Category Archives: Age 1-3

biome5: organic clothes for kids

July 10, 2008Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Baby & Kids Clothing, Educational ToysAlicia

I dont’ know how many times I have refered to Madelyn as a little monkey. We had to get her out of her crib before she turned one because she tried to climb out of it. She climbs as high as she possibly can in any given situation.

I was excited when I received a cute biome5 Monkey tee for Madelyn because it describes her perfectly. And as if cute isn’t enough, biome5 tee’s are educational. Shh, don’t tell your toddler. How can a tee be educational you ask? On each shirt, a huge letter is printed with an animal whose name starts with the letter. The M tee has a cute monkey on it while the Z tee has .. I bet you can guess.. a zebra. The colors are vibrant and on most designs, the animal printed on the tee looks like a photographed image making the animal easy to recognize. You child has probably seen most of the animals at the zoo, aquarium, or in your own backyard.

Tee’s are available in 2T, 4T, and 6T short sleeve and long sleeve and the onesie is available in 3-6 months and 6-12 months sizes. All of the designs are gender neutral so you are not limited to the number of tee’s or onesies you buy for your child.

Oh, and what’s really neat is that the name of the animal on the shirt is printed upside down so your child can read it while wearing the tee. That is such a cool idea! biome5 tee’s give toddlers the opportunity to work on learning the alphabet and phonetics while wearing an awesome tee.

Click on over to biome5 to see all of the designs and check out their current sale prices.

Boon Potty Bench

June 23, 2008Age 1-3, Bath Toys & GearAlicia

Madelyn is on the tail end of potty training and has used the Boon Potty Bench almost since beginning the potty training process. The potty bench has two storage compartments with sliding doors, one on each side of the seat. What I love is that the doors won’t open when the lid is down which makes it so that Madelyn can’t play with what’s inside unless she is sitting on the potty during which the compartment doors will open.
We have wipes in one compartment and random things in the other side for when Madelyn wants to spend an especially long time on the potty. One storage compartment has a toilet paper roll holder but I prefer to use wet wipes so we use that compartment for the ‘other things’. Having a toilet paper holder is a cool idea though. There is a pee deflector that can stay on the potty with the lid up or down and with the toilet drawer in or out. It doesn’t have to be taken off unless you want to clean it or remove it if your toddler doesn’t need it.

The Boon Potty Bench makes a great stool for Madelyn to use at the sink where she washes her hands and I use it to sit on when giving the kids a bath. The toilet drawer is easy to remove after Madelyn uses it. She usually takes the drawer out, sings her special ‘pee pee’ song and then gives it to me to pour into the big potty.

Overall, the Boon Potty Bench is one of the best that I’ve seen. I love the simple design and color much better than some I’ve seen that play music, make sounds, and could probably microwave your food. 🙂

Manufacturer website: Boon Potty Bench

Buy at Amazon.com. for $29.99.

Playskool Wash or Toss Cups

June 13, 2008Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Feeding - baby & kids, Food and Drink, TravelAlicia

Playskoolwashtossmadelyn A few months ago I made the mistake
of giving Madelyn milk in a regular cup, not a sippy cup. You don’t need me to tell you about the mess that followed.. and the drama. The mess is obvious but the drama was a little unexpected. I forget how good of a memory babies and kids have. After that one time Madelyn wanted her milk in a regular cup all of the time and we all know how toddlers act when they want something really bad. Such fun!
I tried and tried regular sippy cups, but she wasn’t having it and quite honestly, I’ve been a little more stressed than usual lately so I gave in and let her drink out of regular cups Playskoolwashtoss
but in the kitchen only.

A few weeks later I received Playskool’s Wash or Toss Cups in the mail and things have changed a bit. Madelyn really likes the Wash or Toss Cups. I think it’s because they look more like real cups than regular sippy cups so she feels like a big girl. One thing that I love about these cups is their size. A little smaller than her old sippy cups, these hold just the right amount of milk. I don’t find cups lying around the house with old milk in them anymore. Yeah!

Playskool Wash or Toss cups are dishwasher safe, and can even be put in the microwave. These cups are great for travel and I personally don’t see a need to ‘toss’ the cups as they wash and hold up well. I have noticed that when Madelyn shakes the cup really hard some milk may drip out out of the spout holes, but I think that is the case with any cup like this if you shake it hard enough. The tops have a little ‘grab tab’ for easy removal and snap on to be very secure. When Sebastian used cups like these about 6 years ago, he would push on the outer side of the spout so the top would come off. The lids on these cups don’t come off that easy, thank goodness!

Available exclusively at CVS stores and CVS.com.

Playskool Cottony Cloths

June 12, 2008Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, Beauty & Skin Care, Cleaning & Cleaners, TravelAlicia

Playskoolcottonycloths Over the years, I learned that even soft little toddler faces can turn into what looks like a cafeteria food fight broke out with the toddler right in the middle of the action and that it takes a lot of patience and wiping to get such a tiny face clean.

Made with real cotton and available exclusively at C
VS/pharmacy and online at
cvs.com, Playskool Cottony Cloths are a must have for parents; especially when traveling whether by car, plane or train. Cottony Cloths are available in a few different sizes including a
convenient travel size with 16 cloths which is what we used on our recent summer vacation road trip.

I used to pack a wet washcloth in a sandwich bag to use on the kids hands, faces, and clothes after snack time in the car. What was kind of yucky about using a wet washcloth is that I had to use the same washcloth over and over which got pretty gross after one or two wipe downs.

I used Playskool Cottony Cloths while on our recent road trip and was thrilled to be able to use a clean cloth each time I needed to wipe the left over snack off of Madelyn’s face, hands, and clothes. I was also very pleased to learn that one Cottony Cloth goes a long way. Because they are so thick I was able to use one cloth per wipe down session as opposed to the several thin wipes I used to use before I switched to the wet washcloth method.

Scootababy – a sling that holds my two year old

May 26, 2008Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, TravelAlicia

Madelyn is a very attached child and has been since she was an infant. As a matter of fact, as I am sitting here typing this, she has half of her body on me as if to say "don’t even think about moving mom". I’m sure a lot of it has to do with me holding her 24/7 for the first few months of her life, but now that she is older (2), it is really difficult to hold her and carry her for more than a few minutes without feeling pain in my back (previous car accident issues).

Until recently I thought that baby carriers were just for small babies under a year old. That was until I learned about Scootababy Baby Carriers which hold babies up to 40 lbs. Both Madelyn and I find the Scootababy to be comfortable for long periods of time and I am really pleased with how easy it is to put on and take off. The custom built buckles make for easy adjusting with one hand while Madelyn is in the carrier. The front, back and waist straps can be adjusted so the carrier will fit on a wide range of body sizes. I have worn Madelyn in the Scootababy while cleaning and was nervous that she was going to fall out when I bent down to pick something up or empty the dishwasher, but she was secure in the Scootababy and she hasn’t slipped out yet!

The Scootababy is easy on your back, stylish, durable, sturdy, and safe.

The Scootababy can be machine washed and dried but it is best to spot clean and air dry it when possible.

WEBSITE: Scootababy