I just read a story about reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian’s baby shower that was held this weekend.  Of course, you know they planned the finest celebration any 30-year-old, unwed mother could ever hope for—complete with a star-studded guest list of 80 of her closest family and friends and a delightful serving of tempting delicacies.  (Hmm, I wonder if they played any baby shower games?  Probably not, but I’m sure she opened a ton of luxury gifts.)  All the while, all I kept thinking was–there MUST not be a recession!  Why else would someone have such a lavish celebration and shower their guests with “Le Sport Sac weekender bags filled with We Pilates shirts and scarves, a bottle of Essie nail polish in a limited edition color called “Little Baby Dash,” a hand-blown glass personal tea set from Primula; a gift card from Sheila Kelley S Factor and an Alex and Ani expandable bracelet,” according to People magazine.  Whew!  That’s a mouth full, and all I had to do was type it!

Must be nice!

Now, don’t get me wrong.  It’s very nice of her sisters and Mom to throw her such a lovely affair.  But if you’re like the rest of us (which is probably most of us), that kind of shindig is far from our reality.  But, that doesn’t mean you can’t send your guests home with more than just the usual mints and rattles.  Grab a tote bag of your own and fill it with some unique baby shower favors that really show that you don’t have to be a start to have good taste.

Even nicer!

Who needs a fancy smancy Chinois salad when you can indulge in a delightful Oreo cookie!  Double dipped and sprinkled with festive dots and a cute baby on the front.  It’s an old favorite that’s made new again in the hands of our confectionery experts.

Or, maybe you can toast the mom-to-be with personalized champagnes flute so that everyone can raise their glasses in celebration–long after the baby shower.  How practical!

Speaking of practical baby shower gifts, here are two that every lady in the room will appreciate–the monogrammed compact mirror and the purse valet!  No longer will they have to sit their purses on the floor or on the back of the chair where anybody could grab it, this unique gift for women holds the purse right under the table!  No hardware needed, so it goes anywhere!  Just like the mirror for touch-ups on the go.

Leave it to the good folks at Favors In The City to keep an eye for style–and your pocket book.  But, hey…it’s only money, right?!

And by that I mean a baby who’s born or about to be born in the next month or so—around Chanukah and Christmas. If the baby is expected before Chanukah or Christmas, look for holiday baby gifts that commemorate baby’s first celebration of the holiday. Check out the joyful personalized  bodysuits at the left and right! Pretty cute!

Gift Sets and More!

We love those baby gift sets, don’t we! They’re full of clothes and toys and, near the holidays, they usually come in some sort of keepsake item like a basket or a red wagon or Santa’s sleigh. I’ve provided a couple of examples below:

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It’s Also Winter!

While I recognize that winter weather differs depending on where you live, most of the country typically experiences cooler and cold winter weather. Babies need warmth, especially when they go outside, so comfy-cozy clothes are always a welcome gift. Winter clothes for baby can be affordable and fashionable! Take a look at a few adorable winter garments available for the upcoming season:

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Good, Old-Fashioned Money

By the way, there’s nothing wrong with gift certificates, savings bonds and even cash. I know some people are reluctant to give cash because they think it’s impersonal and doesn’t show a lot of thought. Given the economy these days, I imagine most new parents would love to have some discretionary money. Use your creativity in the way you present your cash gift.

If you’re gifting a Chanukah baby, you might use a big, plastic dreidel that opens so you can slip cash, check, savings bond, etc. inside.

For a Christmas baby, find a Santa with a toy bag that opens and put your money gift inside the bag. We found this Christmas bear with a gift box that opens, so you can put whatever you’d like inside. It’s easy to come up with impressive money-gift presentations with just a little imagination.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAPPY HOLIDAY SHOPPING!

Winter is such a glorious time of year.  With the glistening snow, chilly temps and fabulous sweaters, who would think that it’s not such a good time for babies to be born?

We know that birth order can affect a child’s personality, but now they say that birth season does, too?  Does it really matter which season you’re born in?  Do children born in the summer always have a sunny disposition?  I don’t know, but researchers say that there does seem to be some correlation between seasons and births.  According to some long-term studies, children born in winter months have a few strikes against them.

Whose report will you believe?

