Do you remember how much fun you had playing with your Spirograph? If you’re a reader of this blog, you know I have an affinity for old fashioned toys. I recommend, to a large extent forgoing the batteries and lights and action. Yes, we do have a few of those toys in our home and actually, I recommend a few as it helps children see how much more they can do with more open ended toys. (Though I must admit, I still feel a bit guilty when I just can’t stop myself from buying an electronic toy.)

The Spirograph though is a great toy. Using gears and elbow grease children (and adults) can create an endless variety of different designs. The kit comes with seven different gears, pens and paper, as well as a gear template and storage tray.

Since I’ve recently decided that buying wrapping paper isn’t all that eco friendly, I’m always looking for ways to use home made designs in lieu of commercial wrapping paper. Spirograph creations are a great alternative!

The one concern I have is regarding the California proposition 65 warning attached to this item. Some of the materials used are said to contain chemicals that could be harmful. I’m not sure exactly to what this is referring- ink perhaps? But, it’s worth a check prior to purchase.

For a stylish yet practical alternative to the everyday diaper bag, there are lots of choices. But, tell me, where can you find one with 14 pockets? This Skip Hop diaper bag has pockets for every imaginable item. And, I admit, I am a sucker for pockets.  When traveling with one or two infants or toddlers or one of each, having enough pockets for baby gear and your own personal gear is essential.

With 14 pockets intelligently arranged with zippers and contrasting lining, it’s easy to find both bibs and bottles; lipstick and diaper liners; pacifiers and pens. This diaper bag snaps easily onto a stroller and is still keeps critical items accessible. Several of the pockets are insulated for baby food or bottles. And the balance vary by size so it’s easy find keys, cell phone and other personal items.

Best of all it’s eco friendly. The bag is PVC free and the manufacturer claims it’s made from eco materials- (not sure what that means, though - but PVC free is a plus.) At 17 x 6 x 12 inches, it’s a reasonable size for those of us not really ready to cart around a huge bag sure to send us running to the chiropractor in a few years!

I find it pretty amazing how far cloth diapers have come in the last, oh say, 40 years. Yes, I actually remember the days of safety pins and plastic pants.

After quite a few years of the prominence of disposable diapers, we all finally woke up and wondered- what happens when there is no more “away” to throw things away to - in other words, when we’ve completely filled up our landfills with disposable diapers - then what?

So more and more parents are switching to cloth or at least some combination of cloth and disposables.  I admit, there are plenty of times when cloth diapers really are a bit of hassle.

But, even if you only use cloth some of the time, the latest all-in-one cloth diapers are the way to go. This variety pack from Kushie’s is a great starter kit for the new Mom to try out cloth diapers. Rather than struggling with cloth diapers and diaper holders, this all in one design makes using cloth easier.

Made from 100% cotton with a 100% vinyl coating to keep baby dry, on the outside anyway, they feature elastic to snugly fit around chubby legs and hook and eye closures built in. Plus, a extra flap for added absorbency keeps heavy wetters just a bit dryer.

One of the real benefits of having a baby right now is the organic options available to provide a healthy start to your child’s life. Despite the lure of cheap and easy to clean synthetic mattresses, it’s not too difficult to find an organic mattress that will prevent your child from breathing in nasty chemicals.

I’ve been reading recently about this natural organic mattress for Stokke’s cribs from Naturepedic. Filled with organic cotton, both natural and renewable, the cover is also organic cotton and features a waterproof surface made from food grade Polyethylene, not PVC or vinyl, two materials that new parents may want to avoid due to possible chemical hazards, in other words, phthalates.  Polyethylene is an environmentally friendly plastic used throughout the food packaging industry for its purity and non-toxic properties. In addition, this mattress features a hypoallergenic dust mite barrier and contains no wool or latex…important for parents worried about allergies.

Though, not made by Stokkes, this organic cotton mattress fits most Stokke’s cribs and is hypoallergenic, making it an excellent starting point for a healthy baby, since babies tend to sleep 14 – 16 hours per day in the beginning, it’s best that they sleep on a safe surface

It’s one of the most important pieces of equipment you need when you have a new baby. A good breast pump. Although it’s natural and has been done for thousands of years, often nursing your new born isn’t that easy and a good breast pump makes a difference if you struggle in the beginning. And many women do!

Though breast feeding has made a comeback in recent years, many women are initially committed and then after a struggle fall back to bottle feeding. It’s not because they didn’t try, it’s often because for many women, with no guidance and no encouragement, getting past the early struggles that may occur due to everything from a premature baby to carpal tunnel, bottle feeding just seems more appropriate.

It doesn’t have to be that way and absent a lactation nurse or other trained helper, having a good breast pump and the phone number to the local La Leche League can get a new mom through that critical two week period when baby and mom learn to work  as a team.

This compact double electric breast pump model is both small and powerful. It’s easy to use and comes with an AC and even a car adapter! That’s a big plus for moms on the go lacking nursing privacy…which is all too common these days.

