The swingin'est baby boy clothes!

If I were a guy, I would wear retro-styled bowling shirts, hipster T-shirts and jeans, and all the tiki stuff I could find. (As a female, however, I don't think the aloha shirts tend to flatter me.)

But, the universe solved my dilemma by giving me an adorable baby boy, who I can dress and will contentedly smile and coo at me no matter what he's wearing! And he's going to be wearing some awesome threads!

Tiki shirt and plaid shorts from Georgie World. Details below.

The one problem with dressing a baby boy, I've noticed, is that there simply aren't as many cute boy clothes to choose from in stores. Or even as many clothes, period. If you visit a baby clothing shop in any mall, I predict the store will be set up to appear to have half girl clothes and half boy clothes. But you may notice that, sneakily, the register and check-out display is on the "boy" side of the store--meaning no clothes can be displayed there. And if there are tables in the center of the store, girl clothes fill them up. So the boys are really getting maybe a third of the store for themselves.

In many ways, this is probably a good thing for my bank account. Girl clothes are irresistably cute. Even the tacky ones are often way more stylish and cute than the boys' offerings.

So I am indebted to Cool Mom Picks for running a Q&A highlighting their past reviews of boys' baby clothing retailers. I literally could not order fast enough from Georgie World!

The backside of some impossibly charming boy shorts.

Tiki shirts! Bowling shirts! Retro cuteness! I love it all. And I ordered big, so hopefully Baby Henry will be able to grow into the clothes and get maximum use out of them.



I'm pretty sure that between visiting Janie and Jack yesterday (which has all-encompassing cute clothing, even if the boys get less retail space than the girls) and Baby Gap, for some retro T's (courtesy of a much-appreciated gift card), Henry will be better-dressed than me for a while. And I am totally fine with that!

JunkFood at BabyGap Beatles T-shirt

Photo from BonittoKid, since it's no longer on the J&J website. But from BonittoKid, I just noticed another older J&J design, a parrot T-shirt! Oh man.

In conclusion:

"Too much of a good thing is wonderful." -- Mae West

The Beetle gets no respect (but that's OK with me)

Brad is officially able to drive again, having passed doctors' exams, the DMV's requirements, and his wife's own ambiguous requirements. This means it was back to me and the Beetle again. (Of course, I could well have driven the Beetle the whole time, anyway, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it, knowing there's a new Prius sitting around.)

Anyway, Henry and I piled into the car today, and I was completely surprised by how HEAVY the Beetle felt. Motor Trend says the curb weight (whatever that means) of the 2003 New Beetle is 2,961 lbs., and that the curb weight of the 2008 Prius is 2,932 lbs.--practically the same. But the Beetle drives like I imagine one of those old cars in film noir movies would, the cars that are always plunging into rivers or racing trains or that sort of thing. I think it's a good thing in a car, personally. (The heft, not the charging-into-rivers part.)


How I might imagine the Beetle: 1946 Packard from Old Car and Truck Pictures

Anyway, I navigated onto the main thoroughfare, feeling like I was driving a boat, and was promptly cut off, and then someone drove about 2 feet behind the Beetle's cute little rear for a while. Well, that's more like it. I'm back in the Beetle again. And I'm happy to be there, even if it doesn't command respect. At least I can be comfortable in the driver's seat!

Trying on your car

So, as some of you know, Brad was in a car accident in our 2007Prius a couple of months ago. The old Prius really took one for the team, as they say, and is no longer with us, but thank God, the universe, the airbags, total luck, and anything else that played a role, Brad came out of the accident perfectly fine. The Prius was a mess, but it did its job, and we had no hesitation to buy another one, exactly the same (only in a slightly different shade of blue). And, it's definitely fun to have a brand-new car!

2008 Prius in Spectra Blue Mica (our color, Toyota's picture. That's not us hopping out of the car at a chic hotel--if it were, we'd be lugging around a lot more stuff! LOL)

Actually, since Brad hasn't been able to drive, he hasn't even gotten to drive the new car (which is no fun for him!).

(Let me take this opportunity to give a public-service announcement about voluntarilly waiting a few minutes after receiving a new vaccine for the first time to make sure your body responds well to it!)

Brad will be able to drive again in a couple of weeks, but so far, I've been the only driver of the new car, and the Beetle's been mostly sitting in the garage. Although I'm a fan of saving gas, and the Prius's four doors certainly make it easier to hoist Henry around, I have to say that I'm looking forward to mostly driving the Beetle again.

The Beetle is a good fit for me--and I don't just mean in looks or "personality." I mean in the way I sit in the car, it is vastly more comfortable for me than the Prius.

I love the Prius. It's a testament to how much I love it that, knowing that the driver's seat is uncomfortable for me, we still got another one! (OK, so it's intended to be Brad's car, so my driving comfort didn't really matter that much. It's just an odd circumstance that I happen to be driving it exclusively right now.)

