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Diaper Dude Dude Bag

February 3, 2012 //
1

Dude, Where's My Bag?

Yes, dude is in the title twice.  The first dude is for the company name, Diaper Dude.  The second dude is for the name of this particular bag, the Dude Bag.  Got it?  Good.

This guy, Chris Pegula, is a genius.  He invented these diaper bags for men.  He knew that men didn’t want to embarrass themselves by carrying diapers and baby stuff in a pink and paisley pussycat themed bag.  (Just a little emasculating, don’t you think?)  So, he created Diaper Dude, bags that are functional and manly.  And manly.

This particular Dude Bag is the original gangsta’.  It’s what made Diaper Dude, well, Diaper Dude.  It’s a shoulder bag with just enough compartments for you to keep track of your stuff.  (Too many compartments and it starts to be a woman’s bag…like, I have an earrings pocket, phone pocket, watch pocket, breath mints pocket, credit cards pocket, change pocket, keys pocket, mascara pocket, lipstick pocket, and even a pocket pocket.  It’s a pocket to hold a pocket.  And men wonder why women can’t find anything in their purses…)

I love this bag.  This is our only diaper bag (which says a lot).  We have the gray and orange one.  There are a few other styles and all are  Y-chromosome friendly (for example:  camo, black, and plaid).  The bag is easy to carry and has an adjustable strap.  The zippers are large enough for my hands and durable for when we have to cram everything into one pocket for no reason, which happens often with me.

There are a ton of features that I like on this bag:  cellphone holder, two front small pockets, a large middle pocket and two rear stretchy stuff pouches in the back.  I use every part of this bag and it’s got everything I need and nothing I don’t.  (Steph even likes it, and she’s not a dude!)  There’s really not much that blows my mind about this bag, but that’s the beauty of it.  It does exactly what it was designed for, no more, no less.  It’s durable, dependable, and useful, just like a dad should be.  It fits perfectly into the fabric of our lives.  (Isn’t that from a commercial?)

By the way, they’ve even added a few bag designs for the not-so-girly girls.

———-

Overall Rating:  10 Worms   

Ease of Use:  10 Worms  

Performance:  10 Worms 

Features:  9 Worms 

Durability:  10 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms (It’s made by a dude, for a dude.)

Retail Price:  $60

———-

Pros:

Large zippers, easy access pockets, changing pad, padded back, cellphone pocket, stroller clips, key clip, durable polyester material.

Cons:

Waterproof outer would be nice.

Things I would modify:

Make the cell phone pocket larger.  Mine barely fits and it’s an HTC Droid.

Where to find:

http://www.diaperdude.com

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Categories Product Reviews

How To Dad

February 1, 2012 //
0
Cover of "How to Dad"

How To Dad By John Boswell and Ron Barrett

I received How To Dad By John Boswell and Ron Barrett as a gift.  It’s a fun book that I’m not ready for yet.  I mean Gavin isn’t ready for yet.  He’s almost 10 months old, and even though he’s big for his age, I don’t think he’s ready to catch a baseball at this moment.  (But, it won’t stop me from trying to toss one at him…)

Steph and I received a ton of books from our family before Gavin came.  (Maybe our parents agreed that she and I needed some serious guidance on parenthood.)  One day, about a year ago, I was sitting beside myself waiting for my clone baby to be born.  So, I read How To Dad from cover to cover.  It’s a short read and is 80 pages.  (I read slowly, so it was 3 weeks of reading for me.)  After going through the book, I could say that I was pretty excited for Gavin and I to start doing these fun things together.  Almost excited enough to start pulling the baby out of Steph’s body myself.

Boswell and Barrett know how to strike a chord with fathers in this book.  I kept flashing back through my own memories of my dad doing lots of these things with me.  I love my dad for spending this time with me and I hope that one day I will get to do this with my son.  With this book, I’m sure I won’t miss any of the finer father-son teaching moments.

The book is written well enough for both parents and children to read.  It’s a fun book and has cute illustrations on every page.  It touches on how to perform various life tasks (like whistling and snapping your fingers) and just as important, how not to perform them.

I enjoyed reading How To Dad before Gavin was born and I will be sure to dust it off and review it once Gavin is old enough to start doing cool stuff with his old man.  This book makes a great gift for Father’s day too!

—–

Overall Rating:  8 Worms

Readability:  9 Worms

Usefulness:  8 Worms  (This rating depends on how much you already know.)

