BabaBooty.comFab finds for funky tots

In these days of emails and text messages, most people rarely receive written correspondence by post. Everyone loves to receive post and Christmas is a wonderful time of the year to get out those cards, stamps and envelopes and get writing (with a pen and not a keyboard!).

Since the babas arrived, I have tried to incorporate them in our Christmas mail-out, so when Mr Moo was 9 months old he appeared on our Christmas cards wearing a Santa hat (yes I know…predictable!) and in subsequent years both he and his sister have added their own inscriptions to our cards using their best crayolas. Every year at around this time, Mr McSpendy and I half joke about the prospect of doing an elaborate and uber-cheesey spoof Christmas family portrait for our Christmas cards, think a photographic version of something along the lines of these:

I’m thinking of a fireside scene with Mr McSpendy sitting in a wing back chair, holding a pipe and wearing a smoking jacket while I, in my best evening gown and full length gloves, clutch a silver tray adorned with a perfectly roasted turkey. In the foreground Mr Moo and Lollipop, dressed in his and hers elaborate sailor outfits, hold up their Christmas stockings while singing ‘Away in a Manger’, our perfectly decorated tree would just be seen in the background…… you get the picture.  We haven’t managed it so far but I’m not yet willing to give up on it – obviously it wouldn’t be the card to send to everyone, but there are those amongst our acquaintance who I know would ‘get’ and thoroughly enjoy these festive productions!

Until then, I will have to make do with more mainstream Christmas cards.  This year, the choice was made easy as our creche was involved with a project in conjunction with a fantastic charity for autistic children whereby each child draws a Christmas picture which gets transformed into a Christmas card. Parents can then opt to purchase boxes of these cards (complete with festively red envelope) to send out for Christmas. Lollipop is either an extraordinarily talented artist or she got a little assistance with her picture of a Christmas tree but it is adorable nonetheless. Mr Moo’s card depicts a tree and a huge Christmas present and he is immensely proud of it and I am really very happy to be able to send out something that is very personal and yet is also helping a worthy cause.

Homemade Christmas cards are also lovely to receive so in case the Yuletide spirit has got you in a arts-and-crafty-ish mood, I thought I would give you a little inspiration for what you, your baba and a little poster paint could do:

If you are not in the mood to get covered in PVA glue and glitter and want to buy your Christmas cards instead then here are a set of Christmas alphabet pop up cards from Robert Sabuda that I absolutely fell in love with:

The year that we sent these out, we got lots of lovely compliments on our choice of card. As an added bonus you also get to keep the festive tin that they come in, it’s a win win situation !

Whatever cards you decide to send this year, they are sure to delight their recipient and make you feel close to your friends and family in a way that a Yuletide ‘poke’ on Facebook or a festive text message could never achieve.

Last year, I blogged about the personal messages that Santa was sending out to lucky children via the Portable North Pole. We absolutely loved the message that Santa sent to Mr Moo and when he received this year’s message, Mr Moo was almost so excited that I feared he might explode !

This year, Santa has ‘pimped’ his technology and he can now show you all around his North Pole pad and can demonstrate some of those wonderful systems which facilitate his magical work each Christmas Eve.

As well as showing Mr Moo one of his newest reindeer, Kino, in his message Santa also went through his file on Mr Moo which contained not just lots of facts about Mr Moo but also some photographs of exciting things that he had done this year. So for example, Santa had a photo of Mr Moo as a Page Boy at my brother’s wedding in March and a photo of a day at the beach in July. This was the cause of enormous amazement to Mr Moo who had, very recently, been questioning my suggestion that Santa could see Mr Moo at all times (we’ve had many conversations in the last few weeks when I have told Mr Moo the Santa was watching him as he got up to various acts of mischief while Mr Moo has pointed out the fact that Santa would not be able to see him because of the ceiling or the closed curtains etc.  Being able to see for himself that  Santa had photographs of him in various places throughout the year has made Mr Moo re-think the veractiy of his mother’s contention that Santa is all-seeing and all-knowing).

Santa even knew exactly what Mr Moo wants for Christmas and had a photo of it in his file. Lastly, Santa reminded Mr Moo that it was particularly important that he listen to his mother (gosh, that Santa really does talk some sense!!) and that Santa was relying on Mr Moo to do that.

I really can’t recommend this enough, if you have a little someone in your house who would love to receive a wonderfully personalised message from Santa then please, please log on to www.portablenorthpole.tv, it just takes a few minutes to bring a little Christmas magic into your home.

