Weekend

Williamsburg, 2015

We spent the weekend close to home, checking out the Renegade Craft Fair in Greenpoint, where I got some very cute kids' pants by Petit Pilou.

There was also plenty of chasing other people's toys on the playground, grocery shopping, chicken roasting, and power streaming of Narcos (after the kids were asleep, obviously.)

Will obsessively cleaned the inside of the oven with baking soda and vinegar, while I obsessively threw out all the tiny toys with broken or missing pieces. We still have approximately 900 matchbox cars.

I think we are both hoping to recapture some sense of order in our lives and at home (and I'm trying to capitalize on what limited energy I have before I get too ginormously pregnant.)

On that front I am feeling well enough, most of the time, but even relatively short walks are doing a number on my hips, which is frustrating since I still have 12 weeks to go.

1954

Maine, 2015

Will's sister bought an old house in Maine last summer that was sold with all of its furnishings; this suitcase full of baby clothes, beautifully preserved, was up in the attic and looked as though it hadn't been opened in 60 years.

Gear: Grey Rabbit Baby

by Grey Rabbit Baby

I haven't professed my love for a new baby line in quite some time, but Grey Rabbit Baby came across my radar this week and it's pretty lovely.

As in: tiny boots, hats, and sweaters made of Loro Piana cashmere lovely (totally practical!) But seriously, who cares about practicality? These pieces are heirloom-y in the best possible way.

These are nearly enough to make me long for a new baby. Ahem. I said nearly.

Gear: Basics for Little Guys

romper by Tooby Doo 

In between Maine escapades, I've been stocking up on new clothes and shoes for Axel and Oscar, and thought I'd share links to some of my favorite clothing brands for little boys.

Yesterday in Camden, we picked up one-pieces from Kickee Pants, Tooby Doo, and Jaxx Wear for Oscar. Amazing, soft cotton and lovely designs. For baby wear, I'm also partial to Kate Quinn Organics and Egg by Susan Lazar.

For Axel, who wears things into the ground, I really like Old Navy and Carter's for basics and Tea or Mini Boden for nicer things, with shoes by Native and Igor for summer and by See Kai Run for fall and winter.

I've also got my eyes on these PJs from Hatley for the colder months and these from Hanna Andersson for Serena and Lily for when Axel is a little bigger.

I'm getting pretty excited for back to school, if you can't tell.

Hand Me Downs

Williamsburg, 2014

Axel's impossibly tiny baby clothes are all washed and folded and ready for the new guy.  Many of them were hand me downs from cousins in the first place and many of them are now a little careworn but I love how nearly every outfit evokes a fun memory of newborn days past, like this little caterpillar number he wore to an old friend's bachelorette party in Rhode Island at just 6 weeks old:

Axel, 2012

Or this train onesie he wore for our road trip across Washington State (here he is checking out the views over the Columbia River Gorge.) 

Axel, 2012

Drummer Boy

Axel by Jami Saunders for Belle and Beanzer

Gah! This little nutter is so cute. About a month ago, I mentioned that Axel did a little photo shoot with our friend Jami for Belle and Beanzer. This is my favorite of the bunch...

Close Up

Axel, 2013

Axel went to a little photo shoot this morning for the baby clothes line Belle and Beanzer.

He was so good and the clothes are very sweet and very soft! The results, care of Jami Saunders (who did Axel's newborn and first birthday pictures) will be up on their website eventually, but I just wanted to share a few of him on set.

Weekend

Axel, 2013

Saturday was a bit of a confounding day, just in that naps were missed and we planned too much. We also didn't quite accomplish the one thing we had set out to do, which was go to the Greenpoint Halloween parade. By the time we got back from an outing to New Jersey, we didn't have the time to get it together.

We did get Axel dressed up in his owl costume and walk around the neighborhood, which wasn't quite a parade but was...something! So far, my trick for Halloween costumes has been to pair a set of animal pjs from Serena and Lily with a hat on Etsy. We did the same last year for his giraffe costume, and it meant I didn't feel we were wasting resources on something he'd wear just once. I figure those days will inevitably come when he wants to be Thor or Batman or whatever it is for Halloween, so why not do something simple for now? In the end, the owl costume was a little cold, so we had to break out the new winter coat. Hoping to take him out in costume on Halloween itself, but we'll see.

Today we spent several hours on the playground and met up with a friend whose son is a bit older than Axel and taking classes with Super Soccer Stars. Axel's a little young for such a structured class, but they do offer something for toddlers called Kick & Play that we might look into for the spring.

Fall is definitely upon us here, so I'm trying to take advantage of as much outdoor time as we possibly can.

Gear: Six to Nine Months

Axel, 2013

The biggest change in months six through nine? Mobility.

