Babies are Angels

Babies are Angels that fly to the earth,
their wings disappear at the time of their birth,
one look in their eyes and we're never the same.
They're part of us now and that part has a name,
that part is your heart and a bond that won't sever,
our Babies are Angels, we love them forever.

From Grandma Angela, an angel herself ;)

How to make Apple Rabbits

Making food into decorative shapes is a favorite children’s bento lunch technique in Japan, where it’s become an art form. Cutting fruit into fun shapes is one way to get your picky eaters interested in their food; I’m game as long as it doesn’t take much time or effort.

To make an apple bunny, first cut an apple into eight wedges and remove the core. With a sharp knife, cut a shallow V-shape into the skin about an eighth of an inch deep. If you’re making a half-size miniature apple rabbit, first cut the apple wedge in half so it’s short, then score a V-shaped incision in the skin with the tips of the ears pointing towards the squared-off, cut end. I like to start the tips of the ears about two-thirds of the way up the apple to expose a little apple ‘body’, but that’s just personal preference. Play around!

O resto em Lunch in a Box

Copos e Narizes

Calling all party animals - here are the perfect beverage
cups to let you express your inner beast! Drinking from
these double- coated durable 9 oz cups turns anybody’s
nose into something WILD. Perfectly sized for both kids
and adults, each pack of Pick Your Nose/Party Animals
includes 24 cups in 6 assorted animal styles. The clear box
has a picture of an adult on one side and an adorable
youth on the other...clever huh?


From Fred & Friends ;)

6 de Fevereiro / February 6th

The Newborn

This morsel of man I've held -
What potency it has,
Though strengthless still and naked as
A nut unshelled!

Cecil Day-Lewis para o filho, Daniel Day-Lewis

Experts have plenty of advice for new parents. If only they could agree.

«I AM RAISING my baby all wrong. You're probably raising your baby wrong, too. I have it on good authority. The authority comes from an assortment of books, mostly large-format paperbacks, strewn around my living room. I can tell they are addressed to me because most of them have "Your Baby" in the title or subtitle.

(...)

Feed the baby cereal with a spoon. Feed the baby cereal with your finger.

(...)

Consider the pacifier. "Most babies don't need them and are better off without," Penelope Leach declares. "Pacifiers," the American Academy of Pediatrics counters, "do not cause any medical or psychological problems."

Or the perilous issue of whether a baby should sleep with its parents. "Family beds do have snags and it's sensible to foresee them if you can so that you can weigh the pros and cons," Leach writes, on tiptoe. The American Academy of Pediatrics chooses its side by omitting "family bed" and "co-sleeping" from its index altogether; the Searses, partisans of love and attachment, present a bullying hard sell for cuddling through the night: "If there were fewer cribs, would there be fewer crib deaths?"»

(...)

Hilarious ;)

A TimesOnline special
devoted to
Arts and Entertainment
for Children ;)

LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities

Arte em Papel: o Navio-Escola Sagres

Built in 1937 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, the Sagres II began life as a German Navy training vessel known as the Albert Leo Schlageter. Damaged in World War II, she was subsequently confiscated by the United States and given to Brazil, where she served through 1961 as a training vessel under the name Guanabara. Following a sale to the Portuguese Navy, she became the training vessel Sagres II, a role that continues through today. Her name comes from the Sagres Cape, the site of the world's first marine school, established by Prince Henry the Navigator in the 15th century. Its sails feature the Cross of Malta, which was emblazoned on sails of Portuguese vessels during the Age of Discovery.

Ahhhh, pois é ;)

Happy Birthday, LEGO ;)

50 years old on January, 28 :)

The art of Sean Kenney, official Lego artist - what a job!

O Órgão do Mar em Zadar, na Croácia

Eu quero ir à Croácia!
Desde sempre, desde o belíssimo e despojado pavilhão da Croácia na Expo'98, e ainda mais depois de o Miguel lá ter ido em viagem pela Europa e nos mostrar fotos lindas, lindas daquele país à beira Adriático plantado!
Esta intervenção urbanística ganhou o European Prize for Urban Public Space de 2006 (nós não temos nem unzinho :(



Mais informações na página do Órgão de Zadar, em inglês.

The Sea organ is an architectural object located in Zadar, Croatia and an experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps. The waves create somewhat random but harmonic sounds. The device was made by the architect Nikola Bašić as part of the project to redesign the old city coast (riva), and the site was opened to the public on April 15, 2005.

(Wikipedia)



Podemos quase fazer como esta família amorosa, e ouvir o som do órgão no YouTube, essa maravilha da internet ;)

E tudo isto foi obra de uma amiga, por email.
Saudades!!!

