For all the parents who have ever wondered, “should I have a third child?” this is for you
Triple your pleasure; triple your fun. When you have a third child, you’ll need a bigger car and a lot more snacks, and you’ll be rewarded with more love and wild adventures. Read on to find out what life is like when you add a third baby to the family.
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Pregnancy? What Pregnancy? With your first, you have time to read baby books and take childbirth classes. Pregnancy with your second is a bit more hectic as you have to coordinate hospital tours and baby-registry shopping trips around nap time. But by the time you’re pregnant with baby 3, you’re lucky if you can even remember to take your prenatal vitamin each morning. Between taking care of two other children and driving around to all their activities, your third learns to go with the flow from the time they're in the womb.
Delivery Is Orchestrated with the Precision of a Space Shuttle Launch For the delivery of your third baby, you will need to begin preparations weeks in advance to ensure your other two children are accounted for. Schedules, locations, contact numbers and contingency plans should be documented and emailed to your entire circle so your kids can be picked up, dropped off and cared for while number three is making its arrival.
Practical > Cute in the Clothing Department With your first, you buy all the adorable baby outfits and don't worry about the number of buttons and snaps. Your second wears some hand-me-downs along with simple sleepers added to the rotation. By the time your third baby comes along, they're living in secondhand onesies and pajamas that provide easy diaper-changing access.
Someone Is Always Hungry or Thirsty With three kids, you learn to always be prepared with snacks and drinks. Whether you're nursing an infant, peeling oranges for a toddler or fetching crackers for a preschooler, someone always needs something. Usually when you’re using the restroom or are on the phone because #momlife.
Nature Never Stops Calling Have three children and maybe a pet, and you'll be constantly changing a diaper, taking someone to the potty or taking a fur baby out for a walk. No longer will anyone in the household be squeamish about poop—talking about it or cleaning it up.
Everyone Adjusts to the Chaos With three young children, you become accustomed to a minimum threshold of background noise. You accept that it will always be there and learn to tune it out. Fortunately, so do the children. Just wait to be amazed at how quickly baby number three will fall asleep despite older siblings' shouts, laughs and musical toys.
It’s an Instant Party With three kids, the party never ends. Scheduling playdates isn't as necessary because every single day is a playdate right at home. Bring three kids to a park or an event, and suddenly it’s a party. All the neighborhood kids come calling to play with one, two or all three of your children.
Cuddles Galore With three, you will never want for love. Eager arms are always outstretched and waiting to hug you, and you will constantly find a child or three snuggling into your side. Someone always wants to play with you, giggle with you or be held by you. It’s as heartwarming as it sounds and does wonders for the ego.
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Maximum Return on Investment With three kids, you ensure you get your money's worth on all the gear you've purchased. Clothes, strollers and toys all get passed down, eliminating the need to purchase much of anything for baby number three but diapers and new car seats when your current ones expire.
Built-in Teachers With your first, you are the model for everything your child learns to do. You teach and instruct and celebrate each milestone. But once you have two and three children, older siblings step in to help teach their younger siblings. Potty training a third? Leave it to the older kids and watch them pass on your wisdom.
You No Longer Sweat the Small Stuff Firstborn children tend to have every step carefully monitored for their safety. Second children get away with more as you're learning to divide your attention between two kids running in opposite directions. But by the time number three is born, you’ve realized kids are pretty resilient. Besides, you no longer have time to obsess over minor details. So all three children are given more latitude as you save your energy for what's truly important.
The Love Is Overwhelming This is really what it’s all about. Triple the love. Three times the hugs. Your heart bursts every time you look at all of your children together. You realize they'll always have each other, and you can't imagine your life without them and their amazing bond.
When the rain, rain won’t go away, pull out these things to do on a rainy day
Rainy days are great for splashing in puddles, but eventually you’ll have to come back inside. If you find yourself looking at several hours to fill inside with a toddler, don’t panic. Simply pull out our go-to list of rainy day activities that are always a hit with kids. The best part is that these ideas don’t require a lot of planning and make use of things you probably already have around the house. From building indoor forts to outdoor learning experiences your kids can enjoy (even in the rain), here are 29 things to do on a rainy day with kids.
Rainy Day Activities for Kids & Toddlers
1. Go Swimming: For most parents, the goal is to stay dry on rainy days. Why not do the opposite and go swimming in the bathtub? Throw a swimsuit on your toddler, promise that no one’s hair will be washed, and allow some splashing in the tub.
2. Air Balloon: Keep a few balloons around for a rainy day. When your toddler starts climbing the walls, help them get their energy out by blowing one up and working with them to keep the balloon in the air for as long as possible (also known as “Keepy Uppy” on Bluey). If you want to plan ahead, make things easy on yourself and try a Zuru Bunch O Balloons that are self-sealing and come with a small air pump.
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3. Build a Fort: Rain or shine toddlers love forts! Grab a blanket or take the cushions off the couch and build a fort. Crawl inside to read a book or have a secret snack. A Big Blanket that is really big at 10′ by 10′ makes epic forts in seconds but any blanket or sheet can work!
