can't live without... 12 - 15 months old

I sent a few of my previous "can't live without" posts to a soon-to-be mama friend today and thought I had better get a new list up here! Little S is now 15 months old. OMG. She's hilarious, precious and becomes the unofficial greeter ANYWHERE we go. This. Child. So social. It's amazing. The cutest thing ever.

Here she is in some snail pants I made this weekend.

She's my buddy now and so so much fun. I realize when I have a break from her, like right now, how much I enjoy her company! She's the best.

Ok, enough gushing over my kid. On to the list! Here and here are my two previous lists, for ages 0-6 months (and new mamas!) and 7-10 months. This list will cover 12-15 months and is very focused on eating. My little one is such an eater! We also like to eat out, so these things help make that possible.

First up, the Oxo bib. We use this almost everyday. That tells you how much we have been eating out this summer ;) I keep it in the diaper bag/backpack (more on that later) and use it mostly when we eat out or are away from home. The bottom trough catches so much food! We wind up wasting less and making quite a bit less of a mess at the restaurant. Highly recommend it. It comes in blue and pink, too.

Next up, while we are on the Oxo brand kick, the snack cup. This thing is brilliant. We put puffs or other cereal in here and Sienna can snack without making a huge mess. She carries it around herself now and it provides WHOLE MINUTES of peace in the car, at the dinner table while we are waiting for our food to come, at the grocery store. It's wonderful. I've realized the most important thing I can do as a parent right now is to always remember snacks. Seriously. It saves all of us. Get this. (It comes with a lid not pictured here, but that makes it even more spill proof when you throw it into your purse).

Speaking of your purse, this is mine now. I adore this. It's the Kanken Laptop backpack. This is our new diaper bag. I realized how annoying a shoulder bag became when my little one kept getting heavier and heavier. This thing is brilliant and not only frees up my arms to carry Sienna, but has a top snap-handle that can clip to the stroller AND has a back padded pocket where I can put my laptop. It is my new favorite way to travel through the airport. Laptop and all of little one's essentials all together. It's a heavy duty waxed canvas that will last forever, too. They make 3 different sizes to accomodate different laptops. They also make regular and mini-backpacks for kiddos. I will be getting Sienna one when she gets older. Leave it to the Swedes to make the perfect product.

Next up, the Boon Catch Plate. This plate is wonderful. It sticks really well to the highchair and the little spill catcher rolls quite a bit of food back onto the plate. It's pretty much Sienna's only dish right now. Wash and repeat. Every meal. Love this.

This is the Green Sprouts Aqua Bottle. This is a great bottle for water, fits very nicely in the side pocket of the Kanken backpack and is easy for little S to use. She was able to drink from this before any other cup, so we've loved it. The top flips over to enclose the straw, when not in use and we haven't had any spill problems with this one. 

My last item is not a product, but rather a class. We started Music Together classes in the spring semester and I wouldn't know what to do without them! They are weekly 45 min music classes you attend with your child(ren) and they couldn't be more fabulous. They invite ages 0-5 to participate with a parent or guardian attending as well. They are SO fun and educational. The focus is music for the whole 45 minutes. You get a CD of songs along with your class...you learn the songs and sing and dance along during the classes. The instructors lead class and encourage goofiness...parent participation in goofiness is a must! Sienna can sing and do hand motions to many of the songs already. It's amazing. BUT, the best part of this class is the magic of the songs. I can put these on any time that Sienna is fussy or unhappy and she immediately lights up. She claps and calms down. I can sing one of the songs she knows when she's trying to have a little fit and her focus switches. It's so wonderful. You can order some of the music on iTunes, but the classes are the real draw and are worth every penny. They offer them all around the country. It is priceless time with your little one.

Whew. I cannot believe I'm posting about my 15 month old. I know every parent is always amazed at how fast it goes, but wow. It does. I almost have a walker over here and I know life will change with that milestone quite a bit! Maybe our summer of eating out will be our last season of eating out for a while. Who knows, but I hope you find some of these things to be helpful for you and your kiddos or as gifts to a mama-to-be. (I just sent the bib, snack cup and plate to a preggo friend earlier this week!) If you have any items to share, please do! Happy end of summer friends. xo

can't live without...7-10 months

Yay! Another 'need for baby' list. I, too, thought "Oh, I won't overload my house with baby things" when I was pregnant. I still subscribe to that sentiment, but some things just make life easier = more time to actually spend with your baby = win win. Here are some of those things for us.

