Thursday, March 29, 2007

Check this out

Being a new mom means being so tired that you can barely remember your husband's name much less how long it is has been since you have fed the baby.

Check out this cool product: The Itzbeen Baby Care Timer

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Full Review From Baby Gizmo: Hormone-induced "mom brain" is bad enough by itself, by add a lack of sleep so severe you start hallucinating, and it can be darn right crippling. Why would you ever give a helpless newborn whose life completely depends on that same mom to her at this very time? And yet, that is our lot.

Thankfully, we’ve found some help in the form of the new parent-invented ITZBEEN Baby Care Timer. We might not remember our name, but we can now easily tell you when our baby fed last, on which breast and how long “it’s been” since their last diaper change.

The ITZBEEN timer is really four timers in one. Buttons featuring a diaper (for changes), a bottle (for feeding), some zzz’s (for sleeping or wakefulness) and an asterisk (for anything you wish to time) will start the count on one of four different timers independently. Want to time your baby’s nap so they don’t oversleep and ruin your evening later? Simply push the zzz’s button, the timer will start counting the minutes, and you’re set. You can even set an alarm for each button to alert you at a set amount of time later – an hour, 3 hours, etc. -- reminding you to wake, feed or check baby’s diaper.

The ITZBEEN is comes with a clock, backlit display so you can read it in the dark, and alarms that can sound or silently change a button’s color. There is even a handy left-right switch on the bottom to remind breastfeeding moms which side they ended on last. No more safety pins on the bra! Hooray!

The ITZBEEN also has a wonderful nightlight feature that we’ve started using as our middle-of-the-night flashlight for checking on our babies. It’s the perfect amount of light to keep you from tripping over anything, but still not bright enough to wake baby.

With our first kids, as we repeatedly lost our little feeding journals and deliriously stared at our bedside clocks trying to remember where we even were and what we were supposed to be doing, we dreamed of a timer that would make things a little easier. The folks at ITZBEEN delivered our dream timer and more. It even includes little touches like a lock button to prevent an accidental button push from starting a timer over. Some products say they are portable, but you really can throw this in your diaper bag and go!

It’s got an attractive, modern styling. It’s a nice cool blue color, but more colors are coming! It’s nice and compact, just over 3-1/2 inches tall, yet slim. It’s contoured to fit in your hand beautifully, but is still big enough to read easily. It stands on its own like a champ, but also includes a belt clip for portability.

It’s easy to see how the ITZBEEN might save the sanity of a newborn mom, but we also found it useful for all other ages. Great for medication reminders, setting up structure for a potty trainer, even keeping track of TV or computer time logged by an older child. The ITZBEEN is also a great tool for caregivers, grandparents and babysitters since it allows you to set alarms reminding people that don’t live in GaGaLand how often your child needs to be fed, changed and checked on.

The only thing we’d like to see added is a carrying bag to protect the case and buttons from scratches and dust since we do tote it with us everywhere. We expect they’ll come out with one though, as this new company, started by a husband and wife team, seem poised to deliver great future products as well!

Gizmos Galore

Trying to decide which diaper pail is the best, which stroller will work with your growing family or which diaper bag will stand the test of time.

Hop over to Baby Gizmo for reviews on baby everything.

CLICK HERE

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Super Kiddo

One more from ETSY is this super duper Superman cape!
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
What a cool dress up piece. Henry would dig it if he was 2 or 3...at 14 months he doesn't quite get it yet but I am loving this cape.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Sixteen bucks HERE

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

THINK SPRING

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Dontcha love this little retro girls art smock?
I thought it was a dress at first but how cute for your budding artiste!!
Handmade on ETSY - get yours now for only $25

Click Here to Buy

Friday, March 16, 2007

Think Green for Spring

I am loving one of Hip Kid Art's new canvases for spring.
Called PIXI STIX it is a vibrant grass green and so cool for a hip nursery.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

You can buy it here

FLOR for your HipKid's Floor

Do you know FLOR? It is carpeting that is sold by the square. Using a sticker they are held in place and allow you to be creative with your carpeting.

Check out this super cute choice for your hip boy's room.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I see this in Henry's future.

Check it all out HERE

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Not that ugly.



You might be very familiar with Ugly Dolls.
Is it wrong to think they are so cute?
It is a great alternative to a fluffy stuffed animal for your cool kid.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Favorite toys for early toddlers?

I am finding myself bored with Henry's toys.
Longing to promote creativity I am doing two things today.

1. I am buying these blocks from Melissa&Doug
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Cardboard, 40 of them...I think that is enough to build a small fort, castle, zoo etc. He is only 14 months old, too young to play alone with these but I think they will last a long while.

2. Last summer we bought a UV tent similar to this one
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
I think I am going to set it up in the family room and see if he wants to play in it. Seems like it could be fun.

We had a pediatrician appointment last week and she said "No TV for Henry" and he loves his movies. I am glad it is getting warmer outside which makes it easier to entertain him but sometimes I feel like I run out of ideas.

What do you (or would you) do with a 14th month old to keep him engaged and entertained? Please post comments!

Friday, March 09, 2007

"Mom My Ride"

Have you seen this?
Do you know MTV's "Pimp My Ride" where they take an old beaten up car and trick it out...well this mini-show brought to you by Zima is a take on that.

Pretty funny.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Toddler Bed

Check out this super cute toddler bed from WalMart.
For $160 bucks I could see buying a toddler bed for the short amount of time I would use it.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

This bedding makes me cringe but check out the groovy dinosaur camo print - perfect for your HipKid's toddler bed. It is from WalMart too.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


I gotta say WalMart has a little style now and again.

$158.88 buy it HERE

Friday, March 02, 2007

Plastic Bottle Warning


Mother Can I Trust the Government?
from ecochildsplay.com

Once again, the government has failed to protect the youngest citizens. Yesterday, it was announced that the most common baby bottles may be dangerous. The baby bottles in question are made of hard, clear plastic made with Bisphenol A, also called BPA. Heating a BPA bottle increases the amount of leaching, which is a common practice for warming breastmilk or formula in a bottle. Babies and young children are most at risk from the leaching effects of BPA. According to a CNN article (courtesy of the Web Savant), "Rachel Gibson, a lawyer for Los Angeles-based Environment California, said the laboratory tests on bottles from all five brands - Avent, Dr. Brown's, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex (Charts) - were found to leach bisp henol A at amounts known to harm animals in laboratory animal studies." Environment California Research and Policy Center conducted the independent test on baby bottles. “Parents cannot be expected to deal with these issues on their own,” said Gibson. “California must act to assist parents and ensure that products on the market are not potentially harmful for children.” Click here for more information from Environment California about baby bottles. A report from San Francisco television station KTVU can be obtained here.

The best alternatives are stainless steep sippy cups for toddlers made by Klean Kanteen (available through Amazon or Reusablebags.com) and glass baby bottles. The potential dangers of plastic baby bottles reminds us that the breast is best for our children.

I have to say that I am going try one of these Klean Kanteen bottles. Henry needs to get off the bottle anyway at 14 months.

Buy them at amazon.com