Milestones

Ellison started waving AND crawling just before Christmas and then yesterday, she popped her first two teeth through!  What a big week for her!

Similac Simply Smart Bottle Review

I asked for the opportunity to review the Similac Simply Smart Bottle because I thought it was innovative and exactly what I needed.  They graciously agreed to send me one to try out.  I received it yesterday and have already put it to good use and I have to say, I love it!

And, the bottle came with a HANDWRITTEN NOTE.  HANDWRITTEN people.  Talk about a lost art form. And from a corporation no less.  Made me smile right out of the box.  One point for Similac's media relations team.

The Simply Smart bottle is new, and I haven't seen it on any store shelves yet.  But it is available at Similac's online store as well as Walmart and Target online.

The features I liked best were the formula "mixer" inside the bottle and the optional formula dispenser cap.  As most of you know, both of my girls have had medical issues and have been on formula since they were very young.  The rubber portion in the bottle, does indeed, help to mix and de-clump the formula and I LOVE that although removable, it is firmly attached.  I tend to use a bottle once, rinse it out, set it on the drying rack and use it again for the next bottle.  The rubber part stays in, even upside down.  It might seem little, but its big because its one less step, I don't have to take it out and put it in each time I use the bottle. But it does come out for easy deep cleaning.

I was a little disappointed that the bottle I was sent did not include the optional formula holder cap.  I understand that this is purchased separately, because the added feature would mean added cost and I wouldn't want that added on to every bottle.  But, I figured for review purposes, the optional top would also be included.  I am looking forward to getting my hands on one of these caps and trying it out, I think it has the potential to be the best feature yet.

I also really like that the numbers, measuring the ounces, on the bottle, are in dark blue.  Some of the other bottles have lighter numbers that are hard to see in the daylight, let alone under running water or at night.  These numbers are large and dark and super easy to see.

Ellison is quite picky about her bottles and LOVES her Nuk bottles.  I don't like that they have a shaped nipple, so it has to go in her mouth a specific way.  Kind of a pain in the middle of the night, and we have PLENTY of middle of the night feedings still.

But, medically, she is required to have cereal in her bottles, which makes it hard to flow through some nipples.    That was the case with this nipple, on our first attempt, she couldn't get anything out.  I merely took a kitchen knife and "adapted" the nipple hole size and we were in business.  She had no fussing about the different shape of the nipple (SCORE!) and she had no problems getting every last bit out.

So, all in all, my only issue with this bottle is that I wish I had the other part, and more of them :-) Overall, I think this bottle has the potential to become our new go-to bottle.

Important stuff: I was sent a Simply Smart bottle to try out.  They did not tell me what to tell you about this bottle and they even said I didn't have to write at all if I didn't want to.  And Nicole was fabulous to work with!

Sili Squeeze Review

I was given the opportunity to review the Sili Squeeze.  They are careful to say it is not a bottle, but a squeeze intended for pureed foods.  You know, like applesauce, pureed baby foods, yogurt, etc.  It has a special no spill valve.  They have two sizes, 4oz and 6oz.

The Sili Company sent me the product to revew and it arrived with gorgeous packaging.  It didn't come in a box itself, but when I opened the shipping box, I found the product and some information nested in tissue paper printed with the company name.  What a simple, but professional looking touch.  Unfortunately R threw out the packaging before I got my camera to it.

I was hesitant about washing it.  But it comes fully apart and was a breeze to clean.  But I have to say that if you left the food in there overnight and let it get dried and crusty it might be harder.  DUH! I just rinsed it out right away, and swirled some soap around in it with my bottle brush.  Rinse and voila!

I also like that the cap is attached with a string.  One less thing to lose.  Although I do think that over time the cord like string has the ability to get dirty.  

There is no way that Ellison could use this yet, she just would not get the hang of the bite valve concept.  Lillian though, loved the idea and it only took her 1-2 tries before she was happily sucking away at her yogurt.  I think this is a great option for things like applesauce, pudding and yogurt on the go or on roadtrips.  

I was also excited to see that they are going to soon be releasing a Sili Squeeze without the no spill valve.  I would love to try one of those out for Ellison's baby food (hint, hint Sili Company).  Ideally, I would like to have one of each kind of valve and one of each size squeeze, I think they would make a great addition to our "kid cupboard".  

You should go visit The Sili Company and check out what they are doing.  I think this company is one to watch in the future for more great products.  Would you use a Sili Squeeze?  What would you use it for? What do you think of their pricing?

