Make ice cream while playing ball! Sounds like a fantasy family event? Nope, this Ice Cream ball will turn your dull afternoons around, and around and around. Put your ingredients - cream, sugar, vanilla, whatever else you love in on side and ice and rock salt in the other side and you are ready, set and go for a rollie pollie party! After 30 minutes of rolling the ball around, you will be plenty tired and extremely ready for the ice cream that is ready to eat! Now, how is that for fantastic fun?!! I am having kids over for playdates all next week (preschool is on break between summer school and the new school year, yikes!!!) so I can see this coming in very handy. At Amazon for $29.99.

Baby Water Bottle $16.90; Kids Water Bottle $17.99;
Bottle design options; Bottle Grip for Water Bottles $5.99; Thermo $38.90

There is so much interest in non-plastic water bottle options. It saves money and gives peace of mind. Uh, yeah, I can use those both. The best ones I have seen are the SIGGS for their quality, function and style! Of course style, right? Isn't that why we pay more for everything =) Well, you are not only paying more for style with SIGG bottles, I have been using the Thermo since my older daughter switched to non-formula whole milk, which required me to transport milk with me while keeping it cold.

After using Boon's Squirt Spoon, I became obsessed with the sheer genius of their designs. When it comes to mealtimes, we can all use a break with convenient contraptions. There are a ton of them out there but I bought all of these and they actually help keep you sane. I brought the Squirt Spoon ($7.95) on the plane with me recently and I achieved a miraculous feat, a mess free feeding of a 10 month old on a turbulent airplane!!! The spoon dispenses just the right amount of baby food and will even retract if you tip it back (you know, when the baby decides she doesn't want to eat anymore and wants to swat at your hand instead).

When you're safely at home and can experiment with food, the bendable adaptable utensils ($5.99) are perfect for squirming babies who wants to change angles. Or maybe it is just a change of her mood and your left handiness that is causing you grief - not a problem with this set!

My daughter cannot seem to grasp the concept of tipping her sippy cup back so at 11 months, I am still having to hold it for her. I mean come on, it is time to be more independent!! =) We are now on our way to self drinking with this flat shaped sippy ($5.99). How smart is this? The shape does not require as much tipping for the fluid to get in the mouth, as long as the cup is semi parallel to the ground, she is able to get some much needed water in her mouth. The donut shape is also easier to grab for tiny uncoordinated hands.

For my older daughter who is 3 years old, she is out of these baby gadgets but there is still one that is so brilliant!!! I cannot believe I have ruined countless shirts. This bowl with a catcher ($6.99), like the bill of a baseball hat, will prevent drippy foods like yogurt, ice cream, soup and cereal from getting all over. I am now ok with dirty clothes, but my dining chair is not so happy.

The best part is that all these are so well priced. It is worth every penny for the extra added joy it brings to mealtimes. They are all available at one of my favorite online stores, Baby Earth.

Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 12 oz Straw Bottle $34.99; Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 7 oz. Sippy Cup with Handles $14.39; Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 10 oz Food Jar $15.

Road trips and beaches in your near future? You have to have these totally practical and cute Foogos for meals and beverages. I am kind of glad it is summer break because I no longer have to worry about lunches but now I have the bigger headache of entertaining a 3 year old 24/7. I have many beach trips, picnics and short road trips planned but that also means really bad eating habits when we do this. Well, this summer I am going to make sure I pack good healthy lunches in the food jar when we hit the road. And you do not need to rely on box juices - I have discovered the best thing, spa water. Cut up cucumbers, strawberries and mint and throw it into a pitcher with water and your kids will think it is juice. I love it for myself and am happy that my kids think they are drinking something yummy. Spa water is perfect for these bottles to keep it cool and refreshing. And when summer is over, you go back to packing lunches in them. Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 12 oz Straw Bottle $34.99; Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 7 oz. Sippy Cup with Handles $14.39; Foogo by Thermos Leak-Proof 10 oz Food Jar $15 at Amazon.