Manliness:  10 Worms  (Nothing makes you more of a man than spending time with your kids.)

Retail Price:  $9.95

—–

Pros:

Lots of cool things that you can (learn for yourself as well as) teach your kids.  Teach them how to: throw a football, bait a hook, ride a bike, build a campfire, and lots more.  It’s geared towards kids that are a little older.  I would say this book is great for ages 4 and up.  This book gives some pretty nice techniques on HOW to teach your kids to do something.  It is an excellent guide for you to review if you tend to have difficulty explaining things to your children in a way they can understand.  In fact, you can even let your kids read it!

Cons:

Nothing.

Things I would modify:

Nothing.

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Categories Product Reviews

Summer Infant Best View™ Handheld Color Video Monitor

January 31, 2012 //
3

Summer Infant Best View Color Video Monitor (Silver)

I’m a little old-fashioned.  Not old-fashioned 90’s style, but old-fashioned 70’s style.  There’s a lot of technology that I believe should be left out of parenting.  A video monitor WAS one of them.  I don’t know why, but I guess BC (before child), I thought that I should be able to hear a baby crying through 3 walls and a door no problem.  Silly me.  I learned quickly that the Summer Best View video monitor in the baby’s room was almost as incredible an addition to the family as the baby.

We mounted the video camera about 15″ above the top of baby’s crib.  From that vantage point, I can pan and zoom to any part of the crib without a problem.  In the daytime, the screen is color.  At night, the infrared kicks in automatically (I assume it’s infrared, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong here.) and I’ve got night vision.  The camera has plenty of range of motion as well, which increases the number of mounting options.

I use this camera every day.  It’s another one of the items in my house that gets a lot of use and wear.  So far, the Summer Infant Best View Camera has been holding up very well.  Once I put Gavin to nap, I can see what he’s doing and hear what noises he is making before he falls asleep.  I love it.  Now, I don’t have to run to his room every time I hear a noise.  I can just look at the monitor and avoid waking up the baby.  The silent mode is excellent for when you are watching TV or something and only need a visual sign if the baby makes noise.  The LED’s light up on the monitor according to the sound level in the baby’s room.

We don’t have a need for the A/V output portion of the Summer Infant Best View Monitor, but someone mentioned on another website that they hooked it up to their TV and recorded some of the video from the monitor.  (That’s a great idea, especially if your baby starts to do things alone in his crib before showing it off to the family!)

I used to think that having a video monitor was a lazy man’s way of taking care of his baby.  But, I was very wrong.  It is great for checking on the baby without disturbing him.  I can do it while typing out this blog!  I can do it while hanging out in the garage!  I can do it while watching a movie in the living room!  It’s baby management at my fingertips.  It’s so handy, I may even continue to use the camera well into Gavin’s teenage years…

NOTE:  If you are going to mount the camera above the baby’s crib, you need to find a place to hide or shield the camera’s power cord from the baby’s reach.

———-

Overall Rating:  7 Worms   

Ease of Use:  10 Worms  

Performance:  8 Worms 

Features:  8 Worms 

Durability:  7 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms (Come on, it’s a gadget!)

Retail Price:  $199

———-

Pros:

Provides easy monitoring of baby room, both video and audio.  Silent audio mode.  Remote controlled pan, scan, and zoom.  Day and night viewing.  Can add up to 3 extra cameras.  A/V outputs to a TV.

Cons:

Could use more volume control.  Vertical axis movement makes a bit of noise.  Video could be a little more crisp in night mode.  When you are moving the camera, the audio cuts in and out.  Battery life?  (I don’t know, but I’ve heard elsewhere that battery life could be poor.  I’ve been using this product for 9 months now and yes, there’s been a degradation in the battery life, but not much.  If the battery dies within a year or so, I will adjust my rating accordingly.  But, so far, it’s been fine.)

Things I would modify:

Higher resolution night vision.  I guess it would be nice to have a thermometer built into the unit to remotely monitor baby room temperature.

