A play yard is great to put around your raised Christmas tree to keep little hands from taking off the ornaments or unwrapping the presents, or to keep little people from knocking over the tree, or maybe even keep them from climbing it. When our son was a toddler, our play yard was a perfect solution to keep him from playing with all the ornaments on the tree and the gifts under the tree. It’s been so long that I don’t remember him trying to climb the tree, but he was a climber and given the opportunity, he probably would have tried to climb the Christmas tree. We did have to put the tree up a little higher to get the tree completely out of his reach, though, so we put an end table inside the play yard and then put the Christmas tree up on top of the end table. Hard as he might try, he just couldn’t reach the tree!

Grandbabies are so cute, and they’re especially cute when they’re your own grandbaby! (mine I refer to as Baby J - he’s 3 1/2 months old) Two different days I had on shirts that had thin, vertical, dark lines on them, and Baby J stared at both shirts and smiled at them like he had new friends. I don’t know what it was, but he definitely liked them and was even “talking” to one of my shirts. So cute! One of his favorite “friends” is a toy star that came with his play mat. It lights up, changes colors, and plays music. He smiles and talks to his star just about every day, and when he sees it after being away from it for a day or so, he smiles really big like he’s glad to see a friend he hasn’t seen in a while. So very cute!

When our son was a baby, he really liked ceiling fans. We would go out to eat at Captain D’s, and he would be so fascinated with the fan that it would entertain him while we ate. When he was old enough to say mama and dada, though, he would look up at the fan and say “Dada.” LOL We never could figure out why he did that except maybe the long ceiling fan pull reminded him of his daddy’s necktie. Well, guess who else likes ceiling fans…our grandson, Baby J. He loves to look up and smile at his new friend, the ceiling fan. Who knows what goes on in the mind of babies! Whatever it is, I guess it runs in the family.

I went to a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting with our daughter and “Baby J” when I was out visiting recently. It was really fun and educational as well. The speaker talked about a good way to teach children as young as two years old to sort their own laundry. What she does is to have two laundry baskets. She has a white basket for white laundry and a colored basket for colored laundry. Children should know colors by then and with a little training, they might think it’s a fun game. What a neat idea!

This week was great.  I went to help take care of our grandbaby while our daughter was busy getting things finished for a deadline on Thursday evening.  I loved getting up in the morning and getting to watch Baby J smile and make his precious little two month old baby sounds.  And he was really hungry in the mornings (and afternoons and evenings…LOL).  He was so cuddly during feeding time, and I loved to burp him over my shoulder and feel his soft little head against my cheek.   Now, I’m back home, and I really missed holding him this morning.  He is so precious and such a blessing in all of our lives!

I am having so much fun this week. I came out yesterday to stay a few days with our daughter and son-in-law and help out with Baby J. This morning we went to a MOPS meeting, which is such a cool program. If you’re a mother with a baby and/or pre-schoolers, you ought to check it out. When we first got there, we got to get some delicious goodies from the brunch table. Then we had visiting time with the other moms at our table while we ate. After that, we had a really good speaker who spoke about teaching organizational skills to pre-schoolers. I wish I had known some of these things when my children were little. Anyway, this is such an excellent program and hope everyone has a chance to check it out.

Target is recalling baby rattles for the second time this year. The first recall of 460,000 plush baby rattles was January 18. These rattles had small pieces that could break off and become a choking hazzard. Yesterday they recalled 82,000 plush rattles with sports themes also because of a choking hazzard. These rattles were made in China. (recalls from China are beginning to sound like a broken record) There have been no reported injuries, but these rattles are filled with beads and can break open. In both recalls, there were no reports of choking occuring. I’m glad Target and other companies stay on top of things and recall items before an injury occurs.

Our daughter dresses our new grandbaby, Baby J,  in such cute baby clothes.   Recently she dressed him in little blue jeans and a plaid button-up shirt.  He looked adorable!  And he has cute little sleepers and onsies which make him look so cuddly to hold.   Our son-in-law has a video game with an electric guitar that he enjoys playing after a long day at work, so she bought a cool T-shirt for Baby J that says “Rock Star.”  It is just too cute for words!   It’s always fun to see what cute baby clothes Baby J will have on next!

One million cribs have been recalled after three infant deaths caused by a faulty drop-rail side. The brands “Simplicity for Children” and “Graco” are sold by large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. The cribs affected were sold from January 1998 to May 2007 for $100-$300. This is the fourth recall for Simplicity in two years.

Why is it so neat to give a new baby a bath? I guess because everything is so new and the first things that the baby does or experiences are special. When our grandson had his first bath recently, our daughter and s-i-l bathed “Baby J” while I took pictures. And I shared with them what I did when our son was a baby: put a washcloth in the strategic area so you don’t get sprayed! LOL “Baby J” enjoyed his bath and it was a good experience for him.

When babies get older and you have a lot of bath toys, The Mommy Blogger has a great idea: Put the toys in a plastic basket so the water can drain out the bottom. That way the toys don’t get slimy. And I don’t know anybody who likes yuchy, slimy bath toys. Visit the Mommy Blogger to get more great ideas.