Geeky moms and dads need to leave the house too, right? While I love seeing you here on the blog, I want you to get fresh air and sunshine. If you need someone to give you some points for your effort, try one of these apps to gamify your outings. Geo-location apps turn walks with baby into a scavenger hunt. Nerdy parents will love to use foursquare, ingress, or geocaching apps to take their love of video games into the great outdoors.

1. foursquare. For adults with or without kids, wherever you go.
   Use your phone to “check in” to various real-world places whenever you arrive. If you visit one place often enough, you will become the mayor. You can also earn badges of honor for achieving different milestones in the game such as checking in 10 times in a day or going to 5 different movie theaters. Using the social features, you can find out which of your friends is nearby, share tips with each other, and leave photographs of your experience. I don’t know why I’m soooo very into it; there’s no practical application (aside from my documented obsession of data for its own sake!). As of this writing, I have more than 3,000 check-ins and a dozen mayorships.
   Get foursquare in the iTunes app store or Google play store.
2. Geocaching. For parents and kids alike, exploring for treasure.
   Use your phone (or an old fashioned website) to find hidden caches of miniature bits and bobs. I’ll admit that I’ve never done this, but I think it sounds really fun for just the right sort of geeky family. Shiloh tells us all about geocaching with her big pregnant belly and little infant sidekick and Whitney describes her family’s experience with geocaching including some smartphone apps.
   This Groundspeak Geocaching app is about $10 in either the iTunes app store or the Google play store but comes highly recommended.
3. Ingress. For parents and big kids, capturing specific locations.
   For Android phone users only, Ingress is an “augmented reality” game where you have to walk to different “portals” in your area/town. These portals are actually real landmarks, sculptures, and other public, historic or artistic sites, that you may never have noticed before. The goal is to capture these portals for your team, and link them together. The game requires you to be physically near these locations, so it gets you out walking and seeing new and unique landmarks in your local area. The game theme is pretty nerdy though: the two teams are the Enlightenment, who are welcoming new alien technology to the earth, and the Resistance, who are against the aliens. You choose either side to begin, and then your allegiance doesn’t change. My husband and eight year-old go walking for hours each weekend to play this game.
   Request an invite at http://www.ingress.com.

These are the geo apps we’re using. Do you have a geeky guilty pleasure that gets you out into the real world? Do tell!

My fellow Americans, history is upon us. It’s an election year. If you have a newborn in the house, it can be like living under a rock for several months. But you can still be in on the fun.

I suggest you throw a debate-watching party to reconnect with your childfree friends. You supply the house and TV, your guests bring the pizza or real food and dessert. TiVo makes this kind of event easier, but it’s not essential.

Here are some games you can play to keep the party lively:

• Baby chooses the president. Take note of which debater makes your baby more fussy. Vote for the other ticket.
• Mommy bingo. The good folks at Mom’s rising have put together a bingo game. Score when someone mentions a key word for moms. Fun and informative.
• Old school drinking game. Suggest everyone drink when the moderator has to say “now be specific.”

The final presidential debate is Monday October 22 at 9pm eastern/6pm pacific time and last for 90 minutes on many many channels. For upping the nerd factor, follow along on twitter at #debate or #2012debate.

It’s social, it’s political, and it’s no fuss for you. No cooking, no dishes, good times. Go ahead and compost those paper plates and biodegradable corn “plastic” ware.

You’ll see from the comments that I originally posted this in 2008!

Our friend, Karen, (formerly known as Auntie Karen, now rookie mom Karen) blew us away with these pictures of her son’s first three months in custom onesies that she made in minutes.

Baby Laz is wearing a dot for each month of his age (1 dot = 1 month old, get it?) and laying around on their coordinated rug from Crate and Barrel and relaxing on the living room chair.

Click to enlarge because, so cute.

This is how she did it:

I used Marvy Uchida fabric markers and Gerber onesies – both from Amazon.

I just freehand drew the circles. It’s permanent so I can save the onesies for the next kid. I edited the photos in iPhoto so they’d be kind of the same size.

