Good buy.

We did a bit of family shopping today. Not just boring old food shopping (although there was a little of that too), but fun shopping! As I've mentioned, Nathaniel has started teething recently. He's been drooling all over, chewing on everything, and has his fingers permanently popped in his mouth.
In my online search for a relief for my little one's mouth, I came across loads of products, from regular old Orajel (ever tried the stuff? it burns!) to newfangled teething tablets (give my almost-6-month-old a pill? no thanks...). I found people who swore that nursing a baby relieved the pain (sure, it worked when he was hungry...and after that, I became the teether--which may or may not have relieved his pain, but it sure didn't help mine!), and I came across lots of ideas of things to let babies chew (damp washcloths, popsicles, vibrating teethers, my knuckle, etc). We tried them all (except the popsicle), and the frozen washcloth was his favorite. But, it still wasn't totally ideal because it made his clothes wet, and I had to continuously rotate it when he chewed a warm spot. Time and time again, I came across rave reviews for the Sophie the Giraffe toy{http://www.sophiegiraffeusa.com}. Supposedly, babies and parents alike love them! They're cute and made of all natural products. They're light and easy for babies to handle. They're stimulating for all of the baby's senses....and they're $20 apiece! I love my baby, but a $20 teething toy sounds like a bit much, right? Right.
Then my local toy store sent us a 20% off coupon. And, I found a gift card in my purse that still had $10.46 on it. So, off we went in search of a Sophie the Giraffe! When we found it, I still wasn't entirely convinced that this would be the miracle toy that everyone seemed to believe. And, even now that Nathaniel has been in possession of his Sophie for a few hours, I'm not totally sold on the price. But, he does love it! He's been happily gnawing on her since I got it out of the packaging in the car. She's light and so perfect for his little hands. She squeaks easily (he can't make any of his other toys squeak yet), and, apparently, feels wonderful on his sore gums! She is made of all natural rubber {and food-grade paint}, so she's a little stinky, but that is supposed to be one of the qualities that babies love about her (Nate doesn't seem to mind at all)! My only complaint so far, is that Grover seems very interested in Nate's new squeaky toy. And, while Grover has never eaten any of Nate's toys to date, I will not be very happy if he starts with the $20 teether!

I also picked up a new coat for Nathaniel today. Winter clothes are finally being shifted to the clearance racks to make way for Easter outfits. I dug through racks of little boy pajamas and mittens before I came across a darling little winter coat. It's thick and wooly with a fleece lining--and it was on sale for $6.50! A little big now, but I've a feeling that he'll fill it out better next winter!

And, as usual, I spent the day with my cutie riding around in the shopping cart, a camera in my purse--and forgot to take a picture! He is so stinkin' cute riding in the cart!! Maybe I'll remember to take a picture by the time he fits into that coat! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend...