Practical & Conscientious Parenting
Things We Like
Baby Shopping in Seattle
I wrote a couple of days ago about our trip to Seattle, and it says a lot about me that my top priority was to write about the great vegan restaurant we went to, Pizza Pi, and not about the main purpose of the trip: baby shopping.
I got an equal helping of my mother’s joy of shopping and my father’s joy of frugality, so I’ll admit that I’m a little difficult to shop with. I tend not to buy anything unless it’s used or on sale, and I’ll tend to buy the 20% off $100 item over the full price $5 item (it may go on sale soon…). Ashley and I have very different styles of shopping, too: I decide pretty quickly on a purchase, where Ashley tends to think about things a bit more (what’s there to think about if it’s 20% off, right?). This trip was a lot of fun, though, and we were able to get a lot of things that we’ve been needing and couldn’t find in Yakima.
Edie has been nibbling on solid foods for a couple of months now, and it’s been more than evident in her diapers, so we finally picked up a bumGenius Diaper Sprayer. It hooks into the water line that supplies the toilet, and it was really easy to install, although I did have to mop up about a quarter cup of water from the back of the toilet tank. The only issue we’ve run into so far is that our changing pad is set up in Edie’s room/Ashley’s office, which means our poopy diaper routine goes like this:
- Strap Edie in
- Take the diaper to the bathroom, spray it off, and try to fold it in such a way that it won’t drip
- Take it back to the room and say something to try and amuse Edie
- Go back into the bathroom and wash hands
- Run back to the room where Edie is most likely getting board
- Put on a new diaper with a now thoroughly unamused Edie
Anyway, I think it’s just logistics we need to get figured out. We talked about moving the diaper pail into the bathroom, but that makes it inconvenient for the 80% of diapers that don’t require spraying.
Looking towards the days when we won’t have to think of such things, we also picked up a Little Potty from BabyBjörn. It’s cute, little and Edie definitely likes sitting on it. Before she was born, Ashley and I talked about trying elimination communication with Edie, but I’ve only given it a half-hearted attempt on our toilet a few times. Edie gets pretty board just sitting with me holding her over the toilet, but she’s already used her Little Potty a couple of times because she can sit on her own and play with things. I think it will help me get more familiar with her rhythms and maybe make a little headway towards potty training myself 🙂
By far our biggest and most fun scores came from Sugarlump, an awesome new and consignment kid’s shop. We’ve been to a few other stores that sell specifically used kids clothes, and even found a bunch of cute clothes at a store while we were visiting my folk’s in Texas. But judging by the clothes we found at Sugarlump, nobody dresses their kids cuter than Seattleites.
This sounds kind of lame as I talk it out in my head, but the whole experience of baby shopping in Seattle made both Ashley and me crave living in a place with other like-minded parents. It would be so nice to be able to find even cloth diapers in Yakima. But for now, we always look forward to trips to Seattle, Portland, or Corvallis for some good ol’ loot spending.
Edie enjoying her new booty
Jolly Jumper
Edie striking a pose in her Jolly Jumper
I remember these cool little jumpers from when I was a kid. We decided to get one for Edie, but it’s been about a two month process. We looked around town first, and the only thing we could find was really bulky and had lots of plastic parts to it. Plus, the spring was really stiff, so it didn’t really seem like much fun for Edie. After looking around online, the only place Ashley could find a decent old-fashioned style jumper was at Toys-R-Us — in Canada. This is not the first time we’ve had to look outside the US for cool baby things.
Fortunately for us, our friend Owen went to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and he was able to stop at Toys-R-Us and pick one up for us.
Edie isn’t as big of a fan as I thought she would be of her Jolly Jumper. If I’m there playing with her, she and I can play for probably 20 minutes or so before she gets board. If I’m watching her from the kitchen table while I’m cooking, she tends to get board after five minutes unless I hand her new toys to play with.
What I like about it is that she’s upright, and has a chance to use her leg muscles without me bending halfway over and “exercising” my back. Once she gets a little bigger, I could see there being a risk of her hitting her head on the door jamb if I’m not watching closely, but this isn’t something I’d leave her unattended in anyway.
Kelty Kids jogging stroller
All set to go
The weather is finally getting warmer here, and I’m getting restless and ready to be outside more. Anne and Ben lent us their Kelty Kids jogging stroller, and the other day I decided to make sure it was ready for a run with Edie. Of course, all three tires were flat. I used it a few times last fall, and all three tires had goatheads in them (if you don’t know about goatheads or puncturevine, be very thankful – you can see a picture here).
After applying five patches and still having the rear tires go flat, I decided I needed to get some reinforced tubes, like what I have on my bike. The local bike shop is only a few blocks away, so I walked over and talked to the owner for a bit. I figured I’d get reinforced tubes, tube liners, and fill the tubes with goop, but he suggested getting flat-free tires, which I didn’t even know they made for bikes! The idea of never having to worry about flats on the stroller, combined with the fact that it was only going to be about $5 more a tire, was all I needed.
The tires were probably the toughest tires to put on the rims that I have ever dealt with, but that’s a good thing, because it means they won’t wobble at all. The guy at the bike shop said that solid tires aren’t the best for bikes, because there’s a danger that the tire will pop off the rim if you take a corner really fast. Fortunately, I don’t run quite that fast.
I was concerned that it would make for a bumpier ride, but they have about as much give as a properly inflated tire, so I don’t think it’s much different.
All in all, I’d have to say these are one of the best purchases I’ve made in a while, for the peace of mind if nothing else.
The Importance of Children’s Bookstores
We just stopped by our local children’s bookstore Out On A Whim today. That place is magical. There are murals on the wall, there’s a craft room with a bunch of tables, it has a big painted plaster tree in one room, there are stuffed animals and instruments to play with – it’s just great. The first time I went there, Ashley was still pregnant. I asked the owner the store about story times, because I had heard they did a few story times every day. She replied, “Yes, we do story times 10:30, 2 and 4. But if there are children here at other times that want to hear a story, I’ll read to them.” How great is that?!
Today, I took Edie over to a carpeted spot where there were some drums and tambourines. We sat down and started playing, and the owner came over and turned on a bubble machine above Edie’s head. All of a sudden, Edie was surrounded by bubbles slowly floating down, and she just looked awestruck. Later, another boy there asked for a story, and sure enough, she sat down and read Please, Mr. Crocodile to him, Edie and another little girl.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Yakima has a lot of great things to offer, especially outside. But it also feels like a hole sometimes. So finding this kind of place here is just amazing. I thought more about it on the way home, and I think providing such a magical, wondrous place for children to learn about reading is a great gift. And it’s something that larger bookstores just don’t do. Even in other independent bookstores that I like going to, the children’s sections sometimes have a few decorations, but nothing close to Out On A Whim.
We are very lucky to have such a gem so close to us.