Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

Restoration Hardware has introduced its "newest arrival," Restoration Hardware's Baby and Child, and it's beautiful. Most of the bedding collections come in pink, blue and green with chocolate brown accents. The baby apparel is available in the same colors plus the neutral and organic bisque. It all looks so soft and cuddly. And of course, the furniture is classic and looks like it can grow with the child.

If Restoration Hardware is not in your budget, do what I do. Take inspiration from them and find similar things at other stores like Target and Babies R Us.

A New Baby Boom?

More than four million babies were born in the U.S. last year, a record number. The last time the number was this high was in 1957, in the middle of the baby boom years; about 78 million Americans were born from 1946 to 1964.

"I suspect this is the beginning of a new kind of baby boom, although it's going to be nowhere near the baby boom of the 1950s or '60s," says demographer Arthur Nelson of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. "It will be sort of a boomlet."

Baby Names Change Over Time

The top 10 baby names today are totally different from what we saw decades ago. Here are the most popular boy/girl names from 1950:

1. James / Linda
2. Robert / Mary
3. John / Patricia
4. Michael / Barbara
5. David / Susan
6. William / Nancy
7. Richard / Deborah
8. Thomas / Sandra
9. Charles / Carol
10. Gary / Kathleen

Here's the list from 2007:

1. Jacob / Emily
2. Michael / Isabella
3. Ethan / Emma
4. Joshua / Ava
5. Daniel / Madison
6. Christopher / Sophia
7. Anthony / Olivia
8. William / Abigail
9. Matthew / Hannah
10. Andrew / Elizabeth

Baby's Smile Provides Natural 'High'

Your baby's first grin probably made you feel pretty good. Now, scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine say there’s more to the baby buzz than just a rush of happy feelings. Turns out that seeing your own child smile actually activates the pleasure receptors in the brain typically associated with food, sex — and drug addiction.

Baby Etiquette Week: Day 5 Baby Showers continued...

It's the final day of Baby Etiquette Week. So far, we've covered "Your Friend Is Pregnant," "How Much & When To Give Baby Gifts," "A Gift For The New Parents," and "Throwing a Baby Shower". Here's a little more to make Throwing a Baby Shower a smooth process.

Are baby showers for both parents or just for the new mom?
While most baby showers are traditionally "for women only", coed showers are definitely becoming more popular. Check with the soon-to-be parents for their preference.

Where, When and What do you do at a baby shower?
Baby showers can be given anywhere from a home to a restaurant. Most are held during the day and last for about two to three hours. Activities are always fun for the attendees, including make-your-own onesie and guess the size of my bump.

Once you have decided on all of the details, when do you send the invites?
Be considerate of your guests and give them several (typically four to six) weeks notice to make arrangements to attend and purchase the perfect gift.

Alas, you can relax, the life of a pregnant friend is not that bad!

A special thanks to Lisa Friedman for contributing to "Baby Etiquette Week" on BabyBlogAddict.com. Lisa is the Co-founder of SomeoneSpoilMe.com, Beverly Hills, CA.

Baby Etiquette Week: Day 3 A Gift for the New Parents?

We covered "Your Friend Is Pregnant," and "How Much & When To Give Baby Gifts," in days one and two of "Baby Etiquette Week." Now, Lisa, our guest contibutor, is weighing in on another gift question...

Should you get a gift for the new parents?
You don’t have to, but if they are close friends and you want to, it’s always VERY much appreciated. The gift can be small such as a cute picture frame or comedic parenting book; or more expensive such as a designer diaper bag or a necklace with the baby’s initials. All of these are fabulous baby gifts that the new parents (okay- MOM) will love!

Lisa Friedman
BBA Guest Contributor
SomeoneSpoilMe.com
Beverly Hills, CA

:: BBA footnote: A couple of months ago, we asked you to submit your favorite baby shower gifts. A gift for the new parents was a popular response. Someone said a maternity massage and someone else suggested food or gift cards to take-out places for after the baby arrives. For more Favorite Baby Shower Gifts according to BBA readers, check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Tender Heart Infant Massage

The International Association of Infant Massage is a great resource for finding Certified Infant Massage Instructors around the U.S. and the world. This association trains and certifies instructors who in turn teach parents and caregivers how to massage their babies.