I can’t believe that a year has already passed since I published the first posts on my blog. What started as an usually-brave-for-me experiment has turned into a very special part of my life.  This is my 100th post and I’ve loved doing each one. Some have been very personal, some have been mostly words, others have simply comprised pictures of things that I have bought or (lottery win permitting) would like to buy  but every post has shown a little bit of me and who I am as a mammy, a shopper and a lover of clever, beautiful and well-designed things for children.   Mr Moo and Lollipop have served both as inspiration and guinea-pigs and have performed fabulously in both roles. Their imaginations and sense of fun have meant that I am constantly in search for wonderful things to stimulate, educate and entertain them.

When I published those first posts, I wasn’t sure if anyone other than my mum, sister and blog-loving husband would read them but thanks to the technical-mystery that is Google Analytics, I now know that people from all over the world have stopped by to have a peep at my ramblings. I am so grateful to everyone who has read my blog and in particular  I would like to thank those of you who have taken the time to post comments or e-mail me with their views. This feedback makes blogging so worthwhile and I really value it so please keep it coming.   I have also loved all those tips, suggestions and recommendations that people have given me in the last year, these have led me to places and things that I would never otherwise have found so thank you so much for doing this, I really appreciate these leads.

I am really looking forward to another year of shopping, searching and writing and hope that you will pop by from time to time, I’ll have the kettle on and the ‘good’ biscuits ready for you……

Thank you all so much again.

P

I’m not sure if it is because the older group in Mr Moo’s pre-school class were leaving to go to ‘big school’ or he saw someone with a bag he particularly liked but for the last month Mr Moo has been asking me repeatedly for a back pack. Like every child, Mr Moo is prone to whims and consequently I have been asked to purchase everything from a unicorn to a set of golf clubs. Usually I respond to these requests with my staple holding answer of “we’ll see”. However, it soon became apparent that Mr Moo’s desire to be the proud owner of a back pack was not a transient or capricious notion. Everyday for about four weeks he would make the same heart felt plea “Mammy, I really really need a back pack!”.

In the end, I’m not certain if it was the indulgent mother or the shopaholic in me that won out but one evening I relented and we negotiated the terms – in return for a lifetime of being incredibly well behaved, tidy and helpful, Mr Moo could get a back pack. I pulled out the laptop and he and I took a look at what was on offer.

For me, there were a couple of important criteria:

• it had to be the right size, Mr Moo is not even 3 1/2 yet so he would not be able to lumber around with a full size bag strapped to his back;
• it could not be overtly branded – my son is not a mobile billboard and frankly neither Handy Manny nor Mickey Mouse need the PR; and
• it had to be the right price.

For Mr Moo, there was just one criterion:

• it had to be a back pack !

Luckily, it didn’t take us long to find the gorgeous Skip Hop Zoo Pack range:

These gorgeous little bags are the perfect size for a toddler, are well made and über-cute. While I immediately fell for the wily charms of the Zebra and the Penguin, Mr Moo opted for the Dog. For Lollipop (who actually does not need a back pack and has not in fact expressed any desire to receive one!) I could not resist buying the  Owl – my owl-obsessed inner voice was telling me that it would come in handy some day soon and, sure wouldn’t it be great to have it ready when that day comes…..   Anyway, guilty confessions aside, we got ours from Kiddykool but you can also get some of them from Amazon too. The Zoo Packs are BPA-Free, Phthalate-free and PVC Free. They come with a write-on nametag inside, an insulated front pouch for snacks and the lining is easy to clean. They average at around £20Stg per bag which, having now had a chance to really have a look at how well made ours is, is not bad value. Skip Hop also make Zoo Lunch Boxes (called Lunchies) which are basically smaller insulated versions of the backpacks and which can be attached to the bags. The Lunchies are approximately £13Stg but I reckon they might be worth buying if your baba is at ‘big school’ and brings a packed lunch with them everyday – no more squashed banana and uneaten crusts at the bottom of the school bag…

Since it has arrived, Mr Moo has not taken off his back pack – it comes everywhere with us, sometimes laden with toys, snacks and random household items and sometimes completely empty but either way Mr Moo is wearing a constant smile as well as the back pack. So, the votes of the McSpendy household are in and the Skip Hop Zoo packs get “douze points”.

In case the Zoo Packs don’t rock your boat, the Dante Beatrix range of Little Kid Back Packs were also high on our list of favourites. Have a look and see what you think:

These bags are available from Just Gorgeous and come in at £30Stg each.

