TILT: Playtex Ortho-Pro Teether

Several months ago, I got a coupon in the mail for a new Playtex baby product - the Ortho-Pro Teether. I put the coupon aside, since at the time David wasn't teething & wasn't interested in chewing on things. Then, before I knew it, I saw him holding his pacifier sideways and chomping on it frantically, trying to massage his poor swollen gums.

I dug out the coupon & looked for the Ortho-Pro teether at the store, and was a little surprised by its appearance. It looks a lot like a pacifier, but instead of having a bulb, it has a firm, flattened teething surface with bumps & ridges. The whole thing is that firm-but-gummy texture that teething babies love, and it has a handle for little hands to grasp.

When I gave the teether to David, he immediately knew what to do! He gnawed and chewed all over the thing, and it seemed to help him feel quite a bit better. Now we're on to molars, and he likes it even better! He can stick the flattened part towards the back & side of his mouth & chomp away!

For more Things I Love Thursday, visit The Diaper Diaries!

Wordless Wednesday

Mighty Bug Hunter

WFMW: Picasa

I am by no means a great photographer. I would like to be, but I don't have the equipment or know-how to take really good pictures. I have a point & shoot Olympus that is about 5 years old, and I mainly just take candid shots of the kids.

I daydream of having a great camera and Photoshop one day, but it's just not in the budget right now. What is in the budget right now? Picasa.

Picasa is a free, downloadable photo-editing software from Google. It has all the basic tools you would need for casual editing - red-eye correction, retouching, lighting correction - plus a few extra "special effects" tools. It's easy to use and you can't beat the price!

Picasa works for me!
For more great tips, visit Works-For-Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family!

TTT: Toddler Finger Food

For some reason, the switch from a diet of formula & baby food to whole milk & table food has seemed like a sudden transition for both of my kids. Suddenly I have to think! About what this little person should eat! This little person who is hungry all the time and who can choke on just about anything!

It's puzzling.

I decided to compile a list of easy, healthy finger foods for toddlers, in the hopes that I'll be able to remember some of these options the next time I'm stumped.

1) Cheerios - okay, this one is a gimmie. David loves Cheerios, and he has the shirt to prove it.

2) Toast strips - plain, buttered, topped with melted cheese; there are lots of options for toast!

3) Steamed diced veggies - carrots and broccoli are easy to steam in the microwave, and can be diced quickly with a pizza cutter.

4) Shredded roasted meat - since I like to cook whole chickens in the Crock-Pot, I have a good supply of shredded meat in the freezer. It's tender and moist, and is easily shredded into toddler-safe bites.

5) Diced fruit - bananas, strawberries, apples, peaches - diced fruit is always a big hit! (I usually don't give David banana as a finger food, because it gets absolutely everywhere and somehow turns into something the consistency of spackle.)

6) NutriGrain or similar fruit & cereal bars - I haven't tried these with David yet, but Wendy loved them! I need to find a recipe for them to try to make them at home. Anybody have one?

7) Well-done macaroni with or without sauce - our family eats a lot of pasta, and David already knows that he loves it! I usually cook ours al dente, but for David's sake, I've been trying to make it a bit softer.

8) Shredded cheese - David loves it! But holy cow, does it make a big mess!!

9) Diced hard-boiled egg - a good, inexpensive source of protein.

10) Plain rice cakes - crunchy and satisfying, they make a good between-meals snack for a hungry baby!

Whew!! It took me a long time to come up with a list of ten finger foods. Do you have any suggestions?

For more Top Ten Tuesday lists, visit OhAmanda.com!

Message from David

Hi, everybody!! Come closer...I have something to tell you!

Today is my BIRTHDAY!!
I'm ONE YEAR OLD!!
Isn't that great?

My Mama says she can't believe it,
but I think it's pretty exciting!
I'm getting so big!

I took my first steps last night
after church. I could have done it
sooner, but I like to keep my parents
guessing - and carrying me!