One of these Certified Infant Massage Instructors is Cali Petitt, who introduced us to this program. She is a mompreneur (and Baby Blog Addict reader) who recently started her own business, Tender Heart Infant Massage.

"It's basically in-home infant massage instruction that can be done privately or for groups of friends who want to get together for a series of three mommy and me classes," Petitt told BBA. "Using a teaching doll, I teach parents how to properly perform infant massage. I strongly recommend learning from a certified instructor, since all of the massage strokes have been researched."

Some of the benefits of infant massage include:

• Deepens bond between parent and baby
• Promotes relaxation and can help baby sleep better
• May relieve symptoms due to gas, constipation, teething, sinus congestion
• Stimulates healthy growth and development

Cali Petitt, CCLS, CIMI, teaches in the Mandeville/Covington, Louisiana area, so if you are in that area, you can reach her at 985-502-0629. If not, you can find a Certified Infant Massage Instructor in your area by checking out the U.S. list of 7,000 instructors.

Baby Etiquette Week: Day 2 How Much & When to Give Baby Gifts

It's Day 2 of "Baby Etiquette Week." If you missed Day 1: "Your Friend Is Pregnant," check it out here.

How much should you spend on a new baby gift?
You will want to consider how many gifts you are buying and whether you are throwing the shower? While some baby gifts may be small, they are still costly. Pick a budget and stick with it throughout the course of the next nine months.

When do you give a new baby gift?
This entirely depends on the parents' religious beliefs and customs. If the parents believe it is bad luck to receive a gift prior to the birth, you CANNOT send a gift. However if giving gifts is fair game, you can give a gift at anytime. The only time it is absolutely required for you to give a gift is if there is a baby shower.

Lisa Friedman
BBA Guest Contributor
SomeoneSpoilMe.com
Beverly Hills, CA

Baby Etiquette Week: Day 1 Your Friend is Pregnant

This week is "Baby Etiquette Week" on BabyBlogAddict.com. Thanks to Lisa Friedman, co-founder of SomeoneSpoilMe.com in Beverly Hills, CA, for being a guest contributor this week.

Baby Etiquette Week: Day 1 – Your Friend Is Pregnant

While you may not be the one getting larger each month, deliberating on the relative merits of the Bugaboo versus the Stokke and running (wobbling) from OBGYN appointment to Prenatal Yoga, you are still under a lot of pressure. Your friend is pregnant, therefore you need to worry about what gifts to buy, when to give them, how much to spend and how to throw a baby shower. Don’t get overwhelmed, you have nine months to save and plan. You will get through this stressful (ahem wonderful) time.

What are the best new baby gifts?
This is not stressful- anything you buy will be absolutely adorable (everything is cute when it’s that tiny) and will be extremely helpful (most people do not have extra onesies lying around). Your biggest concern should be choosing pink, blue or green (aka gender neutral), the size (3-6 months is key) and what type of cotton (if it’s an eco-friendly baby, opt for organic cotton). New baby gifts for all genders and environmental dispositions are blankets & burp cloths, clothes & shoes, gear (high chairs, strollers, etc), toys or silver collectibles. Many gifts can be personalized with the baby’s name, which adds an extra special touch.

Lisa Friedman
BBA Guest Contributor
SomeoneSpoilMe.com
Beverly Hills, CA

'Designer Baby' Free of Cancer Gene

This is certain to kick-start a few conversations in the coming days: a couple are expecting Britain's first baby screened not to have hereditary breast cancer in a move hailed as "an exciting technological development."

They decided to screen her embryos and remove the inherited cancer-causing gene BRCA-1 because the baby's father, his sister, mother, grandmother and cousin all had the cancer.

Spears Home With Baby

In celeb news, Jamie Lynn Spears is back at home after giving birth to a healthy, 7 lb., 11 oz. girl - Maddie Briann. Now the real fun begins for the 17-year-old.

