Henry is a train fanatic. I call him a “choo-choo cuckoo.” He will push trains until he can’t keep his eyes open before his afternoon nap. My sweet 2 year-old snuggles with trains in his bed. It’s all around adorable.

I was excited when TOMY sent Henry a set of the the Chuggington 1, 2, 3 Tracks. We recently bought him some wooden train tracks for his birthday. We bought the generic brand tracks from Target because the Thomas and Friends tracks were more than we wanted to spend. Now, after using this new track I wish we had bought all TOMY Chuggington tracks! The good news? The Chuggington 1, 2, 3 Track fits perfectly with most other wooden train track brands. (Thomas, Melissa & Doug etc.)

(Raise your hand if you’re a parent who already has the “Chuggington” theme song in your head after reading this? It’s a catchy tune. Well played, Disney Junior, well played.)

What makes the TOMY tracks different is the connected hinges that flex up and down, and rotate 360 degrees. Parts of the track are already connected and designed so that little kids can make their own layout and play with it right out of the box. Henry got the “Wilson Rides The Rails” set. The track makes an oval, but disconnect in a few places and rotate to make other shapes and connect with other tracks.

We got a hand-me-down train table without tracks a few years ago when my 5-year-old daughter was little. The Chuggington track fits great. I love the Wilson train that has the same magnets as our other trains. Henry is young and I don’t have the patience to connect more plastic trains together. The wooden trains with magnets are so much better for little hands. Wilson connects with Thomas and other brands of wooden trains.

The TOMY Chuggington Wooden Railway sets are available for your little train lover at Toys R Us this holiday season! The The “Wilson Rides The Rails” starter set retails for $29.99 and is recommended for ages 2 and up. Tell me what you like or dislike about your train sets. Have you tried the Chuggington sets? What is your train lover wishing for this year?

Your 30’s are a cruel time for skin. It’s weird. We sometimes still get zits like a teen or twenty-something, but now we’re starting to see some wrinkles. Add the pregnancy hormones and the under-eye circles from sleepless nights with babies and we’re looking a little rough. Let’s not forget the sun spots starting to show up from our former tanning bed days. I was all like, “I know this is bad for me, but I HAVE to be tan for Spring Break!” Ugh! I want to shake that silly 20-year-old girl.

As an almost 34-year-old woman I needed to change up my skincare routine. I stopped nursing my 1 1/2 year-old when he was 14 months. When I stopped breastfeeding my skin broke out.

Ugh! Breakouts. My history with acne is a long one. It started as a teen, obviously. This was the 90’s, so I went to the dermatologist after no success with Oxy pads and Clearasil. Thanks ads in Seventeen magazine! You lied about acne product effectiveness just like you lied about chokers and butterfly clips being cool! Anyway, the doctor prescribed me antibiotics to treat my skin. It worked, but now we know so much more about overuse of antibiotics and I feel it was unnecessary and unhealthy for me to take all that.

Speaking of unhealthy, let’s discuss the round of Accutane I took in college at age 19. Wanna talk about a dangerous drug? It’s that one. The side effects are insane. If you get pregnant while on Accutane, the birth defects for the child would be severe or deadly. It was supposed to be an “acne cure.” It worked for awhile through my 20’s, but I still had flare-ups.

I used Proactiv for many years and did everything I could with that to keep my skin clear through my pregnancies, but my hormones won out. I was still zitty. Like I said, after pregnancies and breastfeeding, I needed a new skin care routine. Proactiv was no longer cutting it on my 30’s skin. It was too harsh.

I know I’m not the only one who goes through her Facebook feed daily and sees another mom selling Rodan+Fields. Seriously! I know so many women who love these products and want to sell them. They are fervent in their devotion to the products and dedicated to growing their businesses. Multiple times I’ve been with a group of moms and someone said, “Have you tried Rodan+Fields?” You usually hear someone say, “No, but it’s all over Facebook!” Or, “I want to try it, but I heard it’s expensive.”

Cue my friend Andrea. I’ve known her since high school. She married a guy we went to school with. (Let’s hear it for the Class of ’99!) She was a busy mama working full time. Rodan+Fields  now allows her to work part time so she can be home with her kids more and continue her real estate business as well. She has two cute preschoolers and a baby on the way! She sent me a message about joining her team as a consultant myself. I explained that I wasn’t interested in selling, but I was curious about the products. She was like, “That’s cool.”

