I’m sure you’re all familiar with Sophie the Giraffe. She’s everywhere. Why a giraffe? I have no idea and no one’s been able to answer the question for me. Over the course of year 1 we received no fewer than 3 Sophie’s and guess what? Our little guy showed little to know interest. We tried desperately as given the popularity we were sure that at some point he must grab hold and come to love it, but no.

Two of the Sophies were regifted to folks we knew were giraffe lovers, and the other sits at the bottom of one of our toy boxes waiting for an opportunity to help with teething.

Anyway, I guess my takeaway is that if you’re looking for a gift for a new baby a Sophie the Giraffe will be looked upon well, though will almost certainly be one of many that the little on receives. Second, it may or may not get used, but hey, that’s true for any toy gift. Babies are individuals, and they all won’t like Giraffes named Sophie!

For those interested you can get your own Sophie the Giraffe here.

Quite a while ago I posted about Babysmart’s Cooshee changing table. We bought this item after quite a bit of research and at the time were quite happy with it. It served its purpose as a changing table very well, and given frequent trips to visit relatives the fact that it was easily portable was a huge plus. Additionally the raised edges and relatively narrow width made it a perfect co-sleeper while on those trips… a great multi-functional baby tool.

After over a year with the BabySmart Cooshee Changer I can say that nothing has changed. We still use it to change our little guy though it no longer accompanies us on trips (we’ve turned to the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib which is awesome in its own right). The surface remains clean and wipeable. Initially I was a bit concerned that the foam might start to come apart, especially as our little guy became more curious, but there isn’t so much as a scratch on it.

But, remember to buy the lime green version since some of the others are rumoured to stain over time.

After almost 15 months with the BabySmart Cooshee Changer I can confidently say that it’s been one of the best purchases since the arrival of our baby.

On the subject of buying toddler shoes, and whether new is smarter than buying used I heard back from one person. Her perspective was that you shouldn’t buy used because the shoe will have been worn in to the shape of the previous owner. I guess this makes sense at some level, but on the other hand I wouldn’t have thought that a baby or toddler would be walking enough, or with enough pressure to wear a shoe down that much. Especially in our scenario where our little guy isn’t walking yet and so would do very little wear on his boots and shoes.

Any thoughts from others?

Not surprisingly our little guy is growing at a furious pace and we’re doing a poor job of keeping up. His pants are now capris, and his shoes only go on easily early in the day. Shame on us.

This morning we stopped at a local shop and tried on a few pair which immediately confirmed that it is time for new shoes for our soon to be toddler.on selecting a pair of Stride Rite sandals in size 4.5 we were given a bit of shocking news. $52 for toddler sandals. Seriously?!?

Now on checking eBay and Amazon in the US I’ve come to the welcome realization that our local store was trying to screw us royally. That said before I pull the trigger I have two questions. When buying shoes for a baby our toddler:

1. Are there any risks in buying used shoes assuming that they will be thoroughly laundered before our little guy is allowed to wear them?

2. What brands are most reliable? We tried on See Kai Run but they didn’t work with his chubby feet, as well as Stride Rite which seemed to fit really well. Any others I should consider?

One thing’s for sure. When it comes to baby footwear I won’t be buying local.

A while back I wrote a short post about our purchase of a baby PFD / life jacket (what is the difference between a PFD and a life jacket anyway… I can never remember) and my frustation at finding an appropriate size. Let it be known that the sizing, being based on weight is misleading. Our son ‘fit’ his life jacket, but I would be hard pressed to say that he was comfortable in it. Understand however that the Mustang Survival jacket we purchased was the only one we could find that would fit someone of his weight at the time. The jacket in my opinion was meant for a child of the quoted weight, but someone of greater age. The combination of heavy / chubby baby and small life jacket was a questionable one. The one forgiving factor that allowed it to work? Apparently the rocking and white noise of the boat was enough to rock him to sleep on each of his first 5 trips on the water… allowing him to forgive the discomfort of the life jacket.

To recall, the jacket we landed on was the Mustang Survival Lil’ Legends Child’s Life jacket

My takeaway? If you’re looking for the safety of a PFD or life jacket for a baby well under a year you may end up trading comfort for that security. Further, few jackets appear to be specifically made for an infant of that age, so you’ll have to make due with what you can find , and what your son or daughter will tolerate when on the boat.

Finally, welcome the noise of the engines and the motion of the ocean. If you’re as lucky as we were the two combined will have your child asleep in no time and the questionable fit will be a non issue.

Now, once they hit 8 months or so, at least in my experience their willingness to give in to sleep decreases markedly. Gone are the days of quiet sleep while the boats makes the 45 minute trip from dock to dock. Instead fidgiting is the name of the game.

