These are a few of my favorite (baby) things...

We have been very blessed by our generous friends and family who have given us lots of wonderful and thoughtful gifts for our new baby.  While it has been three months already and I'm no where near organized enough to send out thank you cards yet, I wanted to do a quick post on what makes a great baby gift in my mind, such as:

-practical

-homemade

-eco-friendly

-hand-me downs

Of course just because something is practical, ethical and safe for baby and planet doesn't mean they can't be beautiful :-)  I am loving the Enchanted Woodland Mobile from cocoon couture that our friends Melinda and Gavin gave us.  It is hand-crafted from eco-friendly plantation timber and printed with non-toxic ink.  I've got it hanging above the change-table (which is in my home office!).  We also got a beautiful wooden vehicle-mobile from our friends Samantha and Paul, which is above the crib (which is in the living room, since we are still using an organic co-sleeper in our bedroom).

Another favorite is this organic cotton quilt, which was hand-made by my amazing step-mother Jan:

We also had lovely hand-made presents from my mother-in-law Eileen (a knitted [or maybe crocheted? I'm so ignorant about these crafty things] blanket), our dear friend Colleen (who took time out of her busy life as an orthopedic surgeon to knit an adorable woolen sweater and hat (aka jumper and beanie), and our lovely friend Carolyn who knitted (I'm pretty sure it's knitted!) a soft little bunny comforter thingy :-)  We're hoping the little bubba starts hanging onto Carolyn's bunny at night instead of pulling his own hair, which he does without realizing that it's attached to him and then he starts screaming because it hurts... one day he'll figure out that he has the power to stop the pain himself by letting go :-)

In addition to giving us a very sweet little organic cotton onesie from the Syracuse Cultural Workers, my mom is sewing an organic cotton duvet (aka doona) cover for us for our new organic cotton queen bed.

I'm also very grateful to my friend Simcha who gave us the organic cotton long-sleeved onesie that bubsie is wearing in the picture above, since it introduced me to Nature Baby from New Zealand, which I hadn't come across before, and is now my favorite one-stop shop for all things organic and baby-related (more on them soon).

People know me well by now and lots of friends gave us beautiful organic cotton clothing from purebaby and Pumpkin Patch (I hadn't even realized that they are doing organic now).

One of the best things people can do for you when you have babies is to not give you things you don't need.  One of my best friends knows me so well that she didn't get anything for the new baby, since really we already have everything we need and she got a small present for his big brother instead :-)

Finally, I love hand-me-downs and loans, such as this gorgeous Moses basket style bassinet that we borrowed from my friend Katie, who also has a fantastic kids book blog and online bookshop called We Heart Books, which is my favorite source for kids birthday presents :-)

We received lots of other lovely gifts and cards as well and if you're reading this, I promise the thank you cards will be coming... eventually!

Formaldehyde: unwanted guest at baby showers

I just got back from a baby shower for one of my dearest friends. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with yummy food, good company, and adorable baby presents. I didn't want to spoil the special day, but I couldn't help but politely point out that my friend might want to wash all of the new baby clothes and blankets at least 2-3 times before her baby actually comes into contact with them. Why? Because, whether we like it or not (why on earth would we like it?) most new clothes and household fabrics come to us covered in a cocktail of toxic ingredients, such as formaldehyde, which is used to prevent them from developing mildew when they are being shipped from China. Formaldehyde also is used for many other functions in the manufacture of clothes, for example it helps to set the dyes, and to reduce wrinkling and shrinkage. Other lovely chemicals that are used in fabric finishing processes include VOCs, heavy metals, benzene, sulfuric acid, bromines, urea resins, sulfonamides, halogens, bromines and organochlorides. I'll spare you the ugly details, but for more info check out this scary blog post by the Organic Consumers Association.