It’s been said that winter babies “test poorly, don’t get as far in school, earn less, are less healthy, and don’t live as long as children born at other times of year.”  But, I don’t believe that.  My niece is a December baby (Happy Birthday Alia–in 30 days), and she’s an A student who can really play some mean basketball.  It makes me wonder, just who are they testing and are there other factors, like family history and socio-economic conditions, coming into play.  I tend to think so.  But, hey…what do I know?  Maybe I should do some research of my own.  Come on, all you December and January babies.  Let me know how you really feel!

Winter babies are a bundle of possibilities!

As far as I’m concerned, there are plenty of benefits of being a winter baby:

• All the cool holidays are in the winter months.  From Christmas to New Year’s and even Valentine’s Day, everybody seems to be celebrating your special day.
• You have plenty of opportunity to build up your natural immune system during cold and flu season.  Pretty soon, it won’t affect you at all.
• A positive outlook is inevitable.  After experiencing the winters of life, you always know that spring is just around the corner.
• It’s easier for Mom to stay home and get maternity leave and for out-of-town relatives to visit because companies are closed a lot during the holidays anyway.
• There’s always a chance you’ll be the first baby born of the New Year and get showered with media attention, gifts and praise.  How exciting!  No summer, spring or fall baby gets that!
• By the time you start school, you’ll be more mature than your peers.  Because of your late birthday, you’re about a year older and wiser than your classmates.
• Thanks to the chilly temps, you get held close during the winter months more so than others, which increases bonding and nurturing between mother and child.
• And, my personal favorite–the clothes!  There are so many cute baby clothes for winter –like this faux fur coat–that make you just want to snuggle them up and hold them close.

About a week ago, a woman aboard an AirAsia flight from the island of Penang to Borneo went into labor and delivered on the plane. Luckily, there was a doctor on board who helped with the delivery. For this unusual turn of events, the baby boy and his mother have been given free flights for life with the budget carrier. Not too shabby.

Personally, I would have given the doctor a free pass, too. So let’s take a look at this infrequent occurrence. The article I read didn’t say if this was a premature birth. If it wasn’t, what was that woman doing on a plane so close to her due date that she popped in mid-air? An even better question is will this be the next big reality show?

I can see it now…

Don’t miss the drama ofYou Big FlyBaby! Twenty-two pregnant women with due dates throughout the year are chosen to compete. Whichever woman books a flight so precisely that she goes into labor and delivers on the plane gets free flights on that airline for life. Cameras follow each woman as she, her husband and her obstetrician pinpoint the precise moment based on her office visits.

On the day of her flight, the cameras follow on board to see if she’s a winner. I think it’s a fair trade. She and her child get free flights for life in exchange for having cameras that follow her to her OB visits and, during labor and at the moment of delivery, zoom in for close ups while she screams in agony and calls her husband every name in the book. Will there always be a doctor on board? Nope. She has to take her chances on the flight she booked. Hey! Free flights for life!

AAAAAAAAAAAAANow that’s must-see TV!

Who wouldn’t love a happy, healthy baby with chubby cheeks and adorable baby fat that makes him squeezably soft?

Apparently, Rocky Mountain Health Plans doesn’t?  Deemed “too fat” to insure, the company sites that little Alex Lange is obese.  At a whopping 17 pounds, which doesn’t really seem that big for a baby, he becomes probably the youngest person to be denied health insurance, like many other uninsured but otherwise healthy Americans forced to live without health insurance under our current system.  He’s only four months old and already has a preexisting condition–obesity!

Somebody’s got some explaining to do!

According to the company, it’s not personal–just policy.  They say that Alex’s weight and height (25 inches) put him in the 99th percentile for weight.  It is against their policy to insure anyone above the 95% percentile, no matter how healthy.

Is there a baby gym anywhere?

I could see the family having difficulty getting insurance if he was born with some sort of birth defect, was born premature or developed some sort of illness in his short little life.  But, to site obesity as a pre-existing condition is absurd.  What about those record-setting babies that tipped the scale at 18 and 20 pounds at birth!  Were they denied health insurance as well?  If you ask me, I think Alex should be given some slack, since he can’t really hit the gym or a treadmill, and his pediatrician verifies that he is in good health.  But just in case one of his family members is reading this or you find that your baby has a little too much baby fat, you might want to consider baby toys that encourage play time and exercise, like this activity mat.  Think of it a pint-sized personal gym for babies.

Kudos for having a heart

Thank goodness there is a happy ending.  Because of the media attention this story has received and the national healthcare debate, Rocky Mountain Health Plans is now providing coverage for little Alex.  I guess they realize that some decisions can’t be based solely on the numbers game.

What do you think about this whole situation?  Chime in with your comments below.