In June, my long time friend and fellow mother Emma, with her husband and two gorgeous babas in tow, moved lock, stock and Phil & Teds to Toronto. Always being one to look on the bright side, I decided to focus on Emma’s emigration not as the loss of a dear friend but rather the dispatch of a Bababooty envoy who could scour the Americas for  the kind of clever and funky children’s paraphernalia that I love. When I said goodbye to Emma and wished her all the best on her wonderful new adventure, I made her promise to pass on all of her baba-related Canadian discoveries. True to her word, Emma has just sent me the details of Oliver’s Labels.

This company was founded by Debbe after she came up with an idea on how to keep her nephew Oliver from losing things. Oliver’s Labels produce some really fab labels (well with that name I’m sure you didn’t think they made lawnmowers….).

You can chose from Iron-on or sticky labels (Stick-eez) for clothing. There are also shoe labels, mini labels and bag tags to use on non-clothing items. I know what you are thinking, sure these labels are great but there are plenty of lovely labels out there. But what makes Oliver’s Labels different is their really clever Found-it tracking system.

The Found-it system connects you to your baba’s things via your email address. When ordering from Oliver’s Labels you are given the option of having a Found-it tracking code printed on your labels. If some one finds something owned by your baba that has one of these labels on it, they will be prompted to log on to the Oliver’s Labels website and enter the tracking code. The company then notifies you via the email address you provide at the time of purchase. As the company acts as an interface between you and the person who finds the item, nobody has to exchange personal information. How clever is that? Cue emotional reunion between your baba and his favourite lunchbox, best sweatshirt or most-loved teddy.

Children are always losing things and while Oliver’s Labels won’t guarantee that those items will be returned safely, it certainly substantially increases the odds. And the best bit? The addition of the Found-it tracking number to your label order is absolutely free !

The Iron-on and Stick-eez labels are $19.99 for 60 labels and they can be shipped internationally.

Already looking forward to the next instalment from my Canadian correspondent…..

This weekend, we have been mostly playing with bubbles. But not just the standard little bubbles that you blow using the bubble wands the size of a euro coin, no, we’ve been blowing simply enormous bubbles:

Above and below are rare glimpses of Mr McSpendy  as he works his magic in my parent’s garden on Monday.

To create these enormous bubbles Mr McSpendy is using a gadget called “The Bubble Thing”  by Klutz which is quite tricky to find but well worth the search. I’ve found it on a site called www.bubbleinc.co.uk (see half way down the page ‘Book and Thing’). Unfortunately, the site only caters for UK shipping but you can contact them for pricing for international shipping. The Book and Thing comes in at £10.99 plus shipping and it has more than earned its keep in our house – everyone who has seen us blow these giant bubbles has had to have a go. We were barely indoors for the whole weekend. The babas just loved the bubbles (it seems that bursting a life size bubble is a source of much joy) and the utter calm and relaxation that descends upon you when you blow these bubbles is amazing, I’m not kidding when I say that it could save you a few sessions of therapy !!

But you don’t need  The Bubble Thing to have fun and, in fact, its quite large and takes a bit of practice so Mr Moo preferred a slightly smaller option (see below):

In this picutre, Mr Moo is using one of the giant bubble wands that comes with the Bubble Bonkas pack. You can buy this pack from ebay and it costs just under £10 including shipping to Ireland. The pack includes two bubble wands (one round and one star shaped), a container for dipping the wand into the solution and a small bottle of solution. While you won’t be able to blow bubbles your baba could fit into (like you can with The Bubble Thing), the round wand that comes with this pack easily blows bubbles that are two feet wide or (like Mr Moo’s masterpiece above) a long bubble ‘tunnel’ that could be up to four or five feet long.

If you can’t get one of these bubble wands, you could make your own wand using some wire or, if you are strong, a wire coat hanger. Whatever you use to blow your bubbles, the key to success is the bubble solution that you use. The recipe below is the best one we’ve tried. The ingredients are not expensive and each batch will give you and your babas so much enjoyment.

12 cups of water

1 cup of corn starch (we used corn flour)

2 tablespoons of baking powder (NOT baking soda)

1 cup of washing up liquid (use Fairy or other good quality brand…the cheap stuff just won’t cut it)

I’m not sure why this odd combination of ingredients works, it just does.

Please give this a try, you will not regret it I promise !