In-between Inflatable Travel Toddler Bed

We just returned from vacation and were reminded of how much we love our The Shrunks inflatable Tuckaire™ toddler bed. It is the perfect in-between travel bed when your child has outgrown their Pack N Play, but are still a little too small (or wiggly) for sleeping on a hotel or guest bed during your travels. It fits inside a suitcase, taking up about 1/10 of a large suitcase. The "tuck" part of the Tuckaire™ design means that standard crib sheets fit, and that they tuck around an inner mattress, making it a very tidy little thing. It has attached inflatable rails on either side, which help to prevent roll outs, but don't eliminate them if you've got a top-of-the-bed escape artist like I do. It also comes with a lightweight electric air pump, which makes it quick to set up. I wouldn't be writing about it if it wasn't BPA-free, PVC-free, Phthalate-free and Lead-free. They also make a twin travel bed for big brothers and sisters. I also use their inflatable bed-rail on my daughter's bed at home to prevent roll-outs. It does the job and isn't bulky (and expensive) like most bedrails, but they do come with patch-kits and that's because they do start to lose air, so take care not to sit on them while singing your lullabies. Check out more details at theshrunks.com. Goodnight and sleep tight.

A Common Cure for Television

I'm one of the last hold-outs to not show television to my toddler. TV just hasn't become a part of my two-and-a-half-year-old's life, and I'm happy to keep it that way for as long as I can. Recently it dawned on me that stickers can help. Completely out of my previous adoration of all things tiny and sticky, I have been buying my daughter stickers since before she could sit up, much less peel them off their backing. Only recently has she really gotten interested in them...she'll sit there peeling and pasting those suckers for close to half-hour at a time, which is just about same length of time as an episode of The Backyardigans.
A few weeks ago, as I was scraping an old halloween googly-eyed sticker off my coffee table, it occurred to me that my girl needs a sticker album. And so my quest for a sticker album began. I was shocked and confused when more than one salesperson in Micheal's craft store asked what a sticker album was. "Only the best invention on the planet," I answered in my head.
Amazon.com, once again, came through. There I found The Original Sticker Book by Sticker Farm. It is so great, (almost as great as my Mrs. Grossman's book, still in my childhood closet, full of all my most prized stickers) with fun pages full of animals, fairies, and scenery just asking to be stuck all over. My daughter has practically filled hers already, but luckily they're coming out with a second edition called My Happy Day, soon. Oh, happy day.
Check them out on stickerfarm.com and join their facebook page for more sticker talk.

Protecting tiny eyes

Having battled with melanoma myself, I'm always worried about my daughter's exposure to the sun, especially living in Miami. She currently has a pair of sunglasses that have a band around the back of the head, but we just can't get them to stay on her head. The band is still a bit loose, so I won't blame the glasses, but she did used to have a pair of regular sunglasses that she seemed to enjoy wearing a lot more, until her mom somehow lost them.
In searching for a new pair, I came across Real Kids Shades. I like them because they detail their rigorous product testing program which assures all Real Kids Shades are CPSIA Compliant, CE Certified, and FDA Approved to provide 100% UVA and UVB protection. Just because glasses say they have UV protection, doesn't mean they do, and wearing glasses that lack sufficient protection is actually worse than wearing no glasses, since when behind a shaded lens, the retina actually opens, letting in even more dangerous rays to insufficiently protected eyes.
I ordered the Flex, for ages 3-7. They come in great colors and are a frame shape that I wish I could find for myself. Check them out at RealKidsShades.com

Safe, softer, sleeping

Now that my daughter is getting older (she's edging quickly towards 2 1/2) her mattress, organic in all it's glory, is feeling a little on the firm side for her tossing and turning little body. I'm finding her sleeping on her side and back more and more, so I started looking for a mattress topper to soften it up a bit. Not as easy of a task as I thought it would be. Finally though, I found one, at Ecobaby.com.
Since growing bones grow best on firm mattresses, their recommendation for softening up a firm mattress without adding too much give was one of their organic plush pads, made of natural wool attached to a cotton backing, so as to be humane. My daughter sleeps in a Stokke oval crib, and they even make a pad for her mattress.
Here's to hoping both she, and I, will be catching a few more Z's.

Funny letters-BOOK GIVEAWAY

The Jokelabet-the ABCs of letter jokes, a new book by Russ Stark and Tony Buckland, teaches kids the differences between letters with a sense of humor.
"What did the I say to the T? Cool hat." and "What did the O say to the Q? Your shoelace is untied." are a few of my faves from this independently-published book available at blurb.com (search for Jokelabet).
Write a comment about which letter gives you and your family the biggest laughs on a regular basis.
One v-e-r-y lucky winner will receive a free copy of the book (make sure to include your email address so I can be in touch if you win).

