A Forest-Themed Toddler Room...it's a work in progress.

Butterflies

I ordered these butterflies from a shop on Etsy. Check out the collection HERE. Normally they come with magnets on the back, but I had the artist leave the magnets off so that I could stick them directly onto the wall. I already had the antique oval frame which created this whimsical look.

Storage

I wanted as many of Babe's toys as possible to be out of sight so they don't take over from the simple forest theme of the room. I started with the above unit with the pink pull out tubs from Ikea (wish it had come in plain white or green) to store most of her loose toys. I bought some pretty little labels and applied them to the front of each tote. And then I bought the shelving unit below for inside her closet to hide all her books but still keep them accessible for her. I wanted to keep her old crib rails safe in case I sell the crib later so I stashed them in the closet and am currently using them for shoe storage. I also hung hooks from her slatted closet doors for extra hanging abilities and traded out the old seventies knobs for some pretty little glass ones from Home Depot.

  

Lighting

Babe still has the old wall-mounted light that I featured in my old post on her nursery. It still fits as it has a monkeys on a vine theme. But I am loving this new squirrel lamp which was a gift from Babe's grandmother. The mushroom nightlight was purchased from Canadian Target before it closed shop and vanished from the Land of the North. It's convenient that the nightlight can plug in or run on batteries.

Here's the old lighting that we still use that was featured in the Nursery post.

Cushions

I'm still looking for the perfect forest-themed bedspread so for now we are using an inexpensive Ikea option. I might have to end up buying a fabric that I like and sewing my own. The fox and deer cushions were purchased from Home Sense.

More Forest

I have had my eye on a gorgeous, realistic forest mural wallpaper for Babe's room ever since I got pregnant. But we are always renting and I haven't wanted to commit to the cost of it or the application and eventual tear down. But last spring we grabbed this three panel forest screen at a fundraising auction. It goes great with the grass-like shag rug we got from Ikea and the adorable fawn wall decal I ordered from THIS SHOP on Etsy. The mini grand piano is from Chapters/Indigo. The carpet and screen combo create a temporary little forested corner until I can get her a room where I'm happy to commit to a full wallpaper/mural effect.

Mounted Stuffy

This was featured in our trip to Calgary post but I'm still loving it and it still fits the theme. It was purchased at the Calgary Airport.

Sky/Ceiling

Babe has one of those little stuffies that projects stars onto the ceiling at night and plays ambient noise. But I wanted a touch of nature on the ceiling in the daytime too. Enter THIS TUTORIAL VIDEO on making a cloud with lights and I thought I could do that, but with a mobile twist. It's kind of still a work in progress as I wanted to use clear fishing line instead of basic thread. But the fishing line of course has a lot of curl to it. I discovered I could get about 75 per cent of the curl out by using my hair straightener on a low heat setting and pulling the line through quickly (a hint that also works for quickly ironing your boxing hand wraps) but some of the kinks still remain. I'm hoping they will straighten out over time otherwise I guess I will re-string all the beads with plain thread. The cloud is made with paper lanterns and synthetic batting. In the video they use a glue gun to attach the batting to the lanterns but I found spray glue worked much faster. Stinks a bit though so the cloud spent a couple nights outside. The video peeps hung little curtain lights from their cloud but Babe and I wanted rain drops so I bought the blue and clear beads from Michaels. I may still put a battery-powered light inside the cloud at a later date - a nice perk to the cloud shell being made out of lanterns and not a paper mache ball or something is that you can still reach inside of it.

"But I've Told Her A Hundred Times..."

Broken snowglobe

After daycare Babe and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Due to a naughty moment in the car she knew a toy was going in the Disappearing Box when we got home so she was her very best Big Girl Helper in the store; trying to rescue her toy from a week of hibernation up high.

We are always rushed at the end of the day - going from work to errands and home to play, make dinner and do the bedtime routine - all before 7:30.

