Babies are stinky, grubby and need constant attention.

The cosmetic stash in my apartment has quadrupled in size since my 9-month-old son Callum came along. Fatherhood has made me an expert on diaper cream, cleansers and baby shampoos — so when I stumbled upon the Desert Essence range, I had to share it with you.
The products are all natural and you can tell when you use them. There’s no sticky residue or  artificial smells.

I particularly love the cleanser. The foam dispenser is perfect for bathtime. It’s much easier to squirt bursts of foam onto your baby than squeeze greasy gel – and it washes away nicely, leaving Callum clean — even evaporating the ground-in goop and food that attaches itself to intrepid and fearless babies during a day spent crawling and exploring.

I’ve also been using the air freshener a lot. It eats away those nasty diaper odors beautifuly without masking the stink with an equally offensive smell.

And surface cleaner is a must for any household blessed with a baby. Keeping Callum’s highchair, play mat and favorite toys clean is a daily routine. We’re not clean freaks, by any means — but when you live in an apartment in the city, grot and grime follow you home and it’s important to keep nasty germs away from your baby’s mouth.

The Dessert Essence range also includes an excellent massage oil and diaper cream — must haves in every nursery!

Check out the full collection here — where you can buy online!

– Ian Garland

More on Baby Callum:

1. Ian Says: Baby Callum Is Six Months Old! Where Has The Time Gone?
2. Ian Says: ‘My Father’s Day Present Will Be A Smile, A Cuddle & A Dirty Diaper!’
3. Ian Says: ‘Baby Callum’s Sick For The First Time!’ Help!

My little squidgy bundle is now a four limb drive machine and he’s getting faster by the day.

I always knew it wouldn’t be long. Callum has never been content in one place. He’s been dying to get moving for months.

He’d been building up to his first crawl for some time, first lifting himself onto all fours and then rocking backwards and forwards, figuring out when to move his arms, and when to move his legs.

He’d even practice in his crib at night, wailing in frustration when he couldn’t quite get it right.

Then, one day a couple of weeks ago, it all clicked into place and he made his first wobbly lurch forwards.

You can see one of his early efforts on the video below.

That shaky stagger has quickly turned into a confident stride; within days he was negotiating his way across his play mat.

Now he can easily traverse our living room & we’ve had to invest in a sturdy pen to stop him wandering out of our front door and onto the mean streets of New York City.

Callum is obviously delighted with himself, now he can add crawling to sitting-up on his baby resume. But I don’t think he’s quite satisfied with his achievements — he’s already onto to the next challenge.

We’ve caught him reaching for the bars on his pen and pulling himself onto his knees & sometimes when he’s on all fours he’ll straighten his legs as if he’s trying to stand up.

It feels like he’s so hungry to learn, develop and grow, it’s terrifying at times, but I’m so proud of his drive and ambition.

And we’ve just had to come to terms with the fact that this little baby won’t be a baby for long!

See Callum in action below and on his Youtube channel.

– Ian Garland

More on Baby Callum:

1. Ian Says: Baby Callum Is Six Months Old! Where Has The Time Gone?
2. Ian Says: ‘My Father’s Day Present Will Be A Smile, A Cuddle & A Dirty Diaper!’
3. Ian Says: ‘Baby Callum’s Sick For The First Time!’ Help!

If you’re a parent, the chances are you’ve already got a Cloud B toy hiding somewhere in your home. The sleep aids have become a baby sensation & I dare you to find a nursery that doesn’t include either a Sleep Sheep, Gentle Giraffe or Turtle Lamp!

And there’s good reason Cloud B sleep aids are so popular — they’re cheap (around $20 each); they’re cute and they actually work! Kid tested, daddy approved!

That’s right — according to the manufacturer’s claims and scores of positive reviews, Cloud B sleep aids really do help babies stop crying and start snoring; giving withered and worn out parents the brief blissful sound of silence.

The idea of this seemed too good to be true for me, the proud, but exhausted father of an energetic and nocturnal baby boy.

Baby Callum hates bed time. He’s usually having far too much time to contemplate turning in for the night.

So our regular routine involved putting him down at around 7 pm and spending the next hour bouncing in and out of his room attending to him until he finally calms down and gives up the fight.

So I got in touch with Cloud B marketing director Anouk Zisa to find out how a sleep aid could help Callum settle at night.

Anouk explained how the sleep aids work. The aim of all of Cloud B’s products “is to create a bedtime routine.”

Their very cool and quirky turtle & ladybird lights help turn your bedroom into a beautiful starscape (the star patterns replicate real constellations!) and the toys pipe out soothing and peaceful sounds that’ll grab your tot’s attention and send them into a beautiful slumber.

