Spell it out with sandpaper-WIN A SET!

These letter and number cards use sandpaper to help kids learn their ABCs and 123s. Not only can they trace the letters and numbers with their fingers, but when they're ready, they can do crayon rubbings with them. Made from natural birch wood.
Michele, creator of Polliwog Learning Products, also added the genius touch of a small dot to indicate which way is up. Another nice learning tool is that consonants are red and and vowels blue. The numbers are a gorgeous green...the color of money.
She makes mini and full-size sets of upper and lowercase letters and numbers and also makes a combination set that includes all three.
One lucky Obsessed Moms follower will win a set of lower-case mini letters. Just leave a comment below sharing your favorite way to teach your little one their letters and numbers. I will pick a winner on January 1st to make it a happy new year. Don't forget to include your email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you're the winner. Only one comment per person please. Shipping within the U.S. only.
For more info check out Polliwog's store on Etsy.com

Sun shade on the go-go

My family and I just got back from a trip to South America, where the ozone layer is in even worse shape than it is here. Since my daughter is the fairest of them all, I decided to bring my Protect-a-Bub sunshade with me. I borrowed a stroller from a friend down in the lower hemisphere, but I guessed it wouldn't have as much sun protection as my stroller, so I folded up my shade (it's flexible and lightweight) and stuck it in the suitcase. We ended up using it every day and got of perplexed looks from passerbys who had never seen one or such an Obsessed Mom. I have the older model, which is a little cockeyed to one side when tied on, so looks slightly goofy, but doesn't stop this mom from trying to compensate for darn hole in the sky. There is now a newer model, which hopefully sits a little straighter.
I originally bought it to cover my daughter's infant car seat, but decided to try it on our lightweight stroller a few months ago and it worked great. Now, it's proven itself to also be useful in travel. Protect your bub with one through this Amazon link and Obsessed Moms makes a small profit to continue searching for the best products for our bubs.
Protect-a-Bub Single Compact Sunshade, Black

Be floored

When my daughter started to outgrow her foam play mats and baby gates, I went in search of a healthy floor covering alternative (our floors are marble, and are hence very hard and cold). I was turned onto Flor modular carpet tiles, an ingenious system of square carpet tiles that fit together to make either a large area carpet or wall-to-wall carpet. They have a variety of different types of tiles, but the natural wool option was what made me fall in love. A wool carpet was a must for us since we only wanted natural fibers near our daughter's skin. FLOR squares are also one of the lowest VOC (volatile organic compounds)-emitting home carpet products out there. This is good since we don't want most of the acronyms you hear of (BPA, PVC, VOC...) anywhere near our kids.
The tile system is great since you can replace just one if (or more like when) an accident occurs. You can mix and match colors, weaves and patterns, even as subtly as parqueting the tiles (alternating direction of the weave), which is what we did. Since we've had the carpet in our living room, we've suddenly started migrating back into our formal living room, which we haven't gone near since she was born. It makes the room feel warm and cozy, and now I don't need to hunt down a pillow to sit on every time I want to sit on the floor to play. Installation consists of laying the squares down and lining them up. Voila. They also provide corner stickers to connect the tiles, but I haven't even used those yet and the carpet seems to be sticking in place just fine.
As far as my daughter's reaction, it was like Christmas had come early. She thought it was crazy and amazing that all of this soft carpet was laid down just for her. Who knew Santa came in the form of carpet squares.
I also love that over 90% of FLOR tiles are made in the USA and that they recycle any squares that are returned to them. Check them out at www.flor.com/

Clean well

I love this product for keeping hands clean when soap and water just aren't an option. With all the news about hand sanitizers like Purell containing parabans that cause Endocrine disruption, CleanWell decided to come up with a paraban and alcohol-free alternative. It's made with Ingenium™, a patented formulation of essential plant oils proven to kill 99.99% of germs. Ingenium consists of citrus oil, citrus acid, aloe leaf, thyme oil and copper PCA (a skin conditioner and naturally occurring mineral found in human skin). The bonus is that is gets 4 times more uses per than alcohol gel and comes in biodegradable packaging.
I keep one in every stroller, every diaper bag, every purse...they also come in individual wipes when you're traveling light. Well done CleanWell.

RECALL: Hyland's homeopathic teething tablets

I don't usually list recalls on my blog, but since this is a product that I've been using on my daughter for the past year, I felt that I needed to share this recall information. The FDA is advising to stop use of the tablets immediately due to inconsistent amounts of Belladonna. Please read and make sure to share this link with any mothers who may use it.
Still, I believe in homeopathic products and believe that this link supporting Hyland's tablets is a very good one to read as well.

Lightweight lunches

My daughter received one of these neoprene insulated lunch bags by Built NY for her first birthday...it also doubled as the gift bag for a beautiful dress. It's a great size, big enough for two straw-cups, a sandwich and several 2-oz cubes of food. It's also lightweight and comes in a selection of adorable designs. Vinyl-free, PVC-free, and machine washable. More information at www.builtny.com. Also available at Amazon.com (Obsessed Moms receives a percentage if you purchase through this link). Built NY Lunch Tote

Big protection for little ears

Peltor Junior Earmuffs are made to protect little ears at concerts, sporting events, on planes, etc. I just ordered a pair for my daughter after attending an outdoor concert last week. The music was too loud for her sensitive ears and I was wishing I had a pair of these cute ear muffs. Available on Amazon.com (Obsessed Moms gets a small percentage if you buy through this link) Peltor Junior Earmuff

Fresh Aire

When we moved into our current home one year ago, I decided to paint what would be my daughter's room since the half baby-pink, half baby-blue walls with duck border just didn't cut it for me. I knew I wanted to use a zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the air inside a home is, on average, two to five times more polluted than the air outside. One way to clean it up is to use paints that aren't full of stuff we don't want in our kids bodies.
Finding the right paint was easier than I thought, just around the corner at Home Depot. I ended up going with Freshaire Choice, a zero VOC (as opposed to "low" VOC) paint. They achieve zero VOCs by not only creating VOC-free paint, but VOC-free colorant. Speaking of colors, they have a great selection that you can check out at freshairechoice.com

Seriously lovable dolls

In looking for a doll for my daughter to play with in the bath, I ran into the usual issue of those icky ingredients that most doll manufacturers use in their plastics these days. In my search I did come across one that was truly lovable to me and to my daughter. It's made by Kathe Kruse, a German manufacturer and it's PVC, Phlatate and PVC free. They make dolls for the bath, dolls for dress-up and dolls for just dragging around.
I also love that they make boy dolls since little boys have the right to have a mini-me too.
They're a bit pricey, but worth it to avoid the ick. I ordered mine from Debra's Dolls in NJ. www.debrasdolls.com

Babies for the Planet

I recently decided to get an umbrella stroller for traveling and to have as a lightweight option in the car. I ended up with a Britax, but when it came time to find a raincover for it, I was disappointed with my choices. I found one that was PVC-free, a must for any little one, but it only had a small clear window and the rest was opaque. It made me claustrophobic just looking at it, so I continued my search until I found the BabyPlanet new single-seat rain cover. It's completely clear, PVC-Free, BPA-Free and Phthalate Free. It's lightly frosted to reduce glare. As far as fit, it is made for BabyPlanet's single seat strollers, but fits most other brands as well.
Icing on the Good & Green cake is that they have a donation and recycling program to keep their (as well as any other brands you send in) strollers out of landfills.
www.baby-planet.com