Who doesn't love a great pair of shoes?

When the temperatures started to drop I realized my baby's wardrobe was missing a critical staple...shoes! So, what to get? I did some research (as I do before buying anything, even diaper cream) and read that the best shoes for a little tyke like mine are something with a soft, flexible sole. Softer shoes let baby's foot develop naturally. They also make it easier for them to balance and "grip" the floor. My cousin mentioned a good source for soft-soled crib shoes that she found held up beautifully. Minitoes! These are handmade, soft-soled shoes available in an unbelievable selection of styles of colors. Now, you can find similar shoes in major department stores, but take my word for it, they won't hold up like the Minitoes. I have bought such shoes and they literally fell apart. Meanwhile, his Minitoes are still holding strong! The soft leather material is totally flexible and keep his little feet warm. He has no trouble getting around on these shoes, even on our hardwood floors. You're sure to find a number of styles to love here. My only problem was choosing a pair! So I got them in brown too!

A Clean Meal Out For Your Tiny Diner

There are lots of things to dread about dining out with a little one. Will he throw a temper tantrum and disrupt other customers? Will he like what you put in front of him or will he fling it on the unsuspecting, undeserving woman in the next booth? And who knows? Sometimes dining out with baby goes as smoothly as can be and everyone enjoys a lovely dinner. However this meal out goes, there's one thing you'll never have to worry about again, and that's the germs on the table your baby will be eating off of. Because finger foods are generally placed right on the table for baby to pick up, you want to know that surface is clean. With the Tiny Diner by Kiddopotamus, you know his cheerios aren't being tainted by whatever was left behind from those grey dish towels you see the bus boys using to wipe down all the tables. This handy rubber place mat has suction cups on the bottom so it stays securely in place on almost any surface. The tray on the front catches most of what your little one loses on the way to his mouth. When dinner is over, you fold the sides in, fold the top down and roll the whole thing up into the tray. Its rolled up form is very compact and can fit right into your purse - hopefully after you've already rinsed it off. The other thing I love about this product is that I'm not leaving a big mess for our poor server to have to clean up after we've left. The majority of the mess is contained in the Tiny Diner and we either dump the mess into the trash or I roll it up, stick it in a plastic bag and clean it when I get home. I'm sure your next waiter or waitress will appreciate this product as much as you do.

The bees knees

My son started crawling one week ago today. This is such an exciting time for my husband and I. Our baby is growing so fast...and he can move surprisingly fast too! Admittedly, we were not very well prepared for this new phenomena. We had to rush out to the baby store, stocking up on outlet covers and cabinet door latches to keep all dangers out of his reach. One thing we were ready for was protecting his little knees from all the hard surfaces in our home. My cousin, and fellow enthusiast of all things baby, gave me Baby Legs as a shower gift. Baby legs are leg warmers, sized right for little tiny legs. They're still pretty big on my JUST turned 9-month-old, but that just means we've got lots of use ahead of us. Stretchy, breathable material ensures they fit just right and don't get too hot. My baby's Baby Legs are cream with tan stripes and adorable little bees at the top - a perfect accessory to his bumble bee themed nursery. I think, technically, they are meant just for keeping his legs warm, but they work wonderfully as buffers against the hardwood floors too. He crawls all around in total comfort thanks to these handy little items. I could really tell they made a difference because when I took them off, I cringed at the squeaky sound of his bare skin dragging across the hard floor. I think he was much more comfortable with his Baby Legs on.

A quiet gem of a toy

If you've set foot in a toy store lately, you've probably noticed that most toys are loud, obnoxious, and feature lots of blinking lights. And if you're a parent of a baby or toddler, you're probably as sick of hearing the same songs in the same nasal voice as my husband and I are. But trying to find a good toy that helps baby develop skills, encourages hands-on activity and won't give you a headache is not an easy task. It seems like all toy manufacturers insist on these overly-stimulating, seizure-inducing monstrosities. What happened to the simple toys that gave baby a chance to let his mind create the fun instead of letting a machine do it for him? A co-worker of mine gave me her (and her child's - that's important!) favorite baby toy as a shower gift. The Parents Alpha Block Sorter is a wonderful toy that gives baby hands-on play, and gives you a break from all the racket.

