My one MUST HAVE baby item..

I forgot this item the other day when I was pre-blogging my blog post for Kelly's Korner show us your baby gear so I decided to do a blog post on the one item that I think everyone should own. I feel a little silly because of what it is but it really has been a lifesaver for us. We made our first trip back to the United States while Jacob was transitioning to food. I knew we needed a high chair of some sorts that we could travel with and move from house to house as we visited everyone. I wanted a plan simple high chair like this:

But, when we stepped into ToysRus we ended up buying the Fisher Price Rainforest Healthy Care Booster Seat. I didn't want to part with the extra money for the toy part because I didn't think Jacob would use it for long but it has proven to be the best purchase ever. We loved it so much we left the one we bought in N.C. and ordered another one to be shipped out to Japan. At 13 months old, Jacob still gets excited to see us carry this into a restaurant. Yes, we get funny looks but I just think people are thinking that we must really love our little boy to carry something so ridiculous with us. But, it is magical and he is the best baby anytime we go out to eat with him. Buy one. You won't regret it!!! Nor will you ever have to make your husband take off his belt to wrap around your child because the strap on the highchair at Chili's is busted or worry about your child coming down with a cold from the germs that remain on those nice restaurant high chairs!!

Baby products I fell in LOVE with...

Over at Kelly's Korner this week is all about Baby products. Here are a few, well pretty much all of my favorites and the reasoning why I fell in love with them. I really only can say there is one product I didn't find useful but you will have to read to find out what..Here goes! Also, here is a link to other posts I have written about baby products that I love..

We bought a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Sip 30/30 for our soon to be baby. My husband likes to research. He did all the research for this item and even ordered it from Amazon while on a deployment to Thailand. Too bad he forgot that our Amazon account is linked to our email so I knew it was coming so it wasn't a surprise.

We liked the safety features of this and according to my husband it had a "cool" factor like no other one that he had seen. It has a comfort dry micro fiber fabric that in our opinion helped our son stay cooler here in HOT Okinawa. My only complaint was that we couldn't fit him and one of the extra infant headrest in there but he did just fine without one. We also had a Graco Safe seat for my husbands car so I could also drive his car during deployments and that seat didn't even compare to this seat. We sold that seat! I never liked it.

In my opinion a pack n play is a must. I probably would have wanted a cute little all wood tiny bassinet if we would have been stateside and that was practical. We did actually look into getting a custom one made here but that turned out to be rather pricey but we bought a pack n play instead. Jacob slept in this pack n play for two months by our bed. Unfortunately, some of the models have been recalled due to the sides collapsing down on children. The only model sold on base here was on of the ones in the recall so we have our full purchase price back and are busily looking for a new pack n play. My favorite feature was the mobile. Jacob would stare and kick every time the mobile was on. It lasted long enough for me to get a shower without turning off. I even kept it when we trashed the pack n play in hopes that it will fit on our next pack n play. I think the changing table and the diaper/baby item sorter could have been left off. We never used either. It was much easier to take him to his room to change him. I think a pack n play is a more practical solution long term than a plain bassinet is because this product can grow with your child.

A play gym is also a must! Jacob was under his at one day old. I think I just thought that if we showed him everything REALLY early he would love it. I actually have a video of him under it the very first time we used it. He LOVED this thing. Even at 9 months when I put it up finally he still played with it. From time to time he even finds it in the bag under our bed and will pull it out and play with the giraffe. This baby product literally entertained him for hours and was the first place he actually rolled over! Love love love it!!

The bouncer was another one of Jacob's favorites. It also had to be one of my favorites. He never really fell asleep while using it but he did have a lot of firsts in it. This particular bouncer has a monkey and frog that move by the waterfall on the top and he started to track those items early on with his eyes. He also would reach and hold on to the monkey or the bird and not let go. He loved to get this thing bouncing as he got older. He was so much fun to watch as he would smile and giggle while bouncing. Some nights it was useful in helping me get dinner done and on the table because all Mom's know there is a certain time that all babies want to be held and it happens to be at dinner time of course!!

We bought a big swing for our little apartment. I do not thing we got enough use out of this item at all. Jacob would sleep in but we rarely even used it. And we never used the silly tray attached to it. I thought it would be nice because it would swing like a cradle or a traditional swing but it wasn't worth the money in my opinion. Plus the motor on the swing was louder than I would have liked. It didn't eat thru the batteries but next time a swing with an AC adaptor is the way to go if we get a full size swing instead of a travel size swing. I'm leaning towards a smaller swing next time around. We had no place to keep this swing so for $60 it is happily on it's way to England for another military families child-to-be that bought it from us here in Okinawa. I can't say a swing is a MUST have. Maybe for some babies it is but not our baby.

