Fabulous or Not?

The First Years Stack 'n Count Cups

Most fabulous baby-to-toddler toy EVER.

This multi-colored set of eight plastic nesting cups has numbers and patterned holes on the bottom and when inverted, they stack up into a tower.  

This was the first toy I really gave to Noah.  When he was just a few months old I would stack them up and let him knock them over.  I liked them so much I bought a second set to keep as bath toys.   When we traveled on a plane and in the car, I bought another set because, dude! PERFECT TOY!  It is inexpensive and multi-purpose, the simplicity encourages imagination, the colors are stimulating and the nesting and stacking works on fine and gross-motor skills. 

Recently, at the age of sixteen months, Noah has decided that he must have the cups with him at all times.  We have so many other toys, but these darn four dollar plastic cups are his true love.  He stacks them, nests them, mixes them up. 

Sometimes the simple toys are really the ones that kids love the most!

When they get dirty you just run then through the dishwasher!

LINK TO BUY

PRICE:  FABULOUS!  $3.99

Neutrogena Skin Aid

My currently 15-month old son had some questionable dry patches of skin that were sort of scaly and very red on his right knee.  I noticed it most frequently after his bath when it would especially bright red and unsightly.  He also had some dry skin that wasn't red or round and patchy looking on the sides of both thighs.  It arrived a few months ago when he began crawling and I assumed it was some sort of irritation from clothing and rubbing against the carpet.  I tried every single lotion and potion in my house and nothing worked to rid his knee of an area of red dry skin.  In fact, it was starting to look worse last week and I pondered a call to the dermatologist but thought I'd give self-diagnosis and treatment one last try.  I went to the store and decided to get something, anything that was recommended for (baby) eczema.  Or eczema, or dry skin or really anything I could find that 1) wasn't poisonous, 2) didn't require a second mortgage on the house, and 3) was something I had not already tried, like Vaseline, Neosporin, anything made by Aveeno, diaper rash cream or baby lotion.

I happened to notice this new product and its cure-all claim caught my eye.  It is indicated for pain, itch, minor cuts, scrapes, minor burns, redness, chapping, cracking, irritation, sunburn, chaffing, insect bites and stings.  I think it can also end war and solve the current mortgage crisis in America, but what do I know? 

What it is.... a skin protectant:  Glycerin, and an external analgesic.

I rubbed a little on his knee and on the sides of his thighs for two nights.  On the third night, the red mark was completely gone and the rough skin on his upper legs had completely vanished.   I wouldn't even have known where to put the cream.  The difference was that fast and that good.

I like this this is such a simple cure-all product.  The ingredients are basic and safe for most people.  I highly recommend this product for mildly dry baby skin.   But you know, I'm not an expert, so ask your doctor first. 

Book Review: It Started with Pop-Tarts

This book review is cross-posted with my book discussion on my main blog, The Fabulous Miss S.  I am posting here as a review because I found this book to be informative, enlightening and hard to put down.  This is a must read for anyone dealing with eating disorders of any kind, themselves or someone they know, or anyone looking for ideas and options to better self-understanding and introspective.  A friend of mine once said, when you stop evolving it's time to go, and Lori Hanson shows us exactly how she has done just that.  We can all gain a little inspiration from this book.

Lori Hanson's It Started with Pop-Tarts really spoke to me as a woman, a friend and as a parent.  This book literally fell into my hands at a rather precarious moment in my life. I have a friend from high school in a battle for her life right now with a severe case of bulimia.  She has been sick for over fifteen years and I recommended this book to her. What if Lori's story gives her the hope she needs to rebuild? Anything is possible and this book reminded me of that simple fact.    I'm feeling so much conflict right now with different aspects of my life and I am going to use her positive-thought-affirmation/positive-energy seeking ways to find solutions for myself.  Hanson wrote a remarkably candid memoir chronicling the more difficult parts of her life. She confesses to mistakes with men, partying, drinking too much, and some behaviors that would send even the most centered and self-assured asshat into temporary hiding.  But that is just it; in order to overcome, learn, and evolve, you have to face reality and understand why you are who you are before you can be who you want to be. 

On one level I can relate to the self loathing and over-analyzing of her body and weight because most of us have been there, but I started to really find interest and intrigue at how she committed and recommitted to searching out a more peaceful life for herself.  I am on a mission to find the same freedom that Lori did in letting go of control.  Lori has spent years committing and recommitting to her search for authenticity. Her story made me realize that, so what, I haven't worked out weeks, but that is okay, because tomorrow can be the first day of the rest of my life. 

