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Our Favorite Things: 9 to 12 Months

Posted on September 8 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

Emmett’s Favorite Things!

This is a bit delayed, seeing as Emmett is already 13.5 months old, but I am finally getting around to it. We had quite a few favorites this time around and I’m excited to share them all with you!

Philips AVENT BPA Free Contemporary Freeflow Pacifier

I know this may seem like a silly one to start with but in Emmett’s world, this is one of THE most important things to him. You’re probably wondering what made us choose to go with Philips AVENT, right? Well, we chose Philips AVENT for his bottles and we loved them so it made sense to give their pacifiers a try. He loved them from the very first time we put them in his mouth, when he was just a few days old. However, they did not become his love until in his 11 month. Now, he uses one everyday, most of the day. These are great because they’re made of silicone so it is nearly impossible for the nipple to be bitten off, I’ve tried and can’t with a mouthful of teeth. They are also designed for breath-ability, so there are little air vents around it so that baby’s saliva doesn’t just sit behind it and irritate the skin. Plus they have fun little designs on the base of them, while not an important feature for baby, momma might care. 😉 If you’re looking for a pacifier for your babe, I highly recommend Philips AVENT’s.

Fisher-Price EZ Clean High Chair, Coco Sorbet

We continue to LOVE this high chair! We have this Fisher-Price chair in the Luv U Zoo design and it has stood up to the beatings Emmett has given it. The cloth cover is removable and washable, so anytime Emmett decides to take a bite of yogurt and then spit it out on his high chair, it’s no big deal, we just take it off and pop it in the washer. The tray is easily connected and removed, I’ve done it with one available hand before and it is very sturdy. Since we live in an apartment we slide it to and from the table daily and it has not shown any signs of wear. It’s current $84 price point, makes it well worth the purchase!

Boppy Nursing Pillow with Slipcover

This has once again made our favorite things list (this is the 4th time). It has been an amazing tool for breastfeeding, and I am comfortable saying that without it, I’m not sure how successful Emmett and I would have been. There are tons and tons of options out their for breastfeeding pillows but I truly believe that Boppys are one of the best. Our pillow and its slipcover have stood the test of time (13.5 months and counting) and many many washes. Oh and in case you’re curious, we have the sweet pea slipcover and it’s very cute!

Philips AVENT Toddler Spout and Philips AVENT Natural Drinking Cups

I swear that I do not work for Philips AVENT, nor is this a sponsored post, I just adore their products. Every Philips AVENT item we’ve purchased has lived up to it’s hype. We wanted a sippy cup that would provide a nice flow for Emmett but not just leak if dumped over. So many sippys out there, that don’t leak, require the baby to suck really hard to get any fluid out. Would you want to work that hard to get any liquid out? With the Toddler Spout cups, it is absolutely leak proof until he sucks, but it requires as much suction as you would need to use a straw.

The Natural Drinking cups are great because they begin to prepare the toddler for drinking out of a normal cup but are leak proof until you tip it back and the toddler’s nose presses on the center circle. Emmett’s still learning how to drink using one of these, but it the perfect transition cup. I highly recommend both!

Philips AVENT BPA Free Classic Polypropylene Bottles

These made a previous list but Emmett continues to use one bottle a day at day care. The bottles have shown no sign of wear and we’ve not had one broken or cracked nipple in the entire time that Emmett has been using them (12 months). I learned about these bottles as a nanny and loved them enough to bring them into my home for Emmett, I continue to love them and will use them with any future children.

Pampers Cruisers

We loved the Pampers Swaddlers and because of a recommendation from a friend we tried the Pampers Cruisers. We have not been disappointed. They work and fit as well as the Swaddlers. We will be sticking with them until he grows out of them.

Philips AVENT DECT Baby Monitor

Yes, another Philips AVENT product. Every single product I have of theirs is awesome, so we just keep buying more. Make excellent products and you end up with loyal customers. When I was still pregnant, we debated getting a video monitor, Seamus wanted one, I saw no reason for one. Emmett’s room is 20 feet away and at the first sound of distress I’d be charging in there. I eventually convinced Seamus to see my side and we started our search for a baby monitor and after looking over a ton of reviews, the Philips AVENT DECT Baby Monitor won out. It is affordable, and picks up every little creak or crack in his room. I NEVER felt like I was missing anything by not having a video monitor. This monitor has some seriously awesome features too, you can turn down the sensitivity so that it doesn’t run constantly and will only turn on at the first sound it hears. When I say it picks up everything, I am not lying. If he rolls over or sighs, it picks it up. The end that sits in the baby’s room does not have a rechargeable battery but you can leave it plugged in or you can use batteries in it as a back-up. The parent end is rechargeable and the battery life on that sucker is amazing, I’m talking days. We’ve never struggled with interference or any sort of feedback and we’re going on 14 months of use. If you’re like me and don’t see a reason for the video monitor, check out this Philips AVENT product.