4. Reuse the Recycling: Dig into the recycling bin and pull out anything usable to create a cardboard box and bubble-wrap masterpiece.
5. Handy Handprints: Those toddler hands and feet get so big so quickly! Use your rainy day at home to make some hand-and-foot prints. As a bonus, you can save these to give to grandparents the next time they visit. To add more interest, turn the handprints into dinos, birds, or trees.
6. Make Tracks: Grab a little flour or rice from the pantry and let your toddler drive their Hot Wheels through the “snow” to create some tracks.
7. Shaving Cream Shenanigans: For an inexpensive activity that will keep your little one busy for a long time, break out the shaving cream. Paint with shaving cream on a cookie sheet or on the shower wall. If you are feeling brave, add a few drops of food coloring.
8. Colander Capers: Work on fine motor skills while passing the time on a rainy day. Grab your colander and whatever you have on hand that fits through the holes. Toddlers love watching spaghetti fall through. Pipe cleaners are great for weaving in and out if your toddler is up for a challenge.
9. Lovely Lava: Homemade volcanos never cease to amaze kids. Grab a cup and throw in some baking soda, squirt in a little dish soap, add in some vinegar, and watch the magic unfold! If you have some food coloring on hand, add some red dye to make your volcano even more realistic. Cover your table with newspaper or put your volcano on a baking sheet for easy clean-up.
10. Pots and Pans: This one isn’t for the faint of heart, but banging on pots and pans always brings toddlers a special kind of joy. Grab some wooden spoons and start a marching band around the living room
11. Launch a Raspberry Attack: Surprise your child by sitting quietly then launching into back-to-back raspberries on their cheeks, feet, and belly. Lots of laughter will ensue!
12. Have a Dance Party: Grab some hairbrushes and queue up the tunes while you and your sidekick sing and dance your hearts out. This is a good one to try just before nap time to tire your little one out.
13. Box Building: Chances are you have a cardboard box sitting around somewhere. Whether it’s a shoebox, an Amazon box, or a refrigerator box, it can be turned into something fabulous. Cut out a couple of flaps and make it into an instant garage for your toddler’s car collection. Or, glue some cut-out triangles on top and make an instant castle.
14. Resist Drawing: Creating a resist drawing is simple but will take some elbow grease. Take any piece of paper and help your toddler cover it with scribbles using every color in the crayon box except black. Then, take the black crayon and completely cover your colorful scribbles. Finally, supervise your child while they use something like a paper clip or sharpened pencil to go over the piece of paper. Only the black crayon on top will disappear revealing the color underneath.
15. Give Their Babies a Bath: It’s possible that your toddler’s dolls and action figures have never had a bath. Fill a large Tupperware container or the sink with warm water and a few drops of dish soap. Then, help your toddler bathe their dolls or action figures. This may keep your tot busy for a surprisingly long amount of time and their toys will sparkle at the end!
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16. Have a Picnic: Rainy days aren’t the obvious time to have a picnic but your children will be delighted to spread out a blanket on the living room floor for a picnic lunch.
17. Reading Marathon: Does your kiddo always ask for one more book? A rainy day trapped inside is the perfect time to say yes to all the books. Grab all of your favorite books and hunker down on the sofa for as long as it takes to get through them all.
18. Hide and Seek: Hide and Seek is a toddler classic. When it’s their turn to hide, add to the fun by making a big deal of not being able to find them. Make sure your hider is within earshot and say things like “Oh no! Grandma is going to be so sad she will never see Jane again!” or “I’m going to have to call Daddy to tell him I lost Sam so he can come home and help me look.” Chances are your toddler will start laughing so hard you will then be able to “find” them.
19. Time to Do the Laundry: Grab the laundry basket and put your toddler inside covered with clothes. Grab a big handful of clothes along with your toddler and pretend to walk to the washing machine to do the laundry. Never put your toddler in the washing machine but you can get close before you realize your mistake in almost washing your toddler with a bunch of dirty socks.
20. Toddler-on-the-Go: Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean your toddler has any less energy than on a sunny day. Ask them to run down the hallway and back while you time them. Then, challenge them to go faster. This is a good activity to try just before naptime to ensure you get a nice, long rainy day break.
21. Crayon sorting: Challenge your little buddy to a color sorting race by taking each color crayon and putting them in a corresponding cup. This is a great opportunity to teach colors and matching while getting your crayon collection organized.
22. Freeze Dance: A spontaneous dance party can be even sillier if you stop the music and make the kids freeze. For even more silliness suggest that your toddler try to stand on one leg or freeze mid-hop.
23. Scavenger Hunt: Hide one of your toddler’s stuffed animals and go on a search throughout the house together. Give clues along the way. Make it a bear hunt or a quest to find a tiger that went missing from the zoo to add a little more interest.
