RookieMoms Blog

Of all the extras that the evil woman at Mimi Maternity has tried to pawn off or upsell at the checkout (creams, potions, cord blood banking, college savings), these faux food bars are my absolute favorites. At the time, I bought the Baby Needs Chocolate Bellybar to use up my gift credit so I would never have to darken their doorway again (that’s a hormonally-charged story for another day).

Anyway, I loved it! Love love loved it. In fact, just thinking about the one single (overpriced) bar I had that one day eight or twelve weeks ago makes me tear up and salivate. It was tasty with pretty good ingredients and just a little too expensive to turn into a habit.

Maybe you can add them to your registry or tell your mate that having them on hand will help curb your pregnancy mood swings? Good luck scoring a case!

My partner in crime (err, websiting) is in Mexico with her family and that has me dreaming of travel once again.

A not-very-secret family secret is that Holden was a honeymoon surprise. It sounds so romantic, I know.

In this case, Alec and I were in the middle of an around-the-world honeymoon for which we had given up our apartments and jobs in San Francisco to travel for six months. When the pregnancy test came back positive, we were kicked off of our African Safari rather unceremoniously at a Wimpy Burger in Tsumeb, Namibia. With morning sickness mounting and the responsibilities of being parents closing in on us, we brought the trip to an early end.

Since then, we’ve been wondering and fantasizing about how to get that travel vibe back into our lives. We both love the adventure of being parents… but it’s different than sleeping in a Basotho rondeval and then hiking to a hidden waterfall (or sleeping late in a four-star suite and waking just in time to indulge in the decadent brunch debauchery).

I know that bringing babies and toddlers on the road is possible and potentially even fun with the right preparation and attitude. So, I’d like to use this forum to do a little exploratory research and tap into the collective wisdom of those who have gone before me.

We’re going to try flying with our little family of four this summer for my brother’s wedding, but after that — I WANT ADVENTURE.
Are there any great “baby step” trips to get back into the swing of adventure travel with little ones? Fantastic family oriented cruises, chilled-out Thai beach resorts, cheap and easy igloo sleepovers?

Yep, it’s 9:09 and I’ve showered, had breakfast, fed Milo (upteen times), made Holden lunch, and gotten Milo to take a nap somewhere off of my person.

I think these things happened around noon yesterday.

It’s the little things.

Interestingly, noon yesterday is when I discovered the little pot of coffee Alec left on the (turned-off) burner and today it was 7:30. Connection?

Yep, Alec is back at work. This means:

• I’m alone on night-time duty after being spoiled with catching up on 16 episodes of Heroes and several dvd’s together.
• I have to learn his super tight swaddle and shooshing technique — I think I can I think I can
• He’s back to earning money so we can maintain Holden’s parttime childcare situation
• I’m wearing this baby. A lot.
• There’s a lot more tears… counting Holden, the nanny, his nanny-share buddy, me, and Milo, there was a time this morning when four out of five of us were in tears.
• I am feeling like a total rookie.
• I miss Whitney so much. Oh, and sleep. I miss sleep. And I miss Alec.
• And I’m eating lukewarm lasagne over the baby’s head while he’s in a Bjorn and finally sitting down to the computer at noon. Is this breakfast?

So, for those of you offering tips on managing a newborn and a toddler… I’m all ears. I’m on duty for that pleasure after Holden’s nap.

I picked up the JJ Cole Essentials diaper bag after seeing another mom with an older baby sporting it at Reel Moms (back when that used to exist) when Holden was a newborn. It is a sleek backpack-like sling diaper bag that holds all you really need while keeping your hands free and your cell phone (and all-important pacifier) right up front. Let me tell you, I loved it!

I loaded the top (biggest compartment) diapers, wipes, changing pad while saving the middle compartment for tiny clothes, and the bottom zipper pouch for my camera and wallet. Everything was at easy reach.

Sadly, a few months after loyally loading and toting my Essentials bag around, the seams started to give – I was just working it too hard! I tried my hand at amateur repairs and then relegated it to the back of the closet.

The happy ending though comes when I sent a little email to the nice customer service folks and they sent me a brand new one in the mail. So, here we go again… another newborn and another chance for me to put the Essentials sling bag to the test. I’ll be sure to let you know if it dies an early death again, but I’m full of optimism. I can hardly wait!

I’m currently enjoying a window of time where I don’t have to carry much around for my toddler. In fact, I can leave most of it in the car if we are driving. My husband doesn’t like to carry much at all, so I bought him this diaper-and-wipe pod. It’s tiny and fits about 2 or 3 diapers, a ziploc of wipes, and a changing pad. Maybe you can stuff a small container of anti-bacterial junk in there, too. It has a little handle that allows it to hang on the stroller.

