Rough Week

It's been a long few days. In short, I broke my phone and the Child has turned in to mobile terror (and yes, I mean that with all the love in the world).  As she learns how to walk/speed crawl everything in the house has been turned upside down.  I currently have all the heavy pots and pans on the countertop, since she has been hurting herself with them when she pulls them down.  The rental we are in doesn't have enough cabinets for me to really find another place to store them, so I'm at a loss. And out of energy. And patience. And now that the Child is asleep (finally!) I don't know what I'm doing writing, I should be eating or using the bathroom by myself.

At Long Last! The Child Eats!

Finally, after months of disinterest, the Child has begun to eat solid foods.  Sort of.  It's slow going, but I'm ok with it.  The slow pace of it all has really given me time to think about the message I want to send to my daughter about food.

 I want her to treat her body well, to nourish it with good and healthy food, to eat the occasional cookie and to be an effective reader of food labels. * I have a lot to say to her about food, this is just the start.*

My mom is a type 1 diabetic and since I was a kid we would read labels together to try and find healthy and tasty foods that she could eat without causing major spikes and dips in her blood sugar.  My family has always been health conscious, so label reading is second nature to me. My interest in healthy living and good eating has expanded as I have moved from consumer ("mom, will you make me a sandwich?"), to novice gardener, to chief cooker and head of the family shopping committee (har-har). Over  the years my interests have expanded to include organic and pronounceable ingredients, sustainable farming practices, ethical food companies and minimalist packaging. 

So far the Child has begun to eat a mixture of table foods (she loves to squish and then eat blueberries) and purchased baby foods.  I know some people are firmly in the "make-your-own-baby-food-all-the-time" camp, but the fact is that just does not work for us. 

In the last month I've purchased some baby foods and done A LOT of label reading and researching.  Some of what I've found is reassuring, there are some good and responsible baby food companies, but there have been some real surprises as well.

In the next few weeks, I'm going to be writing about some companies that I've come to trust and really feel comfortable feeding their foods to the Child and some others that I think come with some serious caveats .

Bummas Review and Giveaway

Finally, at long last my first review and giveaway! Woohoo! Casey from Bummas was kind enough to send me a package of her award winning "Wild Ones" wipes to review.  Award winning you say? Indeed!  Bummas were recently awarded the Seal of Approval from PTPA(Parent Tested Parent Approved) Media AND and Eco-Excellence award from Natural Child World.

I was thrilled when a small envelope, arrived in the mail because one and I was excited and two the packaging was compact and efficient and there is nothing that bugs me more than wasteful packaging (I'm looking at you major online retailer). Anyway, here they are all artsy-fartsily arranged.

Pretty, huh?  The first thing I noticed was the nice tight serging, these babies won't be unraveling anytime soon! They're nice and soft, and frankly they've becoming a Child magnet. She loves to reach for them when she's on the changing table.  I think it's because they are the brightest colored wipes we own.  Unlike many other wipes out there, these are made out of 100% terry cloth.

Extreme action closeup! Bazinga! Terry in action!

These are my first terry cloth wipes and l now understand the appeal for terry cloth.  These are nice and "grabby" both for diaper changes and as wash clothes in the tub. They are also the right mix of thick and thin, thin enough to not take up too much space in the wipes container and thick enough to get a good lather for soap and provide a safe barrier for wiping when changing the Child's diapers.  If you hold up your hand (provided you have normal sized hands), that's about the size of the wipe and I've found that it's been easy to "palm" a wipe and maintain control of it while wrangling a wiggly child.

I've been using Bummas for about a month now, and they are holding up very nicely and the fabic has remained exceptionally bright and soft.  Functionally and aesthetically, I'm really pleased. I think any mama would be happy to receive these as a gift, I know I would have!

Bummas can be purchased here and a set of 10 Bummas will cost you $15.

Casey has very generously offered one set of Bummas to a lucky reader, enter below earthlings!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I received said product for a review. The opinions are my own and your experience may differ from mine. 

The Beach!

Come Monday, the Child and I will head off to the beach with my folks and brother while the husband stays at home (boo) and works.  This beach? It's the beach of my childhood memories.  It's a wonderful, idyllic and mostly empty beach. 

I'll be taking along my Bumbledoo swim diaper, 12 flats, 3 covers and 7 flip disposable inserts.  I think I should be ok because I'll have access to a washer and dryer and knowing my parents, I guess more specifically my mother, we will be doing laundry everyday and I will just toss my flats in.  The child has been pooping sporadically as we slowly transition into solids, so that should help. But I'm sure, given my luck, we will get to the beach and she will promptly begin pooping 3x a day.  I'll report back on how it all goes. I'm hopeful to say the least.

In other news, I have stocked the freezer full of frozen burritos for the husband, so hopefully he won't starve. 

Downton Abbey

If you don't have a little bit of a crush on Matthew Crawley something is seriously, seriously wrong. So while the Husband was away I signed up for the free month of Netflix and started to watch the first season.  I was moderately interested, but caring for the Child while attempting to pay attention produced poor results, hence the reason I almost never turn on the TV.

Then my brother came for a visit, giving me a little bit more time to listen to Maggie Smith's biting one liners. That Dowager Countess is a real tart and frankly she reminds me of my grandmother. I mean that in the most loving way possible...

Anyway, I'm in love with the show and the only way to actually watch is to find some means of care/entertainment for the Child. So I opted to visit my folks for a few days and promptly foisted the Child on them (which, oh by the way, they loved) and got on to season two. OMFG. I cried at the end of the season finale when they kiss! That kiss was so many wistful glances in the making. Sigh. I am in love.

Blueberry & Avocado

I spent most of yesterday watching the Child mash blueberries and avocado bits into her face and hair. I feel like a good parent somehow. What'd you do? (throws out chests and arms) bring it.

I don't get this "Button" business

So, I'm sitting here waiting up for the Husband to get home, entering giveaways and hoping the Child doesn't wake up just as he walks through the door (#itwouldhappentome).

I'm not sure what this, maybe it's a rant, maybe it's a query but I don't get this "Grab my button" business on rafflecopter. What IS that? (double crazy emphasis points for both italics and caps) No, seriously, what is the point? I get that everyone wants to show that they are interconnected and that other blogs love them too, and they're cool but blah blah blah, come on!

They clutter up pages and I think they're silly. If someone can explain this "button" concept to me, please enlighten me. Heaven forbid I should ever have a "button", "grab a button" or sew a button on feel free to tease me and remind me of this.