Product Review-Guide Craft Kitchen Helper and Prince Lionheart Wheely Bug

This is a review for two fabulous products that my lovely MIL purchased for me recently. No one paid me for these reviews I just wanted to share......though they should, right?

First up is the Guide Craft Kitchen Helper. The kitchen helper is a stand for kiddos to be safe and at the same level as the action. It is designed to use in a kitchen but if you crafted or had other hobbies (like my hubby's beer brewing) this could be used as well. It cost $93 and is available with free shipping from Amazon. We love Amazon and buy so much from there. Also we have the stock.....it is simply the best way to shop and give gifts!

The kitchen helper is pictured above. It has cute cutouts on one side and a chalk board as well. I can easily fit two kids and I think it will grow well with Ocoee. The reason I love it is because my hands are free! As much as I am happy with the strong arms I have developed carrying her around, cooking is way quicker with two hands!

The other thing I love is the kitchen helper folds and stores easily. We have a tiny kitchen and it folds up and we slide it out of the way, easy peasy, pumpkin squeezy!

She loves being able to help. I really didn't see how much she was learning until yesterday when I was peeling eggs for deviled eggs and she grabbed one (she was with me at the sink in the kitchen helper) and she smashed it like I did to crack it open and begin peeling it. Wow! I was so impressed that she was paying attention and wanted to help. I didn't even mind that my eggs came out in interesting shapes.....let's be honest, we both massacred them. Egg peeling is obviously genetic and we both need a good sous chef!

They did taste yummy with the homemade mayonnaise though....or so I was told. Sick and icky didn't allow me much taste buds.

So I love this thing! Totally a splurge but we were lucky enough to receive it as a gift. Thanks grandma!!

The next is also a gift from grandma, Prince Lionheart Wheely bug in Ladybug.  it is super cute and scoots so well on our tile floors. 

Ocoee received it as an Xmas gift and really only pushed it at first. The wheels are heavy duty casters that go in all directions so she was able to really chase the dogs around!

She has now begun to sit and ride on it. We have the small and I think it is perfect. She will easily be able to ride it for the next year and maybe more. It is small but would accommodate a larger rider (yea I sat on it) well. She will either ride or push it all over and what a great way to burn off cabin fever energy! 

Cheers

J

Around the house-typical day

Below are photos of a typical day in our house. Like many of us we spend our time awake at home, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, hanging with the dogs and trying to get some R&R.

Here Ocoee takes her pick me up zombie poses.

She loves to pester the dogs though Brodie is the only one with the patience to let her get close. She likes to sit on his head and bounce.....poor guy!

Ocoee playing happily with her block and dad's new foam roller.

Ocoee realizing something was going on in the kitchen uses her press and cling tactic to get picked up and see the action.

Success! She is now sitting on the counter in the middle of the action, watching dad peel potatoes.

Look closely at this picture....do you see where she gets the facial expressions :)???

And her all time favorite kitchen item...limes! I am sure it will taste good with mashed potatoes.

Hubby switched off to me for the baby and him for the camera...ugh, not to sparkling in this photo for me!

And Ocoee makes the lunge to go back to daddy because he is obviously up to something.

She loves to sit on the counter....not safe but we stay right there...

Now she is happy that she can supervise the mashing of all those potatoes! 

Simple days like this are rarely documented by camera but these strung together is what makes our impressions and memories of the past. I am glad I grabbed the camera to capture these lazy laid back moments.

Cheers

J

Car Seats

We have currently been debating about when to turn Ocoee's car seat to front facing. I have a small but very highly rated for safety car though with the car seat in the back the passenger seat is thrust forward at an uncomfortable position. It doesn't matter very often as I don't carry passengers in that seat very frequently. 

The other thing to consider is her legs are getting a bit cramped and the view is limited. 

In the end though we are going to try until age 2, since that is the current AAP recommendation.

Living in Alaska the road can be quite hazardous and any little thing I can do to keep her safer is important.

Currently, 21st Century Insurance is running a contest to promote child safety while driving and they are giving away free car seats to creative people that can redesign the Baby on Board sign. The grand prize winner even gets $10,000 for a nursery redesign. You can find the contest here.

Cheers

J

Mommy zombie

So we often call Ocoee mommy zombie because she wants to be held, and most often by mommy, all the time! She sits with daddy for dinner in his lap, not her high chair most dinners. If I am up and walking around doing stuff in the house, she will demand to be picked up. She will cry.

