Onesie Extenders

One of my friends has three boys and generously passed along bins and bins and bins of beautiful clothes for Baba G. When I was going through all of this loot a few months ago, I came across these little things and had NO IDEA what they were.

Now tell me truly, if you hadn't read the title of this post, would YOU know what these white squares with snaps were for?

My best guess was that they were some sort of toddler cufflinks. I'm not lying.

But then two days ago it hit me after I came across them again. They're onesie extenders. I should've immediately known this, because they're very similar to the bra extenders I bought while pregnant:

Why does this skinny chick need a bra extender, pray tell?

I wish I had realized I had extenders in the house when BG's dad brought him home this ill-fitting souvenir from the Big Apple back in April:

That's one deep V

The bottom line: If you're like me, basic oneies are a staple in your kid's wardrobe. And if your kid is like Baba G (tall for his age, or simply just growing like gangbusters), it's nice to have a way to lengthen the lifespan of those onesies. Enter onesie/garment extenders, which can be purchased in multi-packs and also seem to be made in different sizes.

How many people knew about these already? Or how did you come to learn they existed? If it wasn't for my friend's loot, I still wouldn't know.

Rich Frog Critter & Creature Slippers

As I'm still trying to pull together shots for the post about Baba G's monthly milestone pictures, I thought I'd write about these incredibly cute "Creature Feet" in the meantime. My cousin bought them for BG before he was born, and I've had them in his nursery as a decoration until he was big enough to wear them. And guess what? He's big enough now.

He didn't really know what to make of them at first.

Hmm.

 But then he got into it.

Wait, maybe I think these are funny.

I'll show you where the Wild Things are! ROOOAAR!

Believe it or not, he CAN walk in them, and it's pretty funny to watch. But he likes to play with them off of his feet as well.

You know it's hard out here for a monster.

The bottom line: There are a ton of adorable Critter and Creature Feet (in the form of slippers and baby booties) to choose from at the Rich Frog website. Some of them even come with books. And there are funny hats, too. I'm glad we got a pair as a gift or else I wouldn't have known about them (or the Rich Frog brand, which seems pretty cool). I think if Desmond is ever really into a certain animal (or monsters) when he gets a little older, I would buy another larger pair of slippers so that he could play pretend with them.

Most of the Creature Feet are $18.95. Don't go to the Rich Frog website if you don't want to spend any money, though, because they have a ton of really cute baby and toddler products — the slippers are just one category of goodies!

Zutano Infant Unisex-Baby Fleece Hat

My husband, Baba G and I had a crazy adventure yesterday, which I look forward to sharing with you soon. But since I've been traveling for the past few days and have a lot of work to catch up on, that longer post is going to have to wait. Instead, here's a quick review of a great baby hat for those of us in areas that don't enjoy year-round warmth. (On a related note: what's wrong with us? Why don't we MOVE to areas that enjoy year-round warmth?)

I received the Zutano fleece hat for Baba G as a baby-shower gift about a year ago, and we just recently started using it. It is perfect for fall temperatures, and will likely work well into the winter, too.

I love it so much that I'll probably end up buying another one in a different color—there are a dozen different options.

Serious Face.

Starting a new trend: sideways-hat-wearing while sleeping.

Baba G has definitely grown wise to hats, hoods, and any other article of clothing that he doesn't like. As in, he will attempt to get the offending piece off of him as quickly as possible. But he doesn't seem to mind the Zutano hat. Probably because it's so soft and snug—it's not like it's rotating around ever-so-slightly on his forehead and bugging him. It stays put.

The bottom line: If you need a hat for your baby or toddler now that temperatures are starting to drop, look no further. The Zutano fleece hat rocks, and it comes in multiple colors and sizes—from 3 months up to 24 months. The glowing Amazon reviews back me up!

It costs between $9 and $20, depending on the size.

On a related note, Zutano seems to be a pretty cool company overall. Here's their site.

In Search Of: An Even Better Bib

When Baba G was a newborn, I couldn't figure out what to do with the multitude of bibs he received. He wasn't going to be eating anything for a while, so what was the point of teeny-tiny bibs? Why did we get so many?

Now I blame my lack of connecting all of BG's spit-up episodes in the early months with THE ENTIRE POINT OF A BIB.

As you may recall, I was using these (admittedly awesome) burp cloths to deal with dribbles and whatnot. I'd stuff one under BG's chin while he was taking a bottle or use one to wipe up messes after the fact. I didn't realize that I could've avoided changing BG's outfits, oh, say, 100 TIMES PER DAY if perhaps I'd thought to have a bib on him at any and all times when he wasn't sleeping.

I did eventually come to my senses and started putting bibs on him to help preserve his outfits during and after feedings. But it wasn't until he started "solid" foods that I fully came to appreciate the wonder of a decent bib.

