Our house is currently a non-stop train to toddler-dom. What the heck.  How is all this happening so quickly and why are my days running together.. days turning to weeks and then a month has gone by?  We are well into Parker and Jolie’s 8th month and here I am looking back at all that has changed over the past couple months.  From month six to seven there wasn’t a whole lot of change in the ‘favorites’ category- just improvement and advancement in better use of the items we favored to choose most of the time.  Since then, the biggest change I’ve seen in my girls is their appetites- which is why much of this month’s favorites is devoted to feeding baby.    

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1. Baby Brezza Food Processor. I don’t know what I would do without this small appliance.  I cannot get enough of its perfection.  It is important to set yourself up for success if you are making the decision to prepare homemade baby food and I believe that your machine of choice is really important.  I confess that this is the only appliance I’ve used for steaming and pureeing fruits and vegetables for my girls to enjoy.  I have other mom friends that use the Baby Bullet or the simple steam and blend in a blender routine.  I do love that the Brezza has the capability to steam and puree all with the same push of a button.       

2. Fisher Price EZ Clean Teether. Total life saver this last month!  We stick everything from crushed ice cubes to frozen fruit and recently I’ve been freezing baby yogurt in the top and popping the green bottom on before serving it to the littles.  They love it!!  Set them up in their high chairs with a bib and they are good to go for at least 30 minutes.  My girls love the soft rubber on their gums-even if there is nothing in it. 

3. Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby Sunscreen.  Helllooo summer sun!  My babies and their super soft skin need protection for the days of afternoon walks and trips to the pool!  Parker has really fair and sensitive skin and the 60+ SPF provides great protection and doesn’t break her out like a couple other products have in the past.    

4. Baby Einstein Discovering Music Activity Table.  My girls love this activity table!  Since around 5 months old Jolie has been pulling up on everything that she could to reach a standing position. Last month, Parker joined in on this fun and so we decided that, even though we love the sit to stand walker I mentioned in their 6 months favorites post, it would be beneficial to have one toy that they could both stand at.  We totally thrifted this one at Once Upon a Child for a quarter of what it goes for retail.  If ever we have an idea of something we want to get the girls, we almost always check out OUC or Kid to Kid first.  Jordan really wanted to get more than one, but after swimming through the racks upon racks of clothes to find matching outfits, I put him off on the second toy and purchased the clothes instead.     

5. Sleeveless Onesies.  It’s August.  We live in Texas. It is {freakin’} hot as all get out.  My girls live in these for the repeated 100+ degree days.

6. Cooking for Baby.  Even though baby purees have nothing much of anything in them, I’ve found great inspiration for blended purees in this cookbook.  The recipes are organized by age, showing how to introduce cereal grains (as well as how to make your own homemade cereals and grains!) simple vegetable and fruit purees to your infant at 6 months, how to move on to chunkier foods by 8 or 9 months, and how to graduate to real meals for young toddlers of 12 to 18 months. What I like the most about this book is that it starts simple with one-ingredient purees, and gradually introduces recipes that have more texture and use the same ingredients that the baby has already had. The book is broken down into sections by age (e.g., 6 months, 7-8 months, 9-11 months, etc), and offers great information about appropriate food choices, textures, and quantities for baby.

7. Gerber Yogurt Blends.  After daddy gave the girls a little taste of his yogurt one afternoon, I cannot even come close to them with a snack cup in my hand without them practically breaking my arm to get a taste.  I scouted out the grocery aisle of all things baby and found these to try out.  SUCCESS.  They love em!  We offer it to them for their mid-morning solid meal as well as with dinner and they eat it right up.  After reading and talking with our pediatrician about whether or not it is safe for babies this age to have whole cow’s milk yogurt, I found out that it would be perfectly acceptable to offer them plain yogurt, not specifically for baby.  At about $3-$4 for a box of 4 cups we are going through them quickly.  If I let them the girls would eat an entire pudding cup by themselves!  I think this week instead of getting this brand, I’m going to experiment with some plain yogurt and I’ll mix in my own fruit purees.

8. Beaba Multiportions Freezing Tray.  Another must-have feeding accessory!  I’ve used regular ice trays for my baby food purees- but found it difficult to pop out the cubed purees from the tray once they were frozen.  I almost always took a butter knife to it to loosen up around the edges.  The material and shape of these silicone trays makes removing frozen baby food a breeze. Its super easy to clean between uses- either hand washed or tossed in the dishwasher (I’m an avid user of the dishwasher).  The portions are 2 ounces rather than just one ounce, which is nice since my girls are eating much more than they were before.  If you are like me and make baby food in bulk all at once, highly suggest purchasing more than just one. 

Of course this list isn’t exclusive of all the past favorite items we continue to use on the regular- diapers.. (duh), sleep sacs, light up toys, board books, Sophie.. and the list goes on.

Anything on this list I’m missing out on for my girls at 8 months??  Let me know!