little monsier toddler outfit

motorcycle jacket

knit cargo pants

Babies in the 12 month range can actually fit into both the baby boy and toddler styles, though there are some items like these adorable baby biker booties that only go up to 12 months:

I hanven’t done much shopping at baby Gap in the past – it’s just so expensive compared to say H&M or Old Navy and it seemed ridiculous to spend so much money on something he was going to grow out of in 3 months max.  But as most of you know, after around 12 months growth slows down considerably, so splurging on a few quality items doesn’t seem as much of a waste if he’ll be able to wear them for six months.  Particularly pieces like a winter jacket which is what I’m on the hunt for now..

Last year he wore an adorable wool sweater hand knit by my aunt Diane as his “outerwear” but he was also riding in a carseat with a fleecy bundle me – he wasn’t exposed to the elements much.  This year I think he needs a warm coat as well, but I’m not sure of the safety implications for carseat riding with say a down jacket like this “Warmest Jacket” from Gap:

I’m assuming that it’s a no no, just like it was in the infant carseat.  Which leaves me looking for a warm wool coat I guess?

Like maybe this duffle coat:

or this plaid fleece lined one from Old Navy:

Have you bought your baby a winter coat yet? Any great finds you want to share?

Also, reader Samm asked about shoes for walkers… Thus far we have only put Jasper in soft soled shoes like Robeez, Robeez BRU or Target Knock offs or his KaBoogies, but Samm was concerned about the soles wearing out.. are there any other (cheaper!) options than StrideRite?  I have actually been reluctant to put Jasper in anything but the super soft shoes – he seems to trip in anything else, but they don’t offer much protection from the elements so we need to explore some other options as well.

Of course mommy might need some new clothes too, particularly if like me, you were still recently postpartum last fall, and pregnant the fall before.. it’s been YEARS since I wore my pre-pregnancy fall clothes and I’ve lost all hope of fitting into them again.

I have to put in a HUGE plug for H&M skinny pants and Jeans.. I just bought one pair of dark denim SQLM (I thin that’s what they are called) and a pair of grey ones with some stretch and I am in LOVE. Both look great under the oversized tops I need to favor now and under boots:

I haven’t found pants that fit my postpartum lower half better than H&M. I actually feel like I look GOOD in these pants, which is saying a lot!

Post a link to anything you are loving for the fall, and if you do want to purchase anything from GAP, they have a promotion going on right now where if you buy any 1 baby item you get 15% off an adult item (GAP4U coupon code).

Even better, if you enter your child into the Baby Gap Casting call you will get coupons for 20% off your entire in store purchase or 20% off your online purchase of $100 or more.

And while you are there, you can cast your vote for Jasper.. just sayin’ :)

About two years after I graduated from college I had what I call my “renaissance” period.

I had been living and working in the DC area, totally lost and unsure of what direction I wanted my life to take when I decided that I would work part time and take classes in everything I was interested in, which included a photography class, guitar lessons and studying astrology.

My heightened interest in astrology stemmed from having my chart read from an incredibly gifted astrologer when I was 13.  I’m not talking about the sort of sun sign only astrology that lumps everyone born in the same month into one category, but the incredible art/science of taking a snapshot of the sky at the exact moment that someone is born (down to the second) and interpreting the whole chart into a portrait of that person, completely unique from anyone else ever born.

It was a skill that I was never able to master. Sure, you can read a cookbook type meaning of what every planet in every sign means and make one long list for each person, but what will emerge is a hodgepodge of sometimes seemingly contradictory verdicts, for example: sun in leo = “you will be very social” but Scorpio ascendant = “you will be reserved”.  These sorts  of contradictions can turn people off from astrology but isn’t it true that we are all an amalgamation of contradictory tendencies? The true art of astrology is looking at all of the influences in a chart as a whole and siphoning out which traits are more dominant and in what area of life.

But I digress, back to my experience at 13..

Having my chart read was like having a person who I had never met before know me better than I knew myself, and who explained things about myself that I barely even realized, and some that hadn’t come true yet.

For example, she told me that I had an obsessive  relationship with diet and exercise.. I remember not being able to relate to this at all at the time.  It wasn’t until my mid twenties that this became a defining and fairly prominent theme in my life.

I have my theories but  I can’t say definitively why astrology works, but just that in my experience it does – which suits my agnostic threshold about such things. Your threshold may vary..but, if you are even a little bit open to it chances are you will get a kick out of learning more about your chart and your baby’s chart too!

