Great Amazon Deal on Coconut Oil

I keep reading about all the positive benefits of using coconut oil. I haven't tried it before, but this deal is so good that I ordered it immediately! I've read that it is great for frying, for baking, for weight loss, for hair, skin (I'm going to try it on my daughter's dry skin), stress relief, boosting immunity, helping digestive problems, and more!

So here's the deal: Amazon.com has Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 15-Ounce Unit (Pack of 2) for $12.03 (regularly $24). AND if you purchase with Subscribe & Save, the price drops to $10.23 AND you get free shipping!. (Look on the right and click “subscribe now.”) You can cancel the subscribe & save at any time without affecting the first shipment.

Traveling Toddler Car Seat Accessory Connects Your Car Seat to Your Luggage

We've had our 2 year old with us on over 20 flights. This is one of the most helpful travel accessories we own! For $14.99 I thought it might be a waste for one simple strap, but it has made our airport transits so much easier. We don't have to lug a stroller and a car seat. Every trip, parents ask us about it, to the point that we've thought of printing cards with the ordering information. It easily attaches our car seat to our roller bag. Our toddler LOVES riding in the car seat through the airport. She does look a little like a princess doing so, but it sure works, and is better than having to have a stroller or seven arms when trying to navigate an airport. It is safer for your child to be in a car seat in a plane or bus. Since she is used to her car seat, and can't scooch under the straps, I think it is one of the reasons our daughter is such a good plane traveler.

This strap allows you to attach a LATCH and top tether equipped car seat to a rolling carry-on suitcase. You can then push or pull your suitcase like a stroller. It unhooks quite fast for security and boarding. "The Traveling Toddler has been tested with most major car seat brands including Graco, Eddie Bauer, Cosco, Evenflo, and Britax, and a variety of carry-on suitcases and has worked with every combination. If flying, make sure that your car seat is FAA approved before traveling. The Traveling Toddler strap is made from heavyweight polypropylene webbing that will withstand 900 lbs of force. When not in use it easily slips in the pocket of your carry-on."

One Village, Seeking Help: Care.com

You've probably heard the African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child." But what do you do when you find yourself without a village or maybe just a few members short? When our sweet daughter arrived, we were living in a city with no family anywhere nearby. I wanted/needed to keep working part-time, and although my husband is a true partner, we needed help to keep things running somewhat smoothly. Being a librarian, I researched child care options and decided that it would be wonderful to have a nanny in the house a few days a week. I found recommendations for care.com and ended up finding an absolutely perfect match to join our village.

The site lets you search geographically and by age, two things I appreciated because I really wanted someone with experience to care for our child (since I didn't have much myself!). We sorted through all the listings, used the automatic background checks, read the reviews, and interviewed three people.

It was truly difficult for me to trust someone with our child. I will never forget the first time they left for a walk to the park. I think I sat by the window the entire time. But our nanny loves our child and has taught us so much about raising her. We have the same child rearing philosophies, and it has been wonderful having her in our lives. She truly teaches, and I love the one-on-one interaction. She even takes her to library storytime now that she is older. She is flexible schedule-wise, so if we need an extra day or a longer day or go on vacation, we talk and figure out solutions. They really have fun together, and we are so lucky that she is actually a real British nanny, so she has certifications and schooling on child raising (plus a delightful accent and charming singing voice for ALL the children's songs).

I've also hired house cleaners through the website, with mixed results, as some people didn't reply to our emails. I figure I'd rather pay someone else who is quick and knowledgeable to do some of the tasks I was neglecting, like cleaning my hardword floors and bathrooms properly. I just figure at this point in my life, I'd rather work a few hours doing something I love and be able to hire someone to do the things I really don't enjoy--like toilets. :) Plus our house is our largest investment so it should be well maintained. I figure I'm helping the village too, since it employs someone else. When our daughter was an infant, I hired a company that had a team of 4 people that could come in a do the entire house in an hour, while we went to the park. That was really pricey, however. So now I have someone who comes in for 2 hours a week for $20 an hour that we found on care.com. She is really flexible, and will rotate the rooms/tasks based on what we need that week. She gets A LOT more done in those 2 hours than I ever could.

