Hi all,
I was just reading through my previous posts, and I absolutely need to make an addition to my "Favorite Baby Basics" post. I blogged about the Maclaren being my favorite brand for umbrella strollers - and they truly are AMAZING - but they are also expensive. I don't even own one (we borrow my parents occasionally) and after searching I found a much more affordable option:
The Mia Moda Facile Umbrella Stroller is only $64.99, and has every function of a great umbrella stroller. It is lightweight, compact (duh), with a 5-point harness and adjustable canopy. The BEST features, making it comparable to a Maclaren, are 4 reclining seat positions and a leg rest, as well as a UV protected sun window within the canopy. The most basic Maclaren ($130) does not even have a reclining seat or leg rest - way to go Mia Moda! All of the Facile reviews have praised its sturdiness and ease-of-maneuverability, which are also key features.
The Facile also comes in a variety of great colors - I'm obsessed with the Aqua - such as carbon, navy, flame, tangerine, and pink. Adorable, affordable, a must-have! I will for sure be purchasing one before our next family trip.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
My Favorite Recent Purchases
I must apologize, it has been ages since my last post! I intended to focus this post on my favorite summer purchases but, seeing as it is practically August, I kind of missed the boat on that one. Here are some of my absolute favorite recent purchases, summer-time and otherwise - enjoy!
**I apologize for the lack of product images, my computer has been refusing to save photos from online locations, or recognize my camera to upload personal images. I'm working on it!
Every toddler needs a musical toothbrush.
I'll admit, Aiden has always been pretty good about having his teeth brushed, but our recently-purchased musical toothbrush has become a bedtime favorite.
Brush & Learn toothbrushes By Plackers are probably a bit too bulky for your infant, but are a traditionally-sized "kid's" toothbrush. You pick from 4 themes - A-B-C's, 1-2-3's, Barnyard Talk, and Toothbrush Talk - each in a different color toothbrush, with a super easy, toddler-friendly on-off button. They play an adorable song that your little one is sure to love and, my favorite parts: the song helps you time how long to keep brushing, and has a wide, pedestal base for easy (clean!) stand-up storage! Highly recommend :)
*I purchased ours at Meijer, but I'm fairly certain you will be able to find them most places toothbrushes are sold.
Traditional sand toys can be so boring after days and days of beach-time play.
Melissa and Doug make my favorite summer toys, hands down. After some searching on Amazon, I discovered their huge line of sand and beach toys, most of which I have yet to find in a store. They are, as typical of the brand, adorable, durable and so creative!
I bought Aiden the Sunny Patch Speck Seahorse Sand Ice cream Set and it was an instant hit. It comes with an "ice cream" bucket with seashell lid, two "ice cream" scoops, two "ice cream" cones and a "sprinkle" shaker - everything your little one needs to store their ice cream, scoop it up, and make delicious ice cream cones for their fellow beach goers!
Aiden, his cousin Brenen, and 4 other little ones couldn't get enough of it during our long day at the beach; they LOVED telling us what "flavor" we were getting, and filling the sprinkle shaker with sand to decorate their finished products.
My only complaint: I wish it came with more cones and scoops. After two weeks we managed to lose 1 cone; does anyone else seem to magically lose things at the beach? However, for only $12 for the set, I won't mind buying another next summer.
Every 2 year-old boy will love cars - here is the BEST play rug & accessories for your little driver:
Aiden loves cars. We've slowly upgraded from the soft, mini Tonka Chuck Trucks (he does still use them), to Disney die-cast Cars, which are more detailed and for "big kids" but also a bit more expensive. Disney Cars can be found at Toys R' Us, Meijer, Walmart, pretty much any store, but it takes some searching if you are looking for new characters to add to a growing collection. I'm a sucker for Amazon; they have a great selection, and you can find most Disney Cars with "free super-saver shipping."
I have spent an embarrassingly-long amount of time online looking for a play rug to use with Aiden's cars - I was looking for a play rug that was printed with multiple streets, parking lots, and city/town buildings. I wanted it to be large enough for more than just Aiden to play, but not enormous. Price was also a deal-breaker for many that I looked at.
