So, we are failing miserably at keeping mass-produced plastic noisy made-in-China toys out of our home. But I guess I've passively decided it's not a battle I really want to fight anymore. Scout got a bunch of toys for her birthday from my family and even though they are not hand-crafted or locally made or "green" by any standards, she still enjoys them and they seem to be decent learning tools.

Here is her new toy box and some random toys strewn about. I don't know if you can see it, but to her left is a Playskool Busy Gears toy that she is very interested in right now. She loves to watch the gears spin and then take each gear off one by one and put them back on. She also gets creative with the gears by stacking them on top of one another, using them as hair brushes, and serving them up as food.



This is another one of her favorites right now. She seems to take pride in the fact that she can mount and dismount it all by herself. I'm kind of sick of the Winnie the Pooh theme song, though.



Matt and I got her a Plan Toys shopping cart and some wooden veggies (along with a cabbage patch doll and some plastic toy food) for her birthday.





A friend of ours owns a small local store that sells organic baby clothing, cloth diapers, and wooden toys. We like to support her business when we can, so I have a feeling that Scout is going to end up with quite a few Plan Toys (the only brand the store carries) when it's all said and done.

Labels: pics of scout, toys

Here is one of Scout's toys that I find pretty interesting...



Apparently cabbage (or lettuce?) is not worthy of having its own name. And I must've missed the memo that said we're calling corn maize now.

Labels: hee hee, misc, toys

DH gave me a great gift. Yesterday, he watched Scout ALL. DAY. LONG. while I went shopping and goofed off all by myself. Not only that, he surprised me with a $100 gift certificate to a fancy-schmancy natural parenting boutique that I've been wanting to check out since they opened back in December but just hadn't had a chance. He started having second thoughts about the gift card after he gave it to me because he felt bad that it was for a store where I would just end up buying things for the baby. But I assured him that (like I've heard most of my mommy friends say) shopping for my baby is SO MUCH more fun than shopping for myself! It was the perfect gift: A day to myself and money to blow on expensive baby things that we wouldn't normally splurge on!

My "day off" started out with the seemingly mundane task of going to Wa1-Mart to get my oil changed. But I didn't mind at all. I felt light and free as I wandered the aisles of the busy megamart freely. Everyone else had carts to push, crap to carry, lists to check off, and kids to manage. Not me. I was just liesurely browsing the clearance racks and sipping my bottle of water while waiting for my car.

After that, I went through the drive-thru at Ch1ck-Fil-A (surprise, surprise) and ate my lunch while enjoying the gorgeous weather in the courtyard of the town center. The momma who owns the natural baby boutique is an acquaintance of mine and I ran into her while she was taking her toddler for a stroll around the block while her husband hung shelves inside. We chatted and caught up on things and then went inside so I could spend my moolah! It was so much fun picking things out for Scout. I picked 2 adorable organic cotton jumpers from Speesees, A wooden alligator pull-toy and a puzzle cow from Plan Toys, and some baby shampoo and body wash from Earth Mama, Angel Baby.







I can't say enough good things about Earth Mama, Angel Baby products. I was first introduced to them when sweet Wendy sent me their Post Partum Recovery Kit when Scout was born. The Earth Mama Bottom Balm was a lifesaver when my umm...nether regions were all sad and birth-battered. I had never purchased any of their baby products because, well...they're friggin' expensive. But after using the baby wash and lotion on Scout last night, I believe they are well worth the money. I only bought the travel size bottles because I wanted to make sure Scout's skin would react well to it, but I'd love to buy the bigger bottles when these run out.

Okay, back to my fun mommy's day out. After my shopping spree, I went to the Salvation Army thrift store to look around because I was inspired by some handmade bags at the boutique that were made from funky vintage curtains and table linens. I saw a desk there that I though DH might like, so I called him to let him know and he said that he and Scout were just driving around (I put the car seat in his truck before I left) and that they could stop by and check out the desk.

This is such a doting-mommy thing to say, but bumping into Scout out in public after being away from her for a while makes me realize just how stinkin' adorable she is. I mean, not just looks-wise. She just has an amazing personality. Strangers walk by her and can't help but interact with her because she is such a joy.

Anyway, DH and I parted ways and he went back to running errands with Scout and I went back to farting around. At this point, I was kind of bored. What do I do now? I almost headed home, but decided to go to a bookstore so I could dawdle some more and sit and read through magazines that I am too cheap to buy. After that, I headed in the direction of home and got pulled over for my registration being expired. Crap. It expired on the 29th and I had no idea because the reminder had gotten stuffed into my glove box along with some other mail. Doh! Oh well. I didn't get a ticket, but I was just so ready to be home. Then I hit "game traffic" by the university. Ggrrrr. When I finally got home, it was so good to see my hubby and baby again. I loved my day out, but it was nice to come home.