Another one of my husband's research items was a BOB Sport Utility Stroller. BOB does make one with a swivel front wheel called a Revolution but we opted for the permanent fixed wheel. Why? Simply my husband thought it would be better for running. He wins. He did the research. I loved this stroller and well I still do love it but I don't use it nearly enough. I took Jacob out for a walk in it 24 hours after he was born. Yes, I am nuts to go walk as soon as we arrived home from the hospital but I needed something to do while my husband went and bought cool boy clothes since we waited to find out boy or girl. He loved his first stroller ride. We went on walks every single day for the first 6 months. We added the infant car seat adaptor to it and it was worth every penny. Now we have the snack tray attached to it but poor Jacob can't see over it so it is coming off soon. We have the additional console for drinks as well and love it. I am going to upgrade to a dualie when the time comes!

We bought this Chicco liteway stroller here at the BabiesRus in Okianwa. We had looked at it while I was pregnant and I looked for it online but it wasn't due to come out in the U.S. till October 2008 and then the release date kept getting pushed back. So, finally in November we went and bought it. We probably paid about $50 more than the asking price in the states but it has been well worth it. I love the fact that it leans so far back and Jacob can comfortably sleep in it. It folds up nicely and is light weight so I have to disagree with the reviews written about it being heavy but maybe that is because I carry around an almost 25 lbs kid every day and carry groceries up three flights of stairs once a week. The handles on it are very comfortable and it's easy to push. My husband says it has 'the tightest turn radius' in it's class. It really can turn in a full circle with ease. The shade adjusts with ease and provides decent sun coverage but of course does not compare to the coverage Jacob gets from the BOB stroller. The storage underneath is small but the diaper bag hangs neatly on the back so no complaint here. I wish ours had the padded neck straps!! I took this home to visit family and it worked out perfectly. It did actually become more of a luggage cart instead of a stroller but even with that it did wonderful.

Last but not least is my Baby Bjorn. I had one break and you can read about that here. But, I still love it. Luckily, we had two so I just started to use my husbands. Words cannot describe how many uses there are for this product and I can't tell you how many times we used it. I used it up until Jacob was 10 months old. We upgraded to a Kelty carrier while we were back home and we love it!!!

Some baby toys we are loving!

As Jacob learns to play more independently I have noticed that he has favorite toys! Each of these toys can entertain him endlessly and we love them!

This is Jacob's beloved apple. Jon brought it back to us from the ToysRus in Hong Kong along with many other cool tools we had never seen before. This apple cracks me up because it sings/ talks with a British accent. The worm pops up like a Jack-in-the-box would but unfortunately Jacob hasn't figured out how to push the button in the center to make the worm pop up. The button is harder to push than the other two on there which both play music that at times like any toy can get annoying. Jacob will chase his apple all over the house and get frustrated if it rolls away too quickly!

This is one of Jacob's 1st birthday gifts. It came in a box that my Mom sent over to us and since it wasn't wrapped Jacob saw me pull it out of the box and fell in love with it. So, I couldn't break my baby's heart by taking it away. (Yes, i realize he would forget abou t it in about 5 minutes) He has been playing with this toy for the last month. He loves to bang the hammer on the toy and on our floors as well as chew on the hammer. He is good at pushing the buttons, the pegs on top and the blue dog on the front. He pushes this toy all around on the floor and sometimes can't figure out how it rolls away so fast! I love V-tech because some of their toys come with strings attached for pulling but Jacob loves to chew on the strings so they have a nice compartment next to the batteries that you can tuck the string into. How smart is that!?!

We bought this Leap Frog learning table for Jacob for Christmas even though he was only a little over 3 months old when we opened it for him on Christmas Day. We bought it for the fact that it could grow with him. It has truly been the best $34.99 we have spent on a toy! Back in Decemeber, we would give him tummy time on the floor with it on the floor (minus the legs) and he would reach and stretch to touch the different buttons to make it sing, talk or play music! He loved it. We went back to AMERICA for a few months and so Jacob didn't play with it for a long time. When we came back Jacob was about 8 months old. We added the legs and it was one of the first things (besides the bathtub and Daddy) that he would pull up on. I wish the legs were weighted but who really lets there baby pull up on something if they aren't close by especially if they are just learning how and are unsteady. He still gets the biggest kick out of this toy and cruises along it's sides. He loves the green flap that opens and closes. Maybe one day I'll start hiding snacks in there for him to find!

I found this one day at the exchange here in Okinawa. Living here has taught me one thing...if you see it buy it, attach the reciept to it, and decide later if you want it or not. Items here come in stock and you can go back within hours and they can be gone. Jacob liked this toy in the store but then could care less for it once we brought it home. The "moo" sound that it is suppose to make when you tip it over doesn't sound like a "moo" at all. It sounds like an alien or something. Maybe it's just because it's Fisher Price. I love our Fisher Price toys but it's bad when Jon asks me or vice versa if we dropped a toy to see if that would fix it and make it work again! But that aside the last few days Jacob has loved this toy! He use to just sit and chew on the cookies. Why not they are plastic and textured so what isn't to love about them! Now he is actually putting the cookies in the milk jug from the slat at the top and then patiently waiting for someone to open it to get it out. Fisher price did one thing write with this toy and made it too hard for a baby to open it so they can't rip the top off if they get frustrated with it! Unlike his block sorter!! I wish we still had all five plastic cookies but one accidently made it's way into the dishwasher and fell onto the heating element in the dishwasher! (I still love you Jon!)

