Follow Born Modern Baby!

Happy Thanksgiving! I was able to find a few minutes to myself this morning before all of the relatives arrive for the big feast that will commence in T minus six hours. With that time, I decided to give you all a heads up that I have just added the 'Follower' widget to Born Modern Baby. This is a great new tool that allows readers to add the blogs they visit on a regular basis and keeps them in an organized list that you can check when you get a free moment. It's a nice way to stay organized during those rare moments we get from time to time. No more wasting time trying to find the blogs you like - they're all in one convenient place! If you'd like to tune in to the very latest in modern baby design, simply click 'Follow' on the widget found on Born Modern Baby's right hand column. As always, thank you for reading and have a happy and safe holiday!

Time to get your bib on and start eating!

Kiwi Magazine Winner!

Congratulations, Kristi! You have won a free 1-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine! I have your email address and will be contacting you shortly for more details on your prize.

To everyone that entered into the Born Modern Baby Giveaway: thank you for all of your comments and emails. This is the first of many giveaways here on Born Modern Baby and be sure to tune in over the next couple of weeks for another exciting opportunity to win a prize just in time for the holiday season.

Featured Baby Blog: BabyGadget

A life change usually triggers a shopping spree. Whether you are moving into your very first apartment, have tied the knot with a loved one, or are expecting a baby, it’s common to start purchasing products that will better suit your new lifestyle. As large as the baby product market is, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with what feels like an innumerable amount of crib styles, baby bedding colors, nursery décor, and strollers, to name a few popular children’s items. With that being said, it’s important to follow a guide such as BabyGadget to provide you with an inside look on the newest trends in baby furniture and couture. Within each post, BabyGadget offers a diverse collection of products that not only will make your life easier but will also look incredibly modern and chic in your home.

Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair Promotion

The kitchen table is always a great place for families to spend quality time with each other while enjoying a great meal and babies are no exception! Children always want to be part of the action and with Stokke’s Tripp Trapp high chair it’s now possible for them to be sitting on the same level as everyone else. The adjustable and eco-friendly chair can easily adapt to your children as they grow year after year, making this officially the last high chair you’ll ever have to buy! From childhood to teenager to adult, Tripp Trapp can support people of all ages.

From November 15th until March 31, 2009, Stokke is running a promotion on a couple of their items. With a purchase of the Table Top, customers receive a free Annabel Karmel book entitled ‘Top 100 Baby Purees’ and with the purchase of a Tripp Trapp, customers receive a free Annabel Karmel Place Setting Feeding Set. All you have to do is fill in the claim form on the Stokke site by April 15th, 2009 and your free gift will be shipped in days! Where can you get your hands on a Stokke Tripp Trapp or Table Top? Check out All Modern Baby!

Nursery Décor: Contemporary Art for Children

When we hear the story of Marla Olmstead, the 4-year old art prodigy from New York, it’s hard not to wonder where that remarkable talent came from and how it was developed at such an early age. With paint by her side and a blank pad of paper in front of her, Marla began to show her talent even before her second birthday. Whether your baby is showing the signs of an artist or not, there’s no harm in starting them off early in the world of art and culture - LA based company, New Editions, seems to think so.

Exclusive contemporary prints for you and your children are only a click away. As stated in the company’s philosophy, New Editions believes that ‘art is joyous and challenging, reminding us of the wonders and complexities of the world – just like our children. And we believe the two should hang out together from an early age, so that the seeds of creativity and inquiry can flourish in us all.’

Each vibrant piece of artwork is inspirational and visually stimulating to people of all ages. Whether you chose to hang one of these creative prints in your children’s modern nursery or in another space in your home, it will certainly serve as a unique focal point.

Toddler Play Kitchens

When I was a nanny for an energetic 3-year-old named Maddie, I remember how she would “cook” with her eco-friendly kitchen set for hours at a time. For a toddler, that can be very rare. Before her parents brought the kitchen set into the scene, Maddie created what looked like a toy battlefield throughout the entire house: dolls were left lying on the floor, stickers decorated every piece of furniture in the room, and crayons could be found in every nook and cranny. Don’t get me wrong, the start of the play kitchen in Maddie’s life didn’t cut down on the clean up at the end of the day. The dolls, stickers, and crayons were just replaced with wood fruit baskets and shiny pots and pans!