24. Shadow Tracing: Set up a figure like a dinosaur on a white piece of paper and ask your kids to trace its shadow. If there is any sunlight this can easily be done by setting up near a window. If it’s a very gray and dreary rainy day you can create a shadow by placing a flashlight just behind the toy.
25. Stupendous Socks: A pair of balled-up socks can be used for a surprising number of toddler-friendly games. They are safe to use to play catch in the house. Or, use them to play basketball with a plastic cup or laundry basket hoop. Another fun way to use balled-up socks is to roll them down a hallway and try to knock down superheroes or other small toys. If you find that one pair of socks isn’t working, add another pair or two to the ball.
26. How High Can You Go?: Grab all of your blocks, Magna-Tiles, and anything else that can be stacked up. Start building a tower. Then grab a chair for your tot to stand on and keep going. Build as tall a tower as you can, trying to make it all the way up to the ceiling.
27. Write a Book: Ask your toddler to tell you a story. Write no more than one or two sentences on each page then ask your storyteller to illustrate their work. Once you are done, staple the pages together and give the book a place of pride on your bookshelf.
28. Take a Walk Down Memory Lane: Toddlers usually think they are the center of the universe (and they are probably right)! A rainy day is a perfect time to go through baby pictures and the baby book and tell all the stories about when they were born, relive their first steps, and answer any questions about their first two (or three) years. Once that is over show them other family albums, like a wedding album or family reunions from before they were born, and ask them to try to spot important people like Grandma and their cousins.
29. Create a New World: Whether your child is into dinosaurs, princesses, or superheroes, their imaginary world could probably use an upgrade. Grab some construction paper and crayons and draw a prehistoric scene, a castle, or superhero HQ. Tape it to the wall and you have an instant new storyline ready for your toddler to explore. If you have an empty box lying around go a step farther and make a diorama.
Somewhere between the imaginary bliss of new motherhood and the darkest places of postpartum depression lies the typical experience of motherhood. Landscape architect, illustrator, and mom of two Paula Kuka—in total multitasking mom-boss fashion—has nailed what it’s like to navigate the joys, strains, and surprises of motherhood in a totally relatable way.
“I’m terrible at keeping baby books up to date,” (we really, really like her) “so I decided to document those early days with illustrations,” Kuka told HuffPost. “I wanted to record the funny things my kids did and said, the milestones, the blissful moments, the chaos.” And when one of her illustrations went viral on BabyCenter, she decided to share more of them publicly.
“We compare ourselves to the perfect image of motherhood we often see on social media. I want parents to know that just because you have moments of boredom or frustration or where you would rather be hiding in the garden drinking wine than playing yet another game with your kids, it doesn’t mean you love them any less,” she said. Can we get this lady a mike?
Her illustrations resonate with parents because they don’t play into parenting stereotypes, nor do they trivialize the stress that parenting young children can cause. They’re simply relatable and funny. “I didn’t realize there was a huge middle ground, and I believe this with where most mums fit. I hope that my work celebrates and normalizes this middle ground.”
Considering the overwhelming feedback she’s received from parents who’ve thanked her for making them feel less alone, we think she’s done a fine job of what she set out to do.
With an ever growing list of banned books that includes everything from baby books to the Bible, Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is doing something about the censorship. Launched in April, Books UnBanned is a program that offers young adults ages 13 to 21 the ability to apply for a free library eCard from the BPL that gives access to a huge collection of eBooks.
“Access to information is the great promise upon which public libraries were founded,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO, Brooklyn Public Library. “We cannot sit idly by while books rejected by a few are removed from the library shelves for all. Books UnBanned will act as an antidote to censorship, offering teens and young adults across the country unlimited access to our extensive collection of ebooks and audiobooks, including those which may be banned in their home libraries.”
The free eCard is good for one year and serves as an additional resource for teens’ local communities. It provides access to 350,00 e-books, 200,000 audiobooks and over 100 databases.
BPL is making a point to keep challenged books available to those who want to read them by making specific selections available with no holds or wait times for all BPL cardholders. Some of those books include The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, Tomboy by Liz Prince, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison.
To apply for the card, eligible teens can email BooksUnbanned@bklynlibrary.org, or via the Library’s s teen-run Instagram account, @bklynfuture. Normally, there is a $50 for out-of-state cards but the program is waiving the fee for the year.
Being an eCard member provides readers with more than just access to literature. Teens will be connected to BPL’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council, peers in their Brooklyn community (if they are residents), will be provided with resources on how to fight censorship and find a place to share stories, essays and videos on the impacts of book bans and the importances of intellectual freedom.
Access to banned books is more important than ever, with the American Library Associations’ Office of Intellectual Freedom finding over 700 complaints over the last year. “Brooklyn Public Library stands firmly against censorship and for the principles of intellectual freedom—the right of every individual to seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction,” said Nick Higgins, Chief Librarian. “Limiting access or providing one-sided information is a threat to democracy itself.”