Next time I’d try to do him closer to birth for the first one, with a blank onesie, but not sure how realistic that would be. I plan to do it for at least a year, maybe longer if he will put up with it! Obviously will be more dramatic as he gets bigger and bigger but I still can’t believe how skinny his legs were at 1 month!!

Related posts:

• Take photos to show growth
• Reader did-do: Monthly chair photos
• Timestamp a baby photo
• Photoshop your memories

Have you done any clever photo series to show your baby’s growth? We’d love to see them.

Thank you, Karen and Laz!

Is it already time to flashback to Sawyer as a baby? Well, he is just over nineteen weeks now so we can at least review the first quarter of his babydom.

According to my own bossyness, we should have completed all thirteen of the rookie moms weekly challenges within his fourth trimester, right? So, let’s see how we did!

1. Pretend you’re in Europe — I totally did this. Before I could sit (let alone sit and enjoy coffee), Sawyer and I walked to our neighborhood cafe. Extra whipped cream on everything please. Supporting evidence in foursquare. It counts.
2. Grab a buddy to go on a recon mission. Check. Well, I’m counting some of my previous experience as a mom-friendly nutjob always on the hunt for new and secret places to nurse and change a diaper.
3. Join or start a new mom’s group. Kinda sorta. This warrants a whole ‘nother post on whether or not I even want new friends these days. I *do* want some people in a similar boat to kvetch about sleep and swaddles, boobs and bottles. Stay tuned.
4. Visit a fabric store with your sidekick. YES! And I have been there a few times. Lucky me, the fabric outlet that I had never even been to before is a short walk in a baby carrier away. I loaded up the carrier with Sawyer and hand sanitizer; shoved my wallet and phone in my pockets; and came back with a small bag of material for various projects (that I assigned to other people to do for me).
5. Go to the grocery store for just one thing. Sadly, yes. And I still felt insecure and like I needed the practice.
6. Paint your baby’s feet for posterity. OMG, so cute! Alec and I did this right before his paternity leave ended. {sorry this photo looks like crap, I think I just broke iPhoto so bear with me!}
7. Take a postnatal yoga class, with your baby. No. I will accept this as my first failing. But in my defense, Sawyer and I did take an ass-kicking bootcamp class for seven weeks starting when he was 12 weeks old. Booyah!
8. Get a pedicure. Of course.
9. Go to a mom and baby movie. So much. Sawyer has seen several (high- and low-) quality films in his young life: Harold and Kumar Christmas, Moneyball, Our Idiot Brother, 50/50, Footloose, Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked, and A Dolphin Tale (with me, Sawyer, and Milo sharing a seat when we were the only ones in the theater).
10. Plan a mom’s night out. Yes, because of my awesome husband who is unafraid of putting three kids to bed.
11. Visit a friend or spouse at work. Yes. Sawyer and I nervously visited Alec at work. All was well except for the screaming in the mega-van on the return home.
12. Enjoy modern art. Okay, we didn’t exactly go to an art museum, but I did bring the little guy to the Air and Space Museum in DC. And it kind of sucked. I’m counting it.
13. Make a Modern Family photo. I did take a funny picture-in-picture picture (see above) but I did not have the skills to make it fancy. Nor did I actually leave the house! Fail, with flourish.

I’m going to grade myself pretty highly for tackling the first quarter of rookie mom challenges with my little sidekick. We were certainly living up to the spirit of the list — even if I regularly complain that my baby isn’t very portable and want Whitney to come to my house so I’m always near that beloved baby swing.

Is anyone else doing our weekly challenges? How’s it going for you?

Taking the baby in the pool is both scary and funny.

A kid’s gotta stick his toe into the water at some point, right?

Baby Anneliese is having a blast with Erin

Buy a package of disposable swim diapers or a reusable one, and plan your outing. This is our 27th rookie mom challenge.

If you are alone, think carefully through the logistics of how you are going to change your clothes, change baby, get in the pool, get out of the pool, get on dry stuff and get back in the car. You are not as smart as you used to be and you will probably mess up part of this process and end up walking out to your car in just a bra and towel holding your baby in one arm and a diaper between your teeth. Let me just help you out: Take your stroller with you into the dressing room. That way you have someplace to put the baby, towels, wet bathing suits and diaper bag while you get dry yourself.