Wow! A direct sales consultant who respected my wishes to just casually try the product with no crazy pressure?! Thank you! You have my attention! (Take note nail wrap and essential oils moms.) I’m all about supporting moms and their businesses, I’m just not interested in selling. I sold a ton of Cutco knives one summer as a college student. (I know I’m not the only one who can cut a penny in half!) I love seeing the success my sister-in-law has had with Thirty-One bags. I think it’s awesome that Andrea and all the Rodan+Fields consultants I know found a fun way to support their families.

I couldn’t wait to try UNBLEMISH after using the solution tool online to determine what I needed. Rodan+Fields has product lines for many skin needs. Obviously, from the “Before” picture of my forehead above, I needed UNBLEMISH. It has four steps.

• 1. UNBLEMISH Sulfur Wash
• 2. UNBLEMISH Spot Fading Toner
• 3. UNBLEMISH Dual Intensive Acne Treatment (It has Benzoyl Peroxide.)
• 4. UNBLEMISH Oil Control Lotion SPF 20
• I also got SOOTHE Moisture Replenishing Cream per Andrea’s recommendation since I mentioned dryness with some acne products. SOOTHE is another Rodan+Fields line.

I love the Sulfur Wash! Creamy. Not too harsh, but really feels like it cleans. The recommendation in the instructions is a “quarter sized” amount. I found a dime or nickel size did the trick for me. I apparently used too much of the Spot Fading Toner because I ran out quickly. I think I was using too much, honestly. I had some tightness and dryness at first with the toner. The Dual Intensive Acne Treatment was great for that because it had a light moisturizer with the Benzoyl Peroxide, which can be drying. I typically used the SOOTHE at night and the Oil Control Lotion with SPF during the day.

Andrea warned me that my skin could get worse before it got better. I’m not gonna lie. Two weeks in I was about to send Andrea a message and be like, “Uh…these products aren’t working for me. I’m sorry! I’m not the person to review Rodan+Fields.” But, I kept going. 30 days in I noticed improvement for sure! As I approached the 60 day mark I was like, “Yes! Thank you! Much better! This is what I was hoping for!” Take reviews online with a grain of salt. I read some that were like, “I’ve used this for a week and it sucks!” Okay. It’s skin care. It takes time for your skin to adjust and for the products to work properly.

Today I declare myself THE BRAVEST WOMAN ON THE INTERNET for posting these ridiculous close-up pictures of my face. But, I wanted to show the results for real. I did the close-up of my forehead in the previous shots because you couldn’t see the zits as well in these pictures. The dark spot on my left cheek is a crazy sun spot that was kind of faint, but then got super dark when I was pregnant with my second baby. Rodan+Fields has a product for that too. I guess that’s what I’ll try next. Cost dependent, of course.

Oh! Right! The price! That’s the other thing people want to know. Yeah, they cost more than the drug store for sure. These are high-end products. Honestly, it’s not that much more than what you might spend at Sephora, Origins, Clinique, Clarins, Lancome etc. For me it’s worth it. Especially to not have to go to the mall. Andrea gave me my first 60 day supply to try and I will be buying some more soon. They have a program where you get it shipped to you automatically every two months. Mine has lasted longer than 60 days. (Except the toner, but again, I used it wrong.) So I think I may just order as I need it.

If you’re on the fence about trying Rodan+Fields, give it a shot. I like what the products did for me. Click on the Rodan+Fields icon in my sidebar over there to your right or the picture above and try the Solution Tool. Tell me what you think. Have you tried Rodan+Fields? Which line? What do you think?

Now, can we see a regular picture of my face? Yeah, let’s take a look at my clearer UNBLEMISHed skin…

On the left is me my friend Erin and me. She used SOOTHE. She liked it for her Rosaeca. On the right is my husband, my daughter and me after her dance recital. My daughter has the prettiest skin. I hope it stays that way. I want to show her great skin care as she gets older.

 

When you walk into our house it is apparent that children live here, but I don’t think it’s asking too much to not make it SO apparent. Do you follow? What I mean is, it’s totally fine with me to have photos of my adorable babes and family pictures when you walk in our house. Toys and other baby stuff at the door? No. I like having designated spaces for my children’s things. They have their rooms, their playroom and their bathroom. (Pack ‘n Play and exersaucer in the living room excluded.)

