Infantino Teether Product Review

Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this review.  I have received the Squeeze & Teethe product line from Infantino to facilitate my review.

Relief, adorable, and overall excellent product!  We could not have received this teether on a more appropriate morning; our 14 month old started cutting a new set of teeth the night before the box came.  When our little sailor woke up that Friday morning, he was suffering from his first teething fever and wanted to chew on anything within his reach.  We had tried a multitude of teething products with the past 8 teeth; natural necklaces, frozen teething packs, wash cloths, etc. and nothing seemed to tickle his fancy.  I couldn't tear in to the box fast enough when I saw the Infantino label on the outside of the box.  I won't lie; I was a little skeptical though if he would take to this toy or if he would reject it like others.  Ellie, as we have named it, accompanies us during playtime, while reading books, running errands, and even hangs out during bath time!  She is definitely getting some use while we are in this developmental stage.  Well done, Infantino!      

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A Day in the Gardens

Last week was the first day in months that I can remember being outdoors without having to bundle up like I was in the middle of the frigid Arctic, so we skipped an indoor play-date at the children's museum and headed over to the Chicago Botanic Garden.  What a great choice!  My little sailor and I took advantage of the outdoor paths despite the melting snow and muddy trek and walked a little over 2 miles breathing in the fresh, cool air while the orchid show was taking place indoors.  I wrestled with the idea of letting him stroll through the indoor color display since I wasn't sure if this was "an appropriate practice for a mom of a 13 month old," but I figured, "What the heck?!  Learning should be through real-life, real-world exploration and we are going to do just that!"  We were off to purchase our orchid show tickets!

Now, let me first say that we were there in the middle of a school-day so there weren't too many children there.  I think I saw 5-6 littles running around with their mommies besides my little guy and me.  I think 90% of the visitors that day were well over 55 years old. 

After purchasing our tickets, we were off to learn about colors, our senses, textures, flowers, etc. leaving the stroller at the entrance of the exhibit.  My anxiety level was rising thinking about how quickly my eager little boy moves when he discovers new things along the delicate flowers and displays before us; not a good combination, but we were going to make this a positive learning day! 

As we started walking through the colorful array of orchids, I could feel the disapproving looks from numerous elderly women.  Now I am typically a very out-spoken, matter-of-fact person, but today I decided I would let our actions speak louder than words.

My husband and I have been working with our son on the concept of "gentle touches" with our hands, so as I observed him gently touch leaves, brickwork, benches, etc. around him I was simply awe-struck that our little explorer was taking in his surroundings just as we have been modeling for him at home without me intervening.  Of course, as any mother would, I was beaming with pride on the inside, but as I glanced away from my little guy for a split second, there, before us, stood an older woman who clearly was not pleased with my decision to teach my son about natural beauty as she shook her head in disbelief at us.  I smiled gently at her and continued to point out the different colors to my eager learner, but I started doubting my decision until an elderly man passing by says, "that there is a picture-quality."  Why yes, yes it is, sir and thank you for validating my parental decision today!   

 

 

Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden http://www.chicagobotanic.org/

As an added bonus, the gardens are free, you pay for parking.  Military members and families can show their ID for FREE parking. 

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Time to Tidy-Up!

Prior to meeting my husband I was very organized with everything in my home; probably a bit too much at times.  When we met and moved in with each other, I promised him I would loosen up with my extreme need for cleanliness, organization, and perfection in our apartment.  I did, for a short while, but now that we have an active 14 month old on the loose and another little boy due in a few months, I have decided to kick-it-up-a-notch to keep things tidied up around the house in order to have more quality, family time with them. 

After looking at several different "cleaning/organization challenges," I decided there wasn't one that fit our lives perfectly, so I wrote my own.  I have challenged myself to complete it at the start of each new season.  I am into Day 2 and so far so good!  I will update you in 19 days. 

 

 

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DIY Sensory Table

We bought our little learner a water table that he is absolutely in love with, but I wanted a sensory table for his learning area to include sand, colored pasta, oatmeal, etc. without spending an arm and a leg!  During one of my favorite Google searches I came across an easy DIY double sensory table thanks to http://blog.jaxinthebox.com/2013/05/01/diy-sand-water-table-60-minutes-50-done/. 
 