Though we were pretty prepared for a newborn by the time Axel arrived, I feel like we were able to get away with a certain degree of minimalism for the first few months of his life. We had a baby shower, got tons of hand me downs, bought some things second hand, and eventually assembled the nursery. But we certainly didn't go crazy either.

At around the six month mark it seemed like Axel was growing like a weed and also so much more into toys, blocks, anything that made noise when you dropped it on the floor; he required a certain amount of new stuff.

We've had to ramp up the big purchases lately, though hopefully a lot of them will last through his toddlerhood.

1. Skip Hop Playspot Foam Tiles
I tried to find the least offensive foam floor tiles possible. The Skip Hop ones in green seemed to do the trick. Axel can spend hours trying to take them apart and since we have hardwood floors, they were a good option to have when he was learning to roll, sit, and crawl. While he's all about pulling up on the furniture these days, he still recognizes his floor tiles as his little play area, and it's nice to contain some of the chaos there.

2. Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo
This thing is pretty darn ugly, let's face it. But when Axel tried it out on a playdate at a friend's place, he was so clearly loving it I couldn't resist. We borrowed ours and will probably give it back in a month or so, as Axel is starting to balk at feeling contained by it. It's still pretty good for 15 minute periods when you need to make breakfast or are just exhausted from baby wrangling.

3. JJ Cole Outdoor Blanket
We just had a lovely picnic on our building's green roof and I can tell this waterproof blanket will get a lot of use for the rest of the spring and summer.

4. Old Navy Baby Clothes
I love artful and original baby clothes, but as Axel grows like a weed, I can't really argue with $7 pants and $10 onesies.

5. Farm to Baby
I've extolled the virtues of our baby food delivery service before, but this was a great way of easing the transition to solids. We've also stocked up on pouches from Ella's Kitchen for when we're in transit.

6. Maxi Cosi Pria 70 Carseat
We went to Mini Jake and basically got the only convertible car seat they had (I trust their judgment.) It's much comfier than the hand-me-down infant car seat we had, and it served us well on our last 7 hour road trip.

The Fuzz

Axel, 2012

So this was my morning! In Maine, Will and I raided the attic for the next size up in baby clothes (tucked away there this summer thanks to 5 older boy cousins.)

The little stars and stripes number was also a hand me down from a friend in Brooklyn. We were joking that he looks like a boy band member, especially with his deep V and spiky hair.

Had a good, productive day, until I left my little cooler full of breast milk on the F train. There's no use crying over, er, spilled milk, I suppose. Let's just hope it didn't prompt an incident with the NYPD bomb squad.

Rainy Friday

Axel, 2012

I feel like we've had a few long weeks of racing from this to that, so it's kind of a pleasure to wake up to the sound of rain on the windows. To celebrate the gloomy weather, Axel is sporting his goldfish pjs, which I bought at Arthur in Paris a few years back as a gift for our nephew Leo...long before we had a baby (but when I couldn't resist shopping for one.) It's surreal and fun to see our little boy wearing it as a hand me down.

Other than that, we're enjoying the quiet afternoon and planning for a night in.

The good news is that the babe seems to have had something of a sleep breakthrough this week. I don't know if it's that he's hit 11 pounds (um, he's a giant...) and is just ready to sleep a little longer at night or if putting him in his crib had something to do with it.

Either way, instead of waking every 2 hours throughout the night, once we put Axel in his own room to sleep he slept from 8 'til 12, 12:30ish 'til 5, and 5 'til 8. For two nights running. Let me tell you, it's amazing. I really do miss having him in the bassinet but I think I'll be able to think a little more clearly with some good chunks of sleep under my belt.

Clothes Horse

Maine, 2012

Clearly this boy is not going to go naked. This afternoon, my sisters-in-law helped organize all the hand me down baby clothes they brought over for Axel. As the youngest (so far) of 8 first cousins, Axel is now swimming in handome attire. We have a huge bag of 0-3 month clothing to take home with us in September, and 2 ginormous bags of 6-12 month things up in the attic to pick up at Thanksgiving. He's still a bit small for anything but his Carter's newborn onesies, but there is a lot of cute stuff coming his way soon.

Feeling very spoiled up here!

Preparations

Nope, I haven't fallen into a black hole (or had the baby.) At 37 weeks and 5 days I am waiting patiently for signs of his imminent arrival. Oh, and trying to get a little more organized for his homecoming.

People keep asking me if the nursery is ready yet and I can only reply with maniacal laughter. Um, no. Not remotely.

I have to keep reminding myself that all he really needs is me (his food supply), some diapers, and his bassinet and that we have some leeway on transforming his room from chaotic staging area to baby's home base.

Still, I am trying to do a little bit every day and this weekend, when Will is off work, we are going to put together the crib, hang some paintings, unpack the boxes of clothes, and start figuring out how all the baby gizmos work.

