I know, I know. She’s a huge pile of animatronic plastic and way overpriced but I love her anyway. And so do both Noah and Addison. Noah got her for Christmas last year, from Santa. Addison only recently discovered her and just can’t stop loving her. It didn’t take her long to figure out how to make Baby Alive come to life and to change modes between sleepy time, play time and feeding time.

So what is there to love about this thing? Well I like her skin. I think it feels and looks cool, I like how it moves while she talks. It looks really really real. In fact it took Addison awhile to figure out that she wasn’t actually a living baby. The plastic legs probably gave it away

I like that she comes in three different skin tones although I’d have preferred if she came in Asian as well.  Anyway they do have a little blonde Caucasian, the African American version that we have here and a Hispanic version that I believe speaks some Spanish as well.

I also like that she can do a lot - eat, drink, sleep, play, poop. I always wanted a doll like that growing up. Noah thought a baby that can actually poop was the coolest thing EVER. Addison doesn’t realize that the baby can eat, drink or poop. She’s happy with the playing, alone.

Things I can’t stand about Baby Alive are her high-priced foods, drinks and diapers. She came with a little of each and when it ran out, we didn’t refill. No one has really missed the eating - it was messy anyway. And she can drink water like the rest of us, that’s free. To solve the diaper dilemma, I crafted a quick little diaper pattern, cut it out of fleece so it was no-sew and then stitched on some Velcro adhesive. It was super-fast and I just used stuff around the house so for me, it was free. Plus they are washable and that is good for the environment AND my pocketbook, right?  If you have Baby Alive or plan to get her and want the pattern, just drop me a line.

So how does Baby Alive compare to her cheaper alternatives like Baby Alive: Wets & Wiggles and Sip ‘N Slurp Baby Alive? I think she doesn’t. We have one of those - I couldn’t even tell you which one. It never gets touched, really. But the original Baby Alive still gets used every day.

So although I’m not a fan of plastic junk and I’m not a fan of animatronic stuff because of its short lifespan of use, I do think this one is a winner.

You can Get it from Amazon for $38 which includes a bonus pack of diapers, a diaper bag and some other goodies as well.

Today I get to defer to someone else’s blog for a great family tradition that I am going to start next year. It’s such a neat idea!

From one of my favorite bloggers, Chris at In The Trenches of Motherhood:

Every year I wrap all of our Christmas story books in wrapping paper and put them in a basket. Each day the younger children take turns picking out and unwrapping a book for us to read. And yes, we have over 25 of them. (Advent varies slightly in length from year to year– this year it began December 2nd, so we will double up on a day when one of the children happens to pick a short book.)

Read the rest here. Isn’t this a great idea? I love the idea of having a literary tradition aside from the typical “Night Before Christmas” business. Thanks, Chris, for sharing such a great tradition with all of us!

Today’s favorite thing is actually a whole line of things: the Biofino Foods from Haba. We keep them in our play kitchen but of course you don’t have to have a play kitchen to enjoy.

What sets Biofino foods apart? Well, they are so textual that kids can’t help but touch them which means they will get used a lot. And becuase they are so high quality and fun to use, you’ll want to use them too.

They won’t fall apart or break like our wooden or plastic foods (or those awful cardboard food boxes - who thought cardboard would be a great material for making play foods?!?). They are made of actual fabric. The breads are made from a really soft fuzzy fabric that sort of feels like Minkee. The larger pieces (like the bread and buns) have magnets embedded in them to stick them together - no Velcro! And because they are fabric, they sort of stick together pretty well on their own anyway.

We have the Hamburger and fries, Pizza, Pasta and extra bread. I love the bread best but I think the pizza is the coolest. I love the little sardines - they are super cute!

So if you are looking to buy some play foods and want something that has a little more substance to it than the junky plastic stuff, check out the Biofino line carried at Oompa Toys  - it retails from $7-$20 and is well worth every penny.