Window Shopper

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Searching for some things for another blog I write, I began to find so many things for baby and toddlers. There is so much out there to choose from if you know what to look for at least. When looking for baby gifts, if you want to find something that is really different so that you do not give the same thing everyone else did, just search out the unique gift section of any online store. There are some really great things there. For instance, I ran across things like a nature gift basket that has some stuffed toys of non-domestic animals, a bird house that opens for a baby to grab things out and so on. It seems to be a good gift for a baby that is just learning to grab and hold on. How about a baby’s first teddy bear that can be held by very small hands. Very huggable.

Looking for gifts for toddlers is not much different. Usually, the classification starts at one year up for them. You can find a whole lot of good toys and clothing. My only concern is for safety and where it was made. That works for baby too. But the toddler items are plentiful. Everything from wooden blocks and toys to very complicated items are all available with a quick search using the words toddler and unique or gifts.

But I have to tell you that the best gift I have seen in quite a while for a small child or baby is a personalized book that my sister has for her granddaughter. The baby is still way too little to read it herself but she is fascinated with the pictures. Her name is all over the book but in such tasteful ways that you just enjoy reading it yourself. For instance, the cover of the book has a fall picture with leaves all over the ground but in front, all the leaves spell out her name. That is so cute. I discovered that all the pictures had her name spelled out in large letters so that when she gets to the age that she starts recognizing her name, she will be able to know it very quickly. And I have to tell you that this is not like some of those cheesy books that were personalized. This is on a much higher level of excellence. Well done.

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Have you any idea whatsoever what a hassle it has become to look for good baby toys? My sister’s granddaughter is needing good baby toys. She is just at that age where she is starting to really grasp things and needs a few good toys to hang onto. However, with the scare of the products from China, it’s very difficult to find those really good things anymore. I remember years ago, we did not have that problem. Toys were easy to come by. Some were not safe but if you used common sense you could manage to find those toys that helped the kids to learn and grow.

You know, I wasn’t even looking for unique baby gifts, though that would be great. I was simply trying to find some basic toys that would teach how to grasp. I remember a toy that was multi-sided, had shapes to put into it, teaching the child about shapes and how to master putting them into the proper place. You can hardly even find things like that anymore. I was at the store the other day looking for toys there. Looking at the back, each and every toy was made in China. EVERY ONE! I cannot believe that China has taken over our country like this. Unbelievable.

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The newest recall is for convertible cribs. I saw one of those recalls on the news. The other I found on the government website for recalls. The one in the news was from Delta Childrens products and the other was from Playkids USA. Apparently the side comes down unexpectedly and baby gets caught in the side of the crib and it can and did lead to death, twice.

This recall is yet another in the case of us against China. It is very important to take note here that most of the recalls that we see on the tube are from China. That government is doing all it can to spoil our lives, if not actually poison or kill us in some way. Does anyone here see that so many of the products on the market shelves are now MADE IN CHINA??!!!!! I know that I have become more observant about that in the last few months. Who knew? China has started to take over our goods and products in the United States. How did that happen?

Case in point: I was at Walmart today to buy some things for my sister’s granddaughter, a baby almost 5 months old. While there, I decided to check out baby toys since she is just learning to grasp things and enjoy herself with new toys. I guess I should not be surprised to find that virtually ALL of the toys available through our so-called SUPERCENTER Walmart have the label, MADE IN CHINA. I am talking about brands we know here like Fisher Price!!! There were precious few toys to start with. That is a slam against Walmart right there. We have newborns and babies all over the place here but there are few toys for them at Walmart. We live in a rural area. There are few places to purchase such things here. But there were NO toys from the U.S. or any other place, only from China.

Earlier this year, we bought some dog treats for our puppy. We found some chew treats that are pretty hard with some type of meat flavor inside them. She loved them. However, when I looked at the packaging, it said MADE IN CHINA!!! Again with China. Does everything we eat, sit on or wear have to come from CHINA?????? I am getting pretty disgusted with places like Walmart who used to only buy American but that was when Sam Walton was alive. Now, it’s coming from a country that does not seem to care that we are being poisoned and killed by them through these products that are so plentiful here.

After all the recalls, don’t you think it’s just about time we put a halt to the poison and danger that country puts us in all the time? Certainly if the consumers refuse to buy MADE IN CHINA labels, wouldn’t we be all the better for it? Consider this. China exports amazing amounts of products to us. You can pick up just about any goods these days and many of them will have that label. However, the Chinese do not see our goods as nearly as valuable so we only export a pittance to them. That would be because they love getting our money but will NOT allow our products to grace their homes. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of them?

I believe it is time to take the plunge and stop Chinese products from coming in to our country until they 1) start cleaning up their act by sending us safe and healthy products and 2) allow our goods into their country in the same levels that we are taking in theirs. If they will not do this, I think we should put a stop to all imports from China. ALL. Our children are depending on us to protect them. How can we do that when most of what we give them to play with, sleep in and eat are made in China?

