Last year, Heather and I had the pleasure of teaming up with Baby Loves Disco, the providers of kid-friendly dance parties around the country. They had a 10-day mini-tour in the Bay Area and we hit two of the parties in partnership with our hyperlocal blog, 510families.com for East Bay parents.

When our first babes were about two, we went to the San Francisco execution of Baby Loves Disco and had a rockin’ good time. This outing is best for kids 0-6 whose parents miss their nightlife and want to dance. Kids who fear noise and crowds may be overwhelmed.

Here’s what to expect:

Your local night club or community center will be taken over by parents, toddlers, hula hoops, bubbles, and dancey dance music. Not only is there a live DJ on the stage, but two entertainers are engaging the crowd with interactive dance games. The perimeter of the room is filled with sponsors (like us) who are providing hands-on activities (hair color, mini-manicures, face painting) and product samples, ie snacks.

Also, non-walking humans are free.

Is this year’s tour coming to your city? Los Angeles, Philly, San Francisco, and Chicago moms, your dates are booked. Check the schedule >

When Whitney was a brand-new-rookie-mom, I brought over a half-cooked lasagne and a carton of cookie dough balls from a specialty deli. I thought I was pretty darn smart. Unlike most other things I thought I knew before having a baby of my own, I was right about the cookies! You can bake them one (or two) at a time and have a freshly baked dessert 20 minutes after the mood strikes.

And now, they’re at grocery stores. Yay! See how happy I am?

I like my hot chocolate chip cookie served over cold vanilla ice cream.

In the interest of full disclosure, Alec and I have also discovered the almost-as-easy DIY version and we keep our homemade dough balls in the freezer all the time. A few weeks ago while our babies were sleeping, we:

1. whipped up a full batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies
2. baked two hot cookies as a reward while we did the rest of the work
3. formed the rest into cookie shapes on a cookie sheet (as close together as you can get ‘em)
4. froze the little cookie dough wads

In the morning, we took our frozen cookie dough wads and put them in a large freezer ziplock labeled with the correct baking temp and time. Add about 2 minutes to the baking time for frozen cookie dough.

If you don’t care about a hot fresh cookie every night — I don’t understand you, but — we have many other fun + useful projects for parents in our makin it series.

We had a board book that I didn’t like too much. The illustrations were too wishy washy and there were too many words. We also had a board book that I loved, by Todd Parr, called This is My Hair. Bold illustrations and simple text. Plus funny. I decided I wanted the first book to be more like the second book. And I needed a Father’s Day gift for my husband.

So, I painted over the cover of the book, put stickers on it and pasted all sorts of stuff on the inside. The main theme was “This is my dad”. I made a cartoon-like image of my husband’s head and copied enough of them for each page of the book. Then I pasted it over various environments that I cut out of magazines. I hand wrote the captions. I did not worry about letting the original contents of the book show through. It was obviously hand-made.

I think it looks really messy and amaturish, but visitors to our house seemed to be very impressed. So, I share this idea with you so that you can impress your own visitors. Feel free to copy my ideas exactly.

Apparently there is a whole art form called altered books, where people collage on the pages of regular books. They make some amazing stuff. My version is less than amazing, but it is a board book that my son and husband read together – and it’s made by me.

I saw this cute personalized baby blanket made by Two Tinas* on Daily Candy years ago, and I thought, “I can do that!”

Well, I was half right. Though it counts as easy sewing, it took me a team to get it done. I first tried to make one for my niece and required my MIL’s mad sewing and quilting skillz to finish in time.

Planning the blanket was fun. I liked picking soft fabric and colors. But between my mild fear of the sewing machine and my lazy measuring style, I needed back-up. My MIL helped me source the materials, cut out the pieces (thank you!), and got me started with a few practice stitches. Sadly, she left me with several pieces of my project pinned to each other but still unattached.

The kicker is that you need to know the baby’s name (or initial) in order to begin the sewing. See my final thoughts below.

