I’ve never really felt like I “needed” a dust buster until Cameron started throwing anything and everything (mostly food items) on the floor. I can’t tell you how many Cheerios I’ve stepped on in the past week – creating that oh-so-hard-to-clean-up Cheerio dust. I knew now was the time to get myself a dust buster! I went to Amazon.com to see what the options were. I am a sucker for well reviewed item, so in the end I went for one that had 155 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars – it had to be good, right?! And, indeed it is!
This baby has some serious power!
This little number from Black and Decker isn’t going to be winning any beauty pageants any time soon, but it sure does the job! So far, I haven’t met a chunk of who-knows-what it can’t handle (although I am sure Cameron will do his best). The only thing I wish is that it was also a wet-dry-vac. But I don’t think any cordless hand held is going to do that for you. At a price of just under $55 – I am sold on this one. Cameron even claps when I get it out! Give it a try if your little one loves to leave treats underfoot.
The first time my moms group went to Der Schwarze Kölner (the Beer Garden on Fulton) one of the moms brought along her Touch and Feel baby flash cards. The babies were really loving them – and I was also impressed. They are made of thick cardboard, and use real pictures, which I prefer over illustrations. And, as the name implies they also have textures that baby can touch.
Lots of options for your little one
I ordered Cameron some from Amazon right away. For him I got the “First Words” set, and the “Animals” sets.
Here's what they look like
They also come in Colors and Shapes, Numbers and Counting, and Things That Go. All of these have great reviews on Amazon, so I don’t think you can go wrong!
I’ve been putting Cameron in Pampers since the very beginning (with the exception of night times, where we use Huggies Overnites). If you also use Pampers religiously, they you may have noticed at the end of last year Pampers made a change to their product – for the worse. There was a forum discussion on Parents Around the Hill (PATH) about it, which linked to a blog post containing pictures of the downgrade. The newer diapers are less absorbent and thick, and I found the velcro tabs to be flimsy. Cameron’s came undone all the time, and the tabs kept rubbing his legs and irritating them.
Well, given my annoyance with Pampers, and my love of Huggies Overnites, I decided it was finally time to jump ship and go Huggies 100% – and I am SO GLAD I did! Cameron’s new Huggies are plush and absorbent. The velcro is strong, and grip well even when he is wiggling and crawling around like a maniac. Now that I’ve switched, I have no idea why I waited so long!
Move over Pampers, here come the Huggies!
If you are fed up with the change Pampers made, but weren’t sure what to try, I say go with Huggies! I realized at the last minute that I was low on diapers, so I went with Diapers.com because of the overnight shipping. Then the snow storm foiled me, and we had to run out to Walgreens! But, for the long haul I’m going with Huggies Supreme Little Movers from Amazon because they are cheaper than Diapers.com when you use Amazon Subscribe and Save (15% off). FYI – Amazon Subscribe and Save also has Huggies Overnites!
It's all Huggies all the time in this house
I know mommy always thinks she knows best, but sometimes the gifts you get from other people that you wouldn’t have bought yourself turn out to be the best ones. These toys have consistently Cameron’s favorites, and are also extremely popular at playgroup.
Playskool Busy Ball-Tivity Center
Cameron got this “Activity Center” from one of Matt’s Co-workers when he was about 1 month old. We kept it in the closet until he was about 6 months old. When we finally broke it out, I was very unimpressed with it. It didn’t seem to do much at all, and I found the music it played to be annoying. Well, shows what I know – this has been, and still is, one of Cameron’s favorite toys. He loves the music, loves the spinning balls, loves everything about this toy! And so do the other kids at playgroup. There is generally a crowd around it.
CAT 3-in-1 Ride-On Dump Truck
When this gigantic ride on truck showed up in the mail, I thought, “What am I going to do with this huge thing?!” It also arrived when Cameron was very young, like the activity center. Once he was crawling we took it out of the box, and he immediately began pushing it around the apartment. It also honks and makes noises when you press the buttons – exciting stuff! Now, Cameron is using it as a walker. It is also a ride on if you lift up the back part. All of the kids at playgroup are immediately drawn to this toy. So if you’ve got room for a big, ugly, dump truck in your living room… go for it! Your baby will love you for it.
For a few months now Cameron has been really into the various locks on our front door, and likes for me to hold him up to them while he fiddles. Needless to say this gets tiring for me after a few minutes. Over Christmas while we were in DC at my parent’s house I saw they had borrowed a Melissa and Doug Latches Board from a neighbor. Cameron (and I) were so happy with this toy I stole it from my parent’s house and brought it home! (Sorry Mom!) I had no idea such a toy existed! Unlike many of Cameron’s toys, this one seems to have appeal day after day. He is getting good at some of the easier latches and locks, but the harder ones still vex him. So, I hope this one will be popular for awhile. On Amazon I found two versions of the Melissa and Doug Latches board – we have the second one pictured, but I think they both have the same idea.
