The Queen Bee's Top 10 Most Useful Baby Products

In no particular order...

Boudreaux's Butt Paste - the absolute best diaper rash ointment I have ever used (and I have tried them all)...not to mention it smells good!

New Baby socks - the best socks for little feet! They not only have elastic around the top of the sock but also around the ankle so socks don't come off of little feet. Plus, they don't pinch or cut off circulation.

Bumbo - I swear this seat enabled Abbee to sit unassisted by herself two weeks faster than she would have been able to without using it.

Snap N Go by Baby Trend - as the name implies, I simply snap my infant's carseat onto this lightweight stroller frame and off we go. It folds up to such a nice and compact size that I've even been able to fit it between my front and back seat when the trunk is too full.

Fresh Food Feeder by Munchkin - this feeding utensil is key to letting Abbee try new fruits, vegetables, and even meat. The food de jour is held in the mesh bag and the top is snapped shut. Baby then sucks/gums the mesh bag getting all the food's tasty flavor and some very small digestible pieces...all without the risk of choking.

Drop-gate Crib by Baby's Dream - I love this crib. It is sturdy, stylish, affordable, convertible, and safe. Plus, it will last my little ones for years to come.

Boppy - A must have for every newly nursing mom...seriously!

Nuby Sippy Cups - Easy-to-use two handled grip, soft mouthpiece, and cheap. I haven't found a better sippy cup for beginners.

Robeez - Soft-soled leather shoes that are cute and easily slide on. They can even be machine washed. I've used the same pair for both of my children and they are still in excellent condition.

and last but not least...

White Onsies - These are a tried and true basic. They go under everything, work in every season, are washable, bleachable, and are cheap. No baby's wardrobe is complete without them.

These are all baby products that I have never once regretted buying. They have made my job as a parent easier and thus more enjoyable. Let me know what some of your favorite and most useful baby products are? I always like to know what others are using.

Is THREE easier than TWO?

Busy bee came home Saturday night! We were so excited to have him home (and of course for Grandma Queen to visit, too.) I was glad to see that except for longer hair on his head and a few new teeth he looked remarkably the same as when we had left him. He was very loving to us and didn't choose to give us a hard time for leaving him. However, he does still run to Grandma if he gets hurt or upset or if we tell him something he doesn't want to hear. But who could blame the kid...he has been with her the past FIVE weeks.

Determined to have a fun afternoon in the unusually warm and sunny weather we were experiencing yesterday, I took Grandma, Busy bee, Baby bee and myself to our local waterfront for the "Sand in the City" festival. It was a very neat event filled with sand sculptures, live music, bubbles, aquatic touch tanks, and many different kid craft tents. Baby bee obligingly slept most of the time we were there allowing me to give Busy bee some much needed attention. He especially loved the bubbles. I think he was quite possibly covered in the bubble solution until his bath this morning!!

While we were at one of the toddler activity tents, I overheard two moms "catch up" on their lives. It was the usual mom-lingo...

Mom 1: "Oh my gosh Mom 2! How are you?"

Mom 2: "Mom 1, it's great to see you! I am doing just great. How about you? How are the kids?"

Mom 1: "I am good. The kids are great. Sally just started kindergarten. Ellen turns three next month. Enough about me. How is the baby? The last time I saw you you were still pregnant."

Mom 2: "Sesh, has it been that long? Seth is great. He is two months old now and I think he might quite possibly be the smartest two month old out there!"

Mom 1: "He looks just like his daddy."

(You might ask why I am re-telling this conversation...just hold on. I am getting to my point.)

Mom 1: "How are you handling three children?"

Mom 2: "Oh, it couldn't be easier. It was much harder to go from one to two than to go from two to three."

This conversation made me stop dead in my "peeping" tracks. Is THREE easier than TWO?? Have I already done all the hard work adjusting from one to two?? Have I learned everything I need to know about multi-tasking and parenting...or did Mom 2 simply mean the new addition in their family wasn't as jarring to their family dynamics as child #2 had been?!?

Can any parents of 2+ children fill me...is THREE the new TWO?

Informed

I have come to love the books Consumer Reports Best Baby Products and Baby Bargains. I didn't have them when Busy bee entered the world but was enlightened as to their good graces and general helpfulness and thus got them for Baby bee's birth. Unfortunately, since my children are so close in age and money doesn't "grow from trees" Baby bee uses most of the same products we used for Busy bee. But had I had these books earlier in my first pregnancy I would have (I believe) made better product choices for my little ones.