Designed for babies 6 months and up, we broke out these blocks when my son was 5 months old. He'll be 9 months in just a few days and he still plays with them EVERY night. They're the perfect toy to settle him down with a little quiet time before bath, book and bottle. Each of the 8 blocks are filled with a soft foam so even if he falls over on top of them he'll never get hurt. 5 of the blocks have a toy in the middle which is wonderful for working on baby's dexterity as he tries to pull out whatever he sees inside. Some are rubbery cylinders or triangles with fun textures to experience. One is a clear plastic tube with a ball that rolls around inside. But my son's favorite is the clear plastic triangle that's filled with multi-colored beads. He loves to shake it and listen to the beads rattling around. And with 6 sides to every block, that's 48 unique surfaces with brightly colored pictures to help baby learn his ABC's and 123's. My husband has fun with these blocks too. The two of them make a little game of Daddy trying to stack them all before baby knocks them all down. My son shows no sign of losing interest in these blocks any time soon. I'm sure they're going to be a part of out nightly routine for quite some time.

Little luxuries

How would you like to be shocked with a cold, wet cloth on your bare bottom in the middle of the night? It wouldn't feel good, would it? So why would you put baby through that? There's a simple solution. The Munchkin WarmGlow Wipes Warmer keeps baby wipes nice and warm so there's no discomfort to baby during a diaper change. Now, is this product really necessary? Of course not! But it sure is considerate. This warmer holds up to 100 wipes. It's super easy to refill and it gives off just enough glow that you don't have to turn on any lights in the middle of the night. No lights and no cold wet cloths. Both of these things are important when you have to consider putting your babe back to sleep. I have found that in the really dry winter months, it is necessary to add some extra water now and then or the wipes will dry out. They have stayed adequately moist the rest of the year. It's a wonderful little product that I'm sure my baby appreciates even more than me.

Nosefrida? Oh, no no no!

If it's made in Sweden, it has to be good, right? The Nosefrida...oh, where to begin? I decided to give this unique nasal aspirator a try after reading all the great reviews on various websites and blogs. Everyone was raving about how effective it was. At $17, I think it's a pretty expensive booger extractor, but, hey, everyone else seems to love it! Once it arrived, I wasn't sure I could go through with it. You see, the way the Nosefrida works is you place the cylinder just outside of
baby's nostril. Then you put that flexible tube IN YOUR MOUTH. Yes, you read that correctly. You put it in your mouth and SUCK the snot! There is a filter between the cylinder and the tube so you can be sure nothing green reaches your lips. Ewww! This was a huge leap for me considering I gag and heave over just about anything. I guess when it's your baby, you just find the courage somewhere. I waited until he had a stuffy nose, whipped out the Nosefrida, put the cylinder in place, the tube in my mouth and sucked with all my might. Then I did it again.
I sucked until I almost passed out, but I couldn't get anything out of that little stuffy nose of his. Plus, he kept trying to put the cylinder in his mouth. This thing doesn't work. I even tried Saline to loosen up the stuff first. Sucked 'til I was blue in the face and the mucus hadn't budged. So, I pulled out my trusty bulb aspirator and out it all came. Baby could breathe clear again. My advice, when it comes to nasal aspirators - save yourself the $17 and take the hospital aspirator home with you. The one they use when baby is first born - that is the best aspirator you'll ever find. They're going to charge you for it anyway (probably more than $17, though!) so you might as well keep it. No other aspirators work as well as the one the pediatrician uses on your baby in his or her first minutes of life.

Who knew jumping was so much fun?

I arrived at the daycare one day to find my son having more fun than I had ever imagined him having. The reason? They had him in one of these jumpers. It has a big, claw-like spring on the top so it attaches to your door frames. Simply clamp it on and away they go! My baby was enjoying this jumper so much, I couldn't get him to stop so that I could take him out. I actually had to wait until he wore himself out before I could finally extract him.

Needless to say, I went out the next day and bought him one for home too. Mine happens to be the Jumpster Doorway Jumper - Jungle Jubilation from Graco, but there are many varieties out there. Be careful though, the top clamps only spread so far so you'll want to read the specs carefully before you buy. I have an older home with thick wood moldings around the doors. The jumper wouldn't fit! How awful! We ended up cutting two pieces of wood to put on either side of a trim-less archway. This gave the clamp something to hold on to. The fun he has in this thing is worth the not-so-glamorous look these boards now make in the living room and dining room.

Not only is this jumper fun for baby, but it may free up a few minutes for yourself to pay the bills, make a phone call, start dinner, whatever. Always keep baby in sight, of course. You can use this jumper until baby is 25 lbs. and the straps are adjustable so you can shorten them as baby gets taller. It's great exercise for their little legs and an overall great buy at about $35.

Rub-a-dub-dub, I sure love this tub!

