Toddler rainy day activities: SesameStreet.org

Okay, since leaving San Diego with it's 364 annual days of sunshine I have had to deal with a totally foreign issue: how to entertain my toddler on rainy days.

Now I don't live in Seattle, but it's rainy enough in the Bay Area that this has become an issue. Coupled with the fact that I have a very very active boy who is not the type of entertain himself for more than five minutes at a time this problem has forced me to be more creative.

It was raining earlier this week and we stumbled onto SesameStreet.org. To my son with his "O" (short for Elmo) obsession this website is like manna from heaven. They even have a playlist that is all Elmo so your toddler does not have to face the frustration of being deprived of this red furry monster for even a moment.

One of the cool things we found was a virtual coloring book that allows you to print blank pages to color in, or color them in online with their brush tool. Since it was Valentine's Day we made this little picture.

Made by a two year old, with a little help.

Of course even Sesame Street and Elmo only entertain for so long. Some other things my son enjoys are playing with stamps, "coloring" in his coloring book, finger painting, helping me do laundry, helping me cook, and of course zooming around on his ride-on McQueen car, and watching the movie Cars whenever I let him. I would love to hear from parents of other toddlers (preferably toddlers who are not big at playing by themselves) on how they make the hours pass on those long rainy days.

Crappy Pictures - Parenting blog extraordinaire

I have not had much time for writing my own blog posts lately, but I have been looking at an excellent blog  that one of my best friends and mommy mentors referred me to: Crappy-Pictures.

Here are two excellent and hilariously true posts:
1. Why moms are like rock stars!
2. Why moms needs drugs (of the coffee and wine variety)

This mom is seriously creative and her whole blog is filled with crappy pictures to illustrate her humorous reflections.

Long boring day at work? Kids napping or otherwise giving you a few minutes of downtime? Check it out for a smile.

Gotta Love The Onion

Area Dad Figures He's Got At Least Three More Months Of Screwing Around Before Son Gains Ability To Form Long-Term Memories

Yeah, I've thought the same thing from time to time!

Toddler phone apps

So I'm not a big fan of handing my toddler my smartphone, simply because he has a knack for breaking things in the blink of an eye. However, there are times that I am desperate to keep him entertained and the phone has been invaluable. I'm thinking in particular of the tortuously long plane rides from West coast to East coast and a few long road trips.

Here are the top three apps my two year old son loves:

1. Toddler Zoo ($0.99)
With this app kids swipe side to side to see images of different animals, they can click on the animals name to hear the name spoken, or tap anywhere on the screen to hear the sound that animal makes - endless fun.

2. Talking Tom (Free)
This app has a cutesy looking cat that mimics everything your toddler says in a high squeaky funny cat voice. He also has some funny antics that make my son smile.

3. Ethereal Dialpad (Free)
This app looks boring from the image, but every since my son was a baby he has loved it. You choose different synthesizer options (like swarm pictured below) and as your fingers goes across the screen the light particles dance in response and it emits different musical notes .

Does anyone else have good recommendations for apps that a two year old would like and would hopefully make a six hour flight pass a little quicker?