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Bitty Baby Bottles and a CHOO CHOO.

Published on August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 by Darlene Dee8 Comments

Have you been to an American Girl store lately? They used to be very DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING WE EVEN PUT THE TOYS BEHIND GLASS HANDS OFF! But now they have a playhouse and all sorts of toys out for the children to touch and play with and beg their parents to buy for them. Well played, Mattel.

Babystar doesn’t beg for toys yet THANK GODDESS but I know she will someday. For now, she just plays and plays and plays and plays and plays and doesn’t want to leave the fun toys. Who can blame her? She recently spent almost an hour playing in the American Girl store at Tyson’s Corner Mall. Adorably, her older sister stayed and played with her while my son and I ran errands in the mall. The Teenager has like nine American Girl dolls (I’m guessing — she might have ninety) so she was pretty ok with checking out all of Bitty Baby’s new swag. Apparently, Babystar took care of two babies while we were gone, and changed their diapers and fed them each bottles (which she called coffee HAHAHAAHAHA) and found them a nightlight and sang them the ABCs and put them to bed and then went to make dinner in the playhouse.

The ToddlerMonster is a much more organized mother than I.

So of course after hearing this, I had to buy her something for her Bitty Babys at home. If you have ever been to an American Girl store, you also know that the toy baby items cost more than their real world counterparts. I can get a pair of baby pajamas at Carter’s for under ten bucks but pajamas are twenty four dollars for these fancy dolls. Bitty Baby’s high chair is $48. Babystar’s Ikea high chair cost less than half of that.

I bought a set of two baby bottles for $6.36 with tax. The white one is for milk and the red one is for coffee, according to Babystar. (My Contigo coffee cup is red so I guess that is where she is making this connection. I swear I don’t give the toddler coffee. But she doesn’t drink milk out of a bottle either so I guess she is just winging it. A-plus for creativity.)

She also rode the (RIP-OFF) mall train that day. It cost me $15 because she wanted both her brother and her sister to ride and the dude charged me for both of my adult children. Jerk. (I’m still a little bit bitter but look how cute and SMALL Babystar looks with her older sibs. And look how CUTE they all look in the tiny train car together LOL.)

RAISING BABYSTAR: $20,508.64

Auld Lang Syne.

Published on January 1, 2017April 9, 2017 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

There is something in that song about old acquaintances, right?

Is that the song about ‘make new friends but keep the old’?

No, I think that was from Girl Scouts.

I know, I know, I could Google this. But let’s start the year on a lazy note, shall we?

To new friends and old friends! Cheers and a very big thank you to all new and old blog followers and Instagram followers!! Happy New Year!

Look at all these old and new friends for Babystar!

The snowman in the top picture is her BFF from last month.

The penguin came from her sweet cousin V.

The old school half-naked Bitty Baby came from a local mommy listserve ($15) so her human friends would have a baby to play with when they come over (but of course Babystar likes that one best).

The Target baby is still one of her #squad.

The Buckle Bear was the free portion of a ‘buy 2 get 1’ Target promo in December and I bought him because Babystar was freaking the freak out about learning to buckle all by herself thank you very much. He also has a button and velcro and a zipper but it’s really all about the buckle so we call him Buckle Bear.

The tiger was her Build-a-Bear gift from her big brother when he was here in December.

The newer Bitty Baby was from her grandparents a few months ago. Please notice her dashing layered look.

The dinosaur was her Build-a-Bear gift from her big sister. Both her older sibs took her to Build-a-Bear as her combined Christmas gift and let her choose an animal. They love their stuffed animals from BaB (some they have even given to Babystar) and they wanted to give her the first one. She liked the tiger AND the dinosaur so they held them both out to her to let her choose. Babystar looked at them and then pointed to both and said ‘TWO’. She got two. Smart cookie. Cuteness will get you everywhere, little one.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $14,225.23

When Grandma Comes to Town.

Published on October 27, 2016December 12, 2016 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Granny and Grampy (the in-laws) were in town last weekend and they wanted to take Babystar shopping for things that she NEEDS. I anticipated this because I am excellent at seeing the future and because they do this every time (AND because they kept reminding me) so I thought Stride Rite seemed the perfect destination.

