We Have a Picky One...

Something happened last week. Aside from Nate turning 1 I mean. He also became a picky eater. One day he ate everything I offered, and with gusto. The next he was pursing his lips and turning his head, a big fat "no thank you mama" from a pre-talker. Nice. What's a girl to do with a newly picky eater? I have no experience with this, my sister and I ate everything, including raw garlic (ahem, Erica).

But, Nate had decided he will eat bread and fruit, and some dairy products but only a bit. Awesome. Vegetables? Nope. The lentil soup he used to snarf down as quickly as I could shovel it in? No. Ditto for the spaghetti and meat sauce he used to love. sad. I love to cook and he will no longer eat what I prepare (except for the bread which I make).

Thank goodness for those pouches of organic babyfood. Brands like HappyBaby, Ella's Kitchen, Plum Organics and Sprout. They know how to hide the veggies in a way that even this picky eater will eat them. Broccoli? No problem as long as it's hidden in pears from Happy Baby. When mommy makes it he combs it off his tongue with his fingers. Really, he does that.

So, lucky for me Plum Organics pouches are on sale at Diapers.com, buy one get one free. It's a really good deal for good organic food in pouches that are made without all those scary materials (BPA, Phalates, etc). Use code PLUMGIFT.

Wait, Hanukkah Already?

For years I felt like all the holidays snuck up on me. In California, without real weather changes the High Holidays in the Fall were the worst, meaning a few days beforehand I would slap my forehead and realize we didn't have dinner plans. That was of course before we started going to Greg's aunt and uncle's place every year. Hanukkah isn't a big deal, it's not a religious holiday, and the gift-giving is pretty much for kids (and Nate was born on the last day of the holiday). The only real ritual is lighting the menorah (and eating fried food, yum) and usually I would forget until the day it started and have to run around looking for candles.

Now that we have Nate things are a little different. I plan ahead more, look at the calendar, think about what we are going to do. But I was still shocked to go to Target yesterday to find that almost all the hanukkah decorations were already sold out, and at Michael's they were already on the sale rack. We have more than 10 days people, what do you expect?????

If you are like me and haven't been preparing already, then there are still some things at Target, some very cute menorahs actually. They have subdued traditional ones and wacky ones for the kids (sports theme, ballet theme, etc) and in the store I saw a very nice looking Noah's Ark menorah, although I think it was wood so not sure how that works out with candles. So, if you are putting this off get over there now to get what you need. I probably should have bought my candles yesterday but oops, totally forgot even as I was standing there looking at the display....

Sweet Gift Sets

Time is flying by, sweet baby Nate will be 1 on Friday! I can't believe it. It's also December, almost time for Hanukkah, Christmas...lots of gift giving. I got an email from Splendid about their gift sets which look really lovely, like this scarf set -

You can wear them separately or all together. A nice cozy gift.
They also have adorable sets for kids and babies, like this girls legging set -

and adorable baby rompers -

So much fun!

Rest for the weary bather (or their knees anyway)

I had a few clients a couple of years ago who all complained the knees of their jeans were fading, thinning and then ripping. As adult women who were long past the stage of thinking ripped jeans were cool they were dismayed that this was happening. Since I saw it in a few women all at once I realized it had to be from kneeling while they bathed their kids every night.

In Berkeley I also had to kneel to bathe Nate and it sucks. Mainly because I have bad knees anyway so this didn't really help the situation. Here I'm lucky that our bathtub has a wide enough side that I can sit on it comfortably.

But I did see these bath time kneeling mats that look amazing, I mean what a great idea. No regular bath or tub mat is thick enough to help, but these look really thick and plush, like a tumbling mat almost. These look like a great way to save your jeans, and your knees! Giggle has a couple of options, check them out -

This one is shaped like a whale, how cute!

Here is the top view of it -

That would make me happy I think, and you can hang it up from that loop if  you don't want to keep it on the floor all the time. I share my bathroom with Nate (it's the only bathtub) so I would rather have things that make me smile.


This one folds up so it's more compact for storage or carrying between bathrooms I suppose as well -

Either way, you can't lose. Find them both here -

A Zany Hat that just might stay on!

I have posted hats for kids and babies, it feels like lots of them, but most of them are no match for our little one who will rip it off if it isn't crazy glued to him. My sister suggested a balaklava but I hadn't looked for one and then I saw these from Hanna Andersson -

The Zippity Zany hat from Hanna Andersson, this is what it looks like on a kid -

And the mittens look like they'd be easier to get on, and with that string through our little man's coat, they won't get lost even if he rips them off his hands.



And then there is this too - Save Up to 50% OFF Select Items at Hanna's More the Merrier Sale! Nov 14 - Dec 18

25% off at Gap, Banana, Old Navy and Athleta, 20% at piperlime

Enough said.

Gap and Bloomingdales Friends and Family Sales

now would be a great time to buy those winter baby accessories you've been putting off, and maybe a couple things for yourself also...Even if you wouldn't normally buy Gap jeans, if you are still waiting to lose the baby weight, it's always a good idea to have at least one pair of jeans that fits you well on the way down, Gap is great for that - particularly at 30% off!

Also, Bloomingdales friends and family sale is till going on through the weekend, get 20% off with code HAPPY.

Happy Shopping!