Bath time is my favorite time of day. I love the nightly routine of putting my baby in his bath (which he LOVES) and washing the little dusting of hair on his perfectly round, pumpkin head. I attribute a large part of our bath time enjoyment to his Primo Euro Bath. This is the BEST baby bath tub you can buy! It's also the largest baby tub you can buy which may be a turn-off to some folks, but just think how long your baby will use it and how much more comfortable he will be. This tub is perfectly molded to cradle babies in a comfortable, reclined position until they're old enough to sit on their own. This molding keeps baby in place leaving both your hands free to bathe him or play pat-a-cake! (Of course, when I say "hands free" that doesn't mean you can just walk away. Never leave the baby alone in the bath tub.) Once baby can sit up on his own, you simply move him to the other side which, again, is molded to help keep him in place. There are little trays for holding soap and shampoo bottles and a drain plug at the bottom. Also, this tub is seamless so cleaning it is a breeze. I think my baby loves his bath tub almost as much as I do.

Sittin' Pretty

My baby loves his Bumbo Seat, but he didn't always. Supposedly, you can plop baby into this smartly engineered seat as soon as he or she develops head control. But, at only 7 or 8 weeks, I thought my little one was still a little small for that! I tried it out at 4 months. He would sit in it for about 30 seconds and then look at me as if to say, "Get me out of this thing!" And extreme fussing would ensue. So, I tried it again at 5 months. This time he would last about 5 minutes before begging to be freed. Finally, at 6 months he started to realize the benefits in sitting up. It was so much easier to watch the cat prancing around, or grab her tail. It was fun to play with toys from this new, upright position. Now that he's 7 1/2 months, he'll sit in his Bumbo for a good 30 minutes at a time. This is an incredible boost to us when we're scurrying around in the mornings, trying to get out the door. We put the Bumbo on the kitchen floor, put the baby in the Bumbo, give him some toys and we're able to pack lunches, diaper bags and briefcases all while chatting to baby who happily plays and "talks" back from his Bumbo. We also have the play tray which seems to really help baby keep his toys in front of him. The Bumbo seat is a definite winner!

Hush Little Baby

One of the first skills a new parent must master is the art of swaddling. After all that time spent in the cramped, warm space of mommy's tummy, babies tend to like being wrapped up like little burritos. While I still say receiving blankets are a must-have, when it comes to swaddling, they usually prove fairly worthless. It's difficult to get it just right and baby usually wiggles out of it within minutes. Plus, baby often outgrows them very quickly.

A simple solution, and one that REALLY WORKS, is The Miracle Blanket. This little wonder is easy to use and keeps baby wrapped up just the way he or she likes it. My cousin bought me The Miracle Blanket as a shower gift and even though my baby was never a good sleeper, he did seem happier when we wrapped him up good in this little lifesaver. Unfortunately, his reflux meant that The Miracle Blanket was often in the pile of dirty laundry so we still had many nights where we had to attempt swaddling with a traditional receiving blanket.

While out one day I found another swaddling blanket that I decided to try. The Swaddle Me Adjustable Infant Wrap proved to be a pretty good buy as well. This one features Velcro tabs that keep it securely closed, and it was easier to wrap baby up in than The Miracle Blanket. However, I do think my baby had an easier time of wiggling his arms out of the Swaddle Me than The Miracle Blanket. But the other nice thing about the Swaddle Me Adjustable Infant Wrap is that there is also a Velcro tab running across baby's abdomen giving you access to his lower half for diaper changes without completely unwrapping him. The important thing is keeping baby snug, warm and happy and I think both of these products make excellent choices.

The Perfect Time to be a Parent

If you're a parent of young children, especially a baby, you're probably aware of how good we've got it. And if you're not, then keep checking this blog for examples as proof. We are parenting in an age when manufacturers are really showing an interest in making new products for babies and their parents. We've got access to so much stuff our parents and our grandparents never had - things that make life with baby easier. Things that our elders say aren't necessary. We know they're not necessary. We know we can succeed as parents without most of the stuff we buy, but why not? If it makes things easier... why not use it? The whole point of this blog is give a little shout out to those handy little products that make us as parents say, "Boy, I'm sure glad I have that."

So for my first product shout out, I figured I'd focus on the baby product that I've used more than any other. I don't think a day has gone by since my son was born over 7 months ago that we haven't use our Avent Express Steam Sterilizer. This thing is wonderful! Plop your bottles and nipples into this handy little thing, add 7 ounces of water and stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes and what you get back is the peace of mind that those bottles are truly clean. I soak mine in soapy water first too, but it's still much more efficient than running the dishwasher. You can also toss in your Avent breast pump parts, and I toss pacifiers in too. My husband and I love this product and would recommend it to anyone using Avent bottles.