Babe tried her best to carry a bag in from the car - without being asked. But it was too heavy and after a few stumbles in the parkade she let me carry it in.

I try to get her to watch TV while I cook dinner because I know it's not safe for her to be prancing around the hot pots and pans in the kitchen. It never works though because Babe has too much energy to sit for long in front of the TV. And by the end of the day she is just desperate for my attention. So dinner time is usually a juggling act for me. There's no extra set of hands or eyes. No one who can keep her entertained while the other parent gets dinner on.

She took off her jeans because they were uncomfortable. I asked her if she wanted me to get her a pair of cozy pants but I don't think she responded. She was playing on the floor just outside the kitchen and we were chatting as I cooked.

She went to the bathroom on her own and peed on the grown up potty without help which made her proud. That's a new thing since she saw a little friend do it while they were visiting...until recently she's always used her little potty.

When she was done I asked again if she wanted cozy pants. Nothing.

I was still cooking.

I saw her fold up her bathroom stool and take it into her bedroom.

I heard her say she needed it to reach the lightswitch in her bedroom.

She pinched her fingers hard in that stool just the other day so I had a faint flash of concern that it might happen again.

She called to me from the bedroom in her growly frustrated voice because the light wasn't turning on.

It's a wall-mounted light that plugs into a socket which is controlled by the lightswitch at the doorway. But it also has a switch on the cord. Her sound machine is also plugged into the same outlet. So at night when I leave her room after tucking her in I turn the light off at the cord so the lightswitch at the wall doesn't kill the sound machine.

Usually I turn it back on in the morning but I guess I didn't this morning. So Babe couldn't figure out why flicking the lightswitch by the bedroom door wasn't working.

She was calling out, "The batteries are dead."

I put down my spatula and said "No Honey, they aren't". I went into the room and hit the switch on the cord which runs like a seam from the wall light down the wall and behind the dresser to a hidden plug. Then I went around the corner back to my cooking.

Maybe ten seconds passed.

I'm sure one of two things were going through her mind before she forgot my many, many warnings:

Her interest may have been piqued by my coming in and switching the light on at the cord, maybe she was drawn to that switch that she hadn't noticed before.

Or more likely her mind simply wandered back to my question moments before about cozy pants.

But she was still on the little stool at the lightswitch as I walked past her and back to the kitchen.

I've told her a hundred times. Over and over...

I'd only been out of the room for a few seconds.

There was a loud crash. It sounded like she'd broken her whole room in one second. Before I heard her scream I already knew exactly what it was and my stomach had already sunk.

She was screaming as I rounded the corner and into her room. I couldn't get there fast enough.

And there was my little girl buried under her heavy dresser.

She was pinned from her mid section down under the tipped frame, the three drawers and a ton of clothing. There was broken glass and sparkles in the rug from her Las Vegas snow globe.

It only took a second to get her out and into my arms but she cried in heaving sobs in my lap for a couple minutes before I could calm her just enough to really look her over. I knew she wasn't bleeding but in those moments I didn't know if there'd be a broken bone. Honestly, I didn't even care, I was just so thankful she was OK.

That dresser is so heavy. It could have been so much worse.

I had her furniture braced to the wall in our old place. I've been reminding myself over and over and over to get the guy in to do it at this place. There's not much that is tippy here anyway, just a couple of items. It's just one of those things that gets pushed down the list because everything else seems more pressing and I'm doing it all myself.

And I've told her a hundred times to never, ever open more than one drawer at a time or climb up on any furniture. I've explained, slightly graphically, what could happen if she tips heavy furniture over onto herself.

But I nannied for years so I know not to expect a three-year-old to remember any warnings. I guess part of me thought since I regularly reminded her that she would somehow remember in that split second when something catches her attention.

And Babe is usually so careful...

Someone said, "Don't blame yourself. Accidents happen".

