jj cole outdoor blanket

www.babiesrus.com

this weekend was another typical san francisco weekend - each day started out damp and covered in fog and ended up gorgeous and sunny.

we had a sweet baby picnic at mission dolores park (meaning it was fun and full of children, not necessarily full of sweet babies) but found ourselves wholly unprepared for the wet transitioning to dry weather.

my husband thought that this was an opportune time to buy a waterproof-poncho-that-unzips-and-doubles-as-a-blanket. of course. i, on the other hand, wanted something better. and by better, i mean cuter.

my friend julie had the best outdoor blanket i've seen by another of our favorite companies, jj cole. makers of little dictators favorite the bundle me, jj cole brings us this fabulous outdoor blanket. it comes in three different and sassy patterns (pink stripes, retro blue dots and green stripes) and measures at a generous 5' x 5'. the built in inserts mean it's easy to fold. ready to go? the blanket packs up into a compact messenger bag with a built-in handle.

this great outdoor blanket is sturdy, attractive and portable. the durable outdoor fabric means you can take your blanket anywhere. from the sandy beach to the damp park, simply wipe it clean when you're done and ready to go. now if only it was so easy to clean your child...

glug - cool clothes for baby

www.glugcollection.com

with all the one year old's birthday parties we've got going on these days, i realized that i'm going to have to give a few cool gifts to give myself. yet sometimes, even i find myself at a loss for gifts.

so what to take to the birthday kids...... plastic toys? hmmm, they've got a lot of those. blocks? they've got those, too. how about clothes? but not the dorky little man sweater sets your mom's friend gets you. no, you want something that says, "i'm your cool aunt! i'm the one you'll call when your mom says you can't do stuff - and i'll say you can! because i'm cool!"

glug baby was founded by a husband and wife team who wanted clothes for their young daughter stylish enough for hip parents but still whimsical enough for tots. and they've totally succeeded.

glug baby makes great tees, dresses and skirts that are as comfortable as they are cute. they have a fresh, modern style that's perfect for your hipster child as they prepare for a life of trend setting. they have clever graphic designs for boys (monkey face, tiger head, giant ant) and girls (flirty bird, abstract dandelion, sassy owl).

we love all their designs, but my favorite is the little shirt with a picture of sf's ubiquitous sutro tower that says "local" underneath it. perfect for flaunting your child's native status when traveling around the city.

justplaygrounds.com - marin playground listings

www.justplaygrounds.com

woo! it has been one busy week leading up to cole's first birthday, and it's not even here yet!

needless to say, things have been hectic and that's why we've been a little light on posts. between my mother-in-law spending 5 hours on the tarmac and then spending the night in the newark airport just to get out here and the birthday parties we'll have literally every weekend between now and september, we are one busy family.

we had our friend ella's first birthday party today in beautiful belvedere, ca at the belvedere community park. it was so much fun that we'd actually go back to hang out, despite the 45 minute drive. a shaded area with stone gazebo and picnic tables skirts a manicured lawn, while the recently renovated playground provides fun for kids of all ages. there are see saws, baby swings, climbing structures and even little plastic cars and walkers to keep your tot busy.

justplaygrounds.com is a great website to give you more information on marin's playgrounds so that you, too, can drive to beautiful marin on a gorgeous bay area day. there are listings by city with multiple pictures of each park. helpful amenities are detailed on each page so that you can be informed on everything from the parking situation to whether or not there's drinking water to if the bathrooms are available (and clean).

if only there were a justplaygrounds.com for every county! i'd be on it in a minute. hmm.... our san francisco guide will have to wait, though, until we're done with all these birthday parties!

bay area discovery museum

www.baykidsmuseum.org

almost everyone i know with a child has been to the discovery museum. and everyone who has gone tells me that i absolutely have to go. with that kind of unanimous endorsement, who am i to say no?

so yesterday we packed up and headed over the golden gate bridge to the beautiful bayside town of sausalito and the bay area discovery museum. and now i am joining the legions of fans by telling you that you also absolutely have to go!

not only is the museum nestled against breathtaking views of the bay (really - what other children's museum do you know of that offers spectacular views of the golden gate bridge?), but the museum itself is a treat.

since its inception in 1987, the bay area discovery museum has been recognized as one of the best children's museums in the country. they serve over 260,000 visitors each year who come to enjoy their fantastic facilities and beautiful outdoor space. for little guys like my son, their indoor tot spot is a real treat.

tot spot, designed specifically for crawlers to preschoolers under 42", offers exhibits and play areas designed on animal habitats - so feel free to bounce away in a lily pond, crawl through cave-like tunnels and explore faux wilderness. want to try on bee wings? play with a skunk hand puppet? press a panel that makes frog noises over and over and over again? consider it done!

the outdoor tot spot space has a man-made "stream" with plastic fish to squeeze and touch in addition to hills to climb and instruments to play. but that's not all! for older kids, lookout cove offers 2.5-acres of outdoor, interactive exploration areas featuring natural, cultural and built icons of the bay area. all this plus art studios, an "underwater" tunnel, a 300-gallon sea star tank and rotating exhibitions? sign me up!

