Look at my son. Sigh. This photo was taken almost five years ago at a photoshoot for my former employer who had a last minute need for a baby model.

Although I am usually opposed to studio photography, there is something about it that’s easy to look at. I guess that’s why our parents took us to Kmart for portraits all those years.

Your assignment: Take advantage of the free 8×10 portrait offered by the Picture People company on their website. Their style of photography is a step up from the Kmart photos we grew up with. Cheesy or adorable – there is a fine line. And when it comes to your own baby, I’m guessing you’ll side with “adorable”. These Picture People stores are found in malls (high class, I know) and you’ll have to use their store locator to find out if this is a feasible spur of the moment outing.

My professional advice (and yes, having done casting for catalogs, I am actually qualified to give this) is to have your baby wear something timeless such as a solid colored onesie and jeans or overalls. The more skin you show, the better. Bare feet and bare arms make baby photography even more irresistable. Jeans + Bare Feet = One Cute Picture. And don’t forget to take a couple of pictures with you in it, even if you think you have bad hair, are fat or unworthy. You are her mother, and you are beautiful. She will definitely want the photos later in life, when she’s done hating you.

Make a deal with yourself that you will not buy more of the pictures than the free one. You might be embarassed to leave the place with only your single enormous free picture, but that’s the only way we can keep this activity in the free/cheap category.

My friend Mike used to take his toddler Miles out for Garbage Truck Friday each week without fail. They did it for years. Their routine included picking up muffins from the local bakery and following the garbage truck all over Oakland for an hour or so. It was something that they both looked forward to.

I like this activity for all rookie parents but its especially fun as a regular father/son outing; it includes so many things that toddlers love:

• CarbsYummy breakfast
• An easy excuse to spend time together
• Quickie tradition (see Crock Pot Monday or Fearless Friday) to give structure to the week
• Big vehicles (see scope out some big wheels)
• A way to get someone small to willingly go to the car (ok, that one’s more a win for the parents)

No offense to the trash trucks in your town, but the ones in Oakland are sweet. They have long robotic arms that do all the work. If Mike and Miles had invited me, I think I would have happily joined in.

Yes I have two sons and they’re waaaaay into vehicles, but I think this activity could work for most toddlers. Let me know if it works for you!

How cute is this series of photos from Hey Jen Renee? She created a printout for each month of her daughter’s first year and took a photo of her baby girl “holding” it.

At the end of the year, she printed the twelve photos and placed them in an accordion fold-style photo album so that they could all be seen next to each other.

And because I love YOU so much, I created a Word document that looks like Jen’s calendar page that you can use and update each month to fit the day that matches your baby’s birthdate. Download it here.

Did you know that you might have a puppet theater in your child’s room already?

Materials needed:

• Crib
• Sheet
• Dolls or stuffed animals
• Preschooler with a repertoire of songs
• Any combination of parent, baby, and toddler to serve as audience

Scrounge around for some pictures of you and your mate together from when you first started out dating and wooing. Make a collage and put it on the fridge to remember your pre-baby lives.

It can be as easy as tacking up a few old favorites that have been sitting in a drawer (bungee-jumping, wine tasting, skinny dipping?) or as high-tech as you want.

I did this for our dating-aversary using Kodakgallery.com a few years back and it was a big hit (still on our wall!). If you go this route, you’ll want to pick a square number (4, 9, 25…) to avoid the weird repeat feature. You can use as few as four pictures or as many as a hundred.

Looking for other ideas? Here are 50 Ways to be cheap on Valentine’s Day without looking cheap.

Traveling to the Olympics with kids? Have fun!
Shana from Wee Travel tells us the best way to spend a week in Vancouver with little ones. Wee Travel (started by two moms who are sisters living on opposite sides of the country) rents baby gear and toys delivered to your door. All equipment is like-new and safety checked and sanitized prior to every rental. They also service Victoria, BC and Toronto.

Vancouver is a gorgeous city summer and winter (even when it rains!).

MONDAY — Le Petit Spa
Start the day off right with Mondays for Mums at Le Petit Spa. You’re always running for everyone so fight the exhaustion. Try out Le Petit Spa’s amazing Mummy and Me Spa Package. They offer a Reflexology Treatment for Mum – 30 minutes, an express pedicure – 30 minutes and reflexology for baby – 10 minutes. All for $80.