Where to find:

http://www.summerinfant.com/Products/Monitoring/Video-Monitors/Best-View%E2%84%A2-Handheld-Color-Video-Monitor.aspx

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Categories Product Reviews

Bright From the Start

January 30, 2012 //
0

Bright From the Start By Jill Stamm

Every new parent wants to get their kids on the right track to learning.  Finding a way to give your children the best opportunity to feed their brains has fueled an enormous industry in baby learning products.  Are they really necessary?  Is one better than another?  The vast number of products available can cause you to lose your mind trying to figure out which educational toy is best.  Bright From the Start by Jill Stamm is a great starter book for people looking to figure out what is really important in nurturing a child’s mental growth.

Bright From the Start is easy to read and contains fundamental ideas from which you can build a solid learning platform.  (Parents are always looking for that magic secret to unlocking those extra IQ points in their kids, aren’t they?)  The book stands by its principle, ABC, or Attention, Bonding, and Communication.  The entire book is written around this simple philosophy.

Stamm discounts the hype associated with the latest and greatest products to boost your child’s brain development.  (And rightfully so.  Do you really think that your child playing with a jump rope is worse than playing with a talking multi-lingual stuffed toy?  Not necessarily.)  In the beginning of life, there are more important things to work on, hence the ABCs (see above).

Now, I know that different parents have different ideas about the early years of a child’s development.  So, please understand that this is my opinion.  I agree with Jill Stamm’s ABCs.  Babies need attention.  Attention from you.  That is how they learn.  Babies want attention from you and obviously their verbal skills haven’t developed yet.  So, they use their face, hands and voice to get your attention.  This interplay between you and the baby is probably the most important aspect of learning.  (Stamm also talks about the TV being a problem before the age of 2.  I agree.  Staring at a TV teaches your child to, um, stare at a TV…even if it is an educational show.)  Bonding is also important.  Your baby is a living creature.  It naturally wants needs to bond to a human.  That human should be you.  A strong bond with you lowers stress hormones in the baby.  When the baby feels safe, he or she can explore and learn without fear.  Lastly, there’s communication.  We need to learn to communicate with the baby as much as the other way around.  Adults are so used to verbal communication that many have lost the ability to recognize non-verbal cues.  Babies provide a nice refresher course for us.  When we work on communication with our baby, there’s less frustration on both parties.  You’ll probably notice yourself starting to “read your baby’s mind” which may result in less frequent crying.

Jill Stamm has written a nice book with general concepts for us non-neuroscientists.  She briefly explains brain development from a neural connectivity perspective and then goes into the Attention, Bonding, and Communication strategies.  For some parents, the ABC philosophy makes complete sense.  For other parents, it may take a little convincing.  (I believed in the ABC philosophy from the beginning and Stamm gave some great reasons why the philosophy makes sense.)  I enjoyed reading this book as it was not densely filled with data.  But, it left me wanting a little more substance to bite into.  (Personally, I would have liked to see a bit more technical information.)  If you are looking for an instruction book on how to manage your child’s learning from 0-3 years old, this is not it.

Bright From the Start gives you, the reader, some games that you can play with your baby.  Stamm talks about how these games work on the baby’s brain.  There are also tables on how your baby should progress, developmentally.  It’s a great book to learn about how YOU can assist in developing your baby’s learning from birth until three years of age.  I recommend this book as a reference for parents who want to understand how the time they invest in their babies is more important than anything else.  If you already understand how important spending time with your baby is, then this book may be somewhat rudimentary.

———-

Overall Rating:  7 Worms   

Readability:  8 Worms

Usefulness:  7 Worms 

Manliness:  7 Worms 

Retail Price:  $17

———-

Pros:

Easy to read.  General concepts.  Simple games to play with your baby.

Cons:

Not enough technical information.  I would have liked to see some studies and scientific evidence, etc.

Things I would modify:

Not much.  This book is a casual read.  I think it is targeted towards a parent that is interested in building a strong relationship with their child, but could use a little guidance.

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Categories Product Reviews

KidCo Anti-Tip TV Strap

January 29, 2012 //
1

We’ve got a TV in the house.  (Yes I said house, not living room.)  It’s not big by today’s standards, just a 40″ LCD.  It probably weighs 45 lbs.  As with most LCD’s or flat screens, there’s a svelte base supporting the TV.  Barring earthquakes (we get them here in SoCal), the chances of our TV falling or toppling over had been less than 1%.  But with a baby that is crawling and pulling himself up on things, that chance has increased 10-fold.

