This weekend, baby Charles and I are headed to Disney! A small group of mom bloggers from around the country have been invited to an all expense paid trip sponsored by BSM Media and Disney World for the first ever Disney World Mom Blog Mixer. The itinerary is a surprise, but a little birdy tells me they’re pulling out all the stops.

I’ll share pictures and video and tell you more about it next week. In the meantime, here are the great websites and blogs of the women who are making the trek to Orlando on Friday. Take a look and enjoy!

Adventures in Babywearing
Boston Mamas
Cheaper by the Half Dozen
Design Mom
Just Pure Lovely
LIParentSource
Main Street Mom
Montecito Mama
Musings of a Housewife
Snapshot
Suburban Diva
Table for Five
The LadyBug and her Blogging Mama
The Mom Salon
The Motherhood

Enjoy this week’s popular articles from these great parent blogs:

The Stylish Child: Swaddling Baby in Luxury Swaddle Designs ultimate receiving blanket swaddles your baby in luxury

SheFindsMom Goes Organic for Earth Day Celebrate Earth Day with these eco-friendly organic finds for babies and Earth Mamas

Boston Mamas: Keeping Kids Safe Resources to help teach your kids about safety in a way that won’t scare them (or you).

One Chic Mama: Organic Mommy, Organic Baby Luxurious organic products for mother and child from Erbaorganics

Babyfaces – Photo of the Week Father and newborn son bond early

Celebrity Moms: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Has Her Very First Legal Battle She’s not even a year old, but Shiloh Jolie Pitt has begun her first legal battle with the help of her mom

Classy Mommy: D-artCompany Canvas Prints D-artCompany.com has some fabulous ways to turn your favorite memories into beautiful gifts. Win a chance to create your own Photo Realistic Canvas Print of your favorite memory valued at $140.

Coochicoos: Celebrating a New Baby in the Year of the Pig Check out a baby shower invite designed for babies born in this year of the golden pig

Friday Eye Candy: TV Hotties Our weekly installment of sweets for you, because you’re worth it…

Mommies with Style: Uptown Bella’s new bag 15% off this hip new laptop bag made of WeatherTac Nylon (spill proof!)

Swanky Moms: Boon Animal Bag Funky stuffed animal organized/chair

Our featured blog is Flagrant Disregard, written by John Watson. Flagrant Disregard covers John’s life as a married guy with kids which he sums up as “I’m the John Watson that blogs about vomit. I’m John Watson the dad.” He’s also John Watson the entrepreneur; and talk about busy, John has his hands in several businesses (see below) and freelance web design.

I really like Flagrant Disregard even though I only came across it recently. Why? I like the combination of dad, entreprenuer, and tech guy. It reminds me of Good Morning Silicon Valley written by a guy who changed diapers that morning. His posts range from family matters, to the scourge of Snap.com (which I wholeheartedly second), to what is probably my favorite post in awhile which compares punishment for illegally copying a Netflix DVD with other more serious offenses. (Or a least, what you thought were more serious offenses…)

Clever Parents: Seeing as how we just found out you aren’t John Watson of John Watson Chevrolet in Ogden, UT, tell us about yourself.

John Watson: I’m a father of two. I knew next to nothing about young children when our first was born. I’d never held one. I’d never changed a diaper. Total rookie. Fortunately my wife comes from a large family so at least one of us knew what we were doing. Today I consider myself an expert toddler and infant wrangler which is, of course, several years too late, but that’s parenting.

I keep busy. I’m an entrepreneur and I’m self-employed as a freelance web developer (*cough* hire me .). My businesses include: bighugelabs.com (a photo entertainment site), letterpop.com (the coolest build-your-own newsletter in two clicks site), christianaudio.com (the best christian audio book store on the internet), and photodoto.com (a photography resource site). I work out of a home office which I share with the family. And of course I blog.

Photography is also important to me. I consider myself a serious hobbyist and my photos have been published in a number of places, most recently JPG Magazine Issue 7. I’ve done freelance photography work but I don’t have the energy or time to turn it into a full-time gig.