That’s why it was bugging me that this was in our downstairs guest bathroom…

Granted, we had some fun with friends when a grown man visiting our house would ask where the bathroom was located. We would joke and tell him he was welcome to use the princess potty seat. We told him the Elmo potty seat was upstairs if he was more comfortable with that one. We cracked up and cringed when the princess seat ended up on one guy’s head after a few beers.

I know those seats are often a potty training incentive, as they were for Charlotte. She has been fully potty-trained for more than a year now, but she is much more comfortable on the commode with the child seat. I would too if my hiney was that tiny.  (Sorry sweet child for telling the Internet this information. We can delete this before middle school. Promise.)

I was psyched when Kohler asked me to try out their Transitions Toilet Seat and Touchless Flush Kit. The Transitions Seat is designed for children and adults. The top seat is designed for children and doesn’t slide out of place like the princess seat did. Charlotte knows it’s for her. We told her it was a “big kid” potty seat and she was delighted. She puts it down herself and told me it was great after she tried it out.

To make our commode that much fancier, we don’t even have to touch it to flush it! I’m nuts about restroom germs, even at home. This is a much more hygienic way to flush, especially with children. It may be the only commode in the house I use come flu season. Charlotte thinks it’s amazing that she only has to hold her hand over the sensor, listen for the beep and it flushes. My handyman husband installed it and said it was very easy. He said the instructions were very clear. Since we installed the touchless system, our problem of a running toilet has been solved! The thing would run all the time. Our water bill took a hit. This will help.

We are so happy with our fancy new toilet. It’s great. I call it “fancy” but in all seriousness, the price was comparable to other flush systems and seats. If you’re building or remodeling, these would be awesome!

What type of seat did your child use when potty-training? Have you ever used a touchless system in a home? Let me know!

Disclaimer: Kohler sent me the Transitions Toilet Seat and Touchless Flush Kit to try, my opinions are free and honest.

Hi. I’m Amy and I slept 7 hours last night.

 

I slept 7 the night before too. It’s a miracle, ya’ll. My squirmy little 9 month old has found his circadian rhythm. It’s about time, son! We were incredibly spoiled with our daughter. Our first born slept through the night when she was just a few weeks old. Seriously. It’s this trait that runs in my husband’s family. All the babies do that.

We quickly realized Henry did not inherit this trait. After talking with a pediatric sleep consultant, I learned a couple things:

1. We can’t do the same thing with both babies. They are different people. Happiest Baby On The Block, the 5 S’s and all that shushing was great for Baby #1. That helped her establish early sleep patterns as a young infant and we never had to use any other sleep methods. In addition, I was working so she naturally fell into a great sleep routine with daycare. I lazily did the same for Baby #2. Mistake! As a newborn, the 5 S’s were great,  but then he needed ME to help him get into a sleep routine as he grew into an older infant. With me staying home, I was the one who needed to establish that, not daycare. Duh! I’m not sure why it took me so long to figure that one out. Live and learn. Granted, he is a lighter sleeper and more voracious eater than his sister, so he may have still had trouble until 9 months, who knows?
2. “Cry It Out” is not the child abuse I thought it was. I wondered how anyone could ever be so cruel as to let their baby scream. Here’s the thing, I was still in the “newborn mindset.” Of course you don’t let a newborn cry it out. They need milk and swaddling and comfort. They can’t be taught anything. They are in the “4th Trimester.” Thank you Dr. Karp. (Karp wrote Happiest Baby On The Block.) But an older infant? My older infant needed a sleep routine and I knew he could sleep through the night. The first night was rough as you may have noted from my Twitter stream as I live tweeted the affair using hashtag #HenryCIO14. But, the next night was better. The next night was even better and by the fourth night he was asleep by 8:30 pm and waking up at 6:00 am. Cue angels singing!

One other thing really helped Henry too as he transitioned out of the swaddle. Remember last week when I had a review and giveaway for Summer SwaddleMe products? I mentioned Henry is now in the fourth stage of their swaddles, the Wearable Blanket. While, he does wear it at night occasionally, he mostly wears that for naps. What is he wearing at night? Glad you asked!

When he was really little I mentioned to Beth Anne, “Henry wants to hold any tag on any fabric all the time. It’s crazy!” She said, “Oh! He’s a tag baby.” Huh? Oh, yeah that’s a thing. That’s why they have baby products devoted to kids who love tags.

