Archive for May 2010
Every time my nephew gets into our car, he clambers up to the front seat, honks the horn and makes giant racecar noises. He hurriedly moves the wheel back and forth, wind in his hair (ok, the wind part isn’t true), calling out each lap number that he conquers. As he turns the final lap, his nemesis on his tale, he finishes victoriously—a trophy awaits (and several sponsorships from Pennzoil and Goodyear, I’m sure). I’m not sure how fast he thinks our SUV will go or what track he’s driving on in our driveway, but who am I to stop him?
How else could I support this little driver-in-training than with a hoodie decorated in cool patches sure to make any genuine racer proud. Created by Italian designer Ra-re, a genius with kids clothes, this cotton hooded sweatshirt will keep him warm as he speeds with the wind, around and around until the checkered flag is waved for the end.
And when he’s done with the race, and he’s humbly collecting his winning, he can put his hands in his pockets. He’ll shrug his shoulders and to the microphone say, he would like to thank his auntie for all she’s done. He would be nothing without her. Aw, thanks.
Accumulated from various holidays and times of gift giving, our daughter has a trunk load of instruments. Everything from tambourines, maracas, mini-drum sets and even a triangle. When her Godmother gave her a bright pink recorder, it sent chills down my spine. Every time, she hits the highest note imaginable on it, I question my friendship with this woman. But I guess I should relax a bit. After all, it’s musical, and my daughter loves it. The dog and me—let’s just say, the two of us haven’t quite found it to be as melodious as she thinks.
This beautiful wooden guitar from Vilac completes her concerto of rhythm and song. We love that with this one instrument she can channel her inner rock star in so many musical ways. She can wail away with quiet ballads of love and longing (I love milk, I long for some more) or dressed up in rock star baby clothes rock out with all-out fired up jam sessions (I love milk! Yeah, yeah. I love milk!). Sure, both of these genres of song sound exactly the same as she plays them. When the look on her face changes, that’s our only queue that she’s taken on a new direction with the tune.
With each performance, she’s learning to appreciate music and all the work that goes into producing it. A juice box is usually the only thing that can refresh the spent musician in her, after all that crazy rocking out.
My recorder-gifting friend has a son now. I see this guitar in his future. And perhaps a blue recorder as well. Rock on, little one. Rock on.
Okay, I won’t lie to you. Sometimes my little sweet darling of a child can be a monster. Especially if it’s somewhere she doesn’t want to be. Take the doctor’s office. She goes into the appointment knowing that something is up which is probably why there’s a bucket of lollipops at the checkout desk. It is something to look forward to after a tough visit.
She’s a monster. Then she gets a lollipop. Now what is she? She is a monster with a lollipop. And that’s the entire giggle-inducing concept behind this baby t-shirt by Coral and Tusk. Something for them—what kid wouldn’t crack a smile at the sight of a monster enjoying a tasty sugary treat? Something for us—every parent can honestly say that this could be a self-portrait of the boy or girl wearing the shirt. Minus the fuzziness, crazy ears and apparently huge (and sharp) sweet teeth, this monster could be mistaken for my own child on more than one occasion. Happily grinning that she got her candy, knowing that it’s only a matter of time before she strikes again.
The fact that it’s organic is also something to smile about. Soft and touchable, any cuddly monster…I mean, kid…would be happy to snuggle into this shirt for an afternoon of play. And if there’s a lollipop in his future, so be it. After all, even monsters can be sweet. And Estella has a huge collection of baby clothes specially meant for such sweet monsters!
Being a kid can be tough. Playgrounds are more like battlegrounds—I wanna go down the slide first, I wanna hang on the monkey bars more, that’s my see-saw not yours. The first days of school are even scarier, what with new faces, new places, and new things to learn, all without mom and dad by your side. It’s a wonder we all made it through childhood. After all, it’s not called rough n’ tumble for nothing.
Help him be a big dog, even if he’s just a little pup, with this Appaman Slub Bulldog Tshirt. This is the perfect boys shirt to give him the confidence to go out there and be a tough guy in a dog eat dog world of school and play. When he puts it on, he’ll feel like he can tackle whatever comes his way, big or small.
Donning a tie and Bowler hat, this tough bulldog is clearly best in show. His classy air shows all he’ll make you proud through even the tough times. With his droopy ears and a goofy look on his pouty face, this pup can surely bring a smile to everyone’s face. Especially when it seems like the kids around him are all bark and bite. Check out the other tough but adorable kids clothes by Appaman!
You remember you were in your older sister’s bedroom when you first heard that steady rhythm of the synthesizer. You thought it sounded as though a piano had taken a thousand stars and bolts of lightening straight to its keys. That co0gry?) and Disco bored you, but this…this you definitely understood. And the look of it all! By golly, the look was pure glamour. The red lipstick, the skinny ties, the fitted dresses and suits, and of course the stripes. The stripes were everywhere! This was New Wave and it suited you to a tee.
You can relive your love for all things New Wave by slapping on your copy of Duran Duran’s Rio on the record player – it is in your mother’s garage, in that box under her gardening tools and supplies – teasing your hair from here until Tuesday or go the easier route and get your little New Waver one of Estella’s fabulous baby clothes – The Girls’ Striped T-Shirts.
While the T-shirt is the constant wardrobe basic, Estella’s Striped T-Shirt is anything but. Featuring awesome cap sleeves, super soft fabric and of course, the trendy and yet always classic stripe. Available in ten colors, this stylish T-shirt will become a favorite part of your girl’s closet. It’ll suit her to a tee.
Now get out there and dance!
Dream: It’s a lovely spring day, complete with puffy white clouds and sunshine aplenty. We’re taking a stroll around town as a family, in and out of boutiques, perhaps some leisurely patio dining. All is right in the world.