Important stuff: I was provided a 4oz Sili Squeeze from the company and asked to provide my opinion in a review style blog post.  They didn't tell me what to say or what opinion to have :-)

Christmas Fun

We recently had the chance to have a friend's two little girls with us for the day.  I, of course, had to have a fun activity.

Pinterest to the rescue, and we have these super cute and SUPER EASY Christmas trees!

The girls loved making, and eating, these and they took almost no effort and I had almost all the supplies on hand.  Win, win!

Random Ramblings: Kid Gear

When getting an umbrella stroller, pay a little more and get one that reclines.  SO worth it.  Even Lil will not sleep in a stroller that is up, but lay it down and she'll sleep anywhere.  We have the Chicco Trevi and I LOOOOOVE it.  It has a basket, a kid tray (a must have for us), it reclines fully, it has a huge sunshade, it folds up small (not as small as some umbrellas though), and it has a parent pouch and cupholder.  Cons: It could fold up smaller, I would LOVE a removable seat liner and the parent cupholder falls off sometimes (not during use, during folding up and down).

Best big carseat ever....Graco Nautilus 3 in 1.  It think it doesn't start until 22 pounds, but from then on, its the only carseat you'll ever need.  Its one of the longest 5pt harness carseats and then goes to a high back booster, then you can take the back off for a regular booster.  Watch for sales when she is getting close.  go to www.babycheapskate.com and watch for deals.  she posts deals on gear, toys, diapers, wipes, etc.  Each week she will tell you where wipes and diapers and formula are cheapest and if its just a sale or if its a "stockuportunity"

Get a jumperoo or a walker.  You don't need both. If you have mostly carpet, its pointless to get a walker.

We have a single Graco Quattro Tour stroller and a Graco infant seat.  By far my favorite travel system, I had one for Lillian, sold it on craigslist, tried a Peg Perego, Chicco and some random one before going back to Graco Quattro Tour for Ellison.  Best full size single stroler ever in my opinion.

We also have the Graco Quattro Tour double stroller.  Now, I will be the first to say that unless you spend many hundreds of dollars on a double stroller (like a BOB), its going to be huge and bulky.  That said, for the cheaper end of strollers, I love this one.  I didn't want a side by side because we do lots of shopping and its hard enough to fit through aisles with a single wide.  I like that the infant carseat can go in the front or the back (or both, if you have twins).  I like that there are two cupholders for the adults and a pouch for stuff, as well as Graco's notorious large basket.  There is also a snack tray and/or cupholder for both seats as well as a "treasure pouch".  I don't like...that its heavy.  Really heavy.  But other than putting it into and getting it out of the van, I love it.

Random Ramblings: Misc Kids Stuff

If you can talk people into NOT buying her gifts the first two years when she doesn't know anyways, bonds are an awesome substitution.

I highly recommend starting an email address for her. YOu can email her funny things she says/does, recaps of vacations, attach super special photos or videos that you want to make sure she gets a story with, and you can ask family to write to her once a year.  I email each of the girls after their birthday and christmas and list who got what for them.  What a great gift when she graduates.  I don't even plan on telling my girls about it until they are 18.  

MAKE sure if you don't already, that you start backing up photos/videos regularly.  More regularly than you think you should.  Because anything that happens and the tiniest thing you lose will now become so important.

Get a set of washcloths that are not any color that you currently use for your house.  The brighter and more obnoxious the better.  If red is a color, even better (more on that in a minute).  Get about 20.  Don't get them from the dollar store, but don't get them at Macy's.  I think ours are two Target sets of 10.  Use these as "kid cloths".  We use them for anything from wiping faces to cleaning spitup to wiping down the highchair.  AND if you have red ones, they're great to use when the kid is bleeding.  They won't see how much blood there is and freak out more.

Random Ramblings: Toys

Buy wooden, classic toys.  SERIOUSLY.  If it has batteries, your kids will outgrow it faster.  People told me this and I didn't agree.  Well its true.  Lillian loves wooden blocks, legos, dress up, craft stuff, playdough and instruments.  The same things our parents loved and we loved.  TOTALLY worth only buying "classic" toys.  Her other favorite is Little People.  Not the houses or buildings or vehicles, just the people.  

That said, she NEEDS the Leap Frog Music Table for when she's 8ish months old.  Best thing ever.  We had one for Lil and she still plays with it, and is mad we're "giving" it to Ellison for Christmas.

