Merry Christmas Little Hoo Book Review

When Baby Buckshot was born, I thought about of the holiday traditions we were going to start together. One of which being a Christmas story every night in December until the 26th. Today is December 21, 2014 and I just read him his first one for this year. Last year, we probably got through 4 books, the only 4 Christmas books in our library. This tradition Christmas story every night is a little challenging because:

1. Books actually take up a lot of space! Having to store a Christmas collection in addition to the rest of the Christmas decorations just doesn't sound that great. 

2. Holidays are hectic! Some nights, we're not getting home in time for BB's whole bedtime routine. 

3. There are more and more Christmas books every year!

When I was contacted by Xist Publishing with a free copy of Merry Christmas, Little Hoo by Brenda Ponnay, I was thrilled. In e-book form, I could build an entire library of Christmas books without taking up any addiitonal space. Plus, I can access my e-book library from my phone which means I can still read BB's Christmas story when on the go! Brilliant!

Turns out, there's a small problem with the whole e-book reading thing for BB. He knows that tablets and phones do more than just provide reading material. Like play Taylor Swift music videos. It wasn't as effective as reading him a book. 

Never the less, Little Hoo is an adorable storybook owl who happens to be timid with a great imagination. There's a themed book for almost every holiday. This Christmas one is particularly adorable with Little Hoo wondering about the various night time sounds and what they could mean in terms of Christmas. From little elves in the kitchen to Santa in the night, this story is bound to build anticipation for little ones excited about Christmas.

I would recommend buying the hard copy of this book instead of the e-book. I ran into some formatting issues as well as some out of place pages and errant text which was confusing. 

Baby Mum Mum Review

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to give me Chinese rice crackers. They were wrapped two in a bag, always perfectly crispy and airy and my brother and I would eat 5 bags at a time. They were also sodium laden with the equivalent of a whole package of MSG (mmm... so good.)

When I heard about Baby Mum-Mums, they sounded so familiar. When I looked them up online, they looked so familiar. Naturally, I went searching for this remnant of my childhood, food memories of my grandmother that I could share with my son as long as they were no longer sodium filled. 

I went to the local store and they had store brand rice rusk snacks, which weren't very good, but had the crispy to the bite but melt in the mouth texture. I immediately reached out to Hot Kid about their Baby Mum Mums so I could let Baby Buckshot try some since he was moving into eating solids.

Baby Mum-Mums are basically the perfect baby snacks. They come in a variety of flavors, organic options and, like the rice crackers of my childhood, come two in a bag with the rice rusk texture, without the MSG of my youth. 

Here are the highlights:

Perfect for Traveling. Seriously, if you have ever accidentally had a canister of Gerber puffs open up in your Rebecca Minkoff diaper bag, you understand how brilliant this individually wrapped packaging is. Getting to avoid that horrendous puff dust over everything in the car is also a huge plus.

Great size for Baby Led Weaning. A lot of baby snack foods are small which means baby has to be old enough to use the pincher grasp or they're just shoving a whole handful of puffs in their mouth which ends up in gagging.  Sure, there's gagging in Baby Led Weaning but Baby Mum Mums are large enough for young eaters to grab a hold of and gnaw on.

Teething. Speaking of gnawing on, these are great teething biscuits. Seriously, they start out hard like a cracker and as drool from the teething gets absorbed by the cracker, it gets soft enough for baby to gum.

Gluten Free. Not only do they come in organic varieties, they are gluten free, which allows some of the hip parents in metropolitan areas to stick with their no-wheat diets. Because let's be honest, we all steal a couple of bites here and there of our babies snacks. To make sure they're safe, of course.

Doesn't get stale.  Stale baby snacks are the worst. I'm not sure that Baby Buckshot can tell when something is stale but I can. For the life of me, I can't figure out why packages of baby snacks are never able to seal tight enough to keep the food from losing its crunch. Individual packaging is a no brainer in preventing the stale issue. Which, again, is probably not that important to BB, but is very important to me.

Subtle taste. There are flavors like Carrot, Apple, Banana and they all taste like those things but without the sugar or salt. If you've ever tried one of those gastromy based restaurants where there's an aroma that is released when opening a plate, it's kind of like that. Just the essence of those flavors. This is particularly good for early eaters because it doesn't ruin their tastebuds for healthy vegetables or fruit with artificially sweet or salty seasonings.

But hey, you don't have to take my word for it. I'm going to send a few lucky winners some samples. Enter below to receive a few individual wrapped packages of a few different Baby Mum Mum flavors for you and your little ones to try yourselves! Multiple winners on this one. ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love You Forever Book Review

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is a classic children's book. Though most might not know it by name, we know it by the quote, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

Though in Mommy circles, where we all want to dissect every baby to prove that we have something valuable to add to the conversation, this book is criticized as being the Helicopter Parent's Worst Case Scenario. That is until it is put into perspective of why the book was written.

Mr. Munsch tells the story of how this book was written on his website:

“I made that up after my wife and I had two babies born dead. The song was my song to my dead babies. For a long time I had it in my head and I couldn’t even sing it because every time I tried to sing it I cried. It was very strange having a song in my head that I couldn’t sing.

For a long time it was just a song but one day, while telling stories at a big theatre at the University of Guelph, it occurred to me that I might be able to make a story around the song.

Out popped Love You Forever, pretty much the way it is in the book.”

