Wee Can Sign Workshop

Tuesday September 30th 10am

Come and enjoy a free baby sign language class for parents and children, ages birth - 3years. Learn how to introduce signs to young children using books, songs and toys!

Long before they can speak, children can communicate using their hands. Babies and toddlers can show you what they want, what they need, and what they are thinking about using American Sign Language. Signing allows a child to communicate effectively with his or her parents and caregivers reducing frustration and reinforcing positive communication and behavior.

Enter now to win an Olive and Bean Gift Certificate!

Teensygreen is a hip modern blog that strives to bring smart and practical innovations of all things eco for modern parents, whatever your shade of green.

We are giving away three gift certificates for three winners! Two gift certificates are for $50, and one is for $25. Visit Teensygreen and leave a comment with an answer to this - what would buy with your Olive and Bean gift certificate? Winners will be chosen at random. This contest will be open until next Friday, October 3rd at midnight, PST. Good luck!

Fads in names may come and go, but trends are destined to stick around for a while. Here are some of the trends that are influencing the names that parents are bestowing on their babies.

The Last Shall Be First

Here’s one for the guys: Almost one-quarter of today’s 100 most popular boy baby names are common last names. That’s about twice the rate seen in 1980s. Many of these last-names-first are longtime favorites like Thomas, Alexander, and Charles. But the trend is bringing many less traditional names to the front of the line, including Connor, Tyler, Logan, Dylan, and Jackson.

Top Tip: Looking for something different, yet familiar? Check out the last names listed in the white pages of your phone book.

What’s Old is New

Give credit to Jane Austen for the upsurge in popularity of Emma, the second most-dubbed name for girls in 2006. But there are plenty of other names with the patina of age. The trend is especially common for girls, and includes names like Abigail, Victoria, Olivia, Hannah, Alexandra, Claire, and Grace.

Top Tip: Scout out popular fiction from the Revolution onward to find names with a place in history.

Welcome to Hollywoodland

Celebrities have always been a popular source of baby names, and not just stars: The name Truman peaked in 1945 at No. 249 in the hit parade. But with today’s Hollywood-gossip drenched society, its no surprise that Tinsel Town has produced a bumper crop of baby names. Among the top 100: Angelina, Jennifer, Sofia, Faith, Nicole, Mariah, Jada, Ethan, and Aiden.

Top Tip: Avoid names that are too closely associated with a single celebrity. Think of those little girls who will grow up hoping they were named after Paris, France.

From Foreign Shores

Names with a distinctive ethnic or cultural lilt are emigrating into the lists of popular names for both boys and girls. Caitlin — in all its glorious incarnations — is probably the most popular name for girls. Among the most common ethnic and foreign names are Isabella, Ethan, Chloe, Hailey, Gabriel, Mackenzie, and Alexandra.

Top Tip: Rent a few foreign films from places that intrigue you and mine them for baby name possibilities.

Places and Things

At one time, you needed a name dictionary to decipher the meaning of a name. For many of today’s top monikers, no translation is needed. Baby Madison might be named after the city or our fourth President, but either way there’s no danger that her name means “lover of wheat” or a similar obscure origin. Among these places and things names are: Grace, Savannah, Angel, Trinity, Faith, and Brooklyn.

Top Tip: Anyone for a game of State Capitals? Hmmm…Pierre, Montgomery, Phoenix, Dover, Denver, Helena….

For more baby naming articles click here

The other day a girlfriend mentioned that she made homemade playdough for her two year old daughter. My mom was the queen of homemade play recipes. Growing up we had a lot of fun with basic household pantry ingredients.

Check out the Nature Moms Blog for a few great recipes to try with your little ones.

Make Your Own Bubbles

1 qt water
8 tbs glycerin, can be purchased at drug stores
6-8 tbs Ivory dish soap
Mix all ingredients together and use outdoors with bubble blowers.

Natural and Safe Finger Paint

1/3 cup soap flakes melted with 1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup cold water

A few drops juice dyes (combine a 1/4 cup of the colored food like beets, blueberries, or raspberries with 2 cups water, simmer for an hour. Cool, strain, and use as coloring).

RICE FLOUR PLAY DOUGH
from the Lisa Lewis book “Special Diets for Special Kids”.

1/2 c. white rice flour
1/2 c. corn starch
1/2 c. salt
2 t. cream of tartar
1 c. water
1 t. cooking oil

Cook all ingredients over low heat until you can form a ball. When cool, store in zipper plastic bag.

We are excited to share a sneak peak of new lines we will be carrying soon. We saw hundreds of companies exhibiting at the ABC Baby Tradeshow here in Vegas. We combed the show floor looking for new exciting products to offer our customers. From eco baby furniture, custom modern art canvas to stylish cloth diapers we saw it all! The best part was meeting the owners and designers behind the best modern brands in the world. The new generation of better design for babies is inspiring and invigorating. We love that stuff!

Here are a few teeny tiny sneakpeaks of new stuff to find at Olive and Bean:

Monte Design Group was founded when owners Ralph and Michelle Montemurro had their third child; the nursery items they had were not congruent with the modern aesthetic of their new home. Not willing to sacrifice form for function, they began developing nursery products that would offer beautiful and simple design.

Finally, a beautifully designed glider with simple lines and exceptional comfort. With its ergonomic arm height for feeding your baby, high back for proper head rest, and removable lumbar pillow for extra support, our glider provides continuous comfort. Soft durable upholstery, deep brown stained maple wood base, and smooth gliding mechanism make this the ultimate nursery chair.

The luca glider will also fit beautifully into any other room in the house. The luca glider is the essential nursery piece. From middle-of-the-night feedings to afternoon readings, our glider will become your favorite chair.

Handmade in Canada

We don’t believe that bassinets should look like poufy 1980’s wedding dresses.
This streamlined and practical bassinet will keep the focus on your gorgeous new baby and show off your great sense of style! The removable basket nestles into a dark brown solid wood rocker base. The bassinet’s padded sides are covered by a removable and machine-washable suede microfiber. Includes waterproof mattress and 2 fitted sheets.

Yesterday morning was music filled! Our first class had a great turnout. Thanks to all of you that joined us. We sang, hummed, danced, played with instruments and enjoyed spending time with the little ones. We hope that you had as much fun as we did. There are still openings for the Saturday Music Together class here at Olive and Bean. It starts September 13th and is every Saturday morning at 10 a.m for ten weeks. For more information or to sign up for classes call Melanie at 702.838.4751.