Anouk suggested I try out a Gentle Giraffe, which comes with four different ‘white noises’ – each intended to transition your twitching terror into a slumbering bundle.

The first time I tried out the Giraffe, was out of desperation. Callum was refusing to settle & my usual trick of strapping him into his stroller and taking him for a walk wasn’t working. So I attached the toy to his carriage (it fits on cribs, carriages, ankles etc), put it on the sleep setting and cranked up the volume.

I won’t lie to you, he fell asleep within seconds. The soothing noise, a mix of soft radio interference and crashing waves, even had me yawning. Since that first frantic experiment I’ve adapted a more methodical approach, taking Callum through the full spectrum of calming, relaxing sleep-inducing sounds at bedtime, and the sleep aid has become part of our daily routine.

I think he’s figured out the innocent looking toy in the corner of his crib is responsible for cutting short his evening’s activities — occasionally I’ll catch him grappling with it. I can’t decide if he just wants to cuddle it, or rip out the batteries and prolong his nocturnal escapades.

Either way, the Gentle Giraffe is here to stay.

Click here to check out the full range of Cloud B sleep aids!

– Ian Garland

More:

1. Co-Sleeping With Your Kids ISN’T Bad For Them — New Study Reveals!
2. Lusty Parents Warned: Having Sex While Your Babies Are Asleep in The SAME BED Is Damaging Them!
3. Kate Hudson Requests Baby Nurse Because She Can’t Sleep!

It’s just a bad cold, and the poor little guy will survive, but it’s enough to turn our delicately balanced world upside down!

The sickness started earlier this week with a cough. Callum has a ferocious pair of lungs on him. He’s capable of letting off crystal-shattering screams when he’s in high spirits. And when he’s sick, he sneezes and coughs like a long-haul trucker with a 3-pack a day habit.

It all stems from the teething pain Callum has been suffering for what seems like months. For some reason babies are far more susceptible to colds and sniffles when they’re teething.

And he hates it. The teething, and the cold he’s caught because of it.

Callum is normally such a happy baby. The photos I post on this blog are no carefully-timed fluke. He smiles 24/7, except for this week.

Those chubby cheeks we love so much are hanging low and his eyes are drooping, heavy.

Suddenly everything is a struggle for the little ball of energy we normally can’t keep still.

When we put him in his bouncer; rather than spring around giggling with delight, he flops with a look that says “I just can’t!”

But the real problem is bedtime. Just like adults, colds for babies are far worse at night. Everything builds up to a crescendo and Callum finds it impossible to settle with all that catarrh sitting on his chest.

So he wriggles and writhes and coughs… and stays awake. And the whole problem capitulates. Now he’s not just sick and cranky; he’s sick, tired and double cranky. All on top of the teething pain that started the whole thing off!

Jill and I hate the idea of medicating Callum unnecessarily — but after two hours of solid ear-piercing, red faced and tear-streaming screaming, we just couldn’t bare to see him suffering any more.

So I hit up the drug store and begged the pharmacist for a solution. She gave me some on-the-shelf infant ibuprofen.

I don’t know if it worked or if he just wore himself out, but Callum was asleep within 5 minutes. And he slept pretty much all night.

24 hours on, he’s still coughing and sneezing, but the screaming has stopped and the sneezes and splutters are slowly being replaced by gurgles and giggles.

Our happy little man is on his way back!

Did your baby suffer while they were teething HollyMoms? What cure worked for you?

And don’t forget to follow @callumgarland on Twitter!

– Ian Garland

Get More Callum!

1. Baby Callum’s Big Date With The Doctor!

2. Baby Callum Is The Next Elton John

Baby Callum’s First Photoshoot!

A year ago this week, as I licked the envelope on my dad’s father’s day card, it dawned on me…’this time next year, I’ll be a father too’.

I tried to imagine how it would feel; how my life would have changed. I had no idea. And I could never have guessed!

My first Father’s Day will be pretty low key. Baby Callum is far too young to take in the enormity of the occasion, of course.

To him, I’m still, ‘the big, funny-lookin’ one, who enjoys pulling faces and swinging him around’.

He’ll have many years to pamper me with cards and gifts.

I put together an alternative gift guide for new dads for Father’s Day. You can find it HERE. There’s no ‘real’ gifts there — because I know what I’m getting.

His gift will be a smile, a cuddle and a full diaper in the morning and I’ll be a happy new daddy.

– Ian Garland

Get More Callum!

