While I prefer to decorate my living spaces with more neutral colors, I do understand that bright colors and babies go together like peanut butter and jelly. And just like peanut butter and jelly, bright colors can be revolting if done poorly (like those PB&J sandwiches in the elementary school cafeteria), but they can be fabulous if done well.

Kushies knows how to do bright colors better than anyone. Their Zolo Toys have funky, offbeat designs with plenty of bright colors that are truly easy on the eyes. The Linko Clip Together Teether and Toys resembles other linking toys, but it includes lots of different textures and color combinations to keep little ones (and their aching gums) occupied.

The Mobilo Crib Carousel Mobile provides plenty of entertainment value too - the hanging stuffed animals are detachable (by parents, not by baby), the underside of the carousel canopy is mirrored, and it’s got the same fantastic variety of color combinations.

My favorite Zolo Toy has to be the Stacrobats Magnetic Stacking Acrobats. These five little guys stick together (and to the accompanying colorful balls) to form all sorts of poses on the magnetic base. I must have played with these Stacrobats for a good fifteen minutes all by myself. If they can occupy a thirty-something woman who really ought to be vacuuming, I’m certain that babies and toddlers will find them infinitely entertaining.

But it’s EQ - the Theory of Emotional Intelligence - that makes these toys really cool and unique. With the help of child development experts, Kushies created these toys to tap into kids’ self-expression and emotional self-confidence. The idea is that playing with toys that are geared toward EQ involves more and different brain cells than most other baby toys, which in turn “helps to create more open-minded and flexible thinkers.” Even after having three kids, I’m still no child development expert, so I’ll have to take Kushies’ word for it - at least until my youngest child grows up and I can evaluate whether his Zolo Toys helped him become a more open-minded and flexible thinker than his big sisters.

Kushies is about more than just toys. They’ve got a wide range of gear, including clothing, swimwear, and outerwear - including buntings, snowsuits, and the adorable Splish Splash Rain Jacket and Pant Set. Like the Kushies Zolo Toys, it’s the details of this set that make it so fantastic. The hood of the jacket has a visor (genius!), and both the jacket and pants have reflective strips to ensure that the wearer is visible, even in stormy weather. And the bright colors - including cornflower blue, petal pink, and sunny yellow - make the set all the more appealing.

Has Kushies converted me to the bright side? Well, that depends. If the brightness comes from them, I’m definitely on board. Just keep it confined to the adorable child and his nursery, that’s all I ask.

I’ve lived in Colorado for almost three years now, and I’m still struck by the wideness of the skies here. It’s fascinating to me that I can see all the way from the mountains in the west to the plains in the east. Even now, I keep expecting to find a skyline obstructing my view.

Back east, the skies were narrow strips of blue (or, more often, gray) directly overhead. At night, I couldn’t see the stars or the moon. Even from our apartment in New Jersey, with its panoramic view, I could see more skyscrapers than sky.

I loved the city, and I still hope to live there again someday, but I have to admit that often, it felt equally both inspiring and oppressive.

But after reading Felicia Sullivan’s memoir, The Sky Isn’t Visible From Here, I realized that my hard times in the city are a walk in Central Park compared to the difficulties she endured there - first as a child growing up in Brooklyn, and later as a young professional in Manhattan.

Her tales of working-class life in Brooklyn with a single mother who moved from job to job (and man to man) were disheartening at best, horrifying at worst. While I was shocked by the descriptions of the drug use and sex she witnessed even as a young child, I was saddened most by her increasing need to wall herself off from the people closest to her - friends, family, and her own mother - as they continually betrayed her. As I told Felicia, I wished we were back in sixth grade so that I could invite her over for dinner and a sleepover.

Likewise, her stories of professional and social life in Manhattan resonated with me as well. While copious quantities of alcohol were as far as I went, I still struggled to cope with the peaks and valleys inherent to living and working in New York - particularly in a technical field at the height of the dot-com boom (and subsequent bust). It was a time that seemed to push many people toward addictive and destructive behaviors. Some of us got off easy; and some, like Felicia, bottomed out before recovering.

The memoir is written not in strict chronological fashion. Rather, Felicia alternates between excerpts from her childhood and from her young adulthood. This juxtaposition of time periods adds both interest and suspense - at the end of each excerpt, I looked forward to the continuation of the excerpt that had come before - and kept the pace from bogging down (as I’ve found that it often does in chronologically-told histories).

While it’s heartening to me that Felicia has found a father in Gus - her mother’s former fiance, one of many people she has left behind - it’s heartbreaking to read about her relationship with her mother.  As a mother myself, I honestly can’t imagine treating a child so carelessly.  I can’t imagine being the child of such a mother - the conflicting emotions I know I would have were I in Felicia’s position.

Even so, it’s the final chapter, titled “Before Cocaine”, that makes me the saddest of all - a day spent with her mother at Coney Island in 1984.  The fun that they had together is overshadowed by Felicia’s desire to tell her mother that she loves her, but she resists, afraid that by doing so, she will spoil the closeness they’ve shared that day.  The idea that one of my children might ever be afraid to tell me that they love me is almost unfathomable.

I don’t know if Felicia’s relationship with her mother could ever be salvaged, or if the sadness of her childhood could ever be overcome, but I admire her for having the courage to write such an honest account of her pain.  I can only hope that by doing so, she has been able to make peace with her past.

To purchase your own copy of The Sky Isn’t Visible From Here, click here. 