But you know what? Ya, it was an accident. It was in the blink of an eye, it was just a stupid mistake. But it is my fault. It was negligent. It's not like I didn't know parents should brace the furniture. I know. I've known for years. I've reminded other parents to do it long before I had Babe. I kept reminding myself to do it since we moved and kept forgetting and reminding myself and forgetting. That little voice inside was telling me to get it done.

For crying out loud I just read another story about a child who was killed this way, like a week ago.

It's amazing how fast things can happen when we are juggling too many things and trusting our babies just a little too much.

Babe is perfectly fine. But when I think of what could've happened I feel sick and the tears come on.

I'm sending all my love to whatever angel was watching over my little one as her attention innocently turned to the dresser in her room.




Please anchor your furniture if your wee ones are exploring now.

Even if they are a bit older and you've told them a hundred times...

Even if they are usually so careful.

Saying Goodbye to 139.

OK everyone:

Big changes. For the time being this blog is no longer going to be about a single mom in Vancouver. That's right. There's still plenty of single moms in Vancouver but I'm not one of them.

After a long, brutal job search I finally settled on a position as the new radio news reporter for a station called The Peak in Smithers B.C.

We had less than two weeks to find a new place and new daycare, pack and move. And I'll tell you right now, we just barely pulled it off. Starting a whole new adventure is one thing when you're 22 and single, it's another thing entirely when you have a toddler. 

The final week was go, go, go, from morning until night (not like it isn't always with a baby). A lot of packing and last-minute errands punctuated by tearful goodbyes.

It was actually a lot sadder than I thought it would be to leave our apartment. It was after all the place where I went into labour, where we brought Babe home from the hospital. Her first bedroom, all her firsts pretty much were there. I was really sad to dismantle her room. 

On the last day after the guys had taken apart Babe's crib I found a little surprise on the wall. Obviously some dirty little toes had found their way through the bars and left a printbehind. I left it there. I couldn't bare to wipe it off. Let the next tenants do it.

These are pics from the very last time we left the apartment. I'm not usually so sentimental but the two years we lived there were filled with so many milestones. The pregnancy. Bringing Babe home from the hospital. J moving out and Babe and I starting a life on our own. It was my kitty Sprout's final home (and that cat moved with me A LOT). Babe crawled home in that hallway. She walked home in that hallway. She learned how to point out the 1-3-9 on our door. It was sad to think we can never go back there.  

But we are here in Smithers now. It's been over a week and we are settling in. My parents came up with us and stayed for a few days. And since they left it's been just the two of us, figuring out a new life. This last couple weeks have been really hard, I'm not gonna lie. But I can't wait to share this next adventure with you all. Stay tuned as a West Coast mommy turns into a Northern one. Is this north? It feels north?

Babe looking a little shellshocked. It's been a lot of change for her.

The Almost Bomb Scare.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

A couple of weeks ago I had taken Babe out for the afternoon so that J could have a quiet house in which to write a story for the local paper. On my way home I called him to see how much progress he had made and like usual with J the answer was not much. So I decided to stop by Richmond's brand new IKEA to check it out and give J a little more time without the baby around.

I was already pushing my luck with Babe as she had been out all morning visiting my grandmother but I was hoping she could make it one more hour without a complete meltdown.

I drove into the new IKEA parking lot - the kind that looks like an underground but is actually above ground, and started looking for a space. Surprisingly finding a spot was easier than usual - see this post re: the difficulties of parking at IKEA.

I was talking to Babe as I looked for a spot and didn't think much of the object that was sitting in an empty spot until after I had parked and was getting Babe out of the car. As I was grabbing my things to head inside it occurred to me that the mundane object I had hardly raised an eyebrow at was indeed odd and deserved a second look. So still happily chatting with my baby I pushed her through the lot back to the empty spot I had passed.

Yup. There it was. A big black suitcase calmly sitting in the shadows at the edge of a parking stall. I looked around to see if someone was nearby, maybe taking back a cart or loading their trunk with unassembled goods but no one seemed to belong to the bag.

