Kelake

We have always been pretty sensitive to introducing any new detergents or bath soap to our daughter. We found that Johnsons baby products were what worked best with little or no irritation to her skin. We didn’t see any need for upscale “organic” products. I love the smell of Johnson’s baby soap so much I tend to use it myself. But when it came time for bubbles in the bath we didn’t have much luck. Bubbles mostly came from me working furiously to stir up the soap, which was fun, but not really quite as fun as when we tried Lush bubble bars. Coming in a range of different “flavors” these bath additives create mountains of bubbles to the absolute joy of our daughter. She loves it. The flavors don’t always smell authentic and pink or yellow coloured water isn’t my thing, but so far no skin reactions and quite allot of fun. It’s a bit expensive for daily use. If you don’t have the luxury of a Lush shop you can buy it online for $6.30US per 3.5oz bar.

We bought a fancy plastic garbage can for diapers that self-seals before our daughter was born – it had the cool Japanese chic about it that seemed to force me to buy it. It was a good concept but unfortunately I could never figure out how to use it. I wish I had bought this four-gallon, hand-crafted pedal bin from Denmark instead. It looks almost too good to put diapers in. On sale at Design within Reach for $169.95US.

I love products that instill a little bit of fun in the mundane. Created by husband and wife team Michael and Sandra Isaacman, these zip seal plastic bags come in 16 different patterns. They certainly are a welcome alternative and I’m sure my daughter would love them. $4.99US for a box of 20 from the Mobi store.

Pretty brilliant. While I prefer to learn the fine art of catching and dodging these Pee-pee teepee’s would make an excellent gift.They help keep you and everything around you dry while changing your baby boy. For $13.00US you get a mini laundry bag which contains 5 Pee-pee teepee’s. Available at Moderntots.

Though they have been available for quite some time their recent reduction in price makes the iPod shuffle all the more accessible. We bought 2 for our daughter as they are actually cheaper than buying a cd player here. One loops constantly while she is sleeping and the other we keep for her to dance and sing to her favourite music in the playroom/dining room. There really are few moments around our house where she isn’t listening or singing to music. I think its a great product when you want to constantly have a long playlist playing in the background but when it my daughter starts asking for particular songs it’s lack of a screen interface becomes a drag. $69.00US at the Apple store. We also bought the iPod USB Power Adapter.

Other than clothes, toys, and books I can’t think of other items we buy more frequently for Catriona than drinking cups or table sets (actually are there any other items to buy?). There is so much creative fun ideas being expressed through these simple objects that it’s hard to pass them by without purchasing. The Alessibambino Table Set is one of the more beautiful and fun sets I have seen and coming from Alessi it is of no surprise. The table set is composed of bowl, flat plate, drinking glass, knife, fork, spoon and 3 coasters. I’ll pass on the knife as it’s far too sharp for my daughter and her wild orchestra conducting motions when she hears a song she likes on our kitchen iPod. Available for the all too pricey £49.00 at Panik.

This looks like a fun way to present the tired old sandwich that I like to eat and a fun way to include my daughter in our weekend sandwich making. The Cut-N-Seal from The Pampered Chef seals and crimps the filling of your choice between two layers of bread, pastry or other types of dough. Looks like a great way to make some small homemade panzerati or Catriona’s favourite cheese sandwich. $8.75US from The Pampered Chef.

The Olivia series of books have been pretty popular around our house until recently when they have been “put away for awhile”. I could certainly understand the phrase from one book “Olivia you wear me out” and I have said it many times substituting Olivia’s name for my daughter. The Olivia backpack is a great way to carry around all the essentials for the day and take the story with you. This 11” x 7” x 3” backpack features a beaded zipper pull, top carry handle and adjustable webbing straps. $30.00US at Little Packrats. Via Swissmiss.