Its amazing how much kids learn from watching others

Its true. You can try to teach by telling your kid what to do…or they can learn by watching others do it. Think of how you learn best. Wouldn’t you want someone to show you rather than just give you a bunch of words? When you’re visiting a new town and you’re trying to find your way…isn’t it best to have someone guide you towards your destination instead of giving you 10 steps in words?

12 year old kid saves best best friend

If you haven’t seen this yet, check out the article from MSNBC that tells the story of a 12 year old girl that saves her friend who choked on some gum. The hero claims to have learned how to do the heimlich maneuver by watching Sponge Bob Square Pants!! I can tell you firsthand that my 2 year old daughter watches a few hours of tv everyday. She watches Sesame Street/Elmo’s World, Barney and friends, and Super Why. She really learns a lot from these shows. Many things she picks up on her own without us teaching her at all. It sure makes life easier on us. Allowing them to watch some TV also gives us grownups a break to take care of chores around the house.

There you have it. Lighten up. It’s ok to let your child watch a little TV.

Looking for a new family hauler? Cross the new 2010 Lexus GX 460 off your list (for now).

Consumer Reports (via MSNBC) is reporting that the vehicle is unsafe and is a safety hazzard. During their routine test at their facilities, the CR folks drove into a turn without breaking (simulating a real life scenario) and noticed there was a significant delay with the stability control kicking in. According to CR, this is a huge risk as the car can then roll over.

Consumer Reports gives the Lexus GX 460 SUV the following rating: “Don’t buy: Security Risk”

As if the above is not damaging enough, CR compared the Lexus SUV rating to a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited…Ouch! For Toyota, when it rains it pours.

Toyota representatives say the Lexus GX 460 meets or exceeds all federal government testing requirements and they are doing further investigations.

I’d welcome any comments from existing owners of the Lexus GX 460 SUV.

Did you hear about the little boy who was riding his bike on the sidewalk…then swerved off into a running Disney bus that eventually ran him over? This is a very sad story and parents should be reminded to always keep an eye on their young at play. No matter how mature or “ready” we feel our children are, we should always be within reach in case of emergencies. This is really a sad story and parents need to be humbled and learn from this tragedy. The full story can be found here from the Orlando Sentinel.

If you’d like to influence the sex of your next child, give this Chinese birthing calendar a try. My wife and I will use this for our 2nd child (when we’re ready). Based on some responses I’ve received from friends and family, this chart is pretty spot-on! Of course, nothing is 100%…but it doesn’t hurt to  play along and see what happens.

Let me know if anyone else has used this, or know someone who has, and whether the chart was accurate in predicting the sex or not.

The players

Here’s something fun to do with your little ones…sign them up for baby gym classes! This has nothing to do with building muscle or losing weight. What it is is an instructor led class that helps with building motor skills in a fun way with other kids of the same age. My wife and I were in search of a gym for our baby and found two to compare: Gymboree and The Little Gym.

Try before you decide

The great thing about these two gyms are that they are both nationwide and have locations almost everywhere. Both offer free trial classes (or two, or three if you’re nice ) for you to bring your baby in and try them out before committing. Pricing is similar for the two. We went with The Little Gym for about $400 a semester, which lasts about 4 or 5 months (1 class per week). Each class lasts about 45 minutes.

What is there to do?

There are different activities for every age groups. For our classes (up to 3 years old) we start with ringing bells and singing some songs. We then explore the gym and the instructor teaches the children the activity of the week. Activites range from balancing beams, jumping, sway bars, and other gymnastic types of equipment. It’s not all just work and no play though. We wrap up the day with some bubble popping (kids love this!) and more singing to close out the session.

Is it worth it?

To us, yes it is very well worth it. It comes out to about $20 per class (45 minutes a week) but you get so much out of it. Our baby looks forward to going each week. She loves the music, enjoys the other kids company, and just having a place where she can run freely. As parents, we love that she is getting more interaction with others her age, we get to meet other parents in the area, and our daughter is developing some vital skills in life.

More information

You can find more information about Gymboree classes here.

You can find more information about The Little Gym classes here.

1. It flips over very easily if the baby is not in the stroller…even for very light items hung on the handles.
2. There is no padding whatsoever on the stroller.
3. There is no built-in under stroller storage.
4. I assume it is uncomfy, since the baby doesn’t like staying in it very long
5. The attached canopy is a joke
6. The wheels are tiny and have no suspension
7. The stroller height is too low and causes me to bend over a bit at times
8. You can’t recline to let the baby sleep

Anyone out there know what I’m talking about?

