Boston Pride Parade

The whole gay pride celebrations are ending today, 12th Sunday, but the parties have been going on through out the week and the big parade starting out on Tremont St, going past Boston Common and ending behind Faneuil Hall was yesterday.

What a great family day out, even if the weather was poo and it rained like crazy.

It was a great chance for kids to see a lot of diversity which they might not be accustomed to seeing with a lot of fun and friendly people. The atmosphere was great and really up lifting and the floats and people in the parade were great, having various organisations taking part from various religious and charity groups, various banks, Zip Car, Google Android, the works.

Plenty of free swag for people being handed out as well, must of which was very family friendly, beads, bracelets, sweets, keychains, balls etc. There was only one float handing out stuff that you might not want your little kids to get, packets of condoms, but as ZipCar had decorated their car with condom balloons, you might not have minded.

What a great party festival feel and a great day out with the kids. Would definitely recommend going again, or taking part if you can!

Own Brand Reviews

Having a look back at some own brand products we've tried, here's a round up on my thoughts:

Nappies

BJ's - These were great value for money. Pretty basic nappy, but a good fit, easy to slide on/off and worked very well.

Target - These were probably the best own brand nappy we tried, they worked great and felt the nicest.

BabiesRUS - This was a surprise as they were the worst. They felt pretty horrid, were very thin but they were easy to put on.

Bath Stuff

We tried a variety of bathing products from Target, the sleep time body wash, shampoo and hair detangler, equivalents to the Johnson and Johnson line of products. We found these to be just as effective and pleasant to use and certainly worth the savings offered.

Misc Stuff

Own brand food. BJ's formula was significantly cheaper than the branded stuff and because all formula goes through the FDA, they're all essentially the same and as healthy so you might as well get the cheapest. Target, Hannafords and other stores now carry their own brands which is great, but BJ's is still the cheapest we found.

Snack foods, those cheese puffs and crackers etc. Hannafords have a good line, but so do Target and they are often more cheaper, especially when they are doing their deals. The food is pretty good too, including the little lunch pots and food trays for when the kids are a little older. BJ's are now carrying the branded stuff in bulk though and often have coupons for added savings.

Breast Pads. Many were tried, Avent, they were okay but a little thin, but they also have a 100 count for $11 which is the best value for money. Lansinoh, they were pretty good, but probably not the best value for money as they were quite expensive. Medela, were also expensive and not worth the extra cost. The biggest surprise was BabiesRUS, their own brand pads worked out to be almost the cheapest option, but they were great quality pads. The re-usable ones mostly ended up in the bin as they never ended up being practical and being quite expensive to maintain considering the cost and how many you'd need so that you'd have a supply with you while washing a set etc.

Bath Time

Towels....okay, not the coolest things ever, but just came across the "Cuddledry"

It's £25 from Debenhams and found here.

It's a fluffy organic cotton towel that you can wear, to keep you dry and to easily wrap around your new born to make it much easier to have a good hold of them and dry them at the same time, just really simple yet awesome.

Toddlers and Toothpaste

So we've started to use some Toddler Training Tooth Paste by Orajel.

Seems to work a treat, doesn't have fluoride so safe for the little one is she swallows a little bit of the stuff.

Not sure about the flavours that they offer, we got the girly variety, which is "pink" flavoured, bit general and don't have a clue what they mean by that.

Best thing about this though, it gets rid of bad breath and after the amount of yoghurt and cheese our little one goes through, that's a really good thing!

Well worth checking this out, but look for Orajel coupons first because you can usually find quite a few online as well as in the usual newspaper flyouts etc.

Munchkin Two Snack Catchers Reviewed

Snacks and car seats, always a mess waiting to happen, so there are plenty of little containers designed to hold the snacks whilst providing easy access to little hands.

I got a double pack of Munchkin Snack Catchers. They range anywhere from around $4 to $8 for a pair depending on where you get them.

They look great, they are dish washer safe which is a huge plus and generally they get a great review.

The reality is, they're a bit shit.

The actual container is so flimsy even with the lid on that it can be squished quite easily, which results in all the snacks falling out. The opening in the lid is way to larger and flexible that anything slightly small for a snack falls out and the flaps don't hold anything back from falling out when little hands reach in to grab at stuff.