I had to alter the measurements in order to fit the bins I purchased at Home Depot.  (Thanks to the awesome store associate, she measured and cut everything for me!)  I also had extra PVC pipe leftover, so I asked the Home Depot employee to cut me 2 additional sets of legs so the table can grow with our little guy.  As an added bonus, Home Depot had many of their plastic storage items on clearance; so watch those sales tags!
 

 

 

 

Supply List: 

2- 28 quart bins (grab the lids too!)

10- 1.25 inch tees

8- 1.25 inch ninety degree elbows

4- 1.25 inch PVC pipe (10 feet each)

2 cans of spray paint

 

PVC pipe cut into the following:

5- 20 inch

2- 23 inch

4- 10 inch

My 3 sets of 4 legs are 16 inches, 20 inches & 24 inches  

 

*There will be some leftover PVC pipe.  I used it to make rain sticks.  (If you do this, purchase the caps for the ends.)

 

Ideas for your sensory table bins: 

sand, rice, colored pasta, cotton balls, oatmeal, flour, water, beans, corn meal, bubbles, shredded paper, popcorn, sponges, straw, ice cubes/blocks, tissue paper, felt pieces, a variety of material scraps, newspaper, bottle caps, pipe cleaners, shaving cream, soil, mud, fingerpaint, bird seed, the ideas are endless! 

 

*Always supervise children at the sensory table. 

 

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Simple Colored Pasta

I wanted to add colored pasta to our sensory table for our little guy to investigate color and texture.  Rubbing alcohol will allow your pasta to hold the color better and longer, but I warn you: keep all windows/doors open in the kitchen when you are drying it.  Or you could lay the pasta on trays covered in paper towels and place outside on a sunny day.  (I put our trays in the garage with the door cracked open for ventilation.)  Any way you choose dry it, make sure there is plenty of fresh air to eliminate the strong alcohol smell. 

 

 

Shopping List:

3 boxes of your choice pasta

1 box of food coloring

1 bottle of rubbing alcohol

Large Freezer bags

Paper towels

Trays/cookie sheets

 

Directions:

1.  Decide how many colors you will make and designate one bag per color.

2.  Divide the pasta among the number of bags/colors desired. 

3.  Mix 10 drops of food coloring (or more if you want a darker color) and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol together and pour into freezer bags.  Secure and shake until all of the pasta has been covered.  Lay the bag flat.  Repeat for each color.

4.  Let the bags sit for 45-60 minutes. 

5.  Cover trays/cookie sheets with paper towels.  (Bounty paper towels absorb the best.) 

6.  Dump pasta evenly on top of the paper towels and allow to dry.  The alcohol scent will go away the longer you let the pasta dry in open air.  (I made mine in the early evening and set out to dry overnight.) 

7.  Store in an air-tight container when not in use.

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First Flight Jitters

I am going to be honest with our experience (really my own personal anxiety) with our little sailor's first plane ride when he was 4 months old.  My husband's oldest niece was graduating from high school and we decided to make the trip from IL to GA for the momentous occasion.  I did probably what most new moms do- read a ton of articles to prepare for upcoming flight and trip.  Lesson learned- take each moment, first-time experience, etc as it comes.  I never admitted this to my husband before, but he was right. 

When we were expecting baby D I signed us up for EVERY birth prep, nursing, you name it class that was offered in our area.  The first and last class we attended was an informational session about SIDS.  Ok, yes, I know SIDS is real and very serious, but my anxiety was through the roof and I think that was the last night I ever slept a full night's sleep.  (You can read more about SIDS here:  http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/sids.html)  From that night on, my husband suggested "we wing it" and by that he meant take every moment of labor, delivery, and first-time parenting moments by the seat of our parents.  I figured, what the heck; it was time for me to break away from my need to plan everything out in advance. 

