We hope transitions to school and September schedules go well and that you continue to find helpful resources at My Little Buddha–we’ve got lots of good posts on starting preschool in the Library under Preschooler (which help for toddlers too!).

Please feel free to check in with us and we will keep you posted on our latest news. We are so grateful to share this time with you exploring the world of raising young kids.

As always, thanks for reading!

Each issue features a young animal on the cover, a simple story, a maze, some questions and answers and a matching game. Often there are cards to cut out of different animals. The square magazine is just right for small hands, and kids enjoy reading the pages over and over again.

The National Geographic Little Kids site is a bit thin on the magazine description. They’ve developed Little Kids for ages 3-6. We also subscribe to their National Geographic Kids magazine which is great for the early grade years.

butter LONDON’s colors are so good we have to pass them on.

And then we start talking about the Anti-Aging Mist. Spray that on and then dab on the oil–we are rejuvenated. We can walk to the kitchen and make breakfast for small children. We might even whip up french toast.

MVO products are organic, natural and well formulated. EWG lists their sunscreens as some of the best. The Anti-Aging Oil (we’ve graduated to the Anti-Aging Oil+) and Mist are our favorites, worth trying out their other products too.

rms beauty

Celebrity make-up artist Rose-Marie Swift created rms beauty and includes information about skincare as well as the ingredients in her organic, mineral products. A great line, really thought out and so easy to apply.

Our first go around with Amelia learning to ride involved training wheels and a lot of running behind the bike, falls on the grass, and scraped knees. Training wheels are helpful but they rattle and the bike dips from side to side and I never knew how much I didn’t prefer them until once again I’ve avoided them. Or the achy back from hunching over to hold the back of the seat while she learned to stay upright. The first few days Oliver sometimes wanted a little help holding the handle bars straight as he started out, now he’s completely on his own.

I love the LIKEaBIKE for preschoolers, hands down the boys’ favorite. The fact that it also teaches them to ride a bike makes it even better.

It’s official, we created a market and the products are here!

Today the questions for the safer sunscreen shopper concern application, scent and staying power: which is easy to apply and how white will it look, will my kids be okay with the smell, is it too slimy, and is it well mixed or will we notice that sometimes we get red faces even when reapplied in a timely manner?

We’ve learned these are personal questions best resolved by trial and error–we might love Badger and someone else finds it too white and cakey. Sometimes we dabble with new products, otherwise we stick to what’s become the usual. Our sunscreens of 2011 include California Baby lotion and stick, TruKid Sunny Days stick and Marie Veronique Kid Safe Screen, and we remain big fans of Epicuren Zinc Oxide Sunscreen SPF 20 for adult faces.

The SafeMama Sunscreen Cheat Sheet offers the easiest to use sunscreen lists and safer sunscreen information.

For some kids, camps are a great escape, an adventure from routine. We fall into the one or two week of camp max category. The rest of the days we hold a loose schedule of waking up, checking our energy level and then formulating a plan. We bike, hike, take swim lessons, go to the library, make picnics. Often summer themes develop, last year most days we walked our puppy to the coffee shop for late morning eggs and afternoons rode bikes up and down the same hill.

I book some babysitting time, play days with other kids to keep the mood positive. The kids still fight and they also build forts. We go to bed a little later and wake up slower. And as much as I can’t wait to begin, by the end of August I will long for the arrival of the morning school bus. Summer is perfect that way.

Last May six hours into canning raspberry jam with berries picked from our garden, homemade labels by the kids and a kitchen stained red, I looked at the four tiny jam jars on the counter and thought, is that all? Surely after reaching this extreme we should have jars and jars, enough to stock a Whole Foods shelf. I made a silent vow to go small next time, think simple.

This year, the kids and I talked about potting a plant, making bookmarks, finding a special book. We’ve decided on fruit from the Sunday farmers market. We’re not sure yet on presentation, maybe a basket or decorated tote or even paper bag, with a handmade card–paints with potato or sponge stamps, coloring pens or pencils, or crayons. And once the craziness of the end of school settles, I’m going to write a note to the teachers sharing my appreciation for their work and sparkle with the kids. I’m surprised at how much I enjoy writing these letters, to reflect on the year and what it’s been about for the kids. As school years start to speed up, I love how the letters slow time for a moment.

“[T]he mandatory crib standards will: (1) stop the manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs; (2) make mattress supports stronger; (3) make crib hardware more durable; and (4) make safety testing more rigorous.”

The rules start rolling out in June with crib manufacturers and retailers, and allow 2 years for compliance by child care centers, hotels and other facilities providing cribs:

“Effective June 2011, cribs manufactured, sold, or leased in the United States must comply with the new federal standards. Effective 24 months after the rule is published, child care facilities, such as family child care homes and infant Head Start centers, and places of public accommodation, such as hotels and motels, must have compliant cribs in their facilities.”

The CPSC believes that most drop side cribs are less safe than fixed side cribs and lists manufacturers issuing recalls and providing immobilizers for drop sides. They also created a Questions & Answers page to explain the regulations in more detail.

Safer cribs are a great thing, the only challenge will be reaching over the rail to get older babies and toddlers out of the cribs when the mattresses are at the lowest settings. Be careful of your lower back!