The Playdate

This is me - I'm 45% extrovert, 45% introvert. I don't mean that 45% of me is outgoing and 45% is shy. I mean that 45% of me gets energy from being in social settings and 45% of me gets energy from being at home with just my hubby and Janers. The other 10% of my energy comes from chocolate! :p It depends on the situation. In work, I'm an extrovert - I feel like I use that 45% of me at work so when I come home, I'm introverted me. I'm definitely not the first to hop on the party-train! Homebody through and through.

Once you have a baby, you start getting invited to playdates. At first, I avoided them whenever possible - usually able to use my not having a car as an excuse. Then, I had my first playdate. It was so nice to get together with another group of Moms. I love my girlfriends who don't have kids but there's an immediate connection between Moms... an understanding. AND, the pressure is off. I always leave get-togethers with my non-Mommy friends thinking "oh my god, I just bored her to death" because I feel like I spent the entire time talking about things she doesn't care about (my boobs, breastfeeding, Jane's poop, etc.) Often times you don't know everyone who attends the playdates. You may worry you won't have anything in common or you won't fit in. HA! Sit down with another Mom and you don't have to worry that at some point you're not going to have something to talk about - what do you think you're going to talk about?

Here's the typically conversation topics at the playdates I've attended:

• Your baby's poop
• Your boobs
• Breastfeeding
  
• Your labour
• Your labour scars (oh yes, when you're in the Mom club, it is acceptable to talk about your "voo" and all the fun that accompanied your labour) - it's hilarious - you almost brag about them like they are battle wounds! :p
• Your baby's eating
  
• Sex (HA!)
• Your baby's sleeping
• Work
• Your baby's everything else
  

It's like Mommy-therapy. You look around the room and realize, thank God, I'm not alone... I'm not alone in my worries, my insecurities, my challenges. And you also look around and realize, hmmm... I'm doing pretty well. Whether you are doing similar or better than most of the Moms in your group, it gives you peace of mind to see where you stand - and my guess is you're doing better than you're giving yourself credit for!

What I recommend for the playdate? Toys and Coffee/Tea (decaffeinated options for the bf-ers). Lots of toys and play areas. It's rare to have friends who all have the same aged baby - so bring out some of the things you've packed away (if your babe is older) or the things you haven't used yet (if your little 'un is a newbie) so that the other babes will be kept occupied so you can accomplish the playdate goal - Mom therapy - OH, I mean, for the babes to have fun! :p Jane's at the age where she loves seeing other babies now and interacting with them (i.e. scratching at their faces and grabbing at them) so she loves our playdates.

Within 4-5 months, I went from avoiding playdates to trying to have at least one a week. If you don't have a group of friends with babies, most cities have Mommy-groups where you can get together at the Mall or something with another group of local Mommies.

Being a Mommy instantly bonds you to other Mommies. Just take a trip to the mall or grocery store with you baby and pay attention. The women who see you with your baby and smile at you are giving you the "hey, welcome to the club" greeting. It's really neat.

Christmas Hits and Misses

Not surprisingly, Jane was spoiled rotten by the Jolly One this year... and also by her friends and family.

Here are the toys that, so far, have been the biggest successes:

(1) Fisher Price Laugh, Learn & Sing Teddy: She LOVES this bear. He sings all sorts of songs about numbers, letters, shapes and colours. His little belly lights up and she thinks it's hilarious.

(2) Fisher Price Stack n Action Choo Choo: She doesn't do much stacking yet but every time you move the train it lights up and plays music or makes a chugga-chugga train sound. She also loves "eating" the little blocks.


(3) Little Tikes DiscoverSounds Boom Box: My sister gave her this one and she loves it. Once, again, it plays music and lights up. The best part, for me, is that it plays songs I know - "ABC" by the Jacksons, etc. So I can sing along which makes it more fun for the both of us!

(4) Dunk'n Cheer Basketball: This isn't the exact one we got - ours is Playskool, but basically the same thing. It lights up, counts and plays sports music when the ball goes through the hoop. Jane basically just grabs the net and throws it on the floor to make the noise (Shaq-style). Daddy is the one who's always playing with it properly... seeing how far back he can still make the shot. I've been hit in the head a few times with the ball from his "misses".

(5) Parents Kitty Keyboard: This toys is technically for ages 2+ but my bro and sis-in-law had it for my niece and thought Jane would like it... SURPRISE, it plays music and she loves it. I love it too because it has a microphone and it records so I can practice my Celine Dion impersonation and play it back to Dan again and again.