At first I thought that someone had forgotten it but I'm embarrassed to admit that my second thought was more morbid. What if it's a bomb?

As a mommy maybe I shouldn't have stood there thinking over my options, maybe I should have ran. But since I'm new to motherhood I haven't yet fully abandoned rationality for my fight or flight instinct so I was compelled to stand there and decide if I was indeed worried about the bag.

Was it really creepy or was I just paranoid? Would I have thought twice about it in my carefree single days? Yes. It would have occurred to me a year ago that maybe there could, possibly, be a bomb in there but I wouldn't have worried about my own safety enough to do anything about it.

I hated to admit to myself that maybe all the terrorist hype had made its way into my psyche. That maybe I was buying into the fear. That I could actually be afraid of a suitcase in a parking lot on a Canadian Monday afternoon bugged me. It bugged me almost enough to ignore it all together and get on with my shopping. Almost enough.

Now I have a baby. It's not just me. My go-to method of dealing with fear is to pretend I'm not afraid and force myself to do what scares me. Claustrophobic? Take scuba diving lessons. Afraid of heights? Get your ass on the chairlift. Don't much care for big sharks? Strap on a snorkel and dive into the cage. But with Babe to protect it's different. I have to assess danger differently. I can't play the, "how likely is it really?" game anymore. I have to take any threat seriously.

I figured it's not out of the realm of possibility. It wouldn't be my choice target but a large commercial shopping centre, brand new and full of people could be on some sicko's list. I decided that now that I had seen the damn thing I couldn't as a responsible mommy just ignore it.

So I walked back to the entrance where I found a sullen employee begrudgingly stacking shopping carts. I told him that there was a suitcase left by itself at the back of the parkade.

I suppose I thought that he would react to this news in the same fashion that security at the airport would upon hearing this. Clear the area, halt all traffic in a three block radius, call in a bomb squad and detonate the thing.

But he really didn't seem to care. He mumbled something about "dealing with it later" and went back to his carts. Clearly he's not a mother.

Again I just stood there. What if there is no later? I looked around at the unsuspecting shoppers and down at my precious baby and felt...icky. I thought, "If I really think there might be a bomb why am I just standing here like a dumb ass?"

Just then a man came up to the cart guy and told him about the abandoned bag. And again the guy brushed it off. So I got mad and said, "You don't just ignore this. That bag needs to be dealt with now!" In all fairness I don't think the B-word even occurred to the poor guy. I think he just thought what most people would think - someone forgot their suitcase. But when the other customer said he thought it was scary too I felt a little validated and less paranoid.

However with that validation came the realization that I did believe it was dangerous and therefore I had to go. Now I felt too nervous to walk back through the parkade for the car...so I left it. Which was possibly stupid because once outside I realized I had a baby and nowhere to go. And if you've ever been to the IKEA in Richmond you know there's jack around it.

So I walked over to the old, now abandoned IKEA about half a block away (I felt this was a safe distance). Outside the building was a security guard who was keeping an eye on a man who was salvaging metal from the old store.

Considering the bad attitude of the cart guy I was concerned that he would forget about the bag, which meant I couldn't return to get my car. So I wanted to make sure it was being dealt with. I asked the security guard if he worked for IKEA and he said yes. I told him about the scary black suitcase. He looked bemused and said he didn't work for IKEA. "What the?" I told him he should report it. He told me he had no radio and to go screw myself. OK, he didn't tell me to go screw myself with his words...but he did say it with his eyes!

Dammit people!!! I'm trying to save IKEA and all it's ply board furniture wonderfulness!

It wasn't lost on me that just the mention of the word bomb can send Americans into a frenzy but here in Canada I couldn't get anyone to give it a second thought. I guess that's a good thing really.

