Tag Archives: son

Empire State Building Blocks

I’m amazed at how artistic my son has become, coordinating colors when using his building blocks.  Dominic can sit for at least an hour when he’s really concentrating on creating something, then will tear it all down again to build anew.  At one point, he was building tower and said, “Mama, look it’s so tall!”  He loves to listen to the music on my iPhone, so I played a song called “Empire State Human” by The Human League because of the lyrics “I want to be tall, tall, tall,” like his awesome tower.  Who knew that he would take my iPhone just to keep playing the song each time he wanted to build something new?  I’m glad my son loves my 80’s music.

Clever Cousins

I love how close my son and niece are.  Even though they bicker every now and again, they are quite the clever cousins!  Whether they’re having a staring contest or just running around together at the playground in the local mall, Mei-Lin and Dominic adorable together.  Hope you had a great weekend!

Dominic’s outfit – Lids hat; Harajuku Mini hoodie; H&M shirt; Guess jeans; Target shoes (unseen)

Mei-Lin’s outfit – Beautees shirt & skirt; Target tights & shoes (shoes unseen); Headband, gift from Nana

Have Boxes, Will Travel

My son has tons of toys everywhere at home (and more have been added since Christmas). It’s a combination of my niece’s hand-me-down toys and brand new ones that they share, or that are distinctly their own. But no matter how many cool toys my son and niece have all around them, I find that it’s their imagination that drives the heart of their play (cardboard boxes make the best planes, trains, cars or boats). Hope you had a great weekend!

Clean-Cut for the New Year

You’ll stay in the know with these mags.

Dominic has been really good lately at sitting still and really listening to the stylist when getting his haircut.  I guess part of it is because he can watch is favorite movies, “Cars” or “Cars 2”.  But I think a lot of it was because this time, he got to sit in their new “ride”:  a truck with flames painted on the side.  I love it when my son gets a haircut because he looks so fresh and clean-cut, although he definitely looks older.  My little boy isn’t looking so little anymore!  It’s always nice to ring in the new year with a neat little trim, which is what I think I’ll be doing before heading out for some fun.  Have a safe and happy new year weekend!

Dominic’s outfit:  Old Navy hat; Roots jacket; Disney “Cars 2” t-shirt; H&M striped shirt (layered); Calvin Klein jeans (handed down from cousin Riley); Lighting McQueen shoes; new Finn McMissile car (gift from Mommy!)

FTC Disclosure: Although this is a sponsored post, the opinions, pictures & content of this post are strictly my own.

Burberry for Babies? Try an Affordable Alternative

I get asked quite a bit where I do my shopping for my son.  I bought the cute little Burberry shirt at Bloomies over a year ago (on sale, not for the price pictured).  I nearly bought him Diesel jeans that same day (also on sale), then changed my mind.  At the time, I thought, “How CUTE!  I love Burberry and the prices are a slightly less expensive than clothing for me, so I can dress him in brand names all the time!”

Now that I’ve been a mother for over a year, I see how prices add up quickly for my little one.

So really, how practical is getting high-end brand names for kids?  Yes, the clothing is very well made and the styles emulate that of the adults, so the allure to dress your child in the higher end fashions is too tempting.  I’ve always said that if I had a daughter that I would have to take on another job just to supplement our wardrobes. 

With the way kids grow in these early years, it’s impossible for me to justify purchasing something that is so high cost because it is also something that comes at such a high turnover.  Believe me, with the awesome styles out there, I would love to dress my son the way Brad and Angelina dress their kids.  But Dominic has already gone through 3 pairs of Converse in his 21 months of existence, not to mention dress shoes and flip-flops or sandals.  If he’s going through five pairs of shoes every three months, the cost adds up.  And for any family of modest to medium means, it’s just not practical.

Parents should understand and know that there is plenty of great affordable fashion out there for our little ones.  The second picture is a recent one from my great aunt’s birthday party.  Both outfits for my son and my niece were from H&M and both outfits (including shoes, socks and tights) were a total of $65.  Both kids looked fantastic and stylish at a fraction of the cost.

Just as I’m creative with my wardrobe, I’m also as creative with my son’s clothing.  I even had to go so far to get him a custom-made Joy Division shirt (seen here, it was only $12 and so worth it).  For the clothes that he wears every day, I shop at places like Old Navy, Crazy 8, H&M, A Children’s Place, Gymboree and Pumpkin Patch, but I make sure to be smart about it. 