Wee-licious

For a while there, I was cooking up a storm for my daughter. I was a member of an organic food share, I was finding new recipes, chopping, dicing, slow-cooking, fast-cooking, I was even cooking Kale.
Lately, I've lost my cooking mojo and have been stuck in frozen food purgatory, but today I saw a post on my friend's facebook page and clicked onto Weelicious.com. I got my mojo back. I went and bought ingredients I needed. I mixed and whisked and made these delicious Peanut (well, Almond) Butter and Jelly frozen pops. So easy. Tomorrow, I have the Avacado and honey dip on my to-do list and am actually looking forward to it. I think I just needed a little inspiration, so thanks Weelicious. The thing I love most is that they have an amazing number of specified categories including dairy-free, gluten-free and egg-free.
Crossing my fingers that my daughter digs the PB&J pops tomorrow.

Say NO to GMO

Just thought I'd share this video series by Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception.
Don't Experiment With Your Baby is a must-watch for anyone thinking about having a baby. The video details how GMO tests on animals have shown very serious results to babies in utero. And if you're going to watch only one of the series, make it It's Time For a Food Fight. Apparently animals know better than we do.
I think a lot of us have organic foods on our radars, but forget about how dangerous genetically modified (GMO) foods can potentially be to us and our children. Luckily, all certified organic foods cannot intentionally include GMO ingredients But a lot more varieties of non-organic fruits and veggies are going under the needle these days, so refer to the non-GMO shopping guide website. They even have an iphone app. Now chant with me...No GMO, No GMO, No GMO.

Your Wee Friend

My daughter is about to go into full-on potty training mode, as soon as I'm up for sitting her down on the potty every half hour that is.
Well, one step I've taken so far is installing these too-cool, heat-sensitive stickers that change color when your wee one pees on them into both her potties. They're called, appropriately, Wee Friend stickers and they start out black and change to the object of your choosing (they come in a variety of designs including a star, pig, flower, etc.).
You just stick it to the bottom of any flat-based potty surface and wait for your kid to pee.
Don't be a dimwit like me and try to show your little one how it works using cold water, because it's only activated by the warmth of you-know-what. Poo will do the trick as well, but it's definitely not as fun to look at afterwards.
My daughter peed in her potty for the first time yesterday and was definitely encouraged when I told her that the "magic" star would appear for her.
One sticker per package. Available at pottytrainingconcepts.com. Make sure to use the code ShipCheap (caps are case sensitive) at checkout to get the $4.95 shipping. Also use coupon code: CLR15% for 15% off any order of %50 or more.
Happy training.

Tuna fish that isn't so fishy

I've been looking for a canned albacore tuna fish so that I can make my girl a nice little tuna fish salad sandwich, but almost all canned goods have the not-so-added benefit of having BPA in the can linings. I've made a habit of buying most of my other usually-canned goods (tomato paste, beans, peas, etc.) in glass jars or frozen bags instead. Tuna, unfortunately doesn't taste so great out of a frozen bag and isn't available in glass jars so my search went on until the other day when I picked up a can of Wild Planet sustainably and wild-caught albacore tuna fish in Whole Foods and read the back label to find that, wahoo, they use a certified BPA-free can.
Wild Planet tuna fish is also much lower in mercury than the average canned tuna fish because they use smaller troll-caught fish instead of larger and older (which means higher-in-mercury) line-caught fish.
Check out Wild Planet's website to read more. wildplanetfoods.com

Half sippy, half cup, it's the Tilty

I remember seeing an ad for the Tilty cup when my daughter was first born and thinking "that's a great idea, but it'll be years before my little tiny baby will need that." Well, it's two years later and she wants so badly to drink out of a regular cup. Unfortunately, at a few months shy of two years old, she has the motor-skills of a guy stumbling out of a bar at 3am, so more of her drink ends up on the rug than in her mouth. The other day I spotted the Tilty at a local store and grabbed a two-pack to try out. My daughter loves it and so do I. There are no straws, filters or valves. There were early mornings where I felt like I needed a mechanical engineering degree in order to put her various cups together. This one is simple. Fill. Snap top on. Hand to thirsty kid. Done.
Tilty keeps the liquid at an angle and allows it to flow to the spout with minimal effort so that your little one doesn't have to tilt his/her head back as far. According to The American Dental Association, the fact that it doesn't have a valve also makes it better for a toddler's dental development. TILTY is BPA Free, PVC Free, Pthalate Free, made of safe #5 polypropylene, and is dishwasher safe.
Happy sipping.
Available at Amazon.com Tilty Sippy Cup, Clear, 7 Ounce, 2 Pack (Obsessedmoms.com gets a small percentage when you buy through this link)