Since we don’t want to see Gavin trying to muscle himself up onto the TV and then have it topple over and injure him (or even worse, kill him), we have installed a child proof TV anti-tip strap.  (After I became a parent, I started hearing these stories about TV’s crushing kids and furniture falling over on babies, etc.  It seemed like every day I read about a freshly pressed baby.  Not good.  So, naturally I freaked out about  all the evil house furnishings that could injure him. Duh, that’s what parents do!)

Our TV is perched on a stand on top of an entertainment center.  Our TV has mounting holes (in the back) to mount said TV onto a wall or other vertical surface.  It is these screw holes that will be used with the KidCo anti-tip TV strap.  The KidCo kit comes with a few different sized machine screws to fit the mounting holes on your TV.  This may be a problem if your TV mounting holes are recessed or odd-sized.

KidCo Anti-Tip TV Strap Kit

Check that your TV has holes in the back before purchasing this KidCo anti-tip TV strap.  Otherwise, it will be difficult to install this kit properly.  Also, you must be willing to drill holes into your entertainment center or into your wall.  Drilling into an antique entertainment center could be a deal breaker for some.  NOTE:  The KidCo kit does not have drywall anchors, so you’d have to purchase these separately to secure the anti-tip straps to a wall.

For our television setup, the KidCo Anti-Tip TV Strap mounted fairly easily.  The package says that it’s a 2-pack.  This is BS because you need both straps from the box to secure one TV.  I also had problems with the quality of screws in the bag.  Since I know more about nuts and bolts than I should, this was disappointing.  Especially if you ruin your TV mounting holes trying to force some cheap screws into your $10000 TV.  The nylon straps in the kit are well, nylon.  They seem ok for general use, so I can’t comment on the strength of them.  But, the thing that still worries me are the plastic mounting brackets.  The nylon strap has loops that sit over a hook portion of the plastic mounting bracket.  When you pull on the nylon strap, the plastic hook tends to deform.  This means that there is a chance that the anti-tip TV strap could break a plastic bracket and still fail.

Hook mounts

Even after mounting my KidCo anti-tip strap, I still worry about those plastic mounts.  I don’t feel like I should have to do that with any child safety item.  It should give you some peace of mind, right?

Bottom line:  This product provides some protection from TV tipping, but not enough for me.  Would I buy this product again?  Probably not.  I’ll be looking for another child proof TV anti-tip strap.

———-

Overall Rating:  3 Worms   

Ease of Use:  7 Worms  (But others can have problems with mounting to back of TV.) 

Performance:  1 Worm 

Features:  7 Worms 

Durability:  1 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms (We know how guys like to put things together with tools!)

Retail Price:  $10

———-

Pros:

Provides a little peace of mind.

Cons:

Cheap screws, no drywall anchors, flimsy plastic mounts.

Things I would modify:

Closed loop plastic fasteners. Different sized screws.  Add drywall anchors.

Where to find:

http://www.amazon.com/Kidco-Anti-Tip-TV-Strap-Pack/dp/B002SZT35S

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Categories Product Reviews

Beco Gemini Baby Carrier

January 27, 2012 //
2

Ready to go for a walk!

The Beco Gemini is one of a few different baby carriers available from Beco.  I bought this carrier because I knew I wanted to carry my son during his non-walking years.  I don’t like strollers for the people traffic jams most of them create and I like to travel light.  I figured I could keep Gavin strapped to me while I clean, vacuum, do chores, er, um, I mean while I work on my truck and build things in the garage.  Also, I would be able to strap Gavin to me and walk the dogs at the same time.  (Multitasking!)  It really allows me to have both hands free to do things around the house or elsewhere.

NOTE:  If you’ve got no interest in having a baby carrier and are one of those people that push an enormous stroller around while oblivious to everything and everyone around you, then this is probably not the product for you.  It takes a certain type of person to want to carry a baby and I’ve found these people to be more minimalist in nature.

Given the opportunity to try on and test different baby carriers, I found the Beco Gemini able to carry baby: facing out, facing in, on the hip, and backpack style.  These options were in my desired list.  The only style of carry I haven’t used up to this point is the hip carry.  (I’ve got no hips for now, but I’m working on the middle age spread!)

The instructions for the Gemini were pretty easy to follow and there is ample padding for the different methods of carry.  I started carrying Gavin when he was about 6 weeks old (facing in).  Beco claims that the carrier can hold 7-35lbs.  Gavin was 7lb 13oz when born, but I didn’t feel at all comfortable trying to carry Gavin at that time.  It was just my personal preference and I waited until he got a little bigger.

