My Edison Moment: PaigeyKakes Padded Play Tiles

Last July, I had a great idea. A great idea that grew out of necessity - like all the best inventions. I was pretty much like Edison inventing the lightbulb... Mama Edison : ) Ok - that's an exaggeration. But I still think it's a good idea that mamas will appreciate and see value in. Here's the story...

As I watched Miss Paige - who was 6 months old at the time - trying to sit up, balance herself for a moment, then topple over without the ability to brace herself, I became a hot mess of a mama. Visions of her slamming her head onto the hardwood and tile floors around my home kept me up at night. For the first few weeks of this new phase, I would sit behind her so I could catch her when she started to tip over. But I realized that wasn't a realistic approach, so then I put down those rubber interlocking tiles they have in gyms and garages. Garage-chic wasn't really the look I was going for in my home, but for the sake of Paige's safety, I put them out anyway. Well - I soon realized they were great for absorbing the shock of a fall, but ultimately they were still a hard surface and didn't help with the pain-factor of Paige's falls. She needed a softer landing. So I took the next logical step - I covered the rubber mats with pillows and blankets. Problem solved! Well... not really. Becasue the moment I witnessed Paige fall back and land in between two smushy pillows with no ability to get herself free, my heart skipped a beat. What if I hadn't been right there when that happened to lift her out of the pillows that were smothering her? So obviously, a layer of loose pillows and blankets - while providing a soft surface to fall on - was not going to work.

And that's when I came up with my idea - PaigeyKakes Padded Play Tiles: Padded, interlocking floor tiles that create a safe and soft place for infants to play and explore. Each 2' x 2' tile consists of an interlocking rubber foam base, layered with one-inch thick batting, then covered in waterproof, stain-resistant fabric.

Each PaigeyKakes tile is made by hand (by me) - layering a soft, pillow-like surface to cushion falls over a rubber foam base to absorb high-impact shocks. Designer fabrics complete the PaigeyKakes tile, not only offering a stylish look, but also providing waterproof, stain-resistant protection. Interlocking edges allow for custom shapes and sizes.

Soooooo... what do you all think? I've been working on this project for a year now (in all my spare time : )  ), creating and recreating prototypes, building a website - www.paigeykakes.com - and pitching the product to manufacturers. I had a few exciting leads, but nothing really panned out. Until now...

PaigeyKakes Padded Play Tiles is a finalist in a contest for mom inventors!! WOO HOO! I think winning this contest will put me in a position to move forward with my concept, and finally bring it to fruition beyond my famly and close friends that know about it. But I need your help... (Mama now getting on her knees and begging for your support : )  ) I need you to vote for PaigeyKakes Padded Play Tiles to win the contest. Here's how and where:

Mommy MD Guide Online - Mother of All Ideas Contest

1. Click here:  http://www.mommymdguides.com/breaking-news/mother-of-all-ideas-contest
2. Scroll through the Finalist Descriptions (PaigeyKakes is listed third to last)
3. Then fill out the easy-peezy "Cast Your Vote" form with your name and email address, pasting "PaigeyKakes Padded Play Tiles" in the "vote" section and click SUBMIT
4. Do it again every day from now until September 1 : )  Ok - that's not realistic... But maybe every time you read a SLM post between now and then you can throw a vote my way.

And beyond voting, I'd love your feedback on my product. I have a ton more info about it (with pictures of a chunky monkey Miss Paige sitting on the tiles last year) on the website - www.paigeykakes.com

Thanks for all your support!!!!

xoxo,

Erica (aka Sweet Leigh Mama)

Crayon Catastrophe

In my pursuit to maintain the crown of Mama of the Year (What? I didn't win the crown last year!? Shocking...)

REDO

In my pursuit to maintain the crown of Kinda-Sorta "A for Effort" Mama of the Year (that's better...), I gave Miss Paige a box of crayons. Not a big deal, right? Wrong! Because the last time I tried this I spent at least 10 hours Googling "wax poisoning" after my daughter mistook the orange crayon for a carrot and took a big bite out of it. Luckily we lived to tell about it (and found out crayon is not digestible and will come out in the exact same state it went in), but I've been nervous about bringing out the crayons again. Especially now that Paige is super mobile, somewhat defiant and an inheritor of her father's condition of the ears - also know as "selective hearing". I had visions of my perfectly painted camel-colored walls becoming an unwilling tribute to ROY G. BIV. And so I hesitated. For 6 months.

But while at Target the other day, I was bit by the "Back to School" bug and began checking out the aisles of school supplies. with my two non-school age children. And I came across a box of crayons that claimed they were 100% washable. So I picked them up, along with a cute notebook, and headed for home. During the 10 minute drive home, I planned out my crayon-redo introduction strategy. We were going to move slowly - one step at a time - to avoid a second crayon catastrophe.

Step one was having Paige color while in her high chair. GENIUS! She was confined and I could easily direct her to only color in her new notebook. And I have to admit, I was impressed by how well she listened. So after a few days of highchair coloring, we moved to coloring while sitting on the floor - with only two crayons. And just yesterday, after a slow transition, I gave Miss Paige the box of crayons, her notebook, and let her decide where and when she wanted to color. She carried her new loot into the play room, plopped down in her Elmo chair, and spent the next 30 minutes coloring. (Cue the Angels...).

Since she was occupied for the moment and Deacon was snoozing, I took advantage and snuck into the bathroom to pee. I couldn't have been gone for more than 3 minutes... but when I got back to the kitchen, I saw Paige walking back to her playroom, purple crayon in hand. Which meant she noticed I was gone and brought her crayon into the kitchen to check things out. I took a quick look around and didn't notice any big purple marks on the floor or walls - PHEW!

