And on keyboard…

Ginzick’s Kids Music DJ Style Playmat with Keyboard & Microphone, currently available at Amazon for under $40 (with free shipping for Prime members), is the type of toy I wish had been around back in olden days when I was a kid. Read More

“Trying for a Baby” Tech

When I was trying to conceive–back before the Internet or smart phones or apps–I got serious. I’m a programmer so I had to do it by the numbers. So I whipped up a LOTUS 1-2-3 spreadsheet (I know, I’m dating myself) and plotted my basal body temperature, bodily changes, and even the dates and times of our marital sex bouts. Read More

A homework helper for younger spellers

The Franklin KID-1240 Children’s Talking Dictionary & Spell Corrector, currently available for under $50 at Amazon.com, offers personalized greetings, phonetic spell corrections, a rhyme finder, and 5 word-building games that include different skills levels.

Geared to children ages 6 and up, the unit runs on 4 AAA batteries (not included) and comes with 44,000 vocabulary words, as well as a guide to writing cursive for little hands. Read More

Ethnic and Non-Ethnic Sib Names

Hi Jennifer,

Let me start by saying I absolutely LOVE this site and reading the Q&A section. Though I’m not a parent yet, I love looking up possibilities for when the time comes.

I recently read a question submitted to you about cohesive sibling names. Read More

Thanks, BN!

Dear Jennifer,

A few months ago, I emailed you a question about names. To recap: my husband gets to choose our second daughter’s name and I was concerned because his front runner was Annabelle and our oldest is named Noelle, nicknamed Noelle-bell. Read More

First/Last Name Makes a Phrase

Dear Jennifer,

My husband and I just found out that we’re expecting. We don’t know what we’re having yet, but I’ve been thinking about names for a while and really like the name River for a girl. The problem is that my husband thinks it’s more of an actor name than a good name for a kid and doesn’t like the way it sounds with our last name which is Walker. Read More

Baby Name Briggs

Hello Jennifer!

My husband and I are looking to adopt an infant boy. Last year we had the pleasure of developing a wonderful relationship with a birth mom that grew up with my sister. Her baby was born 8 weeks early and we got to be there with them in the hospital. Read More