CP: Who is your favorite TV parental role model?
JW: I don’t actually watch a lot of television. I don’t know. It’s a toss-up between Mr. Rogers and George Bluth, Sr.

CP: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
JW: A fighter pilot. But by high school, that had morphed into “absolutely no clue whatsoever” which is where you’ll find me today. Anything I can hope for myself is inconsequential next to how I hope my children will remember me: a good father.

CP: What’s your favorite activity to do with your children?
JW: Story time. Sitting together, reading in a quiet room, with no other commitments or pressure. And eating ice cream.

CP: What’s been the most challenging part of fatherhood?
JW: Getting out of bed each morning, knowing that you’ll have to do it all over again tomorrow. I’ve often said that I wished I could stop the kids from aging when they were two or three so I could enjoy that time better. I’d still like that so it’s an interesting balance between never wanting it to end and wanting it to be over yesterday. It’s crazy, but again, that’s parenting.

Another challenge has come from working at home. My office door is always open and I actually re-built my workspace recently so I could share it with my kids. It’s useful to be able to help our daughter with her homework and do my own work at the same desk. Balancing work and daddy time has always been a challenge but I found that closing the door to my office just wasn’t reasonable for anyone, especially the kids.

CP: What other parent blogs do you like? What non-parenting blogs/sites do you like?
JW: parenthacks.com, daddyzine.typepad.com, daddytypes.com, lifehacker.com , makezine.com, techcrunch.com, slashdot.org, xkcd.com, it goes on and on… I’m subscribed to 130 blogs which I can barely keep up with.

CP: Best movie you’ve seen in the last 2 months?
JW: Let’s see… Netflix rental history… Ah! The one that stands out, probably because the whole family had such a good time watching it, was the 80s mini-series version of Around the World in 80 Days with Pierce Brosnan. Not the Jackie Chan version. It was originally a mini-series so it’s 270 minutes long. Quite good for three nights entertainment and the kids were both on the edges of their seats for the cliff-hanger endings. For grownups, Snakes on A Plane was just plain * fun* to watch.

Check out the hottest posts of the week from these great parent blogs. Including (from Celebrity Baby Blog): Steal pregnant Bridget Moynahan’s style (and save some money).

Boston Mamas: Potty Peace of Mind. An impressively compact and affordable travel potty that provides peace of mind in germy public restrooms

Celebrity Baby Blog Reviews: Do you hear the buzzing of the new spring Bumble Bags? Already a popular brand with celebrity moms, Bumble Bags introduces their Toddler Changing Kit and new patterns for spring.

Celebrity Baby Blog: Stealing Bridget Moynahan’s Look, Forty Weeks Style Pregnant Bridget Moynahan glowed on the Martha Stewart Show, wearing a Diane Von Furstenberg sleeveless wrap dress. Here’s how you can steal Bridget’s style (and save some money)!

Celebrity Moms: Tobey Maguire Talks About the Lessons of His Childhood Tobey Maguire opens up about his turbulent childhood and the lessons it taught him as a father

Classy Mommy Reviews “Momzillas” Bring on the Mom Lit! Classy Mommy previews Momzillas – written by Jill Kargman, best-selling co-author of “The Right Address”. This book is fabulous! You will not be disappointed.

MamaPop: Fergie PWND Alanis Morrisette’s hilarious cover of the Black Eyed Peas singer’s hit

One Chic Mama: High Style for Medical ID tags Fashionable Medical ID Bracelets & Necklaces

SheFindsMom April Showers Week Stylish raingear for the entire family

Our Featured Blog is Clare’s Dad, written by Darren who is, as you probably guessed, Clever Parent that you are, Clare’s Dad. Clearly a clever fellow, Darren has an MFA in from Columbia as well as a law degree and has worked in theatre management as well as law. Currently he’s a stay at home dad to Clare, his 5-year-old daughter.

Not having a daughter, I like Darren’s blog because it’s a great window into the father/daughter relationship. At 5 Clare evidently has quite the eye for style—specifying her haircut and putting together outfits—to the obvious amazement of her dad who confesses that, “Clare is hipper than I am.” Then there is the post where Darren and his wife realize they might have to sell their house because Bigfoot inhabits it.

