friday the 13th came a day early for me

Have you ever had one of those days where every little thing just annoyed the crap out of you?  Yesterday was one of those days for me.  My primary enemy today:  The pacifier.  Poor Sydney is teething like crazy and could not keep that pacifier in her mouth.   I swear she has a way of spitting that thing out of her mouth at mach speed with some serious projectile action only to become pissed off wondering where her pacifier went.  And the kicker, I often can not find the pacifier because I'm searching in the local vicinity (while she's crying in my ear) when really I should be looking half way across the room with that projection ability of hers.

My favorite clip is from Hanna Andersson (Oh how I love that store!  If I were a rich woman I'd be a regular here!) because it's cute, wooden, doubles as a toy to investigate, and has a safety feature where the chain breaks in 2 if pressure is applied.  At $12, it's more expensive than the little plastic clips you can buy at Target but I've found it worth the price.  Unfortunately, I can not find Sam's Hanna clip that he used.  I kept hoping I'd find it but I was so annoyed by today's battle that I just can't wait any longer!  And wouldn't you know it, there must be an epidemic of pacifier spitters out there because this clip is back ordered until July 12!

While this problem really is quite trivial, I'm embarrassed to admit the level of aggravation it caused me today.  So, if a simple gadget can help me win my pacifier war, and focus on real issues, I'm sold.  And while I think the Hanna clip is worth the price, it's not worth the back order wait for me so I'm going to try one by another brand, Selecta.  It's very similar to the Hanna one, though I don't know if it has the same great safety feature.  It's more expensive than the Hanna one *gulp* (thankfully shipping is only ten cents at Amazon) but I'm justifying the cost by the fact that I shouldn't lose any more pacifiers.

I also noticed Amazon had some clips by another great brand, HABA Toys, like this one: Teddy Pacifier Chain.  Both brands, by the way, are made in Germany.  

I sure hope this ships fast for both Sydney's sake and mine!  This product wasn't on my top ten list of baby-must-haves but after today it just might be!

another mommy-must-have for baby!

Tonight I met with my local Mom's group for dinner (which was a lot of fun - thanks guys!).  I brought Sydney and knew I'd have to nurse her, something I use to completely fear doing in public.  I used to feel like such a clod and in my mind surely the entire world had seen much more than they bargained for.  To make matters worse, as Sam got older he started pulling the blanket that was covering us down, making it nearly impossible for me to remain discreet.  I'm sure it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought but in my mind I envisioned a crying baby, a sweaty mommy, and... well... sorry for the scary visual but I felt like boobs were flying everywhere.

Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but at the time I felt like the people around me would probably prefer a quiet baby than a screaming one so I nursed in public when I had to despite my fears.  

This time around I'm smarter (well really I just have a smart friend named Julie!) and I've found a fantastic nursing cover by Bebe au Lait.  I just love it and I was able to nurse in public tonight with complete confidence!  It hangs around my neck so Sydney can NOT pull it off and is made of enough material to ensure discreet nursing.  The material is thin (in fun designs!) and neither Sydney nor I get hot.  And the best part - a firm edge that allows the cover to stick outward a bit making it easy for me to look down and see Sydney while also retaining complete coverage.  The corner of the cover even has part of a burp cloth attached, which definitely comes in handy.

This, is absolutely in my top 10 must haves!

By the way, some time ago I said I planned to blog about my top 10 must-haves for baby (in my opinion of course).  Rather than put that in one post I've decided to post separately about each one since I'm too darn chatty for 10 gadgets in a post.

2 down, 8 to go.

finally! good customer service!

Well, I had high hopes of publishing my first post about digital scrapping but I'm having trouble attaching my files (they keep showing up at the top of my posts).  So, while I buy some time I'd like to rave about the company Summer Infant.  I have their hand-held day & night color baby monitor (pictured above, since I can't get this freakin' post to put my pictures in the right spot mid-post).  I just L-O-V-E this monitor.  It's truly a "Top 10 Must" in my book!  But more on that later.  

Anyway, I had to call Summer Infant today to inquire about replacing one of our cameras.  I have two video cameras (one for each child - both transmit sound/video signals to the same hand-held monitor) and the one in baby girl's room suddenly produced a large amount of static and really was no longer use-able from a sound perspective.  I searched high and low for my receipt and could not find one anywhere (which is so unlike me since I still have receipts filed away from years ago!).  I called Summer Infant assuming they would not be able to help me because of either the fact that I didn't have a receipt or because any warranty they might offer I had expected to be expired by now.  I'm happy to report that I was proven wrong.  The Customer Service Rep simply asked for an ID number on the back of the camera and confirmed it was still within warranty (FWIW they offer a year full warranty and 50% discount on a replacement product post-warranty).  My information was already on file from my purchase and they are sending me a fed-ex return label.  Upon receipt of my faulty camera they will send me a replacement free of charge.  THANK YOU SUMMER INFANT.  It's so nice to have experiences like that with no hassle.

So, back to making my Top 10... I know it sounds crazy that I consider a video camera a "Top 10 Must".  I mean, do I really *need* a video camera?  No.  But absolutely, definitely, positively it is my fav baby gadget.  I got it when my son was about 14 mo. old and I wish I had it from the beginning!  It allows me to see if he's sleeping without walking in the room and inadvertently waking him!  I've learned all sorts of funny things about what my little guy does once doors are closed.  And best of all, now that he's in a big boy bed it allows me to see if he's getting out of bed and into mischief.

The monitor has 2 channels so I can switch back and forth between my son and daughter's room.  The only problem is that you can't have the sound/video displayed from both rooms at the same time.  So before I go to bed I have to choose which room I want on.  Luckily the kids are right next door to each other so if I have the sound/video on from my sons room I'll still hear my daughter via my son's camera if she gets up.

This camera has night vision too, which is important because for us even nap-time is dark since we close the shades.  In fact, we get little use out of the "color" feature on this monitor because 99% of the time the room is dark and the night vision is on (it turns on automatically when needed, something not every video monitor brand does).  Another thing it has that not all hand-held video monitors do - rechargeable batteries.  Just plug it in & charge!  No AA batteries!

My only gripes about the monitor?  Well, the fact that one of my cameras broke suddenly of course (which is being remedied by Summer Infant).  I also wish the sound dial had numbers on it so that I could turn the dial to a specific spot each night before bed.  Some complain of static but I believe that could be a problem with virtually every monitor depending on what kind of frequencies you have running in/near your home.

I want you to know the hype is not just from me; everyone I know with a video camera can't imagine life with out it.  It's certainly indulgent but I justify it by knowing just how much I use it.  It's probably my most used baby product.