I bought this Fisher-Price walker while we were at home visiting but mostly only because ToysRus was having a buy one get one free sale on Fisher-Price toys and I had gone to buy this toy and another one but ended up coming away with this one and the one above. (That's a long run-on sentence) Jacob loves the bright lights and I no longer care for the music it plays. He loved sitting in front of it when we first bought it and manipulating all the different parts of it. He also learned to pull up on this pretty early too. This week however he has learned or more so decided he is going to walk and push this. He does it pretty quickly down the hallway of our apartment here. He loves it and smiles most of the time unless he is concentrating on someone taking pictures of him! We or should I say Jon took some good pictures of him pushing it down the hall the first time this week!

I believe this toy should really say for 3 months and up! Jacob received this for Christmas and even at 3 1/2 months loved to knock the tower we will build over! And even now at 11 months he still loves it. He loves banging two blocks together and of course throwing them down and watching them slide across the floor. The other day he actually put all the blocks back inside one another with a little coaching as to which block was next. We took this home with us to AMERICA so he has never missed a beat playing with it. LOVE LOVE LOVE these stacking cubes!!

Last but not least we have a toy similar to this but I couldn't find a picture of the actual Playskool ball popper that we have. This is another toy I regretted buying a few months ago. Jacob loved it in the store and dind't even want to touch it at home. Now he lifts it up and down and presses the button up on top to make the balls spin. He also is really good at banging this toy on the floor. I guess he likes loud noises! Who knows.

Bye Bye Baby Products

Last Saturday Jacob had to ride one last time in his beloved Peg Perego infant car seat since his Britax car seat cover was still not dry. He gave me this really freaked out bright eyed look when I placed him in it Saturday morning to go and meet Jon on base. I don't think he quite knew what to think of the side impact head pads on it! He enjoyed the ride so much that he passed out in it!!! See the pictures below. His first ride in his infant car seat to his last ride!

We also packed up Jacob's Rainforest Play Gym this weekend. I didn't have the heart to pack it up while he was awake and watching. He loved this play gym. He has used it since he came home from the hospital! The first day we were home I placed him under it. He first started reaching for objects in front of him while playing with this. He first started rolling underneath this gym. He did a lot of firsts with this gym. Now he likes to see if he can hang onto the toys with both arms and I jsut don't feel that is very safe so we bid the toy goodbye this weekend and now it is resting in a closet for the next little Spencer.

I found this video while I was looking for a picture of Jake and his play gym. I can't believe he use to even be that little!!!

Britax, oh how I love thee!

We moved Jacob out of his beloved Peg Perego infant car seat at the end of February and into his big boy car seat, a Britax Marathon. I have loved the bigger car seat. I love the fact that he can now see out of the windows of either our 4-runner here in Okinawa or our Tahoe in America. I think he enjoys it. He just seems much happier in this car seat. I do sometimes miss the Peg Perego car seat when he is asleep or when it is really sunny in the back seat but I do not miss having to carry that plus my 20+ lb baby up the stairs.

We adjusted the straps up a level last weekend on the car seat in preparation for Jon being gone for a few months and since we again having a growing boy! Jacob and myself sat on the concrete outside and watched Jon take the Britax apart. You would have thought that Jon was doing something to his best friend. The look on his face was priceless. I wish I would have had my camera. We tested out the seat and when we took him out he was not very happy. The straps were easy enough to adjust even though we have lost the owner's manual in our travels and so now the manual is on our computer instead. The real test I believe comes when you have to take something apart and put it back together. It shouldn't take an engineering degree to do it! This car seat I can say is even easier to take apart than the Peg Perego one since I had to do it by myself today after our diaper eruption in the car!

The short of it! I love this car seat not only because it is SAFE and made in the USA but also it is easy to take apart and put back together again!

My FAVORITE baby item broke!

Today, I was vacuuming our floor. Yes, I know our house is all tile here in Japan but I do not like to sweep so vacuuming is the only choice to get the dust off the floor before mopping. Well, Jacob has decided that he does not appreciate the noise of the vacuuming so he will scream until I pick him up and put him on my chest in his Baby Bjorn. Then he will happily giggle for the rest of the time I vacuum. He gets that from his Dad I'm sure!! I was vacuuming our laundry room when I heard a loud pop and noticed Jacob starting to fall. Luckily, I had my left arm in front of him holding the vacuum cord so I was able to grab him as he teetered to the right. The top part which I'm not sure whether to call a button or a snap or a hook completely came off. I am just so thankful I had ahold of big Jake because if now we would have ended up in the ER since landing on a tile floor with your head from a 5ft drop probably isn't the best!!!
I've written the company but one of the joys of being stationed overseas is that you always find out that they won't do anything with the warranty since you are not in America. But, I'll be there in a month so maybe I'll just pursue it then.