Smashies Apple Sauce - It's, well, smashing

One thing C is thrilled to discover in her lunchbox any day is apple sauce. She loves the taste, I love that it's healthy and easy. A win win if you ask me. So when I discovered that the lovely people at Luvli Foods, Inc. were repackaging apple sauce to make it even easier for everyone involved I was thrilled to give their new product a whirl.

Instead of little individual tubs of apple sauce which can't be closed once opened, which drive preschool teachers up the wall with the mess they cause, Smashies comes in handy little squeeze pouch, with, (get this!) a releasable top! I know! Brilliant!

Pros
- The apple sauce is delicious. No joke. Real apple taste, not too sweet, not too tart. I thought it was fantastic and both C and Little L scarfed them down.
- It's healthy - organic with no added sugar.
- Fun packaging that keeps lunchboxes and little hands clean.
- Resealable top so you can save leftovers for later, you know, if you have any.
- More flavors are coming!

Cons
- It's a brand new product so I foresee having to ask my local store to order it.
Sorry! I have nothing else, I really, really like this stuff!

Synopsis
This is a wonderful product and I can't wait to be able to get my hands on it regularly. I bet I'll always have a pouch in my bag and that C will eat lots and lots of it at school this year. In fact, after the way the preschool teachers reacted when she brought some last week I think many of her school friends will be getting some too.

Don't believe me? Well, you're in luck! You can either hurry over to the Smashies site and order a sampler pack right now for $14.99 (includes shipping) OR you can try to win a sampler pack right here.

Leave a comment below giving me an example of a situation when a pouch of apple sauce will come in handy. Tweet about the giveaway, blog about the giveaway, or tell three friends for an extra entry. Be sure to come back and mention what you did so I can give you credit! On Tuesday, October 21st at midnight I'll pick a lucky winner at random. Wheee.

**************
ModMum sling winner announced at the bottom of the previous post!

ModMum Sling Giveaway

Let me start by saying that I don't adhere to any specific "type" of parenting, unless "whatever the heck works today" is finally being heralded as the new hip method. That said, I'm a huge fan of baby wearing. Little L nursed pretty much for three months straight and if I hadn't had a sling or two to rely on I would either have gone mad or C would have gone hungry.

I started my sling wearing habit with a much loved handed-down ring sling which my sister sent my way when she learned of my predicament. But I graduated to a more stylish pouch style baby sling when Little L became a little bigger. If there's ever a next time around I'm skipping the ring sling all together.

From the day my ModMum Sling arrived it's been an essential item in my diaper bag. I might constantly need to hit my friends up for diapers, but I always have my sling. In fact, Little L loves the sling so much that it's now our preferred method of transportation, yes even over the stroller at times. When she's snugly riding my hip she's calm and content and if I let her she'd spend hours in there.

The ModMum baby slings are stylish and simple, two key elements for something you're going to rely on again and again. They fold up neatly and fit easily in any diaper bag. Even better, they're easy to care for and can be used no matter how young or old your baby might be. Not sure how to use your pouch sling? Check out the handy how to use a baby sling tutorials on the ModMum site.

Want to try one out for yourself? Here's your chance. The generous people at ModMum have given me one sling to give away to a lucky reader. All you have to do is head over to their site and come back here to let us know what sling you'd prefer and what size you need.
Want to put luck on your side? You get an extra entry if you email three friends about the giveaway, or if you blog about it, or link to it on Twitter. Be sure to link to both my site and the ModMum site, and of course come back to brag about your accomplishment so I know to give you extra chances.

Giveaway will run until Monday, October 13 at midnight. Come on now, don't you want your little munchkin to be this cozy?
*****************************
And the winner is.... Sharon! Thanks to all of you for entering and for talking up the giveaway. I used Random.org to generate the winner.
Sharon, email me your address and I'll be sending your request and your info to ModMum so they can send you your new sling.
Everyone else, stay tuned, more exciting giveaways coming soon!

The love child of K'NEX and Sesame Street looks an awful lot like Elmo

K'NEX, creator of the awesome construction system teamed up with Sesame Street to create a line targeting their youngest little builders yet. The fun chunky construction toys have taken on faces of the Sesame Street gang, allowing young kids from 2-5 to assemble their beloved TV land friends.

When I first heard about the new line of K'NEX toys I really thought it would be right up Little L's alley. She's just starting to find that kind of toy intriguing, and she's the perfect age to become a major Elmo fan. But once I actually got my hands on a set I realized that C would get a lot more out of the experience.

I'll admit that at first I really thought that for the 2-5 age group maybe partnering with Noggin or Sprout would have been a better bet. C seems to have left our friends on Sesame Street behind her in her quest for more face time with Diego and Handy Many, but in retrospect I think that the Sesame Street/K'NEX match is nothing short of brilliant.

The characters are inherently familiar and come with built in self esteem boosters. Any possible frustration that your preschooler might encounter while trying to build something maybe a little more challenging than the usual tower is mitigated by the familiar friendly face of Elmo or Grover smiling up at them.

With a wide range of characters and prices ($10.99 - $31.99) available these friendly and motivating little guys are sure to be on many a holiday gift list this year. I'm thinking we need to add a Cookie Monster set to the list, you know, so I can "help" him eat a few cookies. Visit knex.com/sesame-street-building-sets/ to see who you're going to add to your list!