Baby Einstein and other "baby" movies...a total waste.  THey don't need to be watching TV at this point, and if they're interested in the TV and you don't care that they watch, they will watch anything, not just baby movies.

When she is about 12 months she will "pick" a favorite blanket.  Feel free to foster this by picking one yourself and giving it to her over and over and over.  When she has a favorite, run, don't walk, to the store you bought it from (while its still in stock) and buy two more.  Keep one in her bed, one in the car and one put away as an extra when one of the other two is being washed.  BEST thing I ever did.  (the blankets that I find hold up the best...4 years later...are a knit blanket. Think sweater type.  Lil's have all been washed at least 100 times and look fabulous.)

If you are going to need blankets in the summer time, get Aden+Anias muslin blankets.  They're expensive.  And totally worth it.  They are available at Target too or you can stalk them online and watch for a sale.  BEST thin, HUGE summer blankets.  Great for a cuddle, laying on the grass or covering the parts of the stroller that the sunshade misses.

Random Rambings: Diapers

Don't buy too far ahead, you will end up with lots of smaller ones you're trying to cram on her and then she'll leak through and it will just be frustrating.

We liked pampers brand best overall, always.  But, target has the best off brand and after 6m I switch to them.  Sometimes, when I'm having issues, I use Target during the day and Pampers at night. 

Pampers wipes suck.  Huggies are best.  Cheapest on AMazon Mom or at Sam's.  Sam's recently changed their distributors of off brand wipes and they now ROCK.  Better than Huggies.  My new favorite.

When you are ready to get pull ups, don't get off brand.  And get pull ups (huggies) not whatever pampers' are called.  And use them sparingly, they're expensive. 

Start potty training as early as you want to, but give it a few days and if its not working, put everything away for a month or two and try again.  Their timing on this one or it will kill you.

Random Ramblings: Kid Food

If you don't already, ask your doctor for formula samples every time you go in.  EVERY time.  And if you see any specialists for any reason, ask them too.  They all have formula to give, might as well be to you.  

And if you're not on the formula company's mailing list for coupons, go to their website and sign up.  And then sign your mom up. And his dad.  And your neighbors.  If she's doing okay on formula, and type doesn't seem to matter, switch to offbrand ASAP.  Target was awesome for Lil and so was Sam's.  

Toddler formula is a joke and not necessary at all. 

Start a sippy cup with a straw when you start foods.  Its easier for them to learn to use a straw the earlier they do it, and it will save you later when you're at restaurants and such.  At the beginning, just put the cup on their high chair tray and let them play with it, they will figure it out in their own time.

WAIT to feed her.  Wait til 6-7 months for sure.  You have the rest of your life that you're going to have to feed her, and babyfood is a pain in the REAR.  For real.  The older they are when you start, the less you have to fight with it.  And as soon as you start babyfood, start offering bigger chunks of food, for them to play with, at first.  It will help them learn to eat "real" foods easier and faster, which is the ultimate goal.  Cook a potato, and slice it into thick fry type slices and just hand her one when she's 6-8months old.  She might gnaw on it, once she learns how to get it to her mouth, but what she gets off, she will be able to eat.  She will just play with it at the beginning.

When you get a high chair, which will be sooner than you think, get one that sits on a regular chair.  You will LOVE it later, and its perfectly fine for babies.  And get one that has the fewest cushions/pads, etc.  You will be cleaning runny, chunky food out of this thing 3 times a day, the fewer cushions, crevices the better.

Take away the pacifier and the bottle as soon as you can, the sooner, the easier it will be.  Last bottle by 12m for sure. The sippy cups come with super soft silicone no spill spouts now, so its just like a bottle, but easier to transfer to other cups.  Also get her to drink sips out of a regular cup as soon as possible.  Like before a year.  We didn't with Lil and she literally couldn't drink out of a cup without a lid until she was almost three.  

Mum Mums.  Best teething biscuit ever.  DO NOT buy any "teething biscuits", ever, they are grossness.  Soak a graham cracker in milk for a minute then take it in your fingers and squeeze then smear it on every available surface, including in your hair and ears and you'll understand :-)  Mum Mums still make a little mess if they gum it and then take it out, but its much less a mess, and much lighter in color.  

Puffs.  I say buy one container of them.  Any more and its a waste of money.  Buy one when she's just staring "food" and break them into pieces and give them to her.  Through that one container, make her pieces bigger and bigger until they are whole pieces, then give her cheerios.  MUCH cheaper.  

Yogurt puffs by gerber....NASTY.

