Hanna Andersson Sleepwear

We've been lucky to get a lot of great hand-me-downs from friends who bought NICE baby clothes for their kids. That's how I came to know about the Hanna Andersson brand, which makes the cutest onesie-sleepers of all time. Whenever Baba G is in one of them, it takes everything in me not to just constantly smother him with YOU'RE SO CUTE COULD YOU BE ANY CUTER YOU ARE SO SNUGGLY PLEASE PLEASE SNUGGLE WITH ME hugs. 

The weird thing is, it's like he knows this.

Hee hee... I got her! (6 months)

You better work! (6 months)

Still posing at 11 months

I don't put BG to bed in these because they don't have feet, and his nursery's not the warmest room in the world, so we use Carter's fleece-ish onesies (and still put socks and a bodysuit-onesie on underneath) for nighttime. But when we're chillin' around the condo during the day, the Hanna Andersson outfits are a great pick.

I started panicking because my friends' supply of them runs out after the size BG's currently wearing. So I just checked the brand's site for the first time and had a geek freak-out because of all of the Star Wars pajama options they offer for toddlers. Yeeessssssss.

The bottom line: While I only have experience with the sleepwear onesies from the Hanna Andersson brand, it sure seems like this company is pretty great overall. First off, they're Swedish. (That's my ancestry, so clearly the Swedes rock.) Secondly, their stuff is made out of 100% organic cotton with no harmful chemicals, and meets all kinds of crazy-high European standards. (Sad fact: the U.S. doesn't care much about chemicals in kids' clothing.) And then there's the whole cute-as-hell and comfy-looking-as-hell factor.

Are they the cheapest outfits ever? No. The sleepwear pieces you see above run between $28-$32 on the HA site. Thank goodness for my friends' kids! Ha.

Finally, I just found out that Hanna Andersson has some retail locations (and outlet stores!) across the U.S. Perhaps there's one by you?

Snaps vs. Zippers

We're on our vacation right now (LOTS of posts about that after we return), and since it's really hot here I packed a bunch of Baba G's lighter-weight onesies for nighttime. As we've hit the cold temperatures back in Chicago and he's been in thicker, fleece-like onesies for a while already (the "super-comfy" zip-up kind by Carter's are my go-to at this point), I forgot how much I suck at snaps.

Yes, that's right, I am so uncoordinated that I seriously cannot ever get a onesie snapped up without having a mini nervous breakdown.

Here's what I'm talking about: look at the snaps for the Next brand onesie on the left (along the bottom) and then the zipper for the Carter's brand one on the right.

So. Many. Snaps! (There are two up by the neck as well._

The thing I do like about the snap-together onesie is that it's easier to deal with for a diaper change ... or at least the part where I only have to get his bottom out of the outfit is easier. With the zip-up there's no way around having to tug his left leg out of the leg/foot panel and then maneuvering it back in afterward. And I know that the Next onesie is really comfy for him (I actually really love that brand (it's British), but from what I can tell they only offer snap-up onesies). But I just cannot remember a time where I snapped it up correctly. Even this morning I found a gaping hole in the leg after 30 minutes after I changed Baba G. It's even worse when it's an early morning or late-night changing!

Which do you prefer: snaps or zippers? (I read about a brand that somehow incorporates magnets (fellow Breaking Bad fans that at this point I MUST stop and say: "Yeah, bitch! Magnets!") to close up onesies, but it seems like that would be uncomfortable for a stomach sleeper like Baba G.)

Any other types of onesie creations out there I need to know about?

Baby Aspen's Baby Pilot Outfit

Every once in a while my husband takes a work trip on a client's company jet. So when Baba G arrived, this client sent us Baby Aspen's Big Dreamzzz Baby Pilot outfit as a gift. How appropriate, no?

It's cool-looking on its own . . .

But even better ON!

The size of this outfit is 0 - 6 months, and it fits Baba G perfectly right now (he's 4 months old and closing in on 16 pounds).

When I was looking up the product information for this post, I saw that the Baby Aspen brand makes a bunch of other unique outfits as well. Here are just a few:







I seriously could've pasted in like 200 more pictures. Baby Aspen offers much more than outfits—they have toys, blankets, stuffed animals, etc.—so definitely check out their site if you like what you've seen above.

ANYWHO, I can only speak for the pilot outfit, whose material is nice and soft. I've washed it already and the design held up just fine. Clearly BG found it comfy enough to take a snooze in.

Sorry, this flight has been DELAYED.

