Top 10 Kid Friendly "Scary" Movies For Halloween-Eve

My family loves watching movies all together, cuddled on the couch, with a giant bowl of popcorn!! We have frequent movie nights and the movie choice is always open to debate. (See my previous post on the DO's and DON'Ts to a successful Family Movie Night).

So, tonight we are planning on watching a Halloween themed movie! After all, Halloween is tomorrow!! But my kids spook easily. So I have carefully selected movies that aren't too scary. 

Here are a couple movies on our list for tonight! 

1. Spookley The Square Pumpkin
2. Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown   
3. Hotel Transylvania
4. Monsters Inc
5. Casper Meets Wendy

Have a more adventurous bunch? Check out this list and I'm sure they'll love the fright!! 

1. Witches
2. Little Monsters
3. The Addams Family
4. Beetlejuice
5. Hocus Pocus

There are so many good options! I may have missed a few but these are my top 10! 

Halloween Safety Tips

Be Safe This Halloween 

You can never be too safe or too caution when watching your little ones. And Halloween is no exception. 

My oldest son, now 8, is beginning to want to trick or treat with friends (with adult supervision of course!) outside of the building,  This worries me but I also know that it's important for me to let him be a kid. We normally stay in my high-rise condo building and it's super safe and easy for the kids to navigate especially if we get separated; they can find there way home with no issues. There are also doormen at the front making sure no strangers are coming in. 

But once you leave the comfort of the building, anything is game. So this Halloween I'm going to be prepared for any issues. Here are some great tips on children safety in NYC and in general.

Click this link for all the safety tips:

Child Safety Tips NYC

Here's another great way to keep your little one safe incase of accidental separation. Petit Elephant Founder, Melanie Barrows, has collaborated with her 7 year old daughter, and mini entrepreneur, on this safety bracelet concept. All proceeds go to her puppy fund! How adorable. 

http://www.petitelephantnyc.com

Be safe and have fun this Halloween!! 

Nursery Before & After

I turned this bland & ordinary looking baby room into a modern nursery everyone will love! It's so easy. I did this in less than an hour. Check out the before and after pictures and see for yourself! 

After we moved in and we slowly settled in to the new apartment, I looked at Brent's room and I knew it needed something. I'm always hesitant about hanging anything over the crib since the baby could grab it or it could potentially fall, so I decided to choose a decal. I've done decals in the past but this time I wanted to do a whole wall and make it super modern. After much debate I decided on these black small circle dot decals from Amazon.com. 

Here's how it turned out!! I just spaced them out by eye and voila! My mini masterpiece!! Just use your judgement on spacing and the amount you use. I only did one wall. I think it would have been too overwhelming to do more. I think it makes a great statement and it's something I can live with for a while but when I don't like it anymore I can just peel them off! Easy as that.

Crib Leander, Hi Blanket , Tall Hutch Restoration Hardware, Chevron Rug, Storage Bins,  Sheets Aden & Anais , Decals

Reasons to travel with food your baby likes

It's crazy to think that you would waste all that room in your luggage by packing ALL your baby's food containers, snacks, pouches, puffs and don't forget formula and bottles!!!  (*Bring extra formula.. It's not worth the risk of running out.) Also hitting up the grocery store right before a trip is that last thing you are thinking about... 

You may think the resort or town you'll be visiting will be stocked with plenty of food for the whole family; right? Especially when the baby may be old enough to eat what you eat. 

You know this may be the case for domestic travel; at least you know you can pick up Cheerios somewhere close by!

But international and even rural domestic travel with a baby presents a ton of obsticals for feeding your baby. 

Here's three reason why that space you are taking up in your luggage has never been put to better use!!!

Check this out:

1. Picky eaters: Most babies are somewhat picky eaters at first (If your baby is not one of them good for you!! And skip to number 2). Trying new foods and textures isn't something you should expect your baby to do easily. And this will cause a lot of unnecessary stress for you and your baby if you expect him or her to be able to do this. A little bit here and there is great but ALWAYS be stocked with a back up if the baby is hungry and isn't taking to the new food you are offering.

2. Introducing New Foods: Not only can trying new foods be challenging for the baby but it can also be risky. Doctors recommend introducing new foods with a bit of caution due to the likely hood of food allergies these days. Babies, children and adults are all susceptible to food allergies and trying so many new foods when you are far from home or the doctor/hospital could potentially be a risk. Think about how many children have nut, gluten, dairy allergies (just to name a few).

3. Baby's Tummy: The last thing you want on your vacation is to take care of a sick baby.  Having your baby eat tons of new foods can overwhelm his or her digestive system. The same thing goes for adults, right? So why would we do that to our baby? Being prepared with foods your baby is used to eating at home will help them overall have a more enjoyable trip! And you too!!!

So, packing food for the baby is super important and shouldn't be taken lightly. Recently in Dominican Republic I had no idea it would be so hard to get food for the baby let alone anything for the baby, in fact anything at all. We were in a very large villa within a resort but there were absolutely no shops or markets anywhere near by to get stuff. I totally underestimated the exclusivity of this place and was so grateful that I had packed all my baby's necessities!! Phew...

When To Let Baby Start Feeding Themselves?

There is no good answer for this and it depends on when your baby is able to sit up right in the high chair and has the motor skills to reach and grab their food. Sometime after 6 months. Also, be super careful on the size and texture of the food. I recommend starting with something super mushy and letting them make a mess! More may land on floor then in his mouth but its all a work in progress!

My baby is super picky with texture. Hopefully you won't have this and your baby is excited to eat but Brent was never open for trying new things. The only way I could get him to eat was by letting him do it himself; at his own pace. He learned to try new things and even though he may not like something.. at least he would try it if I let him do it on his own.

I still battle with this and he's almost 1. But I do a combo of letting him feed himself and trying to spoon feed him when possible. I think the more you try and the more you let baby lead, the happier and less stressed both of you will be!

Good luck and whats your take?