Fun Bites

Full Disclosure: This post was made possible by FunBites, however all words and opinions are my own. 
Thank you for supporting brands that make this blog possible.

Quacked like a duck, made thee most ridiculous sound effects whilst simultaneously injuring my vocal chords, and did a little shimmy whilst beatboxing. These are all things I've done to get my youngest entertained and sidetracked enough to eat actual food. Ri.dic.u.lous. But we've all done some form of this for something regarding our children. Let's be real. Right? So I love when I find ways for her to get so excited about eating that she, well, eats.

Avery is an absolute busy-body. Like, I don't know how I don't have the tightest, hardest, most amazing body on planet Earth because between running around with this kid and solely living off her scraps I'm pretty sure I should look like Beyonce from the neck down but whatevs. 

I digress. 

This kiddo needs something awesome to keep her attention. I have found a few things that work:

1. Letting her sit at the actual table rather than her highchair. She loves it.

2. Letting her color while she eats. Hey, it works for us.

3. Cutting her food into fun shapes. It's super easy, keep reading.

The fine folks at FunBites sent us this adorable tool that cuts her food into the shape of a heart. The first time I used it she gasped and said, "Sooooo pretttyyyyyyyy." And I felt like a total Pinterest mom but without all the work because all you do is place the curved cutter on your food, rock it back and forth, and use the other piece called the "popper top" to pop the food through the bottom. Too easy. 

Photo: Funbites.com

Second best part (the first is that my kiddo is more focused on her food) is that its dishwasher safe. Can I get a hallelujah, can I get an Amen? (Name that song). I'm all about easy food and easy cleanup.

And since I'm the Queen of making one thing work in multiple ways, leave it to us to break it out at play time as well. We talk about the different shapes we can make with it and cut out loads of hearts.

And if you think that heart is cute, head to FunBites.com to check out their other shapes. So much fun stuff over there, friends. Tell me, what gets your kiddo excited about meal time?

Go-to Toddler Foods

Sharing some of our favourite toddler meals today and let me tell you, I feel like A's taste buds change every five seconds; one week she loves fish, pasta, and raisins and the next she looks at me like I'm feeding her garbage if I put those same things in front of her. Luckily we have a few standing favourite go-tos to fall back on when she's changing her mind about most other foods. 

Eggs. She loves eggs. All my kids do. So much so that we constantly have boiled eggs in the fridge, no exaggeration. And they go like hot cakes. Which is fine by me. So when the baby is being picky I can always make her eggs whether it be scrambled, fried, boiled, etc. We legit buy three 2.5 dozen cartons every two weeks and even still I usually need to go grab another dozen or so before the full two weeks is up. Yeah, our grocery bill is insane. 

Rice. She eats every last grain. I've had this amazing rice cooker for the last decade. No joke. And it was worth every penny because you literally push a button and you have perfectly cooked rice in no time. Sometimes I put a sauce on her rice. Sometimes I don't. Either way she devours it. I usually serve it with some sort of bean for protein. 

Pasta. Any kind. End of story.  

Couscous. Its her fave as of late

Potatoe salad. Yo, the girl likes carbs. She is her mother's daughter. My father-in-law's side of the family has a potatoe salad recipe that is heavenly. Super simple but heavenly nontheless. I never had anything like it and struggled to even call of potatoe salad for the longest time because it's only relation to traditional potatoe salad is that it has potatoes and mayonnaise in it. Anyway, it's another one all the kids love.

Chicken pot pie. I love this stuff. And so does she. And I don't feel bad about her having it because of all the veg it contains. 

Grapes and Clementines. She probably thinks they're candy. She rolls her eyes and hums whilst eating them and I never tell her no of she asks for more. 

Apples. She can eat an entire one. Girlfriend isn't gonna go hungry anytime soon.

I know all kids are different but hopefully some of these go-tos will be a winner for your kiddos too. And one more thing that ensures she eats well is not giving her loads of something at once. I don't know if she gets overwhelmed or what but she'll start playing with it and making a mess intentionally rather than eating, but if I just give her a small portion she happily eats. She's also starting to love eating at the actual table in a real chair rather than her highchair. Which is more than fine by me because I took ages to find a highchair that didn't have a large footprint and wasn't an ugly hunk of plastic in my dining area so while I eventually found a highchair that I love I'm definitely not going to be sad to see it get stored away soon.  

Happy Friday, folks. 

Silikids

Full discloure: The products in this post were provided to me at no cost however all words and opinions are my own. 
Thank you for supporting brands that make this blog possible!

Today I want to introduce you to an amazing company that has the neatest feeding products. So parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone looking for neat and useful products for the baby and toddler in your life, check out Silikids. Their products are made from 100% food grade silicone and they're dishwasher safe, need I say more? No? Well I will anyway because that's what I do best.

The Silimap is perfect when going out to eat or simply to keep your kiddo busy, I use it during the witching hour at times and its a life saver. The baby can color on it and when she's all done I just run it under the sink to clean off the washable markers she uses on it. Then it folds neatly back into a square and i just slip it in her cabinet in the kitchen or diaper bag if we are out at a restaurant.