This is also a fun activity with a very pregnant friend.

Do you plan to take your baby into the pool this summer? Have you done it already?

Your 26th weekly challenge is to invest in a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps each day. You’ll be surprised how many steps a mom can take just running around the house, but if you’re going to reach 10,000, you’ll need to take a walk outside for sure. This is good motivation to get some fresh air.

Both Whitney and I enjoy tracking things and counting steps has been an on and off obsession over the past years. One day, I called her and said something ridiculous like, “I hope you don’t want to do anything with me before Baby Brigade because I walked 17,000 steps today so I’ll be on the couch.” Being in the middle of my maternity leave, I thought this was a totally normal thing to say.

Whit recommends the Omron pedometer (pictured above, only about $17) because it has a memory function that lets you look at the past 7 days worth of data. Additionally, it tracks both your total daily steps and your aerobic steps, or those that were part of a 10 minute or more walk. I’ve also amped up the geekery with the Nintendo DS pedometer nugget. No DS? No problem. Advanced geekery and insight into your daily activity level with the fancy fitbit (for about $99, it tracks calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality). More fun with data!

Do you, would you, could you count your steps?! Let us know we’re not alone!

If you are like I was, by the time my baby was 10 weeks old, I had not exercised for about 6 months. Baby Bootcamp was my re-introduction to sweating and I loved it. I am not a gym-goer in my normal life, and Baby Bootcamp was perfect for me. Here’s why:

1. Exercising in the company of other sleep-deprived, temporarily overweight, leaky-breasted women is more fun.
2. It was no problem that I walked the course rather than ran it much of the time. I had many excuses lined up for not running (all of which are somewhat valid and mostly shared by other participants).
3. Stopping to deal with my fussy baby was par for the course.
4. It got me out of the house to do something good for me and enjoy the outdoors.

This is our 23rd Rookie Mom challenge. Not ready for it? Go back and pick an easier one.

Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can invite your partner and show him or her how awesome and athletic you are. The other parent and grandparents can tag along for free.

Check babybootcamp.com and a similar organization strollerstrides.com for locations and schedules.

Did you complete this challenge? Share your story.

• Comment below and spill the details.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.

[photo: strollerstrides.com]

When your partner works on the other side of a toll bridge from your home, visiting him at work costs a minimum of $5.00. But still, it’s an adventure worth doing.

I think it’s feasible for most professions, but feel free to let me know if you are someone for whom this suggestion is ridiculous. (If your partner works at home or does not work… go visit a friend or your old coworkers.)

I assumed I would do this all the time while I was on maternity leave, but it only happened once. (See cost of driving above.) Therefore, I now see it as a major outing. I suppose it depends entirely on the commute.

This is your eleventh weekly challenge.

The day I drove over the bridge and went to meet up with Ryan, he was more interested in getting out of the office to see us than in having us come in to show off the baby. Fine by me. I didn’t need all those germy people putting their hands on my baby. We had lunch together outside and Julian slept through the entire thing. He had no knowledge of his extra time with Dad that day, but hey, I got to use a restroom all by myself. What a special event!

Did you complete this challenge? Love it or hate it, tell us how it went:

• Comment below and spill the details.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.
• Name your destination on Twitter and use hashtag #rookiemoms.
• Or, link in the comments to your own blog post about this challenge.

photo credit: barakobamadotcom

This week’s challenge is to organize a Mom’s Night Out with some girlfriends. Go somewhere you used to enjoy in your old life. Book the time on your calendar and try to make it a recurring event (like every third Thursday or second Tuesday) so you and your pals (and all your respective partners) can plan for it.

G is for Go out with your friends!

Whitney and I like to schedule it early enough in the evening that mom totally gets out of the witching hour and dinner-bedtime combo, but you might need to ease into that. Sometimes a night out doesn’t really mean a night off.

Wondering what to do with yourself?

