Not Just Baby Brain » Baby Brain

Wordless Wednesday – Who wore it better?

Stacey — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:19 +0000

Same dress, 28 years apart.

^{Ashlyn’s picture taken by Elizabeth Fulton Photography}

Wordless Wednesday – Snow Fun

Stacey — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:29:02 +0000

It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of winter, but Ashlyn’s enthusiasm for playing in the snow gets even me in snowpants to play outside every now and again!

Voluntary Recall on President’s Choice Organics infant cereal

Stacey — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:15:41 +0000

Canadian mommies take note: the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Loblaw Companies Limited are warning the public not to use the following President’s Choice Organics infant cereal due to a potential ”unpleasant rancid odour, or taste”:

Product	Size	UPC	Code
Mixed Grains with Apple (add water) 8+baby	227 g	060383 005511	All codes
Oat cereal (add breast milk or infant formula) 6+baby	227 g	060383 005535	All codes
Oat Cereal (add water) 6+baby	227 g	060383 005528	All codes
Rice Cereal with Banana (add water) 7+ baby	227 g	060383 005542	All codes
Rice Cereal (add breast milk or infant formula) 6+baby	227 g	060383 005566	All codes
Rice Cereal (add water) 6+ baby	227 g	060383 005559	All codes
Wheat Cereal (add water) 6+ baby	227 g	060383 005573	All codes
Wheat Cereal with Mixed Fruit (add water) 7+ baby	227 g	060383 005580	All codes

Thankfully, there has only been one illness reported so far, but if you have any of these cereals in your pantry please don’t use them any more and keep an eye out for any symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea) in your baby. These cereals were sold across Canada. You can find more information about the voluntary recall here.

Wordless Wednesday – a look back at 2011

Stacey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:41 +0000

So much happened in 2011! We started the year off with a bang by going to see Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show.

February took us to Winterlude here in Ottawa, where we had a great time out in the cold

and I had some lovely maternity pictures taken by Elizabeth Fulton Photography (you’ll see much, much more of her work further down in this post).

We welcomed Rowan (aka Sprout) in March and it was love in first sight for all of us!

We had a quiet spring while we got used to being a family of 4 and Ashlyn turned 2 in May.

We took a trip to visit family in New Brunswick in June and made sure to visit plenty of parks

and spent most of our summer in various splash pads around our home.

We had family pictures taken in October by Elizabeth Fulton Photography

and before I knew it, it was Halloween!

Rowan took her first flight when we took a trip to Alberta to visit some great friends (and do a little scrapbooking) in November.

There was lots of decorating and baking and crafts and play dates surrounding Christmas

and through it all my girls keep growing and loving each other.

I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings!

Happy New Year from a bad blogger

Stacey — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:19:46 +0000

How is it already a week into 2012? Like many of you, the chaos of the holidays is finally subsiding and I’m hoping that we can get back into our regular routine this week, and that includes more blogging by yours truly! The girls are keeping me on my toes – Rowan learned how to pull up to a stand on New Year’s Day and she’s trying her hardest to walk but lacks the balance to do it, so there are lots of bumps and near-misses around here. She’s almost 10 months old and I’m starting to think about her first birthday already!

We took Ashlyn to see her very first movie in the theater yesterday – Beauty and the Beast and the only way to describe it was “magical”. She loved every moment of it, including the popcorn, of course, and the TANGLED EVER AFTER short film at the beginning was a highlight:

I try not to make too many resolutions but I have 3 in mind for this year:

the usual ‘make exercise a priorty’;
meal plan – this year I mean it! I want to use my slowcooker a lot more and be more adventurous. I have a collection of cookbooks and I want to make good use of them;
get and stay organized! I’m usually pretty good, it’s the Virgo in me, but with 2 young girls I find the clutter gets away from me. I want to get on top of the little things that clutter up my house and start doing small cleans every day instead of a larger, but easy to get postponed, clean on weekends.

How’s 2012 treating you so far? Any resolutions made, and any broken yet? Better yet, any tips on how to achieve my resolutions? I can use all of the help I can get!

Wordless Wednesday – Decorating the Christmas tree

Stacey — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:15:13 +0000

Stuff their stockings with Playtex and Kachooz!

Stacey — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:50:43 +0000

I’ve got 3 stockings to stuff this year and I’m on the lookout for all sorts of different things to make everyone happy! For Rowan, since she’s getting the hang of solid foods and drinking out of cups, there will be a Playtex^® The First Lil’ Gripper^TM Straw Trainer Cup. Featuring a soft, flexible straw and sturdy handles on both sides, it’s easy for her to pick up and drink from already. I really appreciate that there is a sliding top so that it’s easy to travel with (I hate it when I lose the travel top to sippy cups) and that it is squeezable so you can get the water to the top of the straw to encourage the baby to drink from it when they’re just starting out and don’t have a clue what this cup is for. I’ve seen these cups all over the place, including Walmart and Loblaws.

