GoodyBlog

Gimme a boost, baby!

For those of you reading along, you know that I've been on a quest to find a booster seat for my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Madelyn. Her younger brother, Grant, was old enough to need his own high chair but since we live in a small apartment I don't have room for one. He needed to move into Madelyn's Fisher-Price booster that she'd been using since she was six months old. (Btw: I love this booster. It's just as good as a high chair but takes up zero space b/c you just attach it to a chair at your table. The best thing of all is the whole thing can go in the dishwasher -- genius!) But Madelyn was left to sit on her knees to reach the table. She didn't mind this as much as the fact that "Baby Grant is in MY CHAIR!" Convincing her that she was now in a "big girl" chair was blinded by her jealousy that her brother had taken over something that was hers. My tolerance for whining 2 year olds at breakfast is very low. I needed to get her own booster and fast! After my last post about my failed attempt to use a Kaboost, one of my high school friends messaged me on Facebook that I should try the BabySmart Cooshee. That's Madelyn, at left, trying it out for breakfast a couple weeks ago. (And her brother in the Fisher-Price booster I love so much.) Madelyn loves it. She likes to be able to reach the table and sit level with the rest of us; I like how it cleans down easily and somehow grips the chair so it doesn't slide off when she scrambles on. Plus, it comes with a nice little carrying case so you can schlep it to Grandma's (which we did last week). But best of all, she has gotten over the fact that Grant is in her old booster. When I told her at breakfast this morning that I was going to write about the booster and asked her if she liked it, she said, "MY chair? This one? This one is MY chair!" In 2-year-old speak that means Yes. 

A Shot of Summer

I know, I know—as parents, we shouldn't be advocating violence—but to me, nothing says July like a poolside BBQ or an impromptu water gun fight. So when it comes to this adorable Condiment Gun, I say yes to packing heat.

Just fill the pistol's two reusable cartridges with your squeezable sauce of choice (ketchup, mustard, perhaps some Cattlemen's), grab a burger or a hot dog, and take aim at a perfect afternoon cookout.

Spotted over at Shelterrific, via CHOW

Group Gifting Made Easy

As summer approaches, it’s time for Moms to start thinking about end-of-school-year gifts for the teachers, coaches, and day care providers who’ve played such pivotal roles in their kids’ lives. In this economy, the most sensible option for most families is to go in together on a group gift—but who wants to be the one stuck chasing down other Moms at the playground to get them to pay their share?

Well, thanks to a new website, eDivvy.com, no one has to take on that thankless task. eDivvy allows an organizer to quickly set up a gift event by selecting a gift on the site (choose from thousands of great items from top retailers like Macy’s, the Apple Store, Sur La Table and more) and then inviting others to pitch in by adding in their email addresses. Invitees can then choose the amount they want to contribute, then safely and securely charge that to a credit card. (The organizer can also check in throughout the process and send gentle reminders if need be.) Once the gift total is reached, it’s sent directly to the recipient—along with a virtual gift card signed by all the contributors. Easy—and no fronting the bill required!

Image via

My Aching Back

My daughter was a real shrimp when she was born. Six pounds 12 ounces and dropped down to 5 pounds something before slowly gaining it back. She never got those great baby thighs that you want to bite into. She was always a skinny mini. The great thing was she was easy to transport. I had a Bijorn and it suited us just fine. But when I had my son Grant in November, he was 8 pounds at birth and got bigger fast. The Bijorn would make my shoulders ache just after a trip to the doctor's and back (about 20 minutes each way). Anyway. I now use an ergo and love it. It doesn't put the strain on your shoulders like the Bijorn; the weight rests on your hips. (It's even better as a backpack when the kid gets to be about six months.) But this weekend I tried out a new carrier called the FreeHand Baby Carrier. It's one of those wrap-around types that have big long straps that wrap all around and cross in the back. So even though I've had it for four weeks I never got around to using it because it was just too intimidating. Then my neighbor, Amie, who is a connoisseur of baby carriers (she got me onto the ergo), showed me how to do it. It was surprisingly comfy. Even more comfy than the ergo. It somehow distributes the weight so it's more in the center of your back. And it's very light, essentially a piece of cloth. Grant was happy in it and seemed to like chewing on the cloth. Here's a picture of us in it. The only trouble is I have to go over to Amie's every time I want to wear it (there's no way my husband will be able to figure it out!).