Right as I was trying to ditch the swaddle because he was squeezed in it like a little sausage, I discoverd Bitta Kidda. I was all like, “ZOMG! What is that?!” They sent me a Bitta Blankie. They call it a “wearable lovie.” Genius! It’s a sleeper with soft tags right on them to promote self soothing. It is truly perfect for a tag baby or a kid who loves lovies, but you don’t want them to have toys in the crib. In some of the pictures below, he is holding the tag as he sleeps.

All this good sleeping at night as put him on a better nap schedule and we are all generally happier in our house. Now that our tag baby is a self-soothing night sleeper, the husband and I are all like…

Disclaimer: Bitta Kidda sent me a sleeper. My opinions are free and honest. 

Oh, I am still tired. Less tired than I was, but still sleepy. My darling little baby is 8.5 months old. He’s still not sleeping through the night. It’s been a battle, but we are so close! Hopefully I’ll get some good pointers when I attend a seminar with a pediatric sleep expert soon. That’s why I have put off writing this post. Two companies sent me some great products that have really helped Henry sleep and I want to do them justice, but it took several months to get where we are now. I’m going to write about one today and one next week. Stay tuned for more.

So where are we with Henry’s sleep? Well, he takes about a 30 to 45 minute nap in the morning and a two hour nap in the afternoon. He will go down anywhere between 8:30 and 10:00 pm before waking up one to three times a night. Let me be clear when I tell you this is SO MUCH BETTER than it was. I flashback to the days I slept downstairs on the couch with him either on my chest or in the bouncy seat because he woke up every hour or every other hour each night. I’m still waiting for him to sleep for a continuous 8 to 12 hours. We will get there! Keep the faith!

We were spoiled by our daughter. She slept through the night at just a few weeks old. She loved being swaddled. We only used one brand of swaddle with her. Summer Infant Swaddle. When we brought Henry home, we snuggled him up in the same pink fleece swaddle his sister was in. He also rocked the one with pink butterflies. (See below.) I tried to tell my mom that Henry’s manhood was in no way threatened by the pink, but she wanted to get him “a more masculine swaddle.” I told her that was fine as long as it was the Summer Swaddle with the Velcro. Both my babies calmed down as soon as they were swaddled. Granted, Charlotte slept through the night and Henry woke more often, but they both loved the secure feeling.

Right as I was transitioning Henry out of the swaddle this spring, Summer sent me some of their new offerings. They now have four stages that will take you at least through baby’s first year.

1. I was so bummed out that my kids were too big for the SwaddlePod. They would have LOVED that since newborns seem to like to have their hands by their heads. It’s so “womby” and cuddly. Love it!
2. We started with the SwaddleMe stage. (That is the pink swaddle and butterfly swaddle I referenced.) We called them our “baby burritos.” They loved them! They can’t break their arms out and startle themselves awake. So many parents tell me, “They break out of the swaddle!” Not these.
3. When Henry was ready to transition out of the swaddle and it was getting warmer, the level 3 SwaddleMe Wrap Sack was perfect!
4. Now we are in the SwaddleMe Wearable Blanket and I LOVE it. Henry uses it for his naps everyday. When he sees it he knows it’s nap time. It zips for easy diaper changes. I am still not comfortable with blankets in his crib, so this is great. We call him the “flying squirrel” in this thing. It makes me chuckle every time we put him in it.

So, the SwaddleMe Wearable Blanket is what we’re using for naps now and he is consistently taking good naps. We always had them in seasonal pajamas under their swaddle. We used fleece on cold nights and cotton every other time. If we were in the fleece swaddle, we typically had lighter pajamas underneath. We just used our best temperature judgment and they were almost always comfortable.

Henry uses another product for overnight right now, I’ll write about that next week. Again, we have used Summer swaddles with both babies and highly recommend them. Who wants some?! Summer is offering a super lucky Somebody’s Parents reader a prize package of all four products pictured above! Dude! Baby shower present, anyone? You pick boy colors, girl colors or gender neutral. Don’t fear the pink, boys! Henry didn’t. I’ll pick a winner Wednesday. Good luck!

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Disclaimer: Summer Infant sent me swaddles. My opinions are free. I only write about stuff I like.