It occurred to me that I could phone the store and report it but I quickly ruled that out. I once made the very stupid mistake of saying the B-word (in conversation, not as a joke or as a threat) in an American airport and was almost cavity searched by the feds (seriously - they really do freak out about that word). So I wasn't about to be the person who phoned in a bomb threat to the new IKEA. I think a small part of me still believes my name is flagged on a list somewhere. I decided I had done my part and screw them all if they ignored the suitcase.

But now my paranoia...or vigilant guardianship, whichever you prefer, had gotten me into an inconvenient predicament. I couldn't in good conscience go back for the car with Babe and we were too hot, tired and weighed down with stuff to find our way home. And I have no friends in Richmond that I can call on for a perceived bomb threat emergency.

So as ridiculous as this is I felt I really had no other option. I called my mom and asked her to drive into Richmond (about a 45 minute drive in traffic) to hold the baby while I went back into the parkade and retrieved the car. Hey. It was either that or hide Babe behind a dumpster while I went back. I certainly wasn't going to leave her with the useless security guard - he hadn't even been trusted with a walkie-talkie.

She agreed to the madness partly because she's my mom and partly because she's more paranoid than I am. Fifty bucks says she had a burn kit in the car with her just in case we were struck by shrapnel before she arrived.

Now came the shitty part. The nearby Starbucks had nowhere left to sit so I had to sit in the parking lot on a hot day with a cranky baby for 45 minutes while I waited for my mom to arrive. It really did suck and for that I fully believe in my heart that IKEA owes me a sofa.

When my mom arrived we argued over who was going to risk life and limb and go back for the car. I won. When I went back to get the car I saw that the scary suitcase wasn't there anymore. Someone had taken care of it. Guess it was just a forgotten bag after all.

So I went back for my mom and since we were already there and had wasted so much time already...we went shopping in the new IKEA.

I'm still embarrassed that I went through all of that over a suitcase, J certainly thought I was an idiot and you probably do too. But whatever, that's just motherhood.

Best Buys: stuff we like.

So Babe is now three and a half months old and I thought I would just quickly make a post about some of our best buys i.e. things that have saved us at some point so far.

Toys.

This is Mr. Rat a tat tat. Babe loves him, I don't know why. We get a lot of strange looks when we're out for our walks with him. People don't think a rat is a very cute baby toy, but Babe doesn't care. I got it at Ikea for under five dollars.

Nature Bear. I think it's actually called Fisher Price Peaceful Planet Soothing Sounds Bear, but I call him Nature Bear. I bought this bear almost 10 years ago for the baby I knew I would have one day. I'm not sure if it is still available but I know most toy stores sell a version called a Sleep Sheep which comes in a travel size as well. Both are great. Nature Bear also has a little light on his tummy which completely mesmerizes Babe.

The Lamaze caterpillar is a big hit with Babe. She can stare at it for ever and loves to suck on his legs. He plays music, rattles, crinkles and has different fabric colours and textures. And on the flip side are measurements like a yard stick. I also use it to prop Babe on her side when she is laying down. I think they are about $25.00, not sure.

Toys on a string that vibrate when pulled. Babe loves them and they are pretty cheap. Possibly the best buy yet. Babe used to hate the car and having someone sitting in the back with her pulling on the vibrating toys was the only way to keep her quiet. This bee was $9.00 and worth every penny.

Books. Hard. Cardboard. Books. We read to Babe every night and she really enjoys it. These baby books are always on special at local bookstores.

Bedroom.

I wouldn't get any sleep without our Angel Care monitor. The monitor has a sensor pad that lays under the mattress and senses Babe's nocturnal movements. If she stops breathing the alarm on the monitor sounds. For a paranoid mom like me the monitor lets me sleep in peace. Some people say these types of monitors are more trouble than they are worth because they sometimes sound false alarms. I haven't had a false alarm yet. And for me I'd rather have a few false scares than the alternative. I nannied for a family that had one a few years ago and ever since then I swore that I would buy one when I had a baby. Absolutely wouldn't trade it in for a regular monitor. It's expensive though - I paid $150.00.

