a sit-down class because there is more interaction, but the repetition is what is going to make the words stick in your head.

Again, this is fun for a gamer mentality because you unlock achievements and get points. You can even invite your friends and try to outrank them in points.

Some of the Lingots (Duolingo currency) that you earn can buy lessons for less common topics—like flirting—which is bonus learning fun.

Duolingo Bonus Skills
Thank goodness I have a year to earn 30 Lingots and unlock the Christmas topic.

I confess that it has been over a year since I used this app, but I've been excited to get back into it. This also brings me to another interesting feature: you have to keep practicing your skills or your lesson meters deplete.

Duolingo Spanish Skills Tree
My meters are all dangerously low! I must learn now!!

Where all of these meters were once full, you can see that after a year's neglect, they are super low. When you think about it, it's like a chart for your brain, showing how little you remember now because it's been so long since you practiced and reinforced these skills.

And don't think that you'll have to go back to the basics every few weeks to keep the meter up. The lower lessons are incorporated into the newer lessons and keep those meters filled as they're taught in different ways.

The biggest reason I stopped using this app is because two little wiggle worms entered my life over a year ago, and there wasn't any time or energy in me to try to learn extra stuff. But they're over a year old now, and I feel like I'll be able to fit it in here and there. You can do a short lesson for only like five minutes. Duolingo is good about breaking everything up into manageable pieces.

Kids in Warm Layers
Hear that, my darling, little faces? Mommy is blaming you.

Also, don't worry about parts of the lessons that you are supposed to speak out loud. If you're in a public place or don't have a device with a microphone, you can simply click that you cannot speak right now, and it skips it.

Easy and fun and languagey (Disclaimer: Languagey is not part of any real language)!

BONUS SUGGESTION: Khan Academy is another great source of free knowledge. It's great for any age and covers various topics including Chemistry of Life, Probability and Statistics and Coding. I usually go right to the website for the free learning, but there are free apps for iPhone and Android now too.


Try Something New: Adventure Go! 
This last suggestion is not an app but a podcast. A co-worker friend recently told me about it, and I have already finished the 29 episodes in about a two-week period (the 30th episode just came out today, so Mama gets a treat for the ears later).

It is about three adult brothers, Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy, and their father, Clint, playing Dungeons and Dragons together. I know it doesn't sound like it would appeal to anyone who has not played D&D, but neither the woman who recommended it to me nor I have ever played the game, and we just love this McElroy family and their silly hijinks.

The Adventure Zone
The Adventure Zone
The podcast is called...

The Adventure Zone

You can subscribe to it through iTunes or steam it directly through this website. Although, if I understand their message correctly, they prefer that you subscribe, which is free, so that they have a higher rating or ranking or whatever—it helps them and costs you nothing is the bottom line.

And again, you don't have to know how to play—or even like the idea of playing—Dungeons and Dragons to enjoy the podcast. Griffin is a word smith of the highest caliber and forges a fun-filled, adventure-packed fantasy world. And all four McElroys play with love, humor and gusto!

The first episode is by far the slowest, but they have a lot of setting up and explaining to do—not unlike any pilot episode of a television show that we later become obsessed with.

Two of my favorite aspects of this podcast are the general jokes and humor that everyone brings to the table and the character voices—the best of which are Taako (played by Justin McElroy) and pretty much every character that Dungeon Master Griffin manifests into being.

Part of the humor that I love so much comes from the three adventures testing the limits of the Dungeon Master's world just for the poops and giggles of it—such as rolling to see if Magnus can swipe a book away from a 10-year-old boy just to play Monkey in the Middle or clarifying the appearance of an enemy's captive by asking the Dungeon Master what celebrity he most resembles.

It is a lot of fun and keeps me smiling and giggling throughout my day. It has even inspired me to make my own 2016 resolution to attempt a beginner's game of D&D.

BONUS SUGGESTIONS for other podcasts I love (all free and available through iTunes):

  • My Brother, My Brother and Me
    • Another humorous podcast by the McElroy brothers that is advice-themed
    • Below is an animated excerpt from episode 182, animated by Tyler Crowley
  • This American Life
    • Different stories centered on one theme that can easily make you laugh or cry
  • Radiolab
    • About curiosity and ideas involving science, philosophy and human experience
  • Freakonomics
    • The hidden side of everything with an economist's perspective

If all else fails...
... with your resolutions, try some nifty reverse-psychology.

