Well…I stand corrected.

My second baby is a pacifier baby.  Those “paci’s” help her stay calm.  Here we are, 10 + months later and not a whole heck of a lot has changed in the fussy department.

Initially, I scoffed at the idea of pacifier sanitizers or sterilizers.  If the binky falls on the floor, whatever, just wipe it off on my sleeve and stick it back into her mouth.  Well, the older she gets, the more she drops it.  The more she drops it, the more I think about the nasty stuff it comes into contact with.

So, as I gather all of my travel necessities, I think about those pacifiers and how I am going to make sure they are sanitary enough to put into my precious baby’s mouth.  She’ll drop them on the floor of the airport, airplane, on the bus from the airport to the resort, and so on.  I’m not too keen on the idea of rinsing off her pacifiers with the tap water in the hotel and I don’t really want to have to find a place to boil my bottled drinking water.

We heard about Pipila from our PR buddies for DesignRoom Group and Little Honey.  Right away, I’m thinking, “Ok.  This thing has to come with us on our vacations.”  If it does what they say it’s supposed to do, kill up to 99.9% of germs residing on the pacifier, then I can’t complain.

I don’t have an “official” way to test the results from the 6 minute sterilization process, but I have to believe that this portable UV pacifier sterilizer works.  Pipila retails just under US $30 and for the money and peace of mind you get, I can tell you it’s worth it.  It’s quiet, quick and convenient.  I’m throwing mine into the diaper bag and it’s going to travel thousands of miles with us and I imagine it’s going to get quite a bit of use.  I can even use it to sterilize the bottle nipples.  I love a product that can serve a multipurpose.

Pipila is easy enough to find throughout the US.  Designroom Group sells them for $29 (they also have a lot of other fun things to browse through).

You’ll hear more about Pipila in a “travel” conversation I recently had with the owner of Little Honey.  Will soon post for your listening pleasure.

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So many people comment on my 10 month old’s stunning blue eyes, so, I feel the need to protect those baby blues while we’re spending our days outdoors, underneath the hot, glaring sun.

I know how bad that beautiful sun can be for our skin and eyes, so it’s my job to make sure my kids have reliable eye protection.  Said 10 month old is going to rock the above Pink Camo Baby Banz (sent to us from Baby Banz), at the beach next week.  With 100% UV protective lenses, I can feel at ease about her gorgeous baby blues.

Speaking of her gorgeous eyes, just last week I had her vision checked under the FREE InfantSEE program.

It was easy enough to do.  I just went to the InfantSEE website and used their Dr. Locator search to find an InfantSEE provider in my area.  I made a phone call to one of the AOA members and made the appointment.

A series of vision tests were performed on the baby and she only fussed a little when the optometrist was trying to get a really good look into her pupils (all he did was try to hold her eyelids open so he could look in, nothing terribly traumatizing).  It was easy as pie and now, I have peace of mind.  Second best part was – we walked out of the office without paying a dime.

If you happen to live in the Chicago suburbs – I highly recommend Scott Eye Care in Oswego, IL.  Dr. Ronald Weingart was simply amazing with the baby.

Another reason I bring up the InfantSEE program is because Baby Banz is a member of the InfantSEE Family Tree.

Baby Banz was founded in 2001 in Australia and debuted in America in 2002.  Since their beginning, Baby Banz has added just under a dozen styles of different baby sunglasses to their collection, as well as, UV clothing and accessories.  Their kid-size wrap-around sunglasses have 100% UV protective lenses and retail around US $20.

We’re kicking off summer with a Baby Banz giveaway.  Winner gets a pair of Baby Banz sunglasses of their choice.  This giveaway is open to continental US residents only.

To enter:

1. Leave your entry comment on this post with your favorite style of Baby and Kidz Banz.  Choose from: Adventure BanZ (ages 0-5), Ultimate BanZ (ages 0-5), JBanZ (ages 4-10), Retro Banz (ages 0-5)

2. Want a second entry?  FINE.  Head over to Baby Banz Facebook fan page and “Like it”.  Come back, leave another comment and let us know.

3. Really want to win?  You can leave another entry comment on this post if you Tweet about this giveaway.

Just come back here and leave a comment with the link to your Tweet and your Twitter “handle”.  I’ll make this part easy, you can copy and paste the following text for your Tweet (it just fits, I checked):

Do you know how cool @babybanz 100% UV protective sunglasses are? Just ask @ParentSphere – they’re giving a pair away http://bit.ly/chnsVj

(Whatever you end up Tweeting, just make sure you mention @babybanz and @ParentSphere in your Tweet!)