Racing Stripes

 
It's not especially practical (who wants to let their kids tape up the house?) but I just love the idea of this Autobahn tape from Up To You in Toronto. Super-fun.

(Found via notcot.)

Homemade Baby Food Rules.

Emily is now close to eight-months old, which of course means baby food! This is very exciting, as I am a foodie looney, and I've been looking forward to making our own. Besides all the great nutritional benefits from making fresh, delicious, preservative- and added-sugar-free foods, it also saves some serious scratch. (And with the dollar's value in a downward spiral, every little bit helps.) 

Normally, I do my baby food making during my weekly kitchen prep on the weekends. I'll go to the supermarket and buy large quantities of whatever fruits or veggies that are on sale. Then, I'll peel, chop, steam, and purée. If I have a large enough quantity, I'll break out the Mason jars. If not, larger glorified ice cube trays get filled with baby food, which then gets frozen and bagged. 

During the week, we barely have enough time after work to do anything other than put Emily to bed, eat, clean dishes, watch Important TV Shows, and pass out. But I do like mixing up the food the baby eats. We figure the more types of food she's exposed to, the better eater she'll become. 

This is why I love one of my favorite baby shower gifts: The Beaba Babycook. I love this thing. I'll take a little of whatever ingredients I'm using for our meal and put it in the baby food maker. It steams the food, then purées it. Then, all I need to do is put it in a charming little plate, and hand it off to Danielle, who then feeds Emily Bear. Clean-up is pretty simple right after. The amount of additional time it takes to do this is negligible. 

And, what's most important, Emily gets a nice home-cooked meal...and we save a few ducats. It's a win-win situation.

Spankin' New Headlines

Why your child might not actually be allergic to the foods your doctor told you to avoid. New York Times

President Obama signed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill into law, which will guarantee insurance for an additional 3.5 million kids. Yahoo! News

Potential use of your smartphone—putting your baby to sleep. Washington Post

Forget waiting to develop a career—women are having babies younger, according to new data. Wall Street Journal

Why do 85 to 90 percent of Americans fail to pay taxes on nannies and other household help? New York Daily News

Tweens are a hot target for retailers and marketers, and now they may be even bigger, thanks to Malia and Sasha. USA Today

Original photo via

Awesome Giveaway Alert

Parents.com (our parent site, of course) just launched a brand-new web store, filled with the best, coolest, most useful kids' toys and gear! To celebrate, they're giving away fabulous stuff from the store every day until April 18th. Yep, you have a chance to win sweet prizes every day for months. Amazing. Click here to enter for today's prize, and don't forget to bookmark it to check back every day.

Padlock Prose

I’m finally going to the gym before work. Never mind that it began as my only shower option when the hot water in my apartment disappeared for a week. I'm doing it.
But one lasting problem for foggy-brained, gym going, morning me is using a padlock for my locker. Between my three email accounts, social networking sites and various photo sharing capabilities, my brain cannot possible bear a password made up of all numbers, especially before 8 AM.
So last week I tested out the wonderful Word-Lock. It’s a heavy-duty padlock that can be opened with an easy-to-remember word of your choosing. They even give you a long list of ideas, so no creativity required. It’s an amazingly simple little tool that I’ve come to appreciate almost as much as hot water.

Good Deed Friday: The Gift of Giving (Already!)

I refuse to let economy woes take all the joy out of shopping... I mean giving. Yes, it’s only Halloween and I’m already planning the perfect (inexpensive) holiday gifts, doing budget projections, and buying online to avoid impulse purchases. Not so festive. But then there's free shopping software from aGoodCause.com. It automatically identifies over 850 retailers that will donate a percentage of your sale to a charity of your choice.

You download the software, choose your favorite charity (over 200 are participating including the American Heart Association, Oxfam America, Dance4Life , SOS Children’s Villages, and on and on), and when you shop, a little box pops up saying the donation was made. It feels great, even better than buying designer lip gloss on a whim.

Here’s how it works: The percentage of sales that is donated is pre-established between aGoodCause.com and the retailer, and averages 7% of the sale. This makes you and your charity happy. A commission on the donation covers the operating costs for aGoodCause.com, which makes them happy. And the retailer is happy because you like them better for being so nice, and will probably shop there again.

Photo via.