But that darn seat makes my shoulders and back hurt and my arms tingle if I drive it more than a couple of hours a day. (And, alas, in traffic and if I'm dropping off Brad and picking him up, that could be over 3 hours of driving!) And the crazy thing is that, at least on the 2007 and 2008 models, I cannot figure out how to really adjust the seat or the wheel satisfactorally. The rental car we had for a while had fancy automatic tilt adjustments and everything--it was awesome. The Prius, for all of its futuristic features, has a seat that's stuck in the Stone Age. I really hope they change that in the 2010 model.

Fred's car has more seat adjustments than our Prius offers (by the way, I found this photo at a funny account of driving a Smart Car).

The weird thing about the seat is that it's not something I would ever have noticed on a test drive, because it only bothers me when I've been driving for a long time. The passenger seat, by the way, is totally comfortable. It's something about the position of the seat, pedals, and steering wheel that's all wrong for me.

Anyway, my point in all of this is that whatever our next car might be, however far in the future, I'm going to try and rent the car and drive it for a week before buying it.

Fortunately, Henry doesn't seem to care what car he's riding in--he's happy to look out the window, play with toys, and usually fall asleep! I think that despite the seat issues and the accident, we're having pretty good automotive luck overall (knocking on my Ikea wood desk). Getting from A to B safely, and even happily with a 5-month-old, is good enough for me.

Safe furniture

It's been a while since the last post, and a lot has changed: I left my job to stay home with Henry full-time, and we have been having a great time together! (But I admit, I am always really glad when Brad gets home from work and I have another grown-up to talk to.) Henry is 5 months old, a real little person, and he cracks me up.



I love his sweet smile and laugh, and he happens to laugh a lot while on our beloved changing table.

So, today, I am scouting out more adorable organic baby clothing (Speesees brand, if you're wondering) online, and I come across news that says there are high levels of formaldehyde in products by the manufacturer of our changing table/dresser combo.

This is our dresser, only ours is in black. It's the Jardine Olympia combo unit.

That article lists the biggest offenders of formaldehyde emissions, and our changing table/dresser combo isn't on there. But does that mean it's safe?

With our carpets, and builder's paint on the walls, and curtains bought with "eco-friendly, energy-saving" thermal backing (that I now realize is made of PVC), and various cheap furniture throughout our house, I know there's more off-gassing happening than I'd like to think about. Hopefully we can change that one piece of furniture at a time.

But I was hoping for the baby's room to have as fresh a start as possible, to have at least one room in the whole house that was "safe." It ticks me off that it's not as safe as I thought--and that these manufacturers have been selling their products knowing what they contain and not warning consumers. And it ticks me off that we've got a solid wood piece of furniture that cost upward of $400 and it might still be unsafe!

Of course, I'd rather not re-buy a different piece of furniture. Then again, I'd also rather not wonder constantly just how "low" the levels of toxic chemicals are. I hate that parents even have to wonder about the safety of products--but I'm really glad that there are people out there watching out for this, and making the companies change.

I hope that if Henry decides to have kids, he won't have to worry about the chemicals in baby food, bottles, clothing, furniture, or homes. I'm sure parents will always worry. But hopefully it won't be about something that should get fixed now, at the turn of the century. I'm very proud to live in a state that's a leading force in making that happen.

Beetle and a baby-carrier

Despite my previous post's wonderings about the implications of genetic testing, I am still also concerned with the more pressing matter of getting around town with Henry in the Beetle. I love looking in my rearview mirror and seeing Henry's reflection in his own little backseat mirror. He seems to like looking around, out the back window, and he still loves to snooze while I'm driving.

The only problem is actually getting him into the car. As of 4 months of being a parent, I maintain that it's doable to have a Beetle and a baby--but I now realize that bench-presses really should have been and important part of my pre-baby planning!

So, I have a Peg Perego 2007 Primo Viaggo car seat (in "revi black"--white dots on a black background. Henry LOVES looking at the dots!). There's room for the car seat in the back of my 2003 New Beetle--it's just hoisting it back there that is the challenge with the 2-door Beetle (OK, it's a hatchback, so techincally it's 3 doors. But you know what I mean.)

I just surmised a probably unscientific weight for the carseat. (weighed myself, then held the carseat and weighed us both, found the difference. Makes sense, right?) I determined that the carseat, by itself, weighs 10.4 pounds.

Henry now weighs about 15 pounds (using the same method). No wonder my back's sore! That's 25 pounds of baby + baby-protection I'm manuevering past the folded front seat and into the back!

Sometimes, I opt to crawl into the backseat and place or retrieve Henry from the carseat, instead of taking the whole thing out. I think that will be my new preferred method...unless he's sleeping. Then I will hoist him, carseat and all, until my muscles completely give out, rather than wake him up!