You have until midnight PST on Monday, May 24, 2010 to enter.  Winner will be chosen using Random.org’s number generator and will be emailed and publicly announced on Tuesday.

Please check out these fantastic sun-safety tips on your way out.  Good luck!

***ParentSphere readers can also take advantage of 10% off all orders from the US Baby Banz site now through June 30, 2010.  Enter code:  PSPHERE

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I just found out about Infant Swimming Resource.  I watched this video and my chest tightened as my eyes welled up with tears.  The 11 month old baby in the video is an ISR student, so he has the skills to survive if he ever finds himself in an unfortunate situation, like the one in the video.  While I watched, I thought about my own 10 month old.  I pictured her falling into a pool or lake.  She wouldn’t have the skills to be able to survive.  That thought is extremely hard for me to handle.  I’m planning to enroll her in Infant Swimming Resource lessons at a local facility.

I recently had an eye-opening conversation with Dr. Harvey Barnett, founder of Infant Swimming Resource.  He founded the program in 1966 when he was 18 years old and ever since, along with his team of professional ISR swim instructors, has been teaching infants from 6 months to children up to 6 years old, the skill of surviving in the water.

Have a listen to our conversation.  You will learn some excellent tips to help you while you’re at the beach, lake or pool.

Conversation with Dr. Harvey Barnett – Infant Swimming Resource

These 7 Water Safety Tips have been provided by Infant Swimming Resource:

7 Water Safety Tips:

CEO (Constant Eyes-On) Supervision – Never turn your back on your child around water. It takes just seconds for him/her to be in serious trouble. Assign supervision responsibilities so there are never questions about which adult is responsible for watching the child.

Safeguard Your Pool – Build layers of defense around the pool. Permanent four-sided fencing that encloses the entire pool area should be four to six feet high and equipped with self-closing, self-latching gates.

Put Toys Away – Remove all toys from the pool when they are not in use. These colorful objects can be very attractive to little eyes. This also includes furniture and other objects in the pool area that children might use to climb over the fence.

Eliminate Distractions – The leading cause of distractions around the pool is an adult leaving to answer the phone, attend to something inside the home or helping someone else in or around the water. If you must leave, take the child/children with you.

Teach Water Safety – Learn and enforce all the water rules and, above all, teach by your example — never swim alone, obey lifeguard warnings, refrain from running around pool decks, follow ‘no diving’ signs, and always wear a life jacket when boating, fishing or playing in or near deep or fast-moving water.

Flotation Device Dangers – Flotation devices such as armbands, floatation rings and inflatable toys give parents and children a false sense of security. These devices can shift suddenly, deflate or slip from underneath, leaving a child in a very dangerous situation.

Self-Rescue Swimming Lessons – Do your research in selecting an effective swimming program. Choose a program that will teach your child the skills to survive in the water. Self-Rescue skills are vital for infants and young children if they were to end up in the water alone. Instructors should have current CPR and first aid certification. Confirm that the instructor is certified to teach survival swimming skills.

Find a certified ISR Instructor in your area (the Instructor Locator is located on the left-hand side of the site).

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We have used many different toothbrushes and just started brushing with the GUM® Summit®+ Toothbrush.  It works a.o.k. for us.  It gets the job done and that’s all that matters when it comes to oral hygiene.

The kiddo is using the GUM® Crayola™ Timer Light Toothbrush.  Here she is in action:

Now, it’s time for us to make that first dentist appointment!  Here’s hoping it all goes well.

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I’ve never been one to follow a weight-loss program. I suppose that could be why I have the weight concerns that I do today. Although, I have become increasingly more interested in the Weight Watchers program. I recently discovered that they have some pretty neat online tools to make balancing your eating habits a pretty simple task. I’m all about the simple.

Weight Watchers now has this “Snack Widget” that you can get for your desktop or embed into your website, which allows you to simply type in a snack food that you want and the widget will produce a variety of Weight Watchers snacks to choose from instead.

Check it out for yourself here:

You can get this widget HERE.

You can find Weight Watchers on Facebook (I just became a fan) where they offer free recipes and great weight watching tips. You can also find a lot of great healthy eating information on their website HERE.

Like I said, the closer we get to celebrating the holidays, the harder it is to eat sensibly when you’re faced with all of those fabulous goodies.  Keep Weight Watchers in mind when you head out to that next holiday party.  Know that they have a great online resource that you can turn to when you need a boost in confidence and some healthy eating tips.