Catraios.net

Excelente listagem de tudo o que possa interessar a Catraios e seus pais ;)

Jogos Tradicionais, Televisão, Personagens, Brinquedos, Marcas e Lojas, Parques e Brincadeiras em geral, etc., etc.

Noah's Bed

Malawian peanut Futali

Where peanut farmer Judith Harry lives in Mkanda, Malawi, most farmers subsist below the poverty line: 'They earn below $1 every day and do not have enough food to last them the whole year. I start work at 3.30 every morning. Last year I grew enough groundnuts to make 14,000 jars of peanut butter and I have been able to build my family a brick house with concrete foundations and a tin roof.'

Serves 4-6

4 medium sized sweet potatoes or half a pumpkin, washed and peeled and cut into pieces
60g peanut flour
pinch salt
a handful fairtrade peanuts, chopped

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the sweet potatoes or pumpkin pieces and cook until almost tender. Drain the water off once they are cooked. Add the peanut flour and salt and mash everything together. Stir continuously, and continue cooking for a further few minutes until the mixture is almost dry. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

Brinquedos de Madeira

Em barda, a bom preço, variadíssimos e muito fofos, nas lojas Ale-Hop.
Há no Centro Comercial Alegro, no Almada Fórum e nas galerias do Campo Pequeno.
Até fiquei parva, e só espero que não seja uma moda e que ainda haja para quando o Lucas começar a mexericar em tudo ;)

How to hug a baby

THE FOLLOWING ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVERY DOG TO KNOW
Instructions for properly hugging a baby.

1. First, spy a baby.


2. Second, be sure that the object you spied was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques. If you smell baby powder and the wonderful aroma of wet diapers this is indeed
a baby.


3. Next you will need to flatten the baby before actually beginning the hugging process.


**Note: The added slobber should help in future steps by making the 'paw slide' easier.

4. The 'paw slide'
Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up.



5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented 'hug, smile, and lean' so as to achieve the best photo quality.



Dogs, if this is properly done, it will secure you a warm, dry, climate-controlled environment for the rest of your life!

O Grande Livro do Bebé

Primeiras páginas (hiperligação PDF)

Sinopse: O nascimento de um filho é um momento único na vida dos pais. Chegados a casa, inicia-se uma fantástica aventura onde todas as horas, noites, dias, semanas, meses, contam. O primeiro ano de vida é longo, repleto de dúvidas, perguntas, inquietações e momentos críticos. Estes doze meses intensos são fundamentais para a personalidade e o desenvolvimento do vosso filho. Infelizmente, ou felizmente, o vosso bebé não vem com «manual de instruções». O autor foca todas as necessidades fundamentais do bebé – alimentação, sono, desenvolvimento, saúde e conforto – que são objecto de grande preocupação por parte dos pais. – Devo dar de mamar?– Posso dar banho ao meu bebé recém-nascido?– Como combater a febre?– Que alimentos pode comer o meu bebé aos 6 meses?– O meu filho não dorme bem, é normal? O que posso fazer?– O que é melhor para o meu filho, ficar em casa com os avós ou ir para o infantário?

100 books every child should read

Part 1: Early years

Part 2: Middle years

Part 3: Early teens

Telegraph

Parent Tip: How not to laugh

It happens to everyone. Out of the blue, your child says something hilariously inappropriate like, "Mommy, you're weally PISSIN' ME OFF!" and your reaction will help determine the level of smart assedness in the kid's future. So what's a parent with a healthy sense of humor supposed to do?!

I read somewhere that it is hard to smile if your eyebrows are raised (assuming you're Boxtox-free). So while it might look freakish, I've learned that lifting the brows really, really high can buy you enough time run to the bathroom. There, running water can drown out the sounds of a convulsive laughing fit until you're able to pull yourself together and stop pissin' off the small fry.

From ParentDish

Fraldiário

Da abundante biblioteca da Poison Ivy,
e ainda bem porque na página da Editorial Bizâncio diz que está esgotado - francamente!
É o que vos digo, quem quer boas bibliotecas arranja bons amigos :-Þ

Estas imagens são sobre as milhentas compras que pensamos ter de fazer para o bebé.
Em todo o livro, a cereja no topo do bolo para mim, mas em rodapé, são os Conselhos de Pessoas Sem Filhos, que eu ainda sou, mas que espero não ter dado a ninguém ;)

Deixo aqui já um sobre amamentação:
«Deve surgir naturalmente, com essa coisa chamada 'instinto maternal'.
Quero dizer, a mulher das cavernas conseguia dar de mamar sem consultores de lactação, não é verdade?»

Wishlist: Elephants: A Book for Children

The art of Steve Bloom