My December round-up is all about clothes for mama and baby.

The Baby:

As Sawyer outgrows some of the precious newborn and 0-3 month outfits, I want to reminisce about the teeny tiny wee little newborn clothes. giggle has some seriously adorable 100% cotton clothes in their Better Basics line. If you’re in favor of soft organic clothing (and/or allergic to characters on smallest people), you’ll like them too.

I love the “kimono-style” wrap around onesies and shirts for babies that are so blobby you don’t even want to lift their heads to dress them.

These kind of stripes always make me think a baby looks French:

Oui, skull cap only $10

matching jammies in any size, perfect for big sibs too

the little dress I do not need... sigh

The Mama:

Whitney has been my post-partum fashion champion, telling me that I look great and normal (and reminding me when my belly is hanging out in public). In addition to the steady trickle of confidence boosting comments, she reminds me NOT to buy an entire new wardrobe as each week passes. Here, on our giggle parent talk column, she offers What to Wear: Postpartum Edition for everyone else’s benefit too.

ha! I'm actually wearing this now!

Hop on over to giggle GAB to read the rest of her suggested wardrobe finds. And step away from the sweat pants.

To accommodate our holiday guests in our tiny dining room with its four-top table, my husband ordered a new camping table from Amazon.com. It arrived in a cardboard box big enough for a 7-year old boy and a 4-year old girl to lie down in. How do I know this? Because my kids got in the box, of course.

In an excellent post about the most basic and universally loved toys on GeekDad, the author says:

Boxes can be turned into furniture or a kitchen playset. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large Box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller Box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and Box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the Box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

He notes humorously that this toy can be procured easily from Amazon.

[They] include one with virtually every order I place there.

Here are a few inspirational photos of cardboard boxes, the most versatile toy in your house this week.

from The Imagination Tree

to make while keeping your box-sitting toddler company: cardboard thank you postcards (via designsponge)

homemade marble run – this one is from a cereal box by Made by Joel

Cardboard shape sorter from Parents.com (this article has 11 more box ideas, but is super annoying to navigate due to the ads and one-idea-per-page format.)

I love the Dr. Seuss feel of this silly bedroom set. Make a few “frames” for kids art? via Tip Junkie who has 32 cardboard box ideas posted.

Probably not feasible for most of us, but we do have a handful of small people, furniture and animals who could inhabit a box, via Busy Being Fabulous

Another one from Parents.com. Unless you are a stylist for Parents magazine, your cardboard kitchen won’t look this cute, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Have you come up with anything cool to do with cardboard?

Update: Two fabulous friends shared their boxes with us over on our Facebook page.

Cori’s kids show us in fast-motion what fun a box can be.

Mike knocks our socks off with this pirate ship he made for Emme to navigate puddles at the park.

My house is slowly being overrun with LEGO. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about it. Most of the time.

We have other toys, of course, but nothing else comes close in terms of play value. Whereas the grandparents look at our stash and think, “these kids need some other toys!” I feel the exact opposite. Bring ‘em on. (Although, for the love of all that’s holy, can we please organize them!!)

If you are also living the LEGO life, you will enjoy this three-part series on The Frog & Snail Society about the so-called LEGO problem:

Ah, LEGO. Most parents have a love/hate relationship with the things. On one hand, they’re undeniable awesome. On the other, keeping track of them, cleaning them up, sorting them, (often multiple times a day) can be a major source of headaches.

1. buying too much (and finding more to do with the ones you have, yay!)
2. organizing lego (self-explanatory but lovely post after my own heart!)
3. what’s that brick? (figuring out which piece came from which set)

If your household would choose LEGOland over Disneyland, here are a host of gift ideas that might inspire you:

Sort ‘em

Box4blox – a sorting tray system that sorts your LEGOs as you put them away so that the tiny pieces are together while the medium ones and the larger ones stay with their own kind as well. If you have a small collection, this could be used for storing as well, but we are beyond that chez moi.

Build your collection for pennies

Try eBay for basic bricks with maximum versatility. Any set with better than $0.10/brick pricing is a good deal. Pick up a copy of The LEGO Ideas Book to go along with your haul.

Did you know that you can wash used well-loved bricks in the dishwasher? Use a lingerie bag with fine mesh to keep tiny pieces together.

LEGO playtable

This clever play table does double duty as a train table. Based on the size, it is probably a great option for smaller LEGO aficionados. If you’re handy, we have DIY LEGO table instructions.