Also the frog. It's the cheaper version of the Twilight Turtle. I can't remember what company makes this but I bought it at Walmart. It plays music, nature sounds and a heartbeat/white noise sound. And it also projects stars onto the ceiling. Babe loves the white noise option and watching the stars. It turns itself off after about 10 minutes. It cost usabout $25.00.

The Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper. After the first few weeks Babe wouldn't sleep in her bassinet or her crib. She would only sleep beside me. While I loved having her close I couldn't use the Angel Care monitor I mentioned above if we were sleeping in the same bed. Plus I didn't sleep as soundly if she was in bed with me because I was worried about smothering her. So I searched Craigslist and found a family that was selling their co-sleeper. It's the best. Babe thinks she is in bed with me but being on her own surface allows me to use the sensor pad. She is still close enough to reach out and touch or roll over and feed in the middle of the night. And if I have to pick her up and bring her into bed with me I can do so without disturbing her too much. It also saved us space because there wasn't enough room for three of us in the same bed. I loooove this thing. Babe hardly sleeps as it is and my life would be crap without it. It also converts into a playpen. I bought mine used but I think they are about $200.00 new. Prices vary by model.

Babe looooooves this Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium. It attaches to the side of her crib, plays music and water sounds, lights up and the fish swim. It's really soothing and Babe can stare at it for quite awhile. Even though she isn't sleeping in her crib yet I do use it as a safe place/playpen during the day and the aquarium buys me time to make lunch, throw in some laundry etc. Definitely a good buy, especially since ours was a gift. I think they run about $60.00.

The Butterfly Baby Head Support Pillow is an Anti-Pressure Pillow and was a gift from friends. We actually don't use it in Babe's bed but we do put it under her head during the day when she is laying around on the couch or the floor. It's supposed to decrease the pressure on the back of baby's head which helps to keep that pesky flat spot away. Hey whatever works. My doctor told me we only have the first five months to keep Babe from getting a flat spot and that if she got one the special helmet or whatever that fixes it costs $5000.00! I'm sticking with the pillow. Again, I don't know that it is safe for sleeping. Babe doesn't use it at night. I don't know what it costs.

That's it for now. In another few months I'll post our new favorite items.

Recall Panic.

photo courtesy of Bumbo.

As a nanny I used the Bumbo seat and I always thought that it was great. So of course I wanted one for my baby.

They are so expensive here in Canada but luckily my girlfriend who lives in the states got me one for a baby gift.

I have been so excited to try it out. I've just been waiting for Babe's neck and back to get a little stronger. The product recommends waiting until three months and now that Babe is three and a bit months I've been sitting her in it for a few minutes each day. I keep my hand near her head for support because I think three months is a bit liberal and parents should probably wait a little longer. My baby still isn't strong enough in the neck and back to sit in it alone or for longer than a couple minutes. But in my opinion it's great for older babies.

However the other night I was searching online to read what other people said about starting to use their Bumbos and I found out that they had been recalled in 2007. Here is a link to Health Canada's recall info (2008).

They were recalled after babies were injured from falling out of the Bumbos and off of high surfaces. Parents were placing their babies in the Bumbos on counters and tables. I've been in restaurants where I have seen this occurring (the Bumbos on tables, not babies actually falling out - they aren't dropping like flies at restaurants across the country).

So should I panic and try to unload this thing on an unsuspecting parent via Craigslist? No. I'm happy with mine and I'm looking forward to using it more.

I think it is important to be aware of any risks associated with a product but it is also equally important to realize that many of the injuries associated with this product are the result of improper use and inadequate supervision. As with anything we purchase for our children it is our responsibility to be informed on its proper use, its ingredients, its restrictions etc...

It is important to know that babies can wiggle out of the Bumbos and fall. Because of this risk Bumbo states that the seat be used only on the ground. The company chose not to install seat belts or other restraints on the product and merely recalled the seats in order to place a warning sticker on the chairs.

