little bean baby

We have had the Sea Dreams soother in Mason's crib for about 10 months now and I can honestly say it is one of my all time favorite baby items (also on that list is the beloved Exersaucer which he has sadly grown out of). It soothes him to sleep at bedtime, if he wakes up in the middle of the night he hits the button and the music and lights soothe him right back to sleep. In the mornings when he wakes up he hits the button and goes back to sleep for another 20-30 minutes. He uses the light some mornings to sit and read before we come in the room and other times we just catch him in the monitor watching the sea creature show on the soother screen. He has started to associate the music with falling asleep and it has been our lives so much easier.

The other day we realized that we haven't heard him cry out in the morning for us to come get him in weeks. He just sits or stands in his crib with the soother on until we come get him....we would never really even know he was up without a monitor.

Whether your child sleeps through the night or is up all night tossing and turning....this soother is a must-have. It teaches baby to soothe without you needing to physically go in their room which equals more sleep for parents and more time for coffee in the morning before they wake up and the day really starts. It also comes with a remote so you can turn on the soother from the door without even getting near the crib (genius!).

I will never forget Mason's one month appointment. The pediatrician stressed starting a bedtime routine that included a bath and a book before bedtime. I remember looking at my 8lb son that could barely hold up his head thinking how in the world could we possibly read a book to this tiny thing...but we did... every. single. night.

He barely noticed the book was even there at first, but as time went on his love for books grew and grew. He started to put his face real close up to the pictures and would study every detail. Then he started to turn the pages himself. And now with the peekaboo or touch and feel books, he knows exactly what part of the book to open, touch, turn, push, and scratch.

There are certain books that he snuggles up to me immediately when he sees the cover and and other books he sits up tall and straight so he can interact with every page. We have started to put books in his bed each night so he can read before falling asleep or when he wakes up in the morning. We read at the beach, during diaper changes, on airplanes, in the car, his stroller, wherever we go, we bring books. He doesn't just love books, he is enthralled by them.

I was thrilled to stumble upon Bookroo, a monthly children's book subscription that will help grow Mason's library. We have a TON of books already but not too many make it into the nightly rotation so I am always looking for more books Mason might love. Luckily Bookroo does the work for me, carefully selecting the books and sending them to us monthly to nurture his love of reading in the hopes of finding new books we will all love to read each night. You can choose between picture books and board books and if you receive a book you already have in your library, send them a picture of you gifting the book to someone else and they will take $5 off your next month...pretty awesome...

Beyond just being an amazing concept, the experience from the website to the hand wrapped books that arrive perfectly packaged is fantastic. And I am definitely going to be gifting a Bookroo subscription or two for birthdays and holidays because I know a lot of moms like me who might go crazy if their child receives one more toy...books are so much easier to clean up at the end of the day...

I hope Mason always loves to read the way he does today. I hope that even when he is older he still can't wait for the next book, the next page, the next word. And I kind of hope he always wants to snuggle while we read our books before bedtime...