Before I had my son, I used to say that my younger daughter was as much of a boy as I could possibly handle. She’s extremely physical - running, jumping, and climbing much more than my older daughter ever did at the same age - and she prefers to wear shoes that don’t get in her way. Thick-soled shoes are a total no-go, and even shoes with flexible soles are usually kicked off at the earliest opportunity. Apparently it’s much easier for her to scale the kitchen counters with bare feet.

Up until now, her shoes of choice have been a pair of Robeez - her “monkey shoes”, as she calls them. But Robeez are no match for wet and snowy sidewalks and grass, so choosing shoes has become a battle this winter. Plus, now that she’s three, she’s outgrowing the Robeez offerings.

I think I’ve found the perfect solution in the new line of shoes from pediped - pediped Flex. They’re rubber-soled shoes in a larger range of sizes than pediped Originals (EU 22-29/US 6-12), and while the soles are more substantial than the Originals or other soft-soled shoes, they are surprisingly flexible. That means my little monkey’s feet are protected outside, but she can still run and jump and climb with ease.

But what did she think of the shoes? When she came home from school, instead of immediately sitting down on the floor to remove her shoes and socks like she usually does, she left them on. It was only when, hours later, she decided to put on her pajamas that she took the shoes off. That’s the best indication of comfort that I could possibly expect from her, and it’s a guarantee that I’ll check out the rest of the pediped Flex line.

pediped Flex is available as of February 28 in nine styles for girls and six styles for boys.

One of my least favorite aspects of preparing for Oliver’s arrival was the influx of brightly colored plastic accoutrements that seem to go hand-in-hand with those first three years of babyhood. I had just gotten rid of nearly all of it, and now I had to start accumulating it all over again - and buy stock in Duracell.

So I was practically giddy when this Inglesina M’Home Loft Baby Rocker arrived. Not only is it sleek and modern - almost like a real piece of furniture - it’s basic black. And bonus points for the fact that it doesn’t take batteries.

Does Oliver like it? I’d tell you to ask him, but he’s sleeping peacefully as I write.

Like all Inglesina products, this rocker’s not cheap.  Retail price is $120, and it doesn’t vibrate or play Fur Elise.  But it is thoughtfully designed, both in terms of the baby’s comfort and safety and the parents’ sensibilities, and sturdily crafted too.  If you’re just starting a family and plan to have at least one more child, it’s a decent investment.

The M’Home line also includes two highchairs (the Zuma and the Club - I have to admit I’m drooling over both of them) and a combination changing/bathing station called the Spa.

Although we are typically a family of healthy eaters - meaning that we eat healthy food and a lot of it - I’ll freely admit that my personal standards go out the window (and head straight for the nearest Long John Silver’s) when I’m pregnant.

The way I see it, I can’t drink and I can’t ride my bike and toward the end I can’t even put on my shoes without contorting myself.  I deserve those Reese’s cups, dammit.

But yesterday, my third (and final) baby was born.  And back on the Reese’s cup wagon I go.

Being healthy is important to Kyle and me because we’d like to stick around for a while.  Moreover, we want to model healthy habits for our own kids so that they’ll hopefully stick around even longer than we do.  It’s all well and good to heap broccoli on your child’s plate, but you really ought to take a helping for yourself too.

Beyond the fruits and veggies, we’re taking other steps to eat even more healthfully.  I read Fast Food Nation when it came out, and I read it again recently.  Not only did those readings impress upon me the importance of avoiding the golden arches (although Kyle does take the girls as a treat after a morning of swimming), they made me think about the quality of the meat we prepare and serve at home.  We’re avowed omnivores, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  So it’s important for us to educate ourselves about what we’re eating and how we’re preparing it.

Colorado’s independent ranchers are disappearing.  Huge meatpacking plants (including feedyards), like the one in Greeley described in Fast Food Nation, are becoming the norm.  I like the idea of supporting the local economy by purchasing locally ranched meat.

Likewise, while we’re big patrons of the produce section, I want to branch out beyond the baby carrots and seedless green grapes.  There’s all sorts of ways to prepare produce so that we aren’t just ticking off our daily servings - we’re actually enjoying them!  Plenty of local farmers markets and fruit and vegetable picking farms offer a great way to buy fresh produce while providing an afternoon of family entertainment.

Another step we recently took, mainly out of convenience but with many added benefits, was our switch to milk delivery.  It’s more expensive, but it tastes better, lasts longer, and is locally produced without additives.

A big change that I plan to implement for myself is portion control.  Sure, I’m eating healthy foods - but I’m still probably eating too much of them at once.  I need to pay more attention to the serving sizes that I’m consuming, whether it’s labeled on the box or I’m just eyeballing what’s on my plate.

Finally, I’m kicking my soda habit that I established this pregnancy.  I’ve never been a soda drinker; we hardly ever have it around the house.  But for some reason, it’s what I’ve wanted to drink.

No more.  I’m back to water, seltzer, and a new habit - tea.  Those are my daytime drinks, because I’d rather spend my calories on something that requires a little noshing.  Much more satisfying.

So while I wouldn’t call any of these inititatives a resolution, they’re all small changes that complement our family’s current eating habits and will help us become even healthier in 2008.

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Write your own post today about how you plan to eat more healthfully in 2008, and you could win a $50 gift card to Kroger - the largest supermarket chain in the US.  Go get the details at PBN, and check out Kroger’s website while you’re at it - they’ve got some great information about choosing and preparing meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables, along with a ton of recipes that even provide nutrition information per serving!