Nightmare: It’s a lovely spring day, complete with wind and bugs. We’re taking a stroll around town and our daughter starts complaining that her dress is bugging her because the breeze is blowing it up. We stop for patio dining, but she can’t sit on the plastic chair because her legs kept sticking to it. She’s cold and she wants to go home now!
Reality: Invest in leggings. Every single color you can. Keep a pair in your purse. Even stash one in your glove compartment. Bring them with you everywhere. They’ll solve a great number of clothing issues. Pretty designer baby clothes and a pair of brightly colored baby leggings! What more do you want? For spring, think sunny yellow, baby bird blue or green grass…the perfect additions to any skirt or dress conundrum that might mess up your otherwise dreamy day of fun.
Leggings even saved us from ultimate doom when we passed a playground and she was wearing, yet again, a dress. No slides for her until she slid into a pair of leggings. Because, as we all know, hot slide plus bare backs of legs plus speed equals ouch!
With leggings, all is right in the world. Or at the very least, you’ve got everything covered. Literally.
Mother’s Milk. Milk: it does a body good. There’s no use crying over spilled milk. You have heard throughout your entire childhood the importance of milk. And it has always been a part of your early life from nursing as an infant to Saturday morning cartoon fests while enjoying your breakfast cereal. Your favorites were those fantastic milk drinking contests you and your older brother would have. You would both chug your milk as fast as you could and then grin at each other with your freshly made milk mustaches.
Now that you are a parent, your childhood love affair with milk is alive and kicking — or at least resurrected. So how surprisingly cool is it that your gorgeous babe can now be surrounded by milk? You are crazy for Lotus Springs ’ eco-friendly Milk Fabric Snap-Shoulder Aqua Baby Top. Milk fabric, you ask? Yes! Lotus Spring has combined a milk fiber derived from milk proteins with other natural fibers such as wood and cotton to make baby clothes! The results are an insanely soft fabric that feels magical to the touch and completely silky. The design of this top features a nifty shoulder snap for easy on and off. And the cut is a heavy dose of newborn cute with a splash of edgy funk.
So go ahead and start those old milk habits again. Enjoy your cartoons and breakfast cereal; introduce your older kids to their first milk chugging contest and now you can add Lotus Springs’ milk fabric baby top to your list.
When we had our daughter, I think our dog and two cats had some reservations about what was to become of them. Here was this new small person wrapped in the most snug baby clothes, with the loudest of shrieks, the grabbiest of hands and the best of intentions whenever she came over to pet them. Of course her well-meaning touches were usually a little rougher than they were used to, since motor skills weren’t yet her strong suit.
During these days of baby vs. beast, I wish that we had the Bunglie Kitten. Jellycat brilliantly stuffed this precious kitty with patience, love and understanding that little hands aren’t always full of gentleness. If anything, this fluffy feline is ready for some rough love. The super duper long tail would have kept our little one happy, with something to pull on, drag around, whip across the floor, step on…pretty much everything she did to our poor pets.
Days have past and things have calmed down in our little domestic zoo. We’ve since sadly lost our beloved dog and one cat. So we have now one cat and one daughter, each of them quietly respecting each other and occasionally showing the love in gentle fashion. But that wasn’t enough for us. We got a new puppy last month. And she has a long tail. Stay tuned for whatever mess that will bring.
You were looking in the attic for your collection of Girl Scout Badges your older daughter wants to see — you were quite the achiever, even back then — when you come across the box your mother gave you filled with old photo albums. Some of the albums had faded covers, while others showed their age with the yellowed pages and sticky, clear protective sheets that refuse to come off the page. It is while you are looking through one album marked “Picnics” that you find that picture of yourself. You are two and holding an enormous bologna sandwich and you are the spitting image of your youngest daughter, who is also two. The resemblance is uncanny.
You’re clad in your best picnic outfit: a bright yellow plaid sun suit. You call your mother up and ask her about that outfit. “You wore it all the time!” she tells you. You fall in love with that sun suit, with that time and with those memories all over again. So it is no wonder that Estella’s Baby Girl Sun suit has you instantly smitten. This gorgeous ode to everything sunny and fun is made with 100% cotton and fits your baby girl like a dream. The plaid’s color scheme is a perfect compliment to the shape and movement of the sun suit.
You feel so nostalgic and content, that you decide to take your crew on a picnic. And of course your little one is wearing one of her favorite baby clothes! Estella’s sun suit. It’s time for her to get her picnic memories going, after all…
My kids and I were watching David Bowie in “Labyrinth” the other day (A great film, by the way. That man is completely AGELESS!) and it occurred to me that what I notice viewing it now is completely different from what I noticed as a teen when I first saw the movie. When I was younger, I loved Jennifer Connelly’s hair, I thought all the puppets were completely darling and I wanted David Bowie to come through my window and whisk me away to a magical far-off land. Now when I see the movie I think, “Wow…that baby is wearing a seriously cute baby romper. I wish I could find one just like that.”
To fill that longing, that has nothing to do with David Bowie, comes the Danish company Claesen to the rescue. Claesen’s Cotton Striped Baby Romper is on the same level of magic and cuteness as any of the fuzzy characters in “Labyrinth.” Made in Holland, this romper features a fun silhouette, great fit and is made with a 95% cotton and 5% stretch blend. This outfit is the perfect romper for your little elf, whether you are planning some play dates, running a few errands or just simply relaxing at home with a bowl of popcorn and the family.
Now if only Claesen could find a way to have David Bowie deliver this romper and a host of other baby clothes to our home. Well, at least I’ll have this romper…
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