For more information concerning these recalls, you can go to the government page or a website called Parents.com.

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Back in May, our extended family was gifted with the arrival of a beautiful young lady who came into the world and our family with gusto. She has not changed at all in that regard. She has changed just a whole lot because she is growing so fast that no one can keep up with her. My sister and brother in law are having such fun just trying to stay up with one who grows out of her clothes and diapers practically as fast as you can get ahold of new ones. Truthfully, it’s just a good thing they have a bed that more or less grows with her. However, they found that they needed more baby bedding, something they learned pretty fast. I guess you know why. They couldn’t keep up with the messes at first. Hey, it takes a bit of practice to learn baby’s schedule!! Everything is working out just fine now.

She is so pretty and such fun to be around. This young lady has a smile on her face most of the time. We get to see her every week when we visit. Most of the time, we show up within a little while of her nap time. But that doesn’t matter. She still has a smile and a laugh for us. She jabbers a lot. I just know she has important things to say! I guess the only problem I see is that you can almost see her growing out of her clothes!! What a kid!

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It had been several weeks since we last saw my sister’s granddaughter. For some reason, in my head she was still the nearly newborn we saw a month and a half ago. How silly. We visited on Saturday and found that she has changed so much that she grew out of most of her clothes already. My sister and brother in law have their hands full with this little gal. Now at 4 months old, she is about to grow out of many other things too. For instance, they have a baby car seat but it is no longer enough for her. Of course, if they had a Britax car seat there would be no question. That particular car seat allows for children up to 65 lbs and is quite ready for anything that comes. Safety is their first priority apparently. It converts as the child grows. Not bad at all.

Equipping the baby is an ongoing experience but I doubt they expected to do this quite so soon. A whole new wardrobe is necessary as well. I remember how hard it can be trying to keep up with a child’s growth. Sometimes, it just seems like it goes faster than you can think straight. It will not be long before they will have to deal with mobility. That’s a lovely time. They get into everything, curious about it all. Nothing stops them if they want to see what it is. Yes, the baby has grown. Out of clothes, certain toys, car seat and all.

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I am sure I mentioned that our extended family has a new member, right? She was born to my niece making Mollie Beth my grand niece or great niece, I believe. And she is absolutely beautiful, smart and all sorts of things that work for little bitty kids like her. At this time, I believe she is almost 3 months old. Since I cannot get out to see her, she will look so different to me by the time I can see her again. And so big!

Reports coming in from a proud grandma say that she is already on solids, teething, has a major preference in types of music. This kid is smart. She has learned how to get grandpa to hold her too. There are times for one and then the other. Don’t forget great-grandma either. She gets a turn at holding her majesty. And the aunts are hanging around a lot too. Of course, being teens, they are fascinated with baby Mollie.

Because I do not get to see her right now, I will not see some of her milestones and that’s sad. I would love to watch her say things (apparently she is saying a few things already. I did mention that she’s smart), see her love of music, watch her give grandpa a fit which she is apparently quite good at doing. I am blown away at the fact that this kid can talk already. Most kids don’t do that for months, just make gurgle noises.

But my problems will not last forever so I will get to see some of her firsts, I know. Say, Christmas is coming. Now that’s another first for her. She was born in May. Missed my birthday by about a month. Too bad. I can’t wait to see her get one of her first dollhouses, baby dolls and maybe Barbie. Right now, she has a ragdoll that she will not part with. I remember Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. I had one. Do you notice how hard it is to get the really good ones anymore? Well, she will have the best of everything if it’s affordable. This is going to be one really spoiled brat!! Hahaha. Nah, she is loved and there is no question whatsoever. I love it.

Thing is, with this being the computer age, I suspect she will be on one by the time she’s 4 or 5 if not sooner. Good thing too. Kids these days seem to grow up on the computers. If they don’t get there that soon, they lose out. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Having a kid on the computer all the time doesn’t leave much time for anything else, does it? They have to have time outside too. That was something I had a lot of, time outside. We didn’t have computers when I was growing up, just had to use our imaginations. I think kids today need that more than ever. So, Mollie Beth will need to use that imagination of hers instead of always using the computer. As a great aunt, I will have to tell her that……a lot, I imagine.

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As you may already know, my niece is having a baby. She should have the little girl in May but one never knows. The one big thing that is necessary for any baby are the baby clothes. You have to have lots and lots of baby clothes. I doubt very much that you could have too many of that item because babies have the tendency to soil their clothes rather quickly. This happens when you feed them, burp them and change them.

Let’s face it, kids are messy. And the really messy ones are the little, tiny babies who just like to spit and play. This baby is going to have a bunch of clothes, true. BUT I have been there. Sometimes, it pays to get more baby clothes than you think you will ever need. Then when you get into those, you can breathe a sigh of relief….like I did….twice. For those of you who are also having babies, you have been warned!!!

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