Play with your Food: Roundup!

Freida's first play kitchen should arrive any day now... I've got some high hopes for the entertainment-factor this kitchen will bring her, and I'm so looking forward to the long hours she'll spend playing mom/chef (whishful thinking, right??). Now that my little bugger is joining the jr. culinary world, all my play-food browsing/testing is bound to come in handy... gotta fill those little cupboards with plenty of nutritional basics & goodies! Here's a little roundup of my current play food favorites (not that you need more grocery shopping...)! Haba Biofino: (Almost) eatible food for the little dude - Haba has an incredible line of realistic looking and versatile play food options. By far, my favorite kid-kitchen collection.

Yellow Label: Whimsical and charming - hand-knit play food with rattles inside makes for a great toy from birth onward. Plus, they look super cute! I posted more about them here.

Mellisa & Dough: Can't go wrong with this classic! Beautifully painted wooden toys + the added bonus of fine motor skills development through their fun "cutting" factor. I also love their "food group" sets - wonderful for teaching early nutrition basics.

Ikea Duktig: Fresh food is on the market! New to Ikea, this line of felted play food seems wonderfully practical as well as totally affordable!

Take a Peek!

A friend of mine (thanks Briendy!!) introduced me to one of my new favorite childrens clothing stores - Peek... aren't you curious? is a fabulous little collection of both classic and hip childrens goods. Whoever does thier interior is seriously talented - the store is simple and chic with the perfect amount of charming little touches throughout the displays. They have the "peek" element subtly running through every aspect of the store; even their shopping bags and gift cards have a small cutout hole, enabling a sneak peek! They just launched their fantastic fall collection, and I'm smitten.

Their summer lines are all on serious clearance now - get fabulous threads for the price of your AM coffee! Check it out here.

My favorite thing about this company is their baby line Little Peanut - it's baby basics at their best, featuring pre-shrunk, pre-faded 100% cotton newborn essentials in vintage-style shades. This line makes for a perfect baby gift!! (That $12 tank quickly became my new go-to top for Freida.)

Here's a shot of Freida in her oh-so-sweet Olivia bloomer. Stike a pose. : )

My Little Picasso

We recently tried "finger painting" for the first time. Freida went a little nuts at first about her hands being dirty... took a lot of convincing for her to be okay with the paint on her hands (I know, I'm the culprit who made her so OCD), but once she got acclimated she went totally paint-happy!! She somehow turned the experience from "finger" painting to "body" painting, but I couldn't interfere with a good tactile activity. Definitely try this classic with the kids! We used Crayola pinger paint - with a quick bath, and some wet paper towels to the floor - we were back in business in 5!  Great for a rainy day...

SAFEboarding!

Our home is currently under the Extreme Sport spell (I don't think I've seen our DVR light go off since the games have begun!), and I'm sure many of you, specifically those of you with little skater boys, are feeling the Extreme vibe as well. In the spirit of the X-Games 16 going on now at LA's Staple Center, I wanted to post some of the funkiest skating safety gear out there. Watching these dudes fly through the air at mach speed makes me wonder about the safety of all the wee little Tony Hawk fans out there, religiously perfecting their ollies, manuals, and melongrinds. Not sure I'd be so keen on the skating hobby if I had a little boy (or skater girl)... Here's a little something to quell a moms fears; Little Nutty helmets from Nutcase - known to be the only helmets designed to properly fit the head of a child. I'll be honest, they only made me look because of their totally tubular designs (!), but once I read a bit more about them I was completely sold on their safety features as well. Just make sure you check out the Kids Size Chart before purchase. So before you let your little Shaun White impersonator out on the half-pipe, make sure he's as safe as the pros themselves. Moms gotta give in to the hype eventually, and skateboarding has been deemed currently cool.

P.S. If you live in LA and are looking for a great place to take Jr. to practice, check out the Culver City Skate Park. They have smaller ramps for kids and beginners...

Mod Graphics for Lunch!

I'm sure most of you have already started doing at least some minimal school supplies shopping... Camp is soon to culminate, leaving you with a week of at-home entertainment with the kids; not giving you that much time to spend on shopping around for new year goodies. As I said before, I have an infatuation with lunch bags/boxes. As a kid I loved the "fresh start" feeling it gave me carrying a spankin' new lunch tote to the cafateria... Here's my latest favorite: the Dante Beatrix lunch box collection. Made of durable and insulated heavy-duty nylon, these charming animated bags are 100% machine washable, making mom's after hours job 100% easier. I adore the modern prints, and find the colors and bag design totally kid-minded and imaginative. Any little dude would be totally stoked to carry his sustenance 'round in that hip little robot bag! Makes lunch even more lovable...

They have a super cute jr. backpack line out as well. How great are these little guys??