What Can I Do With This Toddler Today? Take it to Ikea.

The Ikea retail experience – at least from a maternal perspective – is under-appreciated.  

Up in the children's toys and furnishings section of Ikea, there are 9 child-sized tables on which the children can test out the toys before their bored, tired looking mommies purchase them.  


When my 2 year-old and I are there, at least as far as I can see, there's no call for this collective malaise.  I'm thinking 'this place is AMAZING!' the whole time*, and probably have more fun than the toddler.  Now, obviously, none of us caregivers are happy all the time.  But...here?  Why aren't these other moms similarly excited about all of these cheap toys?  And what about all these cute storage solutions?  

me:  'Hey Poppy, look.  This is what the inside of houses look like in Sweden.'

i point to this display

Poppy ignores me; she's busy helping Ikea get organized.    

i mean...look at this stuff.  you could put all kinds of things in these containers!

So, mommies and guardians of toddling children, let us go to Ikea; let us  go to Ikea if for no other reason than to simply watch our children's faces when they're test driving the imported goods.  The days of boisterous curiosity and enthusiasm for a $2 plastic hammer are numbered, and it's a refreshing thing to observe. 





http://www.ikea.com/us/en/store/frisco 

'Bring the kids!  The IKEA store is family-friendly. your kids can test all the toys in the children's department or have fun in the free supervised playroom while you shop.'

http://frisco.bubblelife.com/community/frisco_reporter


* except during those 45 seconds that my kid was missing as the direct result of my shameless eyeing of a $9 pastel tea set.  Everything turned out alright though; I found her and she got a new tea set.  

Nursery Owls

It would be difficult not to notice the pervasive and sustained presence of owls as a nursery theme.  They're everywhere.  

Are we hoping to transpose sage temperament onto our offspring via décor?  Or do we just think owls are nice?

poppy has this napmat

Kid Crocs are generally offered in a variety of solid colors, which eases the challenging process of having your baby look well put together (ie. her outfit matches).  Bonus: if you child wants to liven up his or her footwear the geniuses at Crocs have just the thing for you: shoe charms.  You simply insert them into those little holes.  

these charms for kids crocs are called Jibbitz
and i must say that i think they're pretty cool-

I opted out of the charm bit.  Not for any stylistic reason – I actually think that they're quite festive – it's just that I'm sure Poppy would pull them off and leave them laying around just like she does everything else.  She's a messy little Pop-Tart.

poppy helping Ikea organize their merchandise-

Optimal Toddler Footwear

Crocs are probably definitely the optimal choice in modern toddler footwear.  The fact that socks are optional was the tipping point for me; given Poppy's perpetually squirmy comportment, I welcome anything that eases the process of getting her dressed.  If she's being feisty (which is fairly often), this process easily qualifies as an athletic activity: there's some chasing, then you have to steady and balance The Pop-Tart's small but limber body long enough to get it into some pants.  It's often the case that, once you get her left leg into the pants and are working on the right leg, she takes that left one back out again.  So yea, the option to skip an entire genre of clothing is lovely.  

But adults wearing Crocs...that's a different story. Nothing says 'I've given up' like wearing rubber shoes. 

shoes

A Signature Life

I picked up Diane von Furstenberg's 1998 biography whilst shopping at her Soho store last week.  It was something she said in a 2012 Gap Kids campaign video inspired me to buy it:  
'A little girl the minute she is born is already the woman she will be. So to empower a little girl is to empower the woman she will become.'                                            -Diane Von Furstenburg  

'i started as a very young girl with an idea.'

Now that I've read her biography I'm seriously determined to meet this woman.  Her book is interesting for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that she talks about her insecurities.  She also talks about her European parenting style. Here are some quotes that I highlighted:

'I design for every woman: taste is ageless.  Flirtation and seduction are ageless.  Feeling attractive and confident are ageless–and so are many women's insecurities.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing a woman transformed by the way she looks in one of my dresses.'  

'I would always make a point of treating my children with respect as individuals.  I pride myself now on the fact that I never lied to the children.  We shared our lives, be we were all independent.'




