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Friday, May 30, 2008

Toys, Toys, Toys!






Being a mom I know a little bit about toys. I know they are always on my floor and under my feet to trip over and always in my sons mouth. With that in mind I took special interest in recent reports that there are many toys available with lead paint on them.


Lead can be especially dangerous to small children because lead attacks the brain and central nervous system. Children with even modest elevations of blood lead levels can exhibit attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and developmental delays. This made me think about the things I give my child to play with. To date most of the things that have been a lead concern have been plastic toys. I currently have a love hate relationship with plastic as it is. I try to eliminate the "bad" plastics from my home but as budget allows I would like to rid my home of most of its plastic.


While the jury is still out on whether or not BPA (bisphenol A- a chemical that leaches from plastic baby bottles, food/beverage cans, and many other products) is harmful I believe that anything coming directly from oil has to be at some point toxic. They note that BPA acts like the sex hormone estrogen -- indeed, BPA was originally developed as a chemical estrogen. These researchers worry that BPA is behind hormone-linked trends in human health such as increased abnormal penis development in males, earlier sexual development in females, increases in neurodevelopmental diseases such as ADHD and autism, increased child obesity, decreased sperm count, and more breast and prostate cancers.


I personally don't want my child exposed to artificial hormones or other chemicals. That is why I buy mostly organic meat (mostly cause sometimes Zack shops and I can't control all of his purchases) dairy and especially milk. We as parents try to the best for our children. Its the little things like their toys that should be the least of our worries but unfortunately they aren't.


Recently, there was a baby/ child resale event where you can sell all your outgrown clothes and toys and buy "new" ones from other people. I love these events! This time I got rid of most of Grayson's toys. Pretty much anything plastic met its demise. (Leap frog, Playschool, Tonka, Little tykes were all safe) And when I shopped I looked for wooden toys and more educational toys.


Which brings me to my point (long time getting there I know- sorry) I found these two great sites www.rosiehippo.com and www.magiccabin.com that I am going to start buying more of G's toys from. Grayson would ideally not receive any more plastic as gift either but alas I cannot control others choices. (hint hint) Happy shopping friends.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Fountain Fun



One of the great things I have found about living in Portland is all the fabulous fountains all over the city to play in. This is Beaverton fountain, it is in a park in the center of Beaverton a few miles from our house. We had a great time playing with our friends and in the water. Grayson wasn't very sure at first and didn't want to get down but he warmed up after a while. He also loved climbing on the play structure not far away in the park.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Thank you Grandpa!


Grayson got a package from his Grandpa Bill the other day with his second tractor. He LOVES it! He loves to drive it all over the house, making tractor noises (well sort of :) and running over things. He gets kinda frustrated though cause it is really heavy so he can't carry it like he would like to.

Him getting this new tractor lead to another great thing. I learned to take my own videos on my camera (knew how to do that) and UPLOAD them MYSELF to youtube. I even edited! I was SO proud of myself. Now I don't have to wait for Zack to do it, since he is so busy with work and such.
Here is the finished product, Grayson saying Thank you for his new toy:

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Read baby Read!


This is a few months old but it is totally relevant today. Grayson LOVES to read. He seriously brings me books at least 8 times a day, usually the same ones but any book will do. He loves to read anything that is readable. It reminds me of myself. I used to read anything and everything even shampoo bottles and random things like that. It makes me very happy that he loves to read so much, its something I try to foster and try never to turn him down. Right now his favorite book is a favorite of mine. I used to read it to Grete (former nanny charge) at least 5 times a day when she was 2. And now I read it to G about as much. I change the words though cause all they say is NO! and we try to say No Thank You. So I have the words whenever possible, so its a little nicer. ;)


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