The bottom line: The Big Dreamzzz Baby Pilot outfit (about $29 at Amazon) is one of those things that I probably would've never found (or bought) on my own, so I'm very glad we were lucky enough to be given it as a gift. I plan to order Baby Aspen products for friends' kids in the future because they're so unusual and cool. Highly recommend!

Trumpette Socks

Many new parents receive a ridiculous amount of socks for their new arrivals. Before they actually try any of them on their little bundles of joy, they might think something along the lines of, "socks are socks." But they would be wrong.

There is one brand that makes far superior socks (that are cool, to boot): Trumpette.











These socks rock because they actually STAY ON. The thing about babies is that they wiggle around like fools. They also seem to not like things on their feet. And one of the first things they learn to do is kick. Put all of that together and you have eight pounds of determination to Get. Socks. OFF.

A lot of baby socks are loose or otherwise shapeless and fall off as soon as you pick your kid up from the changing table. Others might last for, oh, TWO MINUTES. But, as I wrote mere seconds ago, Trumpettes stay on.

We received two boxes of the "Skater Johnny" kind and I just love these things.

Back when Baba G was a teeny little guy

They're just the right colors to be able to match with nearly all of Baba G's outfits. Having two sets has been nice because lots of them are usually in the wash. Although we didn't register for these socks, we're really happy we got the design we did, because my husband wears checkered Vans and that's what the Skater Johnnies look like. (Other designs resemble other popular brands of shoes, like Converse high-tops and whatnot, but they're clearly not able to name them as such.)

He grew! And clearly the socks fit a little bit better now.

Are there socks other than Trumpettes that Baba G can wear happily and not wiggle out of? Yes. And maybe I'll write about some of those brands one day. But nothing's going to beat the Trumpettes!

Sleeping happily with warm piggies (that's toes to you normal people)

The bottom line: These make EXCELLENT gifts (most designs come in cute multi-packs). If you don't receive any as gifts, buy some! Or wait until you start losing your mind when your baby's socks won't stay on and his feet are freezing cold and THEN buy some and curse yourself for having to pay an extra $15 for express delivery. They usually go for around $27.50 for six pairs.

PS - I thought Trumpettes only made socks, but they make a lot of other cool stuff for babies and toddlers and kids, too. Check out this "cocoon" thing! How do I get an adult-sized one of these? (I'm serious.)

Unsolicited Advice: Use Dreft for Everything. EVERYTHING.

When I was thinking about starting up this blog, one of the first "columns" of sorts that came to mind was one where I'd give unsolicited advice. Not the kind about how to parent your kid or anything like that, because lord knows there are enough people with opinions out there who will start hollering at you the second they see you with a baby. To those people I would like to say: SHUT IT. Every mom and every dad—with the exception of 90% of reality TV stars—knows what's best for their own children, thank you very much.

What kind of advice am I going to dole out then? The kind I wish someone had given me. The totally random kind. The kind that tells you how Dreft is made by magical elves and/or wizards who've come up with a way for you to turn back the clock on junior's poo- and spit-up-covered onesie. Spray said onesie with some Dreft stain-treater, throw it in the wash with Dreft detergent, and voila! It's like new once again.

Let's do this.

I don't know what it is about baby, um, by-products, but dammit if they don't ruin everything. One day I am going to do a post about the set-up I have when I feed Baba G, and you are going to die laughing at my TEN THOUSAND BLANKETS I have covering every square inch of my bedroom. Why do I go to such ridiculous lengths? Because the one time I didn't, BG threw up all over and it of course leaked onto our mattress and one of my nice pillowcases, and then when I used my normal stain remover on it, it didn't work and now I'm bitter.

But what DOES work? Dreft. After The Bed Incident I started using Dreft on my own clothes that were decimated by Baba G's many types of leaks. My skin will break out if the wind blows on it the wrong way, so I was really paranoid about using a new detergent (I've used Era since I can remember), but lo and behold, I've had no reactions to it.

As I tend to do, I proceeded to go overboard and buy every single product that Dreft makes. ALL OF THE DREFT. That's what I bought.

Got that one. And that one. And that one . . .

You laugh at me now, but just wait until your fancy duvet cover or the sweater you love or the pants you just bought or some other thing you'd like to use/wear again gets covered in nasty baby goo. Then you will be running to your closest grocery store and crying because they're out of Dreft (this actually happened to me—curse you, CVS!) and wishing you'd stocked up like I told you to.