Your turn!

What were some of your favorites for you children when they were 9 to 12 months old?

Please feel free to check out my other Favorite Things posts, 0 to 3 Months, 3 to 6 Months and 6 to 9 Months.

Filed Under: Reviews

Dear Emmett – 13 Months,

Posted on August 27 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

You are 13 months old! Can you believe that? 13 whole months and we are well on our way into your second year!

We’ve been busy since your last birthday! You are more active than ever, and you keep becoming more and more fun. You are exploring and getting into everything and it makes for some pretty exciting play times.

You’re a lucky little boy! Your daddy and I decided to take our dining room, make it baby safe and turn it into your playroom. We cleared out all of our stuff that was in there (we were mainly using it for storage), bought a baby fence and got some foam flooring (from your paternal grandparents) and now it is a toddler’s paradise. You have all sorts of toys in there now too, legos, fisher-price people, wooden blocks, shape sorters, a little table and chairs (from your maternal grandparents), crayons and paper, etc. We need to get some bins to keep the toys in, because as of now things are kind of strewn all over the place but you love being in there as long as we’re in there with you. I’m happy that we could make you so happy!

You are also firmly in the walking stage, and actually you are nearly running. Shortly after your first birthday you began slowly walking more than crawling. You’d stand yourself up, take a few steps and then plop down. As the month progressed, you became more and more of a pro and now you hardly ever crawl. The only time is if you’ve fallen and are trying to chase us, you will often chase after us in a speedy little crawl.

We bought you your first pair of shoes. I wanted to make sure we got you shoes that had soft soles with some rubber on the bottom because your feet aren’t fully formed and I didn’t want hard rubber soles inhibiting that. The most notorious for those types of bottoms is the PediPed brand, but we needed something kind of quick and ended up finding a cute pair at Babies R Us, in their Koala Kids line. They’re adorable, and the first time I put them on you was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time. They don’t bother you too much now, but you still take them off almost every morning on the car ride to day care. Silly boy!

I’m so excited to say that you have mastered the signs we’ve taught you thus far. We taught you milk, water, more and all done and you can do them all and use them frequently. You were doing milk really early on, you’d know it was time to nurse and you’d start to clench your little fist, which is your version of milk. However, you’ve slowly but surely began using it whenever you are actually wanting milk, not just when I ask you. You also know that when you’re thirsty and don’t want milk, that you can ask for water. When we are all sitting down to dinner and you’ve finished everything that you want on your tray, you will make the sign for more and we will give it to you. It is really awesome! You’re slowly beginning to gain the ability to communicate with us and it is just so fun.

You continue to make your different sounds but more and more they are beginning to actually sound like the words we speak. When I ask you if you’re all done, you will wave your hands (the sign for all done) and make a sound that sounds like “alld.” I wouldn’t say it is a formal word yet, more of a mimic of what I said but you are definitely getting closer.

You and food get along great! You love eating and for the most part continue to eat anything we give you. You do go in spurts where you’ll only eat soft foods, but I believe that’s because you’re growing some of your back teeth (poor guy).

Right now, I’d say your favorite toy is a toss up between your fisher-price farm (that your aunt, uncle and cousin got you) and your legos. With the farm house, you love opening and closing the doors and hearing the animal sounds they make. You also love moo’ing yourself, I’ll show you the cow and go “Mooooooo” and you’ll mimic me. It’s adorable! When you’re done playing with the farm, you like to leave the doors open and if I close them you open them back up. Such a cutie! In regards to the legos, anytime that your dad or I build something, you love to grab it and take it apart. You’ve also begun trying to get them to stick together, you’ll bang bang bang and then sometimes they’ll stick and sometimes they won’t. When they do, you get the BIGGEST smile on your face.

You love cuddling up with your big brown monkey blanket, it pretty much goes everywhere with us. You’re also really into cuddling up this stuffed monkey that plays music that I got as a gift from some of my staff in Rochester. I love it when you lay your head down on his belly and curl up, it is the sweetest thing.

I just cannot believe you’re 13 months, I love you and can’t wait to see what the next month will bring us.

To see all of the Dear Emmett’s, click here.

Filed Under: Daily Updates, Emmett, Family