By Ariel In which Ariel expounds upon the Bilibo by Moluk - a strange looking toy with unlimited potential! This post contains affiliate links by using them you are helping to keep Busy Nest News up and running. Bilibo by Moluk In an ideal world every toy that enters my house would be sleek, minimalist, wooden and, preferably, not make noise – unless it is a musical instrument! But that isn’t realistic. Other people love my child and want what they think is best for her too. And while I would love to unleash my controlling tendencies- “Bring out the toy police! No Barbie for you!”- that isn’t healthy for me or Bean.
I can only reasonably control what toys I purchase. This Christmas I chose Moluk – the Bilibo to be exact. Sleek and minimalist? Check. Wooden? Nah. But I am willing to overlook that for a toy this incredible.
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By Brianna In which Brianna explains wet bags, their typical manifestations, and what to look for as you accumulate your own fleet of this highly useful piece of gear. This informative article contains a combination of affiliate and non-affiliate links. You need a wet bag.You need a wet bag. I don’t care if you have kids or not, everyone needs a wet bag. If you have a baby, you extra super duper need a fleet of wet bags, but everyone else should have one anyway.
Kids are messy. Babies leak from every place imaginable. I was definitely relieved when I stripped dirty clothes off Monkey and had a wet bag in which to place them. When my wet bag was already back home to be washed, I had to resort to plastic diaper disposal bags to save the interior of our diaper bag. Please, avoid putting wet clothes in plastic bags. The result is incredibly gross, and sometimes went straight to the trash, with no hope of redemption. If you're building a baby registry right now, read this article, and then go add wet bags to your list. Add more than one, or you'll end up like me, throwing out clothes that got gross fast. By Brianna This post contains affiliate links. If you buy the featured products using our links, you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks! Melissa & Doug Magnetic Dress-Up Sets, and moreBy Brianna This post contains affiliate links. If you buy the featured products using our links, you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks! Proven Picks for the Littles on Your ListWhen shopping for the holidays, simply walking into a store and hoping to find good ideas for the little in your life can get overwhelming fast! There are so many toys available in early winter, and the malls and stores are packed with people. Likewise, shopping online can get a bit harried, too. You’re being inundated with ads everywhere from your inbox, to your social media account. You can certainly pick the most adorable clothes or toys you come across, but you might be disappointed by how little they get used after the wrapping paper has been discarded.
As you're shopping for presents this year, don’t be afraid of getting toys or books that are a little bit of a reach for your favorite littles. Rather than watch our kids play with everything until January, and then never touch any of it again, we opt for things that we can watch them grow into throughout the year, and hopefully enjoy for another year or two to come. This is a list of toys and products you can expect to put some miles on. Everything is at least useful, and hopefully beautiful as well. Let’s take a look. By Ariel This post contains affiliate links. If you buy the featured products using our links, you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks! Gifts for the Mom-to-be on Your Shopping ListWhen you’re shopping for the pregnant lady in your life, please avoid falling into the trap of gifting exclusively to the coming baby. A few gifts for baby are, of course, nice and appreciated, but don’t forget that there’s a woman there who likes presents, too! I will admit during the hormonal rollercoaster that is pregnancy I may have become unreasonably irritated receiving only gifts for the baby - all the time! Not that I told anyone this.
Growing a baby is hard work, so this holiday season calls for next level pampering. The gifts we’ve selected are so indulgent, we’d love to get most of them even when we aren’t pregnant. If you’re stumped for ideas, start here!
By Brianna
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy the product using our links, you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks!
Uncle Goose Wooden Blocks
Blocks play such a huge role in childhood development. The simple toy is highlighted in milestone lists again and again. First, babies enjoy chewing the blocks and feeling them in their hands. Next, they knock the blocks together and revel in the sound of wood on wood. Finally, they start building. Their structures begin with just a couple of blocks stacked on top of each other, and gradually develop into art sculptures and homes for toys. Kids have been playing with wooden blocks pretty much forever. We’re excited to tell you that the ubiquitous block has gotten an upgrade.
By Brianna
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy the product using our links, you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks!
BooginHead SippiGrip
When Monkey was a baby, I’d take her for runs and walks with our jogging stroller. She had a favorite teether we had to take with us. But, her flailing little arms would inevitably toss the little toy out of the stroller, and I’d have to backtrack to collect it. Similarly, she had a lot of good times dropping bottles or cups from her highchair. I needed some kind of strap to tether these items to her stroller or highchair. It needed to be long enough to let her use her cup or play with her toy, but short enough that it would still be useable after she inevitably jettisoned the tethered object.
By Brianna
Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon
When Monkey first started pulling up on furniture and learning to walk, we didn’t have much furniture for her to explore along. I wanted to encourage her to keep learning to walk, but I knew the walkers of my childhood were discouraged by childhood development professionals. The old walkers are now considered dangerous, and possibly even discourage walking. But Monkey was starting to push around empty diaper boxes, and was pulling up on everything she could find. So I did my research, and found a number of great toys for a little one to push around. We ended up buying the one I thought would have the most utility past this finite stage of Monkey’s development.
Enter, the Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon. This beautifully designed wagon, based on the Radio Flyer wagons we all know and love, is perfect for beginning walkers. There’s a bar, just within reach, for a little one to grab and pull themselves up on. The wheels offer a little resistance, so that the wagon doesn’t roll away while baby is trying to stand up. Monkey had a blast pushing her wagon around and loading it up with her favorite toys (and the dog’s toys, for that matter). There’s even a bumper on the front, to protect both the wagon and your furniture and walls. By Brianna When I was registering for my baby shower, I devoured lists written by other people. I read all of the “ESSENTIALS for Baby” lists, and was just as excited to read the “What you DON’T need to have a baby” lists. Most of the things seemed like common sense, but there were some essentials I’d never heard of. When in doubt, I leaned heavily on the advice of my mother and mother-in-law. Both had more than two children, and their guidance was invaluable. BUT, today I’m reviewing two things they both told me to skip putting on my registry. BasketsFirst up is a general recommendation. Dishwasher baskets. With lids. Both mothers told me I did not need a special dishwasher basket for bottle and sippy cup parts, but both were assuming that I already had a dishwasher basket with a lid. All three homes my husband and I have shared so far have had baskets for flatware, but none of them had any sort of lid to keep things in. If you’re in the same boat, I highly recommend finding a basket that has a lid that snaps tightly into place. Breast pumps, bottles, and sippy cups all have small or lightweight parts that will be as tiny boats in a hurricane once you turn on the dishwasher. Not to mention pacifiers, teethers, and small, plastic toys your child might play with as they grow. I personally was gifted a Munchkin Deluxe Dishwasher Basket, but I would rather have their High Capacity model, as it looks like it would accommodate the parts of our favorite sippy cups much better. But, if you have little clearance between your top rack and the ceiling of the dishwasher, the Deluxe is probably preferable. I give the Deluxe basket four eggs. I haven't tried the high capacity yet, but if I do, I'll update this post with its own allocation.
By Brianna If you've been invited to a baby shower in the last 5-10 years, there's a good chance that you've received a cute, Pinterest-Perfect invitation, with a cute, Pinterest-Perfect request. The request seems simple enough. In syrupy prose (that makes you gag a little), you're essentially asked to accompany any gift for the baby with a book, in place of a card.
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AuthorsAriel and Brianna are friends who met while working in a library. Now they collaborate to develop life-enhancing book club experiences. Archives
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