For all the good these things do, you really wouldn't notice any difference between using a normal open container but at least something like that you can put a lid on so they don't shake all the contents into your bag if your carrying it around which this will do as it squishes together.

Find something else would be my advice.

Storing those Plush Toys!

Found the perfect answer on Think Geek - The Otto Plush Animal Bag

Store all your plush animal toys in this big blob plushy.

Family Photo's and the holidays

Well it's that time of the year again and time to get another portrait photo of the little one.

Last year we used JC Pennys' but this year we opted to give Target a go.

Using their coupons they offer on that gallery portrait site, it's a great saving, about $100 it saved us.

Really liked the service, much more laid back and easy going getting the pictures done, also very quick in getting the pictures back, a week turn around.

They do offer all the extras like cards and multiple pictures on a print, but they were far less pushy on offering those services. They do have 3 of these extras that they offer for half price, so $8 when you pick your pictures up but you don't have to take them.

Highly recommended.

Baby Monitors

Here's a short review of a few baby monitors because we had to finally replace our original monitor because new neighbours below our apartment has caused some interference so we went for an upgrade.

Our original monitor was a Graco Respond which we managed to find at Big Lots for $10 and has been a fantastic bargain as well as a great product.

It is well built, very sturdy and can be thrown around lots without breaking. The receiver has a battery built in that can be charged up and gives you great usage which is handy when when you've got to run around the house as the range is also very good. The signal also is generally very good, except when placed around a phone or router.

Other features of this monitor include a recording option so that if your baby cries it can play your recording, or it can play a few nursery rhymes.

Very happy with this unit and give it 4/5

The replacement unit we got was a Graco iMonitor Digital Vibe - What we liked about this, it's very simple to work out of the box, comes with a built in battery for the receiver which charges from a cradle and the base monitor can use batteries as a backup, which aren't included but the power adapters were universal for both the base and receiver.

Also the receiver has a power socket so you don't need the cradle if you don't want. This is a nice mobile unit, small, well made, light and sturdy with a pretty good belt clip. The battery life on this isn't as good as other monitors but it is good enough to get you around a long nap time.

The range on this is advertised as 2000 ft, I haven't confirmed that, but it has been crystal clear through out our apartment which is lovely, and it really has been crystal clear with no static or interference, being a digital unit really does make a huge difference here over the older analogue systems. The receiver also has a vibrate function to let you know your baby is crying if you have the volume turned down which is a nice idea but not something I use.

We'll give this a 5/5 rating.

Before we got the above, we tried and then returned a couple other units, the first was:

Safety First Go and Glow Monitor - Looks great, quite cheap depending on where you get it, $25-35 and nice and sturdy design. The major problem we had with this unit was interference, it wouldn't work anywhere at all in our apartment, the receiver was just bleeping out static which was horrid. Other things that dinged this in our minds, the belt clip was rubbish and this didn't include any batteries. The base unit was nice and stable though and had a thermometer. Finally the nightlight feature didn't really light up, so was a bit pointless.

2/5

Fisher Price Sound's n Lights Monitor - Another cheap unit around the $25-35 price range, analogue and returned because it also suffered heavy interference, it was better than the above unit in that it would work if the receiver was placed close to the base unit or in certain parts of the apartment but not anywhere that was useful for us.

This does advertise itself as being "green" with the power supply, the irony being that it was least environmentally friendly in the packaging having the most disposable rubbish. The antenna is not built in on this either, which potentially means it could be unsafe as a large protrusion, certainly something easy for the baby to grab and throw. The base unit was very light and didn't feel sturdy, but it did have a nice night light feature, which wouldn't automatically shut down incidentally which is a shame. Also no built in batteries for this unit and if you wanted to place your own batteries, the compartment comes with screw fitted fixings which isn't very convenient, this is aimed at the parents and not the child after all.

A nice feature about this unit though, the light indicator is visible from both sides of the receiver and the belt clips is quite sturdy.

2/5

Other units we looked at but didn't try out, but you can read the reviews on Amazon, which came highly recommended were the:

Safety 1st High-Def Digital Monitor

Sony 900 MHz BabyCall Nursery Monitor

No more wallet nappy bags?

Skip Hop have discontinued the best little nappy changing wallet bag, so get one where you can, Target still had a few, they are awesome bags!

There are other mini wallet bags around, but they are all rubbish in comparison.