With these baby memory books, you’ll have those special memories forever
We all want our baby’s milestones and photos to be recorded in beautiful baby memory books. But actually doing it…can feel like a chore. But not with these memory keepers! From easy-to-use apps to books with written prompts, you’ll find the right format for you below.
With neutral language about families and holidays from several religions included (just remove the ones that don't apply to your family), the RubyRoo Baby Memory Book Baby Journal tries to make itself inclusive to all families. The book covers pregnancy to age 5 and covers milestones, vacations, celebrations and more, including six blank pages for photos and memories specific to your family. There are three covers to choose from: floral, woodland and adventure-themed.
Don't lose any of those special memories! Keep them preserved in a Tinybeans photo book. You'll love looking back at the memories and the book is so easy to create.
Document the first three years of your child's life with this handy baby book. In addition to space to record the basics about your birth and family, there are lots of fun prompts about your home, baby's visitors, daily routines at different ages, favorite activities, holiday celebrations, and friends. There's an expandable pocket at the back of the book for storing keepsakes, with an elastic enclosure to keep things all together.
This gender-neutral journal covers your pregnancy and the first year of baby's life in style, with a linen cover, gold embossed title, illustrated end pages and a linen box to store the book in. The guided journal features prompts you'll look forward to filling out, including favorite toys, funny things baby is doing and memorable moments for each month.
This baby memory book from C.R. Gibson, "A Book of Baby's Firsts," includes a washable-ink pad so you can document and remember just how teeny your baby's feet and hands were. The Bundle Bright line also includes the smaller and very Instagrammable "Our Magical Memories" ($11), which comes with 25 flippable cards you fill in with baby's milestones. Pages can be rearranged however you like.
In addition to lots of space for your photos, this interactive photo journal from Artifact Uprising includes written photo prompts to help you tell your child's story: bath time snaps, favorite spots to snuggle, the day baby met special people. Thanks to the four-ring binder, you can rearrange or remove any pages that don't work for your family. The customizable construction also means you can add extra pages where you want them.
When We Became Three documents mom and dad's relationship and pregnancy as well as the milestones for baby's first and second year. And yes, there is a When We Became Four book. Clever questions and checklists make this book fun for couples to fill out, which is a big plus for busy new parents.
Record the first 12 months of baby's life with National Geographic's Welcome Little One keepsake baby book. In addition to spots to record baby's amazing milestones, the book includes cute animal photos, heartwarming poems and quotes, and stickers for each monthly milestone. This is one book you and your child will love to page through for years to come.
Share with your little one what the world was like when they were born with This Is Your Book, by graphic artist and father Ryan Maconochie. In addition to recording baby’s vitals with sleek visuals, this book includes prompts about current events, pop culture, your favorite things and musings on baby, like which names you scratched off the list.
The Story of You has thought of everything new parents could want in a baby book. There are prompts you can fill out (about pregnancy, funny moments, and holiday memories), plus open spaces to record special moments and add photos as you like. The binder format lets you add, remove and reorder pages. And you can buy additional pages to record circumstances such as adoption, foster care, a NICU stay, infertility, and a heavenly baby.
No matter how far away your loved ones are, they can feel like they are with you for all of baby’s firsts with the free Moment Garden app. All those precious moments are backed up and kept private for you to share with those you choose. Want a physical book too? Print a hardcover or softcover book whenever you like.
Available at Moment Garden; the app is free, and a book costs $9-$49.
Black-and-White Dream
The Dreamcatcher black-and-white baby book from Etsy shop Mushybooks offers a sleek, gender-neutral design. Its 50 pages include all the moments you would expect from a baby book (birth story, firsts, favorites. etc.) with an aesthetic that's clean and simple so your baby can shine. Pages can be added or removed as desired.
Take photo books to tiny dimensions with Minibooks from Social Print Studio. Compile all your favorite baby photos into laminated, spiral-bound photo books. Slip them into your purse or pocket, so you always have pictures of mini-you to share with friends and family. This makes a great gift idea for grandparents too!
Take a non-traditional approach to memorykeeping and celebrate all of those alternative baby moments with Baby’s First Tattoo, by Jim Mullen. With this humorous approach to baby books, you'll never forget those other important moments, like: baby’s first tantrum in a crowded grocery store or places baby crawls that parents didn’t think possible.
Not every baby milestone fits into a book. The fabric boxes of The Library: Baby Keepsake Box can be displayed like books but hold so much more than a traditional tome. In this handcrafted memory box, you can save baby’s favorite blanket, a lock of hair, the first pair of shoes and more. There are even vertical files for important documents or photos.
Do you have trouble remembering to jot down those milestones? My Own Little Story is an online baby book that offers free email reminders to help you keep track of baby’s special moments. It even has a snooze button for those milestones baby hasn’t hit yet. Print your book once you have 10 milestones, or wait to create a larger book with up to 36 milestones or 72 printed pages.
