The Cat's Meow: Baby Edition

I was totally shocked to discover that the vast majority of high chairs are ugly, plastic eyesores.  And I quickly found out that a cool, stylish highchair can cost an arm and a leg ($500 bucks easily).  Given that this piece of furniture was going to be out in my kitchen all the time, I wanted something made of real wood and with a stylish silhouette.  I also knew that whatever highchair I bought was going to be spilled on, barfed on, chewed on and generally abused, so I wanted something rugged and not too expensive. 

Behold, the Svan High Chair. This thing is real wood, easy to clean (a dishwasher safe tray!) and comes with a real fabric cushion (no vinyl duck-print here!). The only downside... it's made in Sweden and requires assembly (who hasn't cursed at Ikea?). Be prepared to polish off a bottle of wine while you try to dicipher the directions.

Next is Sophie the Giraffe. I was a little shocked at the price tag on this one ($20 for what looks like a glorified dog toy), but after reading the reviews on Amazon I decided to give it a whirl.  Sophie is a BPA-free rubber giraffe, who is painted with food-safe paints. She is soft, squishy, squeeks when you hug her and Maxfield is bananas about her. We have a lot of teething toys, but this one is hands-down the household favorite.

What nursery is complete without a mobile? While pregnant, I looked and looked for a mobile for Max's room and all I could find was stuffed seals, or pink elephants or chubby bunnies. Definitely not my cup of tea.  While perusing BabyEarth.com (a great website, by the way), we discovered Flensted Mobiles - simple paper mobiles with a cool graphic flair. Here's the one we decided on -

Another great site for all things rebel-baby is BabyWit.com.  We've made a few purchases here, but our favorites have been a cool messenger-style diaper bag for Doug and this awesome onesie that was given to us as a gift -

Speaking of cool stuff for daddies, Doug has become a huge fan of Rockabye Baby.  This company takes songs from adult bands, like Green Day to The Rolling Stones, and turns them in to baby-friendly lullabies.  The baby loves them and Doug gets a kick out of hearing Metallica's Master of Puppets played on a xylophone.

Rockabye Baby is available at Fawn and Forest, one of my favorite baby websites.

Last up is the Binth Baby Book.  This was definitely a splurge for me, but I knew I wouldn't keep up with journaling if I had to look at something ugly.  This baby book is full of beautiful, graphic silk-screened illustrations and it truly is a pleasure to write in.

Viola! All things baby that make me go "meow." Next week - office supplies that make my day!

delightfully,
Chenin