23Apr
**Alright, folks. This is my last diaper bag post. I promise! It’s just been on my mind lately, and I had to blog it out!**
Now that Bean and Gracie are getting a little older, the needs of my diaper bag have changed. I don’t really have to carry around bottles and burp cloths and multiple changes of clothes for each kid. Now, my diaper bag is more about entertaining the kids when we are out somewhere. Actually, just this past weekend I cleaned out my diaper bag and repacked it for this new phase.
Though I don’t have to carry bottles for Gracie anymore, I still always make sure I leave the house with snacks for the kids. Not only does it keep them busy when we’re out and about, but it never fails that the one time I don’t pack a snack, both kids start whining for one. Usually, I stick with something simple that both kids can have so that I don’t have to pack multiple snacks. Goldfish are a big hit, as are graham crackers, Puffs, and apple slices. Also, I make sure that their sippy cups are full of water. (This has a picture of a bottle for Gracie, but as of this weekend she is a sippy cup only girl! Go Gracie!)
Because Gracie is still in diapers, I carry this little travel-sized diaper case with me. Inside there are two diapers, a small pack of wipes, and a small tube of diaper cream. If we’re just running out somewhere, I sometimes leave this at home because I have a very similar travel case that I keep in my car. But if we’re going somewhere all day, I toss this pack in the diaper bag. It’s really slim and light, so it doesn’t take up too much room.
A new addition to my diaper bag these days is an old formula box filled with some small, entertaining activities that I save specifically for meals out at restaurants. I just came up with this idea a couple weeks ago, so I haven’t filled it completely yet, but right now I have a brand new pack of special crayons (different than what Bean has at home), a pack of jacks (Bean loves to collect tiny things and put them in piles), and a container of Play-Doh. Bean loves this thing. When we go out to eat, he sits very quietly and plays with all his “new” toys. I think it’s a good idea to have some things that are designated for specific times or places. It makes them seem more important and special. Plus, the formula box is just the right size for Bean to have complete control over what he plays with. It’s essentially like having a tiny toy box that he can dig through at the table.
Another new addition to our “big kid” diaper bag are sunglasses. At first, I used to buy sunglasses for the kids because… I mean, what’s cuter than a kid in sunglasses?
But living in Florida, sunglasses are almost a necessity, even for wee ones. Bean has gotten to the point now where he asks for his sunglasses in the car when it’s really bright. So, I keep these in the outside pocket of my diaper bag now partly for pure entertainment, and partly for practical use. Even little bitty eyeballs need protection.
Other staples in my new diaper bag include activities that will keep the kids entertained. I replaced all the small hand toys and stuffed animals this weekend with activities instead. I put in coloring books, animal alphabet cards, lacing cards, and a few beginning reader sight word books that my mom got Bean for Easter.
I used to carry around a lot of baby toys for Gracie, but all she ever wanted were Bean’s toys, so now I just give her whatever he is playing with. If he has flashcards out, she looks at them with us or Bean gives her a couple cards for her to carry around. If he’s playing with lacing cards, she likes to wave around the strings. We basically just adapt whatever Bean’s playing with for Gracie and that seems to keep her attention these days more than baby toys.
I should also say here that when I go somewhere with just Bean, we don’t take the diaper bag at all. Instead, he has a little backpack that he carries. I put some activities and games in there, along with his sippy cup and snack, and he’s good to go. He even likes to carry it around by himself.
What about you guys? What do you carry in your bag for older babies and toddlers?
04Mar
When Bean was a wee lad, he did not like processed baby food at all. Try though we might, we could not get him to eat anything out of a jar. I was working full-time and I was not at all excited about having to make homemade baby food. Turns out, though, making your own baby food is super easy! You can read all about the process I used with Bean here, but basically I’d take a couple hours on Sunday afternoons to make enough food to get us through the next week. It couldn’t have been simpler, and it was so incredibly healthy for him.
With Gracie, we did use regular Gerber baby food and we were all happy with that. It cost a little more, but with two kids running around, I was okay with paying a little for the convenience factor.