Chatbooks took a candid look at the craziness that is motherhood and offered a supremely simple solution to printing photos from your phone. The app will automatically arrange your photos in chronological order for you. All you have to do is add captions and pick your cover to capture all of baby’s special moments.
With an emphasis on your baby’s interactions with the natural world, The First 1000 Days: A Baby Journal by Nikki McClure lets you record your baby’s birth story as well as their first tree, moon and garden. The bold papercut illustrations will captivate even the youngest eyes.
The Mom's One Line a Day book simplifies the baby book by letting moms write one short note a day to document an event, experience or that day's feelings. With room for five years' worth of notes, you can document the magic of your little one's early years without too much effort.
Letters to My Baby allows you to write your child letters about your hopes, dreams and memories. Once written, you seal them until your child is old enough to read them. There are prompts for each of the 12 letters to help you craft what you write.
No need to spend countless hours creating a scrapbook-like memory book because this book from Lucy Darling has done the work for you. Available in a variety of themes, there's space to document firsts, favorites and monthly milestones amid beautifully designed pages.
You can easily organize all your sweetest family moments—and share them with your family and friends near and far—with the Tinybeans app. The secure platform puts parents in total control of who sees and interacts with photos and videos of their kids.
When you think about it, parents have it easy these days…hear us out. Unlike our parents back in the day, today, we can pretty much get anything we need delivered straight to our homes. Just about everyone is delivering foods and products. But since parents and families have pretty specific needs, these local Seattle delivery services are helping parents out in a big way. You can sign up for weekly diaper services, monthly toy deliveries, healthy meals, party goods and even medical care. Check out these eleven Seattle delivery services offering unique products straight to your door.
Beet World
Beet World
Hailing from Kirkland, Beet World’s founder, Ashima Singhal says that she was inspired by her own children to create “chic childrenswear with elements of design and comfort that both parents and children value.” Often inspired by things in nature, Beet World offers timeless styles with modern twists. From baby bloomers to big boy seersucker collared shirts, all of Beet World’s clothes are made with nature fibers that are easily washable. Bundle some of the more popular looks and save some cash. All shipments are packed in recyclable packaging too. New clothes to your door. It's a total win.
If you prefer to go with cloth diapers, Baby Diaper Service, a local Seattle delivery service, is the way to go. Having been in business for over 75 years, these guys know what they are doing and won’t be going away any time soon. They deliver all over the Puget Sound area and are committed to providing excellent service with 100% natural cloth diapers at a (gasp) affordable price. The cleaning process is pH-balanced to baby’s skin and tested to hospital standards. It’s not rocket science either. They simple deliver clean, fresh-smelling diapers and pick up your soiled ones. They even offer training pants for toddlers.
We’ve all seen old TV shows where the local doctor would make house calls but many of us didn’t actually grow up with that service. However, as a new parent, you can. DispatchHealth takes every injury or illness seriously providing same-day healthcare right to your home. They can provided pediatric urgent care as well as common conditions and ailments of children. And yes, they care for adults too. For every visit, the healthcare company will send two medical professionals to your home including a physician assistant or nurse practitioner along with a DispatchHealth Medical Technician. In addition, an ER physician is also available at all times via the phone.
Alison Scott, a Seattle-based pediatrician, created Baby Doc Box for parents’ and baby’s first year. Delivered every other month, the box contains essential items for your new adventure together. For instance, the first box, geared for babies 0-2 months old contains an Omni Swaddle, a “Welcome Baby” book, pacifier, supplements, healing balms, thermometer and more. You can begin at any stage and purchase by the box or by subscription. In addition to physical items, each delivery is also packed with inspiration, tools and judgement-free coaching to help reduce the uncertainty about parenting. Hint: a subscription also makes a great gift for expecting parents.
Sensa Play is Seattle’s original children's weekly sensory kit rental company. And if you've got a soon-to-be-sibling at home, we can't recommend it enough. Each kit is designed to keep your little ones busy with four different educational play times, each focused around one theme. The books, games, toys, and activities that come with each one are super engaging, giving you and baby the space you need while sib plays nearby. Each shipment’s charge includes delivery, one-week rental and pickup.
Kinfood works from the outside in—finding small, organic farms located outside of Seattle and delivering a selection of vegetables and even heirloom varietals to neighborhoods inside of Seattle. Each Friday, a “Farm Box” (an insulated, reusable bag which is sanitized after each use) is delivered to your home, packed with seasonal vegetables and fruits along with a recipe or two. You can even add on items like fresh-made breads, pasta, coffee and pastured eggs. If you find that veggies are piling up or will be out of town, you can skip a week too. It's an easy way to save yourself a trip to the store or farmer's market.
If you live with 20 miles of Pike Place Market, you can now get the market experience without leaving your home. Working with Mercato, items from fish to produce can be delivered to your doorstep. You can now make home purchases from businesses like Chukar Cherries, Honest Biscuits, Le Panier, MarketSpice, Pasta Casalinga, Pike Place Chowder, Pike Place Fish, Maíz, Sosio’s Produce, The Confectional, Truffle Queen and Uli’s Famous Sausage.
