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Kidshealth.org We all want to see how our child stacks up to what is 'normal'. KidsHealth presents clear and easily understood articles on children and child development.

AmericasLibrary.gov Learn while you surf at America's Library online. Offered by the Library of Congress, read profiles of famous Americans, explore our 50 states, and join in some of the many projects going on across the nation.

Rumpus.com Take your kids to Rumpus and hold on! From the moment you arrive, Rumpus is in-your-face with lots of motion and bright colors. Games, cartoons and other fun activities will attack your eyes at this feast of color and light. 

Party 2

Trevor went to his friend Emily's birthday party this weekend at Chuckie Cheese. Lots of fun and lots of kids. Some of the other parents said that it wasn't that crowded, but I would hate to see it full!

Party!

As per his persona, the moment music comes on, Trevor breaks into dance. At Emily's birthday party this weekend, Trevor makes no exceptions.

Hah, we took this picture of Trevor dancing this weekend, and realized as we were putting it up, that it looks like he is licking the chair. Ewwwww!  

Tricycles?

US Navy personnel race tricycles aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. At first you think, "This is cute and fun. Here are our armed forces taking a well-deserved rest and having some picnic fun." Then you think, "Why were there tricycles on an aircraft carrier? And more than one at that?"

Boo

Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Especially if you've seen Monsters, Inc. This is little Boo from the movie with her monster disguise on. I've added it to Trevor's Christmas list, but I'm not sure who wants it more, him or me.

Pretty Putty

Elizabeth at Puttyworld.com brought her site to my attention (something you should do too if you'd like your site posted here) and she's right - this is just up our alley here at Liloia.com.

It's putty, and it's silly, but it IS NOT Silly Putty. It's Thinking Putty and it's different than any other gooey mass you've had your hands on today! For starters, it comes in more colors than the fleshy pink of that OTHER putty product and you get more than just a tablespoon of it in each package.

Go to Puttyworld.com and take a look at the niftylicious things you can do with Thinking Putty. There's sculpting, ceiling hanging, popping, and hurtling it at video cameras at high speeds. Huh?

Anyway, we tend to play with goop and putty a lot in my office, so I may pick up some Thinking Putty for the Webmonkeys at work. The hardest part will be deciding which of the incredible colors to choose. So far, I'm partial to the Electric colors. I'll let you know the scoop on this goop once I get my hands on some.

God announces to World, "I Screwed Up"

In an historic press release announced today, God admitted that a foul-up in Heaven's Department of Random Numbers caused the same digits to be used in Colombia for winning lottery numbers and the license plates of cars with bombs in them.

The Highest of the High, Creator of All Things explained, "Turns out, we've been using the same purchase orders for car-bombing license plates and lottery numbers. We're in the middle of a huge SAP implementation and we're still working out the bugs."

When asked to comment on the recent claims that you can see Satan in the smoke from the WTC, His Supreme Mightiness, Ruler of the Universe said, "That's what you get when you outsource the graphic design department. Some clown thought it would be funny. I think it looks more like Felix the Cat anyway."

Band of Brothers

I've never been a fan of old WWII movies. They I usually pass them by on quiet Sunday afternoons. But this fall, I was roped into watching the HBO mini-series, Band of Brothers by Dave, who had offered to tape them for a friend at work.

At first I didn't watch; I read books while it was on. Until one day, I found myself looking more at the television than at the book. I was hooked. The show is realistic, suspenseful and complex. It's based on the real experiences of the 101st Airborne Division. This really is an ensemble cast, where it's not unusual for a character you've come to know and like to be killed or otherwise removed from the front line. It happens in war, though not nearly as often in movies about war.

This 10-part miniseries is based on Stephen E. Ambrose's bestseller, Band of Brothers and retells the wartime exploits of Easy Company. Each episode begins with an interview of the men who actually experienced the events that unfold. I highly reccomend watching Band of Brothers... but you don't have to take my word for it (apologies to LeVar Burton):
USA Today - Best portrayal of worst of war
NY Post - 'BAND'S' QUIET VICTORY
CNN - Enlist TV for 'Band of Brothers'

Time Magazine is also offering a special Band of Brothers history lesson. They present readers with interviews of the real men on which this series was based, historical facts and timelines, a photo gallery and free material for teachers who are teaching a lesson on WWII.

Civ III

I had a much better experience with Civilization III last night than the past two times I've played. You'll recall that I'm a new player, so I'm trying to learn this complex game by a combination of frantic manual reading and muddling through game play. Some advice for the novice Civ-player: start with actual game play on the easiest settings, NOT the tutorial. It was a much more rewarding experience to get through an hour of the game without three other cultures ganging up to annihilate me.

