If you are looking for a great gift for a baby 6 months to about 18 months, the Fisher-Price Lil’ Zoomers Spinnin’ Sounds Speedway just might do the trick.  It’s not a quiet toy but it sure does keep our little baby testers busy. Take a look at our quick video review below:

SHOP Fisher-Price Lil’ Zoomers Spinnin’ Sounds Speedway HERE

Our Baby Gizmo family has been growing so it’s time to meet another  new Baby Gizmo writer!  Jessica is one of our newest Baby Gizmo Team Mamas! She lives in DC with her husband and two darling girls.  Let’s give her a warm welcome and get ready for her fun sense of humor!

Jessica lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area with her husband and two girls. Once upon a time, pre-motherhood, she did important things as a very “important” writer who managed to successfully balance a reality TV addiction with the pursuit of a graduate degree in English. Now she’s a stay at home mom who fantasizes about minivans, the perfect double stroller, and sleep. She enjoys (among many other things) dancing to 80s music, photography, laughing out loud (at, usually, inappropriate moments), and writing about motherhood, the tough and sweet spots of raising children, and life on her blog MOMMYHOOD NEXT RIGHT.

We thought her post “Don’t Blame Me for a Buying a Blames” would be a great way to introduce her to all our Baby Gizmo friends!

I didn’t start thinking about a high chair until I absolutely had to, or when my first daughter was around 10-months-old and absolutely couldn’t fit in her Bumbo seat anymore. And, when I did start looking for high chairs, my standards were mostly low. I just wanted something that was reasonably priced and that looked good in my kitchen. I know. Bad standards. But, I promise I didn’t know any better.

The first high chair that I saw that fit that bill was the Blames.

We “locked” eyes on a trip I made to IKEA one night and it was high chair love at first sight. I didn’t buy the Blames in our first meeting, however. I bought it after reading maybe three positive reviews online. I didn’t do a more extensive check because I didn’t need to. I was in love and that chair was beautiful and I needed it in my kitchen.

Some of its most attractive features are that:

• It looks and feels sturdy with its classic, Scandinavian wooden exterior (only the tray is plastic).
• It looks like a real piece of furniture that you’d actually want in your kitchen.
• It is available in black or red and is smaller than most traditional American high chairs (Product dimensions: Width: 20 1/8 “, Depth: 21 1/4 “, Height: 36 5/8 “, Seat width: 11 3/4 “, Seat depth: 9 1/2 “, Seat height: 22)
• It is easy to assemble. It took my husband and I all of twenty minutes to put the chair together.

While the Blames looked perfect in my kitchen. Our love affair began to become, well, iffy whenever my daughter got involved. Yes, it was then that I realized that while a beautiful chair, the Blames does not work for the average, mealtime resisting toddler.

Some of the specific issues that I had with the chair were that:

• The “removable” tray of the Blames does not remove as easily as it should, making clean up more stressful than necessary.
• Rather than a chest harness, the Blames features lap straps that are adjustable on both sides. I hated that these straps could not restrain my toddler. Even at the lowest/tightest setting, my toddler was able to escape within seconds of being in the chair. And this, along with her unwillingness to eat anything but lint and Walmart receipts, made mealtimes a nightmare!
• There is no cushion or pillow on the headrest to restrain the blows of chair-head-butting toddlers.  Maybe my child is exceptionally violent, but without a cushion or pillow or anything at the headrest, meal times would always end in a lot of tears.

Would I recommend this chair to other moms and dads?

The Blames is a beautiful chair. It’s kind of chair that will easily win the hearts and minds of parents who hope to show that, even with kids, they still have an eye for style and haven’t compromised all of their pre-baby home’s aesthetic. While beautiful, for mobile toddlers and weary parents, it’s not the best option. So, for this reason, I would not recommend the Blames to other moms and dads.

I’m in a bit of a quandry. Friday, February 3rd is Elmo’s birthday but truthfully I do not want to dedicate a full birthday post to him. It’s not that I have anything against Elmo and think he’s cute (in an annoying sort of way).  You have to admit that he has totally lucked out getting to host the last full 15 minute segment, Elmo’s World, on Sesame Street.  Don’t even get me started on the Tickle Me Elmo! phenomenon.  But it is his birthday and my mom taught me, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Contemplating how to handle Elmo’s birthday brought up an interesting topic:

fa·vor·it·ism/ˈfāv(ə)riˌtizəm/

Growing up, my parents always swore up and down that neither my younger sister nor myself was their favorite.  Currently, I only have one child so this not something I have to contend with.  Whether we want to admit it or not, favoritism among families is a part of life.  Parents treat each child different because each one is different.  Each child has a unique personality, as well as their own appearance, abilities and interests and parents need to encourage, nurture and cater to each child’s individuality.  But that doesn’t mean parents should love any of their off-spring more or less than their siblings.