Labels: baby gear, clothes, dh, outings, toys

2 weird things happened when Scout and I went shopping with my friend and her baby (who is 3 months older than Scout) on Thursday.

The first thing was that the 2 babies HATED sitting next to eachother in the car. My friend's baby's seat is forward-facing and Scout still sits rear-facing, so they had a good view of eachother. During the first 5 minutes, they were smiling and laughing and seemed to be interacting well. I didn't expect any different, since they see eachother in the nursery all the time at church. But, as soon as my friend's little guy started crying, Scout FLIPPED OUT and started her "I'm-freakin'-terrified" scream. I felt so bad for her. Her screams just fed his screams. He got louder. She got louder. They were both terribly upset.

I'm pretty sure what scared her what not necessarily that he was crying, but that he looks a bit scary when he cries. He's got a rather large mouth full of teeth and he was staring at her with his eyes and mouth open wide while screaming at the top of his lungs. I can see how that could be a little scary for Scout to look at and not be able to escape, trapped in her car seat. There were brief moments of peace, but if one of them let out so much as a whimper, the other would start bawling and the whole thing would start over again.

I think if I would've known that was going to go on during the entire car ride to "town" and between all of our errands, I would've asked my friend to take us back home when the babes first started their screaming 5 minutes into the drive. Luckily, we had plenty of stops, so they got to take some breaks from being in the car throughout the trip.

The second weird thing was that when we were at Wa1-Mart, I grabbed a little stuffed Valentine's puppy off a shelf and handed it to Scout when she was being fussy. She fell in LOVE with it immediately. She wouldn't let go of it and insisted on holding it when we went to lunch and while I nursed her. She's never shown much interest in stuffed animals, so her love for the little stuffed dog surprised me. After we got home and she kept treating it like a security blanket, it dawned on me that if this toy does in fact become her "lovey", we would never be able to replace it if it got lost or damaged somehow.

Since it's just a cheap piece-of-crap made-in-China seasonal toy that doesn't even have a brand name printed on the tag, I highly doubt we'd ever be able to find another one. So, I went back to Wa1-Mart and bought 6 more. DH thought I was being silly, but I figured that I might as well play it safe. The day after Valentine's Day, they were half off, so they ended up costing just $1.44 each.

Yesterday and today, she doesn't seem quite as attached to the dog. Although, her face still lights up and her arms flap in delight when she sees it. I'm a little worried. If it doesn't become her favorite toy, I just spent a whopping $8.46 on crappy stuffed dogs for no reason.

Labels: outings, toys

Scout received a lot of nice toys for Christmas. I am so thankful to my family for all of the thought and love they put into her gifts. I was a little disappointed that she didn't get more non-made-in-China/non-plastic toys, but she did get some, and I applaud my family for venturing into the world of online toy shopping for our little gal.

Here is some of the loot:

Labels: holidays, toys

Here is what we created at Build-A-Bear for Scout, using the gift certificate she received from my grandma:




It's a dinosaur girl who is just a little bit punk rock. I'm sure that DH thought he would hate the whole experience. I mean, what guy wants to spend the afternoon at a dress-your-own teddy bear shop? But when it came time to decide on a name to put on the "birth certificate", I could see DH's eyes light up. At first, we picked "Rhymenoceros" (a Flight of the Conchords reference), but then it dawned on us that wouldn't make much sense, since the plush character is a triceratops, not a rhinoceros. But DH was still pleased with his second choice....

"Hornie"

Labels: dh, toys

I am joining the revolution with Danielle and decided buy some quality toys for Scout so I can trash her bin of cheapo plastic made-in-China toys.

DH and I made some money at the garage sale we had last weekend, so we were able to order 9 wooden toys from Moolka.com.





I also found a couple toys on eBay that I was going to bid on, but the bidding has gotten higher than I wanted to spend, so I'm going to look for something different.

I hope Scout enjoys all of her new toys as much as I enjoyed picking them out.

They were all made in Germany and have eco-friendly non-toxic water-based paints, so I think I can feel good about Scout chewing on them. Yay!

I'll be glad to get rid of most of the toys she has now, but it'll be sort of tough for me to throw away a few of them. She has a couple favorites that she really enjoys. But it's for the better.

Labels: baby gear, health, money, safety, toys