Now that Ashlyn is getting older, we’re getting introduced to all sorts of new toys, including Kachooz! These are tiny fuzzy creatures whose hair goes wild when you spin your pencil between your hands. I’m thinking Ashlyn will love them when we introduce pencil crayons soon! They also have little loops hidden in their hair so they can be worn as necklaces, which I know she and her friends will love.

There are nine different moops (groups), including Mohawk (they have even more hair than the others) and rainbow. Kachooz! are available in both two and four packs, and range from $6.99 (2pk) to $10.99 (4pk). All Kachooz! products are available at Walmart, Toys “R” us and Loblaws.

What kinds of things are you putting in your kids’ stockings this year?

B Kids Soft Peek-A-Boo Blocks and Stack’n Link Pal

Stacey — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:17:02 +0000

Rowan is 8 months old and has hit the super cute, interactive, playing with toys phase. It can be a challenge to find simple toys that don’t require batteries and that don’t cost an arm and a leg. B Kids and Southard Inc were kind enough to provide me with two new toys that will provide Rowan (and Ashlyn) with hours of entertainment and might even give me enough time to drink an entire coffee while it’s still hot.

The Soft Peek-A-Boo Blocks are clearly going to be one of Rowan’s favourite gifts under the Christmas tree this year. That’s the nice thing about having a baby, you can give them a toy to try out and wrap it up and they won’t remember. The Soft Peek-A-Boo Blocks come with 6 soft blocks and 3 peek-a-boo blocks. As soon as I took the soft blocks out and put them on the floor, she was army crawling over to check them out.

They make excellent chew toys for a teething baby, and the harder blocks open to reveal the soft block inside! There are fun peek-a-boo windows on the harder blocks too which make them easy for little babies to grab. While Rowan won’t be able to put things into the hard blocks by herself for a while, I think her big sister will have fun helping with that! They also makes a great tower to knock over and since most of the blocks are soft, you don’t have to worry about a corner catching your baby on the head when they fall.

The second toy that we were sent was the Stack’n Link Pal. What makes this different from other stacking toys that you’ve seen is that the rings are actually links that can attach to each other and to the adorable monkey head. Rowan (showing off her newfound sitting skills in the picture above) isn’t at the point that she can stack anything, but she can knock her Stack’n Link Pal over and thought that was a whole lot of fun! She also really enjoyed chewing on the monkey and could easily grab his ears.

Both of these toys would make a younger baby very happy this holiday season! They feature bright colours and are easy for babies over 6 months old to play with, and as a bonus are the kind of toy that will grow with them through many stages of development, so they won’t be outgrown in a matter of weeks. You can find B Kids on Facebook and on Twitter at @bkidsfun.

Done with Disposables cloth diapers (giveaway)

Stacey — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:11:36 +0000

I’ve been using cloth diapers for 2.5 years now, but I still love to find new brands, especially ones sold here in Canada and that are very reasonably priced. Done With Disposables is based out of Toronto and is run by a mom of 2 who understands that the upfront cost can be a huge deterrant for parents considering using cloth diapers. All of their one-size diapers are only $8.99 CDN each!

For review, I was sent a one-size diaper in the Fuzzy Pink Hearts pattern. All of the Done With Disposables cloth diapers feature:

One Size fits approximately 8-35+ lbs
Soft Microfleece Lining
Breathable, Waterproof Outer Layer
Reinforced Crossover, Hip and Rise Snaps
Includes One Microfibre Insert
Minky Soft – Micro Suede Lining

I really love that DWD’s have 2 sets of snaps (at the waist and the leg) so that I can get just the right fit for Rowan. The microfibre insert has been very absorbant and was good to go after just one wash; I prefer to be able to use cloth diapers without a lot of extra prep first.

As you can see, Rowan is very happy and comfortable in her new diaper. It’s cute enough that I don’t mind if she goes pants-free for a while but trim enough that I haven’t had any problems getting her into cords. Rowan is on the middle snap right now which is consistent with other brands that we have, so I’m quite confident that they will last until she gets to potty training in a couple of years.

I was also sent 2 cloth wipes but they haven’t seen any real action yet – Ashlyn immediately loved the pink ribbon pattern and claimed them as her own! They make wonderful facecloths and doll blankets, and I’m sure they’re great on little tushies too.

One lucky reader will win a cloth diaper and wipe pack from Done With Disposables!

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Wordless Wednesday – Halloween 2011

Stacey — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:23:28 +0000

She loved trick or treating.

She loved all the goodies that she collected.

But most of all, she loved handing out candy to the other kids! When there wasn’t anyone at our door, she was peering out of the windows and calling out “come to our door, we have lots of candy!”…and knocking on the door herself, hoping that if we opened it, there would be more kids on the other side.

With Halloween being a huge hit, I’m even more excited for Christmas this year!