Category Archives: gear

OK, I’ll happily admit to having had a paper doll fetish for FAR longer than was developmentally appropriate, but who can resist these?

There’s a separate doll for each trimester, and even a post-partum doll with an accessory baby. I especially love how the doll’s face changes as she gets bigger and bigger and has to wear less and less cute fashion. Awesome. (via Babygadget)

We’re house hunting – have I mentioned that here? We figured that what with Hoss coming and our apartment being increasingly small even for the two of us, to say nothing of a young hatchling, it was about time for us to get a more permanent location. We’ve both wanted a house for a while, but our financial situation hasn’t been so great (bad credit scores from living off credit cards in grad school) and the housing market where we live has gone kind of insane over the last 5 years. We’re finally in a position where buying is a possibility, but not exactly a pure pleasure. Compromise is the word of the day: We can either live closer to where we work, OR we can live in a nice neighborhood. We can either have a bigger house, OR we can have a house that doesn’t need any work done on it. You know the drill. We’re both pretty handy people, so we’re OK with doing cosmetic work on a house, and we were mentally prepared to make certain sacrifices, but still it’s been hard to find the right place. Is it worth it to have a nice house if it means doubling or tripling Mr. Squab’s commute time? Is it worth it to have a short commute if we’re living in a sketchy neighborhood? Tough questions, particularly considering that I’m planning on going back to work only part time after Hoss arrives.

All this is by way of explaining why, when I’m browsing my favorite baby product sites, I’m naturally drawn to the absolutely most fricking expensive products out there. This is the case particularly when the prices aren’t posted on the initial page. Part of the problem is that both Mr. Squab and I are persnickety about design. I mean, I know most baby-related stuff is primarily functional, but does it have to be so damn ugly? Have you ever looked at the baby section of Target? The clothes are all pretty cute, sure, but most of the strollers and cribs and playpens are U.G.L.Y. They don’t have no alibi! (that was for you, Ali). They’re bulky and clunky looking and most of them are decorated in hideous baby-themed colors and patterns. Me no likey. What I do like is Scandinavian baby stuff. I dunno if its the fjords or what, but those Scandihoovians just understand how to design shit, you know? And baby stuff is no exception. Compare and contrast:

Ugly-ass American stroller:

Chic and sporty Scandinavian (ok, Dutch) stroller:

Ugly-ass American high-chair:

Super sweet Scandinavian high-chair:

So you can see what I mean. Unfortunately, the chic kid’s stuff costs on average about twelvety billion times more than the ugly stuff. (For example, that cool looking stroller runs about $895 a pop. Which I could maybe see if I were planning on having 9 children or something, but otherwise, um … no.) Of course the baby sites are all filled with comments from yuppie über-parents raving about how the cost is so totally worth it, the products are so much better, last forever, make your kid smarter, ensure their entrance into Vassar, etc. All of which I’m sure is true, only like I said, we’re still trying to figure out how to afford a house in a neighborhood where the crack dealers are at least somewhat covert in their activities. So we’ll look for cheaper American knock-offs of Scandinavian design, and see what Ikea has to offer, and the kid won’t even know the difference. But man, when I win the lottery … Ima get me some NICE. BABY. STUFF.

This was my Xmas present from Mr. Squab:

I’m blogging from it now. Isn’t it pretty? It’s an insanely extravagant present, which just shows you how well Mr. Squab knows me. And I lovey-love-love-McLoverton it; I’ve already spent hours playing with iPhoto, sorting and importing into iTunes, transferring documents from my old crummy PC laptop, etc. Damn, I love organizing my electronic files. And what with Mr. Squab being something of a techie, it’s all loaded up with awesome software and extra memory and RAM and stuff. So now I guess there’s really NO excuse for not getting some writing done.

My mother, who is entirely too generous, bought us a bee-yoo-tiful rocking chair for the Hossmeister the last time she was here for a visit. It got delivered a few days ago, and here it is in all its glory:

I know – it doesn’t look like a rocking chair, but that’s what’s so nice about it. It’s like an easy chair on rockers. As you can see, we’ve covered it with a throw to protect it from cat hair, and the teddy bear sitting on it is also courtesy of my mother. I aniticipate many late night hours spent in this chair, so I’m forever grateful to have one that will support my ass in the manner to which it has become accustomed. Thanks, Mom!

This morning my friend Lori sent me the link to Celebrity Babies, because she knows I am a WHORE for celebrity gossip, and will spend endless hours pleasurably engaged in reviewing picures of Britney-spawn or pondering the likelihood of a Brangelina baby in the offing. But what really cranked my engine was the links to all these cool baby-merchandise sites. Yes, I am one of those women. Even before getting knocked up, I loved looking at baby stuff. It’s just so … small. And so … CUTE. It begs you not so much to buy it, as to take it home and shelter it from all the bigger clothes and shoes and accessories out there. It’s a service you’re performing, for god’s sake. So all afternoon, between trying to look vaguely productive to earn my pay, I’ve been experiencing severe cuteness overload looking at pictures of impossibly adorable baby things. I mean, my god, look at this:

or this:

how cute would a small hatchling look wearing one of these?

and don’t you think this pillow and blanket would ensure good dreams?

So the cute, it’s reaching insulin-dependent levels. How many baby showers is it legal for one couple to have?

I just got an Eddie Bauer water bottle from Target.

Mr. Squab calls it my sippy cup.

It is teh cool.

That is all.