I have to admit, I am on the fence when it comes to "natural" cures and "nontraditional therapies" because I like my vaccines and antibiotics for bad infections, antidepressants and the occasional Xanax, and I have never met a post-surgical painkiller I didn't like.  That said, I am a strong believer in talk therapies, massage, organic eating, getting in touch with your authentic self, and if that involves someone who can feel your energy or prescribe a diet to help your colon flora rebalance itself, who am I to judge, I might need that sort of therapy myself one day and what if, just WHAT IF, that is what works for you? 

Lori is a remarkably driven person and I'm feeling motivated and inspirated to try new techniques in my own evolution.  I have written a bit lately about feeling unbalanced and over stressed and I need to stop.  And refocus. 

A lot of Lori Hanson's self-doubt and need to control stems from her less than loving childhood where she was harshly criticized and repeatedly unaccepted by her parents.  Hanson explains how this type of parenting led her to grow up with distored images of herself and unhealthy habits in relationships.  I am a mother, and vaguely new to motherhood at that.  As Noah gets older I am increasingly aware of how my actions/choices/decisions as a mother will effect the person he becomes.  I feel reminded of how important it is to make your children feel accepted, adequate and successful.  Family relationships and dynamics have the potential to land you on a one-hundred-twenty-dollar-an-hour-leather-sofa anyway so couldn't we all learn a little from these intimate confesions of Lori Hanson?  I am going to love Noah, accept Noah, challenge him and make sure he knows that I love him unconditionally.

This book review is cross-posted with my book discussion on my main blog, The Fabulous Miss S.  I am posting here as a review because I found this book to be informative, enlightening and hard to put down.  This is a must read for anyone dealing with eating disorders of any kind, themselves or someone they know, or anyone looking for ideas and options to better self-understanding and introspective.  A friend of mine once said, when you stop evolving it's time to go, and Lori Hanson shows us exactly how she has done just that.  We can all gain a little inspiration from this book.

Lori Hanson's It Started with Pop-Tarts really spoke to me as a woman, a friend and as a parent.  This book literally fell into my hands at a rather precarious moment in my life. I have a friend from high school in a battle for her life right now with a severe case of bulimia.  She has been sick for over fifteen years and I recommended this book to her. What if Lori's story gives her the hope she needs to rebuild? Anything is possible and this book reminded me of that simple fact.    I'm feeling so much conflict right now with different aspects of my life and I am going to use her positive-thought-affirmation/positive-energy seeking ways to find solutions for myself.  Hanson wrote a remarkably candid memoir chronicling the more difficult parts of her life. She confesses to mistakes with men, partying, drinking too much, and some behaviors that would send even the most centered and self-assured asshat into temporary hiding.  But that is just it; in order to overcome, learn, and evolve, you have to face reality and understand why you are who you are before you can be who you want to be. 

On one level I can relate to the self loathing and over-analyzing of her body and weight because most of us have been there, but I started to really find interest and intrigue at how she committed and recommitted to searching out a more peaceful life for herself.  I am on a mission to find the same freedom that Lori did in letting go of control.  Lori has spent years committing and recommitting to her search for authenticity. Her story made me realize that, so what, I haven't worked out weeks, but that is okay, because tomorrow can be the first day of the rest of my life. 

I have to admit, I am on the fence when it comes to "natural" cures and "nontraditional therapies" because I like my vaccines and antibiotics for bad infections, antidepressants and the occasional Xanax, and I have never met a post-surgical painkiller I didn't like.  That said, I am a strong believer in talk therapies, massage, organic eating, getting in touch with your authentic self, and if that involves someone who can feel your energy or prescribe a diet to help your colon flora rebalance itself, who am I to judge, I might need that sort of therapy myself one day and what if, just WHAT IF, that is what works for you? 

Lori is a remarkably driven person and I'm feeling motivated and inspirated to try new techniques in my own evolution.  I have written a bit lately about feeling unbalanced and over stressed and I need to stop.  And refocus. 

A lot of Lori Hanson's self-doubt and need to control stems from her less than loving childhood where she was harshly criticized and repeatedly unaccepted by her parents.  Hanson explains how this type of parenting led her to grow up with distored images of herself and unhealthy habits in relationships.  I am a mother, and vaguely new to motherhood at that.  As Noah gets older I am increasingly aware of how my actions/choices/decisions as a mother will effect the person he becomes.  I feel reminded of how important it is to make your children feel accepted, adequate and successful.  Family relationships and dynamics have the potential to land you on a one-hundred-twenty-dollar-an-hour-leather-sofa anyway so couldn't we all learn a little from these intimate confesions of Lori Hanson?  I am going to love Noah, accept Noah, challenge him and make sure he knows that I love him unconditionally.