I had just a few more thoughts to share expounding on the recent post regarding our adventure registering for the essential baby gear needed to parent effectively in the 21st century.
Contrary to the popular instant gratification trend of our society, Kim and I have decided to keep the baby’s sex a secret. (In fact, I intend to keep sex a secret from baby for at least thirty-five years.)
If I can use the word sex one more time in this post, maybe it will rank higher in the search engines. Sex. Sex. Sex. (That should do it.)
Anyway, there are too few surprises left in the world, and this is one we don’t think is necessary to spoil.
The downside is that it’s pretty clear that our baby’s favorite colors better be yellow and green. I’m not sure who decided on baby color schemes, but it works like this: If you’re having a boy, he is to be dressed head to toe in blue. Girls need to be plastered in pink. And if you’re not sure, well, yellow and green are your only options. Oh, and no matter what, each color only comes in pastel. Period.
Meanwhile, while the baby clothes are offered only in pastel, the baby toys are made with the brightest, boldest, most saturated colors known to man. I looked down an aisle featuring a wall of baby toys, and my corneas almost exploded.
But I digress.
I think this color-coding of clothes according to gender is strange, because if you were to look in our closet, it’s not like Kim’s side is filled with pink clothes, while my side is completely blue (let alone pastel blue). What’s a daddy got to do to get some black onesies in the house? Seriously, we were looking at some accent pieces to add to the nursery and Kim thoughtfully asked, “If we have a boy, is this too feminine?”
I looked around at all of the offerings and said, “Are you kidding? Everything here is kind of feminine.”
And that’s just how it is. Babies are cute, and somewhere along the line, the color gods decided that pastel was the appropriate shade for all things cute. Far be it from me to buck tradition.
Besides, yellow is kind of growing on me.
Enjoy the trip down “expectant parents lane”! With all the creativity simmering in both you and Kim, I’m sure you can come up with something for the nursery that will feed the baby’s soul. As far as the black onesies, you might try buying white ones and dyeing them black (maybe you can find an organic black dye?).
Good luck finding many clothes in yellow and green. 3 years ago when MJ was a babe, I did NOT want pink clothes. I insisted on blue, yellow, green, or white (which frankly, isn’t a great idea for babies). She mostly wore blue, pink, and some yellow. (Green’s my fave color.)
If you want something other than pastel (or blue or pink), you might try handmade items, like at Etsy. I’ve bought hand-dyed clothes for MJ at Beneath the Rowan Tree http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5167764 She mostly does bright colors, tie dye and solid. She’ll dye to your specifications, too.
Don’t stress too much about non-generic clothes – you’ll be given a whole bunch of gender-appropriate (read: blue/pink ;)) clothes once KoJu* is born.
I know threadless has some dark navy onesies at least (look for the rhino running on a treadmill).
Also, you’ll probably end up putting jumpsuits/jumpers/tshirts over the top anyway – and they are much easier to find in bright colours.
-RodeoClown
* Kotecki Junior
Thanks for the tips, guys!
I second AnnMarie’s suggestion to find boutiques on Etsy if you’re looking for less clone-like baby clothes. And might I suggest that if painting your nursery, you go with green rather than yellow. I was told by a couple of different sources when we were selecting a paint color, that yellow is not a soothing and may cause your baby to cry more. Blue is the most soothing, but green is good too.
Oops. Too late, the wall is already yellow (we’ve got a giraffe theme going.) But it looks pretty cool and hopefully the baby will agree ;)
After 6 kids (with #7 due in Jan) I can give you some sound advice here.
Its going to be a boy. At least that is how it always happends with us.
Our oldest is a girl and then we have 5 boys. We can find out in 3 weeks if this next baby is a boy, too, but I would rather be surprised. My husband, Mr. Instant Gratification, can’t wait so I guess we will find out that we are having another boy in a few weeks.
Either way, my best advice is to just wait on buying too much stuff. The first week of your baby’s life won’t be going out and partying. Plus, it’s a good way to get Kim out of the house after the baby is born. She will be tired but fresh air will be so good for her and new mommies LOVE to spend money on their baby. So, take Baby out after a week and shop with him. Not only is it fun to show off your new little guy but you will have a better gage on the sizes you need.
Want a black onesie? Head to your Harley dealer or Google ‘Harley Davidson Baby’. My husband rides a Harley and has picked up many adorable, non-pastel items for our little guys.
I do have to say though, if this next baby of ours is a girl she will definitely be wearing pink.
Hey guys!
We painted our baby room the color of butter. Literally. Made me want to lick it! LOL!!!!!! Then we did polka dots up at the top… it was cute… very circus-like :) We waited too, with both our kids… it is one of the few suprises left in life!
How about some pics of Kim’s growing belly???
Jill
May I suggest a new dress or two for Kim? Either with nursing openings, or soft knit tops with comfy skirts. Because the regular clothes won’t fit for a while, and it will be murder on your postpartum ego to put maternity clothes back on. Sweats and scrubs work for a couple weeks, but then you may have the urge to look pretty for an outing. Oh, and stick with cotton, because breastfeeding is pretty sweaty work early on :)
You know if you want some green clothing, they make really awesome Packers gear in infant sizes ;)
Marilyn — Ha. Ha. Ha. (No child of mine will be dressed in the colors of the devil.)