The Siliskin silicone cups are my favorite universal cup. Its safe for little ones to tote around because its made of strong silicone and yet it holds its shape because it has a stainless steel ring inside. And perhaps my favorite part is that they are dishwasher safe. We use these cups for everything, we keep a few down in the kitchen to use as drinking cups for the baby and we keep some in her bathroom to use to rinse shampoo out of her hair, rinse the toothpaste out of her mouth, or just for pure entertainment purposes when she's filling up and pouring out water when playing in the tub. 

We use the Universal Siliskin Sippy Tops on the silicone cups but we also use them on pretty much every cup we have. They're flexible so if you can stretch it over a cup, it will work on said cup.

Its totally leak proof so its the only cup I let the baby take to bed with her. She's been in this phase where she asks for 8 million items prior to nap and bedtime and "Wawa!" is one of those things, so I always put her water in this cup with these sippy tops because I know her bed will stay dry.

The last product we've enjoyed is the Silicone Baby Spoon, it was especially wonderful when the baby was getting the hang of self-feeding because the spoons feature easy to grip handles and wide bases.

I'm so grateful I was introduced to the Silikids brand and I hope you are just as excited to check them out. If you don't know where to start I recommend getting a set of the silicone cups and the universal sippy tops, they are a game changer! And you'll be able to minimize the amount of sippy cups in your cabinets since the lids can go on anything! And right now Silikids have FREE shipping on orders over $30, so head on over to their website and check them out, you won't be disappointed!

Nuby 360 Wondercup

Full Disclosure: As a Nuby Parent Blogger I receive products at no cost, however, all words and opinions are my own. 

Can you all believe that we are already halfway through November? I seriously feel like summer was just here a couple weeks ago and now here I am planning my Thanksgiving dinner menu. And can we talk about Thanksgiving really quick? Because it's a real thing, ya'll. Just wanted to put that on your radar in case you're one of the ones I've seen posting Christmas lights and trees. Seriously, when my best girlfriend showed me she has her tree up as of almost two weeks ago I was all:

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But whatevs, right?

And with the year coming to a close it also mean our baby girl is just that much older - 20 months old to be exact. And she's wanting to do big girl things like go potty (I know, she's so young but my oldest daughter was the same way and was fully potty trained right before she was two so I see Av heading that way as well), walking down the stairs ALONE (who does she think she is?!), wanting to walk the dog (like, hold the lead and everything), and drink from a normal cup.

She's getting really good at drinking from a proper cup so long as she's not in a hurry, and I'm convinced one thing that really helped her learn was Nuby's 360 wonder cup.

It acts as a sippy cup in that there is a lid that prevents spills and yet it acts as an actual cup in that your child puts their lips to the edge of the cup, sips, and gets liquid. I was so interested in how it worked that I tried it for myself and its really neat. 

The Nuby 360° Wonder Cup features a 100% silicone 360° valve that allows for drinking at any angle! Nuby 360° Wonder Cup is the available in 3 options: 

-Two Handle for easy grip

 -Easy Grip for exploring independent drinking 

- Insulated Easy Grip that keeps drinks cooler for longer

Av loves it and like I said, I think the Nuby 360 wondercup is one reason she is pretty good at drinking from a proper cup already. Want one? You're in luck, Nuby wants to give one of my readers one! All you have to do is head on over to my Instagram for details on how to enter (it will take you less than a minute)! Can't wait? Grab one at Babies R Us or online. 

Pediped

Full Disclosure: I was provided with the products in this post at no cost, however all words and opinions are my own. 

Can we talk about my youngest child for a second? Girlfriend keeps me on my toes and she has from the giddy-up. She's impressed us since day one by hitting her developmental milestones early so when she was standing well at six months and taking a few wobbly steps not long after I was like...

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I immediately knew I needed shoes that would protect her feet and yet allow her to have move as if she wasn't wearing shoes. If you've had a toddler you know that when they first start walking they do so much better barefooted rather than in hard-sole shoes, so I went on the hunt for shoes that had a sole but not too hard a sole. 

That's where Pediped comes in - I spent time on their website and when I came across the Original Betty I was knew I found the shoes I wanted to try. Not only are they lovely and can go with so many different outfits but I love that they are made completely of leather, are soft-soled, and they have a non-slip diamond tread. And they're approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association for promoting healthy foot development. They feel wonderful and bend easily, they hold true to Pediped's tagline: 'next best thing to bare feet'. Also, the velcro is great as well because Avery loves that she can take her shoes off when she gets home, she's all about her independence and feeling helpful.

The shoes hold up great as well, kids this age obviously outgrow their clothes and shoes quickly but they go through so much use in those few months. She wears these particular shoes about five out of the seven days of the week and still look like they did when I took them out of the box and I haven't cleaned them once! Low maintenance and good for your kiddos feet?! SIGN. ME. UP! And one last awesome thing I have to mention is that you can go shoe shopping all from the comfort of your home because they have a printable sizing chart that allows you to measure your kiddo's foot to ensure you get the perfect fit.

Now go check out Pediped! And have an awesome Monday.