I mentioned TruKid, a cool momma-run company, last month but now I’ve tried the line, so as usual, I have more to say.
TruKid is a natural skin care line for children, which means no icky parabens or other harsh preservatives. The line is cheerfully packaged, easy to use and fairly priced, which is great considering TruKid tries to use as many organic ingredients as they can.
Out of the whole line, I have two favorites: the sunscreen and the lip balm. The lip balm tastes like spearmint without being overwhelming, which is nice for the younger customers involved. Of course, I never gave Sy a chance to get her gummy paws on the lip balm, because channeling my fine toddler, I decided it was MINE ALL MINE. But I think it would be a nice mild flavor for the five and up set, especially if your youngin is starting to transition from fruity flavored toothpaste to a minty one.
Reader Kelly sent me a link to Little Stork, “your source for THE Premium Baby Delivery Bag.” I’ll admit I was skeptical at first, thinking, can’t we all just pack our own bags a month early and be done with it? But then I checked out their bags and laughed as I remembered that I packed a lot of trivial items like, uh, make-up. I must have confused myself with a famous person who is hounded by paparazzi as they leave the hospital. Because, you know, that’s soooo close to my reality. Needless to say, the eye shadow never left the bag. Little Stork’s bags seem to be well thought out with just the right amount of gear to drag into the hospital. The items go from the mundane (ponytail holders) to the luxurious (Soothies breast gels). Yes, I consider Soothies to be luxurious. Welcome to the glamorous world of breastfeeding.
So yesterday after playgroup, Sy was “helping” me open the sliding door of the minivan. Yes, I own a minivan. I’m not proud. Please don’t tell anyone how much I love it.
Anyway, she threw a two year old hissy fit about wanting to open it ALL BY OWN. So I was fumbling for the keys to click the sliding door open again, holding onto my purse and closing my cell phone all at the same time. At that exact moment Julie, our fabulous playgroup leader, yells HAND, HAND, HER HAND! I looked over in complete horror, that awful lump in my stomach sliding into place, to see my poor wee one’s little paw getting smashed by the sliding door. Luckily all I had to do was click to make it open again, I am quite surprised I had the presence of mind to do even that. I ran over and grabbed her and looked at her hand. Four tiny little fingers had big mean, red indentations in them and the skin torn off a few knuckles. Nothing was broken, but let’s be clear, she was reaaaaaaaaaaally upset. We ran her back up to my friend’s house and hollered for ice. Andie brought out a regular ice pack and once the howls of angst settled down into a moan, she busted out her son’s Hug & Heal bunny. I’d never seen this thing before and I am so going out and getting one. It’s a little plush bunny with a velcro opening on the side where you slide a mini ice pack into place.
It’s newborn season in my life. Many of my friends are having their second baby right about now. While they all knew what to expect at least a little more the second time, there are always new challenges, lack of sleep, feeding issues, lack of sleep, fussy kids, lack of sleep.
My friend Leigh’s newest baby is very jerky and unsettled when she sleeps. She’s been busting out of the swaddles which then wakes her up, which then makes for one crabby baby. Now that’s a challenge I am familiar with! Sy was colicky for what felt like years, but was really only about three months (oh, but what long months they were). We also had to swaddle her for a long, long time to either help calm her down or to keep her jerky limbs from waking her up (once we got her to sleep, that is). We tried a lot of different swaddling cloths, but found the Swaddle Designs Ultimate Receiving Blanket to be the best one out there. It is huge, has directions sewn in and is a really strong, soft cotton flannel material. We’d wrap her up in that and then rock her for what felt like hours (oh, that’s because it did take hours) until she fell asleep. Once she was conked out, we’d give our arms a break and transfer her to her Snuggle Nest where she’d sleep almost peacefully for at least 28 minutes, give or take 20.
When I was pregnant, all of my friends told me that I was a fool to register for the Diaper Genie. They complained of having to purchase special bags which was wasteful, it was expensive, twisting the diaper into a bag-encapsulated sausage every time was tedious, etc. Go with the Diaper Champ, they said. One flip of a lid and the diaper is gone. Being the rookie that I was, of course I registered for everything my friends loved and got the Champ. It even comes with blue trim or pink trim if you really want to drive home the difference in the gender of your diapers.
Two Champs later (once the funk sets in, there aint no going back), I finally started to listen to my friends’ current opinions for diaper removal. I recently succumbed and got the Diaper Genie II. Very important distinction, the I and the II.
Sometimes I just don’t have it in me to cart around Sy’s diaper bag. And sometimes it just does not match my dress or my attitude. There are days when I don’t feel like advertising that I am a mom. Of course, having a sticky, silly two year old attached to me at the hip is a dead give away. Anyway, when you crave your own accessories, it’s good to grab a bigger handbag from your superior (ha) collection and throw in one of the following little bags:
Thinking about the Top Ten Lists got me excited, so I am posting another one today.
OK, so I am just going to say right now that I’ll definitely be going over the “ten” part of the Gearhead Mom’s Top Ten List more often than not. There’s just a lot of gear out there and I love a lot of it. As your child gets older not all of the items are needed every time. This is also a great baby shower gift to give. Get a diaper bag (off their registry if they have one picked out) and fill it up with all these items. It makes that first trip out of the house a little less scary if you feel prepared.