I'm a bit of a naff numbnut, so I managed to leave my carefully selected basket of organic goodies by the front door as I walked out to go to the shower. When I see her next my dear friend will be getting a gorgeous, japanese inspired organic cotton onesie from purebaby, a divine bamboo with vintage kimono-trimming onesie from Sahara Bloom, a selection of certified organic baby lotions and potions from miessence, including a handy, diaper-bag-sized, talc-free organic baby powder, a gentle baby bottom cleansing gel that can be used with tissues or cloths, avoiding the need for eco-unfriendly-disposable-wipes, and the innovative baby bottom mist that allows you to protect against diaper rash without having to rub anything directly onto the sore bits. I also threw in a gorgeous little (organic cotton of course) singlet from Nature's Child that says: "I am Nature's Child".

Can you tell that I went a bit overboard at the Organic Expo??? What can I say? When it comes to babies, and organics, I have a double weak spot. I also threw in a sobering tome called "Chemical Free Kids" which is the book that I would have written if I had time to write a book. The author Dr Sarah Lantz has done a great job of pulling together easy-to-read info about the insidious nature of toxic chemicals in our lives and how it affects our children. You can order the book from my online shop if you're in Australia, or from here if you need it shipped elsewhere. It's depressing stuff, but we can't all just go around with our heads buried in the sand now can we?

It's not all bad news... there's Sophie la girafe...

I lot of my posts lately have been negative things, like how bad BPA is, how bad Johnson & Johnson baby products are, etc... so I thought I better tell you the good news... there are some nice companies out there who are making safe products for kids :-)

A few weeks ago I took my son to visit our friend Katie from We Heart Books (a fantastic blog and online shop that reviews and recommends books for kids) who had a stall at the Magnolia Square Market when it was in Melbourne. He fell in love with Sophie la girafe aka Sophie the Giraffe. Sophie is a french childhood icon. According to the lovely ladies from Les Folies (the Australian distributors of Sophie) she is the only teething toy in the world made from 100% natural rubber and non toxic paint. Sophie is hand made in France today exactly as she was when first produced back in 1961.

You can get Sophie in Australia from Les Folies. The rest of the world can order Sophie the Giraffe on Amazon, where she is the #1 top selling item for babies!

There was lots of other cool stuff at Magnolia Square, I especially loved the recycled designs of Y Knot? and the divinely cute baby clothes (organic cotton and bamboo of course) from Green Bean a New Zealand-based company.

We Heart Books and Y Knot? are at the Magnolia Square event in Sydney that's on now at the teahouse at Randwick Racecourse Friday 3 July 10am-5pm and Saturday 4 July 10am - 4pm ... the first 500 guests each day will receive a goodie bag. Sophie the Giraffe will be back in Melbourne from 6-8 August at the Magnolia Square event at the Malvern Town Hall.

pink for boys and blue for girls?

All that talk about saving money on kids clothes by buying them second hand went out the window last week when I drove across town (at least I carpooled with a fellow Mom) to visit the bi-annual PureBaby Warehouse sale. This is a Melbourne institution that sees posh Mums from all over town converging on a seedy alley-way in Collingwood and jostling with their designer prams for first place in line to grab up organic cotton baby clothes at target prices. It's the last day today, so if you live in Melbourne, and have a baby, or are planning a baby, or know anyone having a baby (they make great gifts) I'd head over to 135 Cromwell St, Collingwood before 5pm today (Sunday).

Even if you don't live in Melbourne, you can be sure to look out for ebay being flooded with reasonably priced purebaby goodies over the next few weeks and months. I don't have any financial interest in purebaby (I wish I did!), I'm just an addict. Half my son's wardrobe is from purebaby, (although I'm struggling now since they only make clothes up to size 2, but they do make pjs in bigger sizes), sourced only from the warehouse sales (I would never pay retail), and it's one of the main sources of my gifts for friends who have babies (along with the miessence certified organic baby care range). I stock up once or twice a year, with an adequate supply of pink, blue and gender neutral colors so that I'm prepared for the multitude of babies being born amongst my cohort.

Did you know that it wasn't until the 1950s that pink became associated with girls, and blue for boys?

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]

This time I even bought a few (gender neutral) newborn outfits for the baby we're planning for next year (more on that soon!).