Safe Fun in the Sun with Baby

I find that I am more concerned with a lot of things now that I have a son. I'm more interested in eating healthy, providing a good example by the way I eat (I've never been a "bad" eater, but find myself uttering the word "vegetable" a lot more when One Philly Daddy and I are planning out our meals.), good sleeping habits, reading to my child, and on and on.

One of these areas is sun protection. I do work (full disclosure) for the American Cancer Society, so this is a topic that I have a heightened awareness of, but still feel its important.

In Parent's magazine there is a full article on safety in the sun, complete with dermatologist advice. The most important tips are to provide as much coverage from the sun, either through shade or swim shirts (a good idea is to buy a size larger for your child, as they tend to fit tight), use sunscreen and re-apply every half hour when in the water.

This is, of course, a far cry from when I was a child and routinely fell asleep in the sun without sunscreen, spending the night carefully propped up on cold washcloths and dousing myself in aloe.

Since we joined the pool AND had  beach trip already this summer (I know, lucky us!), I am being very careful to keep my son protected from the sun. We love Neutrogena's Baby Sunblock Stick because it makes it a breeze to apply to my son's face. For the top of his head (he pulls his hat off, and his hair is definitely not think enough to count as "shade" just yet!) we use the spray, even though it does make his hair crunchy.

Check out this list of other articles on Parents.com that might be interesting to you.

If there are any sunscreen products you love, let me know!

Traditions on family vacation

So we've recently returned from a Family Vacation to Wildwood, NJ, our favorite "local" family vacation destination.

My husband and I have gone there at least once a summer since the year we started dating, and plan to keep up the tradition for years and years to come. I've read family traditions are important for all kinds of reasons, and we have lots in Wildwood.

Every year we go, we get our photos taken in one of those photo booths, we go to Hassles for a friendly-but-competitive game of miniature golf, followed by a free ice cream for the winner (bought by the loser), we bike ride, we go to a Seafood dinner, we walk the "Boards" to play a few games and go on a few rides. 

Of course, some things were different this year. Our attention to the sun and suntan lotion was a bit higher than normal, and One Philly Son was decked out in a swim shirt, hat and confined to the shade most of the time. Nap time was not just a luxury of vacation, but a necessity, and our signal to wake up changed from our hungry bellies to our son's hungry belly.

We usually take our bikes, but this year, with all the extra stuff we had to cram in the car (pack 'n plays and the like), there wasn't room for our bikes. So we rented a great two-seater like this one, that had an infant seat attached to the back.

Of course, One Philly Daddy and I had a great time, and were very excited about all the "first" things we were able to share with One Philly Son. As is typical, I suppose, One Philly Son barely registered the events that were occurring around him. He fell asleep on the beach during his first visit there, on the bike during his first bike ride on the Boards, and gave us a peculiar "what's all the fuss about?" expression for a lot of the fuss we made.

Still, we had a great time, and I know that in a few years, when he's old enough to know that every summer we go to Wildwood and ride bikes, go to the photo booth, and play on the Beach, I know he'll be excited to see his "firsts."