My twins recently celebrated their first birthday, which of course meant cake and icing for the first time. I initially planned on making a "healthy" cake, something with flavors already familiar to them, like a pumpkin or banana cake. But my husband insisted on real cake for their first birthday. So I gave in (at least halfway) and bought an organic cake mix without all the artificial gums and whatnot, and made my own icing by whipping heavy cream, cream cheese, and a bit of confectioner's sugar.

The twins LOVED the cake and icing, to my surprise. I kind of expected them to snub their noses at it, as I know many babies do when trying cake for the first time.

So the question is, now that they're a year old, should I let them have other sugary foods? A little bit of maple syrup with pancakes, for example, or some brown sugar in their oatmeal? They've had a very healthy diet so far (with virtually no sugar until the birthday cake), and they are great eaters, but I don't want to go overboard and create sugar fiends who are obsessed with sweets because their mother deprived them.

What do you think? When did you let your child have the sweet stuff, or do you keep a watchful eye on sugar intake?

As part of our nightly bedtime routine, my husband and I read three books to our children. But things have been getting a little boring lately (at least for us adults!) and I’ve been looking to expand my babies’ bedtime reading repertoire. Plus, with Christmas and Hanukkah coming up, books will make a great gift.

Although we don’t always read books specifically about bedtime, I like the idea of reading books about bedtime at bedtime. I think it helps our kids to settle down and get ready for sleep.

These are our current bedtime favorites: [more]