It’s our first birthday, and we’re celebrating over here.

We’re having a garage sale Saturday and getting ready to head to the cottage next weekend — keeping us occupied enough — but there’s also a ton of things going on in this fun region of ours the next week or so as we roll into Canada Day:

• Parent Source’s Canada Day Guide: Find out what your town has planned to celebrate our country’s 141st birthday, including where to go for fireworks
• Durham events from the local paper: Check out Metroland’s day-by-day event listings from across the Region
• Durham Tourism: All our local attractions
• Beach water testing: See if your local waterfront is safe for swimming
• SummerActive: Want out of Durham? This government of Canada website has event listings by age group from across the country

Y’all know how much we love consignment shopping at Chez McDougall-Foster, which is why I’m heading to south Ajax later tonight to partake in Once Upon a Child’s Midnight Madness Sale.

Click the ad over there on the left toolbar to check out all the details and the best hours to shop. It’s always a tough decision to go early and take advantage of the best selection, or go later to get the best percentage off. I’m stuck working this morning (boo!) so the decision was made for me.

Happy shopping!

• May 21-28: Mastermind warehouse sale ‘08 — Richmond Hill at 9325 Yonge St.; click link for hours. Discounted, discontinued or slightly damaged packaging. Items include toys, board games, arts & craft and puzzles, from brands such as Melissa & Doug, Playmobil, Gund and Ravensburger.

• May 24-28: Samko & Miko spring toy warehouse sale — Toronto at 77 Fima Cres., and Richmond Hill at 60 East Beaver Creek; Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Toys, books and arts & crafts, from brands such as Crayola, Graco, Fisher-Price, Mattell, Hasbro, Step 2 and little tikes.

Even with Lucy’s birthday already passed and Christmas so far away, I’d totally check these out if we weren’t down to one income…

Happy shopping!

Specifically, California, Chicago, New York, Nashville, TN or El Paso, TX, because the Baskin-Robbins’ there are giving away free soft-serve ice cream this coming Wednesday to knocked-up ladies.

Yep, it’s Bump Day 2008.

While I think anything free is totally awesome, it’s sorta sexist, isn’t it? Do they do a similar day for Dad-to-be’s? Or maybe men with guts who look pregnant?

And what if you aren’t showing yet (as many first-time moms don’t until even five months or so)? Bring in the pee stick? That’s a wonderful scene to ponder, isn’t it? Hormonal, hungry women lined up with urine-soaked tests in their hands, demanding free ice cream.

While I didn’t get a booth at either the Mamas and Chicks Show or Mompreneur Market this spring, I did donate two stuffed gift baskets to raffle off.

This morning one finally went in the mail to Theresa in Oshawa, and the other was picked up for Andrea of i’mnotsurebutshewasveryexcited.

I have to thank the following generous local businesses who donated products. Please support them if and when you can, as they help keep this site going, are Durham-based and Canadian and make things especially for you!

• Shelby from Natural Earth Tones natural body care in Oshawa
• Alexandria of Clippopotamus hair and soother clips in Pickering
• Tamarra of Lollipops & Lizards children’s boutique in Pickering
• Kristen of T Bag & Co. gourmet market totes in Uxbridge

Enough people have emailed and written about this now that it must be true: Zellers is giving store credit if you return any Avent products because of the issues surrounding BPA. You don’t need a receipt or packaging or anything.

Rumour has it the store is only doing this until Friday.

Has anyone done this yet? And what are your thoughts on breast pumps? I have an Avent one, and really liked it for what small pumping I did (and plan to do after the Parasite2 arrives). I plan to just pump into a bottle, then transfer straight into freezer bags or BPA-free bottles for feeding. I don’t know if it’s worth it to find and adjust to a brand new one for the few minutes the milk will be in the bottle?

While at the Green Living Show this weekend, I picked up several cards that list cosmetic and personal care ingredients in big and little kid products to avoid. These are synthetics that are potentially harmful — especially to vulnerable, developing babies.

(For the record, I’m SO not saying these ARE harmful or cause cancer or make your arms fall off or or will kill us all tomorrow. They are thought to be harsh or not environmentally-friendly or come from nonrenewable resources. And yes, this information comes from companies that sell naturally-based products with their own agendas. Which is why I’m linking to Wikipedia or Google for definitions, where you can find all sorts of links on your own.)

