Isacolick's blog

Best Muppets Music Video

This video is hysterical

Danny boy (by Muppets)

How to Catch a Star

How to Catch a Star

My three year old loves this book. It's imaginative, it slows him down and it makes him think. It  shows problem solving. The boy doesn't give up, is patient, and shows resourcefulness. The boy shows emotions; frustration, sad, loneliness, and eventually happiness.The illustrations are  artistic and simple.

Ok. It's just a fun book to read.

Milestone #2 for Dad of Two

The Big Orange Splot

D. Manus Pinkwater

My first real milestone was taking 3.5 yr old Ronan and 10 week old girl Pietra to the park for the day. That was a couple of weeks ago. Last night I experienced milestone #2 while putting Ronan to bed. I read Ronan's favorite books while holding Pietra in my arms. After the third book, both of them were asleep.

I celebrate the small stuff.

Baby's First Visit to Bloomingdales

Grandma and Mom took my one month old daughter to Bloomingdales today. I'm told that this is an official development milestone. Ugh. At least she slept through the full experience.

Reminds me of when we went to the hospital during my wife's pregnancy for the twenty week sonogram. After the test, we went to buy a parking token and the very Italian attendant asked us, "So, how did it go"? My wife replied to him, "Good, we're having a girl". He looked at me, sized me up for a second and said, "You over there. Better start saving your money."

Follow the Sun Around The World

Under the sun

Another oldie (is 1987 an oldie?) but a goodie for the 2-43 crowd. Under the Sun is in the library of my son's daycare. A child asks here mom where the sun goes at night. The ensuing pages follow the sun across San Francisco, Hawaii, Japan, and other places around the world.

Another neat, easy, and fun way to introduce the world and  travel to your youngster.

Everything in the whole wide world

Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum

My son loves this book. It's vintage 1974 and a hand me down gift from a good friend. Grover enters the museum that has everything in the whole wide world and learns about things that are in the air, things in the water, big things, small things, heavy things, etc. You get the idea. It's entertaining for a three year old but probably a better book for a two year old that is learning new words.

Almost all modern children's books have only one theme or concept per page and I'm guessing that research shows that this style is easier for children. This book is different  and reads and is illustrated like a comic book; each page divided into sections that read/flow in a chronological order. It's a more interesting read for both the parent and child.

Add a TripConnect Travel Profile on Facebook

Facebook officially released there API about ten days ago and many developers and organizations are in a rush to complete their apps. When I first looked at the API, I was a bit skeptical about the functionality and the benefit in building an app. But I came back after Memorial Day Weekend and immediately set the team working on an application for TripConnect.

The current version of the TripConnect Application allows Facebook members to build a travel profile and publish parts of it on their Facebook profile page. I have a screenshot below of my profile object showing my favorite destinations, places I want to go, and  my travel interests. If you're a Facebook member, you can also add the TripConnect Application.

Facebook clearly rushed the announcement and release of the API. While MySpace is building their walled garden and finding ways to prevent third parties from integrating their components, Facebook is taking the exact opposite approach and allowing developers to plug in their apps. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Facebook is putting some controls on their application directory and their terms of service reserves them rights to charge fees in the future.

The API has promise. There is a markup language (fbml) for dynamic publishing pages (called a canvas on Facebook) and a query language (fql) for making sql like queries of the Facebook data structures. There are development kits for almost all of the popular web development platforms. But the API looks like it was rushed out the door. Many users are having trouble with authentication, cache'ing and other integration bits. I publish a separate blog for software developers and technologists and plan to put some development hints up there in the near future.

TripConnect Profile Object on Facebook

Any Advice? Our Second Child is Due on Sunday!

We're expecting our second child on Sunday - or so the docs tell us. They'll let my wife go a week late or they will recommend to induce labor.

So I hope to become a father of two within the next week. My son is three and we've been explaining things all along the pregnancy to get him interested, excited, and not fearing the major changes to come...

We've prepped as much as we're willing to and have the major necessities; a bassinet, car seat, etc. Whatever we don't have I'm sure I can pick up from Target when the baby is born. But for the most part, we've been relaxing and taking it easy fully knowing that our lives will be turned upside down again.

Any last minute advice?

Teaching Kids to Love Travel

Gigi & Jacques Adventures in Paris (Parkplace Entertainment)

Some time ago, I interviewed the Six In The World Family about their yearlong trip around the world. I asked Anne, mom of the family, how she got her kids enthusiastic about travel. One suggestion she had was to introduce travel related books at a young age as a way to get kids interested in other countries, cultures, foods, languages, etc.

Her advice made sense and I'm always on the hunt for good travel related books for my three year old. Gigi and Jacques Adventures in Paris is one of these books. My son asks to see the Eiffel Tower, walk the Champ d'Elise and sample croissants because of the book. The story is fun and the illustrations are excellent. Best of all, the author does an excellent job of weaving in some easy French phrases into the storyline.

The book is hard to get and I think Grandma picked it up at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. (Note - not suggesting you fly to Vegas to pick up the book, but then again, that's not such a bad idea!)

How To Negotiate With A Three Year Old

It amazes me how strong of a negotiator my three year old can be. I’m not talking about his occasional demanding whining tantrums. He knows what he wants, what things I want, and how to get under my skin. He makes attempts to negotiate ‘the deal’. Yes, he uses those words. “I get to play with my cars, we read a book, and then we go to sleep. That’s the deal.”

Most of the wheeling and dealing comes around bed time. He’s developed an array of stall tactics and my job is to get him though the bedtime routine without detours or delays. Most nights it’s a struggle, but for months now I’ve been trying to figure out how and why I can sometimes get him in bed, lights out, and on his way to sleep with minimal fuss. I’ve narrowed it down to four key principals:

1. Be forceful, but do not force – A three year old can read you like a pro at the poker table. He can sense weakness in your delivery. He knows that he can test you if you look desperate. And if you force something on her, she’ll just fight back even harder. Your message, tone of voice, facial expression, and body language needs to be forceful, but can not demand or show desperation or weakness. I can see it in my son’s face when I deliver a message successfully. He’s looking in my eyes half worried and almost saying, ‘oh s-it, I better listen’.

2. Dangle the carrot – This should be something your son wants to do or wants you to do at some future time. The key here is a future event – not something that he expects to receive in five minute. And it needs to be an event, not something physical like candy or a toy. In my case, my son wants me to visit him at night and ‘sit in the chair’ – his way of saying come to the room and check on him. So my delivery is, “if you want me to come and sit in the chair, you need to lie down and go to sleep. Now”.

3. Give them no better option – Once you deliver your message and dangle your carrot, it’s critical that your child realize that she better obey because you’re not offering any better option. If you lay out options, then your child will sense that there’s room to negotiate and will test you. Repeating your forceful message and reminding him of the carrot helps and eventually, your child should get it.

4. Know when to call an audible – Stealing a football term; an audible is when the quarterback is at the line of scrimmage, reads the defense, and makes a change or audible to the play that was called in a huddle. I’m not a huge football fan, but I think the analogy is perfect especially if you’re working with a very tired child that’s on the borderline of throwing a tantrum. If your child is demanding something, then maybe you chose the wrong carrot. If he is feeling ill, then being forceful may not be the best approach. The problem is, if you do decide to audible then you have to be careful not to give your child that hint of weakness or opening to negotiate.

Now I’m no expert and my family knows that getting my son to sleep has been a challenge, but I’m pretty sure this works. Let me know if this works for you or if you have other approaches!