A lot of my friends with kids around the same age as Evan have started potty training. Not full-on throw-out-the-diapers potty training, but buy-a-seat-and-start-watching-for-signs-of-readiness potty training. The lazy man’s approach, if you will. Hey, in my book every diaper you DON’T have to change is a good diaper, so I figured I’d get a seat and give it a try too.

Sitting! On the potty seat!

I think my first mistake was buying a seat/step stool rather than just a potty, since being just a liiiiiittle bit taller is every toddler’s dream (and brings us to a whole new level of childproofing). The lid is also sort of hard to get open so I have some trouble yanking off pants, a diaper and flipping it to the potty part fast enough to accomplish anything.

Even when it is open, I don’t think Evan’s legs are long enough to get his tush centered appropriately. Which means I would still have to be actively involved in all potty time for quite some time.

Eating on the potty: WE'RE JUST THAT CLASSY.

So far, there has been exactly zero potty action on the potty. Just sitting. Mostly fully clothed.

Hey! Squatting! Can we call that progress?

In case you think I’m a crazy person for even thinking about potty training this early, let me tell you that Baby Evan already learned the sign for “toilet” and associates it with pooping. He’s a very conspicuous pooper, so it wasn’t hard for him to get the connection when I signed it every time he’d start grunting and frowning. I also sign it when he’s in the bathroom with me, hoping he’ll understand that’s the place where the pooping is supposed to happen. I think peeing will be our bigger struggle, since he barely seems to care about wet diapers and often doesn’t even stop running around naked long enough to finish a whiz.

Again, I would like to remind you that NO POTTYING has been done in that bowl.

A lesser person would caption this with a comment including the terms "poop" and "head".

Yes, that is a sippy cup in the potty. Maybe he's just trying to cut out the middleman?

Evan’s other sign of readiness is that dirty diapers now seem to bother him. He will sign “yucky” and “diaper” if I ask him about “the stinky” and grab his crotch Michael Jackson-style if I haven’t yet noticed. I’ve heard this is a major step in potty training success so maybe I’ll keep trying, despite my failure with the seat so far.

Now he's just mocking me.

I suppose having the seat doesn’t hurt – we’ll need it EVENTUALLY – but when I get serious about the potty training we’ll need at least two more: one for the upstairs bathroom and one for the car. Anyone have any seat recommendations that aren’t quite so easy to use as hats?

Because this? Will NOT be OK when the seats are in use. No matter what the toddler says.

So you know how kids eat ALL THE TIME? And how you always have half a dozen different snacks in your purse just in case someone decides to throw a low-sugar meltdown in the middle of Target? Because if you don’t have snacks you have to abandon your cart full of super-necessary-and-useful stuff you found on clearance AND you don’t get to stop at Starbucks on the way out and now your whole life is ruined forever?

Yeah, that sucks. Which is why you need snacks.

One of the drawbacks of all those snacks is all those plastic sandwich baggies. The non-recyclable, ugly plastic sandwich baggies that end up in the trash even if you rinse them out several times because they’re just not made to be used over and over. So of course someone came up with a better solution:

Oh hai, I'm adorable and eco-friendly.

My sandwich is stylish in this LBaggie!

Enjoying Goldfishes at the fireworks display last week. Baby Evan loves eating stuff out of the bags - crackers, fruit, sandwiches - and they're so easy to just wipe out and use again.

More about LBaggies:

Our fun and colorful baggies are great for snacks, sandwiches, and just about anything!
We make our baggies with a 100% cotton print outer (we also have 100% organic cotton choices) and a waterproof inner (PU coated nylon). Lbaggies are food safe and free of lead, phlalates, BPA, and PVC.

Lbaggies come in two sizes: snack (6 in. x 6 in.) and sandwich (7 in. x 7 in.) and have a snap closure. We find snaps work better than aplix/velcro so you don’t get all those icky crumbs stuck in the closure. And you won’t smoosh your sandwich snapping them closed- just pinch the fabric from the outside to snap together.

Wash instructions: turn inside out to wipe/rinse clean, or machine wash.

A bunch of the moms in my Stroller Strides class (do you see a trend here of how easily I am influenced by the cool stuff my friends have?) ordered these from LoveyBums. Of course, then I wanted some too, and because I like sharing I asked if Pam would be interested in sending an extra bag so I could pass it on to you.

Since she is awesome and super nice, she sent four!

For you!

(That blue one with the flowers is my FAVORITE pattern. Let me tell you how hard I fought with my conscience on keeping it for myself.) There are tons of other cute pattern available if you want to buy some yourself:

The mermaids are a close second for my favorite. Or maybe the animals. Heck, I'll take them all.

FREE STUFF ALERT!!! Do YOU want one of the sets pictured above (includes one sandwich size and one snack size)? I’ll draw two winners – the first one gets dibs on whichever set they want and runner up gets the other.

To enter – just leave a comment! It doesn’t have to be brilliant, but make sure I know you’re not spam.

Contest is open to anyone who has a mailing address. I just hope my sister in Africa doesn’t win, shipping there is ridiculous. But you can enter if you want Carolyn! Entries must be received by midnight on August 5th to be considered. Winner announced on Friday morning. GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

NEW! Pam sent me a coupon code to share with you! Enter BEBEHBLOG at checkout to get 20% off your baggie order!

Disclosure: Pam from LoveyBums sent me 6 bags total for this post. I kept two to review (total value: $13) and I am personally mailing the other four to the winners at my own expense. Because I love you. My opinions and review are totally my own and were not influenced by free stuff.

A few weeks ago, all my friends started pulling out these adorable Planet Wise wet/dry bags at play group and my inner green eyed monster immediately started gnawing on my common sense and INSISTED I had to get one too, even though I already had a wet bag and didn’t really need to be spending money on frivolous things.