While I knew of some of these (parabens and phthalates) I thought you might like to see what other things to look for on an ingredient list. As with food, if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not good for you…

• sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate — a cleansing agent that creates foam and suds (which is why many natural products are not near as “soapy” as we’re used to)
• parabens — preservatives used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Controversial studies have linked it to cancer and increased estrogen.
• phthalates — used in plastics to make them more elastic, and found in everything from shower curtains to sex toys to nail polish and perfume and iPods. Controversial studies have linked it to hormonal imbalances (especially in fetuses) and allergies.
• petrolatum — a greasy, film-building skin protector widely used in cosmetics. Byproduct of petroleum (duh).
• phenylenediamine (PPD) — used in hair and textile dyes, printer ink and photographic products. A known allergen.
• coal-tar colours (FD&C or D&C) — synthetic food and cosmetic colour dye.
• diethanolamine (DEA) — used to create a creamy texture and foaming action. Linked to cancer, decreased brain development and miscarriages.
• dimethicone — a silicone oil used in shampoo to make hair slippery and shiny.
• formaldehyde — too. much. to. process.
• phosphate — commonly added to dishwasher detergent to help soften water and boost cleaning power. Excessive amounts in our water can create excess algae.
• oxybenzone — organic compound used in sunscreen and cosmetics as it absorbs UVA rays. A known carcinogen that penetrates the skin and creates free radicals (this one scares me, because I’ve been wearing sunscreen cream for years, and regularly slather it on Lucy. Need to look into it more and find alternatives.)

FYI, two of my favourite Durham retailers (who also happen to advertise, yes) carry wonderful natural baby bath products. Tamarra of Lollipops & Lizards (online) now carries the Little Twig line, and Shelby of Natural Earth Tones (Oshawa) has the All Things Jill line. Both are great priced (the higher cost of natural and organic products is always an impediment for people, myself included, which is why these are great).

President’s Choice had a HUGE booth at the show and was really promoting its Green products. We got a free, full-size sample of their floor cleaner and cleaning putty. Currently, we use the laundry soap, toilet paper and paper towels, and will switch to the dishwasher detergent when our stock is up. I love that these are so accessible and reasonably priced.

A company called Live Clean gave away tons of mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner to promote their eco-friendly body care line. Their stuff is 96% plant derived, and they gave out this neat bookmark that you can plant to make a wildflower garden (what clever, clever marketing).

This post is huge, so I’d better stop before your eyes roll back in your head from too much info or you click screaming away from the hippie-ness. Hope it all helps!

Tomorrow is the Durham Parent Family Show in Pickering, and Sunday is of course The Mamas and Chicks Show in Oshawa.

We can’t make the show Saturday (heading to Toronto with Eric’s brother and his wife to the Green Living Show! Very excited.), but are definitely going on Sunday. If you see Lucy n’ me (or Jen. O and Eirinn or Lauren and Owen) say hi! There’s, like, 40 of you free ticket winners going, so chances are our paths will cross.

Next Saturday is my FAVOURITE SHOW EVER, the Durham Parents of Multiple Births Associations gigantic consignment clothing sale. I so wish I knew the sex of the baby in time for that. Hopefully their fall show lands before the Parasite2 makes his/her appearance…

That day is also The spring Mompreneur Market, at Wooden Sticks in Uxbridge (10 a.m.-6 p.m.). We’re not in it this season, but are definitely going after the clothing sale.

Have a great one!

Is your head spinning with trying to figure out this bisephenol-A information? Wondering what bottles, sippy cups and water jugs are safe?

From what I’ve read, polycarbonate bottles are labeled with a 7 on the bottom, for other plastics. Unfortunately, some BPA-free plastics (such as single-use beverage bottles) are also labeled 7, so it can be confusing. But at least this is a guide.

Here are some excellent resources for making sense of it all:

Z Recommends: The Z Report on BPA in children’s feeding products, third edition — I cannot recommend this site enough. This guy has interviewed almost every major baby product manufacturer and ranked them, creating a massive, comprehensive list of safe (and not safe) products. Truly the best resource on the Internet, which is why so many people have linked to it.

Plastic labeling — wondering what each little number on the bottom of plastic means? Here’s a fabulous list.

Rubbermaid BPA list — now here’s a wonderful thing to see. Rubbermaid has a list of ALL it’s products (with photos, for handy reference) and whether they do or do not contain BPA. If only all corporations did this.

Playtex BPA list — just got this via email from Playtex yesterday, a pdf of all their products, too. They’re also offering free samples of their BPA-free Nurser Drop-in system. Keep in mind that the bottles themselves contain BPA (although the food does not touch them, it does not help the process) and this creates a lot of garbage.

CBC News in-depth on BSA — richly detailed.

I was at Once Upon a Child in Ajax today, and they are back-ordered on all their stainless steel sippy cups until the end of May. Has anyone found them in Durham?