So thus far we have the Baby Bjorn carrier which was a no brainer as it was given to us by friends who’s children have outgrown it, and once you’ve settled on the sizing its a joy! Note the callout of ‘once you’ve settled on the sizing’ since those times that I’ve tried to put it on myself in order to go for a a long walk I’ve returned home with a couple pretty good tweaks in the shoulder blades. My recommendation to anyone owning this is to have someone help you put it on so that its comfortable when baby is first added as well as at the end of your walk. Once you’ve settled on those settings, use something to mark the straps for YOUR settings so that if you’re alone you can adjust it first and then put it on without needing to trying and find the sweet spot with 20 lbs of baby strapped to you.

Click to Browse the Baby Bjorn Carrier on Amazon

Next up was the Baby Bjorn Babysitter Bouncer. Again, another hit. We started with the Fisher Price Rainforest bouncer and it didn’t take long for our little one’s mass to basically keep him near horizontal which was frustrating for him and threatened to bottom him out when he really got it moving. The Baby Bjorn Babysitter not only folds flat (GREAT for travelling) but also has 3 settings to specify incline. At 20 lbs we have him at the most severe incline and even then he’s to the point that he can get it going so furiously that we need to be careful that nothing rolls under the chair. It took him no time at all to figure out how to get the bouncer moving and once he gets up to speed… look out! Particularly great when he’s in front of the television watching his favorite programe, Electric Company!

Click to Browse the Baby Bjorn Babysitter Bouncer on Amazon

Our most recent purchase from Baby Bjorn was their travel crib (or play yard depending where you make the purchase). I was on the fence for a while with this one, but over the Holidays we visited the inlaws and the travel needs demanded a) a comfortable and safe sleeping area for our son since he’s beyond the size that he can sleep in his Cooshee changer and b) something that was compact enough to travel with easily. The Baby Bjorn travel crib seemed a bit pricey, but now that we’ve had a chance to use it I can say that it’s worth every penny. Here’s why.

• From what I can tell it is well-made as we’ve seen with our other Baby Bjorn products.

• It’s compact. The crib folds up into a reasonably flat, easy to manage dimension and slips easily into a provided carry-case.
• It’s easy to assemble. By assemble I mean unfold because there aren’t any nuts and bolts to fiddle with when putting up the crib. Sides, base and legs are all attached and once you unfold the collapsed sides you need only extend each leg and it will snap into place. Extend all four legs and your travel crib is ready to stand on its own. The only thing to ‘put together’ involves the insertion of the crib’s mattress into the crib itself. 2 seconds work.
• Takedown is as easy as assembly. Again, extend each leg and fold them to the middle of the crib. Once all four legs are folded in, fold the crib in 2 and return it to its travel case. Done.

Click to Browse the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib on Amazon

Anyway, if you’re considering any of the above and have questions feel free to ask them here. They’re not the cheapest options on the market, but they work, they’re well designed and thus far our son hasn’t voiced any objections

Mildly entertaining.

Click here to review some Children’s Life Jackets as well as Children’s PFDs.
We ultimately purchased a Mustang Survival Child’s Life jacket, though being in Canada we purchased from a local retailer since Amazon doesn’t offer to ship this product to Vancouver.

This weekend we left for a few days at the cabin which involves a short drive to a local harbor followed by a not-so-short water taxi ride from the mainland to the cabin. The Kidlet is presently about 3 months old and a robust 16-17 lbs based on last visit to the doctor. Now, prior to the trip I did a bit of research to find out where I could find a baby life jacket and guess what? All the information I could track down pointed to life jackets not being certified for children under 20 lbs (or was it 30? It’s too much work to find the page again on the crappy Canadian Government maze of websites) which suggested we shouldn’t worry about it. That seemed like a bad idea, so we went ahead and purchased the smallest approved PFD we could find (and yes it was a PFD and not a life jacket, and yes I did read that life jackets do a better job or keeping the wearer oriented upright).

Anyhow, we got to the boat, got aboard with the Kidlet in his Baby Bjorn and then proceeded to remove him from the Bjorn and put on the PFD. I’ll say this again, the Kidlet is no more than 20 lbs and the jacket we purchased is for children between 20 and 30 lbs. It was ridiculous. He looked like he was going to tear that thing apart. When we zipped it up to the top it looked like his jowls were going to spill over the neckline.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Baby sizing is ridiculous. At best it represents a near estimate of whether or not your baby will be able to wear the clothing. Why don’t they include dimensions as many adult clothing makers do as well in order to address the wide range of baby sizes out there? The PFD we purchased was for children up to 30 lbs or, apparently, chubby babies up to 17 lbs.

I would love to know how many tons of baby clothes are purchased and never worn each year simply because parents have no way other than ages ‘sizing’ and in some cases weight ‘sizing’ on which to base their purchase decision?

Call it wishful thinking but I had assumed that since the Kidlet hasn’t yet mastered the manual dexterity required to catch and replace a released soother that he wouldn’t be up for Halloween this year. Apparently he doesn’t have a say and Mrs Kidlet has been nominated to speak on his behalf. As such I’m on the hook to find an appropriately cute Halloween costume for a 10 week old. That is the mission.