TUESDAY — Granville Island
First tourist stop is definitely Granville Island. Babies will enjoy the busy sounds and sights of the market and older kids won’t want to leave the Kids Only Market. (You do this first as it’s probably a place the kids will want to go back to so you can use it as a bribe if necessary!)

There are many things to do in the market: The Adventure Zone is a great climbing activity and Camelot Kids is a wonderful toy store. They are very selective with their picks so you can select from top-notch toys.

After an exhilarating couple of hours playing, walk over to the Granville Island Market for some great eats. Lots of different foods to choose from for everyone in your family. Lee’s Donuts is a great treat, as is Terra Breads. Fresh fish, meat and poultry are in abundant supply and always fresh. There are too many great spots to name them all here. Admission is free.

WEDNESDAY — Stanley Park and Vancouver Aquarium
Stanley Park has great walks for strollers and toddlers alike. Be sure to check out the garden paths and the lovely views.

If you have time and money, the Vancouver Aquarium is a “must see”. You can watch the beluga and dolphin shows and my son’s favorite is Tag the sea lion. He is humongous and fun to watch, especially at feeding time when he is on “best” behaviour. If you stand right up next to the glass you’re sure to get wet!

There are hands-on activities downstairs and an array of beautiful fish. Another favorite area is the tropical garden where the birds fly around freely. At certain times of the year the butterflies have hatched and there are hundreds and hundreds flying about. Sometimes they will land on your arm! Children under 3 get in free.

THURSDAY — Science World [bummer: closed 'til March 8 2010]
Science World is unbelievable for every age — babies in a front-carrier will get an eyeful (not recommended for strollers) and toddlers will be in awe. Most of it is “hands-on”. We can easily spend a whole day in there. Depending on age, you can also go to the CN Imax (top floor) and check out the movie. It’s on a gigantic screen and you almost feel like you’re right in the movie. For a lunch break the White Spot, right in Science World, is a nice treat. The Triple-O burger is legendary! Their gift shop has some pretty unique items as well. Children under 4 are free.

FRIDAY — Aldergrove Zoo
Ready for more animals? The Aldergrove Zoo makes you feel like you are in another country! Lions, tigers, giraffes, and almost every animal you can think of. They have these great bike/carriages that you can rent for a family of four. The zoo is spread out over a very large area and there is a little train you can take around. Be prepared to do lots of walking- it’s worth it. The zoo is about an hour outside of Vancouver.

SATURDAY — Shopping
Perfect day for shopping! Be sure to check out Robson street, 4th ave, Commercial Drive and most certainly Main street (between 17th and 25th avenues). There are lots of unique, funky little stores for everyone to enjoy. South Granville also has a nice selection of stores and the Chapters on the corner of Broadway and Granville is a great place to unwind. You can browse through books while sipping your coffee (Starbucks is inside if you are so inclined) while your little one plays at the train table upstairs. It’s especially nice on a rainy Saturday and they often have story time in the kids’ section as well. Call ahead to confirm times.

SUNDAY — Kits Beach
You have to hit at least one beach during the week. Kits Beach is the perfect one for a number of reasons: great playground, wonderful people watching, gorgeous views, tasty food, and a really nice walk that can go on forever if you choose. The Watermark Café is there and if you want something less “restauranty”, there’s take-out at the side of the restaurant.

Shana suggests another great resource for the family-friendly happenings in Vancouver is FindFamilyFun.com.

‘member those candy hearts that say “Me Too” or “Love Ya”? They’re called conversation hearts. A few years ago, Rookie Moms reader, Veronica, suggested that we use our babies to make cards with this Valentine’s Day theme for our family members this year:

Pay homage to the throwback days when you made Valentine’s for every kid in the class! Have baby pose with a cut-out construction heart and matching attire. Once you have a keeper, use Photoshop or your favorite scrapbook program to add fun, quirky sayings to the “conversation” heart!

Be creative and come up with one for everybody on your recipient list! You can send it as an email attachment or have them printed as a 4×6 picture at your local photo center for an instant keepsake!

I just read that the new conversation hearts say “text me” and “tweet me”. Sigh.

