Bunchland

What we’re reading today:

1. You will not get to see Carla Bruni’s baby.

2. Should you be getting your kid two doses of chicken pox vaccine? The Canadian Pediatric Society thinks so.

3. Have you seen Abe’s Peanut? It’s a kids’ magazine that keeps readers engaged by sending out postcards and coming up with some pretty creative storytelling.

4. Crazy hard to get in schools in New York are changing their admissions policies.

5. Kermit the Frog reports from the first day of school:

Photo by The Prime Minister’s Office via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. If your kid has a lazy eye, it’s best to start treatment when they’re quite young. The 3-year-olds respond better to eye exercises and such better than 13-year-olds. (But the tweens and teens will still see some improvement!)

2. Breast is best and all that, but not for all mothers. So we don’t need to bully the non-breastfeeders about it, right? Right.

3. Sending your big kid off to camp can be pretty emotional.

4. Advantages and disadvantages of giving birth at home.

5. Legendary video game designer Tim Schafer pitches a new game… but will Cookie Monster like it?

Photo by New York YMCA Camp via Flickr

What we’re reading on the blogs today — science edition!

Curious as to what sort of effect the constant texting and steady stream of facebook updates has on your kids’ brains? Miles O’Brien tells PBS that the tech-savvy millennials might have better brains than we do. Via BoingBoing

Want your kids to get a start on that brain-boosting technology? Check out this interactive Cookie Monster science lesson video. Cookie and his pal Emma prompt the viewer to choose an object and then come up with a hypothesis as to what the object will do in a tank in water. Who knew Cookie could say “hypothesis”? Via BoingBoing

Scientists in South America have uncovered a previously unknown ancestor to the T. rex and other ancient predators. Its name is Eodromaeus (pronounced eyo-DRO-may-us) and it was only four feet long. Lightweight and quick-moving, the name means “Dawn Runner.” Excellent news if you have any budding paleontologists in your brood. Via Huffington Post.  Read more...

The Sesame Street monster will have you know that there’s more to him than just being a cookie enthusiast (the term he prefers over cookie-eating-fanatic-bordering-on-glutton thankyouverymuch) and he wants to show the world:

Taking a cue from Justin Timberlake, Cookie Monster runs through what a show might be like with him as host. Highlight: the arty still photo of Cookie after a would-be commercial break.

What do you think? Does Cookie have Betty White-level viral power? You could always join his campaign’s Facebook page.

Thanks to our pals at the National Post for the heads-up. We totally agree with your puppet Andy Samberg suggestion.