With lots of cool features like the ability to control the rhythm and suction, this breast pump is one of the best on the market.

I just love magic sets. Really, they are a great educational toy for kindergartners on up. All too often I’ve found though, those little magic sets you can buy just about anywhere are filled with easy to break, cheap plastic doo-dads and indecipherable instructions.

For a high quality Magic Set, look no further than your local purveyor of Melissa and Doug Toys. I generally find that Melissa and Doug toys, though often made in China are high quality and focus on encouraging imaginative play. This magic set is no exception. With pieces made of sturdy wood and a storage case that converts to a performance table, this kit if easy to set up and easy to put away, without losing many tiny pieces. And it does include quite a number of pieces, which for budding magicians is both practical and inspiring.

Included are tools to perform many of the easiest and most famous tricks used by professional magicians including: Disappearing Ball, Vanishing Coin, Magic Coin Box, Cylinder Squeeze, Secret Silks, Vanishing Zone, Egyptian Prediction, Magic Number Prediction, Money Maker and the Great Escape.

Though it’s listed for children ages 8 and up, many younger children will find this fascinating and will be able to perform many of the tricks with a little help. Since magic is a hobby that  requires developing eye hand coordination, thinking skills AND requires an audience, you can’t help but find it preferable to a hand held video games if you worry about too much solitary, unsupervised play.

This cozy pouch from JJ Cole solves some of those issues whether taking the family out for a stroll or just transporting from car to stroller. This Urban Bundle Me pouch is super soft and slips into a stroller or a convertible car seat for winter warmth. Car seat or stroller straps slip through the slots on set up, then easy zip in zip out access is the rule. This is a critical feature, since it’s not always that easy to slide baby in and out for quick diaper changes – nor do you want to in biting winter wind.

Since the microfiber lining is soft and warm, it provides a comfy cave even for lightly dressed toddlers. The outer shell is wind and moisture resistant and machine washable, something I consider a must for anything associated with infants.

The top layer even zips off for use all year round as a additional padding in hard car seats or strollers. Available in two sizes, for infants and for kids 1-3 years old, you also  have your choice of 3 different colors.

OK- it looks like winter is here early this year. Cold winds and snow seem to be appearing in all the usual and in quite a few unlikely places.  No matter where you live, in the Unites States with the possible exception of Hawaii, you’re going to need a winter jacket.

It may not have to be particularly heavy, but it must be warm. That’s why I like this fleece jacket from North Face. Tough and durable, it’s just right for boys who have a tendency to drop their jackets wherever they happen to be- never mind, the mud puddles and slush.

Since it integrates with various North Face shells, it’s the perfect jacket to take a child from winter into spring. I like the nylon reinforcement which makes it windproof and the fleece chin guard for all those days that scarves get lost or left behind.

Warm zipper pockets hold gloves or hands when the gloves too are left behind and the reflective element is great for when they just can’t seem to get home before dark. Since this is made by North Face, it gives me an extra dose of comfort too. They stand behind their products and their products last!

 Boys seem to have an unending interest in cars, which tends to make homes filled with boys also filled with various different types of toys with wheels. Not all boys, I’m sure, but a sizable number of them.

Starting with big plastic or wood push-alongs, they emit “rumm, rumm” sounds as they crawl across the floor. Later they buy a cherry  red sports car to mourn their lost youth. But in between they go through various stages and parents go along for the…um…ride.

As a parent concerned about lead and a list of  of nasty  chemicals that seems to get longer every day, I try to stick with natural materials as much as possible for my car loving boy. As a big fan of all kinds of building materiel too,when I happened to see the Discovery Channel Automoblox at my local toy store, I was hooked.

The red C-9 Automoblox is both a car to push along the floor and a model car to build - a nice bridge from the play cars of toddlerhood to the complicated model cars  middle-schoolers build. The body is made from solid beech wood and has a removable top and tires. In fact it is a cross between a puzzle and a shape sorter. The several different models have interchangeable pieces so your child can create his fantasy car…before you have to buy a real one!

Double duty toys are the best in my book. And I like Mega Blocks. So this 3 in 1 Rideon Dump Truck is a toy we had for quite a long time.

This is a toy that your child will enjoy playing with for several years. This is saying quite a lot in the early years where it seems just as she or he notices a toy, it’s been outgrown. This dump truck can start as something that can pushed by a crawling baby or used as a walker for one just starting to toddler.

Children can sit on it as they get older and push it around the room or around the driveway, powered by their own two feet. Finally, it can be loaded up with rocks, or dolls or even dirt and used for, well, a dump truck’s intended purpose. The child simply supplies the story line, which is, of course, great for a developing imagination. Three buttons on the steering wheel blow the horn, make engine sounds and make the sound of a dump truck in action.

And, of course, it comes with Mega Bloks. These chunky plastic blocks are great for children just starting to understand connecting blocks. And the truck bed becomes the storage container for the blocks when not in use.