RookieMoms Blog

About a year ago, we bought a Chicco C5 Stroller from Babies R Us. I know it was that long ago because, later that day, we bought a Christmas tree. Anyway, not long afterward, our small slumpy (6-month old) baby started slumping in the seat if we didn’t place blankets just so.

I was lazy and did nothing about this problem for months…and then one day I noticed that the design flaw had been fixed (while on a routine visit to Babies R Us for sippy cups and age-appropriate cutlery for my 14-month old). Grrr. Long story short, I emailed Chicco USA and told them my problem with the stroller and, with very few hassles, they sent me a replacement one. And with a cup-holder to boot!

Stuff I like about the new Chicco C5:

• Easy to fold, lightweight
• Rain shield and cupholder standard
• Decent under-basket for carrying my junk
• Decent sun shade not found on many umbrella strollers

Stuff I don’t like about the new Chicco C5:

• Still a little slumpy (but for my now 19-month old, this is less of an issue)
• No room for the new baby; too portable to add a ride-along-board

Thanks for the great customer service, Chicco!
[Note: Whitney was right, they pronounce it kiko, ok?]

My mom just sent Julian this sweatshirt for Hanukkah. I am in love with it. I am happy to link to these guys because it’s so great to find clothes for boys that aren’t limited to traditional colors and motifs such as trains and dogs.

Plus, it’s a lightweight sweatshirt, and here in California, there are few days that require much more of a jacket. It will get a lot of use. Check out ALittleLark.com. Even the receipt that came with the package was well-designed.

I just read about a product called Intelligender. It claims to predict the gender of your unborn baby, from 8 weeks gestation forward, with 90% accuracy. First question: is that possible? If so, why hasn’t this test been offered before? And second question - is 90% accuracy good enough to spend $42.50 to find out your baby’s gender two months earlier than your normally scheduled ultrasound? What if it’s wrong?

Yesterday was a very rainy day. Holden and his nanny-share girlfriend were cooped up all morning and, by afternoon, he was a little stir-crazy. Lucky for him, we already had a plan to hit the doctor’s office for a 4pm appointment so we wouldn’t be house-bound for long.

I should perhaps also mention that Holden is 19-months old and he tends to have very specific ideas about what is and is not okay. On Monday, for example, he was fine with going to (mom and toddler) yoga class provided he could carry a red dish towel and a yellow ball cap to the car. We have also had several minor skirmishes about which shoes to wear — this is especially funny to me because the kid only has one pair of shoes that fit. And one pair of rain boots. So, back to our story…

I told Holden that he needed to wear rain boots. He was excited until he got them on his feet (”bother you”) at which point he wanted to wear his regular shoes. In a flash of brilliance, I suggested that if he wore his rain boots we could splash in puddles and he agreed with no more fuss.

First stop, doctor’s office. Very limited selection of puddles. After he braved having his body examined, I promised we’d go look for some more puddles. There was one big one in the middle of the road, but come on, that’s just stupid.

Second stop, cafe PriPri. Also, limited selection of puddles on the back patio and they were closing up shop. So, I promised we’d keep looking. I packed him back into the carseat and tried very hard to think of a safe place for a mini person to splash in puddles in the dark.

I came up with the enclosed playground at Thousand Oaks school and we totally hit the jackpot! He splashed gently, then aggressively, then he ran through the puddles… ahh, wonderful! Then he splashed past his boots and most of the way up his pants. Oops. (We were supposed to pick up Alec from BART for dinner).

I reflected back to one of my earlier successes getting curb-side service at Baby World and called the nearby children’s resale shop, Hannah’s, and they did not disappoint. One pair of 2T sweatpants for $5 and we didn’t have to leave the car.

And we all lived happily ever after… that is until we got to the restaurant and Holden had a freaking meltdown that might keep us from going to restaurants again until he’s 5.

Have any of you heard of ebeanstalk.com? I found this site on Daily Candy and I like it a lot. Ebeanstalk helps find age appropriate (usually award-winning) toys for newborns up through five-year-olds. They allow you to buy a gift series to arrive every three months (the coolest feature I think) or individual gifts. Have a look, if not for this holiday season, maybe the future…I think it’s an excellent idea and I wanted to share a discount code (%15 off any purchase: CC2 3U1)

Why do I love it? After getting well-meaning but ill-timed gifts from my parents and in-laws, I think this is a perfect solution. And stockpiling with a bunch of great toys only around birthdays is less balanced than getting the odd new toy throughout the year. Finally, not knowing what’s developmentally around the corner, I think this takes some of the guesswork out of it.

I wish I had thought of it myself.

Featured in this year’s Rookie Moms Holiday Gift Guide.