In case you haven't heard, the Johnson & Johnson's Celebrity Hand-Me-Down auction is going on. They're selling "used" baby items from celebrities, all to raise money for charity. There are eight items in the auction, all from celebrity moms except Matt Damon, who is offering a diaper bag.
Here's where the "Celebrity Auction" starts to piss me off.
Casablanca Cribs in Jennifer Lopez's Nursery
Jennifer Lopez has a (typically) ostentatious nursery and published pictures of them in People Magazine. But the crib is actually quite nice if that kind of decor is up your alley.
Audible Launches New Kids Site
Download audio books for your kids and stop putting Spongebob on their iPods.
7 Days of BPA-Free Plastics: CamelBak Water Bottles
Something to check out when you reach post-sippy cup nirvana.
Jessica Alba Gives Tastybaby
Jessica Alba gives baby food as a party favor for her shower. Seriously.
Mariah Carey Has a Hello Kitty Boo-Boo on American Idol
Mariah Carey is obsessed with Helo Kitty apparently. And she wears the same Band-Aids on American Idol that my kids wear.
Big Deal: FLOR Carpet Tiles for Kids On Sale
FLOR has a couple of child themed carpets on sale now.
I found a good deal on diapers the other day that I thought I'd share. Now through February 28th you can get $25 off a purchase of $100 or more on any Pampers products (Pampers, Luvs or Kandoo soap). Just enter in the code PAMPERS2 when you're checking out (on the right hand side of the final "Place your order" page.
It's not like you weren't going to buy them anyway. And hey, $25 is $25.
Click this link to check out the deal or Shop for Pampers at the Modern Day Dad Store (just don't forget to enter the code.
[via Parenthacks]
WIth the second baby there are a lot of things we are re-using, but some things we had to double-up on, like a new monitor. Creature of habit that I am, at first I wanted one just like the old one, because it seemed to work pretty well at long distances and it operated in the 900 MHz band (between the cordless phones and WiFi the 2.4 GHz band was getting pretty crowded). But the old one wasn't available any more, so I had to settle on the new model, and I'm really glad I did.
There are a couple of enhancements to it, first and foremost being the fact that the receivers are rechargeable. With all the AAAs I was feeding into the old one, this new feature is great. Plus, it's got an LED screen telling how much battery life is left, the signal strength and what channel you're on. It will even beep at you if it isn't receiving any signal at all, or if the battery is dying.
It doesn't rumble like the old one did, but I'll gladly trade that in for a battery that recharges. It's not like I've got a lawn to mow while the baby is sleeping.
Get the Fisher Price "Private Connection" Monitor with Dual Receivers (one for upstairs, one for down) for $38.72 from Amazon via the Modern Day Dad Store.
Now that my six month old is almost out of "the bucket" and in a normal car seat, I figured I should give an update as to how Madame (my two year old) is doing with the Bugaboo Wheeled Board. At first I wasn't too sure it would be that useful, but I'm happy to report that it's working great. As she's fully in her two-year-old "I do myself" phase, it can be hard wrangling her sometimes, but that wheeled board has come in really handy. Mostly we use it for moments when we know that they'll be a long walk ahead of us, like from the car to the mall or to the doctor's office or the park. It's hard keeping her standing on it in a store or somewhere else there is a lot of distraction, but if she was sitting in a stroller I don't think it would be much easier.
As for safety, it's really not too bad - she stands up and holds on to the arms of the stroller and stays steady without a problem. And her sister really loves looking at her face to face when she's in it. The best part from my perspective is it doesn't take up any extra width (like a double-wide stroller would) and keeps the whole operation pretty compact. Which, when you're navigating a crowded mall or sidewalk, is pretty great.
Get the Bugaboo Wheeled Board for $79.95 from Amazon at the new Modern Day Dad Store.
A few days ago I posted about these rather absurd baby knee pads to protect your child's knees from crawling, and daddy in a strange land was kind enough to point out in the comments that One Step Ahead is selling a helmet too. Actually, they call it a "Bumper Bonnet," but either way it still kind of freaks me out. Just check out the picture.
And what would the TV commercial be like?
[Annoying Friend] Gosh Jan, what are all those unsightly bumps and bruises all over Jimmy's head?
[Jan] Oh - you know Jimmy. He's always crawling into places he shouldn't and smacking his head around. I just don't know what to do!
[Annoying Friend] Sounds like you need the Bumper Bonnet. It's either that, or I report you to Child Protective Services.
[Laughter.]
The Bumper Bonnet is $12.95 from One Step Ahead. [via daddy in a strange land]
MDD reader Michelle sent me a link to this article: 11 Foolish Ways We Spoil Our Kids. The article itself is OK (I too am puzzled by the large cloth drapes people put in shopping carts, lest their kids actually touch the cart) but there is one thing that I've never seen before. Baby knee pads.
Where is your baby crawling that he or she needs knee pads? Construction sites? Or maybe it's for kids who crawl so much they are rubbing sores into the skin where their kneecaps will eventually be.
I'm just surprised there aren't any fingerless Baby Crawling Gloves.
Baby Knee Pads are available here for only $27.95 Canadian. Is that a lot?
Internet baby gear-seller hits nerve with Damon's people [AP via good friend and Yankee fan Dan]
Get a Damon Sucks bib here for $10 at owenandmama.com
Or for some reason you could pay over $89 at eBay
Right now the modern day mom and I are going through naming negotiations for the new baby. We (unlike pretty much everyone we've ever met) decided not to find out the sex of the baby, which means that at least one of the fairly thorough name investigations will be completely moot.
As difficult as this is, it's nothing compared to naming your band. I've had to name six in my life, and in the end I was only really happy with a couple of them. The Onion AV Club Blog has just posted it's list of the best of the worst band names of 2006. There are some that are just stupid like "Figure H8" or "Groovatron", but some, like "Battle of the Saxes" or "Honkeytonk Homeslice", truly venture into douche-chill territory.
Worst Band Names of '06 [The Onion AV Club via kottke.org]
Although I am (I must admit) a fan of "reality" television shows, American Inventor on ABC isn't something that I've been watching. I'm sure you can pretty much guess the premise of the show - the inventor/contestants try to prove their invention is the best, thereby winning the prize of getting the invention produced and marketed. What I didn't realize was that one of the contestants has a new type of car seat for children (pictured above with his invention). This is what it says on the ABC website:
Spherical Safety Seat - A new kind of infant car seat where the baby sits inside nested spheres instead of the usual seat. In a collision, the spheres spin and automatically position the child's neck and back so that they are perpendicular to the impact force, thus shielding the baby from the destructive force of the impact.
It's a pretty cool idea and according to some fan websites I've read, he's the front-runner in the contest. I guess he's not the first person to play spin-the-baby in a car seat (also be sure to play the Safety Egg demo), but if he does win I'll be very interested to check it out.
Watch the finale of American Inventor tomorrow night at 8/7c on ABC [via my Goddaughter Megan - thanks!]