Babystar got new Mary Janes because her current favorite shoes are about to not fit anymore (and I have no idea where to buy them). And she also got some fuzzy-inside, comfy winter boots because it gets cold here in Northern Virginia. So that was wonderful and very helpful. And Babystar even got a few stickers. Luckily, Stride Rite made sure she knew which stickers were appropriate for a little girl via the tried-and-true color coding system. And luckily my baby don’t give a fuuuuck. You already know we came home with Star Wars AND Sesame Street WHAAAAAAAAAT.

Have you ever been to Tyson’s Corner Mall? If you live in or near Northern Virginia, the answer is probably yes. Do you know what store is right next door to Stride Rite? If you said the American Girl store, you win. Guess what you win? You get to give ME $100.

I have already gone on record about the American Girl store. But I’m not even mad. Here’s how it went down. Babystar raced into the red and pink wonderland so Grammy and I followed.

Babystar headed straight for the ‘babies’ like they were calling her name and singing her favorite songs and I’m not convinced that they weren’t. And of course the ‘babies’ are on REALLY LOW shelves, right? So here is Babystar manipulating Grammy into bringing a Bitty Baby home with us.

So effective, right? I almost want to buy her one and I DEFINITELY DO NOT want to buy her one.

Of course it worked. She even got an extra outfit because she said ‘kitty’ and pointed to an outfit with a cat on it. (Yes, she knows the word kitty and I am very proud but am I more proud of her vocabulary or her clear ability to control her world around her? I’m not sure yet.)

She immediately has to show Grampy who is waiting on the bench outside because he is smart. And she is smart.

And then be ALL CUTE about it. Jeez, ok, that little pose is worth $60, I guess. Suckers.

And here I imagine her thinking, mama, give me the camera. This is none of your business.

The lovely, thoughtful, well-meaning grandparents also bought her three pairs of maxaloones from etsy because I wanted her to have pants that will fit over her cloth diapers and hopefully last an entire season. I let Grammy pick (but I only showed her cute ones to choose from) and I’m excited for them to arrive in the mail!

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,790.51

Babies Having Babies.

Published on September 28, 2016September 28, 2016 by Darlene Dee1 Comment

So apparently little Babystar tried to shoplift a Bitty Baby from the American Girl store at the Grove while we were in LA last month. Ok, I wasn’t there, but the Teenager says she picked up the box that was almost as big as her and was like, see ya.

Don’t worry. The taller, more law-abiding family members present intervened.

I wasn’t there THAT day (because I was at a taping of The Price is Right with my over-18 and therefore eligible son but no we did not win anything not even a new living room set or his and hers golf clubs but you can watch for me in the audience on October 25) but I WAS there a couple of days ago at Target when she spotted the baby dolls.

We take the toddlermonster to Target sometimes on rainy days to run out her wiggles. Sorry, Target. She sometimes rearranges your displays. I really do my best to fix them. Mostly. Anyway. We went there for a single pack of college ruled notebook paper for the Teenager and for some indoor sprintingfor Babystar. I somehow spent $100. Damn you, Target, you sorceress!

And now the Baby has a baby. And the Baby’s baby has a stroller. $12.99 and $9.99 respectively. (For comparison, Bitty Baby is $60 and her super fancy tiny jogging stroller is $58. Jeez, Mattel.) So I basically SAVED almost $100 because that is how shopping math works, right?

Babystar loooooves her baby. It is the cutest thing ever. I have had to be resuscitated at least five times now because I FREAKING DIE when she cuddles that baby. But then she eats the baby’s feet and throws the baby on the floor and the universe makes sense again.

Fun fact: I had to draw a belly button on the baby doll with a Sharpie because Babystar is obsessed with belly buttons and this baby didn’t have one. I bet Bitty Baby has one. Ugh.*

I also bough a pack of Target brand diapers (highly recommend) for $6.49.

And the baby found a fort.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,170.57

*I have nothing against Bitty Baby. Just kidding, I DO. $58 for the stroller?! $75 for a cradle?! The dresses are more than I spend on my ACTUAL BABY. I went down the American Girl path with the Teenager and I will.not.do.it.again. Ok, so I am HIGHLY PREJUDICED against Bitty Baby. Sorry, little plastic baby. NOT SORRY, Mattel.