The carpet we ended up with is: Learning Carpets My Neighborhood Play Carpet. It is $49.99 with free super-save shipping on Amazon.com, and we love it! It is 36 X 18 inches (fairly long), has non-skid backing, and fits perfectly into a corner of our playroom. It has regular buildings printed on, houses, as well as a construction site, hospital, castle, carousel, and ice cream truck - so cute <3 Aiden loves pointing out all of the buildings, and it has just the right amount of whimsy and small-town feeling I was searching for. :)
To go with the play rug and cars, I bought the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden 53-Piece Town Blocks Set. $30 with free super-saver shipping on Amazon.com. Includes a school, fire station, grocery store, police station, town hall, and many other houses and office buildings, all with roof blocks that your little one can place on top. Also comes with trees, stop signs, and wooden cars - an ambulance, fire truck, police car and school bus, as well as a few smaller cars. I'll admit, Aiden hasn't quite embraced this set as I imagined (I pictured him building elaborate towns, with the buildings and trees placed in perfect, appropriate spots on his rug...crazy, I know), but I'm sure he will grow into it!
**I apologize for the lack of product images, my computer has been refusing to save photos from online locations, or recognize my camera to upload personal images. I'm working on it!
Every toddler needs a musical toothbrush.
I'll admit, Aiden has always been pretty good about having his teeth brushed, but our recently-purchased musical toothbrush has become a bedtime favorite.
Brush & Learn toothbrushes By Plackers are probably a bit too bulky for your infant, but are a traditionally-sized "kid's" toothbrush. You pick from 4 themes - A-B-C's, 1-2-3's, Barnyard Talk, and Toothbrush Talk - each in a different color toothbrush, with a super easy, toddler-friendly on-off button. They play an adorable song that your little one is sure to love and, my favorite parts: the song helps you time how long to keep brushing, and has a wide, pedestal base for easy (clean!) stand-up storage! Highly recommend :)
*I purchased ours at Meijer, but I'm fairly certain you will be able to find them most places toothbrushes are sold.
Traditional sand toys can be so boring after days and days of beach-time play.
Melissa and Doug make my favorite summer toys, hands down. After some searching on Amazon, I discovered their huge line of sand and beach toys, most of which I have yet to find in a store. They are, as typical of the brand, adorable, durable and so creative!
I bought Aiden the Sunny Patch Speck Seahorse Sand Ice cream Set and it was an instant hit. It comes with an "ice cream" bucket with seashell lid, two "ice cream" scoops, two "ice cream" cones and a "sprinkle" shaker - everything your little one needs to store their ice cream, scoop it up, and make delicious ice cream cones for their fellow beach goers!
Aiden, his cousin Brenen, and 4 other little ones couldn't get enough of it during our long day at the beach; they LOVED telling us what "flavor" we were getting, and filling the sprinkle shaker with sand to decorate their finished products.
My only complaint: I wish it came with more cones and scoops. After two weeks we managed to lose 1 cone; does anyone else seem to magically lose things at the beach? However, for only $12 for the set, I won't mind buying another next summer.
Every 2 year-old boy will love cars - here is the BEST play rug & accessories for your little driver:
Aiden loves cars. We've slowly upgraded from the soft, mini Tonka Chuck Trucks (he does still use them), to Disney die-cast Cars, which are more detailed and for "big kids" but also a bit more expensive. Disney Cars can be found at Toys R' Us, Meijer, Walmart, pretty much any store, but it takes some searching if you are looking for new characters to add to a growing collection. I'm a sucker for Amazon; they have a great selection, and you can find most Disney Cars with "free super-saver shipping."
I have spent an embarrassingly-long amount of time online looking for a play rug to use with Aiden's cars - I was looking for a play rug that was printed with multiple streets, parking lots, and city/town buildings. I wanted it to be large enough for more than just Aiden to play, but not enormous. Price was also a deal-breaker for many that I looked at.
The carpet we ended up with is: Learning Carpets My Neighborhood Play Carpet. It is $49.99 with free super-save shipping on Amazon.com, and we love it! It is 36 X 18 inches (fairly long), has non-skid backing, and fits perfectly into a corner of our playroom. It has regular buildings printed on, houses, as well as a construction site, hospital, castle, carousel, and ice cream truck - so cute <3 Aiden loves pointing out all of the buildings, and it has just the right amount of whimsy and small-town feeling I was searching for. :)
To go with the play rug and cars, I bought the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden 53-Piece Town Blocks Set. $30 with free super-saver shipping on Amazon.com. Includes a school, fire station, grocery store, police station, town hall, and many other houses and office buildings, all with roof blocks that your little one can place on top. Also comes with trees, stop signs, and wooden cars - an ambulance, fire truck, police car and school bus, as well as a few smaller cars. I'll admit, Aiden hasn't quite embraced this set as I imagined (I pictured him building elaborate towns, with the buildings and trees placed in perfect, appropriate spots on his rug...crazy, I know), but I'm sure he will grow into it!
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