Clever Parents: What’s your favorite activity to do with Clare?

Clare’s Dad (Darren): I’ve always loved any time spent with Clare. But now that she’s getting older, we share some interests and that’s really fun. We like watching movies and eating popcorn, playing board games, and reading, but our favorite activity together is family swim at the YMCA.

Clever Parents: What’s been the biggest surprise about fatherhood?

Clare’s Dad: There have been a lot of surprises. I don’t think that many new parents are prepared for how much a little person is going to take over their lives. And, although we all know that we’re going to love our kids, even that love ends up being more than expected. But the biggest surprise for me is probably how much fun Clare and I have together. I try to find a balance and be her Dad, but I can also say that one of my best friends is a five year-old girl. I didn’t expect that.

Clever Parents: Before staying home with Clare, you were in theater production and management. Tell us about that.

Clare’s Dad: I’ve had a couple careers. I got an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from Columbia University School of the Arts in a theater program that combined arts, business and law. I worked in theater in New York for a couple years, but then I went to law school and worked as an attorney for six years. Three years ago, I went back to theater because that’s what I’m really passionate about it. Producing is a mix of creativity, organization and business management that I love. Clare loved spending time in the theater I last worked in too, which was a fun bonus. When Clare starts first grade this fall, I hope to find some consulting or contractual work in management or production.

Clever Parents: What are your favorite books to read to Clare?

Clare’s Dad: We like reading Dr. Seuss, princess stories, anything about Barbie, Dora, Strawberry Shortcake. A few favorites that Clare’s Mom and I like to read with Clare are Snuggle Puppy and Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton, and Beach Day by Karen Roosa. We also try to tackle some chapter books, like the new Tinkerbell stories. And now Clare is starting to read to her Mom and me too, but those of course are simple books with just a few short words.

Clever Parents: What are you reading now?

Clare’s Dad: I’m notorious for starting a few books at the same time and taking a long time to get through them. I’m always flipping back through a book and checking other references, especially with non-fiction. Right now I’m reading Ground Rules for Winners by Joe Torre and Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross by Anthony J. Kuzniewski. I’m also re-reading Regional Theatre: The Revolutionary Stage by Joseph Wesley Zeigler, which is a history of American regional theater. I read a lot of references and how-to’s too, like theater production and design books or landscaping books. There are others that I can read pretty quickly too, classics like The Great Gatsby or The Sun Also Rises or anything by David Sedaris.

Clever Parents: What non-parenting blogs/sites do you like?

Clare’s Dad: One fun blog that I’ve found recently is www.indexed.blogspot.com. Another favorite site right now is www.lostpedia.com; I’ve spent hours reading about the characters on Lost. My wife and I (and Clare too) are big Disney fans and I’ve also been hooked on DIS, an unofficial Disney vacation site at www.wdwinfo.com and especially the forums there. Some other big favorites are www.wikipedia.com and www.refdesk.com. I also like the Library of Congress site at www.loc.gov as a great resource of interesting information.

Clever Parents: What’s an ideal date night?

Clare’s Dad: I’m not sure that I have one ideal; I think that to set-up an ideal in your mind is just asking for frustration if it doesn’t go perfectly right. But there a few things that would make a great date for Clare’s Mom and me. We like great restaurants and different types of food, so trying something new is fun for us. We also like the rare chances we get to see a movie on the big screen that isn’t animated. But sometimes, an ideal date night is just staying home and watching TV together with a bottle of wine. It’s more about the time together rather than the specific details that make an ideal date for me.

In typically modest fashion, our featured blogger, Matthew Baldwin describes himself as a pretty okay guy. Matthew writes the Defective Yeti blog about his experiences as a dad to Squiggle-the online pseudonym for his 3 year old son. 18 months ago Squiggle, who was formerly refereed to as Squirrelly, was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Defective Yeti makes for a great resource and inspiration for other parents with ASD children. Or for that matter any parent. Matthew manages to write posts that are hilarious and poignant—recent ones have dealt with Captain America, a romantic weekend with the Queen, aka Mrs. Defective Yeti, and the rationale for changing pseudonyms to Squiggle from Squirrelly.