One of my favorite places to get kids clothing is at Target.  They have the coolest little t-shirts at prices from $5 to $10.  Dominic wears a Run DMC t-shirt from Target and I always get stopped by people asking where did I get that cute little shirt (which was only $5.99).  My son is growing at a seemingly exponential rate (he’s predicted to be 6’1″ as an adult because my husband is 6’4″), so the price range is completely pocket-book friendly. 

Just to give you an idea of how often Dominic goes through clothing, this is a list of how many times I had to make a sweep of his clothing (which I’m always donating): 

  • Newborn to 3 month clothing, purged after he was 2 months old
  • 3 to 6 month clothing, purged after he was 4 months old
  • 6-9 month clothing, purged after he was 6 months old
  • 9-12 month clothing, purged when he was 10 months old
  • 12-18 month clothing, purged when he was a year old
  • He is currently wearing 24 months to 3T clothing

I purged a total of a year’s worth of clothing because I was trying to keep up with his growth spurts.  Kids are also not the cleanest during those early months, so I tried to have as many onesies available to keep the washings down to one time per week, rather than several times weekly.  When you have to purge clothing so often, it really does feel better to give up $5 shirts than $40 ones every 2 to 3 months.

I want my son to have the best of everything that my husband and I have to offer.   I’m realizing and learning all the time as a new mother, that cute and stylish things can be found everywhere, that won’t break the bank.  I am a self-proclaimed fashionista and I love clothing.  As I make smart investments in the things I buy for myself, I will always make smart investments in my son, where it counts the most.  So I need to be practical and realize that I need to rely on my creativity when it comes to dressing him.  My true investment for him will be the time I spend with him and my unconditional love.

Halloween Rocks!


Since the internet at home is still a very unreliable thing (and because my husband is out playing softball for the company team, so I’m left to tend to our son), I’m just going to do a quick post of a couple of pictures of my son’s costume for Halloween. He’s going to be DJ Lance Rock. This little get-up cracked us up all day today. He didn’t want to take it off, so I think we found the perfect costume (the second picture is him running because it was time to put the outfit away until Saturday). Gotta love “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

Stick a Fork In It!

I’m breaking a bit from the fashion posts today to share one of my son’s firsts:  we bought him his first utensil set!  He’s used a spoon before, but this is Dominic’s very first fork and spoon set and his first “big boy” meal.  It’s amazing how fast they grow, so we’re always capturing his firsts. 

In the end, Dominic ditched the fork and spoon (and the rest of the meal) to pick up his fruit snacks.  Well, we tried.

(And for those who are wondering:  yes, that is a Juicy Couture bib.  Can’t completely escape fashion, now can I?)

Mommy Interrupted

After returning from hot yoga tonight with my friend Angi, I planned to take a shower then delve into my next post.  It started with entering a contest on The Glamourai (beso besotted) asking readers to look for the perfect outfit for Fashion Week using Beso.com (a new search engine).    I typed “camel” and I found an awesome Alexander McQueen cheetah print skull scarf and then became inspired to find all things camel for the fall.

But alas, that was not to be.  My little one decided that he wanted to play tug-o-war with his blankie instead.  How can anyone resist that smiling face?  I certainly couldn’t, so the color camel will just have to wait for tomorrow.  Good night!

Deal of the Day: Safety Gate

A friend asked me what kind of safety gate I use to separate the living room area from the kitchen (in my case it’s the family room from the kitchen).  We tried one that had spring release to mount the gate.  Since we have 5 inch baseboard all through the house, it just didn’t work with that walk way.

This is the gate that we eventually found at Babies R Us:  it’s the Infant Sure and Secure Extra Tall Walk-Thru Gate by Summer.  This gate is pressure mounted, so it had 4 areas that allowed for mounting on uneven surfaces, so we could install it even with the baseboard.  It has a hinged door that automatically shuts when you swing it closed.  Even though there is a slide tab at the top of the gate, you have to lift it up to get out.  My son has figured out how to slide the tab, but doesn’t know how to lift it up (and he’s not tall enough, but he’s definitely getting there!).

What I like most about it is that it is visually appealing and blends in with our decor.  It looks like it’s a part of the house rather than an afterthought because we now have a child.

Lucky for you, it’s currently on sale at Toys R Us/Babies R Us.  It was $59.99 and is now $51.99.  It’s always great to be safe and save!

Clubhouse Cool

 

H&M shirt, Crazy 8 onesie, Greendog denim shorts, Stride Rite sandals

Even Dominic likes a nice relaxing weekend.   On Saturday, we went to a friend’s birthday pool party.  While we didn’t hit the water, we found a comfy and cool daybed/couch by a window in the clubhouse overlooking the pool area.  He snacked on fruits and played with the blinds.

Ah to be 18 months old…