Yesterday, I washed my childhood teddy bear for his room. I also got a haircut, since it seems like personal maintenance might fall by the wayside for a little while. While I was at Hello Beautiful, the owner very sweetly gave me a baby gift. A very cool little boy's nightgown and a mini Brooklyn shirt. Such a lovely gesture!

Work in Progress, 2012

Gear

via Rebecca Taylor

I am certainly excited that we're having a boy, and have been enjoying perusing all the little boy things I can find. But were the bambino a bambina, I'd make a beeline to Rebecca Taylor and buy all of these sweet little summer dresses.

Is it wrong that I wish there were a grown up version of all of them?

Take That, Etsy

Came home to a very sweet package from Will's sister's Irish mother-in-law (got that?!) A very soft, hand-knit baby sweater.

Is there anything better?

Gear (and Girls)

Kate Quinn Organics

I am doing my best to stay disciplined about buying things for baby, given that my employment status remains uncertain. But sometimes resistance is futile.

I popped into Area Kids this morning for some strict window shopping, and left with these two very cute numbers from Kate Quinn Organics. Eh, baby needs to be clothed, right? I know that 7-9 pounds is not very large (about the size of our small grey cat, as a matter of fact), but these 0-3 month things still seem unfathomably small. I was joking to Will that it's so weird to think that our little baby boy will at some point be a 180+ pound man. It just seems so implausible.

Anyway, lots of things in a holding pattern for us these days. Move date uncertain, job status uncertain. It's left me irritated these last few weeks, which is part of the reason I haven't been posting much. No one wants to hear my grumpy musings. Anyway, that grumpiness is gradually shifting to bemused shrugging. Clearly, so much in life is beyond my control. I am trying to be Buddha-like about it all.

The odd thing is that, after meeting approximately one million people at this magazine, I have had complete radio silence from them for two weeks. I know that this could mean any number of things. They could be interviewing other people, working out budgets, or, well, just not that into me. Which is fine. But so far my very polite follow up emails have gone unanswered and I am starting to feel a little adrift. Would it be so hard to send me a "Sorry, kiddo?" email? It's quite mysterious and obviously I am not getting any less pregnant as the days pass.

Things were going so well I had just about wrapped my head around the idea of being a working mom. I was dutifully researching pumping at work and nannies and so on. But if there's anything pregnancy has taught me it's that as soon as you get used to an idea, you are onto the next challenge. So I am adapting and working on picturing being at home with baby for awhile.

Last night, Will and I caught up on the last 3 or 4 episodes of Girls, and it really resonated. It reminds me so much of being 23 or 24 in the city. People have blasted the characters and called them narcissistic and pretentious and homogenous, but, well, that pretty much describes me and my roommates circa 2004.

I can most definitely relate to the feeling of being in New York, on the cusp of all of these big things, screwing things up along the way, sometimes getting it right.

Us, Williamsburg, 2004

Williamsburg, 2004

Maine, 2004

And yeah, at 33 and a mother to be, I guess my life these days looks a lot more together than it did back then. But I still feel a lot like that opinionated, ambitious, idealistic, cocky, hedonistic 20-something.

And so a lot of the scenes in Girls just make me laugh. Like the one where Lena Dunham, who I am obsessed with, goes for a job interview and makes a date rape joke, thinking she and the interviewer are on the same wavelength.

When I was first in New York and interviewing for jobs, I'd often tell people the truth, that in 5 years I didn't want to be doing anything that resembled the job on offer; that I wanted to be a travel writer.

Which leads me to wonder...was it something I said?

Gear

via Room to Romp on Etsy.com

We spent the weekend in D.C. visiting my mother, who has been busily Etsy-ing away the day in preparation for grandmotherhood. My mother can out-Etsy the best of them.

She introduced me to Room to Romp, a South Carolina-based boutique for handmade little boy's clothes. They are very sweet, crisp, and old-fashioned, without being too retro.

Gear

Mini Rodini via Sweet William

A friend recently passed along a great trick for keeping a child's wardrobe under control. Her policy? To veto buying anything with a logo or slogan and to limit patterns.

She buys mostly solids or stripes and says doing makes for a more streamlined look and fewer battles with her fickle toddler over what to wear. It sounded like a good idea to me, especially since onesies that say things like "Boob Man" seem to be everywhere these days and they make me cringe.

I do think there are exceptions to the rule. I'm obsessed with antique and vintage maps and love the notion of this little Mini Rodini onesie (they carry the version with legs at Sweet William in Williamsburg.) When I was checking out their site I also found this Bobo Choses number which is really cute and not too distracting.

I think it would be very sweet in the summer with one of those little old man style canvas fishing hats.

Bobo Choses via Sweet William

Gear

Rompers from Shak-Shuka.com

On a perkier note...

Zig Zags! Swallows! Amazing things from Dutch boutique Shak Shuka...

Thank goodness they ship worldwide.