I spotted some adorably modern play kitchens perfect for toddlers 3 and up at Pottery Barn Kids. Your children can recreate the entire cooking process from start to finish. They can pick out the groceries with the play shopping cart and countertop checkout lane and then cook their favorite foods on the luxury stove or kitchen island. These modern kids’ kitchen sets may inspire you to redesign your own kitchen!

Featured Baby Blog: Babyccino, Kids and the City

Two things drew me to this charming baby blog: the urban environment and the friendship of four friends. Since I live in Boston, I can appreciate the bustling, fast-paced lifestyle of an urban community. Being in the center of all the action can be both exciting and overwhelming at times but it’s important at the end of the day to be able to call your city a home. In terms of the friendships that are truly evident in Babyccino, I can also appreciate this aspect as well seeing as how I have four dear friends that I grew up with and feel like sisters to me. Unevenly split, there are three of us residing in Boston while the fourth friend is living in New York City.

With that being said, I think the idea behind Babyccino is wonderful and it is certainly an addicting blog to read! The charm, wit, and humor brought about by each blog writer that resides in a different city in the United Kingdom and Europe makes for a fun and entertaining experience. Babyccino covers everything from family getaway ideas and craft projects to fashion trends for the hip mother in you and adorable baby gifts to give your little one. The best part about the blog is the little anecdotes each blog writer contributes – it’s a great way to get to know Esther, Courtney, Michela, and Emilie as the trendy, urban mothers that they are!

Cutie Alert! Modern Girls’ Dresses

Part of raising a modern son or daughter is having them dress the part. While searching for modern children’s clothing, I started with Droolicious, one of my daily modern baby reads, and found an adorable online store that sells fun, vibrant printed dresses for every occasion. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Each dress design is flat out cute and best of all; each item is locally made in the United States and is 100% cotton. Adorable girls’ clothes, locally made clothing, and comfortable cotton: what could be better?

Aside from the clothing itself, I absolutely love how there are titles for each distinguished design. For example, ‘Off to the Hampton’s Dress’ is a category filled with captivating spring and summer prints that are perfect for the beach, a boat ride, or a midday lunch. The dress design is described as being perfect for “…the carefree girl who works and plays hard all week and looks forward to getting away and enjoy the finer things in life.” Yes, we’re still talking about toddlers here but the descriptions are entertaining to read. Check out the fun styles and how they are best described at Kookie.

‘Tis the Season for Baby Strollers

Thanksgiving is almost one week away and we all know what comes after the delicious feast: the holidays. Each year, the holiday season feels like it arrives earlier and earlier as we begin to see decorations, winter savings, and bustling crowds of shoppers packed into department stores. Once the holidays come around, I don’t know about you, but it’s always difficult for me to find the perfect gift for everyone on my shopping list.

One group of people that we never seem to have trouble shopping for during the holidays, or year round for that matter, is children! With all of the amazing, modern styles of children’s clothing, toys, nursery furniture, diaper bags, and more, there is just so much to choose from when outfitting your little ones so they look and feel their best. A great item to look into for the 2008 holiday season is a baby stroller that is both heavy-duty in construction and chic in design.

EasyWalker features a functional and fun baby or toddler stroller that provides comfortable seating options from a bassinet, car seat, or standard seating position. This brand is now offering a 2008 Model Year End Sale from November 10th – December 31st!

Born Modern Baby Giveaway from Kiwi Magazine!

No matter how much you prepare for your child’s arrival into the world, there are always going to be questions. Whether you’re debating which baby product brand to buy, deciding on how to make a particular recipe for your children, or figuring out which toys are on the safe list this holiday season, you’re always going to find yourself wondering what the right answer is for a specific situation. Just as life is all about learning, parenting is exactly the same. Raising a family in the healthiest way possible can be a daunting task and that’s why Kiwi Magazine is here to provide ways in which you can introduce a greener lifestyle to your family’s daily routine.

When it comes to green parenting, we may not have all of the answers in our head but we certainly can have them at our fingertips. Kiwi Magazine is packed with eco-friendly themed articles focusing on kids’ crafts, fun and easy recipes, book reviews, family health, and much more.