Sippy Cup Reviews

It's now time to try sippy cups, well for a while now, but there's loads about to try out, so we got a bunch and here's our thoughts on them, all of which are BPA free by the way.

Avent Insulated Cup - $7 cup, for cold drinks only, but that's fine. Easy to take apart and clean and also the parts are interchangeable with other Avent cups. What is nice about this cup, the flip top lid, so you don't have to worry about losing the lid, which makes this very handy when on the move and out in public. It is also very easy to hold and a good sized cup and the spill proof valve works very well.

5/5

Avent Magic Cup Trainer - $5 which isn't bad value for money, like the above cup, well made, functions very well and very practical, dishwasher safe and the training handle can be removed once unneeded. There is a plastic cap lid for this, but the spill proof valve works very well so it isn't really needed. The squat size makes this easy for small hands to hold and also tilt back far enough to drink from.

4/5

Born Free Training Cup - $11 so getting a little expensive for one cup, but very sturdy and well made. This is dishwasher safe and easy to assemble, but there are more parts in this than the Avent, so more likely to lose pieces, but they do fit together nice and easily. The handles can be removed and the parts are interchangeable with other Born Free products which is nice.

3/5

Munchkin Mighty Grip - $7.50 for two cups, which appeared like great value for money. The reality is, this was rubbish. This isn't dishwasher safe, so more hassle to clean, also the parts are very flimsy and the rubber seal only fits in one way and has to be lined up into 3 notches which aren't equally spaced and not clear in which way to line up the valve. The valve is also very flexible and doesn't take much shaking or squeezing of the bottle to cause a gap in the valve and a big leak. The bottle is also very flimsy and weak and looks very cheap. There's no cap to cover the top of this and given how easy it is to cause it to leak, this is a bit of a over site.

1/5

Child Safety Gate

Well it's gotten to that point where we really needed one for our crawling tot.

Our criteria was based on:-
-Recommendations from friends/family
-Cost
-Ease of use and installation; not requiring it to be hardware fixed because we rent

With that in mind, we went with Safety 1st Perfect Fit Gate - $35 so the price was good considering how expensive some are, also it is a sturdy gate, not the best looking but it can be pressure fixed against the door frame.

Over all it works as a safety barrier, but as a opening gate, not so good because you do need to use the hardware for that to work, screwing it into the wall and using the mounts, which does take the point of the pressure fit away some what.

The auto fit system which seems good on paper, and when watching it work, does seem to work well, but it is only on one side of the gate so I can see how this might not work so well for people who have base board heat on both sides of a corridor or other things that could be in the way against the wall.

It is also quite heavy too, so definitely make sure you have it installed securely.

Over all, I think it works quite well and worth the money, though if we had our own house and could install a proper gate I would perhaps look at another option.

More Boon Products

Following on from the Boon Spoon which is awesome, we went and got more of their product line up.

Fluid - A toddler cup, nice and chunky, easy to hold and doesn't spill so in theory should be a great cup for the baby to get the hang of, but the tip is a bit unwieldy so baby isn't finding it that easy to drink out of, shame.

Catch Bowl - This is a great little bowl with a lip that is supposed to catch dropped food, there is also a sucker on the base that is supposed to keep it securely held in place on the table. The reality is, the sucker doesn't actually hold the bowl down that well and nor does the catcher actually catch the food that well, it's a little to flexible and the baby just pushes it down. This also isn't machine washable, but it is easy to wipe clean.

Benders - This is a spoon and spork combination, the heads bend quite easily so that the baby can hold them in either hand, which ever they are most comfortable with. These are great, they are easy to hold, not sharp and the head has a nice dip that allows the food to slide off into the babies mouth nice and easily. This is a superb product!

Snack Ball - We thought this would be a fun little container to hold the snacks. The reality is, it is a bit rubbish. It's a round sphere, no dimples or rubber pads to hold it in place so it rolls all over the place when you put it down. Also the sliding top that opens isn't all that secure so it is quite easy for this to slip open and dump the snacks in your pocket. Bit of a disappointment.

There are other products in the line up to check out, more for the toddler age and we will probably give them a go later on.

For now, we highly recommend the Boon Spoon and the Benders, some of the best small baby purchases we've made. They are available all over the place too which is handy.