And it wasn't until about 15 minutes later when I went to the fridge to fill up her sippy cup when I saw it - a purple crayon squiggle exactly 3 feet off the ground on the refrigerator door. My appliances are old, and the crayon is washable, so it really wasn't a big deal, but I knew I needed to discipline Miss Paige and explain proper crayon use again.

I called Paige over to the fridge, knelt down to her level (in true Super Nanny fashion) and pointed to the crayon mark. She pouted and gave me the puppy dog eyes as I explained that this was not allowed. And then it happened... something I never expected and left me bewildered.

Paige looked at me... looked at the crayon mark on the fridge... back at me... and while still holding eye contact, grabbed a magnet off the fridge and slapped it over the crayon mark. She then proceeded to smile, wave bye-bye and toddle back to her play room. Problem solved! Out of sight, out of mind.

And I was left kneeling on the kitchen floor - jaw on the ground. And then of course I started laughing. Hysterically. Because it really was the funniest thing I had ever witnessed. And instead of wiping away the crayon, I left it there. Hidden under the magnet... A little reminder that even when I'm about to lose my mind and taking myself a little too seriously, I need to enjoy this time of my life and remember to laugh. : ) Oh, the joys of mommyhood!

Sour Milk: Breastfeeding De Ja Vu

I really wanted to breastfeed this time around. Really, really, REALLY wanted to. Even though last time was a complete and total disaster (blood, sores, disfigured nipples), I thought this time was going to be different. This time I knew what to look out for regarding tongue tie. I was an experienced mama at this point and much more in control than last time around. I was confident going in and just 100% positive everything was going to work perfectly. WRONG!

Things actually started out pretty smoothly. As soon as I could get a good look at Baby Deacon, I checked his tongue. It looked a little bit tethered, but not nearly as bad as Paige's was. So I put him to the breast and he latched on immediately. SUCCESS! For the next few days, things were going great. Lactation consultants, nurses... basically everyone said things looked textbook and my milk should come in "any time now". But it didn't. I figured it was just because I had a c-section and my body needed to catch up with the sudden delivery of the baby. The colostrum was there - I was able to hand express it - but definitely no milk.While in the hospital I supplemented with formula so his weight wouldn't drop below the 10% mark (it had dropped 7%). I went home on Day 4 still feeling super confident. But as the days passed and my milk still didn't come in, I started to think that something may be wrong. He would still latch on without a problem, but it started to feel like he was sucking with all his might (like sucking the last bits of a chocolate milkshake through a straw) and I started getting really sore. Still - I was confident things would turn around.

Well... they didn't : (  I began pumping and finally my milk came in a little bit. But then I ran into a another problem... I had milk, but it was obvious Deacon wasn't able to get it out. After he was done "feeding", I would get sharp, shooting pains in my breasts. Plus, just 5 minutes later, he was crying for food and would scarf down a good 4oz. of formula. Still - I had faith things were going to work.

At the two week point, it hit me like a ton of bricks that there was a major issue. That no matter how hard I tried, hoped, projected positive vibes towards my boobs, something wasn't right. I decided I better take Baby Deacon to the Pediatric ENT specialist for a consultation. Unfortunately, it was 4th of July weekend and I couldn't get in until Tuesday the 5th. Four more days of frustration... I kept pumping.

On the 5th it was determined Baby Deacon was tongue tied - just like his sister was. While it wasn't as severe as Paige's (her tongue was tether all the way to the tip) it was still restricting the tongue's movement and ability to compress the milk glands. His tongue wasn't able to extend past his gum line, which meant his tongue couldn't cup the nipple (as it is supposed to). But there was also another issue - Deacon also had a short tongue. Which Paige also had. So even if we clipped the frenulum to also for greater movement and mobility, the doctor (who is amazing and I totally trust after his amazing work on Paige) said there was only a 50-50 chance he'd be able to feed from the breast. Clipping the frenulum will help Deacon move his tongue around in his mouth - that if not fixed would lead to severe speech impediments in the future and problems with eating - but it wouldn't increase the tongue's length. We decided to move forward with the procedure... I'll take the 50-50 odds and hope for the best.

Well, we fell on the wrong side of 50%. Deacon's tongue mobility was instantly improved. It was actually amazing to see that little tongue moving around for the first time. But his tongue still wasn't long enough to stimulate milk letdown. And so - on day 20 - I officially transitioned to formula. By that point I had resigned myself to the fact that it didn't really matter what I wanted to do or had hoped to do - my baby needed to eat, and that fact was more important. I was going to keep pumping and giving him breastmilk via bottle, but that turned problematic when I couldn't find time in the day to pump and became engorged.

This time around I felt a lot less guilt about formula feeding. I remember the first time it didn't work, I felt like a total failure. Like I was being selfish for not being able to tough out the pain (which looking back, was more than just pain... blood and chunks of nipple falling off isn't normal). But this time I felt at peace with the transition to formula. Bummed? Yes. Annoyed? Yes. But I knew I wasn't a failure. I knew what I needed to do, and haven't looked back.

I think breastfeeding is a wonderful thing. I really admire women who do it. But if you are a mama who isn't able to for whatever the reason, or maybe even chooses not to breastfeed because it doesn't work for you - don't feel guilty. As the commercials say, "Breast is Best!" But the bottle is good too. What matters most is the maternal connection and emotional bond you have with your baby. The quality time spent feeding your baby - whether from the breast or from a bottle - gazing into your little miracle's eyes, stroking their hair, kissing their chubby cheeks... that is what is going to matter down the road. Of course I'm not contesting the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding... but the emotional benefits can be achieved no matter what your feeding method of choice. And that is the beautiful thing about being a mama.