Nolan trying on his new dress pants. Tag still on butt? Check. Ample belly rolls? Check. Super pumped baby? Check.
Happy Friday everyone! We’re going to mix things up here. I think it would be cool if in addition to highlighting stuff I’ve found for Nolan, I also feature readers’ “top picks” as part of the Friday Five. So if you’ve found a super useful product/website/book etc. that you think other parents would like to know about, leave the name of the product/website/book in the comments section and indicate that you LOVE it. I’ll email you back and if it’s a good fit I’ll get more details about this life-changing miracle product, whatever it may be, and feature it in an upcoming Friday Five. If you’re a funny writer we can arrange for you to write the recommendation yourself! Only if that’s your thing. I’m flexible on how we can work this out.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll use everyone’s suggestions, but I think we’d all benefit from getting ideas from parents with kids of different ages. And this luke-warm mom can’t possibly keep up with all the “hot” recommendations floating around, so there’s that. This idea was inspired by my friend Courtney, whose recommendation is #3 on today’s list!
Aaaand here we go:
1. The Baby Formal Wear Section at Macy’s
When you can’t decide which outfit is more flattering, just eat the tag and call it a day.
I love me some Baby Gap and Carter’s, I really do. But it turns out that when you’re looking for formal wear for your baby (which, who isn’t?! I don’t know about your baby, but my baby is regularly invited to cocktail parties and black tie events) the place to shop is Macy’s. Yes, Macy’s, where it’s important to wear a face mask, as at least 7 ladies wearing aggressive makeup will spray you with their perfume samples on your way to the children’s clothing section. It’s worth this assault of your senses when you see the offerings in the baby red carpet division. It’s an embarrassment of riches down there, really.
Yeah, no big deal, real men (babies) wear purple.
Puppy Love.
Violet, the talking purple dog-robot from LeapFrog, is a cyborg, more or less. And who doesn’t want a cyborg as a friend for their child? I sure do. This fuzzy robot-dog can basically raise your child, best I can tell. It says in the promotional materials that you can “turn your teaching over to Violet to explore first words, numbers, daily routines, and feelings.” That sounds like a big responsibility for a toy puppy. I’m not totally sure I want a puppy to teach my son about feelings, and what if she has different ideas about routines than I do? But the pros outweigh the cons, and Violet is adorable, which is important since she will be raising my child. It’s like hiring a hot canine nanny.
Nolan open-mouth kissed this little dog at their very first meeting. Four times. He’s never kissed anything that many times before. I will obviously be talking to Nolan about appropriate boundaries and the importance of getting to know puppies before you open-mouth kiss them.
If you’d like a less feminine-looking puppy raising your offspring, there is also a green version named “Scout” available.
This is Isabel. She is an adorable stain-maker, and apparently an organic farming enthusiast.
4. Soundproof rooms at church
Do most church’s have these special sound-proof rooms?! Never have I seen such a thing (unless all churches have them, in which case I see them every time I go to a wedding but never notice them). This is the best thing EVER! It’s just an enclosed room at the back of the church that pipes in the sounds of the service and allows you and your child to be really disruptive. Win win! The last few times I’ve taken Nolan to church for weddings and funerals he’s realized that his voice echoes with the tall ceilings, and so he sings his praises to the Lord in his best pterodactyl voice. It’s not at all annoying. Ahem. Amen.
This past weekend Nolan’s Papa got married (congratulations Papa and Michelle!) and Nolan and his little cousins Luke and Griffin were not exactly model guests. No offense boys, but model guests don’t need to be contained in sound-proof rooms. Although to be fair to Griffin and Luke, it was Nolan who had explosive diarrhea that not only ruined his suit but also got all over my arms right as we were arranging ourselves for the formal family portrait. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that that makes us the worst guests.
But back to this sound-proof room. It’s a game changer, so helpful that I’m pretty sure the inspiration for it went directly from God to whoever designs churches. Now I need God to send some inspiration to whoever designs formal pants for babies, so that they can find a way to better contain loose stools.
5. The crazy story about the vagina cookies for 2nd graders
The news story that vaginas everywhere are talking about: Mom Bakes Vagina Cookies for Second Graders, Can’t Believe Teacher has the Nerve to Refuse Them.
I’m not going to say a lot about this story. It really speaks for itself. I’ll just say this: I know that whenever I bake cookies in the shape of anatomically correct body parts I get great feedback on them. I’m not sure what this teacher’s problem was, but I think that cookies baked to look like vaginas are both delicious and informative for youngsters. Oh wait, no I don’t. I think this mom/baker/vagina-maker is bat-shit crazy.
Happy weekend everyone! And don’t forget to leave a comment with your own “hot recommendation” for the next Friday Five!
Great post as usual! We have Violet as well and K loves playing with her but am I the only one that finds the way it says your kid’s name a little creepy? I mean, I get that it has to say it in a computer-ish way but the awkward pause before and after the name in the middle of whatever song she’s singing just makes my husband and I laugh each time… Also, my friend’s mom used to say “well, we met way-back-when in the ‘crying room’ at OLA…” when discussing another family they are lifelong friends with so I have heard of those sound-proof rooms in churches but only referred to as “crying rooms” lol… I’m not a churchgoer, but I guess they are a thing, at least locally! PS: Nolan looks adorable in his suit! Happy Friday!