It’s his first minute in a brand-new world, and he’s taking in big gulps of the air that will sustain him for the rest of his life. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could promise him a childhood—and a lifetime—filled with clean, fresh, breathable air? If we don’t act now to find a viable, global solution to air pollution and climate change, that’s a promise we can’t keep—and the one baby gift he truly needs will be denied.

Says Who?

The American Academy of Pediatrics, for one. They issued a report within the last two years stating that children are especially at risk from the effects of climate change. Babies and children are more susceptible to heat, toxins, etc. because their immune systems are not fully developed.

The overarching message in the report: Anticipated direct health consequences of climate change include injury and death from extreme weather events and natural disasters, increases in climate-sensitive infectious diseases, increases in air pollution-related illness, and more heat-related, potentially fatal, illness.

More Specifics

• Air pollution does more damage to children’s lungs, causing asthma and respiratory ailments, because their lungs are still developing, they breathe at a higher rate than adults and are outdoors more.

• Waterborne infections, such as diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, hit children especially hard. These infections rise sharply with more rain, which is expected as the climate warms.

• As mosquitoes are able to move to higher ground, the malaria zone is expanding. Kids are especially vulnerable; 75% of malaria deaths occur in children younger than 5.

Heard Enough?

Here’s how you can start giving…

• Do not burn leaves and other yard waste.
• Take public transit, Rideshare, walk or bike.
• Use a charcoal chimney instead of lighter fluid when grilling.
• Turn off and unplug electronics.
• Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Every baby, every child, all of us would benefit from the gift of clean, breathable air and a stable climate. It’s a gift we can give each other—and to every baby born anywhere in the world. It’s a keepsake that would better their lives and last forever.

To learn more, visit: http://www.pewclimate.org/

Well, if you live in the state of Michigan, you just might be!  Recently, they cited a woman in Irvin Township for operating an unlicensed day care center, even though she didn’t even realize that she was open for business.  Here’s what happened…

Baby Sitter Backlash!

According to Associated Press, each day before the school bus came to pick up the neighborhood’s children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms by welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, didn’t see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she’d be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

What?  When did having a child stay in your child for an hour become an “unlicensed day care center?”  Ms. Snyder was as shocked as I am.  I’m sure that Michigan (and a few other states) have this law in place to protect children, but in this case it seems to be a bit overboard.  The law states that you can’t care for an unrelated child in your home for more than four weeks in a year unless you’re a licensed day care center.  You know the kind, with baby toys, books, educational material and activities for kids…

My two cents

It’s obvious to me, and likely the rest of the world, that an hour in the morning doesn’t constitute a day care center.  But, I’m really wondering how the State of Michigan found out about this Mom anyway?  With the issue under much debate, maybe the state of Michigan will feel the same and amend the law.  Otherwise, she’ll likely have to stand out in the street with the kids until the bus comes.  Hey, at least she won’t have the kids in the house in an illegal facility.  But, then again, she still may have problems because the state might just cite her for operating a street ministry without a permit!  Go figure!

Simple! Give that one-year-old her own cake and have lots of cameras handy! We celebrated my niece’s first birthday a couple of weeks ago, and Emerson Rose was given her very own cake. She blew out the candle and tore into the tasty sweetness while 40 of us stood around her and had as much fun watching as she did eating. Here’s a photo:

If this were a caption contest, my entry would be “This stuff is amazing! Why in the world haven’t you given it to me before?”

Emerson was seated in her high chair, with a great big bib around her neck and a very large piece of paper covering the floor beneath her, so clean-up wouldn’t be the horror you might imagine.

She’s a cutie, isn’t she? And the happiest baby you’ve ever seen! Nice job, Cari and Brian!

Paying homage to nursery rhymes and vintage snacks, these bib sets from Baby Aspen are adorable, to say the least.  Pull up a high chair, and let me tell you all about them.

Simple! Just let baby sleep on it or, more precisely, in it! This adorable sleep-time baby gift set is Baby MD from Baby Aspen’s “Big Dreamzzz” collection.

Did you notice the little surgical cap and OR booties? I don’t think it gets any cuter than this, do you? Ahhh, but there’s more. Two more “Big Dreamzzz”—Baby Ballerina and Baby Camo—are ready to inspire tiny sleepers. Yes, they’re as adorable as they sound, and both arrive in packaging as charming as Baby MD’s little doctor’s bag.

Click to see these dreamy baby gifts! And do let me know which one you like best!