With the exception of an emergency C-section, we were 2 extremely lucky first-time parents.  Everything seemed to go seamless and chaos-free.  So I am not sure why I decided to try and plan the perfect first flight for D.  This little guy is just like daddy; a go-with-the-flow kinda boy!

I planned everything from when to nurse him before leaving the house to how many pumped bottles we would need to extra clothes to where to eat at the airport to how to respond to gawkers on-board if I needed to nurse the little sailor; if it could be planned, it was planned.  The one aspect of flying that made me most anxious was ear pain D could experience, so it prompted me to plan a little more so we wouldn't disturb any other travelers. 

The moment we boarded and found our seats, I nervously asked the flight attendants to pass out pre-packaged baggies I made the night before to everyone in-flight.  She agreeably took the bag and started handing out disposable earplugs and a poem to accompany them as my husband fed our pleasant first-time flyer.  Before the plane backed out, baby D was snoring on my shoulder, but most importantly, each passenger was prepared for any ear-piecing screams, but I was still anticipating the screaming baby with us. 

Dressed for his first flight and representing daddy, he slept peacefully 2+ hours until we landed in Georgia.  As we exited the plane, several travelers thanked my husband for his service and expressed their appreciation of the on-board (but unnecessary) goody bag.  My over-planning fell by the wayside, thankfully, but I forgot to enjoy our first flight!  My husband's "wing-it" attitude won again!   

Picture on bottom right by:  Erin Hodge Photography. 

A Very Hungry One Year Old

Our little sailor has been an incredible eater since the moment he entered this world.  The joke among my family is that my husband and I will need to take on a second job just to support his healthy eating and growing appetite.  So when we started planning his first birthday the classic children's story by Eric Carle, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," was quite fitting for our very hungry one year old. 

 

My coworkers nicknamed me the "Google Queen" a few years ago and I still seem to live up to that title; often forgetting to hit up Pinterest for ideas.  In my Google search I found these adorable food labels at http://www.polkadotsandpuppies.com/2011/04/grants-1st-birthday-party.html that gave me the inspiration to put together the caterpillar's feast to celebrate our little sailor's first year.  From there, my very limited creativity took off. 

 

Thanks to http://makeitcozee.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/free-very-hungry-caterpillar-invitation.html I was able to design our own personalized party invitation.  I also used the download to make a timeline of baby D's first year.  (I will update this picture soon once it is hung in our living room.)  But in the meantime, here is a sneak-peak of how I used it...

 

We were honored to have my parents travel from the east coast to help ring in his birthday and join in the festivities!  I am quickly learning how to expand my creativity now that I have a little one of my own.  It's not the best, but it's the best for a beginner like myself.  

 

  In place of the chocolate cake (since we were having cupcakes) I baked a batch of brownies.  I accommodated the cherry pie with my mom's cherry squares with cherries we picked over the summer in Michigan.  (Recipe included at the bottom.)  Hot dogs are always a favorite of little people and they were easy to prepare and forget while we played.  I didn't think a salad would accompany our other treats, so before my anxiety took over for a replacement, mom came to the rescue (like always!) while we were at the Dollar Tree and handed me spearmint gum and mints.  (Obviously, these weren't intended for our youngest of guests.)  

 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

          

   

  I have attended many children's birthday parties over the years and one thing I never clearly understand were the gift bags full of toys that ended up in the trash before the weekend was over.  I have promised myself that I will not succumb to those gift bags.  Here is what our small guests in attendance received from our hungry caterpillar...(inexpensive, easy, and kid-friendly)

 

 

  

 My mom couldn't resist adding a stuffed caterpillar to each goody bag as well.  We were grateful to our local children's museum for also giving each attendee a pass for a free day of admission on their next visit.  (This was definitely an added bonus for having it there!)  Do your area have a children's museum like this one in our area?  Check it out; it was like a hidden treasure!  http://www.rlapd.org/programs-childrens-museum.cfm  My girlfriend teased me that I booked baby D's first birthday party here without visiting it first, but let me tell you, it was a pleasant surprise to everyone!     

 

 

What was or will be your little's first birthday theme? 

 

 

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