Sydney’s New Carseats

Sydney’s new Britax carseats are a hit.  They seem very comfortable (she’s fallen asleep quite a few times already) and since she’s up higher, she can see out the windows, so she’s less fussy in them.  Every once in a while she’ll groan and stretch and try to push herself out of the harness, but Sydney really hates to be confined, even in our arms, so that is to be expected.

Sydney had grown out of both of her portable carseats earlier this year because of her height, so a few weeks ago, we installed her new Britax Roundabout seat (a wonderful shower gift from the Beebe Family) in Chris’ car.

An Apple a Day

We found a new trick to entertain Sydney for a good 30 minutes.  Here are the very simple steps:

1. 1. Wash an organic apple
2. 2. Remove part of the skin from a section (or in Chris’ case, take several big bites out of the apple)
3. 3. Hand the apple to Sydney
4. 4. Watch as she holds the apple with both hands and takes tiny little bites from it.
5. 5. Don’t remove the apple from her hands until it’s been at least 5 minutes since she put it to her mouth and she appears to be thouroughly bored of it.

Wubbanub

I’ve decided pacifiers are good and bad.  Good – that they can help comfort your little girl to sleep.  Bad – that she doesn’t put it back in her mouth when she wakes up, so sometimes she has trouble getting herself back to sleep (or worse, that when she has a stuffy nose, it’s impossible for her to keep it in her mouth and breathe at the same time). 

But if you’re going to go the pacifier route, I love the Wubbanubs.  Janis, our great night nanny, told us about the Wubbanubs before Sydney was born, and I bought several to bring to the hospital with me (I think we now own every animal they have, except for the new brown bear which just came out in January).  They’re the only pacifiers Sydney’s ever had. 

There are lots of positives about these – they stay in their mouth, they’re a pacifier and stuffed animal all in one and they’re easier to find in the crib (if you have a child that actually tries to find them) or in the diaper bag.  The only downside is that they’re harder to sterilize than your average pacifier and the stuffed animal part needs to be gently cleaned every once in a while.

Sydney’s Favorite Chair

Sydney has a new favorite chair to play in – at least for 10 minutes at a time.

I spotted this in a catalog – www.sensationalbeginnings.com - and couldn’t resist because it’s made specifically for that age where babies can’t quite sit up on their own yet.  Sydney is ALWAYS trying to sit up these days no matter where she is – in her swing, in her carseat, in her stroller and on our laps.

Okay – so she is leaning a little in this picture.  But generally she’s trying to get her balance and stay up straight, while kicking her rattle blocks with her feet.

Doorway Jumper

We have the Marrs family to thank for Sydney’s new favorite activity - jumping, jumping, jumping and more jumping in her Doorway Jumper.  

Sydney’s attention span is still very limited, and it is rare for her to be happy at any activity for more than 10 minutes or so.  But it appears she will jump in her Doorway Jumper until she passes out from exhaustion if we don’t insist on pulling her out.  She hops on one foot, hops on the other, jumps up and down on both, giggles and squeals, stops for a moment to reflect on how happy she is, and then begins the routine again…

LeapFrog Baby Counting Pal

Of all the musical toys I’ve purchased for Sydney, this is my favorite so far, probably because it appears to be Sydney’s favorite.  It’s a musical catepillar you can take anywhere and attach to anything. 

We even brought it on our vacation – strapping it to the diaper bag so we’d have it for the stroller, the car and general playtime at the beach.  That it will very likely teach Sydney numbers, colors and musical composers will make me appreciate it even more as she gets older…

http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-10402-Baby-Counting-Pal/dp/B000MIOVJQ/ref=pd_sim_t_15