Now, I can't even read about the book without crying. Here's a video so you can cry with me.

 

Book Review: The Happiest Baby On the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp

Parenthood has been filled with conflicting information for a researcher like me. Attachment Parents versus the Ferber Method. Pacifiers, no pacifiers.  Crib sleeping versus co-sleeping. Internet arguments abound.

If there is one thing I would recommend to any parent regardless of their parental leanings, it's The Happiest Baby on the Block.

When DH and I attended the Childcare Basics Class, the most valuable thing to come out of the entire experience, with the exception of maybe DH's phenomenal swaddling skills, was learning the 5 Ss.

Dr. Karp has come up with an effective 5 step method to calm a crying baby whose other needs have already been met, otherwise labeled as colicky babies.  Now, BB doesn't have colic but the 5 Ss did help tremendously in the first couple of days of BB's life when he would cry despite being fed with a dry diaper and well rested.

He explains that many babies experience their first few months as a fourth trimester where they still need to comforts of the womb while they adjust to life and learn more than the basic instincts they're born with.

Swaddling: Babies are used to cramped quarters and enjoy the security of swaddling.  It also inhibits the Moro reflex (that falling feeling you get when you sleep) which can be kept in check if their arms are prevented from jerking around. Dr. Karp explains that though swaddling alone might not calm a screaming baby (in fact, some babies continue to wail when swaddled), it puts them into a setting where they can pay enough attention for the following 4 Ss to take effect.

Below is a video featuring Dr. Karp's swaddling technique.



Side or Stomach Position: Babies in the womb are not sitting upright.  Nor are they laying flat on their back (which triggers the feeling of falling for them).  They find a side lying position or a stomach position more comforting.

Shushing: Contrary to popular belief, silence is not pleasant for babies.  In the womb, they are surrounded by the sound of rushing blood at a very loud level.  Shushing, white noise machines, the sound of rushing water are all familiar sounds to babies that can help to calm them down by making them feel more at home.

Swinging and Swaying: Imagine the feeling of being cradled and swung, like in a hammock.  Such a relaxing feeling.  Well, that has a lot to do with how we felt in the womb.  Babies before birth are used to constant motion and swinging and swaying a baby in a side laying position triggers relaxation for them.

Sucking: Lastly, babies are used to sucking, often on their own hands, in the womb.  It's one of the few instincts they are born with, needed for basic survival.  Dr. Karp recommends offering a clean finger or pacifier if all the previous Ss combined don't work to calm the baby.

The book is an easy read and fairly short though full of lots of anecdotes proving the success of his method which aren't really necessary.

He also includes some parenting tips and serious symptoms to look out for that might be signs of medical issues causing the crying.

I give this book a 5/5 for information, ease of reading and effectiveness. A parenting must read.

Unexpected Baby Must Haves: 1 to 3 months

We registered for over 100 items for baby but 5 of the items I use the most didn't even make it on the list!  Some items were described as frivolous on Internet baby forums, others didn't fit the kind I parent I thought I would be.  

Turns out, no one knows what's needed until you're living with a newborn.   Your own newborn, in your own life. Especially a crying one. But for what it's worth, here's my list of must-haves that I didn't know would be so valuable.

1. Infantino Activity Gym. Between tummy time and developing baby senses, having an activity gym is critical.  This Infantino version is inexpensive and includes the key things I was looking for: a mirror, detachable plush toys, easy fold and compact size for storing.  The cute patterns and quilt like mat are a plus.  $35.87 - Amazon.com. 

2. Munchkin Wipe Warmer. This was one of the items that people repeatedly told me was a waste. "The baby doesn't care," people said.  "It's a waste of money," they said.   You know what BB said? "WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" at the top of his lungs whenever a cold wipe hit his bottom during changing.  When we started using the wipe warmer, diaper changes (10-15 times a day) became infinitely quieter. $22.56 - Amazon.com. 

3. Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail. I thought we were going to cloth diaper from the beginning but it turns out that dealing with a crying newborn doesn't lend itself to doing a lot of laundry.  DH and I agreed we would put off cloth diapering until we got the hang of breastfeeding and night time sleep routine.  Until then, we had a smelly diaper in the nursery problem which was quickly resolved by this diaper pail.  DH says it was his best baby purchase and even instagrammed it.  I call that Husband Approved. $34.99 - Amazon.com. 

4. Contoured Changing Pad. My mom told me I would be changing the baby all over the house from the bed to the couch and whatever flat surface would be nearby.  People said that changing tables were a waste of money.  So I figured a folding changing pad would be portable and more effective.  This was until I realized how much I wanted my little one to be as comfortable as possible.  We picked up this mattress like changing pad with a waterproof surface.  Thankfully we did because BB quickly showed us how far he could pee and the awesomeness of projectile poop.  Changes have been relegated to the nursery with this changing pad on top of an IKEA dresser that easily wipes down.  $18 - Amazon.com.

5. Graco Gliding Swing. I said earlier no one knows what you need but it turns out my mom knew what we needed.  For some reason I thought I swing was an unnecessary luxury.  WRONG. We quickly realized that this gliding swing my mom bought us was one of the best purchases anyone ever made for us in the history of our lives.  Sound dramatic? This swing was critical in getting BB to sleep and a recommended part of sleep training per Dr. Harvey Karp, the smartest parenting book author in my book. $179.99 - Babies R Us. 

What items did you end up using that you didn't know you couldn't live without?