On Wednesday, Aiden had the opportunity to be a part of the photoshoot for the new Chill Monkeys Apparel line, which will soon be launching. We had a great time at the shoot modelling the first product to be released – hats! Aiden pulled out his charm for some great shots. These are some of the outtakes – I can’t wait to see the ones that made it onto the website!!
You can see the rest of the outtakes here. All of the little monkeys are adorable!! Thanks Alexis for letting us be a part of the new website!
I admit to being a bit of a shopaholic when it comes to Aiden’s clothes. I never thought I’d enjoy shopping for a boy quite as much as I do. I’ve been shopping since I was pregnant, picking up cute things here and there when they were on sale or simply too adorable to resist. We don’t have any hand-me-downs, so finding good deals has been my mission. We also get gifts, so that can over-inflate some areas of our clothing stock, if we’re not careful.
Today I put together a chart organizing all his clothes by size and type to see where I had gaps. I realized at Costco today that I didn’t know how many sleepers I had for his next size, so it was really time for me to pull out everything from the closet and the dresser to take a tally.
As you can see, I’ve already inadvertently over-purchased for the 12-18 pants category. Other than that, it seems ok. The short tops category seems large, but some of the shirts fit quite small, so I know he’ll transition into some of his 18-24 month ones far earlier. He already has all of his 12-18 tops ‘in rotation’, though I try to mostly put him in his 6-12 stuff to get good wear out of it all.
So, this is how I’ve approached organizing. I feel pretty good about doing the chart, as it clearly shows me what I still need to get and I can keep the list updated pretty easily. I chose to detail the pants since I wanted to make sure I had enough ‘basic’ pants that would mix & match easily.
Now, onto H&M tomorrow. I hear there’s an excellent sale. ;)
My son has a big booty. Thanks to his cloth diapers there is lots of extra padding back there, which I am sure he will appreciate when he starts falling walking. The only trouble is that it can be hard to find clothes that can handle all that extra booty. While baby clothes generally have extra room in the rear to accommodate a diaper, I have discovered that many brands only leave enough room for the trimmest fitting disposables. Zayden has actually outgrown some of his outfits purely because they no longer fit around his diaper. Given that I already have a super-sized baby, this has made finding clothes that fit for more than a few weeks a little challenging.
If there is a mompreneur wannabe out there looking for a business idea, a clothing line for babies with big booties would meet the needs of an under-served market. Until then, I tip my hat to Tommy Hilfiger. His baby jeans (which I received as a gift) were the best fitting pair of pants Zayden had–they fit the big booty without being huge everywhere else.
Though we already had a couple of summer hats for Aiden for this year, I couldn’t help but stop and look at the unique designs of the hats at Lonsdale Quay. They are locally made, by Twinklebelle, and are fantastic. I scooped one up… because it’s adjustable!
The hat we purchased is a grow-with-me sun hat that adjusts from 9 months to 2 years, perfect for this summer and next! There is an adjustable strap at the head as well as under the neck, so it’s more adjustable than most velcro or tie chin straps. Plus, the wide brim really does a good job of protecting the back of Aiden’s neck.
And they are all SO cute!
I thought some new or to-be moms could benefit from our experience shopping at the ‘large’ stores for clothes and how they wear & fit. For fit, this is based on our experience with a baby of low-to-average weight and above-average height.
Old Navy
- My favorite newborn sleepers. Had great flaps for hands.
- Most selection of unisex clothing.
- Sleepers are stretchy, so you can wear them a little longer
- 0-3, 3-6 were pretty accurate but 6-12 start to be a little baggy. Great if you have a chunky monkey, not so great if you have a skinny little guy
- Clothes don’t fade much, even with washing on warm
- Sale rack is amazing
Superstore (Joe Brand)
- Inexpensive
- 0-3 fit well, but started to get small at 3-6 and very small at 6-12. We will be out of 6-12 by 8 months.
- Clothes tend to fade or crackle in their designs after a few washings
- Clothes are mid-range in sizing – neither too baggy nor tight
Baby Gap
- Very trendy clothes
- Fit more on the fitted side, so great for our little guy
- Pants length is probably average, though we’ll grow out of them sooner
- Pants are more generous in width than shirts
- Don’t seem to fade – stay very vibrant
- Really nice fabrics
- Have not tried their sleepers
- Sprize card can really help – I’ve gotten $50 back already!
H&M
- Surprisingly good selection of clothes – some cute prints!
- Amazingly soft cottons. Love them.
- Tend to stretch out a tiny bit. Ends up being ok, since you can get more wears out of them that way!
Please Mum
- Boy selection is pretty small, though they do have some cute & vibrant options
- Mid-priced
- Clothes are pretty good for fading. Not excellent.
Children’s Place
- Fantastic boys overalls & pants
- Check the sale rack for good deals
- No fade issues
- Sizing seems quite average
There are definitely more clothing options for girls than for boys out there, but these cover the "main" brands available out there. I don’t really shop at department stores, though you can get great deals on really cute Disney and Gerber sleepers at WalMart. I sometimes buy from specialty stores, but you end up paying a great deal more. My strategy has been to shop the sales and stock up for future sizes.