Baby Brezza (or similar) Baby Food Maker

This. Thing. It's amazing. Babies, at least mine, start eating a ton of food around this time! Wow. Sienna started slowly around 6 months, but now, at almost 10 months old, she's quite the eater! It may seem a little spendy to buy this, but trust me, it's worth it. You can steam and pureè the food all in one setting. It's very easy to clean, dishwasher safe, and doesn't take up much counter space. I do have a regular sized food processor, but it's SO overkill for baby food. I leave this out and use it daily to cook sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, apples, and a bunch of other fruits and veggies. I even made myself some quick cilantro pesto today for lunch! LOVE. Note: I purchased mine gently used on eBay. Through a mishap, they forgot my order and sent a new one to make up for it! Check out eBay!

Amazon Prime (for diapers, formula, dog food, etc.)

I do love buying local, but now is not the time to worry about killing myself to get to every mom and pop shop for all of our every day items. I'm sure most of you already have Prime, or at least order from Amazon, but 2-day shipping is WORTH IT. We get diapers, dog food, formula and many of my really good quality supplements/vitamins from Amazon. They come right to your door. It's given me so much more time to focus on cooking for Sienna, cleaning the house a bit better, writing a blog...Taking babies in and out of car seats to go to 5 different stores on a regular basis is just not worth it to me right now. Be sure to buy local produce though and support your farmers, then it balances out ;)

Boon Silicone Feeder

I mentioned the Munchkin Mesh Feeder in my previous post, what to get moms and babies 0-6 months postpartum.  I still love that thing, mostly now for putting frozen fruit in for Sienna to chew on when she's teething. The mesh feeder is pretty annoying to clean, though. We got this Boon feeder recently in our Citrus Lane box and I love it. It's so easy to clean and Sienna loves eating any kind of food from it: avocados, applesauce, blended fruits and veggies, etc. Fabulous.

Play Yard/ Foam Tiles/Safe Play Area 

So. I really wanted to be the Montessori mom, letting my child roam freely throughout our house exploring, learning and developing. All very fine and good...until you have to go to the bathroom, change the laundry in the icky-floored basement, have 2 seconds to yourself...imagine that! I love having a little setup in our living room where I know Sienna is safe to play when I'm out of the room for a minute. The foam tiles add a nice floor to her area, since we have wood floors. This gives her quite a bit more room to crawl than the traditional play pen. Judge if you will. Mama's happy and baby's safe.

I can't find them on Costco's website, but we got our 2' gray foam floor tiles for $12.99 in the store, half the price of some I ordered from Amazon.com.

Portable High Chair

We love our Inglesina. It travels well and is great for restaurants. We also took ours on vacation and it was wonderful to have. It takes up SO much less space than other high chairs and folds away into it's own little attached bag. Sienna is quite petite and fits so much better in this than the giant wooden chairs at most restaurants. The cover is washable and the seat is padded, making it more comfortable for her to sit in a for (a bit) longer. I also got this gently used on eBay. 2 thumbs up.

Someone to keep your baby!

We have been traveling a lot for the past 3 months, but now that the holidays are long past and we are back from our latest trip, I'm SO glad we found a sweet gal who is going to do some nannying for us. It's time, mamas. I'm ready to start doing more design work again and it's almost impossible to squeeze that plus housework plus cooking ALL into a couple of nap times...doable, definitely, but not easy.

What's also not easy at this point is taking Sienna to ANY appointments anymore. She's crawling these days, super social and does NOT want to hang out in that baby carrier while I'm seeing the doctor, chiropractor, etc. Rachel is only going to come here and there to stay with her, but I cannot tell you how freeing it is to think I might actually have time next week to go work at a coffee shop for a bit! Holy! I'm so excited. I know it's not always affordable, but even if you do it once a month, give yourself some time! Seriously. It's amazing. She was referred by a friend, so ask around to your friends who have kids just starting preschool. They may have just let go of a fabulous nanny!

Have any things to add to the list? I'd love to hear them! I can't believe little S is almost 10 months old. 1 year will be here in a flash. xo