Besides nannies and house cleaners, there are babysitters, senior care providers, tutors, pet care providers, and a new option to try out a child care exchange with another mother. I also like that this site was started by a Mom. The cost is really affordable, especially compared to some of the nanny companies! Right now, it is $30 a month for a premium account which includes free background checks, $60 for 3 months (this is the option I did), and $120 for a full year (saves you 66%). You can also find jobs here, if you are a provider yourself.

How to Raise a Foodie Baby

An expectant father (and friend) just asked us for advice on how to raise a foodie baby. This was in response to seeing Miss M. (2 3/4 years old) chow down at my birthday brunch.

First of all, it may not always be possible to raise a foodie baby. I've seen families that have two food loving kids and one very picky child. The debate of nature versus nurture aside, people do have different palates from an early age and sometimes it takes a while to develop adventurous appetites. I love Ethiopian food now, but I can remember being a young teenager and pouting through a Ethiopian meal after whining, "can't I just have a hamburger?"

But what did we do that might encourage this child of ours to love eating almost everything? Well, being foodies ourselves and loving to cook and share food together helps I'm sure. She enjoys watching us cook, and from the time she was an infant we would talk to her while preparing meals, explaining each step. Now she often helps, even if it is just pushing the salad spinner, adding ingredients, or stirring a pot.

All her baby food was homemade, and we followed the Dr.'s advice to introduce veggies first...peas, sweet potatoes, carrots. We just used a stick immersion blender and whirled up steamed veggies, then filled ice cube trays and froze them for use later. It was easy to pull a few out and defrost for her meals. We eat many of our meals with her, so she sees us try new things, share with each other, and talk about the food. She loves trying new foods, with her favorites foods being tofu, cheese (any kind, even goat's milk), raspberries, blueberries, frozen peas (gave her some to help with teething but she still asks for "froze peas," and hey, that's an easy request to honor) and yogurt. She recently went crazy for Red Bore Kale. It WAS delicious, my husband is seriously good with greens.

We also bundled her up at an early age to take to the farmer's market and out to nice restaurants. She is a very well behaved dinner companion. I don't think she's ever cried in a restaurant, it is just too much fun for her and she is fascinated with the comings and goings of the restaurant staff. I can remember her saying, "Where did the man go with my plate?" This weekend we went out for sushi. She said, "I love this place." She is especially fond of miso soup.

The other recommendation I would make is that you don't have to stick to bland food. Let them experiment and see what they like. My mother's rule was always, "You don't have to eat it if you don't like it, but you DO have to try it." M. has had plenty of homemade pasta and cheese, but I think she's only had Kraft once. Never had a pop tart, though her Uncle says he will rectify that soon. She does have sweets occasionally (and dark chocolate is her fave), but I find she is just as happy with a dried apricot. I don't want to keep her from enjoying kiddie favorites, but I feel if I can give her the best foods possiblee to help her grow and flourish, why shouldn't I? I only wish I'd eat as well as she does. :) I also want our meals to be happy events. Not rushed, and if she really doesn't like to eat something, I just take it away. We aren't short order cooks, but we might give her a few choices from other easy things on hand, like a piece of fruit or some raw veggie.

I just found this book on Amazon and will be ordering it. Yes, she does wear a bib, and happily eats what catches there.

Miss M. doesn't like fast food. We don't have it often, but when on a long road trip, we stopped at a McDonald's and she ate one bite of burger, two fries, and then drank all the apple juice. Not into it at all. Perhaps she prefers organic only? Not sure, but I sure do love my little foodie girl.

Food is often an event for us, we savor it and discuss it, we try new foods. Today we found a great Caribbean restaurant and I gave a bit of everything to Miss M. to try. She went crazy for the yams. I was pretty crazy about the jerk chicken.