Out Out Stains, Naturally

Plant-based EcoVer gets almost anything

out. I'm talking stains on baby clothes 

that have been sitting in a box for three years.

I'm talking red streaks from when you

wash your whites with a *#%! red towel.

It's the bomb, and doesn't cause cancer.

Awesome!

Available at some Whole Foods and on Amazon.com

Kolcraft Stroller Recall

Strollers Recalled by Kolcraft Due to Fingertip Amputation and Laceration Hazards http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12196.html

Eating Rainbows

In a further effort to get my daughter to eat more fruits and veggies, I purchased the Today I Ate a Rainbow chart and book and it charms my little one to eat her veggies like a cobra being called up out of a basket. The second she starts being difficult about eating her peas or blueberries, I pull out the book and read it. She opens her mouth the second I start reading about Yoshi and all the other characters who don't eat right. The book talks about how kids' growing bodies need the phytonutrients (a new word in her vocabulary now) that you can only get from naturally-occurring red, orange, yellow, green and blue/purple foods.

Order at todayiatearainbow.com and also check out their free downloads and video of the Rainbow song. Also check out Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day. Even though 2012's event has passed, I plan to host an event at my daughter's school as soon as the new school year starts.

Eat-on Art

San Francisco based Modern-twist brings art from independent artists to our kids' tables minus any BPA, lead, latex, phthalates or other chemicals. Their Kidz Placemats made from food-grade, hand silk-screened silicone and the Kidz box come with a set of washable pens for little artists (pronounced with a french accent) to color while they eat. They roll up for travel and are easy to wash off with a sponge.
My daughter was given one by a family member on the eve of me doing research about exactly what is in my daughter's previous laminated placemat. If the fact that I couldn't find a straight answer anywhere on what laminate materials are actually made of is an indicator of anything, I'm guessing that it's that laminate is potentially dangerous to tiny mouths and bodies.

Find a design you love at modern-twist.com.

Getting the Green Stuff In

Why kids and veggies don't seem to get along, I'm not sure, but in my house, I have to drive a hard bargain to get anything green or yellow into my daughter's mouth. I've tried dinosaur-shaped spinach snacks. I've tried veggie soups. I've tried zucchini pancakes (they worked once until my daughter caught on). But in general, she just doesn't want to eat the green stuff.

When my pediatrician ordered blood tests for her, unfortunately, he found deficiencies in quite a few of the "green" areas, so he recommended a fruit and veggie supplement which he designed himself through his line of natural child supplements, Kids Wellness.
Brighter Horizons Wellness VeggieFruits is chock full of green foods with high ORAC (antioxidant) value vegetables, cleansing alkalizing grass juices, and a proprietary blend of fruits and berries. Sweetened with stevia and inulin (a natural polysaccharide and prebiotic fiber) the all-natural sweetness won't impact blood sugar levels the way so many other sweeteners do. I mix hers with a little water and her powder probiotics, since I also find that hard to sneak in. She doesn't like to drink it out of a cup, so I let her feed it to herself with a syringe. She loves it, so whatever floats her boat.
The reason I consider it to be truly innovative is because my daughter will actually take it. I've bought so many products that she'll have nothing to do with, so anything I can get into her and that provides her with so much great green stuff, I love.
Find it at kidswellness.com.

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).