And cry.

I have tried to let her cry it out......ugh, it gets too much and I pick her up. I know I am reinforcing the behavior but I can't handle a crying baby when I have 10 minutes to do a dozen things and I know to just pick her up she will stop.

We have several alternatives we try. I pass her to hubby because she will not cry most of the time when he sits her down. I try to kneel and hug her but not pick her up.....very rarely does this fool her.

The core issue is she wants to be part of the action. If I am sitting in a chair or on the couch she is plenty happy to go off and explore because mommy isn't doing anything cool.

I have become her favorite toy.

Hubby has said I deep down like it....and sometime it is true but really it stresses me a lot, since it is hard to get things done.... and I want her to be happy and a part of the action. I tried using the ergo but that didn't work that well.

So grandma has purchased a tool I hope will help. It is the mommy kitchen helper stand. I think this will allow Ocoee to be a part of the action and allow me to get some things done without dangerously propping her on the counter when my arms are too full and too tired. Who needs an arm work out these days?

The biggest issue is that I love her so and want what is best for her....I vacillate between thinking I am spoiling her and this is awful and she needs me and this is a phase that will pass, and I should hold her while I can.

Any advice!

I work so hard to have a close bond but I want her to be independent too.....such a struggle.

Cheers
J

Baby's first Santa visit

Ocoee was only 3 months old last year so we skipped Santa. We spent Christmas soaking up the sun and watching Ocoee roll over, the big milestone for that time.

This year I am embracing all the trappings of Christmas so we planned a Santa visit. A local children's store, spoiled boutique partnered with a local photographer to take photos with Santa in exchange do a toys for tots donation.

When we arrived the place was packed with loads of kids and parents. There was a train set to play with and lots of holiday decorations. Christmas music was playing and everyone was festive. Ocoee began playing with the toy train and was holding her own against a slew of bigger boy kids. She made a friend and found books to drag over and have me read.

It was going very well.

I chatted with other moms and admired the elaborate outfits the kiddos were all decked out in. After about 35 minutes it was our turn. Santa was perfect with a real beard and kind eyes. The photographer had a feather tickler and Ocoee instantly liked her, smiling as giggling as we walked up to the santa set area.

And then it went so, so wrong.

In hind site I wonder what I was thinking. The moment I handed Ocoee to Santa to sit on his lap she extended all limbs in full monkey cling mode and curled those little limbs around me hanging on for dear life.

I began to sweat.

You feel the pressure of other parents waiting, Santa sighing, and the photographer looking expectantly for me to get it together.

So I try and peel Ocoee off me and thrust her into Santa's loving lap. She is now bright red and crying like I was abandoning her forever. I was really really hot. I tried to step back thinking maybe I just need to remove myself from the vicinity.

Ocoee wailed louder. I stepped in, scooped her up and snuggle her in. She hiccup and sniffed. I was about to just walk away when the photographer suggested I sit beside Santa with Ocoee on my lap.

So I tucked into the set made for Santa and a small child, an Ocoee turned as far away from santa as she could and scowled.

Then the photog worked her magic. She tickled Ocoee and a Christmas miracle occurred and bug smiled!!

So the end result is a photo of us three (which I cropped myself out of-not a good look for me, sweaty stressed mom) and Ocoee looks sheepishly happy.

Merry Christmas!

Cheers
J

15 month check up

Last night a cold hit Ocoee and has her coughing and snotty today. We had her 15 month check up for today so it was good timing. She was generally in a cranky mood but took the shots ok. Hubby left work and went to the doctors with us, and then straight home to bed with the same cold.

Ocoee weighed 24.1 pounds and was 32 inches long. She has grown a foot since birth and over doubled her weight. This makes us really happy since growing is hard work for babies! Her percentiles were all high 80s and low 90s. Her strawberry birthmark is fading rapidly and her leg birth marks appear unchanged. They all make her uniquely Ocoee and I love them both.

We had a steamy bath for the cold and she went to bed happily, eager for a good nights sleep. One trick we do is to elevated the head of her bed by placing a pillow under the mattress. This allows her to breathe and drain mucus much better and always leads to an improved night sleep.

Cheers
J

Maui revisited

Check out more pictures of this lovely at, Oh, Places you will go page.

Cheers
J