Consumer Reports Best Baby Products has great product safety sections including their ever-so-helpful safety ratings on all the big baby purchases like cribs, crib mattresses, car seats, and even a section on the best family cars and suvs. They also provide good tips on purchasing items and remind the reader of the little things that make a difference in choosing one product from the next. This is especially helpful for the first time parent who might not have even considered that a small difference between products can make a huge difference in ease of use.

Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields is considered by many as the next closest thing to the bible...at least where babies are concerned. I wouldn't go that far considering my lifelong religious upbringing, but I would say that this book is a must for every first time parent. It is easy to use and offers great parent-tested advice and ratings. Denise and Alan are witty and you feel almost as if you are talking to them rather then having them talk at you. They provide great product insight and I often find myself reading this book page by page just because I like to hear their perspective on everything from the best crib to the worst diaper pail.

At any rate, these books are helping me make more informed decisions and what parent wouldn't love that.

Check out their websites
Baby Bargains - www.windsorpeak.com/babybargains/default.html
Consumer Reports Best Baby Products (this book doesn't have its own webpage but you can link to the actual Consumer Reports page to get basic baby product ratings) - www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm

Milestones

Baby bee is the last one in her play group to learn how to crawl. She is very close, however. She gets up on her chubby little arms and knees and rocks back and forth and squeals. She thinks she is amazing. More often than not she manages to propel herself backwards. I know its only a matter of a few weeks or possibly days until she masters this next baby milestone and is one step closer to being a toddler.

I remember constantly worrying about Busy bee's development at this age. Was he behind the other babies? Is this a problem I should worry about? What can I do to help him? Questions, questions and more questions!!! I spent so much time worrying that I think I forgot to simply enjoy each and every moment of his babyhood. My mother would tell me not to worry, "Busy bee will do it when he wants to...just enjoy what he is doing right now." She was right.

Babies are and always will be on their own schedule...they will smile only when they want to, crawl only when they are ready to, and talk only when they have something worth saying. And I am glad I have learned that this time around. Because I know that this time I am enjoying the moments between the milestones and not just the milestones themselves.

The List

Lately, I have found myself rushing from one thing on my to-do-list to the next. I promised myself while Busy bee was visiting Grandma and Grandpa Queen that I would make the most of my time. I wrote a long and detailed list of every unfinished craft project, household chore, and outside chore that I hadn't yet had the time (or made the time) to complete. I really wanted to have the things that seemed to lately be "weighing me down" done. I wanted for Busy bee to come home to a calm and collected Mama who would rather spend time playing with him than worrying about all the things that weren't getting done around the house. Baby bee has done a great job of helping me accomplish my goal...she sleeps and I work. Thankfully, we are almost done with our list because Busy bee comes home on Saturday. Then it will be our time to play!

A Car Seat Induced Haze

Armed with the Consumer Reports infant/child car seat ratings, Hubbee and I spent the majority of our weekend comparison shopping (Baby bee has almost outgrown her rear-facing infant car seat.) And in the end, we came out empty-handed. Empty-handed and hazy-headed to be precise. Buying a car seat is such a loaded decision. Every state has its own laws and to further confuse every parent in America, almost every organization dealing with either children, travel, or transportation has their own recommendations too. Which, I might add, often times tend to disagree.

So parents, there seems to be no "Golden" rule to picking the best car seat...no easy way out. You and I are just going to have to sift through the hundreds of different choices; convertible, rear-facing, forward-facing, booster, latch, harness, belt-positioning, fabric, cupholders, reclining, color scheme, nightlights, weight limits, front adjusting harnesses, price, and who knows what else they'll come up with next, until we find the best product for our child. Because in the end there really never is the perfect answer to raising children (or picking car seats)...just the best choice given the circumstances.

If you have any car seat recommendations please share them because we are still on the lookout.

Washing Machine Woes

Recently our washing machine went kaput. Which is not a good sign for a mother of little ones. I vividly remember the days before kids when I could go weeks before doing a load of wash. Now I get excited if I only have to do one load a day. Needless to say, I knew that not having a wash machine for a few days would not only spell disaster but smell of disaster.

The previous owners of our house left their new front-loading high efficiency washer and dryer when we moved in. I was very excited to be using the "Cadillacs" of the washing world. Everything was working well, coming clean, and I was happy...until the birth of Baby bee. Within the first few weeks of her life I noticed that her socks started to disappear. I didn't give much thought to it because I figured they had simply been misplaced by any number of family members who helped me after her birth. When it got to the point that the majority of her socks did not have a mate we would jokingly say, "The washing machine must eat them!" Never once did I guess we were right!!!