Those 5 are the biggest hits. However, she absolutely loves her Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack (once again not so much stacking as eating the pieces) and the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks - I basically play with the blocks while she bangs around with the container and, consistently, knocks over my block tower! :p

Oh yeah! Sophie the Giraffe Teether. This wasn't a Christmas gift but I got it in December - finally giving into all the hype about Sophie. At first, I was like, I can't believe I spent $25 on this stupid thing and Jane wasn't even really into it. Now, we don't go anywhere without Sophie. Jane loves chewing on her and I don't blame her, that Sophie is made out of some fun stuff! Plus, she fits perfectly into a medium sized purse! :p FYI, be forewarned, that because of her texture and squeaky nature, dogs loves "Soph" and we've rescued her, unscathed, from several pooches mouths so far - for $25 she better be pooch-proof! :)

Here are a few misses:

(1) Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Rollin' Around Jungle Playground: Maybe this will be a hit eventually but Jane's too young to understand that putting the animals down the "slide" makes the noise and it doesn't do much else than that. Also, when you put the hippo down the slide it gets stuck unless you put him down backwards which just pisses me off - did they not test the toy before putting it on the shelves? Grrrr.

(2) Bruin Busy Wheeler Highchair Toy: We got this at Babies-R-Us and Jane loves it. Problem is, I bought it for what it was designed for - to suction onto her high chair so she could play with it during mealtime. But the suction SUCKS! She easily rips it off the highchair even after cleaning and wetting it, etc. It'll stick for a minute and then comes right off so it always just ends up getting thrown in the floor. Save your money and try a different brand.

So, that's it. If you aren't at this age yet or waited until after Christmas to do a little shopping, I hope this helps you find some toys that give you what you really want - a little free time (oh yeah, and make baby happy too :p)! The key seems to be lights and sounds.

I hate to say this but I gotta... because of a few other "projects" I'm working on, relating to going back to work eventually, I may not get to write the blog everyday. I will, at least, try to write 3-4 times a week and maybe even get around to everyday but not the weekends (which are usually filled with nonsense anyways). With that said, I'm going to keep writing because I love it and its fun and talking to "you guys" (out there in internet-land) is like my daily dose of adult conversation which is much needed! I've got a few giveaways coming up too so stick with me!

Ho Ho Ho

After writing Santa's Little Helper, I started my search to find Christmas gifts for Jane that I'm hoping and praying weren't a waste of money. As fabulous as The Toy Portfolio is, I had a hard time finding a lot of the products here in Canada. However, I used it as a guide for what types of toys might be enjoyed the most by little Janers.

Thought I'd share with you some of the things I bought... I mean, things that Santa will bring! So here goes:

(1) Fisher-Price Stack 'n Surprise Blocks Peek-a-boo Choo-Choo - this was listed on The Toy Portfolio's Platinum Infant Toys list and when Stephanie was on The Today Show discussing Top Toys, the babes seemed pretty excited about this one.

(2) Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Rollin' Around Jungle Playground - My sister has this for her little girl who's basically the same age as Jane and she loves it. As far as I'm concerned that's truly "kid tested and kid approved"!

(3) Fisher-Price Dunk'n Cheer Basketball - This wasn't on any list, except my husbands. I let him get what he wants sometimes! :p

(4) Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack - C'mon, this is a classic! Who didn't have this growing up?!?!

(5) Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks - You know that I didn't realize it until just now but apparently I'm a Fisher-Price fan! Once again, can't go wrong with some of the classics... I mean, we all turned out OK didn't we (obviously this statement excludes certain people of our generation - Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, etc.)

(6) Sassy Big and Small Chime Ball - I read somewhere that it's good for babes development to roll a ball back and forth together. This one was soft, cheap, and makes noise... perfecto if you ask me!

(7) Little Tikes 2-in-1 Snug N Secure Swing - Pink - We're going to connect this to the hooks that are already in the beams of our ceiling for the Jolly Jumper, making it an indoor swing. This was my girlfriend's idea and I thought it was fabulous. Our Canadian Winters can be long... a girl can't wait that long for her first swing! :p

That's all I can remember at this point. In truth, I am shocked I remembered all of those... I've had them wrapped for ages! I'm a total geek and actually love wrapping Christmas gifts. :p We have gotten Jane a bunch of clothes for Christmas as well but I'm sure you'll see lots of pictures of those in the new year!

Happy Shopping & Good Luck!

If you are still at a loss for Christmas gifts here are two good resources:

The Posh Little Holiday Gift Guide (Click left) and The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio

PS - Only three more days to enter our Holiday Card Giveaway!

Playroom: Phase 1

We don't have a HUGE house... it's a duplex, almost 2000 square feet but that includes the finished basement that's only used as a workout room/office (so rarely used these days) - ha ha ha. Dan and I wanted to make a play area for Jane. Mostly for when she's older but also a place for her to have fun, play with her toys, etc. that's just for her.

Our main floor is really open, so in our kitchen area we had a dining area, a sitting area and then the actual kitchen. So, we eliminated the seating area, moved the dining table into where the sitting area used to be and then made the old dining area Jane's playroom. This works fabulously as she is always in my line of sight, no matter what.

