Shoes

My mastermind

Engineer mama asks why not buy a shoe with flexible sole that can be bent for almost 90 degree, eg see kai run, skiders etc?

My Thought

For babies who just learned how to walk, no doubt that bare foot is the best ! But, what if the surface is rough, and the baby wants to get down for a walk? At this stage, we realize that it is time to get baby Chern a pair of shoes.

I always invest in a pair of good shoes for myself, as I rely heavily on public transport in Sg + need to walk a lot.

Therefore, yes, ask Mr Google again what are the recommended baby shoes? I find myself addicted to google in almost every single aspect of my life! Is this a sickness?Haha!

Top criteria:

1) The sole is thick enough but flexible enough to bend almost 90 degree so that baby feels no obstacle
2) Light

How to choose the size:

1) measure the foot length and add 0.5cm-1cm , or
2) let the baby try it out and then make sure we can still insert a finger space so that their feet has some room for movement

And the recommended brands:

1) Pedipep
2) See Kai Run
3) Stride rite
4) Skidders etc...

The lists go on; but the price for these brands are not cheap! It ranges from min SGD59 to SGD100 AND baby grows fast! Well, engineer mama friends said it is baby first shoes, lets invest a little! Okay, baby Chern got a See Kai Run after shopping at Mothercare and Stride Rite at Vivocity.

Crayons

Summary:
Engineer ask why not.... Buy HoneySticks crayon from shopnewzealand.co.nz

As my 14 months old little one still has the habit to put things into her mouth, I started a crayon hunt with the criteria safe and edible.

Most of the crayons in the market contains paraffin wax (a petroleum product). Personally, I prefer products that uses bee wax or carnauba wax (a kind of plant).

DIY crayons seems quite interesting and doable. The main ingredients are

1. 1 oz of wax (bee wax or carnauba wax)

2. 1.5 oz of Cacao butter

3. Food grade coloring or natural coloring like

- beet root (red)

- pandan leave (green)

- turnamic (yellow)

- purple cabbage with vinegar (blue)

Steps

1. Heat and melt wax and butter in a bowl inside a boiling water

2. Add in the color pigment

3. Pour into the mould that you like

Reference:

http://www.mommypotamus.com/how-to-make-crayons/

However, both bee wax and cacao butter is not easily found in Sg and Malaysia. The price is quite steep. Taking into considerations the tools and ingredients that are needed (In short, I am lazy!) I decided to buy instead! There are a few brands of beewax crayon that are available, and blog below gives a good introduction:

http://themindfulhome.blogspot.sg/2013/07/the-best-non-toxic-beeswax-and-soy.html

I go with the first one below- the reason is simple, it do shop to SG!

1. Honeysticks crayon from New Zealand

2. WeCanToo crayon -amazon but dont ship to SG

3. Eco-kids - amazon but dont ship to SG

Shall wait for the product to ship to me. I have ordered on 3 May 2016, lets see when will it arrive.

Update: It arrives on 10 May 2016, just nice in a week time which I think is quite reasonable. Here is how the crayon packaging looks like and i tried out all the 12 colors before baby Chern plays with it.

The honeysticks crayon packaging

I

The 12 colors of the honeysticks crayon, nice color, I like it!