I tried Chieftan-level on a large, continental map with two other cultures. A really easy scenario, but that was the point. I finally managed to get the hang of creating new cities - the issue before was that it wasn't entirely clear that I should build several cities. I thought I was just supposed to wait for Rome to expand!

I'm still not entirely clear about how to use luxuries that you find on the map. Do you have to build a colony to use it or just a road to it? I did manage to quell a few uprisings in my cities by giving them access to ivory and garrisoning a warrior there. This is a great game, like a detailed and expanded version of Age of Empires. I think Cossacks tried to do the same thing, but ended up being plodding and neverending instead of complex and challenging. Give Civ III a try if you haven't already.

Amazing?

Amazing photograph, right? Tragic, right? Not quite. You see, according to the Urban Legends and Hoaxes topic at About.com, this photo has several flaws that indicate that it is a hoax.

• This is supposedly the WTC North Tower Observation Deck; however, there was no observation deck on the North Tower of the WTC.
  
• The fast-moving aircraft is not blurry in the photo.
  
• The temperature was between 65 and 70 degrees that morning. Yet this man is dressed for winter.

But what seems like a hoax at first, may actually be the first documented case of a time traveler who stops at different points in time to witness tragic historical events. Much like the made-for-tv movie, Time Shifters.

Apparently, this man has been present at other tragedies thoughout history.

Links 110501

Shirky.com Clay Shirky was a columnist for Business2.0 magazine in what seems like a lifetime ago. I looked forward to reading his common-sense outlook on Internet trends. His collected works (many, but not all) are available on his personal site.

Wilton.com I love cooking — and baking is even more fun. You too, can make Martha Stewart-esque confections with a little practice. Just head to Wilton.com for some free examples of basic cake decorating techniques.

StampsOnline If you are the kind of person who has address labels that coordinate with the season, then Stampsonline is the place for you. Here, the USPS presents stamps and mail accessories for every occasion. You can choose from Thanksgiving stamps, Christmas stamps and more to match the time of year.

Monsters Inc.

Monsters, Inc. combines the good hearted fun of Toy Story with a darker, more complex theme of monsters that scare children for a living.

The film gives us a glimpse into a world where collecting screams is a factory job. Whether or not this will be too scary for a child depends on your toddler. Trevor didn't seem scared at all, but two separate families behind us left before the halfway mark.

There are a lot of stories going on in Monsters, Inc. — a contest for the record-holding scream collector, underhanded industrial secrets, a power crisis and a relationship in turmoil. There's even an underlying theme of the moral ramifications of exploiting another society for your gain — pretty heavy stuff for an animated flick!

Fantasy fans will love the wonderful door scene that does a great treatment of interdimensional travel. Monsters, Inc. offers enough slapstick to keep a three-year-old entertained, great animation in general, and plenty of amusement for the adults. And yes, I'll admit, the ending did put a tear in my eye.

The film stars Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski, John Goodman as Sulley, and Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs. Behind your closet door, there's more than meets the eye!

Games 110501

What could possibly be more fun that building a world of your own and controlling every aspect of it?

Many games in the past decade have taken up that theme—SimCity, The Sims, Age of Empires, Black & White—to name a few.

The latest (and supposedly greatest) of this genre is Sid Meier's Civilization III. I have heard legends that told of college students who failed out of school due to the addictive properties of earlier versions of this game. I think some of the allure of gameplay comes from already having experience with this series. As a completely new Civ player, this game takes some getting used to.

First impressions after playing twice:
-There's a whole lot that I don't know how to do.
-It's disorienting to jump from person to person during each turn.
-The tutorial doesn't seem like the easiest setting
- the other civilizations keep ganging up on me.
-This game is very complex.
-I'm not addicted yet, but it's likely I will be.

Romanian Paper - Part 2

I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds of thousands of people. How on earth were they able to bow before a fellow human?

Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can buy. What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases which risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion. Only freedom can work such miracles! --Mr. Cornel Nistorescu

Romanian Paper - Part 1

This is the first part of an editorial posted in a Romanian newspaper: Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are.

Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colours of the national flag.

They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the president was passing. On every occasion they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!". Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday once, twice, three times, on different tv channels. There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone, James Wood, and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring together. The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir. Actually, choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul.

What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this charity concert. I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you green with envy because you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests. [more to come]