And Elmo, I sincerely hope there’s no hard feelings.  I do wish you a very happy birthday. (In fact, for the second year in a row, we have purchased tickets to see  Sesame Street Live : 123 Imagine! with Elmo & Friends.)

How does your family deal with favoritism? 

It’s a BIG sale alert!  BabyLegs is having a 50% off ALL BabyLegs now through Monday, February 6 when you use the coupon code “NOFOOTBALL“.  That’s right – this isn’t a sale on select styles or styles you probably wouldn’t want.  This is a sale on EVERYTHING!!!  Yeah!!!

SHOP BabyLegs Sale HERE

Britax Marathon 70 is 25% off on Amazon today! Love this seat!  My 4 year old sits in one!

The Britax B-Ready is 24%-36% off today depending on your color choice!

The Stokke Tripp Trapp (another Baby Gizmo favorite!) is 23% off today!

Safety 1st On Board Air Protect 35 Infant Car Seat is an astonishing 29% off! (Lowest price we’ve seen in a while!)

Looking for a great sit n’ stand stroller? The Joovy Caboose is 34% off!  Great deal!

A new diaper bag is like a new purse! So fun!  You might want to grab this deal on the JJ Cole Mode Diaper Tote Bag for 37% off!

Happy Shopping!!

Roses are red; violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet & so are you!

Here’s a way to be even sweeter and more heartfelt, caring and giving this Valentine’s Day:

Make a $25 donation to Save the Children’s “Love to Read, Read to Live” campaign, and receive a 30-card boxed set of limited-edition Valentines designed by artists your children know and love.  (That’s less than 84 cents per card)

Perfect for your child’s classmates, playgroup, friends and/or families, each card was designed by favorite children’s book authors and illustrators: Mo Willems (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), Kevin Henkes (Kitten’s First Full Moon), Ian Falconer (Olivia!), Leuyen Pham (Freckleface Strawberry) and Brian Selznick (Wonderstruck).

Your tax-deductible donation supports Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, where literacy plays a fundamental role in their work and in the chance for a brighter future for all children.  Nearly 1 in 4 children lives in poverty and the majority of them don’t have any books in their home.

Make sure you order your cards by February 6 to ensure delivery on time for Valentine’s Day.  Save the Children’s Valentine’s Day cards are available at www.savethechildren.org/valentinesor or by calling 1-800-728-3843.

Bugaboo is adding three fun new colors for 2012!  Electric Blue, Jade Green and Coral Red will be available for the Bugaboo Cameleon, Donkey and Bee. Whatcha think?  Like ‘em or prefer the current colors better?

It must be a good time to stock up on baby shoes!  It’s another fantastic sale!  This time it is our favorite baby shoe company – pediped!!

They are having a sale with shoes for baby, toddlers and kids up to 60% right now!  The kicker is that it ends on Sunday!  Hurry!  Grab a few pairs before the sale is over!  You’ll be glad you did!

SHOP Pediped SALE HERE

After our recent family cruise, we had planned to stay an extra day in Fort Lauderdale before we headed home to snowy, cold Chicago. We wanted to take one extra day to unwind, possibly visit the beach, and just relax after we got off the boat but before the chaos of real life started again. I went online about a week in advance to search for a good hotel deal in Ft. Lauderdale. I wasn’t finding any earth-shattering deals that were too good to pass up. So, I decided to roll the dice and get a hotel on Bookit.com - a site I had never used before but thought I would give it a shot. Not only was I going to book a hotel through them but I was opting to book the “Mystery Hotel” for a cheaper price.  This means that you basically book and pay for a hotel in a certain area but you have no idea which exact hotel you will be getting. I was nervous as I booked it because in reality it could get really ugly booking a hotel for 5 people including 3 small kids without having any idea about the hotel.