Five years later, when Sawyer was born, I had the materials at the ready for a new blanket. So, I just waited for my MIL to come back to town, and VOILA,  a half hour later — a gorgeous handmade blanket!

The upshot is that if you’re a wiz with the sewing machine, you should make this snazzy blanket yourself. And if not, maybe your mama can come help you when you’re on maternity leave and she’s looking for projects around the house. After she’s filled your freezer and cleaned the bath tub a second time.

Materials needed:

1. 1 yard of adorable flannel patterned material (can be made into swaddle blanket if you give up!)
2. 1 yard of soft, fuzzy baby minkie material
3. 1 foot of soft wide-wale corderoy in complementary color (for the circle)
4. 1 foot of soft-ish black denim or felt (for the initial)
5. Stitch-witchery or other iron-on adhesive
6. Enough quality thread for sewing it up
7. Patience, tenacity, a working sewing machine

Materials alone were about $50, as much as buying a nice one. But I got enough for two blankets.

Steps:

1. Print a template letter. Use Word to make a super huge lowercase letter in a serif font until you’re happy. Print and cut the template. Cut out the letter on the black material exactly.

2. Cut out pieces. I traced a dinner plate to get my circle round and of a good size. I cut my letter based on the template plus a second shadow letter in a different color (optional). I cut squares as big as I could evenly get them. Hey, I told you measuring wasn’t my strength.

3. Attach the letter and circle. Use iron-on adhesive to attache the letter(s) to the circle. Run it through the sewing machine to make it extra secure.

4. Sew the circle to the flannel. Attach the circle around the edges to the flannel material. You’re almost done.

5. Sew the front to the back of the blanket together. Lay out the two squares of fabric so the right-side-outs are facing each other. Pin it so it doesn’t wiggle. Stitch around the perimeter 3 1/2 sides. Squish the whole blanket together and force it through the hole so you can see the blanket right-side-out. Tuck in the ragged edges and stitch the rest together.

6. (OPTIONAL) Quilt it together even more. If you know what that means, do it. If not, no big.

Final thoughts:
Though I truly love my finished product, I found that waiting for babies to be born in order to do the initial frustrating. Since the letter is the first step. In keeping with Whitney and my theory that monogrammed gifts are problematic, I suggest either giving this blanket “special lovey status” (meaning it never needs to be shared) or going with the last initial instead of the first (Warning: be sure you know the baby’s last name! This is not always obvious).

Dalia relaxes in Central Park on my blanket. Success.

* As far as I can tell, The Two Tinas are no longer making these blankets either. Do you suppose they got frustrated waiting for babies to be born before they could get started?

I wanted to buy or make a shopping cart cover for Baby Sawyer to protect him from those nasty grocery store germs when I discovered this tutorial from Kim on Little Rays of Sunshine. Because it uses fleece, there is NO SEWING INVOLVED. It also does double duty as a highchair cover. Yippee and Yahooo!

I already like fleece because it is so cozy and washable. In fact, I spent most of the nineties wearing a fleece jacket as my regular coat. But that’s another issue. When I shopped around for the fleece, I didn’t love the choices. The printed patterns were not my style so I settled on this luscious chocolate made by Polartec with plenty of heft. I figured that once Sawyer was inserted, his baby cuteness compensates for the plain color. I could have also gone crazy embellishing — Whitney suggested edging or multiple colors — but all that extra work is really really not my style.

During the span of one morning nap, I made this cover. I spent about ten minutes measuring, remeasuring, cutting, remeasuring and trimming. Dead simple, yes? In fact, it took me longer to choose a color of fleece.

Ingredients

• 1 large piece of fleece material, 46″ x 54″
• Sharp scissors
• Tape measure

Steps

1. Determine the overall shape and size.Cut your fleece fabric so it is the right size. Larger is fine but it might make your math different than what I described. When I cut my leg holes, for example, I realized I mis-measured so I trimmed a little more so it wouldn’t be lopsided. Oops.
2. Cut leg holes.You want 8″ x 8″ squares that have 2″ between them. Imagine a large rectangle that is 18″ by 8″ with a 2″ pane. In my case, these squares were also 18″ from all edges too. Since it is symmetrical, you can face the fabric in either direction.

