It’s been a few weeks since I wrote anything baby related, so I’ll treat you to a review of the best value child-thing you’ll ever buy: the £13 IKEA Antilop high chair. (PS if you’ve stumbled here from the cycling side of the site go and have a look at VeloViewer instead. I discovered it over the weekend, and am already in love.) Anyway, back to the high chair. You’ll find these absolutely everywhere. I reckon half of all cafe high chair are Antilops, and for good reason. They’re sturdy, lightweight, stackable (less of a bonus for the home user, admittedly), and have no awkward nooks and crevices to trap last night’s pasta sauce. The legs pop off with slightly awkward push-button-hole-things, making the entire thing pack down into a remarkably small space if you’re travelling. There is a three-way lap belt, which you can thankfully remove for ease of cleaning if you don’t intend to leave your child unaccompanied. The tray detaches relatively easily if you want to push the chair right up to a table, and all the edges are rounded.

I’m running out of things to say. It’s a £13 high chair. Unless you absolutely must have one that matches the décor of your dining room, just grab this and treat yourself to a bottle of wine or two. Additional bonus: you’ve got a good chance that the high chair in your favourite eating establishment will now be a familiar place for your little cherub. Further additional bonus: if you’ve got wooden flooring it’s light enough to be used as a walking frame… Charging USB things by bicycle (Another) bike curious family workshopI cannot believe I almost have a 2 year old and 10 month old. This year has gone by pretty fast. Well except the 2 months that Luke cried endlessly. Those were long, hard months. Anyway, I want to share some of the most helpful gear I’ve used in mothering two little kids, particularly two young ones. In order to help the day go smoothly, it’s best if I think ahead and do what I can to prepare for the next day. Beyond that, these are some of my recommendations if you find yourself in a similar boat as I am!

There are a ton of daily use items that aren’t included in here, but these are my 5 “tried and true really hard to imagine what the last year would be like without them” kind of items. IKEA Antilop highchair with tray. I’ve never understood high chairs with fabric on them? We have two of these and both boys eat all of their meals (other than Luke having a bottle) in them! what pushchair did kate buyOriginally we received a Stokke Tripp Trapp when David was young, but I’m holding off on using that until David will sit up to the table. wedding chair covers san diegoI like that highchair, but these matching Antilop’s with the tray make mealtime easy and clean up SUPER easy. hanging egg chair inside

Just give them a good wipe down and you are set to go. They also break down really easily so if you are bringing your kids to your friend’s house for dinner, just pull the legs off of these and throw it in your car.So I had the Ergo Performance first, and while I liked it with David, I wanted something that offered a greater variety in carrying positions. used metal folding chairs for sale floridaI also wanted more head support than this offered. ladder back chair shelfSo then I bought an Eddie Bauer carrier at Target which was fine, but still didn’t feel really comfortable. prices of lazy boy chairsFinally, after a handful of recommendations, I landed on the LILLEbaby carrier (I got the air flow one since we live in a generally warm climate) and I thought it was way too complicated. chair rail molding prices

But I gave it a decent try and now I never leave the house without it. Heck, I’ll even throw Luke on my back in the carrier and vacuum the house. It distributes the weight evenly and has so many different carrying positions! I haven’t tried outward facing because I’m still a little leery about that, but the back carry has been a life saver over the past two months or so! dining room chair cushions walmartLuke loves looking around, and he’s even graduated to pulling my hair which is rather unpleasant.rocking chair price listI genuinely miss carrying Luke in the Solly Wrap. I almost never wore David because I didn’t really need to and never felt confident in what I was doing, but I’ve been wearing Luke since he was a tiny baby! It started as a method of convenience, and then turned into necessity to help him through his colicky stage, and then I just wore him because we both liked it and it allowed my arms to be free for David!

The Solly Wrap is my highly preferred carrier until the babies exceed the weight limit. It’s comfortable, and doesn’t really cause anything to get in your way. Plus, the fabrics are adorable. A retractable baby gate. My biggest fear in having a newborn and a 14 month old, back when Luke was born, was carrying both boys up and down the stairs. Or, nursing Luke and seeing David head straight for the stairs to start climbing and not be able to get him in time. Justin and I bought a retractable gate for the bottom of the staircase just to eliminate access to the stairway when I needed to. It was a huge life saver, and put my mind at ease. This wouldn’t be ideal for the top of the stairs as it can allow for some give, but are a barrier method between rooms or at the bottom of a staircase, it’s perfect. It also retracts so it isn’t an eyesore. We love the Uppababy Vista! We bought the Cruz back in 2013 when I was expecting David and that stroller logged so many miles. As I discovered I was pregnant with Luke, we knew we would need a double stroller!

Naturally, I looked at Uppababy and they kindly sent me a Vista (from 2015, not the original Vista)! There are a handful of different positions the kids can be in, and I’m starting to think about adding the Piggyback onto the stroller for David. He loves to ride in the stroller, but the Piggyback could be a nice option. I’ve always wanted to compare this with a side by side in real life. Whenever I’ve pushed a side by side at a baby store I felt like their were so huge! But I remember the Vista feeling big to me at first as well. Ultimately, this stroller has been used excessively, just like I thought it would, and I couldn’t be more pleased with it. We have a baby monitor that scans between both bedrooms as well but the battery life is just terrible and the sound will randomly quit working. So I didn’t throw that on the list of course! Ultimately, the thing that served me the most over the past 9 months of mothering two little boys was the persistent goal to be flexible.