Fave Product Friday (but Wednesday)

I've been saying that I'm going to start writing about some of my favorite products.  Because really, we all know I love to shop. AND I love a bargain.  AND I love "regular" products out there that can do double duty and work great for a special needs kid AKA Xavier.  What better way to sing my praises of these products and hope that maybe they will work well for other parents than to write about it.  I hope to make this a weekly thing (on Fridays hence the title of this post).

So let's begin.  Way back when the Bean was still a bean and not yet a sprout he got the bright idea in his head that he wasn't digging on bottles so much any more.  He thought they were great things to chew on but not so much to drink out of anymore.  It went something like this: suck suck chew chew cry cry.  When people worry you to hell and back about your kid's weight the last thing you want him to do is to take a vow against the bottle.

So began the quest to find the perfect sippy cup.  This involved many a trip to Babies R Us, Target, Walmart and just about any place that sold anything with the words "sippy" and "cup". 

COPYRIGHT ASTRID PHOTOGRAPHY

Many dollars spent later I came across the Tilty Cup.  The sun shone, clouds parted, angels might just have sung.  Not only does the Tilty Cup keep liquid at an angle for easier drinking (and holding for Mom and Dad) but it has a variety of lids with different flow.  What's that?  Can I get an AMEN!  They have a slow flow, regular flow, and smoothie lid (also a travel lid).  We skipped the slow flow and went right to the regular flow.  X took it like a champ!  Soon we graduated to the smoothie flow.  We use this all of the time now because X gets thickened liquids and smoothies.  What is really great about their lids is that the mouth piece has been the perfect size.  It's not too big nor is it too small (perfect for X and his lip closure) and it's hard.  The soft spouts of other sippy cups turned Xavier off; I think because they still reminded him of a bottle. 

Daycare and other parents have loved Tilty Cup. I've bought Tilty Cup from these stores:

Amazon

Tilty Cup Online Store

One Step Ahead

I've also been told they can be found at Marshall's and TJ Maxx.

And you may think, what happened to all those other sippy cups that you bought?  Funny story.  In an effort to clean out our cabinets he took all of the other cups out and decided that they had to be put away with all the other baby stuff (in case there's another Byrd sometime in the future).  Great idea! What does he decide to put them in?  A brown paper bag.  This would not be such a bad idea had he not set the whole bag next to the OTHER brown paper bag that had recycling in it and then took it out to the trash.  Yep, all those sippy cups in the trash.  Well, the recycling.  At least the recycling. 

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Race fans, hotrodders, 2 year olds!  Yep, Sunday is the day my bean turns into a sprout.  When he was smaller I always wondered how we would celebrate birthdays or do "normal" things?  What the hell did that mean?  Seriously, I thought that?!  We celebrate them just like anyone else...with ridiculous amounts of sweets, too many presents, and lots of love.

Round #1 of birthday festivities included Mommy (and her oh so bright ideas) to make some treats for school.  I wanted to make something fun but also enriching for the kids.  So I decided to make cake pops and cupcakes! Cake pops because they were just fun and cupcakes so the little ones who might be tube feed can squish them and play with them. Believe me, when your kid has special needs you look at everything as an experience.  The cake pops recipe came from Bakerella.  She is amazing!

My venture into cake pop making started Wednesday night with making the actual cake.  Thursday I go crackin' at 5 and didn't stop until almost 9.  The night actually went by fast because they were so much fun.

Without further adieu, I present the cake pops!

All ready for school!

And the afermath!