The chapter entitled The Woman I Always Wanted To Be  describes her rationale for taking her 2 children out of their NYC schools and installing them at private schools in Connecticut.  She saw the advantages of a little boredom:  

'Every day was super-managed with one activity after another, leaving them no time to simply be.  I wanted my children to develop their imaginations and their personalities by entertaining themselves instead of always being entertained.'



It was around that time that Diane's home in Connecticut became a hub of happiness for her kids and their friends.  I love her attitude about the untidiness that came with that: 

'I didn't mind the mess the children and their friends made in the house...It was more important to me to know where my children were and to know their friends.'

Here's a post I did last year about DVF's first Baby Gap collection:
http://www.poppyadventures.com/2012/11/why-bad-outfits-shouldnt-happen-to-good.html

Her 2013 collection for Gap Kids is called the Explorers  Collection:
http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=94065


Read Bazaar's My List: Diane von Furstenberg in 24 Hours:
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-articles/24-hours-with-diane-von-furstenberg-0313?click=main_sr#slide-1

Illegal Improvisation

     car seat #1

We only have one car seat.  I was advised to register for two car seats, but I only registered for one.  This means that we* have had to move the car seat from one car to the other on several occasions, the most recent of which was(n't) yesterday: 

I prepare Poppy O. for her day at SMU Preschool and Childcare Center.  Bottles, socks, pants, top, squeezy food - I get all this stuff either onto The Pop-Tart or into her little green backpack.  

little green backpack

I scoop everything together: my totebag in which I tote my school books, my large/heavy purse, the little green backpack, and Poppy (can't forget Poppy).  We head out the door.    

We get into the elevator, we look at ourselves in the elevator mirrors, we get out of the elevator and we walk to the Fiat.  I open the back hatch to put everything down and to put Poppy in her car seat.  But the thing is...here's the thing: there is no car seat in the back of the Fiat.  Normally there's a car seat, but today there is no car seat.  

Then I remember that Matt had Poppy pick-up duty yesterday.  I look down again.  Yep, all that remains in the car seat's vacant spot is Poppy's Curious George (monkey). 

I pause for about 2 seconds in order to ponder the following:

Summoning the courage of my conviction, I calmly put our things in the trunk and take Poppy up to the front.  I put Poppy in the passenger seat, fasten her safety-belt, and hand George to her.  Then I walk around to driver's seat, get in, and carefully drive away.      

car seat #2
(we should have bought car seat #2)

And now a word on the law:
(Poppy will be 1 year old in two weeks)

Child Passenger Safety
Child Restraint Required unless indicated, # refers to Yrs.(Lbs.)	Adult Safety Belt Permissible unless indicated, # refers to Yrs.(Lbs.)	Maximum Fine 1st Offense
<7 (and <57")	Not permissible	$25

Sources: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and State Highway Safety Office.

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/bystate/tx.html

*By 'we', I of course mean 'Matt'.  

Plugging In The Pop-Tart

feet

We had been putting off the acquisition of a high-chair because I didn't like the idea of yet another clunky baby item draining the apartment's tranquility.  That's how I was able to rationalize feeding squeezy food to Poppy whilst seated on the floor like some kind of savage....

this is poppy's squeezy food.  you just squeeze this
stuff into your baby's mouth; no spoon required-

...Until last week when I discovered that there's this device known as a Lobster  that allows you to stick your baby right there on your table - suspending it in the air.  And once that baby is installed, she's not going anywhere (this thing is solid).  I feel fairly confident in making the claim that this Lobster seating arrangement may literally be the best thing ever.  It's like our table has a USB port!

'who moved my juicebox?'

'how's your love life?'

http://www.shopbabybliss.com/index.php

Why Bad Outfits Shouldn't Happen To Good Babies

'A little girl the minute she is born is already the woman she will be.  So to empower a little girl is to empower the woman she will become.'                                            -Diane Von Furstenburg

A couple months ago while my parents were taking care of Poppy for the weekend I stumbled upon the following photo on facebook:

'there has clearly been a lapse in judgement here' said poppy.