Parenting is hard. You deserve a treat. While your little ones will be happy with day old graham crackers, we have a lead on where you can get the good stuff without ever having to leave your home. Believe it or not, Treat has a cookie club subscription service based in Burien where “deliciousness” is delivered the first Monday of each month. You can choose to receive a half-dozen or full dozen cookies each month. (Who are we kidding? We know you’ll order the full dozen.) The mix includes four seasonal flavors and two classic flavors. Pricing includes 2-day priority shipping.
Gather’d Market offers a different kind of grocery delivery service. Here you’ll order foods directly from recipes posted on their site. Just pick the recipe that looks good to you and order the items you don’t already have stocked up in your home. Then, add the needs for the week like milk and eggs to your list as well. Order by 8 p.m. and you’ll get the goods by the next day. You can shop at any time and pay a $6 delivery fee for all orders over $25 or become a member (for just $10) to get free shipping on all orders over $25. No commitment–you can cancel at any time. Gathr’d currently delivers in Kirkland but will be expanding to Bellevue, Redmond and Woodinville this year.
Your baby is turning one, but where will you find the time to plan a party? Easy. Just order a party-in-a box from Prime Party. Located in Monroe, this place offers great party supplies with themes that work equally well for boys and girls. Max and Ruby are a pair of sibling bunnies who love to party. The deluxe party pack includes dinner plates, dessert plates, cups, luncheon napkins, beverage napkins, a tablecloth, flag banner and even favor boxes for eight. Other items available include large cardboard cutouts, table decorations, games and more. Our favorite current themes? Llama Llama, Rainbow Unicorn and Bob Ross and Friends.
What parent wouldn’t appreciate a nice, relaxing massage? Now you can get one delivered! Dream Clinic’s Mobile Massage makes relaxation easy in Seattle. The same therapists who work in their clinics are now hitting the road to offer in-home massages helping to relieve back pain, neck pain, muscle soreness and stress relief. Request an appointment today, get notified of your appointment tomorrow. Make it a regular thing by signing up for a monthly plan.
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A first birthday is a big event for your favorite little person, and that calls for a truly special gift. Read on for meaningful birthday gifts for babies and fun baby toys—for playtime, baths, stroller rides and more—that kids will keep using as they grow.
Creative Kids Sense & Grow Sensory Magic Tissue Box
Keep babies out of your purse with this magical box of scarves in a variety of colors and textures. Oh, yes, some even crinkle when you touch them. Kids will love pulling out sheer, cotton and tulle scarves and putting them back in, over and over.
This extra-soft chair will be their favorite place to sit for movie night or story time. The slipcover zips off for cleaning, and the handle at the top makes it easy to move to a different spot. Personalization makes it the perfect birthday gift.
Suction these cute, colorful animals onto a high chair, stroller tray or restaurant table to keep a kid occupied. With every turn, slide, pull, twist and shake, kids are working on fine motor development.
Celebrate milestones to come in the one-year-old's life with these toddler essentials: plates, fork & spoon, snack cup, sippy cups, teether and bath toys. In neutral colors, this set can be passed down to younger siblings.
Use them individually or set them up to create a chain reaction. This bathtub toy makes tubby time fun for everyone (and will give parents a much needed moment of peace).
If there's one kind of toy that will mystify and entertain little ones with wildly short attention spans, it's these pull-back pals. This set contains a hot rod, police car and school bus.
Made with food-grade silicone, this wooden pop-it toy encourages sensory exploration and builds fine motor skills. Plus, it comes in super cool, muted colors and is sized just right for small hands.
The perfect way for your kids to interact with a story being read to them! The set comes with a durable board book, tackle box, a rod, worm and two fish. The animals all make different sounds.
Made from New Zealand natural pine wood, this Montessori carrot matching game is great for fine motor skills and won't be something kids outgrow in a few months.
Handmade in Peru with soft Peruvian cotton, these 7-inch dolls are perfect for baby snuggles. If a cute fox isn't your thing, choose a bear, bunny, cat or skunk.
American Greetings 1st Birthday Cupcake Card for Girls
The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac come alive through vivid pictures and playful descriptions in this English-Chinese board book making for an exciting cultural adventure.
The Best French Bilingual Board Books for Toddlers
Your child will have a great time discovering the sights of Paris while learning helpful French phrases with a little help from a friendly cat and kitten duo!
This book is full of adorable images of toddlers and preschoolers enjoying healthy foods in all the colors of the rainbow! Your kiddo will have fun learning the names of their favorite fruits and veggies in both English and French.
The Best German Bilingual Board Books for Toddlers
This box set of 10 books includes all the basic learning themes perfect for toddlers—ABC, Numbers, Colors, and more! Each book has bright and realistic images labeled in both English and Hindi.
The Best Italian Bilingual Board Book for Toddlers
Got a little pasta lover at home? This colorful board book introduces toddlers to the delicious and diverse world of Italian cuisine (beyond spaghetti!).