Lunarbaboon Comic - Resolutions 12-29-2015
Resolutions by Lunarbaboon

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Toy Review: My Pals Scout and Violet

I have mixed feelings about children's toys that play music or make sounds at the push of a button. The biggest plus is that the sounds draw the kids in. The biggest minus is that hearing the same sounds and/or songs over and over again will make the parents die a little inside. So if you're going to get a toy that could potentially drive you crazy, I recommend the My Pal doggies from LeapFrog.

myPals_scoutAndViolet
My Pals Scout and Violet, image from LeapFrog.com

There are two options—the green puppy named Scout and the purple puppy named Violet. They are sold separately, but I have one of each because I have a boy/girl set of fraternal twins.

Made by: LeapFrog
Recommended age: 6–36 months
Warning for parents: You may find yourself singing along to all of the songs whether you want to or not.

One thing I appreciate about these two options is that Scout is typically for boys and Violet is typically for girls, but they don't have to be. The neat features that come with this toy can be set up for either gender on either toy.


BreakingBad_sayMyName
Breaking Bad gif, thanks Tumblr

Say My Name.

That super neat feature is that the My Pals can be hooked up to your computer or mobile device and programed to say your child's name, which is incorporated into songs they sing and things they say. You even have the option to have the toy spell out your child's name in a song.





PROS:

  • Has three separate sound buttons on the paws (the fourth is to turn it on/off)
    • There is a pretty good variety of sounds and songs, so you'll tire of them way less quickly than many other toys with sound that I've heard
  • Program your child's name into the toy
    • I especially love that the My Pal will spell out the name in song
  • Can also program your child's favorite animal, color and food, which is also incorporated into things that the My Pal says and sings
    • Obviously, it's a little hard to get these favorites out of someone who can't speak yet, but you can always change it later as they contradict your initial best guess
  • The collar with the name lights up, which captures your child's attention even more
  • It's still a stuffed animal, and even though I wouldn't recommend you leave it in their cribs...
    • Soft and light enough for kids to handle
    • Safe when they drop it
    • They can snuggle it and give it kisses
  • Things with sounds keep the kids occupied
  • Things with music can make your kids dance
  • The night songs feature on the foot will sing your children to sleep
    • Can be set for five, ten or fifteen minutes and will shut off automatically

I recommend watching the video provided by LeapFrog. You can even hear what My Pal sounds like (Scout and Violet have the same voice, which, as my husband pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to the voice of Aang (Zach Tyler) from the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender).

CONS:
grinch_noiseNoiseNoiseGif
Grinch gif, courtesy of Tumblr

  • The Grinch put it best when he spoke of all that Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!
  • The pause before My Pal says the child's name is a little awkward (you can hear it in the LeapFrog video)
    • Counter-con: this, however, is not a surprise and is even kind of funny, especially when you start singing along with the awkward pause
  • Children's names can be limited and unusual ones may not be available
    • My daughter's name, Winry, for instance was not available, but her nickname, Winnie was
      • Counter-con: I could still have the My Pal spell out W-I-N-R-Y for the song
    • Counter-con: you can always use a term of endearment that is available like Sweetie


To Prevent Grinchy Noise! Syndrome:

Make it a sometimes toy and/or nighttime song toy.

After we first got the My Pals, we let the kids have complete access to them during playtime, which meant we heard the My Pals a lot. When it started becoming a little too much NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! I put the My Pals up next to their changing pad.

Henry and Scout - Changing Pad
Henry plays with Scout on the changing pad

This was a great alternative because then they could play with it in shorter bursts for my sanity, and it would captivate them while I changed them—so much less sitting up or rolling over while extracting a poopy diaper (at 14 months, they can otherwise easily sit up and roll over).

I almost always use the nighttime songs when they take a nap or go to bed too. It's great to have song mechanisms these days that turn off automatically on their own.


More Babies with My Pals!
Winry and Henry with Violet and Scout
Winry and Henry with Violet and Scout

Violet and Winry - Push Button
Buttons easy to push for tiny fingers

Henry and Scout - Standing
Henry looks down on Scout, in a good way

Henry holding Scout
Light enough for easy baby-lifting

Winry and Henry with Violet and Scout - light up and snuggle
Winry lights up Violet's collar while Henry snuggle-tackles Scout

Henry and Scout - sloppy kisses
Henry has got some sloppy kisses for Scout... or he is eating him, maybe?
Winry bops to Violet
Winry grooving to the music
... with an oddly serious expression

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Toy Review: Tegu Blocks

When a wood block and a magnet love each other very much...

tegu_amazon_24piece
Block Love, image from Amazon

Blocks are always awesome. I dare anyone to think back on their childhood and not find a happy memory with some sort of block-like toy.

And there are so many types: wooden ones, plastic ones, connecting ones, mega- ones—all wonderful. But this time I'm going to endorse the wooden, magnetic connecting ones.