But now, Gracie is eating more and more table food. She is about to come off formula altogether here soon, and so table food is becoming a much bigger part of her diet and where she gets her nutrition. Because of that, I’ve gone back to making her food in much the same way that I did for Bean.
ONLY BETTER!
At Christmas, my mother-in-law introduced me to these babies… Ziplock Zip ‘n Steam bags. (I should note here that I am in no way being compensated for this blog post. This is simply an awesome kitchen shortcut I’ve found and I wanted to share.)
Not that steaming food the traditional way in a good ol’ pot with water is rocket science or even all that time consuming. But it did require that I pay a minimal amount of attention to what I was doing so that I didn’t burn the food or scald my pot (both of which happened to me quite often. I tend to get distracted when I cook…). With these Zip ‘n Steam bags, I don’t even have to pay a MINIMAL amount of attention!
Here’s how they work:
First, you chop up whatever fruit or veggie (or even meat, but I haven’t tried that yet) into bite size pieces, according to whatever suits your tot. These are zucchinis, which I went back and quartered after the picture was taken.
Then, you dump it into one of the Zip ‘n Steam bags…
…and add about a tablespoon of water. You can also add spices and such to your food at this time, but I keep things pretty bland for Gracie.
This is the part that I love about these bags. They have a microwave time chart right on the bag, so you don’t have to go digging for the cook time. You just check the bag and it tells you exactly how long to cook whatever it is you’re cooking. It just makes it one step easier for me. I like clear, simply instructions that are always at hand. Because I’m a simpleton and simpletons get confused very easily. Especially around kitchen appliances.
(Side note: Oddly, there aren’t fruit times listed on the bags. I guess not enough people are steaming fruit these days. I’ve done apples and peaches myself, and I did both of those on 2 minutes, if you’re interested.)
Then, you just pop the baggie into the microwave for a couple of minutes and – voila! – steamed veggies that are perfect every time! (Pictured here are diced sweet potatoes and apples.)
Another great thing about these bags is that you can reuse them once or twice. It says on the package not to reuse due to cross contamination, but as long as I’m doing all raw fruits and veggies, I don’t worry about that. Now, if I was doing meat or something particularly pungent, I’d definitely just stick with one use. But with what I use them for, I can get away with two or three uses in one bag.
You could do this each time you needed to fix a meal. My mother-in-law throws in lots of different veggies at once for her dinner sometimes. But for me, it’s easier to do a bunch of steamed food at once, and then store it in containers in our fridge for me to use at individual meals throughout the week. Gracie’s daycare provides her meals all day, so I just have to make enough to get us through dinners during the week.
I prefer to make a little bit of a variety of foods so that Gracie gets a selection of different things each night, even if it’s just the same food but in different combinations. Actually, that sounds kind of silly when I write it out, but that’s how my simpleton mind works. This week, Madame Gracie will be dining on a selection that includes steamed sweet potatoes, apples, zucchini, black beans, and green beans. Other popular favorites have included carrots, broccoli, spinach, squash, and eggplant.
(Side note: I try to keep all of Gracie’s food in the same spot in the fridge so that whoever happens to feed her knows that she can have whatever is on that middle shelf. Well, except the salsa in the background. That’s just there by accident. Actually, I better go move it while I’m thinking about it before Chris adds a little fiesta to Gracie’s sweet ‘taters tonight…)
Along with those things, I usually give her small pieces of whatever meat we are having for dinner. Bean has never been too much of a meat eater, but Gracie likes it. I also keep jarred all natural, unsweetened applesauce (organic, if it’s on sale) and Greek yogurt, which she really likes mixed with steamed or fresh fruit. In addition to those staples, she can eat any of the raw fruits that I keep on hand in our fridge for the rest of the family. Usually these include whatever berries are on sale, grapes, avocados, bananas, peaches, or whatever else looks good at the grocery that week. She really loves those little “Cutie” tangerines right now. They are small, easy to peel, and seedless, so they are great for kids. Bean loves those suckers, too. For Gracie, I cut up her pieces into small chunks.