How ingenious is this spoon? You fill the dispenser with baby food and just give it a squeeze. We all know how tough feedings can be, between baby's flailing arms and hands and you trying to keep baby from grabbing at the bowl and spoon, most of the food usually does not end up in baby's tummy. Not that this will solve all your problems but it is one less thing to worry about and that is good enough for me. This makes a great gift for new moms as part of a gift basket. You never know you need these things until you encounter the giant mess! Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon at egiggle for $8.

Need help packing your kids' lunch? Yeah, as if that isn't enough of a challenge, let's try packing one they'll eat! Here are some fun ideas to make your life a bit easier and your kids a little less hungry when they come home. Kids all love a cute lunch box but we need one that is easy to pack and clean. These Stephen Joseph designs are insulated and come with 12 note cards so you can send little love notes to your kids. How sweet is that? Mine can't read yet so I'll save these for grade school. The Butterfly Frenzy is $15.29 and the Dinosaur Dude's is $15.79. You can get these monogrammed for an additional $7.95.

So now the tough question is, what do you pack? I found this great book,
The Visual Guide: How To Make A Healthy Lunch For Kids ($19.95), which is a DVD that has really creative visual ideas to make the food fun to eat. There are a few recipes but is mostly ideas on presentation (the production is a bit low budget but the content is quite good). Which is why you will need the Good Bites sandwich cutter. It comes in heart and round shape or a simple half and quarters. At Cheeky Money, $5.50 each. All of this makes it fun for you too, now I look forward to making the lunches so I can see what inspiring ideas I can come up with. And there is nothing that gives me a bigger smile than seeing an empty lunch box when I pick her up!

UPDATE: The prices have dropped to $40 for this set but I need to point out that individually, these bottles are only $11. Not sure what is wrong with this store but please buy the individuals!!

We have all heard of the dangers of BPA or bisphenol A (click to read the Washington Post story on it) in almost everything we use, but nothing is more disturbing and causing me more sleepless nights than the fact that it is found in baby bottles. Yes, the things we use to feed our tiny, helpless babies with. I have found and used a couple of BPA free bottles including Green to Grow and Dr. Brown's. I have always used Dr. Brown's so my baby is used to the non-vacuum bottle - she does not know she needs to stop once in a while to let the air flow back in the bottle and for that matter, neither do I. The BPA free Dr. Brown bottles are hard to find and expensive, they are $59.95 for 3 of the 8 oz bottles. I found it on Amazon but have not been able to find it at local stores. The alternative is Green to Grow which you can find at Whole Foods or through their website. These are much more reasonable, $9.99 for the 10 oz bottles and $7.49 for the 5 oz. I had to get the Dr. Brown's because I love their non-gas causing mechanism and so does my baby. I still use the Green to Grow bottles for water and as a back up (we've all been there, baby crying and no clean bottles!!). We all try to do what is best for our babies and for me, if I know something is harmful, I have to do my best of avoid it. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

As a neat freak, I am often appalled at the mess that my 2-year-old son can make during a meal or even a snack! At home it’s easier to clean up. But when we’re on the go, I don’t want him covered in food for the rest of the day, or for his clothes to get stained. The Crumb Chum is the perfect solution! Unlike normal bibs, it provides chin-to-toe coverage, and is available in two sizes and a variety of patterns. It is easy to wipe down, and is machine washable and dryer safe. This will definitely help me keep my car clean! Although I hate to let my son eat in the car, many times it's unavoidable, and he is extremely messy! The Crumb Chum is an easy and cheap way to protect both my son's clothes and my car! At Let Babies Soar! for $9.99.

Yeah, I remember those days when my daughter guzzled water like a fish. I was so happy thinking that I could avoid juice boxes. Yeah, that didn't happen. She developed a hankering for flavor. It only takes on juice box and it's all down hill from there. I still don't do juice boxes all the time because of all the sugar but now she won't drink plain water and I can't exactly dehydrate her just to stay free and clear of sugar. I was introduced to Bot Beverages as an alternative and both my daughter and I love it! Bot water is slightly flavored with very little sugar. Like everything else I feed her, I tried it myself first. I do not drink anything sweet (not even coffee) so I was pleasantly surprised that it was as it advertised, slightly sweetened (75% less sugar than pure fruit juice). Ever so slightly sweetened with pure cane sugar but delightfully flavorful. There is no added color, artificial flavors or preservatives and there is even added vitamins to cover the bases. It comes in grape, berry and orange flavors but our favorite is the grape! These are available at Whole Food's in the kids aisle for $1.49 each.