Thematic accessories

Unlike other licensed characters (which shall remain nameless), I have not yet gotten my fill of those cutie patootie mini figures. LEGO headlamp and Yoda alarm clock? Adorable (or perhaps adorkable since that’s a word now)!

More guys (and gals)

You can never have too many LEGO mini-figures. You can purchase them individually for stockings or in larger multi-packs that would be perfect for my son the great pretender. I love this hairpiece kit for turning more characters into girls.

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One final note: If your family collection of bricks and specialty pieces is driving you insane, see also 54 clutter-free gift ideas for all members of your family!

If you have a DIY kid and you don’t have the time, energy, or interest to get crafty, here are five fun gift solutions:

1. Kiwi Crate Subscription

Each month, a collection of hands-on activities based on a theme (like color, gardening, or dinosaurs) – including arts, crafts, science – arrive with all materials in an attractive package. $19.95/month for ages 3 to 6. Visit kiwicrate.com for more info.

2. Kits from Paper Source

This monkey puppet kit comes with everything you need to make 5 adorable hand puppets from a bag (no sewing required). Other DIY kits include shrinky dinks charm bracelets and ninja warrior action figures. Prices vary.

3. Melissa + Doug faces and bodies

The Create-a-face pad provides a gender-neutral tableau for creating different heads (and, thus, requires markers, crayons, or construction paper with scissors to decorate). My son loves his with the blank bodies. The paper dollface version comes with stickers and other embellishments. Around $6.

4. DIY fashion

Choose some fabric markers and a blank canvas such as a pillowcase or tee-shirt. I had my high school friends autograph a pillowcase at graduation time and I have been unable to part with it in twenty years.

5. Build-your-own robot

Toysmith makes a few different DIY robot kits like these balloon-powered “Cosmic Jet” cardstock guys. Build two ‘bots with materials included and then spend your time racing them. We also liked the TechnoRobot (also DIY, cardstock but this guy is taller and moves around differently). Either one is less than $10.

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Disclosure: We were given samples of Kiwi Crate kits to share with the kids in our lives. Awesome!

When I was a kid, I was stuck staring at the wallpaper my parents chose for a guest room as my childhood bedroom. Boring and blech. Now that I’m the parent, I love wall decals for updating the personality of any room really fast. And it’s much easier (and cheaper) than painting.

This summer as my husband and I tried to designate a part of our family guest room and office as “nursery,” the movable stickers at My Wonderful Walls came to the rescue. There are some magical designs to choose from but when it came time to merge my command central for blogging and twitter with the new nest of a baby, I went for the easy motif and put a bird on it.

My big boys love this space theme, but I thought it was a little intense for an infant guest room office. In addition to the collection of wall stickers (clingy moveable decorations), there are also wall stencil kits (where you can paint your own wall mural without screwing it up).

Want to win your own room-changing wall designs?
Tell us in the comments which ONE product you would pick and where you plan to use it ($25 to $152 value)! We’ll choose one winner by random on 10/26/11. Contest is open to residents of U.S. and Canada only.

For a limited time, you can receive 15% off your entire order now through October 31st with the special code: RKM1019. Follow them on facebook and twitter as well.

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My Wonderful Walls sent me two sets of the birdies so that I could vouch for the quality of the product and I give it a thumbs up. The little girl in me probably still wants a garden, forest, or castle. The tween in me did not find any Rob Lowe stickers.

My super special guest today is Dottie from Modern Kiddo! I asked for Halloween costume ideas that were based around items that can be used again and again. Dottie told me she was inspired by some charming Livie and Luca western boots and I can see why.

Sources for these adorable finds, all of which look like welcome additions to a wardrobe and playroom:

• cowgirl hat, Amazon
• denim skirt/pants from Target
• boots, Livie and Luca
• Western shirt, Etsy or Ebay
• Riding horse, Amazon

Thanks, Dottie, for your superfun costume idea!

Today I thought I’d post pictures of what’s in my children’s costume stash. To say that our dress-up boxes overfloweth would be an understatement. But in my house, this stuff gets a lot of use. Some of the pieces are versatile and some are, well, just an astronaut helmet.

First, the headwear collection.

Wizard hats seem to be popular with our guests, but I cannot say enough how versatile a bandana is. Be a pirate, a cowboy, or a rock star. The kids also love goggles.

Here are my kids with our recent dinner guests after a deep dive into the costumes. Note the accessories such as the big girl’s wristband and my son (wearing the Mexican wrestling mask) holding a pom pom.

We also have some full head-to-toe costumes, but they do get outgrown quickly. Luckily, Old Navy produces new ones each year and the day before Halloween, they’re about $15.

