The Puj Tub is one of the smartest baby products I’ve seen. It is a soft tub that folds and magnetically snaps into a cozy little cocoon to place in your bathroom sink to bathe your tiny baby. The video on the Puj website shows a mom folding and snapping the tub, then placing it into the sink… with one hand…while holding her baby! I wish bath times had been that smooth in our house when we brought our first baby home from the hospital. I NEVER bathed our son by myself. It was a two-parent job, and it was not pleasant.

Here’s how I sounded at bath time:

“Come here. You hold him while I wash him. No, don’t hold him that way! Support his neck! Support his neck! Wait! I have to get the towel and turn on the heat lamp so he doesn’t get a chill when we get him out! Hold him with two hands! Not that way. He looks uncomfortable! Don’t let him slip!”

A new mom has enough to deal with. This Puj Tub is worth every penny in making what could be a super stressful situation an enjoyable one. Plus, it folds flat, has a hole for hanging, is anti-fungal, and comes in seven great colors. I think this would be the perfect baby shower gift for a first time mom.

Plus, you can get 20% off of all puj gear with the promo code FUNFINDS entered at checkout!

$99 at PujBaby.com

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My husband and I were quite the travelers, pre-children. Lots of adventurous stories to tell from my backpacking days. That’s probably why the Trusty Pony travel blog is one of my favorites. I can live vicariously through the always witty writing of Berit, the traveling gal who runs the site.

Berit is introducing comments on her site this week, and to celebrate, she’s having 8 days of giveaways! Yay! Today’s prize is a magnetic travel game set for kids - sure to provide loads of backseat entertainment on any car trips you may be taking over the holidays.

Okay, I’m off to nibble on birthday cake! Yes, today’s my birthday. I’m newly 36 and my son’s teacher thought I was in my 40’s. Please send in your youth in a bottle recommendations.

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I got an email from my friend Tracy a few weeks ago. She shares my obsession with blogs and Etsy. Anyway, she told me I should check out Lassiegirl, where she had just bought a pinafore for her friend’s daughter. Honestly, when I saw the word pinafore, it made me think of school uniforms. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw all the adorable modern “pinnies”! They look so easy to put on and they’re reversible, so you can always do a switcheroo in case of a spill. Yes, it’s getting cold and these have no sleeves, but look at this hip girl sporting hers with a long-sleeve shirt underneath:

The red and white holiday style shown up top is available in sizes Newborn through 5-6. And Lassiegirl will soon be selling legwarmers too! I think the pinafore/legwarmer combo would be such a darling alternative to the poufy froufy holiday dresses I’m seeing all over the place these days.

$24-$28 at Lassiegirl

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First, the spinning top ($12). Do any of you have a top in your home that is not small and plastic and came in a birthday party goody bag? We don’t. Check out this substantial beauty that has a 7″ long handle, a pulling string with a toggle (I didn’t even know tops came with these) and it’s so well-balanced it will spin for 2 minutes:

Next, a flying propeller ($12). I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t break as fast as a remote-controlled helicopter, and what kid doesn’t want to send a piece of wood flying 30 feet into the air?

There are also some beautiful hardwood pull toys for sale, including this dachshund named Stretch ($25), who has a hinged midsection and soft leather ears.

Oh, natural heirloom quality toys, how I love you.

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Here are some of my favorites:

Wood Pogo Stick - $42.50 (authentic rendition of the original 1918 model)

Wood Marble Run - $32.50:

Kids Tool Set - $29.50 - The real thing sized for kids:

Frontier Logs - $32.50 - made of solid hardwood dyed with vegetable based colors, not plastic like Lincoln Logs. Great gift for a 5 year old. My son got these last year when he was almost 4, and he’s just now starting to really play with them. He built a “Pony Express” today and was very proud.

Here’s the link to browse all Duluth Trading Company’s toys and games.

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I can’t wait to try these Breath Palette flavored toothpastes from Japan. They’re made from natural ingredients, come in yummy flavors, and let you “experience the flavor for a few fleeting moments before a light, menthol finish” I showed the flavor list to my four year old and he said he wants them all. I’m thinking white peach or fuji apple would be good. And a tube of chocolate toothpaste in the kids’ stockings would go nicely with what is becoming their traditional Christmas breakfast of Goldfish and M&Ms. Love the packaging too.

$4.49 per tube (gift sets also available) at Breath Palette

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Now that it’s dipped down into the 60’s I will allow myself to talk about the holidays. And I’m thinking that “simple” will be the theme for this year’s celebrations.

I plan to wrap my gifts this year in brown paper grocery bags and red and white twine. Good for the environment and good for the pocketbook. Simple and festive, I say.

$0.10 a foot at garnish

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Congratulations to Mary Jenkins who wrote: “I’d love these for keeping up with my baby!”

And thank you to everyone who entered the Bumble Bells giveaway!

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These Roll.n.Go’s would be pretty helpful when I’m digging for crayons in the bottom of my ginormous purse. Rachel, the mom who makes these sweet little pouches, also has her own blog where she offered up the great idea of filling the crayon slots with Lifesaver packs and putting in our kids’ stockings, recreating those Lifesaver books we used to get in our stockings every year, along with a navel orange in the toe.

$9.50 at Dine.n.Doodle

(Thanks for the tip, Andrea)

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The other night at a preschool committee meeting, we went around the room and told everyone something they probably didn’t know about us. I told the group about Fun Finds For Mom, which I really do need to promote more among my preschool friends. Lucky for me, my new friend Laura jotted down the website, and has since sent me several good tips on some finds you’ll be enjoying soon.

One of her tips was that I should check out GetN’Green, a website run by her friends in Montana, a very cute looking couple dedicated to natural living and doing their part to preserve the earth for their two young sons. GetN’Green carries a great selection of BPA-free baby bottles, sippy cups, and stainless steel and aluminum water bottles. They also have some interesting earth-friendly gifts like bottle openers made from bike chains and stationery made from elephant dung.

But what really got my attention were these Earthlust stainless steel bottles. Aren’t they beautiful? I haven’t tried them for myself, but I read a great online review that compared the Earthlust bottles to Siggs and Klean Kanteens, and I’m thinking I could shave a good minute or two off my crazy last minute morning bottle preparations if I had Earthlust bottles instead of Siggs. Why? Because every morning I fill a big mug of ice from the ice dispenser, then I have to fill the mug with water to melt down the ice pieces so that they’ll fit in the skinny neck of the kids’ Siggs. Plus, they sell a sport top for the Earthlusts that opens up and down, instead of the side twist on the Sigg top that is sometimes hard for little kids to maneuver.

They come in 13 oz, 20 oz and 33 oz sizes (regularly $16, $18, $21 - but currently on sale) at GetN’Green

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