• Ladies game night. Find a pub that serves up Scrabble or Boggle with the beer and meet your friends. My friend Eva organizes a monthly game night and brings her own games.
• Book club. I’m a book club junkie, having been in four so far — and one for more than ten years. When I was in a new mommy book club, reading was optional and chatting and dessert were mandatory.
• Just dinner and drinks. If the point is to reconnect with your friends, no need to dress it up with gimmicks, just go find a restaurant that will let you sit and chat for two hours.

In addition to the relief of letting down your hair (without someone pulling it) and putting on a pretty top (without someone spitting up on it), getting out with your girlfriends is a wonderful way to remember who you really are apart from someone’s MOMMY.

Did you complete this challenge? Love it or hate it, tell us how it went:

• Comment below and spill the details.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.
• Name your destination on Twitter and use hashtag #rookiemoms.
• Or, link in the comments to your own blog post about this challenge.

Create a photo series to capture your baby’s hobbies and routines (eating and sleeping!) at three months, six months, and nine months.

They may seem like mundane moments to whip out the camera now, but that’s exactly why it’s a good idea. I wish I had had this idea when Holden was “little”… at the time, it seemed silly because I couldn’t really imagine him getting older (you know, I thought he would somehow always be nursing and projectile puking on us).

Mike from Cry it out: Adventures of a stay-at-home dad took this great photo series of his daughter, Emmeline, going through all the motions of a regular day. She’s a big girl now. Aww.

Voila – photo essay fit for a fancy photo album! And it’s never too early or late to start. Holden got his first DITL photo series at 18 months and Milo got his at 3 months. Share your links with us!

Ready for the fourth momoir in our Very Rookie Summer series?

Deb and baby Leah at the bowling alley last month

Our pal Deb shares a blow-by-blow(-out) account of her day with baby Leah. We appreciate the geeky attention to detail as well has her sense of humor in this mega-did-do-list.

A Day in the Life of a Almost 3-Month Old in San Francisco

7:30am: Leah wakes up after sleeping for 9 hours – a new record! She usually sleeps from 10/11pm until about 6/7am or from 10/11pm until 4/5am and then again until 7/8am. Yes, I know that we’re very, very lucky. Leah still sleeps in our room in a pack and play. Today I unswaddle her before going to the bathroom, giving her bum a few more minutes to wake up before changing her diaper–it sometimes comes to life a few minutes after the rest of her. My husband Elliott hasn’t left for work yet and is on the couch watching the World Cup, so he gets up to change her diaper.

7:45am: Breastfeed Leah on the couch while watching the game, although I would usually feed her in bed in the morning. She eats on and off for about half an hour and spits up a bit on her shirt (which is typical). While feeding, I remember a dream from last night: I went back to work for a visit and got pulled into a meeting that made me 2 hours late for Leah’s feeding. It was my first work anxiety dream since she was born. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a pattern!

8:30am: Change Leah into dry clothes and change diaper again. Pump out the rest of the breast milk to freeze for when I go back to work. I have about 30 bags in the freezer to date. The US team scores its game-winning goal and I get to see it live. I love maternity leave.

9:00am: Leah starts to get her crank on, so I put her down in her crib without a pacifier to take her first morning nap. As a general rule, we try to make sure that she isn’t up for more than two hours at a time.

9:01am: Leah cries so I give her the pacifier. She is asleep 30 seconds later.

9:02am: Make a cup of Ritual Roasters 1/2 caffeinated & 1/2 decaffeinated coffee. The half caffeine is for me, the decaf for Leah.

9:30am: After talking to Rookie Mom Whitney for a few minutes about the guest blogger assignment, hop in the shower while Leah sleeps in her crib in the other room. I keep the monitor in the bathroom so I can hear her if she cries. Leah is usually in her bouncer in the bathroom while I shower to steam out her boogery nose, but I didn’t want to wake her from her nap. Daily showering is a top priority for me and helps me feel like “normal” person. I am proud to report that I have taken a shower every day since she was born.

9:45am: Leah wakes up just as I am about to sit down at the computer to start today’s log. How does she always know when I’m about to try to get something done? I plop her in her bouncer and she plays with the attached wooden toy for a few minutes. She gets fussy a few minutes later, but the return of the pacifier soothes her instantly. I can’t help wondering whether I use the pacifier too often, but I don’t see the harm in anything that makes both of us happy. It’s not like she’s 12 years old sucking on a pacifier — she’s only 12 weeks! No offense to those of you whose parenting strategy involves giving pacifiers to your 12-year-olds.