Soon after, the wash machine decided not to drain the water from its rinse cycle. I immediately called the washing machine's maker looking for an easy fix. They, however, were as baffled as I. Luckily, my handy Mr. fix-it Hubbee was able to take apart the back of our machine and quickly came across the "clogging" culprit. That's right, you guessed it!!! Baby bee's baby socks...six of them to be exact had clogged the drain that allowed the water to leave the machine.

Maybe I loaded too much in at each wash. Or, maybe her socks were just small enough to slips through some mysterious holes in the washing machine. But it forced me to come up with a "non-sock eating" solution. Which is my Mama Tip #2...

Mama Tip #2: Wash (and dry) all baby socks in one of those small mesh bags advertised to wash lingerie in. They can be bought almost anywhere (our local grocery store even stocks them.) It will save you from lost or eaten socks. Not to mention, it will save you "loads" of time when it comes to folding because they will all be in one spot.

The Fourth Dimension

While on my business trip, I was driving down the highway and noticed a sign advertising a 4-D ultrasound. I was a little confused for two reasons; 1) I have been pregnant twice in the past two years and I have never heard of such a thing and 2) I didn't know there was a fourth dimension. I just recently witnessed a friend's 3-D ultrasound which showed a lovely and not to mention very clear picture of their precious baby girl...and now there is supposedly something better!?!?

Hubbee and I, who went the more traditional route as far as ultrasounds are concerned, were pretty satisfied with our meager ultrasounding attempts. The shadowy picture showed enough of our little bees to make us happy and assure us of their correct development. Actually to be completely honest, most of the time I couldn't figure out what the heck we were supposed to be seeing. Hubbee would very excitedly say, "Oh, look there is our little bee's spleen (or some other ridiculous body part that I am sure he had no clue to its real whereabouts)! Can you see it?" and then I would nod my head and reply, "I can see it. Isn't a lovely spleen?"

Most of the time Hubbee was right in his "What body part is this?" guessing game and thus could not see the reason for paying for something more advanced. Maybe I didn't understand completely how an ultrasound worked and thus couldn't picture it the way it was intended but I needed something more...something better.

I decided to do a little research because if the 3-D ultrasound was so amazing then what more could this 4-D ultrasound offer...besides I wanted to know what the 4th dimension is. According to the GE Healthcare Worldwide website at http://www.gehealthcare.com/usen/patient/ultrasound/index.html, the 4th dimension is "real time." They describe their 4-D ultrasound as "the difference between video and a still photograph." 3-D ultrasounds show width, length and volume. Thus for all you non-technical folks, rather than your baby appearing flat (as they do in a regular ultrasound) in a 3-D ultrasound your baby will appear to have volume or take up space. However, this new 4-D ultrasound will not only show your baby's volume but will also show a "live action" view. GE claims there are many benefits to monitoring baby's development by studying it's movement patterns through 4-D ultrasounding.

If I were a high-risk pregnancy or had any abnormality surrounding my pregnancy, I could only imagine what a blessing it would be to see my baby and all of their limbs and organs moving...working. If you (the reader) have had a 4-D ultrasound please take the time to comment. Tell me what you think. How did it work? Were you pleased with its capabilities?

As always, from my hive to yours...

All Is Well

Well, the little bees seem to be surviving without me...pretty well from the sound of it. Actually, it sounds like they are being spoiled. Their grandparents' good-hearted spoiling is most assuredly going to mean that I will have one heck of a time getting my bees back into their schedules.

My mom told me on the phone last night not to be surprised if Baby bee holds a grudge against me for a few hours or even a few days when I get back. She told me Baby bee gets upset and cries if she sees someone who has long brown hair like mine...I guess it reminds her that I am NOT there and NOT taking care of her. Needless to say, her "mama left me and I am sad" dramatics get her a full hour of "x's and o's" from an all too willing set of grandparents.

Busy bee, on the other hand, doesn't seem too upset to be left and still kisses my picture when he walks by it. However at Grandma and Grandpa's, he has become a dedicated lover of Diet Coke (an addiction we never feed at home.) I am told he gets to go with Grandpa every couple of days to the local convenience store to get a 52 oz. "cold drink" (that's what Grandpa calls a soda.) Because Busy bee was having a hard time sharing, Grandpa now gets them two straws so they can drink out of the insanely large cup at the same time. Luckily, he doesn't have all that many teeth because he doesn't like to brush his teeth and I don't want my 21 month old to have a mouth full of cavities. Hubbee and I joke that when we pick him up from the airport that his first words to us will be, "Busy bee want cold drink!"

Granted that I will have a hard time getting my little bees "un-spoiled," I am ever so grateful that they are blessed enough to have Grandparents that think the world of them. And for that, a few more days of "cold drinks" and "x's and o's" would do us all a world of good.