At this time, Gavin is 9 1/2 months old and about 20lb.  He’s easy to carry with the Gemini and there is still enough padding to keep him comfortable.  We’ll see if he’ll still wants to be carried like this at 35 lb.  Either way, there’s room for him to grow.

This baby carrier was one of the few that did all the styles of baby carrying that I wanted.  It didn’t look too girly, but couldn’t they print bullets or knives on at least one of their carriers?  I don’t want to discourage anyone from this carrier because it is great, but I’ve seen plenty of use with it and I’ve got a few small issues with it.  I can’t get the waist support around my waist.  I’ve got a 29″ waist (31″ after eating a steak) and the waist strap doesn’t cinch tight around me.  The problem comes when I put the baby into the carrier and he sinks down into that space between me and the strap.  When this happens, his chin ends up resting on the top lip of the carrier.  After walking for a while, it rubs his chin skin and gets red.  Either have the top part fold down further or make the thing for skinny dads.  We do exist and we do carry babies.  Another issue I have is that there’s no storage, not even a place to hold a nickel you may pick up on the side of the road.  Lastly, washing the material, even once, causes it to fade slightly and look worn.

On the bright side, the safety buckles are great and the stitching of the material seems to be holding up quite well.  I like having the top part to fold up for shading Gavin’s head from the sun or supporting his head when he’s tired.  The Beco Gemini has enough support to be functional without being a problem to fold up and travel with.

I guess the real question is:  Now that I know all the ins and outs of this product, would I buy this again?  Yes.

———-

Overall Rating:  7 Worms   

Ease of Use:  7 Worms 

Performance:  7 Worms 

Features:  7 Worms 

Durability:  8 Worms 

Manliness:  6 Worms (No guy looks manly carrying a baby.  Though, he does look sensitive and caring!)

Retail Price:  $130

———-

Pros:

Safety clasps, 4-way baby carrier, lightweight, quality stitching, packs tightly into my suitcase for travel

Cons:

No pockets.  Doesn’t cinch tight enough around my waist.  Could use more adjustability in padded portion for different size babies.

Things I would modify:

Add pockets or bags that you could velcro to the straps.  Just something small to carry a pacifier, diaper, and a couple wipes, so I don’t have to carry around a diaper bag everywhere I go.  I’d like to see the top fold down portion able to fold down further.  My baby isn’t small, but his entire head still doesn’t clear the top flap. (It may also have to do with the loose waist strap.)  I’d also like to see more adjustability in the padded section, like possibly more button fasteners so that I can fine tune the comfort for baby.  Maybe breathable fabric?

Where to find:

www.becobabycarrier.com

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Categories Product Reviews

Be Prepared – A Practical Handbook for New Dads

January 26, 2012 //
0
Cover of "Be Prepared: A Practical Handbo...

Cover via Amazon

Steph and I have read a lot of books trying to prepare ourselves and our lives for the new baby.  Some of these books we liked, and some of them we loved. This book is one of my favorites.

The authors are Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden.  ‘Be Prepared‘ is a funny, yet practical book that is sure to bring a laugh.  I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.  Near the end of Steph’s pregnancy, I read the first half of the book, you know, to be prepared.  I reread the first half of the book just after Gavin was born…during the midnight feedings.  After Gavin turned 6 months old, I read the second half.  The book is split up into categories (First Week, 0-3 Months, 4-6 Months, 7-9 Months, and 10-12 Months)  so you can read the part that pertains to you and your baby.  But, I’m sure that once you pick this book up, you will read it through from beginning to end.  The ideas and information presented are very much the way a man would do things. It’s entertainingly useful and well organized, kind of like me!

The things I loved about this book is that it made learning about my baby fun and memorable.  It was also nice to pick up and read in short bursts during those midnight feedings.  (Just make sure you don’t laugh too hard or you’ll distract the baby from feeding!)

On a side note, this book makes a great baby shower gift for the dad, but only if he’s got a sense of humor about things.  Well, even if he doesn’t, it may lighten his mood somewhat under the magnanimous pressure of pending responsibility of caring for another human.

It’s definitely worth a read.   Everything you need to survive your first year of fatherhood.  I highly recommend it.

———-

Overall Rating:  10 Worms   

Readability:  10 Worms

Usefulness:  10 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms 

Retail Price:  $15

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