First Year

Good Nights with HALO Sleep Set ~ Giveaway

Published May 3, 2012 | By Julie Kieras

Baby’s coming! And with him… sleepless nights. For me, at least. He will be sleeping soundly (I hope!).

With my first son, I couldn’t even find a crib set that didn’t come with huge, puffy bumpers. Sure, it’s adorable when everything matches and you have all that softness around the bed. But it’s actually unsafe for the baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends not using a crib bumper.

Now, HALO Innovations introduces the Safe Sleep Crib Set^TM designed to create an attractive and safe sleep environment for babies. “Too often parents ‘overdress’ the crib with quilt and bumpers, both of which can pose a breathing threat for baby,” said Bill Schmid, founder of Halo Innovations.

Their new Crib Set is the perfect answer for moms searching for nursery decor with no bumper.

The five-piece HALOSafe Sleep Crib Set includes a HALO SleepSack wearable blanket, SleepSack Swaddle, two coordinating crib sheets in cotton jersey, and a matching crib skirt. The snug fitting crib sheets add to the safety of the crib set (never have loose bedding with infants in the crib).

Now, I think it’s much better to have TWO sleeping outfits included in a crib set than to have a puffy (unsafe) crib bumper! The patterns are cute – My Dog Sam (pictured above – what my new little one will be sleeping in!), Friendly Caterpillar and more! They come in several color choices to complement most nursery decor.

For more sleep safety tips and product info, “Like” HALO on Facebook, Follow HALO on Pinterest, and Follow HALO on Twitter.

BUY IT: The new HALO Safe Sleep Crib Sets are available on amazon.com and babiesrus.com.

WIN IT: One reader gets their choice of HALO Sleep Crib Set in blue, green, or pink! ARV $115. Enter in the Rafflecopter form below!
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Posted in baby gear, first year, gifts, Giveaways, review, safety | 1 Comment

DAD’S Log: Dadda or not Dadda..

Published March 12, 2011 | By MKDaddy

That is the question! When is a dadda a Dadda?

I think he gets it that I am Dadda, but then again does he? When I come home from work or being out on errands it’s Dadda! But then again, when my DW comes home from errands its “Dadda!” So Dadda seems to cover a lot of territory.

What else is “Dadda?” The computer, the chair, the picture of me and my DW, the picture of him, his Uncle(s), his Aunt(s), his Grandma(s), his Grandpa(s), the couch, the coffee maker, the refrigerator, the ball,…the list goes on and on.

So just when I have my doubts that he means Dadda…I entered his room the other day…and clear as a bell..”Hi Dadda!”

Dude…stop with the mind games.

Obviously I am not the coffee maker and there are significant differences between me and my DW! So could you please get the vocab straightened out. Me Dadda and DW Momma and of course ‘car’ for any other moving object. That’s a good start…now work on the consistency and definitely throw a few more “Momma’s” around.

It makes you think that those movies where babies jabber away in babytalk, then when there are no adults in the room, they speak perfect English are true.

So is it dadda or Dadda? Either way…I’ll take it.

Posted in Dad's Log, first year | 13 Comments

The Birthday Party – Year One

Published February 28, 2011 | By Julie Kieras

: The Grand Overview!

This past Saturday we celebrated my baby’s 1st birthday. To decorate, I had my cute red dot cupcake cups, fun pom-pom decoration, and polka dot plates from Sweet Little Birdy! But otherwise, this was pretty much a DIY birthday party from self-designed and printed cupcake holders and toppers…

Cupcakes for my Cutie!

…to hand sewn bunting…

Mama sewed this bunting! DIY-it!

with of course some lovely paper straws from Sweet Little Birdy…

I had to have sodas from our local soda bottler that matched the color scheme (the blue is bubble gum – it was the only blue soda I could find this time of year – in the summer Hosmer Soda sometimes makes a blue raspberry but not now).

And lots of desserts and sweets…

Hand-dipped chocolate covered pretzels!

Baby was a little overwhelmed by the gifts – not sure what to do with them, so I ended up opening them all and handing them to him. Of course, the big dump truck captured his attention and it was hard to reel him back. My little baby has very generous aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins… the majority of the gifts had the theme of… you guessed it – CARS! (or trucks, or tractors)…

Cake smashing was a tentative affair… he cried mostly! But then when he got a taste of the homemade cream cheese frosting, he came around and took a couple bites! We had banana cake with cream cheese frosting, white cake with vanilla frosting, and brownie bites with vanilla frosting!

The party was a fun time with family – it’s nice to have everyone together at once! It was one crazy day, and I am thankful for family that all pitched in to bring food and help with decorations! I think it all came together for a fun, memorable party!

What kind of cake do you like to make for birthdays?

Posted in birthday, entertaining, first year | 8 Comments

12 months

Published February 28, 2011 | By Julie Kieras

Tonight has been a quiet night. Far different from last night’s celebration. My baby turned one last Tuesday, but we waited until the weekend for the big family party! I have been looking at him all week thinking, “You’re one. You’re one? You’re ONE!” And then I look my baby over for signs that he is different. That he has passed into some new phase. But of course, the changes are imperceptible on a day-to-day basis.

Here’s what I know about my 12-month-old:

Language Skills:

No new words have emerged, but he is babbling the sound “mama” a lot lately, so I am hoping that the word is not far behind
His babbling has gotten more complex and “sentence” like, sometimes even with inflection and pauses
He signs “More” and “Please” about 50% of the time when we ask him
He will often point at things he wants to have
He laughs and grins at us a lot and makes snuffling noises with his nose. I think he’s laughing at us!
He will point to his belly button when asked
Loves to play Peek-A-Boo if you ask “Where are you?”
Will point to nose and ears of stuffed animals when prompted
Will do the motions to “roll it” when I sing Patty-Cake to him

Mobility:

Super-fast crawling capabilities now, but little interest in walking
Much better at self-feeding finger food, but still no interest in using a spoon unless it’s empty and he can bang it
He’s back to using both hands fairly interchangeably
He often waves at people, but delayed reaction -they are usually gone by the time he starts waving
Often stands on his own for a moment before sitting down, and much more confident about “walking” with his walker toy or using the wall/couch for support

Personality:

Lately he has gotten a bit more clingy, possibly due to recently being sick?
As a result, he continues to get more “cuddly” – he likes to be rocked to sleep and tries to fall asleep on my chest, but he’s so restless, he often ends up just tossing and turning and sitting up
Still loves music and will “dance” by wiggling his butt, or wagging his head side to side when he hears the radio/CD come on, or when he wants me to put the music on
Tooth number five popped up this weekend!

Other:

He weighed 20 lbs 6 oz at his 1 year check up, and measured 30 inches, putting him about 50% for height and 25% for weight for his age. This is a big drop from his 6 month check up when he was 75% for both. Hmm…

I can’t wait to see the changes that are in store this year!