The latter post ending with words of wisdom all parents could benefit from:

Raising an autistic child is frequently frustrating and often exhausting, but it also brings it’s own rewards. In many respects it is like watching a foreign movie: sometimes you feel like you don’t have enough context to understand everything that is happening, but you appreciate that you are seeing a story completely different from the conventional narrative.

Squiggle is different than typical kids, but that’s okay. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be the son we love so much.

Matthew kindly agreed to answer a few questions for Clever Parents about raising a child with ASD, the meaning of Defective Yeti and his ‘must-have’ purchase for new parents. (Which this Clever Parent whole-heartedly endorses.) We encourage you to check out Defective Yeti regularly.

Clever Parents: Explain the meaning behind Defective Yeti?
Defective Yeti: It’s meaningless, a bizarre combination of words that tumbled out of my mouth one day. A week later, when I was on the Blogger sign-up and informed that I had to give my blog a name, I just plugged them in, figuring I would rename the site late. Yeah, should probably get around to that someday …

CP: What do you do for a living?
DY: I’m a programmer and technical writer. I don’t know that I’d call it “living.”

CP: What’s your favorite activity to do with Squiggle?
DY: Squiggle loves to swim. I started taking him to the local pool when he was about a year old, and we still try and get out there at least once a week. I also enjoy singing him songs (we’re on a ” Fox Song” tear, right now), reading him books, and giving him any of the many hugs we have co-invented (including the “hat hug,” “bat hug,” and ever-popular “whirly hug”).

CP: What advice do you have for parents with kids who have ASD or suspect their children might? What are the early signs to look for?
DY: The earliest signs of Autistic Spectrum Disorder are gaze avoidance (reluctance to make eye contact) and intermittent name response–using those as criteria, children can be diagnosed as young as 18 months. Let me rephrase that: using those as criteria, trained professionals can diagnose children as young as 18 months. Don’t try and do it yourself. Too many parents with neurotypical children freak themselves out every time their toddler does anything unusual (”Omigod, he’s walking on his tiptoes!!”), and too many parents of ASD kids manage to convince themselves that nothing is amiss.

If your child is diagnosed with ASD, the first (and hardest) thing to wrap your head around is that autism is a “pervasive developmental disorder” (PDD). In other words, it’s not something distinct from your child (as, say, a flu virus would be), it’s an integral part of who they are.

Unless your child is very high-functioning he will benefit from therapy of some sort or another. The goal of this therapy will be to augment your child’s natural talent with the life skills he will need to navigate the world–not to “cure” him of his autism. Curing someone of autism (or any PPD) would be like curing someone of a sense of humor–it might be possible, but, in doing so, you would turn them into a completely different person. Instead, recognize that the child that now has a diagnosis of autism is the exact same kid you’ve loved all these months, and your objective now should be to help them, not to “fix” them.

CP: What are you listening to now?
DY: www.groovera.com

CP: What must-have purchase would you recommend for new parents?
DY: Bourbon.

CP: Outside of family and work, what are your hobbies?
DY: I enjoy board games, racquetball, crime fiction (both the reading and writing of), and watching the slo-mo Bush Administration implosion.

Enjoy this week’s top stories from these great blogs for parents:

• Babyfaces: Photo of the Week – Newborn Yin/Yang Twins
• Boston Mamas: Baby Daze Review – A must-have, easy to use book to help you keep track of feeding, diapering, sleeping, etc.
• Celebrity Baby Blog: Jennifer Garner, a celebrity mom just like you
  We love how NORMAL Jennifer Garner is. Check out Jennifer and Violet at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.
• Celebrity Baby Blog Reviews: The Phil & Ted E3 – A single stroller that accomodates two!
• Celebrity Moms: Gwen Stefani to Use Concerts to Help Kids
  Gwen Stefani announces plan to auction off VIP Concert Experience to raise funds for childrens charities
• Coochicoos – It’s a Great Time to be a Stuffed Animal – Cool new ways to stash your stuffed animals
• Classy Mommy Reviews Wife in the Fast Lane – We reviewed an advance copy of this entertaining read. The author will even call into your book club to discuss!
• One Chic Mama: Hot Crocs for Spring – Two great new shoe styles from Crocs
• SheFindsMom Baby Wearing Week – Wear Your Baby — Stylish Baby Carriers
• The Stylish Child Finds a Shower Gift with that Wow Factor
  Babycakes of Scottsdale creating shower gifts that take the cake