Her absolute favorite food, though, are blueberries. I cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size, and she just goes to town on them. I have to be careful not to give those to her first, or she won’t eat anything else on her tray! I held off on strawberries for a while because they gave Bean a little rash when he was little and first tried them. I gave them to her for the first time last week, but she broke out in a little rash around her mouth that night, so those are on the back burner for another little bit.
Whether you are going all out and making your own baby food from day one, like I did with Bean, or are using your own steamed food to help your baby transition to table food, it really isn’t hard at all. Like with anything else, it just takes a little time, a little creativity, and a few little short cuts to help.
02Feb
One of the hardest parts of being a parent is figuring out the logistics. I remember being pregnant with Bean and sitting up all night long worrying about things like how I was going to get him from the car into the doctors appointment, or what I was going to do with him in the grocery store? What I hated most about being a new mom was feeling like everyone else knew how to do things and I didn’t, and so I wanted to figure it out before anyone knew that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing!
If I could tell new moms anything, I would tell them this giant secret of parenthood: We’re all new moms.
Every time Bean hits a new milestone or a new phase or a new age, I’m back to the beginning. Sitting up at night, trying to figure out how to do this parenting thing. It’s a continuous cycle of figuring things out. Your only real objective is to learn only slightly faster than your children grow. And you quickly realize, that’s just darn impossible.
But, it’s the figuring things out that makes parenting so rewarding. The first time Michael ran a fever and I didn’t freak out and have to call the pediatrician in the middle of the night, I felt like Super Woman. The first time Bean had a successful time out, I felt like Wonder Woman. The first time I took both kids grocery shopping by myself, I felt like She-Ra. Watching yourself learn and grown as a parent is sometimes just as exciting as watching your children learn and grow. So, if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by being a new mom (of children ANY age), take heart. We all feel like that sometimes. You’re in good company.
I thought today, I would share some random, simple, logistical tips that I’ve learned over the past two and a half years. There are a thousand different ways to parent, so some of these may not be the way for you. But maybe they’ll at least give you one option in a sea of many.
- When we’re in a parking lot and I’m trying to get the kids into the car, I always put Bean in first. He is the one who moves around the most and the one who would be most likely to bolt out in traffic, so I feel better when he is contained somewhere. Usually, I put him in his seat (now he likes to crawl up himself) quickly, without buckling him, and he plays around in the backseat while I walk around and buckle Gracie in. Then, I go back to Bean and buckle him in. This gets Gracie in her seat quickly, but it also keeps Bean contained.
- If you have two little ones and you can wing it, it makes things much easier to do dinner, bath, and bedtime all together. We have to do modified versions of this routine with Gracie so that she can hang in there with Bean (ex. she sits in her high chair and feeds herself bits of food while I get his dinner ready and then I feed her the actual baby food when Bean sits down to eat), but for the most part, we give them dinner at the same time and then we give them a bath together. Then, Chris gets Bean ready for bed and I get Gracie ready for bed and they both go down at the same time. That way, our attention isn’t focused on one child while the other has to wait. It also helps keep our evening routine from dragging out for hours. Both kids are in bed by 7:00.
- If you’re able, having two people at bath time when you have two babies in the tub makes it easier and safer. One of us takes one and the other takes the second and we get them all soaped up and clean at the same time.
- If you move a newborn into their own room for the first time and you find yourself unable to sleep because you’re listening to every twitch on the baby monitor, try turning the monitor off. Trust me, when babies need something, they make those needs KNOWN. If they truly wake up because they need something, you’ll be able to hear them cry without the monitor (provided your room is within ear shot of the nursery). I finally took the monitor out of our room with Bean because I was jumping wide awake at every noise he made. And then I realized that if he actually needed me, he would make enough noise on his own.
- When you’re putting on baby shoes on little, bitty, pudgy baby feet, try putting them on at an angle and then twisting them onto the baby’s feet, like you’re twisting the lid on a jar. The shoe will just “snap” into place.
- When at all possible, carry your infant in the car seat/carrier. I know it’s super heavy to lug around, but when you’re on the go, babies sleep better in their own space. Plus, if it’s cold outside, keeping them wrapped up in their seat with a good blanket keeps them much warmer than if you lift them out.