Maybe I'm being too judgemental but it never occurred to me that the chairs would restrain a baby. All you have to do is look at the thing to know it isn't restrictive. It has no bloody straps or ties people! I certainly wouldn't have placed a baby I was babysitting on a counter while I made dinner and I didn't need a warning label to tell me that.

I think recalls need to be taken with a grain of salt. Baby products and practices change so quickly almost everything that was once made for babies has been recalled or changed. RIP walkers and drop-side cribs.

It's not just products. Up until last year swaddling was highly recommended. Books like The Happiest Baby On The Block touted swaddling as a saving grace for cranky babies and exhausted parents. But when I delivered Babe three months ago the hospital had signs everywhere warning against swaddling and our health nurses are now saying it increases the risk of SIDS. I still swaddle Babe at our doctor's recommendation (she didn't even know about the new swaddling rules).

And vaccinations - what gets combined and what gets given when, is constantly changing.

Recalls are a good thing. Certainly products that pose a significant risk even when the directions are properly followed should be taken off the market. Remember the poisoned baby formula? Or all the toys that have been painted with lead?

But recalling every item that ever caused an injury is over the top. There are children all over the world playing with all sorts of "dangerous" things. I bet there are thousands of kids that at this very moment have rocks in their mouths.

I'd wager a bet that waaaay more children crack their skulls by falling off playgrounds than out of Bumbos. Does this mean we should tear down all the playgrounds. Maybe our kids should just sit in the middle (because the middle of anything is the safest) of the school yard playing with foam pool noodles. But I bet somewhere a kid strangled himself with one of those. And they certainly can't play with balls. Those things are deadly! Recently a Toronto school banned them.

What is this world coming to?

We've become a society of overly indulgent, overly paranoid parents. And we've been so inundated with warning signs that we almost don't think for ourselves anymore. Using the Bumbo, just like any other product, requires a little common sense.

In the past I used it to allow a baby to sit comfortably and engage easily while we played with older siblings on the floor, not as a device for strengthening weak muscles or as a high chair.

Although the Bumbo is no longer under recall and still available there is information that indicates that babies have been injured recently and while using the seat on the floor - again because they can wriggle out and fall over. So maybe don't sit it on a hard floor either? Or just make sure to have an ice pack in the freezer.

If it turns out that the seat is dangerous even when used properly then I guess it'll go the way of the walker - but it would be a shame. All of the proceeds generated from the South African product go to the care and support of under-privileged children.

If you are still worried about the Bumbo's track record the nearly identical bebePod seat has safety straps.

PS: On a side note, doesn't it look like they took the hair off a guy in a shaving cream commercial and glued in on a baby in that photo? That baby has a lot of hair.

The Crib.

This is not our crib. Ours is still in the box. This is an expensive crib.

How far a mother will go to stay on budget:

Even though we already have a beautiful bassinet that my aunt bought for us, it will only keep the baby comfy for so long. So we will eventually need a crib. I knew the new styles that convert into a bed later would be a money saver, but besides that I hadn’t started really looking.

Although I think many of the cribs at Vancouver’s baby stores are gorgeous we simply can’t afford to spend a ton of money on baby things and I had already decided that I would rather splurge on a stroller than a crib. So I knew that I was looking for a simple model and I had a few ideas from past nanny jobs. One crib from IKEA was affordable and would serve us just fine despite being nothing special to look at but I was still thinking maybe I could get a prettier crib on a shopping trip across the border.

Then one evening I was stuck in traffic after a long day at work and daydreaming of getting home to have a nap when I heard that IKEA was having a midnight madness sale. There are two items from the store that I had already decided I needed for the nursery and I also had the crib in my mind.

Despite being exhausted I rallied the last of my energy and decided to brave the crowds in the hopes of saving us some money. I knew exactly where the items were in the store and I decided I would look only at those things and if any were on sale I would grab them.

