Baby Jogger City Mini GT Stroller

There are hundreds of different strollers available these days and like, with any product, sometimes a name brand dominates the market. I can't seem to go anywhere without seeing someone pushing a Baby Jogger City Mini GT. And I wonder, "Is this stroller really worth all the hype?" What's the difference between my neighbor's Baby Jogger City Mini GT and my friend's Baby Trend Stroller? Okay, maybe that's comparing apples and oranges. Better yet, what's the difference between Baby Jogger City Mini GT and Baby Jogger Mini...or Select...or Elite?So many questions.  So little time.  Literally.  I don't know about you, but being a parent to two young kids, I seriously have so little time.  Therefore, I'll try to keep this short. 

The Baby Jogger City Mini GT stroller is the stroller to have these days and for a lot of reasons.  Number one is probaby its ease of use.  The City Mini GT is so incredibly easy to push, you really could probably steer it with your pinky finger.  It rides soooo smooth!  But not only that, it's a breeze to collapse and open back up again, it's light to pick up, and easy to store.  It comes with a giant sun canopy to keep your baby cool and shady.  It's roomy enough for older kids to ride, but safe and cozy enough for a baby to fall asleep with the reclining, padded seat. 

Here are the differences between a few of the Baby Joggers, in a nutshell:

The City Mini is the smallest and lightest of all the Baby Joggers.  It is best used for casual strolling on pavement or "urban terrain". 

The City Mini GT is the next size up and is a nice compromise between the Mini and Elite.  It can hold children up to 65 pounds and is a good choice for a bit more vigorous walking than the Mini.

The City Elite is very similar to the Mini GT, but has larger wheels and include a handlebar console.  It only comes in a single stroller and weighs a big more than the Mini GT, but with that, allows for a larger weight capacity in its passenger (up to 75 pounds!).   

For an easy to read chart on all the Baby Joggers, check this out:
http://www.babyjogger.com/PDFs/Comparison_chart.pdf

The Baby Jogger City Mini GT is one of our favorite lightweight strollers!  So, yes, there is a reason you see so many parents easily pushing their babies around in it.  We believe that the City Mini GT is worth all the hype.  Check it out for yourself!

Sign With Your Baby!

You've certainly heard of people using sign language with their babies.  And perhaps you even know a bit of sign yourself.  But do you know of all the benefits from signing with your children?  We started signing with our children when our son was about 2 years old and our daughter was just an infant.  Both kids LOVE to sign and it's been a fun learning process for our whole family. 

Signing Time and Baby Signing Time DVDs have been a fun and interactive way to learn sign language that our kids continue to enjoy, years later. 

BabySigningTime.com-Signing is a fun way to boost your child's brain growth and early learning! Click here!

The best baby teether!

Sophie the Giraffe.  Absolute best baby teether/toy I've come across.  A friend of mine bought Sophie for her son and I thought she was cute.  I also thought she was a bit expensive for a single baby toy.  However, after seeing how much Sophie was used and loved, I realized how worth the money paid for her she was.  I wound up getting a Sophie of my own for my little girl.  And I have to say, she has been a constant in our household for almost 3 years.  Sophie started out as a teether, then served as an everyday toy, and is now our daughter's "lovey".  And I've seen many other toddlers out there with Sophies that are loved (and chewed) just as much as ours.  There are many different versions of Sophie out there - and she even has some friends (honestly, I can't tell what they are though - they look like an animal-mushroom to me...?!), so choose your Sophie wisely.  Every baby deserves a friend like Sophie!

*One of my all-time favorite baby shower gifts!

Discipline That Works!

We have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, so life can be crazy at times.  And many of those times, my husband and I just plain don't know what to do.  We've gotten stuck in this rut of bribing our kids to behave, which only lasts for so long.  And then there are the times I want to pull my hair out.  "Is anyone listening to me?!"  As a stay at home mom, (as any parent!), I often feel like I am talking, but NO ONE is listening to me.  How many times do you have to tell a pre-schooler to put on his shoes?  Very frustrating. 

No more!  A good friend of mine, who is a 3rd grade teacher, recommended the book, "123 Magic" to me and it has made a world of difference!  This book is so easy to read - it's funny and tangible and the suggestions and ideas are easy to implement.  My husband and I started using the 1-2-3 technique a few weeks ago and we have seen such a great improvement in our kids' behavior - and our's too!  No more yelling, no more nagging!  The kids know what is expected of them and we, as parents, have a good tool that helps us to deal with difficult situations.

I have read several other books on discipline, but nothing has been as helpful or as down-to-earth as this book.  I am recommending this book to everyone I know with young kids! 

Forehead Thermometer

We recently spent the day at our pediatrician's office for our son's high temp and belly pain.  It turned out to be nothing serious, but we were so impressed with the speed and ease of the doctor's forehead thermometer, that we decided to buy one for ourselves.  And we LOVE it!!!!  It's the easiest thing to use and boy is it quick!  The one we bought doesn't even touch the patient's head.  You just scan it across your little babe's forehead and you instantly get an accurate reading.  The screen is a back-lit LCD screen, so you can even read it in the dark....which by the way, you can EASILY take a temp on a sleeping child.  No more under the tongue / in the armpit / in the ear / in the bottom / in the ear awkward and uncomfortable temperature takings!  Did I tell you how much I love it?!?!  It's the same thing our doctor uses in his office, so I trust it and know it's accurate and I don't have to worry about adding various degrees to get the true body temperature.  This is one thing I am so happy to have on hand for those crummy, feverish nights with the kids. 

                                                         

Recaro Car Seats - Safe Enough for NASCAR!

Have I told you about Recaro car seats?  These are among the safest car seats on the market, and yet remarkably, very few people have even heard of them! 

RECARO is the seat specialist for the automotive industry with "complete seat expertise". Decades of collaboration with medics, professors of ergonomics, universities and institutes have created an unreachable lead for RECARO.

Recaro makes safety seats for automobile (including NASCAR) and aircraft companies.  With a reputation for safety standards high enough to protect professional racecar drivers going hundreds of miles an hour (not to mention the speed of airplanes!), Recaro has the experience and know-how when it comes to safety. 

So what are Recaro car seats like?   They may not have all the bells and whistles of some of the other brands (you won't find fancy seat covers here), but these child safety seats make the grade with flying colors!  Recaro has taken everything the company has learned over the past 100 years of business about seating safety and "miniaturized it!" 

On our site, http://www.best-baby-gear.com/, we have two Recaro car seats listed as our top picks.  The Recaro ProRIDE Convertible Car Seat offers protection for babies up to 70 pounds, while the Recaro ProSPORT Combination Harness to Booster Car Seat can be used for children 20-120 pounds!  Read our reviews to learn more about each of these amazing car seats.

So be one of the first of your friends to strap your child into a NASCAR-quality car seat.  We think this is a trend worth starting!

More MLK Books for Kids!

I found a few more books about MLK appropriate for school-age kids!  Great!

   
  














And this one's one of my personal favorites...not about Martin Luther King specifically, but the themes and values are the same...