Sorry rookie dads, this one is for the ladies.

So, we’re all supposed to do kegels, right? How we’re supposed to remember to do them with all the other stuff new moms are juggling is totally beyond me… so I came up with a brilliant little technique that I can share with you.

Do one for every email you receive in a day. This way, each time you check emails, you can bust out (7) or (12) or (34) depending on how cluttered your inbox is and if you get a lot of junk mail.

My nurse advised me that my little email strategy only works if you get between 50 and 100 emails each day. My friend Susan (a fellow mother of two, and thus an expert!), told me that this is the only way to go: THREE TIMES A DAY DO THE FOLLOWING

1. 10 where you hold for a second and release for a second
2. 10 really quick ones
3. 10 times of 3 seconds holding and 3 seconds resting

Other ideas for squeezing them in:

• Do a set of 10 for each diaper you change.
• Do 3 sets of holding in for 3 seconds at each stoplight.
• Do 50 for each thank-you note you meant to write but didn’t.
• Do one loooooong one while you wait for any web page to load.
• Do 1 for everything on your to-do list that you’re not going to get to again today.
• Do a quick set every time you want to yell at your kiddo, but don’t.
• Follow the KegelFairy on Twitter.

If you still have that yoga ball around — and you’re not currently using it for ab work — get it out to thrill and impress your baby.

We kept ours in Holden’s room for about 22 months — until his new brother was born and the room just got too crowded.

Each morning, he found some new way to explore it. Try one of our home-tested ideas or come up with more of your own:

• Pepper likes rolling around on her tummy on top of the ball. Her mom, Jeanine, supplies the balance.
• Holden [pictured] really likes sitting next to it and pushing on it. When it gets far enough away… it rolls back and he is amazed.
• Julian loves standing next to it while Whitney dribbles it by smacking her hands on top of it. Whoa.

And, no, we’re still not trying to get you to do ab workouts.

By the time I took this picture, Julian was to big for this fleece sling, so I was thrilled to wear Heather’s baby Holden in it. If you don’t already have a sling, consider it.

Wearing your baby keeps him happy, especially if he’s the type that likes to be held all the time. Instead of holding him, you can use your hands for other things, like dialing the phone, telling a story in which you gesture wildly for emphasis, or typing. Once the baby is situated in the sling, you will feel like a free bird. As tempting as it is, please do not hop in your car and drive around town.

You can certainly buy a sling or any other front carrier online, but I recommend going to a local independent baby store. It really helps to have an expert coaching you. Ask to try it on.

Find out if your partner will be willing to wear the sling. If not, choose as girly a pattern as you like. If yes, you might want to stick to black or navy. My husband said yes to the carrier, but not to this one I brought home from CatBirdBaby.

I guess a person who does not carry a purse does not think this is “cute”.

Some women are able to nurse while wearing their baby in a sling. (Not in a back carrying position, obviously!) Anyone have luck with this endeavor?

Just when I’ve run out of ways to say, “Don’t just read this website, DO some of the activities!” I read Meagan Francis’s post about how motherhood doesn’t have to be boring, although it is admittedly filled with boring moments.

She urges her community to take action, to take responsibility for their own happiness. I asked her if I could share her tips here and she was pleased to be able to boss you around.

By the way, Meagan is the author of Table for Eight: Raising a Large Family in a Small-Family World. She’s got five children.

Here are five things she suggests:

Choose challenging media.
Yes, with hundreds of cable channels offering countless reality shows and celebrity scandal recaps and thousands of blogs (some great, some good, some…well, not) it’s easy to get lost in choices and just stick with what’s easy. There’s something to be said for brain candy, but just like real candy, if it’s all you consume you’ll get bloated and squishy. The good news is, you’ve got a lot of great options at your fingertips. If you’re looking for drama and romance, try the History channel. Join a virtual book club or read literary blogs. Subscribe to a newspaper or weighty magazine and force yourself to sit down and read an entire article without getting up to check your email or Tweet.

Take Action.
Instead of mindlessly watching the Food Network for hours a day (guilty!) try buying those exotic ingredients and-gasp!-making something with them. Or if you’ve been zoning out on home-improvement shows, actually hammer a nail into a piece of wood or slap some finish on a piece of furniture. Shake things up. Don’t just passively watch or read–try doing.