Our biggest challenge has been finding a table for under the television. We want something small, not cheap-o looking, in dark wood. We've found about 15 different tables we love at Wicker Emporium (online) but every time we call a store to see if it's in stock, every store is out! GRRRRR! This is one of few reasons why NS drives me crazy... not enough stores, not enough stock. :p

It was Dan's idea to put all the sweet pictures of Jane and her friends on the wall... in my house, things are a little backwards - Dan does decor, I do the handyman stuff. But we like it that way. My Mom had the great idea about putting the whiteboard on the wall for her to draw on (once she`s older) - you already heard the story about my MB moment with this whiteboard.

Phase 1 is basically just an area for her to play with all her toys, jump in her jumper, and watch her Baby Einstein and Sesame Street. Actually, for Christmas, we got her a swing for indoors (don`t tell her) :p. We're going to get my Dad to install one more hook in the beam where the jolly jumper hangs. Then we can hang the swing there - how much fun! Swinging inside! (Credit to my friend Heidz for this idea). Phase 2 will be once she is walking. We plan on getting her a table and chairs set, a `big girl` chair for her to sit in and some other doo-dads.

This was so much fun! And the best part is that Dan and I can sit down and eat at the table again while Janey plays next to us in her room.

Jen :)

PS - Thanks for all the votes yesterday - we were doing really well. THEN, the stupid webpage screwed up and refreshed again and now we're not even on there again. What a freakin' waste. I give up (as I post the code for the button below)! :p

Santa's Little Helper

As if I have any clue what to buy a 7 month old for Christmas...

This is my new dilemma (FYI, for the other MBs out there, I initially spelled that delima, then I tried delema, then dilema and finally dilemma came back without a big red "you're an idiot" line underneath it) - I have no idea what a 6 month old baby enjoys playing with and I don't have the money to waste trying to figure it out.

Thankfully, I happened to be watching the Today Show and caught this segment on Toys for Babies (perfect timing or what?):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So, I checked out Stephanie's site, The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, and it is exactly what I need. I clicked on "Current Award Winners", and made my way through both the Platinum and Gold awards lists for Infants (there are also lists for Toddlers, Preschoolers and early and later school years). The toys reviewed are fabulous - they're not expensive and they're brands that are easy to find at your local Walmart, Toys-R-Us or on Amazon. Most importantly, the site doesn't have advertisers or accept review fees so you know you're getting an honest, reliable opinion.

I had to share this great find with you all as, using this site, I am super excited to hit the mall for some Christmas shopping this weekend! I'm definitely looking for some of those Sassy Stations for Jane's high chair and the Stack 'n Surprise line by Fisherprice looks like a blast! The kids seemed to be really enjoying it in the Today Show clip.

Hope this helps you with your own Holiday or just-for-the-fun-of-it shopping!

Jen :)

Jolly Jumper Solution

If you hadn't noticed in my pics of Jane in the Jolly Jumper, it was basically set up in my bathroom! Like a lot of newer houses, our main floor is completely open... no doorways and, therefore, no where to put the Jolly Jumper, except for in the doorway to the bathroom. Yucko and crappo.

My fabulous Mom and Dad visited for Thanksgiving, however, and came up with an awesome solution. My Dad screwed two big hooks right into the beams in our ceiling - one in the living room and one in the kitchen. It's awesome! Now, I can blog, clean, cook, anything while Jane jumps around happy as a lark. I also don't have to worry that she'll bump into the doorway somehow as it seemed to get pretty close sometimes!

Anybody can do this, it's not hard. Just use a stud-finder to find your ceiling beams and do it up! I know that there are stands that you can buy for the Jolly Jumper but why pay the extra dough when this cost us $3.99, saves a ton of space and seems A LOT safer (I can basically hang off the hook it's so sturdy)! Plus, like I said, it's easily moved from room to room!

Thought I'd share this idea with ya seeing as I'm sure I'm not the only one out there trying to find a way to put their Jolly Jumper in a place that's safe, convenient and allows us to enjoy watching our little ones giggle and play.

Here's a video to explain what I'm talking about in case my MB prevents me from making sense to anybody but myself... :)



Jen

A Must-Have

This is the Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper and it is fabulous!

It's like a Jolly Jumper and an Exerciser in one!

We also have the BE Exerciser and still use that but this jumper thing puts a big smile on Jane's face and, I know, as she gets older and more active, she's going to love it even more! The age range is 4mos+ and I'd stick to it as Jane's just starting to really bounce-it-up in there now.

Babies-R-Us has them but, as usual, charges too much $129.99. We got ours at Walmart for $109.99. It's super easy to put together (about 10-15 mins) - FYI, you'll need to pick up C batteries for the music and lights if you don't have any around.



Jen :)