Yeah, I was calling it “the crying room” and alternatively “the panic room.” I’m not sure how common they are, we don’t go to church often except for special occasions so maybe I just haven’t noticed. It’s like a holding pen for rowdy inmates. Which is to say it’s perfect!
This past week I came across what looks like a great baby item for grandparents as well as for parents with limited living space. It is called the Ciao! Baby – the go-anywhere-high-chair.
It’s one of those folding years chairs that goes in a sleeve – but is a high chair. Parents can keep it in the car for when needed in restaurants or friends that do not have accommodations for babies or if they are campers. It sets up super easy. Excited for you to bring Nolan over to try it out!
Betsy – we will try this for sure! It sounds super handy. Maybe I’ll just drop Nolan off at your house and have him use all of the items you have on hand and we’ll see what we like. You are basically a baby boutique at this point.
I sorry about the explosive poop! Guess that resulted in a costume change, huh? Sometimes I feel like our daughter, Ellie, aims to have as many outfits in a day as Carrie Underwood has while hosting an awards show. Anyway, our pastor likes to refer to the Tarzan-esque yells and other calls that Ellie and her tiny peers make as “a joyful noise”. He’s a very understanding guy!
Anyway, Ellie’s favorite toy, besides my hair (she has a future as a stylist I’m sure), is the Fisher Price kick and Play gymhttp://m.target.com/p/fisher-price-kick-n-play-piano-gym/-/A-15044265?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&LNM=15044265&CPNG=Baby&kpid=15044265&LID=9pgs&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=15044265&kpid=15044265&gclid=CJ2b_IT6_sACFQqQaQodUmYAxw
We LOVE this because it brings her so much joy. She first loved it because there were cool things to see and babble at. Now she loves to roll all around, kick the keys and try to wrestle the hanging animals off. It holds her interest for a long time while I make dinner or other chores.
That tiny suit is so adorable! Unfortunately we don’t go anywhere that requires anything nicer than sweatpants and unmatched socks, which leads me to the thing I love…H&M baby pull-on jeans! (http://www.hm.com/us/product/36918?article=36918-A) In general, I adore H&M’s line of clothes for baby boys because it is hip and quirky and hasn’t seemed to catch on around us yet so I can play off my son as being fashion forward, which he learned from Project Runway is a very important trait. Specifically, these jeans are fantastic because they have all the style that you’d want in denim with the convenience of sweatpants…they’re like cooler pajama jeans. Seriously, these jeans are basically patterned off of H&M’s baby sweatpants (also a great buy: http://www.hm.com/us/product/30963?article=30963-C), which means they are relaxed on the waist and not too tight (important for babies like mine, who just have too many leg rolls to pull off skinny jeans). The elastic/drawstring waist easily slides over a substantial diaper butt and also allows my portly baby boy (no kidding, 21 lbs at 6 months) to let his gut hang free, unlike those crazy baby jeans that have buttons or snaps and require babies to suck it in all day. H&M has started offering online shopping in the US, but I tend to go to the stores (in the Boston area, the Newbury, South Shore Mall and North Shore Mall H&M’s carry kids clothes) because sizes sell out quickly online and online purchases can only be returned online (which I’m too lazy to do).
Looking forward to seeing more reader feedback!
Ashley I feel like I’ve been totally missing out on the H&M thing! Nolan too wants to be fashion forward but I haven’t been cutting edge as his mom, so we’ve missed all the skinny jeans/sweatpants for portly babies.
So excited to check out these jeans! Annie is a full figured gal but doesn’t want to compromise her unique fashion sense for shapeless, boring plus size baby wear. Thanks for the info!
Everyone loves Violet until their 2YO rolls over onto it in her sleep and gets the crap scared out of her and shrieks so loudly you sit in the living room making coffee for the cops you think are probably about to show up.
Thank you for alerting us to this danger! I’ll make sure to keep Violet on a tight leash at night, at least 10 yards from the crib.
You have to give the baker mom props for a wide variety of ummmm, cookies. She’s all about diversity. When buying formalwear for a baby or toddler, one takeaway seems to be wait for the BOGO special.
Now that the weather’s cooling off…hoods/hats sporting ears/stems to make baby resemble your favorite critter or produce. Not sure why they’re the absolute cutest things in the whole world, but they totally are. P.s. Love your blog!
Oh I am all over this. A few months ago in a post I discussed the fact that it’s not even worth having a baby if you’re not going to dress him up like an animal!
Love this post as usual!! That picture of Luke and Nolan is adorable, as are all of the ones of NoNo getting ready!!! I cannot believe the story of the cookies!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!
Zoey has had Violet all along and she absolutely loves her still at the ripe old age of 4. I’ll admit I was a little slow on the customization to get her to say zoey’s name and favorite items, but once I did it changed everything.
I love your blog and your little Nolan is beyond adorable. These are one of my favorite baby products:
http://www.amazon.com/Neat-Solutions-Topper-Mickey-18-Count/dp/B004YL3332/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1411998586&sr=8-4&keywords=baby+placemats+disposable
They’re awesome disposable placemats. Perfect for restaurants…we just stick it on the table and keep throwing new finger foods on it for our food driven, cheese loving, baby while shoveling fried food and beer in our mouths. Win win 🙂