But I bought one anyways, at my local fabulous baby store Papoose, and DUDE. It was SO NOT A FRIVOLOUS PURCHASE.

First off, it’s totally leak-proof, due to some sort of magical seaming and sealing process. Which means my biggest cloth diapering fear (carrying around a dirty diaper and having everyone think that smell is me) is totally gone. No poop smell or other kind of leakage. Exhibit A:

Magic non-PVC waterproof lining

Second, it has TWO POCKETS, one with the waterproof lining for wet stuff and one unlined pocket for your clean stuff. Brilliant. For someone who cloth diapers it means no digging around in my bag for the wipes and the extra insert and the diaper which is now full of Goldfish crumbs and sand and how did that green paint get in there? You could even do what my friend Megan has done and downgrade your GIANT DIAPER BAG to a cute little handbag and just use the snappy handle thing to attach it to your stroller or bag or whatever when it’s full. Exhibit B:

My cutest cloth diaper & my wipes case in the pocket.

Third, it’s freakin’ adorable. And large – 13″ x 16″. Exhibit C:

My print is called "Art Deco"

And just in case you thought I was lying about all my friends buying them first, Exhibit D:

Just from last week's playgroup, our collection of Planet Wise bags. Thanks to Connie & April for letting me be a weirdo and take pictures of your dirty diapers.

I sent Planet Wise an email letting them know I was going to sing their praises on the interwebs, for no other reason than I spent FOREVER looking at stuff like wet bags and diaper pail liners when we switched to cloth and I wanted to make it easier for anyone else trying to do the research. I also hinted at maybe doing a giveaway if they did that sort of thing and would be willing to work with a teeny tiny blogger. Shockingly, Lori emailed me back and said YES. I’m afraid she might be suffering from a head injury of some sort.

Which means YOU my friend, might be the proud new owner of one of these adorable bags in the pattern of your choice. Even if you don’t cloth diaper, these bags are perfect for dirty gym clothes, wet bathing suits, potty training, running clothes, or anything else that’s damp and possibly smelly. They’re cute and spacious and machine washable so you can just toss them in with your diapers/dirty stuff – even in the dryer.

TO WIN: Just leave a comment. That’s all.

If you want to check out the Planet Wise website and tell me which pattern you would pick, feel free. If you want to tweet about how awesome I am for giving you a chance to win the best wet bag ever, that’s awesome. If you want to like me on Facebook or vote for me on Top Baby Blogs, I’d appreciate it. If you want to tell me how much you hate these stupid reviews and giveaways, I’ll accept that too. But you only get one chance to enter with one comment. US addresses only please. (EDITED: OK MY DEAR CANADIANS! If you want to enter I will have Planet Wise ship the bag to me and I’ll cover the cost of mailing it to you. Because THAT is how much I love you!)

Good luck! And I’m wicked jealous of whoever wins. Free stuff is cool. Contest ends at midnight, July 29th. Winner announced first thing Friday morning! GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. SORRY :(

p.s. If you DON’T win, don’t despair! You can find a retailer near you here. Of course, Papoose also has an online store. Just sayin’.

Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated by any business mentioned in this post for my opinions. I’m not getting anything for free or at a discount for this review and spent my own cash on the product mentioned. YOU’RE the only one getting free stuff. Because I love you.

Occasionally (rarely) I get email from a reader. It always makes my day, since just knowing someone took the time to type out my address and spend a few seconds telling me they liked my post or have a suggestion or agree with me makes all the time and energy I spend on this space worth it. What can I say, I’ve got an attention-seeking personality. Aaaaand everyone who new me in high school just said “DUH”.

Even better than “I like you” mail, sometimes people email me asking if I would consider writing about a specific subject. Take for example, this email I got from a lovely (and incredibly loyal) reader named Amanda:

Even though I never did make the switch to cloth diapers (although I’d still consider it if someone wanted to send me a bunch for free ARE YOU LISTENING INTERNETS?) it doesn’t mean my baby laundry is entirely poop free. Oh yeah, you read that right. Poop. Now I’ve said poop twice (three times!) so please feel free to move on, childless friends.

For those of you for whom poop is just a way of life now, I have a totally un-sponsored, un-paid for, un-compensated suggestion for you: BioKleen Bac-Out . I LOVE it. It’s like having your own set of tiny elves who climb into your machine and scrub off all the disgusting stains. The real reason it works is because it’s full of itty bitty invisible crap-eating monsters enzymes that suck the smells and gross stuff right out of your laundry. Plus it’s all, like, natural and stuff so you don’t have to worry about the baby’s skin peeling off bleach or nasty chemicals. AND it smells really good, not patchouli-ish or hippie-dippie at all. Clean. And a little bit like limes.

So far I’ve used it to remove blood, puke, green poop, yellow poop, globs of poop, pee, spit up, and cat urine. (Just for the record, the cat pee wasn’t on the baby’s stuff.) I used to spot treat every article of baby clothing but with the Bac-Out I just squirt some in the machine and set it to 15-minute soak (or you could do what I did with my less fancy machine and just open the lid for a few minutes once it’s done filling). So far it’s saved me about a billion dollars in baby sleepers, as my child is unable to make it through the night without leaking various fluids all over himself and if I had to replace them every time my Target credit card balance would be even closer to the National Debt than it already is.

Go buy some! Buy some for your friends! Buy some for anyone who has a baby, a dog, a cat or a hamster, anyone who gardens or does housework or eats food. Buy some Bac-Out for your friendly neighborhood vampires and serial killers (it works great on blood) and they will thank you for you. And also possibly spare your life.

You’re welcome.