10:20am: Clean out Leah’s stuffed up nose with the Nosefrida, this crazy contraption that helps me extract boogers from her nose more quickly and effectively than a bulb syringe. She screams her head off, but I promise her that I only suck the boogers out because I love her. Continue expression of love by changing diaper.

10:30am: Breastfeed Leah to stay on three-hour eating schedule. She remains relatively still and I manage to read a few pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

11:05am: Doorbell rings and I am hoping that it’s FedEx making its 3rd attempt to deliver a mystery package for Leah because I really don’t want to have to go and pick it up. I gently pull her off of me while hollering “I’ll be right there” in the general direction of the front door. I manage to make it before the guy leaves. The package is an adorable 18M outfit from Elliott’s cousins in L.A. I begin to think about what she’ll be like when she’s big enough to fit into these new clothes.

11:20am: Shovel down breakfast and dry my hair.

12:00pm: Change diaper again and drive to meet work friends for lunch in Potrero Hill. Planned on leaving at 11:45am to allow time to get gas but don’t make it out the door in time. Oh well. Good thing we have a hybrid that gets great gas mileage.

Portable baby in Potrero Hill

12:15pm: Arrive at restaurant for lunch. Leah wakes up briefly for my friends to meet her and then proceeds to sleep through the rest of the meal on a chair in her car seat. Discuss work/life balance with friends who happen to be mothers of a one-year old and a 9-month old.

1:30pm: Get home just in time for her next feeding. Double check diaper before feeding her. Catch up on email and Facebook on my iPhone while feeding.

2:15pm: Play with Leah while she wiggles on the couch. Try tummy time with and without a pillow. She doesn’t really care for either but found the pillow the lesser of the two evils. Change diaper.

Leah gets her core work out

2:45pm: Plop her on a blanket near the computer so I can work on a contract for a nanny.

3:00pm: Mail arrives and includes my first State of California PFL check (Paid Family Leave). Cha-ching!

3:10pm: Leah starts to get her fuss on, so I put her in a sleep sack and down for a nap in her crib. She wakes up 5 minutes later so I put her pacifier back in and put a sweater over both her bare arms and the rest of the sack. It looks ridiculous but her arms and hands felt cold and it was easier to put the sweater on over the sack than to take everything off. Convenience prevails over fashion.

3:45pm: Leah wakes up from her nap so I bring her into the bedroom where I am going through my dresser. I am out of all of my maternity clothes and am ready to store them down in the garage. I’m not sure whether I am taller or my pants are lower, but all of a sudden several of my older shirts seem a lot shorter than I remember. I set a few favorites aside before putting them in the out pile. (Tonight, hubby will opine that my lactating boobs are the reason my shirts are too short. I set them aside in the maybe pile rather than the out pile in case he is right.)

4:30pm: Just as I start feeding Leah, a friend calls from San Diego. Leah eats a bit but would rather play. She also farts quite a bit but has not pooped for 24 hours. I begin to fear the inevitable poo-splosion.

5:45pm: After a bit more playing, Leah gets a diaper change and goes down for a nap.

6pm: Elliott gets home from work. We wanted to go on a walk but don’t want to wake the baby. Leah, if you’re reading this please wake up.

6:15pm: Decide that Leah is not going to wake up so I go to the gym while Elliott stays home to babysit.

6:20pm: Leah wakes up 5 minutes after I leave. Of course.

7:15pm: I get home from the gym and pump while Elliott gives Leah her nightly bottle. We introduced a bottle of breast milk at week 3 and she has had at least one bottle every day since. We try to make sure her second-to-last feeding of the day is a bottle so we know that she is eating enough. My theory is that if she eats enough close to bed time she’ll sleep longer at night. Not sure if it’s actually true but if I believe it and she sleeps well, that’s good enough for me.

8:00pm: The much-anticipated poo-splosion arrives. Fortunately, nobody is injured!