vivian sonnenberg, sleep consultant

www.viviansonnenberg.com

before i was pregnant, i had never heard the term "sleep consultant." then as my due date approached, i thought, "what kind of a moron hires a sleep consultant?"

answer: me.

my beautiful baby boy was a joy in the hospital. "see?" my husband and i would whisper gleefully to each other, "he's only 5 hours old and he's already the best sleeper ever! we are so lucky!" then we got home.

by the time he was 5 months old, my wonderful little man decided he only wanted to sleep for 90 minutes at a time. always. every night. and after about a month of these 1 1/2 hour "sleep" spurts, with my husband and i officially members of the living dead, we decided to hire our first (yes, first) sleep consultant. and after 6 weeks of working with her and having our only accomplishment be one four-hour stretch at the beginning of the night, we gave up and called vivian sonnenberg.

i had heard vivian's name passed around in mommy circles like some secret password and wondered why all these parents were so enamored of her. people warned, "your baby will have to cry!" and others sang "she saved my life!" and for us, both were true.

after hearing vivian's name for months, i finally gave up and called her. she paid us a house call and that night, cole only woke up ONCE. i think she drugged him. okay, probably not, but she does seem to have the magic baby touch. vivian sonnenberg has almost 20 years of experience working with babies and infants. trained as a nurse in argentina, vivian has been working with little ones of all ages to help them finally sleep and be happier, healthier babies..... not to mention with happier, healthier parents.

vivian's fee includes an initial meeting as well as two solid months of phone follow up, where she will call you almost every day to check in with you and offer periodic advice and support. she is based out of mill valley and will travel within the sf bay area. does she do phone consultations for people out of the area? unfortunately, i'm not sure. but i do know that she was worth every penny that we spent on her.

my dad rocks! (in a onesie)

www.amazon.com: Rebel Ink My Dad Rocks Body Suit

father's day is sunday! where did that come from? holy moley. time to get a present - and fast.

fortunately, rebel ink's "my dad rocks" onesie is here! let your little one show dad just how much he's loved before the teenage years when your kid can't bear to be seen with you.

amazon.com, my go-to site, has a bunch of cute onesies that if you play your cards right might be able to be delivered by saturday, like this one and this one. (of course, if they're not here in time, dad will still love it a few days later. and will probably dress your dictator in it for every subsequent family outing. consider yourself warned.)

p.s. san francisco moms: want to get this in time for sunday? rebel ink's "my dad rocks" onesie is available at little fish boutique in west portal. happy shopping!

baby mum-mum crackers

www.mummums.com/

starting your baby on solids, or "real food" is pretty exciting. or at least what passes for excitement when you have a baby.

at cole's 9 month doctor's appointment, his pediatrician suggested letting him learn to feed himself more. "let him try a spoon or a cup," she said.

now i'm adventurous, but not that adventurous. we had one afernoon of the Great Spoon Wrestling Match that ended up with both of us covered head to toe in mashed peas. so i thought we'd try something a little simpler.

one of the girls in my mom's group said her daughter loved these "baby mum-mum" crackers. i thought that was the worst name i'd ever heard. and not something i'd feel comfortable asking the grocer for out loud in front of hip childless singletons shopping for espresso and ennui.

but i was wrong! baby mum-mum crackers are rice based, gluten-, egg- and nut-free and melt easily in your little one's mouth. (and on their clothes, but that's another story.) they come individually wrapped two-to-a-package so you can cart them everywhere they go. baby mum-mum crackers are also just the right size for your little one to hold and feed himself.

a perfect "first cracker" for your little one AND no mashed peas in your hair? i'm sold, and so is my son. available at a number of stores nationwide including whole foods and mollie stone's. (for my san francisco mommies: i know for a fact they can be found at the mollie stone/tower market in diamond heights!)

music together

www.musictogether.com

when cole was born, all my mom friends kept telling me about music together. "you have to go to the classes!" they chorused, "it's so much fun!"

"um... okay," i replied cautiously. i wasn't so sure. the only places i really sing are in the shower and in the car and i wasn't sure if i wanted to subject a room full of strangers to my grammatically incorrect version of "frère jacques."

as cole got a little older, i realized that maybe i didn't know as many children's songs as i thought i did. and that i ended up repeating only the chorus of the few songs i did know. and perhaps my son was tired of me singing the tootsie roll commercial theme song. and most of the children's music cd's made me want to pull my hair out. so i gave in.

i'm so glad i did! music together is an internationally known early childhood music program that offers music classes for kids from babies all the way up through kindergarteners and the grown-ups who serve them. classes are mixed ages and offer sing-a-longs, instruments to play, rhythm chants and, if your instructor is as nice as ours, a guitar for your little ones to touch and explore. you'll also get two cd's of fun music to take home so you can force your child to listen to your off-key rendition of the songs they just learned.

classes are offered nationwide - go to the music together website to find a class near you! soon, you too will know more than one song to sing to your child. ready? join in! oh, the world looks mighty good to me, 'cause tootsie rolls are all i see.....

