Wee Baby Stuff

So, Ted is mobile. He finally worked out the shuffle-crawl thing and now moves around at roughly the speed of sound. This has been my first week of being alone with an independently mobile pookie, and to be honest it's kicking my butt. Teddy now wants to go EVERYWHERE and touch EVERYTHING and by touch I mean poke, shake, lick and chew. What I'm getting at is that it is now officially time to baby...

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A quick glance at the living room might lead a person to believe that our favourite designer is one Mr. Price. Mr. Fisher Price. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing (no, really it's not) there are some toys that have pretty much timeless appeal, and that I genuinely don't mind having around. (Though apparently it is "freakish" to want to colour coordinate your baby's toys to match your decor. Dammit.) Here are a few classics...

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Drool. Babies seem to drool more than say, a 120lb Saint Bernard. A HUNGRY 120lb Saint Bernard. It gets everywhere and seems way wetter (and grosser) than mere water. So it's either change their shirt a lot or protect the slobber catchment area. Bibs get the job done but bandannas are so much cooler. Especially these bandannas. Kerchiefs $14 By Curbly member, designer and renaissance mom Kristen Angelo, who owns boopalina + bebe (and a...

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We entertain a lot, it means we get to maintain a post-baby social life. Generally we have friends around for a few drinks and some dinner, nothing schmancy. But New Years is a big one, and we are throwing an out and out Hootenanny! With cocktails and canapes and clothes that don't have any kind of goo on them (I'm hoping). parenting.com has a useful checklist to help make sure that your party is safe...

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Funny is good. I might even go so far as to say that Funny will save your sanity. 'Cause when it's four in the morning and somebody has just had a massive poopy blow out and you realise that that's the last clean sheet and how can this possibly have happened... well, its either laugh or whimper quietly about running away to join a cult... I digress. This book here made me laugh snort laughs....

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In the same way that we you're pregnant the world is suddenly filled with other pregnant women, it is also filled with copies of 'What To Expect...'. Like most first timers I clung to The Book, ticking off the weeks. But, when things didn't go EXACTLY like the book suggested at EXACTLY the right time I would sometimes actually cry in frustration (embarrassingly enough). When my brother asked 'Why don't you just stop reading it?'....

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Babies who are just learning to get around fall over. A lot. Sometimes they fall on their padded diaper bottoms, sometimes (less amusingly) on their faces and sometimes on their heads. That dull thud of Pookie head hitting hard surface is really pretty awful. But it's generally harmless, and can normally fixed with a kissie. So I'm not sure how I feel about these,they're baby helmets, by a company called Thudgaurd, they cost $38.99 plus...

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We're big on making our own baby food 'round here. It means I know exactly what goes into Teddy, and it tastes loads yummier than the stuff that comes in the jars (thought we keep them around for lunches on the go). Fruit makes up a big part of Ted's diet, we've been using bags of pre-chopped frozen fruit. We blend up the raw soft fruit, like mango and blueberries, and add them to rice...

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I've never had so much unsolicited advice as I got in the first month or so of new-parenthood. Everybody from (child-free) friends to our building super and random strangers seemed to feel compelled to offer words of wisdom. So, when I read the title of this article I was a little twitchy... '10 Mistakes New Parents Make' OK, twitchy doesn't even begin to cover it. If I wanted a list of my 'mistakes' I'd talk...

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Joanne and Stephanie Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio have the job that I dreamed of as a kid, they are toy testers.  Their website has a huge number of reviews of toys, books and DVDs broken down by age. They also have a 'Thumbs Down' section of toys to avoid. The whole site is definately worth a look.As well as all that they publish The Platinum Awards, a round-up of the year's best toys....

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