Room thermometer

With winter coming and the sleep-sack juggle, it has been really hard to know what to dress him in at night. I always check the hour by hour forecast to see the lows, but inside and outside temperatures are very different. Enter the room thermometer.

We bought ours from Nishimatsuya. I have seen them at baby stores (like Nishi and Akachan Honpo), as well as online and at electronic stores like Bic Camera, Yamada Denki and Nojima Denki. Amazon have the same one for less than 1000yen. Just look up: デジタル温湿度計 (Dejitaru onshitsudokei)

Ours was super cheap, about 1300yen, and does the job fine.



At first, I had no idea what the min/max buttons were. I was hoping I could set it so that the smiley face would change to my settings. When I learned I couldn't change the min and max, I wondered what the point of displaying that was; then I realised that it is helpful to check what temperature his room gets without me monitoring it. For example, maybe the temperature was 20degrees at 7pm, then got up to 23 at midnight and then down to 19 degrees at 6am.  By being able to check the minimum and maximum settings, it means I could see if he was dressed appropriately to sleep.

Now that I have bought one, a room thermometer with a backlight button would also be handy to tell what temperature it is when it is dark in his room. Luckily, there is enough light in his room for me to see when I go to check on him- but it would still be a useful function.

For the cheap price, I really recommend getting one.

Onigiri snacks

Buying convenience store onigiri is my go to when I am in a rush driving home and Little Pi is hungry. The biggest problem with it though, it that it breaks apart and his car seat and surrounding areas get covered in rice and salmon.

The other day, I saw a mum with tiny little rice balls, which are just perfect for small hands.

Turns out, you can get a cute little device for making these tiny balls at 100yen shops. I bought mine at Seria (108yen including tax).

Its a cute little holder that makes cute little bite sized balls. 

Just snap the top of, put some rice in and shake!

The bottom picture, with the more oval shaped ball was done over-filling the hole. The other, more rounded balls were done by just filling it up to the top of the green container. 

Then, all that is left to do is add a little 'furikake' (savory sprinkles). Pi loves the dried plum one on the left. There is also an Anpanman vegetable one,  sesame one, and a salmon one pictured; but they come in a range of flavours that can be bought at any supermarket. 

If you are looking for a cheaper option though, you can put a little bit of rice in a small container like the one pictured below, and shake. They don't turn out in perfect little balls, but almost as good. 

I didn't mind paying the 100yen though as the end result is cute, and Pi can shake it to help. I did try to make some little fried rice balls, but the oily wetness of the fried rice meant that they didn't stay in little ball shape for long. The little balls are not just great for a snack, but if the rice is in bite-sized ball when serving up with dinner at night, Pi is less likely to turn into the rice Yeti that he usually does.

What to do with all them apples- bake a chocolate cake!

I bought some applesauce from Costco ages ago. They are great little pouches of 100% apple- no sugar, so a great little snack for Pi. But lately he has gone off so many of his go to snacks (I blame me getting lazier with his meals). So, rather than inevitably throwing away so many pouches, I thought I would use them to make some chocolate cup cakes.

I found a recipe here, which doesn't call for vinegar, and have adapted it:

INGREDIENTS

SERVINGS20YIELD1 cakeUNITSUS

• 1⁄2cups sugar
• 1⁄2cup oil
• 2eggs
• 2cups applesauce- or- 6 pouches of Costco 90g applesauce.
• 2 &1/2cups flour
• 1 1⁄2teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄2teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2teaspoon cinnamon
• 3tablespoons cocoa

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Beat sugar, oil, eggs, and applesauce.
3. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa. Beat well.
4. Pour into cupcake/muffin pan.
5. Bake in 180 degree C oven for 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Next time, I think I will substitute the oil for coconut oil. 

They turned out really great. Not the healthiest snack, but not too bad either and a great time killer for our Friday afternoon baking.

I put some spray oil to grease the pans, and it worked well. Just make sure you let your cakes cool for at least 5 minutes before trying to take them out of the pans,

Enjoy!

Baby playpen.

I still find the baby playpen useful even after all this time. Pi can't really be trusted to be left alone for any period of time longer than 10 seconds. I'm afraid he will break something, destroy something, or unlock the locks of the glass sliding doors and go outside for a stroll.

This makes shower time in the morning very difficult. While I try to have as quick a shower as possible, he still needs something to occupy him completely so I don't come back to ripped wallpaper (yes, this happened), or a missing child. Usually my 'go to' is to put on 'PlaySchool' (Australian TV show) for 20 mins while I prepare and shower, but today I got the playpen out again. It was such a nice change from my usual babysitter (t.v).

I bought my playpen second hand, online, and have been super happy with having one. He is big enough now that he can move the whole thing, and climb out of it if he is determined enough. However, with the help of some Duplo, and a quick shower, it was a safe and effective place to let him play.

Winter drool.

You might be able to see from the above picture of my beautiful little man, that he has a red rash around his mouth. The other day he was eating green grapes and suddenly it got worse. Was he allergic suddenly to grapes, but not before? I didn't really go away. The next day I gave him raspberries and again with the rash. I though he might suddenly be allergic to everything. Then I remembered that the same thing happened last year- I took him to the doctors thinking it was an allergy, but it turns out it is a drool rash. 

My lovely little boy drools worse than Pavlov's dog- even though his teeth are all well and truly through (I have looked into it, apparently some toddler still drool for a long time, like, until 5 years old). Last year the doctor gave me some special cream which helped clear it up. This time I haven't been back to the doctor, but am trying Pawpaw ointment (bought in Australia) and Aquaphor cream (bought from I-herb) first to see if it clears up. So far, it is working a little. 

So if your bub still drools and gets a red rash around his mouth in winter, it might just be drool rash....