Turns out that it was the best move I made that day!  Seriously. We were given the B Ocean Fort Lauderdale Hotel that was an oceanfront property for $159/night.  Let me say that again.  We got an oceanfront property in Fort Lauderdale!! Score.

I had never heard of this hotel before but it was a brand new hotel in a prime area of Ft. Lauderdale.

Lobby

The B Ocean Fort Lauderdale is a beautiful, modern, 4-star hotel that is located steps from the beach. The lobby walls were designed to look like ocean waves and the lighting changes to change the color of the waves. Every staff member from the valet to the front desk employees that we encountered were amazing! Very polite, good with the kids and accommodating.

We arrived at the hotel at 8:30am knowing full well that check-in wasn’t until 4pm. Since we had taken a cab to the hotel, I figured at the very least they would hold onto our luggage until check-in. The guy at the front desk said he would find out if our room was ready even though it was so early.  It was not. Fortunately, the manager was standing right next to him and overheard that we had just gotten off a cruise and maybe it was my antsy kids whining around me but she said “let me check and see what I can find for you.” After 30 seconds of her clicking around on the computer, she said, “you are all set. We have upgraded your room free of charge and it’s ready for you.”

What?!?!  Seriously?

Plus, I want to say that they had no idea I was intending to review the hotel for Baby Gizmo or anything.  We were just some family in off the street as far as they knew! I was already loving the B Ocean by this point!

As a huge bonus, they have free coffee (with to-go cups) in their cafe every morning. Love that!

Room

Our room was great!  It was sparkling clean and everything was perfect. Including the view! Seriously, our “upgrade” was to this amazing ocean view room! The view is definitely confirmed that I made the best choice by ending up with this “mystery hotel”.

Besides the view, we had two queen beds, a full desk area, dresser and arm chair in the corner. The entire room was white with blue accents. All the sparkling clean white walls, sheets, comforters, dresser made me a little nervous with my 3 little ones with their bags full of markers, crayons, candy and so on. I did have to keep the kids in check so they wouldn’t redecorate the room with a little more color.

Pool

The B Ocean pool was right off the lobby and was a decent size. Not huge but not super tiny either. The pool area was complete with comfy lounge chairs and fun cabanas. Since we decided to hit the beach across the street instead, we didn’t actually use the pool.

Area

Did I mention that the B Ocean is an oceanfront property?  It’s not technically on the sand but across the street which is like all the “oceanfront” hotels in that area. All you have to do is literally cross the street and you are on the beach though. Like a 1 minute walk. As soon as we checked-in, we took a walk around the area to check it out. There is a yummy pizza place next door, a fantastic ice cream shop where they make their own ice cream right behind the hotel and a few other shops and restaurants all on the same block.

Plus, there is a fire station just down the street with the friendliest firefighters that let my kids have an impromptu tour and let them climb all over their fire truck and ambulance.  I think it was the highlight of my kids’ day!  Yep, we just walked up and asked for a visit and they were more than accommodating!

A full grocery store is within walking distance for any essentials and a great harbor full of luxury boats to give the little ones something look at is also right down the road.

What we liked:

• The staff that was unbelievably accommodating.
• The view from our room.
• The modern decor.
• The beach across the street.
• Free coffee in the cafe.

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing. Our visit was perfect.

Disclosure: This was a personal stay and the B Ocean had no idea that we intended to review the hotel for Baby Gizmo. As always, all our statement and opinions  are our own.

There’s a day to celebrate love (Valentine’s Day), there’s a day to celebrate a man that changed equality (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and there’s a day to celebrate the birth of your child (birthday), but what about starting your own day? Starting your our own family tradition? Maybe one that your kids can pass down from generation to generation.

How to pick a family day

Encourage some family time with a new activity – pick a day that is special (or a random day that simply sounds like a good day) and make it a special day just for your family.

Get a calendar and go through the months. If you’re having a hard time picking a date, look at which months don’t have birthdays or big holidays. If your kids are in school, you can look at the school calendar to see if there are any non-school days that don’t involve a holiday. You kids will be home on a non-school day anyway so you might as well make it a special day.

How to name your family day

Get creative with naming your family day but be careful not to make it a specific name that can’t carry over to each year.

How to pick activities on your family day

Your activities will depend on the weather and age of your children. One idea is to have a family day fish bowl and fill it with ideas starting a few weeks leading up to the big day. You can also take turns selecting activities or start a family bucket list – then accomplish each goal on your bucket list each year.