Baby Portrait Photos

Well it's that time of year to get the family photo's done, even though a little early, we've got presents to get ready to send out if we don't want to pay stupidly expensive shipping costs.

All I can say, good job too, because there's a two week wait from when you get the photo's to when you can pick them up, with JC Penny's photo service at least.

There are many places that offer the service, the price seems to be pretty much the same, Sears, Babies R Us, Target etc.

The best advice, look for a coupon in the weekly papers or coupon mail spam because it's the one coupon that is so worth it.

Without the coupon, there's a $20 sitting fee per person which is waived, you also get a 8x10 print free. The handful of different print sizes and amounts we wanted with the coupon came to $36. Without the coupon this basic service would have come to $85 and had we wanted the "premium" service, which just adds a vignette filter to the image and you can centre or zoom into the photos, the price would have been $145. The holiday style borders or collages of photos' and cards etc would all have been additional prices.

Looking into the prices, pretty much all the major players offer a similar deal and price range, it just comes down to which ever place you have a coupon for and which is more convenient for you to use.

Baby Carriers

Now that the baby is four and a half months old, with my mother over for a visit, we decided to get a baby carrier as it seemed like a handy thing for lugging the baby around if we didn't want to use the push chair.

After trying out quite a few from various baby stores and from some friends, we decided on getting the Lascal M1 carrier. The price doesn't appear to have any variation from website to website or store to store.

Well worth it after having it a few weeks. It's easy to put on, nice and comfy to wear and the baby loves it, to be able to look out at things or to snuggle up and sleep while your out doing your grocery shop.

It's so convenient to use when going to the market or parks that don't have smooth pathways as well as grocery shopping, not having to worry about the baby seat fitting in the trolly etc.

This carrier is well made, very sturdy, easy to clean and made with soft bamboo fibres that don't chafe and breathes nicely in the heat, which was a problem we found with the cheaper ones that we tried out, because having a baby right on your chest who puts out a lot of heat isn't particularly comfortable when your out and about in the heat.

Get $10 free for kids summer reading program

TD Banknorth are doing a summer reading program for children, anyone under 18.

Don't need to be a current customer, but if you are, that's okay too, just set a savings account for the child and they read ten books by the end of September and they get $10 put into the account.

To open an account, you need $25. It's also a free account until the child hits 18, then you need a minimum balance of $250 or it's a $3 a month fee.

For a free $10, what the heck, and your kid gets to read a bunch of books.

Baby Travel Tips

Just a couple of things I've found to have made life easier, so much so. Get a good nappy/diaper bag.

You'll probably be given a few freebies from all the free formula samples that you get sent, those are great for loading up with baby clothes, blanket and creams. The bag then weighs a bundle. Keep it in the car, you'll need it.

What you'll need more though, just a small one that can be thrown in a purse, or on the handle of the pushchair. A small bag that holds a few wipes, nappies and changing sheet. You'll end up using this far more for those every day short trips to the grocery store etc where you don't want to carry a big heavy bag over your shoulder.

Also the changing sheet is great on the changing table if the table pad doesn't come with a material cover, the plastic sheeting is really nasty feeling on the baby and the baby doesn't half slip and slide. Ideally you would have taken those pee sheets from the hospital because those are superb to use.

Car mirror for the back seat. I use quite a small one so I can see the baby in the mirror, it works a treat with a suction cup to hold it in place. I've tried a large Eddie Bauer one, that sucked, because it had a cord that goes through the seat to lock it in place, but it didn't hold the mirror very well. Other large ones I found to be too intrusive, blocking the rear view, but those might work better in a bigger car like a family van thing.

Whip Lash...

Well the baby is home now, has been for a short while...impressive how tiny and how much they grow in a short period of time.

One thing that you don't get told about though when doing the car seat, or at the hospital is that when you leave the hospital, you really can only accelerate at the rate of a snail because even when well snug in the baby car seat, with the big sausage head cushion to keep head wedged in place, the wee little head still bounces forward quite scarily, but you get the hang of that pretty quickly I guess and so far all is good.

Oh, and while your at the hospital, grab as much baby stuff as you can like the sponge bath bowl, changing sheets, nappies and whatever else, you'll probably be given some stuff on top too, but it's for the cost of the hospital co-pay, you might as well as get your monies worth and whatever you have at home won't be enough.