Go Back To Work Midweek

The idea of going back to work when your maternity leave ends can be overwhelming. If you can ease back into it by working part time for a little while, try that. If you don't have that flexibility and have to go back full time when your maternity leave is over, try to start with a short week. Instead of going back on a Monday and having to face five full days of dropping your baby off at daycare and working for eight hours a day, you should think about going back on a Wednesday or Thursday.

Consider this option. Sign up your baby to start daycare on the Monday of the week you go back to work. Drop them off for a couple of hours each day - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This will give you some time alone to get things prepared at home and will ease you into the transition of being separated from your baby. When you go back to work on Wednesday or Thursday of that week (my vote is for Thursday), you can see light at the end of the short tunnel. Friday is only a day or two away. Now I'm not saying this makes going back to work after maternity leave easy, it just makes it a little bit easier.

Easy Tips For Cute Post-Delivery Pictures

Hospital pictures right after the baby arrives are not necessarily the most flattering, yet they are usually the first pictures that go out to family and friends; they are posted on your blog for everyone to see; and they are at the beginning of your baby's scrapbook (if they have scrapbooks these days).

Here are a couple of suggestions (no make-up necessary) to make the photos of yourself easier to look at when you are feeling like yourself again.

1) Bring a pretty pillowcase from home. The pillowcase that you are leaning against makes it into all of the pictures, right? Instead of the stark, white one that the hospital provides, bring your own from home. Maybe a pretty blue one or pink one if you know you are going to have a boy or a girl or a neutral one if you will be surprised. These pictured above are from the Martha Stewart "Trousseau" Luxury Bedding Collection sold at Macy's.

2) Now onto that ugly gown that doesn't fit well, is dull and has probably been worn before. There is an alternative! Rachel Zinny is the founder of dearjohnnies "special gowns for special people".

She says, "Like most new parents-to-be, my husband and I planned to take photos right after the birth to share with family and friends. But then I realized that a prominent feature in the photos would be the generic, unattractive pattern of a hospital gown. Did it have to be this way? Why couldn't I be wearing something less institutional and more attractive? Besides, wearing a “used” gown worn by who knows how many other patients wasn't appealing." So she founded dearjohnnies.

dearjohnnies gowns are $65 each and robes are $70. It might be a little pricey for something you can get for free, but after forty weeks of pregnancy, we think you deserve to feel pretty and comfortable. These are also great shower gifts or maybe even a surprise gift from the father-to-be to the mother-to-be...hint, hint to all of you guys out there who are expecting soon.

All this being said, you do realize that no one else is looking at you in the pictures, right? It's all about the baby now!

Robeez Luxury Collection

Check out these adorable Sweet Cupcake shoes from the Robeez Luxury Collection. They are perfect for any little girl to attend a birthday party and for her very own first birthday! A little pricey at $39.95, but oh so sweet and special.

Minnie Mouse Clips

Check out these adorable Minnie Mouse Clips for babies and toddlers from Bitty Bows Boutique or as their tagline states, "REAL no slip clips for BALDIES thru toddlers".

Four mouse colors available: black, light pink, blue and red. The mouse measures approximately 1" across and the clips range from $7.99-$10.49 each depending on what size you select.

If you are buying these for a Disney trip, don't forget to add the Disney countdown ticker to your blog too!

Try Out Free Trial Classes

Most summer camps require kids to be at least three years old to attend, but here are some other organized activities that you might want to consider signing your baby or toddler up for. These indoor activities are especially good during the heat of summer and the friendships you and your child make will probably last beyond the summer sessions.

Most of these offer a FREE trial class and who doesn't like free things? Sign up for a few different free trials, so you can test them out and see what's the best fit for you and your child. You'll also have a lot of fun participating in and potentially meeting new people in the free classes in the meantime.

Here are some to consider:

1. Gymboree Play and Music - 0-5 years of age; fitness, yoga, arts and music in seven program levels.
   
   
2. My Gym Children's Fitness Center - helps children six weeks to thirteen years of age develop physically, cognitively and emotionally.
   