I think this is the newer version of the Latches Board
The one we have looks like this
This Christmas when we were driving down to DC to visit my family we stopped at Chick Fil A. My trusty Skip Hop plate was packed away in the trunk, but it didn’t matter! They gave us a great table topper that stuck to the table – it kept the germs away from Cameron, and made his mess fairly easy to clean up.
Cameron enjoys his Chick Fil A
I checked out Amazon to see if I could find something like this to keep in my diaper bag, and indeed I was able to!
This one comes with a pop up travel case
These toppers (above) have a sesame street theme and come with a pop up travel case – great for diaper bags! There are other themes too, if your little one isn’t into Sesame Street.
I grew up in the Chevy Chase / Friendship Heights / Tenlytown area of Washington DC, and my parents still live there. We just went down for the Christmas holiday and my mom insisted we check out the new Wilson Aquatic Center over by the Tenlytown stop on the DC metro with Cameron. During the summer Cameron really loved swimming at our little local pool on Clermont, so I thought it was worth a try… I had even saved a few swim diapers in anticipation of our trip.
The Wilson Aquatic Center is brand new and is very family friendly. They have family locker rooms with plenty of room for a few kids and parents to change. Each locker room has its own shower, toilet, seat, sink, and diaper changing area. There is an amazing “beach pool” that has a entrance like the beach (goes from 0 depth to a few feet) with some cool water jets and buckets that fill and drain. This is a great area for babies. There are basketball hoops, kickboards, and other floating things the kids can play with. The life guards are very attentinve. There is also an area for the parents to swim lap in the beach pool, as well as a seperate “therapy pool” (big hot tub) and gigantic lap pool with diving boards (this was a little advanced for us!)
The beach pool with water jets and other fun stuff
Cameron checks out the main pool from above
For all the moms out there in the Washington DC area, or who will be visiting, you must check out the Wilson Aquatic Center! It is FREE to DC residents, and 4$ per adult for non residents. Be sure to bring your ID with you.
It was so much fun! You can be sure we will be back next time we visit DC. By the way, if you are wondering where you can get swim diapers in the middle of winter, check out Diapers.com or Amazon – they both have them in stock.
Cameron’s first birthday was at the end of November, so he just got a bunch of new toys. If you are looking for some ideas of what to get your little one – maybe these suggestions will help.
School bus from fisher price:
Cameron pushes this thing all around the apartment!
Magnetic letters (these are a great distraction while I am making Cam food):
Keep your baby busy while you're in the kitchen
If you prefer wooden magnetic letters, Melissa and Doug make some. They also make some wooden magnetic animals that are super cute!
Classic Radio Flyer bike:
So far Cam just rings the bell, but I know he will grow into this toy!
Matchbox cars:
I'm sure these will be a favorite for years to come
Some of these items should get years of use – I remember playing with magnetic letters on my fridge while growing up for a long time! Anyways, I hope this gives you some ideas. Generally, it’s not too late to order from Amazon with standard shipping in most cases. And if you have Amazon Prime, you have until the 21st! Just check on each product to see what Amazon recommends. Good luck!
For Cameron’s first birthday I used Amazon to create a registry of items I thought he would enjoy. At first I felt a little weird about it, but guests commented that it made it easy for them to pick out something they knew he would like. Also, Amazon automatically creates a thank you list which keeps track of all the addresses of the gift givers so you know where to send the thank you cards (assuming you have time to get those done!) Overall it made things super easy – so give it a try.
Some of the toys Cameron got that were his favorites were: The Umbrella Doll Stroller (a mini stroller) a fisher price school bus and a drum set
We recently had a few people over for Cameron’s first Birthday and our Great Wall was certainly one of the popular conversation topics.
Cameron VS the Great Wall
In our living room against a wall sits my computer desk – something which is extremely enticing to Cameron (cords, LED lights, and fans, oh my!) – and also something that really can’t be moved to any other section of the house. Because of this, we fence it off with what we call the Great Wall. I got it from Amazon – It can be used to create an enclosed space, or to block off an area. And although it is admittedly very ugly (I think one of the reviews on Amazon compared it to a “dog crate,”) it is also very sturdy and gets the job done. It folds up when not in use -we hide ours behind a door. If you need more panels, they can also be purchased. If you’ve got an area in your house which can’t be made baby friendly, no matter how hard you try – consider getting yourself a Great Wall