I looked, but could find no caption saying something to the effect of 'Poppy just put on a skit for us in which she played Molly Ringwald circa Pretty In Pink'.

When I saw that Poppy was wearing this outfit, I began to panic.  I knew that I was being irrational and yet I was still genuinely bothered.

To me, you see, this outfit is spectacularly bad.  To begin with, the hat is reminiscent of a prohibition era flapper girl.  Not a desirable look.  Secondly, I might have been okay with mixing the tulle fabric with a zebra print...that juxtaposition is kind of interesting.  But then one can't help but notice the large, anachronistic pink bow in the middle of the outfit.  I've seen pictures of myself as a little girl in the late 80s/early 90s wearing these types of bows.  Judging by my facial expressions in these pictures, it seems that I didn't find them attractive then either.  As a matter of fact, I'd say that my expressions were similar to Poppy's expression in this photo.

Why does it bother me so much when one of the grandparents dresses Poppy up in an aesthetically unappealing outfit?  (Well, to be fair, the outfit in this particular episode was a few steps beyond aesthetically appealing.)  Matt says that it's because 'I have a lot of pride wrapped up in this baby'.  I guess that's true, and it reminded me of the theme of the Diane Von Furstenburg for Gap Kids commercial that I saw in this past Spring:

DVF talking to a little girl on the set:  'Give them a little attitude....that is chic, don't you think?'

the little girl nods, pretending to know what 'chic' means

DVF talking to the camera:  'A little girl the minute she is born is already the woman she will be.  So to empower a little girl is to empower the woman she will become.'

Matt thought that this was a ridiculous statement.  Admittedly, I'm not sure that the logic here is completely sound.  But as I think about this idea again, now that I actually have a little girl, I do understand what Diane meant here.  I might even add that empowering the little girl empowers the mother as well.

By the way, I'm not sure that Baby Gap gets enough street cred*.  Here are a some of their excellent (and inexpensive) clothes that I've recently bought for Poppy.  I must say that she is looking chic this season-

this really keeps her warm-

i got her this, except with navy cables down the middle.
very wimbledon.  

i have a military sweater like this in blue.  
i try to put something pink on her when she
wears this so that she doesn't look androgynous.
it looks nike with pink pants. 

i bought this in 12-18 months so she can wear it in the Spring-

when i put this on her head, it doesn't really look right.
the only reason I bought it was so people
might stop mistaking her for a boy.  

(I would never say 'do they make this in my size?', but I will say that Baby Gap clothes are way more hip and interesting than Big Girl Gap clothes.)

http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=14249#department=165

*While I was still pregnant I decided that it would be a good idea to get Matt slightly tipsy at Shin-Sei (that excellent Asian restaurant on Lovers Lane), and then take him baby clothes shopping at the Baby Gap just across the street.  It was indeed a good idea because Poppy ended up with many outfits from the DVF for Gap Kids line.

Agenda Pushing Onesies

why does matt want her to go to school in california?  

My in-laws purchased some Oklahoma University onesies for Poppy, onesies that pay tribute to the ‘Sooners’ of Oklahoma University.  The thing is though, I'm not sure that Poppy is going to like football.  I've never understood the game; all I know is that there are a series of 'downs' and that the first one is the best one.

Matt makes frequent trips to California to do business deals.  He has become quite fond of the people and ideas hovering around there, so he bought Poppy a Stanford onesie.  I think that Poppy should go to Princeton or Oxford as opposed to going to school in a state where the only cultural advantage is being able to turn right at a red light.  Well, I guess that's not fair.  They also have a lot of frozen yogurt stores. 

When you browse the aisles or websites of baby clothing retailers, you’re likely to be bombarded with onesies trumpeting a diverse variety of propaganda:

‘I love my aunt’

‘I love my grandma’

‘I'm a daddy's girl’

‘Mormons Rock!’

etc...

Onesies that project from their little bodies that which we hope they will embody.  