You don’t have to pay an astrologer to learn the basics, all you need to know is the exact minute and place of birth and to sign up for a free chart at www.astro.com!

There you can run all sorts of free reports/charts for you and other adults in your life, and certain types of reports for your baby (they limit the types of readings that can be done for ages 6 and under to the “Short report – children and Young people.”)

It gives a basic interpretation of the sun sign, ascendant sign, moon sign etc.  You may be surprised at how much you recognize your child in this little narrative.  For example Jasper is a Leo, which is the most dramatic of all signs (it rules the theater for example).  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since he was just weeks old even our cranial sacral therapist said he was a drama queen and just today his daycare teacher joked that’s what they all said he should be for Halloween!

Clearly these little computer generated “horoscopes” are no substitution for having a full reading by a professional astrologer, but it’s a fun diversion for a rainy day..

Enjoy!

My heart started beating faster and I actually considered deleting it without listening..what if I came across as a complete idiot, or worse – boring! I had actually half convinced myself that they weren’t going to air it at all because, as usual,  I thought of what I SHOULD have said only after we hung up from the call.

In the end, I put in on my ipod but listened first to an unbelievably amazing Terry Gross interview with Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno (warning, beautiful but very very sad) and only after that was over did I dare dial up my podcast.  (My petty concerns about making a fool out of myself over the air suddenly seemed rather unimportant in comparison to the pain of losing a daughter and writing a beautiful book of poetry about it. )

I pressed play and braced myself for an experience akin to nails on a chalkboard. But I was pleasantly suprised that even though I didn’t get across all the information I had hoped to in coherent a way as I would have liked to, I at least didn’t sound like a complete idiot.

Now if you are reading my blog, chances are you already avail yourself freely of the wonderful parenting support system available on the world wide web and won’t learn much if anything from the podcast, but I’m linking to it anyway just incase. If nothing else,  you can get a good laugh out of it at my expense :)

Because we didn’t get to discuss the wonderful list of tips and web resources that I gathered with your help, I’m going to post them here. Most of you know most of these things already, but future readers and new readers might find a new site or tidbit of information that they hadn’t already known. This list is a result of me asking you all what the most valuable tips you read on the internet that you wouldn’t have otherwise known and also what sites you find most useful/couldn’t live without:

RANDOM PARENTING TIPS:

• That infants should actually ride rear facing up until 2 years old, not 1 like was previously suggested
• That there is a 4 month sleep regression!
• That the sun bleaches out breast fed baby poop stains
• That you can wash small bottle and pump parts in a laungerie bag in the dishwasher.

PRODUCTS

• The Moby Wrap (and knock offs)
• The Homedics lullaby soundspa (AKA Baby Crack Machine)
• The mesh feeder teether filled with ice as remedy for teething baby
• Mommy necklaces to keep distracably breastfeeding baby occupied
• The Miracle Blanket
• The book “The Wonder Weeks“

Great online communities/websites

• for breastfeeding support www.kellymom.com
• for reflux support http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/
• for crunchy attachment parenting: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/
• for general parenting advice: www.askmoxie.orgfor weekly pregnacy and baby updates: www.babycenter.com
• for EVERYTHING about trying to conceive, infertility, pregnancy and being a mom : www.thebump.com
• for photography tips, the pregnancy.org photography boards: http://www.pregnancy.org/bulletinboards/forumdisplay.php?f=239
• and for more photography (everything you ever wanted to know!) www.ilovephotography.com (you must become a registered member to read the forums)

And if you do wander over to New Moms New Babies, there is a great episode for all of you NON dslr owner point and shoot mommy photographers – yes, you who I so often and so shamefully neglect. It’s called “How to Photograph Your Baby” and there are some great basic tips to help anyone instantly take better photos of your baby!

Enjoy!

Hi Ariana,

I really liked that Happy Birthday song from Innocence Mission that you had
on Jaspers 1st  bday party video. I was wondering if you had any suggestions
for more music like this. I wanted to create a few cd’s for my little ones
bday party that we can “all” enjoy.

Thanks!

Zudannie

As luck would have it, one of my labor day weekend projects was to find some children’s songs to make a mix for Jasper. Of course I have plenty of non kiddy music on my ipod, but there really is something about children’s music that the kidlets respond to.  Plus, it seemed like a fun way to explore music with Jasper and get to know his musical tastes – for better or for worse!