These three will go to a children’s resale shop near us this year where we’ll turn them in for credit toward a new (used) selection of costumes.

See the clown costume above? I made that for Julian last year.

Note: How to turn any pair of pajamas into a clown costume for a kid.

Note the little things like crazy glasses and purses. These are what complete the outfits. The faux suede tunic was made for every guest at a birthday party Julian attended. They were pirates. It’s a brilliant and simple execution.  Funny, the host of that party loved to come to our house and wear the astronaut suit you see above in order to pretend to be a star hockey player. Okaaay.  The pink sweatsuit is the Foofa costume Scarlett wore when she was two.

An odd but useful element in the picture above is the pretend foam boots that can turn any boy into a man with authority, whether he is seeking to be an astronaut, police officer, or superhero. I am also a big fan of the pieces that have allowed my son to be a ringmaster and/or fairy tale character such as Jack and the Beanstalk. The Minnie Mouse dress is too small and will get swapped at Goodwill this month.

Finally, our capes. We have eight, it turns out, but I didn’t really know how to set them up for a photo. Capes are good for everything. A red one is wonderful for boys and girls alike. You older mamas might recognize one of them as a Continental Airlines scarf. My grandfather had a meeting with them once and brought home about 12 scarves which my cousins and I danced with and dressed up in for many many years.

The end. Would you like to come over and play?

Socks? Yes, socks. I’m talking baby socks, toddler socks, preschool socks, and all manner of little kid socks from infant on up. I realize in confessing this, I might sound a little crazy. But the truth is that I only buy certain makes, models, and colors of socks and I’ve come to have very strong opinions about them. It’s the engineer in me; I can’t help it.

It all started innocently enough with my first little baby. We lucked into a dozen or so super awesome socks along with a mixed bag of other varieties. Then, inspired by an old Parent Hacks post, I began to look at the big picture.

Babies:
Trumpette socks are the very best. They don’t fall off little feet and they come in cute mix-and-match colors and patterns. Buy a dozen – yes they cost more! – and be done. You’re welcome.

They come in skater vans, Mary Janes, + lots more varieties

Toddlers and Preschoolers:
Gap makes the best triple-roll socks for this age group. I suggest you buy 10 or so in the same color and never worry about matching socks again. Yes, I color-code my kids. Currently Holden wears grey and Milo wears red. (His choice, not mine.) The basic colors and grippy writing on the bottom of the foot make these little guys great for new walkers and the kids who like to sprint through my kitchen. I prefer to buy dark colors to hide the playground dirt better. Old Navy ones are decent, but I’ve found that sharp little toenails make holes in these socks faster than the Gap variety. Visit the gap.com baby socks selection.

Big preschoolers on up:
My friend Alissa turned me on to Children’s Place as the best place to get solid colored socks. Around shoe size 11, Gap socks veer away from the solid colors with the grippy bottoms toward something else entirely. See the boy/girl solid socks assortment hidden under accessories at childrensplace.com.

Is there a topic you have irrationally strong opinions about? Bring it.

When I was a little girl, I had no siblings. At my birthday parties, I frequently received board games as gifts, but they mostly sat on the shelf in my closet until I got too old for them. Sure my mom and step-dad and I played Monopoly from time to time; I played Sorry! with my next-door neighbor/best friend; and Candyland with my grandma. But, back then, the assortment was more limited.

After Scarlett’s recent birthday party, during which she collected quite a few board games, I was chatting with Heather about which ones our children really like to play. After we collaboratively listed out a bunch of them, I realized that three new companies stood out as excellent designers of preschooler games. Blue Orange, I Can Do That! Games, and eeBoo are responsible for most of the organized turn-taking fun we have around here. While I still appreciate Hasbro and the other old-school brands, I think it’s cool that there are so many new kids on the gaming block.

And of course there are more. Here’s the rundown of eight games that we personally own and enjoy:

1. Angelina Ballerina Dance With Me! Game. Children get up and perform the moves on the game cards. The board is a diorama of a stage. Not only is my 4-year old enchanted by this game, but my 6-year old son also likes to perform.

2. Zingo. I should add another reliable brand to the list of game producers: ThinkFun. We love this bingo-style game and the plastic game pieces are fun to play with for three-year olds, even when not engaged in an actual game. Find it at Barnes & Noble.

3. Honey Bee Tree. Another refreshingly gender neutral toy, this game doubles as a solitaire activity when no siblings are available.