With all of that said, I finally decided to retire the cheapo umbrella stroller for something nicer. I mean, every parent needs a go-to stroller and preferably, its an umbrella stroller for its size and versatility. I had my eyes set on a Maclaren Quest stroller which retails for $230 at Babies R Us. My wife and I loved the colors and it seemed like Maclaren was the way to go since many other parents have the same stroller. I just couldn’t justify the high price for it. What did I do? I went on Amazon and read up on reviews of other parents to see if its really worth the price. The reviews were what I expected. Maclaren apparently *is* the cream of the crop. Whatever, I still didn’t have $230 (plus tax) to spend on the new stroller.

While reading the reviews, I stumbled across another 2 strollers that were similar but cheaper: Chicco and Keekaroo. Once I saw the Keekaroo, I thought Wow! It looks great! I read more and more about it and other parents were also considering the Maclaren Quest when they found the Keekaroo Karoo stroller. Most reviews said they were glad they took the plunge and bought this stroller instead. You can review all the official specs here from the product site. Then you can see the side by side comparison between the Keekaroo Karoo versus Maclaren Quest strollers and judge for yourself. Here’s what sold me on the Keekaroo stroller:

1. The Karoo stroller looks amazing. I love the Lilac Mist color, the larger 6″ wheel design, the aluminum chasis…
2. The Karoo has a very functional canopy with a lip that gives a little extra coverage against sun light
3. Suspension on all 4 wheels…thoughts of my Bugaboo Frog suspension raced through my mind (more on this later)
4. Its $80 cheaper

Final thoughts on the Keekaroo Karoo:

The stroller arrived almost fully intact. The only things you need you attach are the 2 front wheels. They snap right in (you gotta squeeze the tabs on each wheel to get them in). I’ve used the stroller a few times over the past 2 weekends and its ok so far. I wasn’t blown away like I was expecting based on the Amazon reviews. My wife and I are about 5’10″ and we kick the wheels…never had these problems before with any other stroller. Despite what some of the reviews said, I cannot imagine being able to control the Karoo stroller with just one hand while my baby is in it. I find it hard to steer. What I mean is, if there is a slope of any kind, the stroller will definitely lean in that direction. There’s also something about the strollers weight. For instance, when you approach a sidewalk and need to raise the front of the stroller to get up onto the sidewalk…you’ll find that its hard to do with this stroller. Perhaps its because the baby sits up higher in this stroller than others? The handles are comfy since its padded…but because I have to exert so much pressure/force to steer the stroller, sometimes I feel like these handles can almost snap. I’m sure it won’t, but it just feels that way due to the amount of strength I have to use to keep the stroller going straight. As for the suspension at all 4 wheels…its nothing like the Bugaboo Frog. With the Frog, you just go right over minor/medium bumps and don’t even feel it. If thats what you have in mind for the Keekaroo…forget about it.

Overall, its not bad, and its not perfect. I’d give it 7/10 stars. For the price, this is as good as you can get. As long as you don’t go into it with crazy expectations and keep in mind the price you’ve paid, you will really enjoy this stroller. My daughter seems to like it. She tends to stay in the stroller for longer periods of time. I’m even able to lay her down in the stroller and give her a diaper change. This makes the stroller worth it to me. I hope this helps you decide.

Brace yourselves. I bet you didn’t know this…all those 20% off coupons you get in the mail regularly from Bed Bath and Beyond are more valuable than you think. How about using that BBB coupon to take 20% off a Maclaren stroller, or a new baby crib, or anything else at Babies R Us?

I know what you’re thinking…why would BRU accept BBB coupons right? Well start spreading the news…they do! A friend of mine witnessed this recently at a BRU store in New Jersey. According to the cashier, BRU (wisely) doesn’t publicize the fact that they take competitor coupons. So how are these 2 stores related? They’re not. However, Bed Bath and Beyond owns/partners with Buy Buy Baby. In fact, I just checked the Buy Buy Baby corporate page and confirmed the 2 are related. Wow! I wish I knew this when I had to buy all my baby gear. My daughter is now 2.5 and we’ve already spent a fortune at Babies R Us. I hope this post helps some of you save lots of money. Let me know in the comments section.

Update 1: I’ve emailed Toys R Us support about this and the front line support folks have not denied this yet. They have escalated higher in the chain for confirmation. I’ll post the news as soon as I hear back.

Update 2: Response back from R Us:

Thank you for contacting Babies”R”Us.

Juan Funes
Corporate Guest Relations