Check in with a daily source of inspiration.
I’ve been following the blog Mental Multivitamin for years because her “Hey, you: do something with your brain already” attitude is a nice no-nonsense kick in the pants, and her blog offers a lot of jumping-off points and inspiring ideas.

Learn something new.
Brains get dull when they re-use the same old circuitry over and over. Working to master a new skill or learning new information literally re-wires your brain, creating new connections and making you smarter. So maybe you don’t have the time or funds to take guitar lessons right now–you’ve still got options. Check youtube for free tutorials, subscribe to a magazine, or join a group for enthusiasts. Even if you can’t jump in with both feet, you’ll learn something by osmosis.

Develop Discipline.
Don’t have time to write, or paint, or do yoga, or practice the piano? Baloney. Look how much time you just spent reading this! Hey, part of happy motherhood is learning how to work with the five- or ten-minute blocks of time you’re granted throughout the day. If you wait around for eight undisturbed hours a day to fall into your lap before you can start working on that novel, you’ll be waiting a long time. Look at it this way: a year is going to go by whether you exercise, or write, or draw, or start your business, or don’t. You may as well devote every bit of time you can to the things that really matter to you. Yes, your kids are a big part of that, but they don’t have to be–and really shouldn’t be–the entire enchilada.

Are you inspired? What are you going to do now?

… or How to Host a Clothes Swap Party.

It’s almost January, so it’s time to plan another clothing swap! Whitney totally hates this photo series but I love it. To be fair, she was trying on outfits from the “pass-through” pile.
We’ve mentioned this idea here and there, but maybe it’s time to full-on tell you how to throw a clothing swap on your own.

I have hosted no fewer than nine clothing swaps with my stylish friends and spawned at least three known copycats. For the record, this is better as a a no-kids-allowed event (or just pre-crawlers), so let Daddy take junior out for a hike while you get a little well-deserved girlfriend-time. The whole thing can take less than two hours.

Here’s the step-by-step to planning and hosting:

1. Work with your partner or a babysitter to find a good day for this event. Plan around naps and try to avoid mealtime so that you are not trying to be Martha Stewart while you are running around your living room half-naked.
2. Send out an evite to all your potentially willing friends.
3. Set aside a good hour and clean out your closet of stuff you haven’t worn in a year or wouldn’t want to wear right now if the proper situation presented itself. Be brutal. If you’re feeling those pesky post-partum body issues, get a good friend to help. (Do your marriage the small favor of not asking your husband if your “butt looks big in this”!)
4. Clean and fold the things for the swap. Consider pressing something if you really want it to go to a new home. Have a separate bag of clothes so ugly you’d be embarrassed for your friends to see (stained t-shirts for instance) — these can go in the pass-through pile (modeled by Whitney as “Before”)
5. Think about how you’ll set up your space for the event. Is there a mirror handy in the living room or will you have to tidy up your room too? Is there space for hanging clothes? If you have room to “merchandise” your stuff, it is a little more fun to “shop”.
6. Make little signs — use the computer or write on index cards what the categories of clothing are so that guests can sort their offerings. (Download our labels here.) And, have a few blank labels available for the day of.

On the day of the event: tidy up, wear cute underwear, get some appetizers or have your friends bring them, and wait for everyone to bring you new clothes! We usually start out browsing the piles casually enough and trying stuff on here and there. Once you try on a cute spangly dress, it is fair game for someone else to have a go at it. Let your friends decide who really looks best in it. I am notorious for trying to get my hands on everyone’s good stuff.

Afterward, get someone to help you load the car or take stuff directly to the charity.

Note: we often have a grab bag category, maternity, men’s clothes, shoes, and baby clothes.

If you’re still not convinced, here are my top ten reasons to host a clothing swap:

1. eat drink and be merry (just easy snacks and spa water)
2. enjoy a fun afternoon with friends
3. feel good about donating to a worthy cause
4. get a heap of new clothes for free (especially good if you have a changing-mom-body!)
5. get a license to buy a couple new pieces for all your thrift
6. get to know your friends in a whole new way
7. play dress-up and get silly
8. purge yourself of unwanted clothes
9. re-gift your recent holiday loot (I like to hold mine in January)