Mady-bee

sweet as honey!

Little Piggie (at the office)

Halloween's no excuse to let important tasks fall by the wayside!

Pirate Amos

Ahoy, mateys!

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween - I've been walking around my neighborhood all morning and the kids have been out in full force with their adorable costumes. In honor of the spookiest holiday of all, we're doing a little contest at Bean!

Send us a pic of your little one (or one you know) and we'll enter you to win a $75 gift certificate to Bean! Send your pics to BeanBabyBlog@gmail.com.

We'll post them here and announce the winner next week. Good luck and happy trick-or-treating!

Diaper Dilemmas

Cookie Magazine has an interesting story about diapers in the November issue....which comes at a good time since I was just discussing this very issue with a mom friend of mine. The article profiles Kim and Jason Graham-Nye, who founded gDiapers, an eco friendly line of diapers. gDiapers consist of a cotton cover, a reusable liner, and a flushable and biodegradable pad. They come in cute colors too!

If you decide to go for disposable diapers, you're in for a decision. According to my friend, the array of different diapers on the market is dizzying: how to choose what brand, and what fit? My friend's method is to ask her mommy friends...always a good resource!

I'm curious about how parents feel about the gDiapers - is the extra step (flushing) a hindrance? Seems a relatively small price to pay to help the environment, but I know how busy parents can be when they have a new member of the family.

gifts that give

Who doesn't love to open a well chosen gift at holiday time? And the more capricious, the better. Maybe it reminds us how lucky we are - to give and receive something totally unnecessary. But sometimes giving can get out of hand, often when a new baby arrives. If you want to show your love to a new baby but want to avoid the the lavish over-gifting, check out Heifer International. Going strong since 1944 and helping people all over the world with livestock and other materials for self-reliance. Give some chicks, a goat, a calf, or a share in a buffalo, or some seedlings in their name to someone in need from Cameroon to the Caribbean. Gifts start at a mere $10.00 for a share. This way, even a tiny newborn can help another one far away!

Bean Favorite of the Week - Kiwi Hats and Sweaters

This has been a big week at Bean for Kiwi Industries' cute styles! Maybe it's the chilly weather that's setting in, but we have a hunch that little Jade's pic below had a little something to do with it too! The super cute and cozy hats and sweaters come in 3 colors - olive, red, and blue.

Get 'em while you can!

The Vaccination Debate

I just got off the phone with my friend Amy, who's a new mom. She called me at the perfect time, as I was sitting here trying to think of things to blog about! She filled me in on some of the new challenges she is facing as a parent, and believe me there are a lot!

One thing she mentioned is that she just tool her daughter Madelyn in for her first vaccinations. This topic has been in the news a lot lately, as many of you may know. The celebrity Jenny McCarthy has been on tour for her book "Mother Warriors", speaking about her belief that certain vaccinations (specifically MMR - which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella) can cause conditions such as autism in children (McCarthy herself has a son who was diagnosed with autism).

On the other side of the issues are mothers who say that the idea of skipping out on vaccinations is harmful to children, and that there hasn't been a direct correlation found between the vaccines and autism. It is true that autism has surged since this particular vaccine was established, but many doctors and scientists attribute this to pure coincidence.

This debate has sparked a lot of controversy, and new parents in particular are facing confusion about what is best for their children. The jury is still out now, and doctors continue to recommend the vaccine.

Please post your comments about this hot-button issue. I imagine that this is a big topic of conversation among parents - as both options may to carry a risk that they would not want for their kids.

Growing Bean Baby - Jade

Thanks to Julie from Chicago for sending us this great pic of her little girl, Jade. You may remember the post a few months ago of Jade in her striped coverall and hat - we love seeing how those little ones grow so fast! And being that it's almost Halloween, the pic in the pumpkin patch is just perfect.

Jade is wearing our Kiwi Pullover and hat in red. All of my friends who bought their babies this hat love it - little ears love the earflaps...and it's not scratchy like many hats can be!

Thanks, Julie!

Chilly Weather Deals

We could all use a break right about now...so here's a deal from Bean! Place an order worth $50 and up and we'll pick up the shipping cost. Use code "autumn" at checkout. This is a limited-time offer, so get shoppin'!

Solid Foods They Might Not Spit Out

Making the switch from liquid to solid foods for baby is no doubt an adjustment for the parents as well as the child. Parenting has a great photo gallery posted on their website with ideas for some foods to try. The usual suspects are there (bananas, cheerios), but I was surprised to see one thing: avocado! Now avocado is one of my favorite foods on earth, but I never thought about it as an especially child-friendly food. But then again, it makes sense because it’s delicious and mild.

Hmmm, I'm suddenly craving guacamole....

Red Hook Harvest Festival this Weekend

This Saturday is the annual Red Hook Farm Harvest Festival. I've been meaning to check the place out (imagine, a farm in industrial Brooklyn!) and this might just be the excuse I need. Besides, I'm a sucker for pumpkin picking! Details here.

Giveaway! Little E.D.A. Shearling Booties when you buy BabyLegs

Keep those cute little baby legs toasty this fall! Nothing cuter and more practical than BabyLegs. To sweeten the deal, we're putting them on sale for $10.00 a pop (a $2.00 savings) and entering BabyLeg buyers in a chance to win a pair of Little E.D.A. Shearling Booties- the most luxurious and comfy footwear you can find, a $40.00 value. We have so many BabyLeg patterns to choose from, we have two pages of them, here and here! Hurry - this offer through 10/20/08.

Halloween is Coming!

I've always loved Halloween - what could be wrong with a holiday devoted to sillyness? As a kid my mom used to make my costumes for me, and looking back (as an adult with zero sewing skills) I realize how impressive that was! Whether I was a ballerina, a bunny, or (one of my personal faves) a penguin, my costumes were always original and fun. And then there was the candy....a kid's dream come true!

My friends who have babies have come up with some pretty funny costumes in the past couple of years. Danielle and Travis have dressed their little guy Frankie as a rapper and a cowboy (complete with matching costumes for the parents). I also always like to see babies dressed up as pumpkins - it just accentuates their round cuteness!

Speaking of, Babble has a list of the best baby costumes on their site - I am OBSESSED with the Elvis one! Anyone care to share their ideas or plans for the spookiest day of the year?

PS: Thanks to Becky for the adorable shot of little Jack in the pumpkin patch! For overalls like his, check out our organic denim overalls by Krawlers.

New Category! Brooklyn and NY Baby

As an online boutique, we get visitors from all over the country (the world too!) - but we seem to get a good percentage of our orders from our friends in the NY metro area. A lot of people get to our site by googling Brooklyn or NY baby clothes, and as such we've started picking up any cute related items that we see.

Now that we have a few different items in that group, we thought we'd make it easy for those looking to dress their baby up with borough pride. We've added a "New York and Brooklyn" category to out main page. Check it out!

Baby Led Weaning

My husband told me about an interview on NPR's "the Takeaway"this morning. It was all about giving babies real food from an early age, bucking the trend that says slow introduction is best. We had a laugh about our kids, who craved big people food from the get go. I'm not sure if it helps with future habits though, as one kid grew up with a curious & sophisticated palate, the other ate hot salsa at one and now eats very little else! UK blogger Helen Stewart has a fun and very informative site if you're curious about this ever-evolving debate.