Oh, did I mention that Mrs. Kidlet isn’t a huge science fiction fan, so the great Star Trek onesies I’ve featured on the right sidebar are apparently out of the question. I even explained the history of the ‘red shirt’ but to no avail. And so the search continues. I’ll likely either update this post as I come across potential baby Halloween costume candidates, or throw up new posts to introduce the options, but for now I’ll outline those that I’ve shortlisted. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Star Trek Baby Onesies (see the right sidebar).
As I mentioned above I’m told this is out… however I’ve already taken it upon myself to purchase a couple just in case

Baby Lobster Costume
Let it be known that I’m not overly thrilled with this one, but its proving difficult to find a baby costume that’s worth posting AND isn’t science fiction-related.

Infant Bat Costume
This baby bat costume has promise especially given that the Kidlet continues to be a spaz in terms of arm / hand control. As a result I expect that he’d unknowingly play the part of a constantly-flapping bat like a pro.

Baby Pea in The Pod Costume
Not my thing, but I’ll throw it in the mix to pad the cute factor (and prep Mrs. Kidlet for the break from rules to come). The mother-in-law would love the Pea costume… and Jr is definitely a pee machine, but I don’t think I could bring myself to take him out in public in something like this. The Pea in the pod costume will stay on the list, but if purchased will be restricted to home and family viewing only. Photos are out.

Baby Chewbacca Costume
*BAM* consider the rules broken. I mean, come on… its a baby Chewie costume, how can you not love this? Issues with this one is that it’s more of a partially shaved infant Chewbacca costume with emphasis on hightop and shoulder hair… and where’s the crossbow?

Front runners? Kirk and red shirt Star Trek costumes which have been purchased and will be kept well hidden until the time is right to break them out (Mrs. Kidlet, if you’re reading this… well, I”m sure you expected me to purchase them anyway right?). Chewbacca obviously, and then… geez. I guess the Bat.

Costume makers, if you’re out there here are some requests:

Click here to review or purchase the Baby Bjorn BabySitter Balance Bouncer.

As I’ve mentioned previously our little one has been growing at a furious pace. At 2 months he was out of most of his 0-3 clothes and well into the 3-6 comfortably. This growth has impacted not only his clothing, but other aspects of our day-to-day. In previous posts I’ve mentioned how much we love our BabySmart Cooshee changer as both a place for him to cosleep and a changing table. Well, at this point I wish BabySmart produced a larger sized Cooshee because I would be first in line. Junior fits in the current Cooshee at present, but I think he’ll soon outgrow it and for the time being getting our hands around him for transfers only reinforces the fact.

Bouncy Chairs. The Truth, The Fiction And The Alternatives.
Outside of the clothes and the changer I was very surprised to feel that we needed to change our bouncy chair. We started out of the gate with the Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer which according to Fisher Price’s site is intended for children up to 25 lbs. First, let me say that our son LOVES this thing. He sits in it, sleeps in it… it’s been our savior on several occasions… the cover comes off easily for washing. That said, there are two items that i think are worth mentioning. First, it takes 4 D batteries which initially seemed a bit much. My advice to anyone buying one of these is to make sure you have rechargeables so you’re not sending the batteries to landfill (I will note that the batteries seem to last a looooong time, so it’s not really a gripe, just a callout for the environment).

Next, the Rainforest Bouncer reclines quite significantly so he’s more laying than sitting upright. I’m sure this is by design and was great when he was smaller, but as he’s gaining head control it would be nice to have other settings so we could prop him up to a greater degree.

Rainforest Bouncer And Baby Heel Exposure
Here’s the one that surprised me. Our little guy is 15.5 lbs and loves to lie back and kick his legs. Unfortunately the location that holds the batteries on the Rainforest Bouncer doesn’t include a padded cover (see the beige element near the baby’s feet in any photo of the device). As baby kicks his or her legs her heels will strike the hard plastic case which honestly doesn’t appear to bother my son, but certainly bothers me. We’ve since added our own padding which resolved the issue, but it strikes me as a design oversight to have not addressed this out of the box. Additionally, given that his heels strike the box now, it won’t be long before it’s his Achilles and I can’t bear to watch that regardless how much it does or does not seem to bother him.

From Rainforest Bouncer To Baby Bjorn BabySitter Bouncer.
The other day I took the leap and ordered a Baby Bjorn BabySitter Balance Bouncer in hopes of addressing the issues listed above. The Bjorn BabySitter folds flat which will be great for travel, it has several settings to allow baby to rest at different angles, it includes a toy bar (so does the Rainforest Bouncer) for entertainment and it looks damn good. What it lacks is vibration, but I figure now that he’s got some bulk behind him my son will be able to produce his own bounce. The bouncer hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ll be sure to provide a review once it does and we’ve had some time to put it through his paces. If anyone out there has experience with the BabySitter please let me know.

Click here to review or purchase the Baby Bjorn BabySitter Balance Bouncer.