8:10pm: Skype with Leah’s aunt in LA.

8:30pm: Leah snoozes on and off while we watch The Bachelorette on DVR. Yes, it’s garbage TV but we’re brain dead by the end of the day. Leah used to be very wakeful between 7 and 10pm but recently started taking naps in the early evening. I imagine at some point this will merge with her night sleep. I hope we don’t have to do formal sleep training, but we’ll see how it goes.

10:00pm: Elliott changes diaper for bedtime and I feed Leah for the last time in our bed. After she is done, I swaddle her and put the little wiggle worm down for a (finger’s crossed!) good night’s sleep so we can do it all over again tomorrow!

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Related Rookie Moms Tips & Activities:
Activity #24: Encourage daddy time and relax already
Activity #243: Pump it up (support for working the breast pump)
Activity #212: Interrupt someone’s work day
Activity #46: Take a shower (you can do it every day!)
Activity #135: Host a webcast

Allow me to present the third installment of our Very Rookie Summer series.

Elizabeth shares two different days from her life with baby Zaida that are seven weeks apart. We love her stories for reminding us so fully of what a difference a few weeks not-quite-two months can make in the life of a rookie mom. They live in Chapel Hill, NC.

You can follow along her daily musings on twitter/efriend if you “want up-to-the-minute updates about my thoughts on important things like pie (like it) and heat (don’t).”

Elizabeth calls her Very Rookie Summer adventures “Compare & Contrast”

My daughter Zaida was three weeks old when I decided to go to N.C. Maker Faire in late April. A festival of DIY nerds seemed like good family fun, so we rookie parents piled everything we could think of in to our gigantic diaper bag and hauled ourselves out of the house.

The crafts were great and the people were friendly, but the whole event was such a mistake from a new mom point of view. The building was hot and crowded, and I bumped into so many people with my new stroller that I eventually had to put it away. Even with our over-stuffed diaper bag, we were unprepared. With no sling, wrap or baby carrier at hand, I was stuck cradling baby in my arms the entire time. I spent the afternoon tired, thirsty and more than half-starved. When it came time to nurse, I couldn’t find any where quiet and comfy to sit. I found myself leaning against the bathroom wall trying to nurse standing up, draped in a hooter hider and sweltering in the heat.

A very blond, very Southern woman smiled at me sympathetically, “Y’know, you don’t have to hide in the bathroom, hon. These folks won’t mind.” I knew she was right, but all I could do was stammer, “Um, I’m not there yet.” She shrugged, and told me to do what ever felt comfortable.

I was weighing the physical discomfort of nursing in the bathroom against my fears of nursing in public when the Southern lady returned with a folding chair and a bottle of water. “Here ya go hon, you take these. We need to look after our new moms, y’all are workin’ so hard.”

I was so grateful I burst into tears.

I don’t have any pictures from that afternoon, but I doubt any are necessary. Rookie moms already know what tired desperation looks like.

Compare that to the afternoon, seven weeks later, when we toured the studio of the local NPR affiliate, WUNC 91.5 FM, and attended Carlabration, a celebration of NPR’s elder statesman Carl Kassell. The situation was not so different from the one that went so badly two months before- the venue was crowded, the weather even hotter- but this time I was prepared.

Here I am with Zaida (10 weeks) enjoying the show

I brought water and a snack, and we were ready should the stroller prove too cumbersome. When it came time to nurse I peeled off from the tour group to ask a staff member if I could use a quiet office. I think she was more flummoxed by the request than I, but she led me to a out-of-the-way spot where I fed my baby in a comfy armchair and Dad changed a diaper on the floor. The afternoon went so well we stayed for bluegrass and sandwiches. People complimented us on our sweet, well-behaved baby, and we felt like accomplished parents.

The lesson learned: persevere. Don’t let one bad outing keep you in the house for the rest of the summer- get out and share the world with your little one! Also, bring water; it’s hot out there.

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Related Rookie Mom Posts:
Activity #191: Put your own oxygen mask on first
Activity #521: Survive breastfeeding
Dad’s Eye View of the Maker Faire [From (510) Families]