Teeny Manolo

Oh yeah, I can totally see Gwen Stefani and JLo sending the assistants out to buy this stuff (then having their PRs “leak” it to the media). Once superpremium pablum hits the market, L.A.M.B. Chops are just a business plan away from being a reality.

Image stolen from Worth1000.com’s Photoshop contest If Babies Ruled. Voting (and entering) is enabled for another two days, so click early, click often. If you’re decent with the Photoshop, give it a whack yourself.

As anyone with a baby with a healthy set of vocal chords can attest to: what baby wants, baby gets. In this contest what baby wants is control of the world and adults are out of the picture ENTIRELY. In short, create a world where babies rule.

The rules of this game are thus: Create a scene as a baby would like to see it as shown in the wonderful themepost by Phantazmo. No “adult” adult things, you perv.

Hit List: Do NOT use images of actual babies or children. No kidding. Even if you have a model release - no images of children. That’s your challenge!

No cliches, please. As always, quality is a must. You’ll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count.

I’m glad someone finally just came out and said it. There are too many unspeakable taboos around the whole issue of parenting; now, thanks to Wilkinson, there is one less. The great Daddy/Baby rivalry is out of the shadows and squarely in the spotlight.

Play the game here: Fight for Kisses!

Get your training equipment here:

Just a few days ago Target launched a new baby collection, a collaboration with DwellStudio.  DwellStudio is an upscale designer known for their modern, colorful graphics.  As with most designer team-ups at Target, style is offered at a low price.  And seeing how a regular crib set from the DwellStudio line runs upwards of $384.00, a discount would be deeply appreciated. 

The graphics featured at Target are simpler than the pricier ones, but that is to be expected.  But the looks are similar, and the DwellStudio imprimatur is apparent. And I like that the line is very inclusive.  From rugs to lamps to wall decals, they’ve got you covered. .

Take this Olivia 3-Pc Crib Set, featured at Target and currently on sale for $65.00!

Source

And compare it to DwellStudio’s Garden Blossom set:

Source

OK, so the more expensive one is photographed in a prettier room, but the cheaper set is not that far off! Think of how many diapers/bibs/books/whatever you could buy with the savings!

The lovely and superfantastic Mindy asks:

I’ve been knocking around the Internet over the past week or so, trying to find information about recycling car seats.  I found that the two seats left from my older kids were on the cusp of expiration. I registered for a new one, but was stuck wondering if I had to pitch the old ones into a landfill.  I would much rather do something less environmentally destructive with them, if possible.

If the car seat doesn’t have a recycling symbol on it, the best directions I received were to strip them of their straps and padding, then chop them up and throw them in the regular trash.  (The more destroyed they are, the better, in order to prevent Dumpster divers from reusing an unsafe seat.)  Really?  There’s nothing better than that, considering the number of car seats which expire or are involved in crashes every year?

Does anyone at Teeny Manolo know anything to do? 

An excellent question, Mindy! It practically boggles the mind to think of how many car seats are out there. They are so big and bulky, it seems like it wouldn’t take all that many of them to pile up to the top of a landfill in no time flat. There has to be something that can be done with them, right?

Well, sort of.

Because all child car seats have an expiration date, like those eggs you just bought, the options are fairly limited. It irritates me to think that something that looks perfectly functional is not, but we have to take the word of the manufacturers that over time, the plastics and materials in the car seats degrade. We have Space Shuttles making multiple trips into outer space and back, but can’t seem to make a car seat that works past six years. OK, a little side rant there.  Back to the question at hand.

How can we dispose of our expired car seat and still give ourselves the environmental warm fuzzies?

To find out the answer…

(more…)

For Christmas, my mother bought my son a shirt.  And I liked it. If you knew the type of clothing that my mom normally buys for the Munchkin, you would topple over in shock, I assure you. I know I did.  My mom is great, but her fashion sense and mine? Let’s just say we both tend to do a lot of private eye-rolling.

After I had been revived with smelling salts, I managed to gasp out, “Wh-where did you get that? How much was it?”

When I found out she had bought it for eight dollars, out the smelling salts came.  Again.

And whom did I have to thank for such a nirvana of a shirt for such a great price?

Why, H&M, of course.  The house of fast fashion and famous celebrity collections also offers clothing for children from ages 0-14 years.  Yeeaaaahhh baby, I was so there.

Luckily, I have a store near me that carries the children’s lines, which not all do.  I went in, curious as to what I would find, as I think everyone knows by now that I find boy’s fashion Boring with a capital B.   And, because I love you all, I also looked at the girl’s clothing, even though I never do because I just get jealous. 

I saw clothing that was, in a word, awesome.  It was of high quality, had color combinations not normally found in bargain clothing  (hello, chocolate brown and baby blue for the boys!) and best of all, did I mention it was pretty cheap?  Two t-shirts could be had as a color coordinated pair for $9.90.   Pants ran around $14.00.  They also had turtlenecks, which I had been hard-pressed to find this winter, for some reason. Lots and lots of graphics as well. 

Alas, in my corner of the world we are already beginning to warm up, not that we were ever really cold to begin with, so turtlenecks just seemed a bit much.  None of the spring line was in yet, so I was unable to purchase anything because the Munchkin’s winter wardrobe is already covered.  That was unfortunate, because I really wanted to buy something.  Never had I been so upset at being so well organized. I am practically salivating for them to get their spring line into the store.

The clothing for girls was equally fab, and the infant clothing was even better.  I cannot recommend this store highly enough. To find out if you have an H&M near you that carries children’s clothing and accessories, here is a link to their store locator in the US. 

There is no online shopping for residents of North America, but if you’ve got a close friend in Sweden who’s willing to get the clothes to you, it might almost be worth it.