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Yeah, I know this post comes a little on the late side, but there was turkey day and all last week. I do find myself asking why am I trying to do this around the holidays? Trying to do this amongst the eating and drinking extravaganzas otherwise known as Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good way to end up being miserable or getting frustrated and quitting. I know I often feel that way, but, at least for now, I’ve made it through. I took a few days off early in the week, but stretched out the rest of my runs and ended up with 12 miles jogged during week 3. It all, however, seems to be adding up to a whole lot of weight loss stagnation and frustration.

Even though I’m “trying” to eat “better” I’m not really doing such a good job at it. Heck, I had a whole bunch of Red vines today and that’s not helping anything. Do you have any tips for me and the rest of the readers out there? It’s not as if I don’t know what and how much I should be eating, I just don’t seem to be making it happen. Let’s give it another go in week 4. Anyhow, here are the totals:

Weekly Weight Loss: -2.6 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -5.6 lbs

Prior Dad On the Run Posts:
Introduction
Week 1
Week 2

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Woah, I’m a few days late with this post, but better late than never, right? So the second week of Dad On the Run was a bit of a hectic week. I jogged only 12.02 miles (according to the treadmill) but (again) fell off the wagon in regards to eating good stuff again. I ate too much, drank too much, and took a few days off towards the end of the week. No worries though, this isn’t going to happen overnight.

Now Thanksgiving is on Thursday but it might present some problems. How to get around it? Just exercise some portion control and lay off the holiday drinks. That along with a hefty dose of pre-meal exercise should, hopefully, keep me on the right track this year. So after week two, things are as follows:

Weekly Weight Loss: -0.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -3.0 lbs

Prior Dad On the Run Posts:
Introduction
Week 1

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So yeah, I took my own advice and started slowly and actually made it through the first week of Dad On the Run with flying colors. I jogged a total of 13 miles in six days which really isn’t all that much, but it’s a start.  Check back in six weeks and hopefully my weekly mileage will be almost twice that.  The one place I fell a little short was in the “healthy eating” department, but there are two ways I can look at this:

“I can either get crazy and neurotic about everything I eat or I can take things as they are presented and not feel bad about eating the leftover Halloween candy.”

For the sake of my sanity and the sanity of those around me (yes, I mean Amy) I’m going with the second option.  Sure, I probably won’t get to my goals as fast, but this isn’t about some crazy diet or unrealistic exercise plan, Dad On the Run is about a lifestyle change. So even with a little “cheating” here and there, I’m still resolved to eat stuff that is better rather than worse for me.  Those pita chips I just ate aren’t (however) making me feel any better about all this.

Anyhow here’s where I’m at after week one:

Weekly Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs

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Many of you may have read my previous post about how I lost 40 pounds in 6 months earlier this year, and if you haven’t feel free to go back and check it out.  This isn’t about that journey, however.  Dad On the Run is about right now and what I’m going to do to lose those last few (okay, it‘s actually more like 25) pesky pounds. This is when and where the clock resets and it all turns to zero again.

To lose the weight I did between January and June I focused on eating well and jogging/running . On January 16th, I jogged a total of 1.27 miles; a humbling start for someone who just over four years earlier completed the Chicago Marathon.  On June 29th I ran 8.68 miles and continued jogging (although more sporadically) through July and August, but started eating all the stuff I knew I shouldn’t be eating and have been regressing since.  No more!

During those “good” months, I ran over 450 miles in total and I felt good.  By early September (however) I wasn’t really doing anything.  So a few additional pounds later, here I am laying it all on the table that HTML built. I’m going to start slowly (again) and ease my way back into running even though I haven’t really been away all that long.  I know that I haven’t really answered the question of, “What exactly is Dad On the Run?” Here goes.

Every week I’m going to document my progress and what I’m doing to get where I’m going.  Simple enough, right?  Although I “practiced” a few times this week, the endeavor all starts tomorrow in earnest.  I welcome all comments, questions, suggestions, etc…

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You want? We give!

RADIUS is giving away a child’s and adult’s toothbrush of your choice, and a floss. Hello?! Perfect timing, what with Halloween just around the corner and the kiddies digging into loads of sugary candy. There’s just a little time to enter this one, as it’s ending by midnight TONIGHT.

Head over RADIUS, pick a toothbrush and enter using the form below. If you haven’t already, double your chances of winning over at What to do, Poopsy Woo? Cuz we’re chillin’ with the Blogtoberfest this month.

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