I stumbled upon this blog this morning and couldn’t stop reading it. Documented through the eyes of a husband and father, Daniel tells the story of his family’s courageous and heart-wrenching fight against cancer. His wife, Leanne, mom to 2 1/2 year old Lydia and wife to Daniel, was diagnosed with cancer just over six weeks ago.

Daniel heard the news when he was on a trip, this is the powerful letter to his daughter Lydia, written on the plane to his family.

Read more about their story including their encouraging recent news at luchalee.wordpress.com/

My friend Michael Pollack (who also happens to be an amazingly talented web and blog designer and overall nice guy) tagged me with a “5 things you didn’t know about me” blog challenge. Betcha didn’t know this…

1. Peas are my favorite food. Seriously. I buy bags of frozen peas and heat them in the microwave with a little water and then top with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray and some grated parmesan cheese. A little slice of heaven on earth.

2. I trained for triathlons while living in France. This is not nearly as glamorous as it sounds, but it’s true. After college, I had a scholarship to study in Paris and that trip extended to include a French boyfriend in the south of France who was a triathlete. There is something truly captivating about riding a bicycle along the coast in the south of France with someone who doesn’t speak your native language. Tres romantique.

3. I have recently become obsessed with crossword puzzles. David and I rented the movie Wordplay – a fabulous film about New York Times puzzle editor and NPR puzzle master Will Shortz that introduced me to the cult-like world of crossword puzzles. After learning how the puzzles are created, about the history and seeing firsthand some truly amazing puzzle solvers, I was hooked. Now if I could just get past the NYT Mondays.

4. For a birthday present one year (pre-kids and knowing that we wanted to start a family soon) David and I went (tandem) skydiving. There is something exhilirating yet serene about the lack of noise you hear during free-fall. Now that we have children, I can’t imagine ever doing that again… but it was a once in a lifetime experience.

5. When I was three, I named my cat Devil Pebble. He was an orange (hence the word devil) Persian kitten and about the size of a very fluffy, round rock. In the heat of Florida summers, we would take Devil Pebble to the vet and shave his body with the exception of his head, resulting in a miniature lion look that suited him well. He lived to be 16. I loved him so much that I would call to him at night and feed him my mixed vegetables one at a time – even the peas.

I’m tagging:
Whitney Wingerd – Mommies With Style
Jeremy Schneider – Two Okapis
Lea Davis – Quick Serve Kids
Lena Morrissey – Lena’s Notebook
Brian Looper – www.brianlooper.com

Looking for a dad centric view of the world, check out Dad Talk. In a sea of blogs about products and potty mishaps, Dad Talk takes a look at issues. Dad Talk is the creation of Brett Levy, an entrepreneur and father of two, living in Chicago. After becoming a dad, Brett searched online for a site that took a father’s eye view of things. Not finding it anywhere, he started Dad Talk to “repackage news from around the world and cast it from a dad’s point of view” which makes for interesting reading. Brett’s past work as a journalist serves him well as his posts are not only very well written, but he invariably finds an interesting angle (a Dad’s angle) in broad variety of subjects. A random sampling of posts take on issues from education in the U.S. to men’s health, and, crucially, what’s in his freezer.

Clever Parents: what’s your favorite activity to do with your son?

DadTalk (Brett Levy): As my son ages, our favorite activities evolve. Now that we’re in Chicago, I’d have to say our favorite activity is to go for walks together. We explore the lakefront and marinas along Lake Michigan. Because Seth is very verbal for a boy, we talk almost nonstop about school, boats, trains and just about everything imaginable. I really savor those moments.

CP: What are your favorite books to read to your son?