IKEA on a slow day is an exercise in parking physics. I usually opt for the distant spots, the kind that should have a shuttle bus to the store, because it’s actually a time saver instead of driving around looking for a closer spot.

On midnight madness day, parking at IKEA is at best an improbability if not impossibility. I finally found a spot after about 20 minutes of laps and many near fender benders (in my Mom’s car).

True to plan I ignored the posters advertising amazing deals for every hour of the day and plowed through screaming kids, exhausted parents and blissful new couples looking to pad their love nests and headed straight for the kids section. Two of the items I wanted were not on sale. One has been in the store for damn near 10 years and hasn’t been on sale for an hour in that time. But my ho-hum crib was significantly reduced in price.

I was now intent on securing this particular bed at this exact moment despite having months of my pregnancy left to shop around. I ran (No, waddled.) to the warehouse aisles lined to the ceiling with stock and found only four of my cribs left. Ahhh!

I ran (waddled) back to the parking lot with one of those paper IKEA tape measures to see if the crib would fit. I had to fight off glazed-over zombie shoppers still waiting to find a spot and get inside. Warning: returning to your vehicle for any other reason than to leave the lot is a safety risk.

To my dismay my measurements told me the crib wouldn’t fit. I decided that this was a trivial problem. I would buy the crib and worry about getting it home afterwards. To me I saw the options as being; beg an employee to help me attach it to the outside of the car somehow or sit in the lot (to the dismay of everyone still circling) and wait for hours until I could get my parents to come with their truck.

I went back inside, bought the crib and left it at the loading dock while I went to get the car.

Again, when I went out to my car I had many idlers stalking me, just waiting for me to leave. I really felt the pressure to vacate my spot as quickly as possible. It was really stressful trying to maneuver my car out of the spot while three different vehicles jostled behind me all waiting to try to beat the other in. Because of them I could only back up and pull out in one direction. But as soon as I tried to drive away, one car waiting for my spot refused to reverse even an inch to let me by. I guessed he was afraid that reversing slightly would appear to the other parking lot hunters as surrendering his territory. So he stayed put, which kept me blocking my spot. He was motioning to me to go the other way but there was no way I could turn around now.

So when he finally backed up an inch to let me drive past him I, in all my mother-to-be class, yelled, “stay out of my way…MOTHERFUCKER!”

I immediately felt ashamed of my behaviour, but I was overcome by the tension in the air. It was only after I tried to slip past the next car that that driver informed me the lane was one way and I was going against the grain. The other guy was just trying to tell me I couldn’t exit that way. Oops!

Embarrassed at how vulgar I was, especially considering I was there to buy a crib, I headed to the loading dock. But within 50 feet of my destination I got stuck behind two cars jostling for the same spot. I was entertained as I watched a woman in a mini van quickly slide herself into the spot while the other vehicle was cautiously backing into it.

But my bemusement turned to boredom and then irritation as the one driver abandoned his vehicle, blocking my path, to berate the other for stealing his spot. After repeatedly demanding that she vacate the precious spot it became clear I would be sitting in the lot forever if I didn’t haul my pregnant ass over and convince his humiliated passenger to move their vehicle. But as I went to get out of my car, I was trapped by another car trying to back out of the spot beside me.

So there we all sat. Confused, stubborn, resigned. No one was moving for anyone else. The sale and the subsequent parking lot mayhem had eaten away at our common sense and none of us knew how to untangle ourselves.

Finally, as she grabbed her purse and headed off to shop it was obvious that the woman had no intention of handing over the spot and the angry man had no choice but to admit defeat and begin circling the lot again. I was finally free to cross the 50 feet to the loading dock and the guy beside me could finally leave his spot to the crowd that had formed behind us.

From there it was smooth sailing. An IKEA employee (who probably has a masters in physics) managed to fit the boxed crib into the back of the tiny car and I made it out of the lot with a couple more near misses and some curses that I was decent enough to utter under my breath instead of yell out the window.

The experience was exhausting, but the crib was a great bargain!