Toddler Gerber Graduates meals....HORRIBLE HORRIBLE nutrition.  I'm SO not into being a nutrition police, but these things are horrible. Give her a lunchable instead.  Seriously, its better.

Let me know if you're interested in making your own babyfood.

Bumpy Names Labels by Orbit...great for the bottles for nursery.

Random Ramblings: Kid Clothes

They only need 1-2 light coat.  A jean jacket, a windbreaker, a raincoat, a sweatshirt hoodie, a church coat....they can add up.  Lil has exactly 9 coats that fit her right now.  They are all from goodwill, but still, EXCESS.  

Buy snowpants a size big and wear them for at least two years, generally three.  And get the bib kind not just the kind that goes to the waist.

GET mittens that have the attached string, OR get the mitten clips.  A necessity.

Make sure all hats have lower ear flaps,when they're tiny.  Otherwise, in order to cover her ears, it will be over her eyes.

Gap.  Worth it.  Always.  Well, except at full retail price.  But, scour goodwill, craigslist, friends hand me downs, gap outlet and regular gap store clearance ANYTIME you get the chance.  If you have an outlet by you go once a month and check the clearance.  Buy basics ahead of time, a year or so even.  GAP wears the best.  Of anything, ever.  But don't buy one piece of a collection (red and white striped leggings or pink, brown and blue polka dot skirt) unless you already have something to match it.  If not, you will always want her to wear it and never have anything to match it.  

Other than Gap, my second choice of clothing brand would be Oshkosh (or Genuine Kids at Target).  Target brands vary...circo is good for cheap playclothes, Cherokee is good for most anything.  Walmart is great for basics, but their selection is never very large.  BabyDepot (burlington) is great for cheap clothes, but very often tends to be ethic/black in style so you need to have time to sort.  Gymboree recently dropped their quality AND raised their prices.  Never worth it.  Childrens Place tends to be obnoxious (in my opinion) for girls.  Lots of loud prints, neon colors, etc.  But they are great for solid color leggings and solid shirts (at outlet or on clearance).  Old Navy has some good quality and some bad, some good looks and some bad....you have to look careful.  Carters is GREAT for babies up to about 24m.  After that, they tend to be too "cutsey" and Lil wants nothing to do with them.  

For pajamas, once they're past 12m or so, you will find two types of pajamas, the skinnier kind (gap, old navy) and wider legged kinds.  Get the wider ones, they will fit even chunkier babies and will fit for longer.  Lil couldn't even wear the skinny ones in her size, and she was TINY.

For some reason Christmas dresses only ever come in sleeveless.  Its SO annoying.  Keep your eye out for anything that is long sleeved or jumper like that you could add a shirt under, so you don't have to cover up the whole dress with a sweater.

Gap shoes, cheap, not worth it, even on clearance.  Stride Rite...good, but only worth it on clearance or secondhand.

Always buy white shirts, short sleeve, long sleeve, sleeveless.  You will use them for all those plaid, polka dots and striped bottoms.  

For every size (after 4-5 when they are walking) I get the following shoes: boots or sandals depending on the season, tennis shoes (worth spending money on only after sz 8or so), brown and black marry janes and pink dress shoes. I make sure my sandals are water worthy (not leather) or I get leather sandals AND water shoes.  Crocs are awful, awful looking shoes, but are great for water and never smell.

Swimsuits always need to be a size bigger than the kid is wearing.  

Dresses can usually fit still even when they move into the next size.  Best investment ever...dresses that you love that aren't "super duper fancy velvet" but more "everyday dresses" because you can wear them after as "tunics" with leggings.  Lil still has two 24m dresses in her room that she wearrs as shirts, when she's now wearing 4-5T.

Watch out when it comes to underwear, even for 2-3T sizes they have "bikini" and "low cut" types.  

Careful when you are buying outfits ahead, for most of her life, Lillian has been a size ahead in tops than she was in pants.  I find it easiest to limit what I buy ahead to solids and basics.  They WILL need jeans in every size, even a pair or two for the summer.  They WILL need a long and short sleeve white shirt in every size.  They WILL need short and long sleeve dresses in every size. They will need plain color socks in every size.  Its a safe bet you will need black and pink stretch pants in each size and pink shirts are always fine.  

Skip holiday themed clothes after the first few months, a waste.  Stick with solids or simple patterns that can look holiday but can be used later.  A red polka dot shirt can be with a green bow for christmas, a red bow for valentine's and and a blue bow for 4th of july.