- Never go ANYWHERE without a burp cloth! No matter how long you’re going to be gone. Even if you’re just running out to the mailbox with your baby – TAKE A BURP CLOTH. Trust me.
- I don’t usually carry diapers in my diaper bag. I have a pack of them that I leave in the car, along with a changing mat and a pack of wipes. I found that whenever we were out and about and I needed a diaper change, I’d rather take the baby out to the car to change them anyway than change them in a public restroom. A word of caution, though, keep diaper wipes in your bag! You’ll use them for so many things!
- If you have babies in daycare, be sure you not only label their bottle, but you label the lids, too. We had so many lids lost or sent home with the wrong families before I finally got smart and started labeling the lid, too.
- This might not work for everyone, but for my babies, we tried to take them out for errands during nap time. When they are newborns and very young infants, usually they can sleep just about anywhere. So, I’d give them a big bottle, load ‘em up in their car seat, and on the drive to the grocery story, they’d fall asleep. Then, I’d just put the carrier in the seat part of the grocery cart and they’d sleep while I shopped. The only setback to this method is that when you get home, the baby will be wide-eyed and you’ll be wanting a nap! But, if you really need to get some things done, try doing it during nap time.
*****
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This year, I am having a hard time coming up with Christmas gift ideas for Bean. He’s in that in-between age where he’s too old for toddler toys, but he’s not quite old enough for preschool toys. I’m also stuck because he has strong preferences for a few different kinds of toys (mostly match box cars and little figures he can carry around) and I don’t know if I want to just buy more of things he already has because I know how much he likes them, or if I should branch out and try introducing him to new toys.
The solution I have found to these predicaments is to just shop more for Gracie.
If Bean is at an awkward age for buying toys, Gracie is at the perfect age. She’s easily entertained, infant and baby toys are widely available, and they are usually pretty inexpensive. I had a few key things I wanted to get her, though. And, so far, I’ve found just what I set out to find.
Fisher Price Bright Beginnings Stacking Action Blocks, $10.99
First, at Gracie’s age, she’s all about picking up things and manipulating them with her hands. She’s working on that eye/hand coordination and so she really likes picking things up, waving them around, putting them back down again, then doing it all over. She’s also really close to the age where she’ll start stacking things. For those two skills, I got her a set of brightly colored stacking blocks. I liked these because they had bold colors. And I really liked the mirrored sides of the blocks and that there were sides with things that popped out, giving her more to manipulate with her hands.
Fisher Price Friendly Firsts Turtle Shape Sorter, $12.99
Along with her new interest in waving things around and working her hands and fingers with smaller objects, I also got Gracie a shape sorter. It will be a long time before she is able to figure out the shape part of this toy, but I think she’ll have a good time banging on the turtle and waving around those shapes until she’s ready to put the pieces in the correct place. Plus, every kid needs a shape sorter, right? It’s, like, a law of parenting.
This is Gracie’s “big gift,” though it isn’t very expensive and it doesn’t do anything really flashy or showy. I actually got this idea from (where else?) Pinterest. I ordered a set of 100 ball pit balls for her. I thought about getting her a ball pit to sit in, but they are so darn expensive for what they are and I don’t have room in my house for a big ball pit! Shoot, you can sit Gracie in a laundry basket and she’ll play happily for an hour (which she did this weekend when I sat her in a laundry basket while we cleaned out the garage…). She won’t even know where she is, so I opted out of the ball pit idea. Instead, a Pinterest user suggested using a Pack ‘n Play for a ball pit. You just fill the Pack ‘n Play with balls, set the baby in there, and – voila! – ball pit! Santa is going to set up the ball pit on Christmas Eve so that Gracie can jump right in on Christmas morning.
Gracie is also getting a few board books, some new bottles and binkies, and a really cute plastic purse with these plastic accessories that you can put in it, like money, lipstick, and sunglasses. As for Bean, I’m still at a total loss. Any ideas out there for a two and a half year old boy?????
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