So I started with some of the basics like “Raffi” and went from there.  And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised at how many great songs there are for kids – songs that I actually find running through my head,  and not in an annoying way either.  Songs I wish I had written myself, like “It’s a Big world” by Renee & Jeremy. I LOVE this song! (Though the songwriter in my can’t help but want to change the chorus to “It’s a big world baby, and your little for a little while, it’s a big world baby and you can fill it in your own time” instead of  ” you can fiddle in your own style” which just seems like it was a stretch for a rhyme, but yeah, these are the annoying things that I think about.)

Other artists making delightful kids music include Lisa Loeb (yes, remember her?) who’s Little Red Caboose is Jasper’s favorite so far,  Elizabeth Mitchell and Frances England.

I even created an iMix called Jammin with Jasper so you can take a listen to some of these if you wish (in 30 second increments of course!):

And now I’d love to hear what YOUR favorite children’s music is.. and what your baby’s  favorites are. Hopefully they are the same, but that’s asking a lot!

PS: I am well aware that Raffi doesn’t necessarily fall under the criteria of “non-annoying,” but I have fond memories of listening to Rafi with my little sister when she was a toddler – Nostalgia always counts for something with music! Plus Jasper loves Day-O because it says banana, which is one of his favorite words ;)

Updated to add this cute little animated video I found on Renee & Jeremy’s myspace page, thanks for the link to their website Shane.  I also had to laugh because their myspace slogan is “fiddle in your own style!”

Ohdeedoh, how I love thee, let me count the ways:

1) Because you always find amazing beautiful baby products and small vendors I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

2) Because you feature reader’s nurseries, parties and other projects

3) Because when I sent you a scathing email telling you I was taking you out of my blogroll for not putting up Jasper’s birthday message on his birthday (hey, I was feverish and hormonal!) you very politely emailed me back and told me that the way it works is there is a queue and that most birthday shout outs don’t happen on the day of the birthday.  And you were really nice about it.. and now I feel really sheepish.  And you have been reinstated in my blogroll. Please forgive me?

Seriously though, if you dont’ have Ohdeedoh in your RSS reader you should, it’s always good for nice baby product eye candy, which in a sea of fisherprice primary colors can sometimes seem like an oxymoron.

Thanks everyone for contributing to yesterday’s breastfeeding post, keep them coming! And just a reminder that there is only 3 more days to enter the KaBoogie baby shoe giveaway..

wearing my mommy necklace

Kimberly alerted me to the fact that if you become a facebook fan of Mommy Necklaces, you can order anything you want from the store at 40%  off through midnight tonight!

You may remember from the mommy necklace photoshoot post how much I love mine.. but you may not know that I wear it every single day.  If I don’t, I get the scratches, pinches and gouges to show for it.

For whatever reason, babies just love these. When I see Jasper’s girlfriends Peyton and Lola they want me to hold them simply so they can chew on my necklace. Yes, I am very popular with the under two set :)

Just thought I’d pass the tip on in case you had been thinking about getting one for yourself or as a gift.

You click and drag your images onto the poloroid camera on your desktop and it even gives you that Poloroid sound. Then you wait for your picture to “develop”. You can even make it develop faster by shaking it around your desktop just like you’d wave it around in real life!

You can thank me later for wasting the rest of your day ;)

In camo print, my favorite, (but currently out of stock) $29.95 for 2 pack

4 pack in cute girly pink colors and patterns, $44

4 pack in mod blue and brown circles, dots and stripes, $44

Keep baby feeling cool and looking stylish!

Etsy artist John W. Golden created these By order of the management posters because he got tired of saying the same things over and over again to his kids.. pretty smart right?

Some like the “Eat your Vegetables” or “Wash Behind Your Ears” are clearly more appropriate for a Kitchen or bathroom, but others like the following express the perfect sentiment for the nursery and bedtime:

$20 Each, Image size is 5.625″x9.625″ and is designed to fit a 6″x10″ matte opening or frame.

I’d never heard of this store before today, but I’ll definitely be checking back there more often..

Is this not the cutest thing for the least amount of money you’ve ever seen?

Hatchling Swim Coverup – $7.19 (!!)  from Crazy8.com

I should have gotten this little hat too, damn!

Hatchling Beanie, $2.39