4. Picnic Game by eeboo. Comes with a gingham picnic table cloth to set the mood. Players spin to fill their plates with main dishes, desserts, and drinks. This identical “spinner game” format is available in other themes: a tea party, building a robot, and fairy tales. Again the materials in the game can be used for open-ended pretending as well.

5.  Discovery Beach from I Can Do That! Games features Curious George and tests kids’ memory. A reviewer on Amazon wrote: The thing I enjoyed best was watching my 5 year old daughter help my 3 year old son to find things–they played together, rather than against each other.

6. Pengoloo is a good one from Blue Orange, as is Coocoo, an all wooden game in which you take turns balancing balls on a rocking clown. For kids who aren’t ready to compete, this can be approached as more a cooperative building activity than a game. (Refrain from yelling “In your FACE!” when your three-year old knocks the clown over with her naive placement of the balls.)

7. I Never Forget a Face is a memory and matching game. The kids faces are from all over the world, and it’s lovely to see all the skin colors and hair textures together in one game. Like I said, I’m a sucker for everything eeBoo. See all their products at Barnes & Noble.

8. Busytown – The board game is half the fun in Busytown. It’s longer than your preschooler’s body.

This is a search and find game where everyone works together. My kids loved it for months but when I tried to validate their opinions for this post, they claimed not to. (See Thingamababy’s review for details on this game.) We have another search and find game called Pictureka that was distracting them. I think they are both quality games and as my kids get older, even just month after month, they get more out of these.

What games do your kids like to play?

(Disclosure: I received Busytown and the Angelina game from my friend Kimberley, a rookie mom who does public relations for the company who makes them. Kimberley and I worked together at LeapFrog Toys well before our children were even a twinkle in our eyes.)

Call it gak. Call it slime. Just don’t call it messy, because this amazing stuff is easier to clean up than playdough and offers as much tactile fun as the dreaded finger-painting. So if you have found yourself saying, “I am not THAT mom, the one who does craft projects,” this is one that might be worth changing your tune for.

On a recent sick day, Julian and I made slime, and then thought it was hilarious to pretend our slime was a spilled smoothie. We staged a photo with an overturned cup.

Don’t worry, folks, this stuff peels right up and can be rolled into a ball!

We followed a recipe for making slime shared by our preschool director.

What you need:

1- bowl
2- teaspoon
3- tall canister or cup
4- measuring cup

I’m pretty sure you have these things in your house. Now when I say you need

5- food coloring
6- Borax (a certain type of laundry powder)
7- 4 oz of white glue (the size of container in the picture)

I know it sounds like a pain because you may not have these things, however you can find them at Target. Pick them up next time you shop, and store them for a time when you feel a surge of “I’m willing to try an unfamiliar project” energy. Or, assign the whole activity to Grandma on her next visit.

Instructions:

Empty glue into canister. (Rest assured, it does wash out easily.)

Add an equal amount of water to glue, along with a few drops of food color, if you like, and stir.

Next dissolve a teaspoon of Borax in water. We used a cup, but it seems like half a cup would have been fine.

Now, add colored glue solution to bowl and mix. This is the grossest-looking step.

After the slime began to form, I encouraged Julian to put his hands in there and begin squishing it together. I figured if it was a failure at this point, he was at least getting some gooey pleasure out of it. I quickly realized we could just pour out the excess water and we now had ourselves a hunk of slime.

Fun things to do with slime:

• Put small plastic animals, chunky beads, or pennies inside (for kids who won’t swallow those things.)
• Roll it into a long snake and make letters
• Cut it with scissors
• Stab holes in it with a plastic fork (protect your table first!) and watch the holes melt away

Things not to do with slime:

• Drop it on carpet
• Eat it
• Get it on upholstery (not tragic, but inconvenient.)
• Leave it out. (Store your slime in a resealable bag in the fridge.)

We wish you a very happy holiday season whether you’re winding down from Hanukkah or gearing up for Christmas, or doing some shade of both like our families.

We’ve created the best no-stuff shopping guides we can think of with the guiding principal to focus on experiences over things. And we’re trying to take our own advice.

Here’s the round up:

• 15 clutter-free gift ideas for your girlfriends, wives, and sisters
• 15 clutter-free gift ideas for kids (fewer noisy toys, more outings!)
• 11 clutter-free gift ideas for men, brothers, dads, and husbands
• 13 clutter-free gift ideas for the grandparents we love (and only one requires that they babysit!)

Don’t feel up to the 100% clutter-free challenge? Here are 6 clever gift ideas for men (some of which you will want) and more great gift ideas for big and small budgets.

Another thing to love about clutter-free is that some of these are perfect last-minute choices too!