right start!

www.rightstart.com

i've decided now that cole is crawling around all over the place that it's time for a Toy Run. you know the Toy Run, right? it's those times every few months when you're convinced that your child is bored with all their toys, even if it really means that you're bored with playing with the same toys over and over and over again.

in all honesty, there are times when your baby goes through developmental changes (starting from looking at things, to then grabbing things, to then throwing things, to then chasing your poor dog around the house, etc.) and they do need a few new toys to help keep themselves challenged and entertained.

but it's not a trip to dante's 7th circle of hell (a.k.a. babies r us) for us! nope - we're going to right start. right start has 33 stores nationwide (for my bay area mommies, there's a right start in palo alto, walnut creek and san francisco). right start is the largest national specialty retailer of juvenile products for infants and young children. they have a great selection of carefully tested and reviewed toys for newborns to toddlers.

and for you mommies who don't have a right start nearby, they have a fabulous, easy-to-navigate website for all your baby needs. they also have a great registry for your mommy-to-be friends! be sure to look for their eco-friendly line separated out on their website for your little environmentalist.

play not spray!

www.playnotspray.org

did you know san francisco will be aerially sprayed for the light brown apple moth with an untested bio-pesticide starting august 1st? and that the spray could be repeated every 30-90 days for the next few years?

i don't know about you, but i really don't feel like taking my son to the park in a hamster ball.

so what can you do about this? play not spray!

1. get informed! visit playnotspray.org and stopthespray.org for more information.

2. meet other concerned moms at a pacific heights community meeting!

thursday, april 24, 6:15pm
town school for boys, 2750 jackson St. (at scott)

3. join the "play-in" at sf city hall!

you can bring your little ones to a peaceful protest with state sen. migden
monday, april 28th, 10:00am
polk street steps of sf city hall

got questions? visit play not spray at playnotspray.org for more answers!

golden gate mothers group

http://www.ggmg.org/
a friend of mine with two little boys likened being a new mom to being a freshman - having to start all over, not knowing what you're doing and desperately trying to make new friends that understand your suddenly completely different lifestyle.

being one of the first of my friends to have a baby, i can attest to how difficult it is to make "mom friends." i felt like a dork trying to smile at every other woman i saw pushing a stroller, most of whom looked at me like i was a crazy person. enter Golden Gate Mothers Group.

Golden Gate Mothers Group (GGMG) is a fantastic, san francisco-based organization to help you meet other moms. they're renowned for two things, message boards and playgroups.

• GGMG message boards: this is where i found my sleep consultant, asked people about pediatricians, found out what parks to go to, saw nanny listings and recommendations, quizzed moms about age-appropriate toys and so much more. you can find a gently used bugaboo or discover how to stop swaddling your baby. an endless resource for soon-to-be and new moms.

• GGMG playgroups: new moms are put into playgroups according to their child's birthdate, so you'll be with other moms who are literally going through the exact same things you are. want to find out what other babies are doing at your child's age? need to swap tales of sleepless nights? feel the urge to play "i'm a crazier mother than you are - guess what i did today?" (ummm..... maybe that's just me.) these groups are for you. i made some fantastic friends and met some really great moms through my playgroup.

GGMG is a priceless resource for new moms that i highly recommend. and one of the best ways to find out that really, you're not alone!

* have suggestions for mom groups in other cities? we'd love to hear about them!

want to be in a focus group for DayOne?

http://www.dayonecenter.com/

sf east bay mommies - day one needs your help! if you read this, you know how much we love DayOne. here's a message just for you.......feel free to pass it along!

"DayOne is coming to Walnut Creek in June and we need your help!

We are conducting focus groups with new moms and pregnant women who live in the East Bay and would love to invite your friends to participate! We promise the groups are fun -- we'll talk all about their pregnancy, their baby, their life - and we'll have lots of food and goodies for them to make it worth their time.

Interested participants should contact beth@dayonecenter.com with their name, email address and due date/age of baby for more information."

day one center

http://dayonecenter.com/

for all my bay area mommies.... day one is the best! need advice on a nursing bra? want to take a class on introducing solids to your baby? looking for someplace to buy toys and tiny socks? got someplace to call and ask how long breastmilk lasts in the fridge? (answer: about 3 days.)

day one center is the perfect go-to resource for moms and moms-to-be. they're a support group, baby store and education center all in one. they have great playgroups based on age and awesome classes like "dad and baby massage" that you can make your husband attend.

day one is like disneyland for new and expectant moms.

before and after my son was born, day one saved my life. my obgyn (who i love and has two young boys of her own) first suggested day one center to me before i'd even heard of it. on my first visit, i not only became a member, but i signed up for childbirth, child care, breastfeeding and breast pump classes. then, after my son was born, i visited them for lactation help, new mom groups, sleep classes, infant and child cpr instruction and to buy swaddle blankets and toys my son didn't need.

i love day one. located in san francisco (laurel heights), palo alto and coming soon to walnut creek.