If you would like to be entered into the Born Modern Baby Giveaway for a free 1-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine, write a comment on this post or send me an email with 'Born Modern Baby Giveaway' in the subject box to express your interest. The winner will be picked from a random drawing and will be announced on Monday, November 24th. Good luck!

Kids’ Puzzle Playroom Tables

One of my favorite pastimes as a kid was to piece together puzzles with my mom. We would pick the puzzles that had thousands of pieces, dump out the box on our dining room table, and start to separate each one to form the picture’s frame. As technology has become more and more popular over the years, the simple activities we used to enjoy seem to get pushed into the distance while TVs, iPods, and game systems click on and take over our full attention. While society has headed toward a complete dependence on technology, there shouldn’t be any pressure to raise our children in the same way.

With that being said, bring a nostalgic item into your children’s playroom or nursery with a Puzzle Table. The side table serves as the perfect accent piece or activity table for your kids to enjoy throughout the day while they are playing with toys, reading books, or even building puzzles of their own!

Tonic Home $195

Apel Design

Featured Children’s Blog: GoodyBlog

One element of an effective blog is to have reader participation on a consistent basis. Whether you provide an open forum for visitors to read, learn, and make comments on a particular post or you allow for general comments, it’s important to let your readers speak their mind and perhaps open a topic up for discussion. GoodyBlog is a great example of bringing a community together as they post polls, ask questions for readers to respond, and have prize giveaways for visitors to win.

GoodyBlog, powered by Parents Magazine, brings the parenting community together to learn the latest baby and kids’ products hitting the market, tune in to parenting survival guides, and share their favorite children’s stories, among other great features. Once I came across this wonderful site and read a handful of articles from the many blog writers and editors that make up the GoodyBlog team, I found myself hooked. Each post is filled with a little charm, a little humor, and a whole lot of information for you to take in on a daily basis. It’s a great dose of fun and information wrapped into one!

A Kid’s Favorite Thanksgiving Dessert: Chocolate Pudding Pie

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I can’t decide which part of the feast I enjoy more: the juicy turkey or the decadent dessert portion. One thing’s for sure: I simply have to try all of the pies and cakes my mother bakes for this special family occasion. I may be all grown up now, but one of my absolute favorite desserts growing up (and still holds a top spot today) is my mom’s chocolate pudding pie. It’s so simple but so amazingly delicious and satisfying at the same time!

If your kids love chocolate as much as I do, this pie is sure to be a hit. The best part is that your children can even help out with the recipe from crumbling graham crackers for the pie’s crust or mixing whipped cream and chocolate pudding together for the perfect fluffy consistency. Amid the chaos that can develop on Thanksgiving, this recipe will be a no brainer and a great way to relax with your kids.





Via Make and Takes

Election Day Baby Clothing

Election Day is finally here and there couldn’t be more excitement at the polls, online, and on TV for this historic event. There definitely has been a lot of hype tied to the 2008 Presidential Election and campaign methods have certainly been creative this year. Just when we thought we couldn’t get enough of the campaign commercials on TV, patriotic billboards, and Facebook political groups, political preferences are starting to show up on baby clothing.

A number of baby and toddler clothing manufacturers have been featuring these witty and sometimes humorous onesies and baby bibs that reflect their parents’ vote in this year’s election. If you aren’t interested in having your child tote around a pro-Democratic or pro-Republican outfit, you may like a design that can be seen in the first image below!

Dressing Your Toddler in Modern Clothing

Children don’t have to work very hard to look cute. Whether they are singing a song, dancing around the room, or eating a messy snack, it’s easy to think of how adorable your kids can be. We all know that everyone could find a few moments where our toddlers haven’t exactly acted their cutest but for the purpose of this post; let’s focus on the positive behavior!

Just when you thought children couldn’t look cuter, an Etsy shop by the name of Mountain Aven Baby has created a line of adorable modern clothing that will put the “aww” in “aww-dorable”! The shop is filled with warm clothing that will look great during November’s fall days and December’s chilly season that is right around the corner. Browse through the unique collection of modern toddler clothing – there’s even a sample of holiday outfits because it’s never too early to shop for the joyous season!