The Best Japanese Bilingual Board Book for Toddlers
An opposites-themed book in bold color block illustrations paired with full, descriptive sentences makes for an extra effective Japanese vocabulary development boost!
A curiosity of space is an innate human quality, so it’s never too early to explore the planets and stars with your toddler. Not only do we love the playful illustrations, but the transliterations score major points with parents who are learning Korean alongside their kiddos.
The Best Portuguese Bilingual Board Book for Toddlers
This easy-to-follow board book with contrasting images of baby animals is sure to capture the attention of our tiniest language-learners as they learn words to describe animal movements in Portuguese and English.
The Best Spanish Bilingual Board Books for Toddlers
Amazon
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes/Cabeza, Hombros, Piernas, Pies
This well-known nursery song has been translated into numerous languages and is beloved around the world. This Spanish version will have your toddler singing along in no time!
This fun book will teach your toddler all about loving who they are through bright and quirky illustrations, while growing their sense of self-esteem and their Spanish vocabulary!
Your guests will love these baby shower game ideas
When you’re planning the activities for a baby shower, you’re looking for games that are easy to learn, fun to play and not likely to make guests cringe. These games are all that and more.
The prize for this game goes to the mom-to-be, who gets a homemade alphabet book crafted by her favorite people. Let guests choose what image to draw for each letter or, if you think they'll need inspiration, choose a theme for the book (it can even match the shower theme). Stop by the cuppacocoa blog for a free template and full instructions.
Maximum fun with minimal prep work: Guests email you baby photos of themselves prior to the shower, and you print them up, number each one, and create a display on a wall or table. Print out numbered sheets where guests can try to match each guest to the pictures.
There are so many memorable things parents can do with their baby in the first year, but with baby brain, it can be hard to remember to do them. Have guests write down one first-year bucket-list item (from blowing. bubbles to visiting the zoo) on a note card and drop it into a basket for the mom-to-be to take home. Bonus points for using a diaper caddy as the basket, like the one above from Keababies, since the mom will find this invaluable for diaper changes.
Fill up baby’s wardrobe with customized outfits using blogger Lovely Indeed’s decorating station idea. Provide solid-colored baby clothes in a variety of styles and sizes, fabric markers, iron-on designs, and an iron. Your friends will have fun designing these tiny outfits, and Mom will get one-of-a-kind baby gear made with love.
Ask every guest to share a wish for the new baby in this sweet idea from the Art Bar blog. Use pastel card stock and the blog’s free animal templates, or use scrapbook paper and your own shapes for the cards. Hang ribbon and small clothespins on your wall so guests can post their wishes for everyone to read.
For a super easy game, fill baby bottles with a set amount of small candies, like sprinkles. Place a bottle at each table with a note that asks guests to guess the number of candies. This game doubles as an icebreaker as tablemates try to figure out the exact number. At each table, the person with the closest guess can win the candy.
Give each guest a container of Play-Doh and 15 minutes to sculpt a baby-related masterpiece (like a baby, pacifier or bottle). Let the mother-to-be pick her favorite to win a prize.
Ask shower guests to show off their artistic sides by decorating baby blocks. Provide blank wooden blocks, markers, stickers and more (Fireflies and Mudpies has instructions for making these textured blocks) and let your guests get creative. After the party, paint the blocks with a natural wood varnish for a special gift for baby.
Children's Book Quiz
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For a book-loving mom-to-be, set up a quiz with trivia from classic children’s books. Or, create a fill-in-the-blank quiz with titles of children’s books. This is a good way to get guests chatting, as they remember their own childhood favorites.
All you need to play this game are a bunch of new baby socks in different colors, patterns, and sizes and a cute laundry basket. We love the sock bundles from Cheski Sock Company, shown above. Throw the unpaired socks into the basket, set a timer, and have each guest match as many as they can in one minute. Mom-to-be gets a laundry basket and a great sock collection for baby, and your friends get a workout and some laughs.
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There are many wonderful ways we become families, from fostering to adoption to blended families to birth families. If your family is about to grow thanks to adoption, your children are adopted, or your kids are just curious about adoption, these 14 books will offer insight, education, and a celebration of the adoption process.
Two canine characters, Olive and her adopted daughter Coco, explore the beauty of the world and the process of adoption through color and poetic verse. Because love is the color of the door of the building where they first met, it is the color of the blanket Coco was first wrapped up in, it is the color of the lavender bubble bath Olive bathed Coco in. Not only is this book a celebration of adoption, but it is a celebration of diverse families of all kinds, colors, and sizes. Author Michelle Madrid-Branch wrote the critically acclaimed book, Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the Heart as well as the kid’s book The Tummy Mummy, which is also on this list. Illustrated by Erin Darling. All ages.
Based on her own experience adopting a child, author Tracey Zeeck tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Seek, who want a baby but cannot seem to make one—no matter how hard they try or how far they travel. One day they realize that there is another way: adoption! Charmingly illustrated with colorful, monster-like characters by David Bizzaro. Ages 4-8.