Is it okay for us parents/grandparents/other interested parties to exploit our baby's current state of illiteracy to push our own agenda? 

YES!!!  I vote yes. 

i chose this one because i am convinced that poppy will love new york

does poppy have a mustache?

this one is for Mitt's grandbabies

The Curse of the $1,000 Stroller

that's Matt's PBR in the cup-holder, I promise

When I was compiling my baby registries at Babies'R'Us and BuyBuyBaby with the help of a well seasoned mother of four, we made many practical selections.  She told me not to register for toys or for clothes, people would be giving me those of their own volition anyway.  Instead, I was to register for the essentials: the breast pump (I ended up buying the Medela Freestyle myself, and its power abilities slid downhill within two weeks), the bottles, the diapers, the diaper genie, etc..  Soon enough during our tour of big box retail came question of the car seat and the stroller.  Now, I must mention again that my friend is (for the most part) a practical shopper in this realm...no frills, no nonsense.  So that is why she had me register for the stroller that you also use as your car seat; Graco was the make of it I believe.  The idea is that you lift your sleeping or otherwise content baby out of your car while she remains in the car seat.  You then place the car seat (the base remains installed in your car) into the stroller.  I remember thinking that I didn't want to do that lifting bit (I didn't want to do it in my current state of buoyant pregnancy, nor did I foresee wanting to do it postpartum).  Yet I agreed to the practical nature of the rest of it.  So I reluctantly scanned this arduous stroller/car seat combo with my registry scanner gun.

the Graco SnugRider that you put your car seat into

this is the kind of car seat that detaches from its base to go into the SnugRider mentioned above

Then I saw the Bugaboo.  I must be honest here, the first time that I saw the Bugaboo was on Bethenny Frankel's tedious reality show entitled Bethenny Ever After, or Bethenny Getting Married, or something like that.  I originally began watching the show because she was pregnant and a girlfriend told me that I might get some useful insight on pregnancy and babies if I watched it.  I then discovered that if you watch these reality shows (or maybe it's just Bethenny Frankel's) that you actually end up seeing each episode like 7 times.  Even if you are watching it on iTunes they show so many recaps and foreshadowing clips that you end up accidentally memorizing the bulk of the dialogue.  Thus I can only hope that I will have the strength to resist the temptation of reality TV in the future.  

The second time I came across this stroller was in Neiman Marcus' baby section.  The thing that I loved most about the Bugaboo stroller was the lovely (and relatively reasonably priced) Missoni accoutrement.  Disclaimer: I realize that spending nearly $1,000 on a chic stroller is never less appropriate than when one is expecting their first child.  The child will doubtlessly bring on a host of other expenses, some foreseen and others unexpected.  That is why I suggest to you future mothers that if you want the cool mom stroller, you should register for it.  You can do so on Babies'R'Us as well as BuyBuyBaby.  Subsequently, I suggest that you drop hints of your need for this eccentric item to either your parents or your in-laws.  It's likely that they may be feeling particularly spendy when it comes to their grandchildren, especially if this is their first grandchild.  If your relatives need further justification, you can simply blame your materialism on the pregnancy hormones.  

this is that Rachel Zoe stylist lady, she's clearly stressed about something...
but I doubt that it's our awesome A-list stroller

this blanket comes with the Missoni Bugaboo extras
i ended up putting it on my couch since it is so appealing 

The French Rocker

Tomorrow is our first visit with the pediatrician, Dr. Dreiling.  So far it seems as though infancy isn’t too bad.  Well, for me at least.  Poppy looks a bit uncomfortable much of the time.  Regarding discomfort, I’m beginning to regret my rocking chair purchase.  I went with a savory Eames rocker that, come to find out, is too short for me to rock Poppy in without triggering a near simultaneous reflex that makes me get out of the chair.  I had seen it in many different nurseries online while I was studying baby decorum like a hopeful Martha Stewart intern.  It is possible that the rocker looks cool, but probably not to anyone who is a mother with some sensibility.  To them, it likely looks like a cry for help.