Thanks for your birthday wishes!
Mama says that we'll have cake on Saturday,
but I don't know what cake is...I hope I like it!

WFMW: Cutting Spaghetti

Spaghetti is a staple in our house. We make regular spaghetti, Greek-flavored spaghetti, chili spaghetti...we just love it! What we don't love, though, is the mess that results when Wendy feeds herself spaghetti. Sure, it's cute when a kid is covered head-to-toe in sauce & noodles, but that quickly loses its charm when you realize that you are the one who will have to clean it up!

I tried various things to make the spaghetti easier for Wendy to eat, and finally stumbled across just the right thing.

Ready?

I put it in one of Wendy's bowls, then cut it up with kitchen shears.

I know, right? I'm sure other people do the same thing. It's a great way of making the spaghetti more manageable, and it's so quick - just a few seconds and I'm spared all the mess that we used to have.

Using kitchen scissors to cut up my 3 year old's spaghetti works for me!

For more great Works-For-Me Wednesday tips, visit We Are THAT Family!

To My Sweeties...

Wendy at 1 year old, 9/2007

To know that I'm the one you call when you have a nightmare...

To know that I get to kiss your boo-boos and tickle your ribs...

To know that I get to read you story after story (after story after story)...

To know that you always got the hiccups right around 3 p.m. and made my whole belly shake...

To know what the back of your neck smells like after a bath...and when you NEED a bath...

To know that I get to see every stage of your development...

To see my eyes looking back at me in your faces...

To see your Daddy's determination and strength in your individual personalities...

To be able to talk with you about Baby Jesus in the middle of an ordinary bathtime on an ordinary Thursday night...

This...these things, these times...make my Mother's Day complete!

David at 10 months, 3/2010

TILT: Earth's Best Baby Food

***"Things I Love Thursday" is usually hosted by Jill of The Diaper Diaries. Jill is currently in the Dominican Republic with World Vision, so Candace at Mama Mia is filling in!***

David is a big baby. That's kind of an understatement; at 11 months old, he was 25 lbs, 12 oz, and very tall, too. He is also very active, crawling everywhere at the speed of light and thisclose to walking. You can imagine that he has a hearty appetite!

On a recent excursion to Target, I realized I hadn't packed a lunch for David. I grabbed a jar of Vegetable Beef Pilaf from Earth's Best from the baby food aisle, and we settled in the snack area to eat. David took one bite and decided that it was just about the best thing he had ever eaten! I looked at the label, and it was full of good things - healthy, organic ingredients. There were no unnecessary additives, like sugar or salt or preservatives. He loved it, and I loved being able to feed him something so healthy!

In a perfect world, I'd prepare all of his meals from scratch, using organic produce, whole greats, and healthy fats. In the real world...well, I don't. Some of his meals are homemade, but many times he eats purchased baby food. Now that I've discovered Earth's Best organic 3rd foods, I feel better about it!

For more "Things I Love Thursday," visit the guest host, Candace, at Mama Mia!

WFMW: Backwards Edition

This week at We Are THAT Family, the weekly Works-For-Me Wednesday tip carnival is a backwards edition. That means that instead of offering up my incredibly insightful and life-saving advice (ha!) I get to ask a question, and hopefully you comment & give me some ideas.

I am going to a wedding in a few weeks, and wearing this beautiful black dress. [Aside: I know it's not typical to wear a black dress to a wedding, but the bride suggested that people dress in the wedding colors, which are black and red. I look awful in red - hello, Rosacea! - so black it is!] It's a lovely dress, but it needs something. The ceremony will be held indoors in the late afternoon with an evening reception.

What kind of shoes should I wear? Keep in mind that I will be chasing a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 year old; beautiful but terribly uncomfortable shoes will simply not work.

What kind of jewelry or other accessories?

Help?

For more Works-For-Me Wednesday, visit We Are THAT Family!