DT: Because my wife reviews children’s literature at bookbuds.net, we get hundreds of books in the mail each year. That makes it very difficult to determine a favorite book to read. Probably my favorites are “Slinky Malinki” and “Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack,” both by New Zealand author Lynley Dodd. The writing is so lyrical and funny that Seth memorized the words when he was about 2 years old. I can still hear the words in my head, “It was drowsily warm with dozen of bees…” I also love reading “Big Red Tub” by Julia Jarman to Seth, because he seems to soar into space along with the bathtub. He’s starting to prefer more advanced books, but I will enjoy reading these books to our 15-month-old daughter Lael soon.

CP: What’s been the biggest surprise about fatherhood?

DT: I was more or less ready for the sleepless nights, projectile vomiting, dirty diapers and hard work. I really wasn’t really surprised by those things — well, actually the projectile vomiting was a bit of a stunner. But two things really got me: 1. I never realized what it meant to NOT have a dad growing up myself and 2. What a mess kids can make. I now realize that I like things clean, and I have to remember to not let the continuous mess drive me crazy.

CP: What’s the most challenging aspect of fatherhood?

DT: Being at work instead of spending time with my kids is the biggest challenge for me. While I like work, I can’t help be affected by knowing my kids are growing up so fast. It drives me nuts that I can only spend such a small amount of time with them.

CP: You list wine making as a hobby, tell me about that.

DT: Ah, that’s from my “old” bio — I need to update that — and before Seth passed 2-years-old. All our winemaking equipment is in storage for a few years until our kids get older. We started making fruit wine because our property in California had a peach, apricot, pear and kumquat tree on it. We became so busy as parents, the last batches of wine were never bottled and used as fertilizer in our back yard.

CP: What other blogs/sites do you like?

DT: My favorites are easy:
My wife’s two blogs of course: www.bookbuds.net and www.cybils.com And these: http://daddychip.blogspot.com/, http://www.pkmeco.com/familyblog/ http://www.bluesloth.net, and http://citizenofthemonth.com/

The first three are parenting blogs by parents who really impress me. The last is a humorist/satirist who is probably one of the most underratedwriters around.

Blogs we like:
Thingamababy–A Dad’s look at baby and toddler stuff from birth to kindergarten

Thingamybaby is the creation of daddy blogger AJ who writes observations about fatherhood and life with ‘Little Miss’ his 28 month old daughter, along with product reviews about things he or Little Miss likes. AJ is writer by vocation and it shows–his posts are always interesting and usually very funny. We also like his product reviews because they are always tempered

Clever Parents: Tell us about yourself:

I’m a small town publicist working with independent businesses and artists. I produce news releases, brochures, posters, and whatnot. Right now I’m co-chairing a candidate’s run for city council. My wife and I work part-time and do tag-team parenting. She is a labor and delivery nurse.

CP: Biggest surprise about fatherhood:

My biggest surprise about fatherhood is the love. It’s infused with pride and worry and excitement beyond anything you might feel for a spouse or family member or friend. I took a photo of my daughter’s first potty poop. Try explaining that to a non-parent. If fatherhood is a roller coaster ride, you just can’t understand it watching from the ground.

CP: Favorite books to read to your daughter:

My favorite book at the moment is Ten Little Monkeys. The pages are highly repetitious, so much that we can recite the book anywhere from memory. I improvise, bouncing my daughter on my knee, counting the number of monkeys on each page who haven’t yet fallen off the bed. When we get to the latest monkey to fall, I tumble her sideways and let her recite the doctor’s caution, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

My daughter’s favorite book is the Dinosaur Bob series. Two of the books have the words to a song on the back page, The Ballad of Dinosaur Bob. She loves hearing Mom and Dad sing it, and has begun reciting the words with us.

I like stories with distinct characters that I can give different voices to, artwork with interesting details I can quiz my daughter about, and stories that have room for improvising away from a strict reading of the words.
CP: What other blogs do you like?

I read Daddy Types for product news and Parent Hacks for tips. Dad Talk has my attention lately because it’s a mixture of personal blogging and commentary about societal issues. I have a big blogroll though and try to cover a lot of territory once a week.