After cutting the easiest shopping cart cover on the block, it took me about 50 more minutes to cut and tie the fringe. As far as I can tell, the fringe is purely decorative so I would just skip that step next time (or do it just in the front and back).

Voila, my finished shopping cart/ highchair cover that I made during this morning’s nap.

Too lazy? You can buy shopping cart covers on amazon or etsy. Or just wipe everything down with wipes and hope for the best like I did with my previous two babies (who are fine).

+++

If you’re not a germ warrior, you should pick another Makin’ It project, we have dozens of other fun choices.

When our kids were younger, Heather was a little bit obsessed with putting them to bed at each other’s houses in order to allow us to have nighttime plans with each other. We pulled this off quite a bit when we were rookie moms. With two kids each now, it’s not really worth the hassle; we’re more likely to suck it up and pay for a sitter. Back in the day, however, it was not uncommon for me and Ryan to bring a a Pack and Play to a dinner party and put our baby to bed in our friend’s bedrooms.

When Julian turned two, he started sleeping on a mat at his little preschool. This liberated us from the pack and play, so we’d just bring his jammies and his objects d’securitie (I just invented that expression) and put him to bed anywhere. He is a champion sleeper, so this worked well for us. We went to dinner parties and enjoyed adult company while respecting our kid’s bedtime. Win/Win.

When we left our friend’s houses, we’d carry our sleeping toddler to the car, snap him into his carseat and drive home. He’d usually wake up, look around and ride quietly home where he would fall asleep the second we put him in his crib. Like I said, champion sleeper, and believe me, my second child does not behave this way. So, for those who can pull it off, take advantage!!

Heather, the big advocate of this idea, was once featured in “Be frugal but totally cool,” an article about parents finding ways to use babysitters less. Unfortunately for us, they did not mention our book which includes at least three date night ideas that don’t require sitters. In the picture, she and Alec are entertaining their friends Jeffrey and Ha with a game night, while their kids sleep in their own beds.

Your 43rd weekly challenge is to either entertain at home after your child has gone to bed — or to pack it all up and go out to someone else’s home and execute the  famous  Half-Sleepover Move.

Have you done it?

I am assuming that I am not the only rookie mom for whom leaving my child to be put to bed by a babysitter for the first time was scary. My kid never took a bottle, so I pretty much had to be there for a bedtime nursing for the first ten months. This feeling is the opposite of freedom, by the way.

Once your baby is reliably sleeping between 8 pm and midnight or beyond, you can resume the life you used to lead in restaurants and cafes by making dessert dates with girlfriends or your partner. This is the least stressful babysitter situation possible. Pretty much anyone is qualified to lay on your couch and watch TV while you enjoy a short evening outing, right?

Put your baby to bed the way you like. When you are confident he is asleep, head out to any of your favorite restaurants. Order dessert or a drink. Enjoy ambience. Leave.

This is your 31st rookie mom challenge. Let us know when you try it by commenting below or telling us on our Facebook page. Baby too young for this one? Pick a different challenge.

You probably did nice things to your baby’s room to get it ready for him. How about your own bedroom? Make a small change that will make you happy in your sleeping space. Move a piece of furniture, hang something on the wall, or get rid of a clutter pile. (I didn’t say clean up – just hide it somewhere else!)

Could you put your baby in a bouncy seat so that she can watch you re-arrange your bookshelves?

Every photo of  adult living quarters I considered for this post featured a vase of flowers on the nightstand. If you need an outing, how about to the farmer’s market to select a bouquet? Refreshing your bedroom is our 29th challenge for rookie moms.