So, it's very possible to travel with the baby and the carseat in the back of the Beetle. But I am starting to see (or feel, I should say) the intrigue of the less stylish but easily accessible minivan (or a lighter-weight car seat)!

Not that I'm trading in the Beetle any time soon, or opting for a lighter carseat, either. (Although it would have been nice if this seat could have been stylish, safe, AND lightweight. I guess I'll settle for safe and stylish, though.) Besides, Henry clearly appreciates the mod look of it, and for now, that's worth some heavy lifting. We'll see if my back agrees with my aesthetics.

jeans and genes

I tried to find some decent-fitting pants today, as Brad wandered Ann Taylor with Henry, looking wide-eyed at all the bright and sparkly holiday clothes, and very happy facing out (finally!) in the Baby Bjorn. I was unsuccessful in finding any jeans (or other pants) that were better than the maternity pants I was currently wearing. So yes, I am still wearing maternity pants!

Anyway, after Henry was sleeping soundly tonight (maybe dreaming of colors and shapes he'd never seen until visiting today's Christmas-decorated mall!), Brad and I settled onto the couch to watch DVR'd shows we'd been meaning to catch up on. Brad fell asleep almost instantly (he got up with Henry last night so I could sleep some more!). I, having had a nap AND a Frappucino this afternoon, took this as a sign it was a good time to watch my recorded Oprah of the day.

One of the topics of today's show was 23 and me, a company that seems to make it shockingly easy to find out all about your genetic history and predisposition to traits and diseases. It was like I was suddenly watching a sci-fi movie. But it was just Oprah.

It's amazing to me that you can get this information for $399. I know it's a lot of money, but you'd have this information about yourself for the rest of your life--and maybe the information you get could make your life better. Or not.

I didn't opt to do any genetic testing while I was pregnant. The only condition I was concerned with, due to a slight family history, was one I'd had the test done long ago for anyway, and I wasn't a carrier. I just didn't really want to know any more. And, as crazy as this sounds, not only did I not want to find out the baby's sex before it was born, but I started to think--toward the end, after having many ultrasounds--that maybe I shouldn't even be getting so many ultrasounds. Maybe it's not good to intrude on what's still a mystery. (OK, they were necessary for health reasons, so of course I would have gotten them. And I did like peeking in on the baby. But I started to feel a little weird about it.)

But, I'm still interested in the concept of this DIY genome kit.

Maybe the difference now has to do with wanting to protect myself and my family however I can--and now that we're all here, if I find out I have a likely chance of getting, say, osteoporosis, I could make myself and future children eat a lot of organic milk. (Or whatever could help prevent that.) You get the idea.

On the other hand, percentages are not guarantees, and maybe learning there's a good chance of a certain condition would only make you focus on the negative, and be afraid of it. I don't know. How could you know if the results would make you confident or worried?

It is undeniably, crazilly futuristic, though. I am still impressed at the amazingness of e-mail or IM, sometimes (seriously!). So this just blows my mind.

I wonder what kind of traits it tells you. I'm sure it covers many diseases, but what else? Can it delve into nature-vs.-nurture topics, like "natural" talents or skills?

I don't know if I'd ever do the test. But it's pretty intriguing to know I could. And it would really take the family tree concept to a whole new level.

On the town

Henry, the Beetle, and I have been getting out a little bit more--mostly using our feet (and the stroller), but also driving around.

Ready for a trip!

I took Henry to my office for the first time (well, the first time when my coworkers were actually there), and he provided me with the very educational experience of changing my first diaper in the trunk of the Beetle. It was just loaded with experience.

Then, when I had the diaper changed and my baby was smiling at me from the trunk of my car, and I was feeling quite pleased, he peed before I could get the new diaper on him. Another learning experience.

And yet another, more embarrassing one (for me, anyway) this afternoon:

I venture to Target, just me and Henry. He is a dear and doesn't even make a peep the whole time we're in the store, even though he wakes up halfway through our trip. I get to checkout, manage to have a little bit of conversation with the checker and the person in line behind me, pay for everything, and stride confidently to the doors. A great trip! I am so satisfied with myself. Then I hear, "Ma'am!" and turn to see all of my purchases in bags, waiting for me at checkout.

I thought I was doing much better on sleep, but apparently not.

(As a side note, as the checker is yelling, "Ma'am!" and waving me down, I turn and some guy next to me says, "Your shirt." I looked down and saw nothing wrong with my shirt, so who knows what was going on there. I actually don't want to know.)

Just when I start to feel like I've got it together, another "learning experience" pops up and makes me feel that having it all together is a hopeless endeavor. I think I just have to be glad that Henry and I both ended up successfully buying things and getting them home, without either of us crying. And that at least if I had to forget something on the shopping trip, it wasn't Henry.