Thermos Foogo sippy cup

My sister's post on the BPA issue made me pull my head out of the sand and consider the issue. C and Little L both use sippy cups. It's taken me a long, long time to find cups that didn't leak and weren't a pain to wash, so I was really loath to hunt down some BPA free cups.

In the end the threat of cancer was enough to send me to the camping aisle at Target where I had heard the Thermos Foogo cups were hiding. At $14.39 the price was a little steep, but I figured we'd just make sure to leave this one at home so as to not lose it and I threw it in the cart. I'm hoping to get C to give up sippies completely so I only got one for Little L.

At home I pried the shiny metal cup from its plastic casing and took it apart to clean it. On the plus side the cup comes apart pretty easily. The valve doesn't have any annoying nooks or crannies to clean. The opening is large enough to be able to wash with a sponge.

I filled the cup with cold water and gave it to the baby. That's when I realized the only real drawback; it's a heavy metal cup. When the cup is filled with water Little L at 9 months can lift it to her mouth, but she has trouble tilting the cup so she can actually drink. When it's only half full she has no trouble drinking.

I concede a thumbs up, I didn't want to give up my beloved Gerber sippies, but if I have to this might be my best bet. Overall I like the cup. It keeps the water nice and cool and it's pretty easy to clean. The weight is a drawback (especially when she drops it on my foot. Ouch!), but soon it won't be an issue any more. The price is a bit prohibitive if your kids are prone to losing sippy cups, but compared to other BPA free metal cups it's not too bad.

DaBib.... totally Da Bomb

In case you didn't know, I have two kids. Over the last three years I have bought countless bibs and inherited even more from friends and family. I have a huge kitchen drawer full of the dratted things and yet I still never find one that really does the trick. The cloth ones are always too small or not thick enough, the plastic ones don't really work with really runny baby food.

Given my frustration with the whole bib situation it's no wonder I pulled out my credit card as soon as I heard about DaBib. This mom invented product hasn't let me down. Phew! The bibs are nice and big, but most importantly they have an innovative "scrunch" neckline that does a beautiful job of keeping food from dribbling into the baby's neck. No more pea or carrot stained collars! The smart "fold out crumb catcher" really catches the stuff that doesn't quite make it into the baby's mouth and the waterproof back protects the baby even when she's wearing the terrycloth bib. Brilliant!

I ordered both the terrycloth and the waterproof polyester bibs, thinking that one could live in my purse for the many times we end up eating out and one could be used in the kitchen. As it turns out the 3 year old has adopted the waterproof bib, leaving the terrycloth one for her sister. I think I'm going to need to pull out my credit card again if I want one for my purse!

Definitely a thumbs up! Order one for yourself and get a couple for your friends. These would make great shower gifts, especially for moms who already have a tyke or two and who would really appreciate the superior quality of these bibs.

Her father's daughter - Jammin' with her microphone

It arrived in the mail and I tore into the package with kidlike excitement. The folks at Team Mom had been hyping the new Baby Jamz toy line for weeks and I was thrilled to finally get my mitts on the toys. For C, of course. Heh.

The little blue Baby Jamz Jammin' Microphone has the heft, look, and feel of a real mic and C couldn't wait to rip it out of my hands to try it out. As soon as she started to push buttons and sing into it I grabbed my roll of duct tape. The music is cute but way loud so I applied my own brand of silencer to the speaker on the back. One thick layer of duct tape later and the noise level was tolerable.

The buttons are pretty self explanatory: record, play back, sing along, or just play the prerecorded music. Easy enough for an almost three year old to figure out on her own. (Which is a good thing because in the scuffle we lost the instructions... oops.) Weeks later C still hunts this toy out on a regular basis to belt out a tune or give us a quick concert. She loves to record herself singing to the recorded tracks, and we have to admit, M and I get a kick out of recording little messages for her.

Thumbs up Baby Jamz! For $9.97 this toy is definitely a good choice for a kid's present or even for your own budding recording star!