Thumbs up for this fun and cute educational toy!

Mommy Rescue Guide - Toddler Meals

"What do you want for dinner?" I ask C and Little L in the car every night as we drive home from daycare.
"CHICKEN FRIES!" Is the answer, every night as we drive home from daycare. Well, that's not exactly true. Once in a blue moon she'll answer "Fish sticks!" or even maybe "I don't want any dinner." because she's grumpy or tired.

Then we get home and I open the freezer, sigh, and pull out the chicken fries, again. Now I'm not saying they eat those every night, but definitely a couple times a week. I'm not proud of it, but to be honest, at the end of a busy day I can't think of a single thing to throw together that will appeal to both C and Little L and won't take too long to cook. And so the chicken fries come out to play, or the fish sticks, or the grilled cheese sandwich.

That's where the Mommy Rescue Guide - Toddler Meals, well, comes to the rescue. It's chock full of easy, healthy, tasty recipes and tips for making food appealing to toddlers. The chapters are age targeted, starting with very first meals and moving all the way through toddlerhood. (They even have recipes for teething biscuits!) But the best part are that the recipes are appealing to grown-ups too. So if you're trying to save yourself some hassle and only cook one meal for the whole family you can still use this book.

Tonight I think we're trying the Fruity Chicken Casserole with a side of Nifty Broccoli and Cheese Nuggets. And for desert? First-Rate Rice Pudding. Unless Little L eats the book first...
Thumbs up for this nifty little book! And don't forget to check out the rest of the series if you need help with potty training, sleeping, or a whole slew of other issues.

The Women behind The Women - Dove documentary

So, you all know how Dove is taking the world by storm and revolutionizing the face of advertising? Literally. By showing real women instead of "ideal" women. (And by that I sure don't mean your ideal, or my ideal, but some weirdo pretend ideal that isn't really anyone's ideal, especially not someone who actually, you know, eats. But I digress.)

Well, they've taken it a step forward by creating an entire The Women behind The Women campaign. It's a movie about women directed by a woman. Not really novel, but sending a young reporter behind the scenes to see how it's all done was pretty neat. All the footage with original interviews and other choice tidbits are available for you to see at Dove.com/thewomen.

Check it out, I thought it was pretty cool. And now I'm thrilled to go see the movie. Tonight, with a girlfriend, because even if the movie got terrible reviews, at least now I know really neat stuff about the behind the scenes goings on and I can be that obnoxious person in the audience, except not really, because why would I ruin a perfectly good Girls Night Out? Right?

Go check out the footage and come back and tell me what you thought. And if you saw the movie I totally want your feedback on that too!

Parking Pal - Like a little assistant helping keep your kids safe

Do you know what your child hears when you say "Stay right there. Don't move a muscle."? They hear "I'm going to be busy for a second, so if you see something cool that you must absolutely explore then go for it!"

Well, OK, fine, I might be over exaggerating a bit, but it's definitely true that children react better to short, clear, direct instructions rather than vague ones that don't really have a tangible meaning for them. Which is why "Freeze" works better than "Stay there, don't move." Fewer words to process, fewer possible interpretations.

When you need to unload a younger child from the car or gather a day's worth of supplies (jackets, bags, sippy cups, dolls, etc, etc...) you need your child to stand still somewhere safe until you're all ready to move away from the car. You tell them to "Freeze," but sometimes that isn't good enough. That's when the Parking Pal comes in.

You know how sometimes the simplest solutions are the best? This product is proof that that's true. It's a cute round magnet with the sketch of a hand that sticks to the side of your car. When you want your child to stand safely by the car you tell them to put their hand on the hand and to stay put. Presto! Safe child.

I know that my kid is not the type to run out into the street anyway, but she does love to follow me around the car as I unload everything. I know that your child might not fall for this trick, but it's still worth a try. For us the novelty, and inherent simplicity of the Parking Pal is working like a charm. C jumps out of the car and puts her hand right on the hand and there she stays until I tell her to come with me. Sheer brilliance.

Thumbs up for the Parking Pal, cute and simple, like all good products should be.

Peek-a-who? Peek-a-Zoo!

We have a little thing about books in our house. They kind of cover every possible surface: bookshelves, coffee tables, dining room table, night stands, floor. You get the picture.

C has always been surrounded by books. By default so has Little L. We read to them and they read to themselves. OK. Fine, what they do is more akin to just looking at pictures and making up stories that go with them, but that totally counts.

Until I got a copy of the adorable Little Scholastic Peek-A-Zoo book Little L wasn't particular about her books. She'd sit for part of any story we were telling C then wander away to chew on some blocks. Or she'd pick up a book for a moment only to discard it a minute later. But then I pulled out this big colorful board book and sat her on my lap and we read it over and over and over again. She turned the pages and checked out each and every image. She patted the elephant and cooed at herself in the mirror. She said hi to the baby and poked her fingers through all the openings. And when she was done she did it all again.

Unlike many new toys the attraction for this book hasn't worn off. It's still her favorite way to spend a quiet few minutes and it's one of the only distractions that will quell a raging tantrum in the car. That makes it my favorite book in our extensive library.

Definitely a thumbs up for this fun little board book!