   
3. Kindermusik - the world's leading publisher of music and movement curricula for parents and their children, ages newborn to 7 years old.
   
   
4. Gymnastics Center - check your local gymnastics centers for mommy and me type classes. If your toddler likes gymnastics enough, they may graduate to classes on their own.
   
   
5. Fitness Centers - If you have a family fitness center in your area, they may offer various mommy and me classes which are great way for your child to burn off energy indoors and for you to meet other parents. Many offer free trial classes too.
   
   
6. Churches - Some churches offer mommy and me programs. If your own church doesn't, look at other churches in the area for this type of program. Many of them don't require you to be a member of their church.

Let us know about any other national or local classes in the comments section here. You may be able to introduce other BBA readers to a free trial class that might turn into their favorite activity too!

Website Spotlight: Popsqually & Company

Check out Popsqually & Company for some adorable designs for birth announcements, birthday party invitations and even calling cards. She's also running a FREE Stationery Giveaway for some adorable notecards and coordinating address labels. The contest ends this Saturday, May 17 and the drawing will be on Sunday.

And don't miss her refer-a-friend-program too where you can earn more free adorable stuff.

If you don't see what you are looking for, custom design service is also available.

Introducing Jackaroos Boutique

In addition to our family's personal blog and BabyBlogAddict.com, we've added a new web-based venture to our lives and I'm excited to share it with all of you!

JackaroosBoutique.com is my own online boutique offering custom clothing and gifts for babies and children. I personally make all of the blankets, bibs, burp cloths, loveys, dresses and john-john rompers using boutique-style fabrics. Each can also be customized with an embroidered name to make it even more unique.

Of course, I couldn't launch Jackaroos Boutique without its own blog, so I've added another blog to my life. Check out the Jackaroos Boutique Blog to see my journey and to keep up with my new items.

**Get 10% off your first purchase by helping me spread the word. Just add a link to us in your own blog's side bar - either a text link to www.JackaroosBoutique.com or a banner link (html code in box below). Then send a short note to jennifer@jackaroosboutique.com with a link to your blog (I won't publish your link anywhere) and I'll send you a 10% off coupon code.

To add the Jackaroos Boutique banner including a link to JackaroosBoutique.com, just cut and paste the following code into your blog's sidebar:

<a href="http://www.JackaroosBoutique.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Jackaroos Boutique Logo for link" src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm172/jackaroosboutique/JackaroosBoutiqueLogoforlink.jpg" /></a>

It will look like this...

BumpyName Orbit Labels

Throw away the markers for labeling your kids' sippy cups. We have better and cuter options for you. A while back we featured Baby Labels on BBA. Now, here's another way to label your kids' sippy cups.

BumpyName Orbit Labels are a great solution for labeling bottles, sippy cups, snack containers and other drink containers. I haven't used them yet, but I've heard a lot of great things about them from other moms. They are non-adhesive, so you can use them to tag different items, but if you want to keep them on the same cups and containers all the time, they are also dishwasher and microwave safe.

$12.95 will get you four custom labels and you can get a four pack of two-line custom labels for just $1 more. The two-line labels are also great to list a food allergy below the child's name as a reminder to child care providers.

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles

I was lucky enough to get a copy of the Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles CD to review. Rockabye Baby! transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies.

I always love to read the "About Us" story for companies like this. The label was born in L.A. out of a "need to make children's music cool - not only for babies but for their parents too." And they have succeeded! I love this CD. I played Disney and classical lullabies for Jack when he was a baby. After a few nights, each of those CDs got a bit old. How cool would it have been to have a few of these Rockabye Baby! CDs to throw into the mix?!

I personally loved the Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles CD with the songs "Yesterday", "Hey Jude" and "Here Comes the Sun" to name a few, but there are so many other CDs that you can sample online and order. In fact, Lullaby Renditions of Green Day, the Rolling Stones and U2 earned 2007 Greatest Product Awards from iParenting Media. Check out their extensive list of albums.