Need room and simplicity in your household? Look at this totally amazing easy to fold and space saving high chair. There are so many things I love about this chair, it is plastic so it's easy to clean, the trays are removable and dishwasher safe and there is a 5 point harness on it. These are things I am missing one or more of on the 2 highchairs I currently have. I hate the ones with ruffled nylon/pvc fabric, food gets stuck in the nooks and cranny and impossible to clean thoroughly. I also have a wooden highchair that a friend so kindly gave me, but the tray is not removable for cleaning and I never feel it is adequately sanitized. Then there is the problem of sliding for younger tots because it does not come with a harness seatbelt. I wanted the wooden one because it goes better with normal furniture but function has to come first and with this one, I get the best of both world because if I have polite company over, I can easily fold it up and hide it neatly in a closet. It comes in white, pink and blue for $180 at Modern Seed. Looks like I will have 3 highchairs in the house!

180

Kids all love a boost, they are little and they want to be up where we are. I have this nursing stool that is really light and small and my soon to be 3 year old will run to grab it whenever I am doing something on the kitchen counter so she can be involved. So when I heard of the Kaboost, I knew my daughter was going to love it. Instead of a regular booster, which may make your toddler still feel like a baby, this boosts the entire chair so your kid can sit like a grown up on a grown up chair. This is especially helpful if you have a younger child who is in a highchair because who wants a dining room full of highchairs? This way you get your dining room looking like its old self again and your little one will feel like she finally fits in with the scene. The downside? You will need to give a boost to get them in and out of the Kaboost because it does make the chair so much higher. This is a bit of a problem in the beginning for me because my daughter was already able to climb up and down on her own – and you know how important independence is for them. And at first I was concerned about her falling off such a high perch but then I realized it isn’t higher than a booster so if I need to worry, I will need to include booster and highchair on my list of things to worry about. But she hasn’t fallen off yet and it isn’t really an issue. Another thing to consider is that this boosted chair will no longer be useful to anyone over 4 feet tall. But that would be true of a booster as well. It does come off and on pretty easily. It is held on to your chair legs by tension so all you need to do is pull the extensions out and fit the legs in there, the spring pulls it back and keeps everything in place. Both sides work, they just have different height settings – you just flip it over to the side with the height most appropriate for your child. Smart and easy! At Amazon for $35.87.

Our most important jobs as parents is making sure our kids are well fed. Well, at least in my opinion - being a Chinese mom, food = love. But for all moms finding ways to make eating more fun is always a challenge. I have found that fun spoons, plates and bibs always help. I have a cupboard full of colorful plates, cups and bowls. If you are a fan of Takashimaya, you will appreciate this adorable set of chick bib and spoon. I am especially drawn to this because my 2 year old daughter is a chicken under the Chinese zodiac symbols. I just wish they have a little piggie too for my little one. They have the most amazingly cute merchandise and their kids stuff is no different. I would rotate this bib with other less exciting bibs to keep things interesting because even for a snob like me, $28 for a bib is a bit on the extreme end. Spoon ($12) and bib ($28) at Takashimaya.

If you're like the millions of people who just traveled (or is still traveling) with your tots, you will appreciate this neat little set for your trip. I ended up putting all of my mealtime supplies in a zip lock, not exactly snob worthy by any standards but what's a mom on the rush to do? I always swear I will not go on another trip after I come home from a brutally exhausting trip with my kids, but we all know that's not going to happen. At least next time I will have this handy tote of goodies with me to make my life just a little bit easier. It comes with handy sippy cups, covered dishes, containers, fork and spoon. The tote itself is washable so no need to cry over spilt milk. 'Baby on the Go' Set comes in pink, green and blue for $28.