Heather and I both painted our bedrooms in honor of this activity. It is one of the biggest impact, lowest cost design changes you can make. Our friend Wendy executed a marvelous makeover of an old typing table with spray paint last week. Check it out:

So what adult furnishings need a little love in your house?

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?

Simple, cheap, healthy baby food nominee of the month: pumpkin.

The fall fruits and vegetables provide a ton of great choices for easy baby food. With all the whipping and mashing, we are pretty much all eating baby food this time of year. One of my favorite go-to, easy peasy options is pumpkin. Just open a can of organic pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) and voila: baby food!

If you or your baby turn up your nose at this simple suggestion, here are a few embellishments:

• Cinnamon. Sprinkle on cinnamon. Feed to baby. Done. (still too easy?)
• Yogurt. Stir in 2 parts plain high-fat yogurt to with 1 part pumpkin to make more of a custard. Done.
• Applesauce. Mix with an equal part applesauce. Done.

Do you have any more simple pumpkin baby food recipes? And by simple, I’m capping you at 3 ingredients.

Voila, the seventh edition of our Very Rookie Summer series!

Jessica is a rookie mom deep in the middle of her first year in Alabama. Her sidekick is six-month old Holden (great name!). She chronicles their adventures at her blog, Mother of a Homegrown Kid.

As a new mom getting the baby out of the house isn’t the scary part. I love packing him up and driving around. It’s the out in public part that worries me. I never know when he might have a meltdown or an explosive diaper. We’ve been taking him out to eat with us since he was two weeks old without any problems but suddenly at five months he became a different baby in public.

Instead of quietly observing the world around him, he wants to be a part of it. He wants to play and show strangers that he can sit up (mostly) on his own. He wants people to smile at him and he wants to interact with the world around him. His dad isn’t worried about these things at all. His dad faces things head-on and so I am following his lead, putting on a brave face, and going on adventures.

Zoo Babies
We have been on several this summer including a trip to the zoo and a day at the lake. I think I enjoyed the zoo more than Holden or his dad did but he did pay attention to the always entertaining monkeys and several large birds. I particularly enjoyed a mother and daughter pair of elephants and the family of giraffes.

Mama and baby elephant

It was really neat to watch how animal mothers interact with their offspring. I’ve never paid much attention before but I found myself getting teary-eyed comparing animal mother and baby pairs.

My zoo baby

Holden fell asleep about halfway through the zoo but we continued on in the heat and really enjoyed the day. Wearing him around added to the heat but I think he liked being higher up than he would have been in a stroller. He was also comfortable in a new environment having me so close.

Lake Swim
Our latest venture was to the lake for a swim. Holden’s first ever swim to be exact. I was a little nervous but mostly excited about swimming and spending a family day at the lake. We bought a float that wasn’t nearly as cool as it looked on the box but served it’s purpose for the day. I covered the baby in sunblock and passed him over to his dad to introduce him to the water.

He absolutely loved being in the water and in his float

To our surprise he immediately smiled, laughed, and kicked his little legs! We had so much fun floating him around and later playing in the shallow water. He splashed and laughed most of the day. It was great and I’m glad we went. We’ll definitely be swimming a lot more this summer.

I’m looking forward to the rest of our summer and hoping that we find many more adventures that we’re brave enough to try!

Related Rookie Mom Activities:
Activity #96: Go swimming
Activity #257: Meow, bark and tweet at the pet store (a free alternative to the zoo for little ones!)

What?! Yep, a pickle spear for a baby. I discovered this little trick while Holden was sitting in my lap and I was trying to eat a slice of pizza. I handed him the pickle spear figuring he’d lick it, make a face and get on with grabbing for my lunch. Well, he loved it!

Olivia loves this pickle

Recently, I was discussing this unorthodox “food” with some other rookie mom friends and 3 out of 4 of them also gave their toothless kids pickles to make ‘em happy.

Stick a pickle spear in that greedy hand and watch closely to make sure no chunks are gnawed or bitten off.