This poetic book celebrates the bond between a mother and her child, inspired by the Today Show co-anchor Hoda Kotb’s adoption of her baby girl, Haley Joy (Kotb later adopted another little girl, Hope Catherine). It reminds us that love is love and that the love between a parent and child is forever. Sweet illustrations by Suzie Mason. Ages 4-8.
All of the books in the A Kids Book About series are known for taking a frank and kid-forward approach to covering topics that can be tough for parents to navigate, including divorce, anxiety, racism, empathy, and more. This book is a conversation starter for anyone who wants to talk about adoption, told from two points of view: author Leul Gurske is 14, born in Ethiopia and adopted at age two; and co-author Nabil Zerizef adopted his son at birth. All ages.
Author Michelle Madrid-Branch not only understands adoption as a mother but she herself was adopted. The term tummy mummy was one her own adopted mother used to explain Michele’s birthmother. In homage and gratitude, and in response to the negativity and harsh judgment many birth mothers can receive, this book talks about a birthmother who loves her child very much but cannot keep her. Illustrated by Marin Thurber. Ages: 4-5.
This is a parent and child record book and journal with prompts for adoptive parents to tell their own story and record all the milestones of the adoption process, from fostering through the first year as a forever family. With a gender-neutral theme and questions and prompts for both domestic and international adoptions, it can be adapted for any kind of adoption, including foster to adoption families. Designed for adopted children from infant through elementary age, so it does not need to be a baby book. By Mellanie Kay Journals. All ages.
This sweet book features Mama Bear and her baby bear, Barley, who wants to know about how his mama wished for him. It tells the story of Barley’s adoption, including explaining how Barley's birthmother loved him enough to know that she could not be the mama she wanted to be, and so she made sure that Barley would have the best mama. And that is how they came to be a beautiful, happy, snuggly family. Written and illustrated by Marianne Richmond Ages: 2-5.
Sharlie Zinniger's cheerful, rhyming book is told from a triumphant child’s point of view, and tells the story of his adoption from start to finish, and demonstrates the true love at the heart of any adoption. Inspired by the author’s own adoption process with her two sons. Bright, colorful illustrations by Tiffany Cunliffe. All ages.
The Story of My Open Adoption: A Storybook for Children Adopted at Birth
Leah Campbell introduces the concept of open adoption in this rhyming, illustrated book that tells the story of Sammy the Squirrel. Sammy has been adopted by Mom and Dad Rabbit, and the Rabbits are taking Sammy to meet his first family. The book includes a space for kids to draw their own family and a list of resources for parents and kids alike on the topic of adoption. It’s a story about not one, but two families who love Sammy very much. Ages: 3-5
Authored by actress Jamie Lee Curtis and enchantingly illustrated by Laura Cornell, the duo behind the New York Times bestsellers Today I Feel Silly and I’m Gonna Like Me, this book celebrates the joy an adopted child brings to a family. Ages: 4-8.
Inspired by her own family history, author Christine Day tells the story of Edie, a curious young girl who wants to know more about her Native American heritage. All she knows is that her mom was adopted by a white couple. But then curious Edie discovers a box hidden in the attic, with letters and photos of a mysterious woman who looks just like Edie. Wanting to know more about this woman, and hoping to learn more about her own heritage, Edie uncovers a menagerie of family secrets. A beautiful and powerful book about identity, adoption, history, and the truth. Ages: 8-12
Jaden is sure his parents must think they made a mistake when they adopted him. At age 11 his behavioral issues—stealing, hoarding, lighting fires—must be the reason they are all traveling to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby. To replace him, Jaden is sure, even though he knows they love him. When they arrive they discover the baby they had intended to adopt has already been placed, and while his parents are focusing on one of the other babies, Jaden starts bonding with a little three-year-old toddler named Dimash. And this connection helps Jaden understand the power of love to transform our lives. Ages: 10 and up.
Makeda is 11, adopted, and black. She loves her white parents and sister and knows that they love her, but it doesn’t change the fact that Makeda often feels like an outsider, except when she’s with Lena. Lena is Makeda's best friend and she is also adopted, and black. When Makeda’s family moves from Maryland to New Mexico everything changes. The story of Makeda finding her place in the world is beautifully written by author Marima J. Lockington, who draws upon her own experiences with her adoptive white family. Ages: 9-11
In this book for older teenage readers, Grace, who was adopted at birth and raised an only child discovers that she isn’t an only child after all. When Grace puts her own baby up for adoption, she begins to look for her birth family and discovers she’s actually a middle child, with two bio siblings. Maya, her younger bio sister was adopted into a big family. Joaquin, her older bio-brother, stayed in the foster care system until he was 17. There are not very many books on the topic of adoption and foster care geared toward older readers, and this one is a must-read. Author Robin Benway is not only a New York Times bestseller, she also won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for this book. Ages: 13-17