I think this is one of the best products we’ve purchased during our lives as parents. Not to mention, the most gender neutral. It’s $14.95 at Amazon. At BabyAge.com, for $29.99, you get this pod, and two other coordinating pods: one for your pacifiers and one to keep bottles cool.

I have to admit when the germ zapper people contacted me, I was expecting something out of MacGyver to appear at my home. I guess I envisioned a laser-powered bug zapper, but pocket-sized and safe to use around children. I’m dreaming of a product that would keep me and my almost four-week old in a germ-free bubble (sorta like this thing from Hammacher+Schlemmer).

Instead, I received a package with a hand sanitizing foam and a pen-shaped dispenser. The active ingredient is benzethonium chloride, and the zapping is done with a liquid and not a laser. Okaaay.

The revolutionary GermZapperTM the safe, non-toxic, non flammable, instant sanitizer and first aid antiseptic range of products.

I read every bit of literature and all the claims they included. I do not doubt that it’s without alcohol and therefore gentle on my hands. But they are making some pretty big claims about not only killing 99.99% of germs in 15 seconds, but prevention of picking up any new ones for four hours.

Can I truly just foam up and head to the playground (for a few hours), change some diapers, then sit and eat some french fries while nursing my newborn without so much as washing my hands again? I guess I’m not feeling sure enough to take that risk.

I googled the Bio Science lab responsible for verifying the efficacy claims made by germ zapper. I found that the company president has an art show in the works. But where is the scientific rigor and the proof that I’m looking for?

Bottom Line: Sorry, I’m a skeptic. And I’m not a scientist, so I can’t convince myself that it’s working by running my own in-home trials with toddler snot and relative germ levels.

If you want to win a cute new scrap-booky baby book, Leave a comment on Crazedparent’s Scrapgasm.

They’ll pick a random winner from all names received by Tuesday, March 27th. Go!

I signed up to win, but right now that feels like another in a long line of “what was I thinking” kinda things. Feel free to win it and make one for me…

Holden goes to bed around 7pm. In the olden days (like last month), we would tuck him in and then enjoy an evening in front of TiVo catching up on our favorite shows. Now, with a newborn in the house, we scramble as fast as we can to get in bed ourselves so we can maximize the possibility of eight (discontinuous) hours of sleep.

For the past couple of nights, when we wake to feed Milo, Alec busts out his laptop and one of the Netflix DVDs we have on hand, and we watch bit by bit in half-hour chunks throughout the night. Last night was Idlewild with the boys from Outkast. The night before was Eddie Murphy Delirious.

Who would have guessed it, but we found that the utter mindlessness of watching standup comedy was particularly well-suited to our zoned-out bleary-eyed state at 2am and then 5am. Though Idlewild was enjoyable enough, we noticed how much easier it was to follow something with no pretense of a plot; I could nod off for a bit and still catch Eddie’s next (tired) joke.

For other nighttime feeding (bite-sized) entertainment, try watching:

• a comedy TV series like Scrubs or Entourage
• an old favorite movie that you’ve seen a bazillion times
• a collection of short films (we recently saw this year’s Oscar shorts)
• a current show available online in bite-sized pieces, like Heroes on NBC.com (beware the clunky interface! it will try your patience when you have none)
• stand-up from funny newcomers like Demetri Martin or Eugene Mirman — get it on emusic.com (sadly, audio with nothing to look at might put your mate to sleep)

While I am more often a sucker for a beautifully designed web site that merchandises unique and small brand clothes, I am also a sucker for selection. At BabyAge.com, there is no shortage of selection. For example, 18 tandem double strollers and 11 double jogging strollers to choose from. And that makes me happy.

BabyAge carries gear, like car seats, nursing pillows, and cribs, plus fun gifty items like clothes and toys. They even have a section dedicated to personalized items, which are fantastic when your friends go around naming their kids things like Milo, Etta, Paxton and Willa. We have this stool with the letters of Julian’s name, and he loves it.

Improvement needed: A very important aspect of an online store is the sale section. BabyAge.com could make this section easier to find and might lead more of us to the right place. Right now it is only linked to from the home page. I’d like to see it linked from every page. I’ve done you the favor of picking some good deals and linking right to them:

• 46-Piece Home Solutions Family Room Child-Proofing Kit by Safety First for $9.99
• Sound n Lights Monitor by Fisher Price for $14.99
• Travellite Infant Swing by Graco for $39.99

Bonus feature: a compare tool, so when you are getting ready to make a big decision about a toddler carseat, you can line up all the features and prices next to each other.

Well, who knew? Target and Babies R Us don’t have to be your only choices — BabyAge has gift registry, too.

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This is a paid review of BabyAge.com. RookieMoms will occasionally post such reviews if we believe they are helpful to our readers, and we will always be honest. That’s what a review is, after all.