There is a trend which began in the UK and is spreading fast here in America for a collectible doll known as a “reborn.” They look like infants, and are extremely lifelike. Some of them actually mimic breathing and movement during sleep. There are women who craft these dolls and sell them from “nurseries” where prospective “moms” can survey their choices and pick one that suits their taste. When they find the doll they wish to take home, they have to pay what is termed an adoption fee, which normally runs into the hundreds of dollars.

And it seems that some women cannot get enough of them.

I went on Ebay, the to-the-minute barometer of popular items, and when I typed in “Re-born doll” the search returned things like baby clothes and pacifiers. But, as soon as I changed it to “Re-born baby,” I hit the jackpot. No less than 642 items, many of them actual dolls, or uh, babies, as everyone in the industry seems determined to label them.

I examined the listing of one particular doll, a preemie named Michael. While I admire the artistry that goes into the making of one of these dolls (I am just as determined, I have decided, to label them dolls) I can’t help but be a bit apprehensive about their popularity. What exactly are the people who buy these dolls looking for? Something they can pretend is real but without any of the actual pesky “growing up” thing that babies tend to do?

Doll aficionados have been around forever, and I know that certain types of dolls go in and out of fashion, as with any other collectible. But the way they are framing the creation and purchase of the reborns so similarly to actual babies gives me pause.

I am also refraining from any “Chuckie” references, because we are all about the high class here at Teeny Manolo. But dang, it’s tempting.

Below you will find a fairly creepy video about the creation of reborn dolls. The quality isn’t great, but hey, it’s YouTube.

Cigars are so Twentieth Century! The next time you welcome a blessed event/accident into this world, pass around something personalized, trendy, and highly nutritious.

Rice Babies:

Japanese Yosimiya is selling bags of rice printed with a newborn’s photo, name and date of birth. The bags are shaped to resemble a swaddled baby. But the key feature is that the bags contain the baby’s exact weight in rice.

This is the very definition of a cute idea, and could, in fact, be improved only by including matching donations to the food bank. Mind you, there’s alway some killjoy who’ll hand it back, asking for something more Atkins-friendly. Oh, well. It’s good to find out who the bad fairy is before the christening, I always say.

Interestingly, at a price of $32 US (3500 Yen) this puts rice babies at an average of $4.27 per pound, whereas white rice sells for $2.52 a pound, and live human babies apparently sell to the State of Texas for around $66 per pound, although the production time is longer, giving a rather pitiful net return on investment of only $0.07 per hour of production time.

Obviously, you’d be better off convincing all your trendy friends to become pregnant and give you rice babies instead of growing real ones of your own. Lower in fat, too.

For some reason, there has been a mini baby boom over the past few years, and no less than five people I know are currently expecting.  That’s a lot of babies, which turns into a lot of baby showers to attend.  And because I love my friends, I will suck it up and grudgingly gladly play umpteen games of “Baby Bingo” and guessing how many diaper pins are in the jar.

Baby registries are highly popular, but sometimes new mothers don’t know what they need.  They think they know what they need, but they really don’t.  How do I know? Because I was one of them. 

So, that is where Glinda steps in to help to find you the best of the best.

Diaper Dekor Plus Diaper Disposal System

If the mom-to-be is using disposable diapers, this is the way to go. A bit more expensive than the Genie, it is a similar but improved version.  As an added bonus, you can operate it with one hand.

Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler

I like this book because it doesn’t stop at recipes for only babies, it continues with meals for toddlers. This greatly increases its versatility, and new moms need all the versatility they can get! 

Built NY Double Thirsty Tote

This neoprene holder allows you to strap on two feeding bottles, sippy cups, cans, or whatever onto pretty much anything, anywhere.  Also comes in black, pink, and blue.

(more…)

One of the very first gifts we received when our son was born was the Munchkin Magic Mozart Cube.  I am a big fan of classical music, so I was intrigued by this toy and wondered if my son would like it.

I shouldn’t have worried, he absolutely loved it.

Each side of the cube has a large button for six different instruments. When you press the button, that instrument begins to play one of five pre-selected Mozart songs.  The side also lights up in synchronization with the instrument, if my memory serves me correctly.   As you press different instruments, they join together to form a more orchestral effect, and you can add or delete instruments at will.

Babies are utterly fascinated with this toy, and older children are drawn to it as well.  I mean, who doesn’t like music?

I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and a person who is some sort of sound engineer criticized almost every aspect of this toy, from the supposedly lousy sound quality to wondering what the agenda was behind the selected musical pieces.  Is it suddenly a bad thing to expose your offspring to some of the less-recognizable Mozart tunes?  And yes, the quality isn’t exactly that of a Bose sound system, but it’s good enough.  So to crabby engineer person I say, relax, it’s a frickin toy!  No need to get all engineer-y and anal on us.   I might add that the negative review was in the minority, to say the least.

The toy is fairly heavy and well-constructed, but unfortunately it was unable to withstand the G-forces delivered by a three year old who threw it at our entertainment center, where it promptly hit one of the sharp corners (of course!) and died shortly thereafter.  The Munchkin was very unhappy the toy was broken, but it was a good lesson to learn about treating things we like with care rather than using them as projectiles.  At least, that is what I tried to tell myself.

I highly recommend this toy to anyone with a young child in their life.  Oh, and it just so happens to be on sale at Amazon!

I was out enjoying the fresh air a couple of days ago, and I noticed a mom carrying her newborn in a Bjorn.

But what really caught my eye were these fabulous faux fur baby booties by MiniMink.  Listen, that baby’s feet looked so cute dangling out of her carrier, I wanted to eat them.  And I am not normally an ooogie-ooogie type of person over babies.  Well, over my own, but not really anyone else’s.   So it’s saying a lot that I sort of started to drool.