We have two of the 22-Piece Tints Endeavor Block Sets and three of the Green a la Carte Cubes Block Sets (4 blocks per set). However, more and more different sets keep coming out, so the 24-piece set seems to currently be the standard medium-sized set.

tegu_24pieceSet
24-Piece Set, Tints; image from tegu.com

Made by: Tegu
Recommended age: 1+ year
Added bonus: Blocks help children's brains develop lots good

Haven't you heard that blocks are good for you? NPR recently did a story about wood blocks, mentioning that "early childhood studies have shown that children who play with blocks have better language and cognition skills than control groups" (full story here).

Tegu also has an impressive chart. I don't know about you, but I trust a good-looking chart.

tegu_playingIsLearning_chart
This chart makes me want to help my children be good at stuff, image from tegu.com

I'm also a big fan of any child's toy that is fun for me to play with as well (besides Tegu, Squigz are another great example).

My 13-month-old twins aren't quite ready to use these blocks to build, but as you can see, they enjoy handling them, banging them together, pulling them apart and—inevitably—chewing on them.


PROS:

  • Fun for the kids and the adults
  • Good for solo play and/or group play (hear that, moms of multiples?)
  • Comes in many shapes and colors and various sets
    • If people double up on them for gifts, you just think of it as expanding your set
  • Smooth wooden surfaces are easy to wipe clean
  • It has magnets! ... Magnets are proven to be cool by science!!
    • Magnets are strong enough to stick to other metallic surfaces
  • Blocks in general make brains good :)
  • They'll play with them for many years
  • You can feel good about the company you are patronizing (see their Our Story Page)
    • Tegu donates towards replanting efforts for trees
    • Their factory is in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in efforts to bring world-class employment standards to Central America
  • Safe, good quality product
    • magnets are deep inside the toys and not accessible
    • use non-toxic, water-based lacquers

CONS:

  • They're a bit pricey
My advice is to get them from amazon.com or zulily.com when they're on sale. Zulily requires that you sign up in order to view their site, but it won't cost you anything. It's worth it since I've found better sales for Tegu through zulily than anywhere else.

You can even search specifically for the Tegu brand. Then click on the heart, and you'll be notified when it goes on sale.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Toy Review: Squigz

It's hard to know what to buy for infants and toddlers unless you've had an infant or toddler. Even then, toys change so often, and it's hard to know what's really awesome and what's just kinda meh.

I would definitely put Squigz under the awesome column.

squigz_amazon
Squigz Starter 24 piece set by Fat Brain Toy Co., image from Amazon.com

I was first introduced to them when my adorable, little niece received some for her first birthday. My inner child took one look at them and went, "Ooo—I want."

They are colorful, multi-shaped bits of silicone with suction cup ends. What's fun is that they can stick to each other as well as other surfaces.

Made by: Fat Brain Toys
Recommended age: 3+ years*
Tagline that makes me smile: fun little suckers!

*Since this is a building toy with multiple pieces and takes some coordination and creativity, I assume that is why the manufacturer recommends the age at three and above. I recommend it for one-year-olds and maybe even a little younger. My only warning at this age is to give it to them under supervision so you don't lose the pieces or risk them gagging on it because, yes, they will definitely want to chew them. Everything in the starter set seemed to pass the cardboard tube rule, but there's no harm in being a little extra cautious.

squigz_starterSet
What's included in the starter 24 piece set, image from fatbraintoys.com

My children first started playing with them when they were about one-year-old. They aren't quite ready to start building with them yet, and they haven't quite figured out how to stick them to other surfaces. But they sure love to chew on them and unstick whatever I stick together.

squigz_WinryChewing
Winry demonstrates the silicone chewiness

PROS:
  • Fun for just about any age
    squigz_foreheadSuction
    Sticks to multiple surfaces (like Henry and me)
    • children 3+ years: encourages creativity and fine motor skills
    • under 3 years: fun to chew, swing around or pull apart
    • adults: I love making abstract shapes for my children to destroy
  • Silicone makes it great for teething babies to chew
  • Silicone also makes it easy to clean
    • I throw mine in a dishwasher basket
  • Comes in different set sizes so you can always choose to expand later
    • Don't have to worry about more than one person getting it for your child (the more, the merrier)
  • Sticks to multiple surfaces
    • The tray of the highchair is a great place when mealtime gets a little fussy
This video from the manufacturer makes some great points:


    CONS:
    Honestly, there really isn't anything of significance. If I were really reaching...

    • The Squigz don't always hold together as well as the video makes it seem, but it's still entirely possible to make a big shape without it falling apart
      • It's probably easier when babies aren't constantly trying to grab at it
    Why it is not a real con: My husband once complained that they're not sturdy enough to make a big structure. To which I responded, "Then you're not building them right."