Some of my favorites are made of a terry cloth material, like this one (which snaps in back):

BG's very first solid-food experience. Totally clean and contained.

But then BG's Great Aunt Terry sent along two of these huge, over-the-head terry cloth bibs by First Impressions, and I was hooked. So many bibs itched BG in the back because of Velcro fasteners (which wash horribly) or otherwise weren't snug enough under his chin... defeating the entire purpose.

My bib may rock, but home-made sweet potatoes leave much to be desired

I mean, look at how much bigger the First Impression bib is when compared to newborn and other "normal" infant bib sizes:

Size does matter.

I was also pretty intrigued by plastic bibs from Crocodile Creek. These wiped down quickly and easily, but alas, they had Velcro in the back.

Yes, he is eating peas. And yes, that's a "first tumble" scar on his nose!

So here's what I'm In Search Of: a bib that has soft terry cloth material around the neck and that you put on over-the-head like the First Impression bibs... but then the rest of the bib is made of easy-to-wipe-down plastic like the Crocodile Creek bib.

Does a bib like this exist?

What other bib inventions are out there that I'm missing?

(Unfortunately I couldn't find where to purchase First Impression bibs like the ones BG was given, hence the lack of a link for those.)

Adventure BanZ Baby Sunglasses

Since today's holiday (Labor Day, for those outside the US and Canada) has come to signal the end of summer, I thought I should write about a particularly summery product: baby sunglasses.

For us, these ended up coming in handy for a reason that's totally unconnected to the season (that kind of rhymed). Baba G had an eye exam where he had to get his pupils dilated... and they freakishly stayed that way for nearly two days. Since he goes on a multi-hour stroller walk each afternoon, the sunglasses were key. But otherwise you'd want them so that your kid can play the role of a bad-ass, like so:

Don't front.

I had no intention of buying BG sunglasses, but got sucked into it when purchasing his wide-brimmed hat. That damn Amazon and its "recommendations." People seemed to like the Adventure BanZ brand (don't get me started on that z... or the fact that it's capitalized. Reminds me of this classic Ben Stiller/MTV sketch from '98 (2:55 mark, and wow, do I feel old now)).

But ANYWAY, we got the glasses at the same time we bought the hat, and when put together they put BG in full adventurer mode.

Give me my own show on Animal Planet, already.

The bottom line: I would assume baby sunglasses are nice to have when your kid needs to spend time in the sun and a wide-brimmed hat isn't enough (or isn't practical at the moment). They're definitely great for when your kid has an eye exam and has to stay out of brightly lit areas. The Adventure BanZ glasses have a wide, soft-elastic band which keeps them in place. But the reality is that we've only put these glasses on BG a few times in 7.5 months. When he has his daily stroller walk, he's already shielded from the sun thanks to both his hat and the sun shield that flips down on his stroller (which usually makes even the hat unnecessary).

It might just be that we aren't as outdoorsy as others who could find more use for kiddie sunglasses. Maybe if you went to the beach a lot they'd be indispensable. But that's not the case for us.

Does any else have baby sunglasses and actually use them?

i play Babywear Brim Hat

First and foremost, I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July! Baba G is currently screaming his head off in his nursery (and his daddy is coming to his rescue) now that Chicago's big Navy Pier fireworks extravaganza has kicked into full swing. I never thought the day would come where I hate fireworks, but here we are.

A few hours ago, however, BG was happy as a clam. Here's proof:

Bring on the fireworks! I think...

Anywho, in honor of the recent and ongoing heat wave, I thought I'd write about BG's sun hat. Its official name is the "i play Babywear Brim hat," and while his is khaki, they make them in every color imaginable—and in several different styles, too.

I love it because it's lightweight, doesn't seem to bother him (it isn't too tight and can be rotated around easily) and does a great job of keeping the sun off of his face while he's on his daily stroller ride. Yes, he's just on a stroller ride in the pic below, not an African safari.

Ready to roll

And here he is with it on as we were going into Wrigley Field for his very first Cubs game a few months ago. (They won that day, so his expectations will be unrealistically high forever... the way it should be, I guess.)

Brim Up for the pic!

I recently was given a ton of gently used stuff from a friend and was elated to find a blue Babywear Brim Hat in the collection. Not only because I like the one BG has so much already, but also because the fact that my friend had bought one for her son as well led me to feel confident I'd made a good purchase. Believe it or not, I've hardly bought anything for Baba G myself because he's gotten so many gifts and wonderful hand-me-downs. The i play hat is one of the few things I've shelled out dough for—and it's been worth it.

The bottom line: If you're looking for a great baby hat for daily use or just special days at the beach or in the sun, this is it. It comes in a 0-6 month size and a 6-18 month size. The smaller khaki one I picked is currently $10.50 on Amazon.

Stay cool, kids!