1. Baby Callum’s Big Date With The Doctor!

2. Baby Callum Is The Next Elton John

Baby Callum’s First Photoshoot!

If, like me, you’re preparing for your first Father’s Day as a daddy, you’ve probably spent most of the last year adjusting to your new role — a sleep-deprived slave to a squidgy, drooling little monster.

Don’t get me wrong, babies are amazing and I adore my six-month-old son Callum. But we ALL need a little relief from our tiny terrors one day a year.

Moms get their day…. and now it’s our turn!

Here’s my wish list, of all the things I’ll be hoping for on Sunday.

– Ian Garland

Get More Callum!

1. Baby Callum’s Big Date With The Doctor!

2. Baby Callum Is The Next Elton John

Baby Callum’s First Photoshoot!

It seems like only five minutes ago that we brought him home from the hospital — and half a year has passed already!

The fragile little bag of bones I cradled in my arms when he was just minutes old, is now a sturdy, chunky little monkey!

He’s more than doubled in size! He was 7lbs and 20 inches long at birth. At his six month doctors check-up this week he measured up at 17lbs 14oz and 27 inches!

But that’s hardly surprising. In the last six months he’s graduated from sipping on breast milk to munching down on mouthfuls of apples, pears, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and anything we dangle in front of his face.

Those first squeaks are now loud gabbles, babbles, squeals and squawks.

Callum could barely keep his eyes open when we first brought him home, let alone focus on his surroundings. Now he flirts, laughs and follows us around the room.

I can remember when a kick or wiggle was a big deal. Now it’s a challenge to keep him still. He rolls and lunges around the floor, and motors around our apartment in his walker, squealing with delight as he bashes through any obstacle he finds in his path.

Callum’s not the only person who’s changed in the last six months. Fatherhood has totally rewired me.

I’ve learned how to function on next-to-no sleep and forgotten what it was like to have time to myself. But, more importantly, my whole outlook on life has adjusted.

I used to put myself first. Now there’s a little person who needs me, far more than I need me.

It’s been the most amazing, extraordinary six months of my life. Never have I encountered so many highs and lows. I say lows because the rollercoaster of emotions and new experiences that all new parents encounter isn’t a smooth ride.

But the highs are the important bit and they’re daily and start the moment I lock eyes with the giggling little baby who’s just woken me up at 5am!

And I wouldn’t change any of it. The first six months have just wet my appetite for the next round of ‘firsts’ I can’t wait to share with him.

His first crawl, his first tooth, his first word (proper word) and his first steps, are all still to come.

Hope you can share them with us too!

Follow @CallumGarland at Twitter!

– Ian Garland

Get More Callum!

1. Baby Callum’s Big Date With The Doctor!

2. Baby Callum Is The Next Elton John

Baby Callum’s First Photoshoot!

The ‘Gladiator’ star and dad-of-two stirred up a furious debate on Twitter after posting an angry rant about the practice.

Russell Crowe wants new moms and dads to think twice about circumcising their newborn babies, even on religious grounds. What do you think, HollyMoms?

Russell, 47, tweeted, “Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that GOD requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect.”

“I will always stand for the perfection of babies, I will always believe in God, not man’s interpretation of what God requires.”

Circumcision is common practice in the US. It’s also a Jewish religious requirement and carried out by many Muslims.

But the father of Charlie, seven, and Tennyson, four insists there is no good reason to “mutilate” babies.

When Jewish twitter followers challenged Russell, he replied, tweeting at his Jewish director friend Eli Roth: “I love my Jewish friends, I love the apples and the honey and the funny little hats but stop cutting your babies.”

The comment stirred up more outrage, and Russell’s tweet rant was reported as being anti-Semitic in several news reports. Roth even pretended to be offended — before insisting the exchange was a joke and accusing reporters of  “terrifying stars into not saying any jokes on twitter.”

Russell later apologized for the joke, tweeting, “I have a deep and abiding love for all people of all nationalities, I’m very sorry that I have said things on here that have caused distress.”

Circumcision is definitely a divisive issue. I chose NOT to have my six month old son Callum circumcised, even though it’s common practice in the US, and I’m inclined to agree with Russell that it’s outdated and unnecessary.

What do YOU think? Is he right? Or out of line?

– Ian Garland

More Russell Crowe on HollyBaby:

1. Aww! Russell Crowe And His Son Tennyson Spend Quality Time Together Over Breakfast
2. Are You A Strict Parent Or A Total Pushover? These Celebs Admit They’re Big Softies
3. How Russell Crowe’s 6-Year-Old Son Got Him to Quit Smoking