Mamakaze! Attacking Life at Full Throttle

Moses baskets have come a long way from their humble origins on the Nile river. Despite their inception as crude escape vessels for tiny targets of ethnic cleansing, woven baby carriers have floated into modern homes on a wave of popularity. And why not? They’re comfy, convenient and — with good craftsmanship and a pretty fabric — quite cute!

Perfect for newborns, these clever carriers can be used as sleeping quarters or as a safe place for baby to relax while mama checks off a few household chores. We love how easy they are to carry from room to room while we’re tidying up!

The original Moses basket was made of bullrushes and covered in tar and pitch. Luckily, today’s baskets aren’t required to be seaworthy, so they’re a lot prettier than the craft in which Mamakaze imagines the wee Moses bobbed down the Nile.

In searching for someplace portable for our latest addition to sleep, we found baskets in styles ranging from sensible to sumptuous.

Available in a multitude of colors, patterns and prices, Moses baskets are accessible to mamas on any budget. We found items from $30 to $458 and everywhere in between. Whether your nursery’s decor is contemporary, classic or country, there’s a Moses basket out there to float your boat.

There’s a nip in the air, and while rosy baby cheeks are irresistible, we’ll soon be faced with wintry weather that requires some serious baby bundling. Mamakaze has scoured autumn’s offerings for adorable outerwear, and we’ve come back with 20 of our favorite coats and jackets for the upcoming snow season.

Whether you’re looking for something lightweight or heavy-duty, rough-and-tumble or prim and proper, we’ve picked an eye-pleasing assortment of cool-weather coverups that should have something for every baby. Our ‘06 baby outerwear preview features fashions to flatter little snowflakes of all shapes and sizes.

There are classic wool selections and trendy suede styles for both boys and girls. We found faux fur for the fashionistas, parkas and peacoats in a rainbow of colors, and Western wear for lil’ cowpokes.

We love the way this fall’s colors pick up the hue in our little one’s apple cheeks, and with a veritable cornucopia of colors, your little pumpkin is sure to look his or her best in one of this season’s cute and cozy cold-weather fashion finds. The weather outside may be frightful, but with these delightful coats and jackets, your wee ones will have nothing to worry about except whether they’ll be drinking cider or cocoa.

Every mama deserves a wee break. With the third trimester upon us, Mamakaze has decided to slow things down just a bit in order to prepare for the impending arrival of Babykaze. That’s not to say we will be eating bonbons and watching soaps all day (although we must admit that sounds fabulous). During our little hiatus, we will be adding all sorts of nifty features to the site.

We’ll create a much-needed “about” page and provide contact information, and for our many daily visitors, Mamakaze will be adding a members’ area with checklists for your nursery, your labor bag and packing that all-important diaper bag. We’ll also have a few fun features such as quizzes and a gender predictor. And because Mamakaze knows you love shopping as much as we do, the Mamakaze Mall will feature all of our favorite online shopping sites along with a helpful litte writeup telling you what we love about each one.

In the meantime, we’ll still provide quality blogging — but only once a week until we get the improved site up and running. Look for new posts every Monday!

Everyone needs something a little extravagant — even babies. After purchasing for our first two precious children the finest in high chairs, strollers, cribs and clothes, we were worried that there would be nothing special left for the impending Babykaze. Of course, Mamakaze’s fears were groundless.

Fur has been big in the ’00s, and while we’re not a big fan of real animal hide, we love the luxe look of a faux fox or a counterfeit chinchilla. And who better to swathe in the warmth and luxury of faux fur than our bouncing new baby, due at the turn of the year?

We absolutely adore Brooks Pond’s faux mink carrier cover, which slides right over our regular soft baby carrier. Once the bundle’s in the Bjorn, we can cover those sweet little arms and legs in softest imitation mink, lined in super-snuggly ultrasuede. Presto! Baby’s riding in style while being protected from the elements.

If there’s one thing Mamakaze loves more than function, it’s fashion, and this carrier cover happens to embody both! There’s also a significantly cheaper but equally adorable faux-pony version for the budget-conscious mama.

Mamakaze found this glam, gorgeous gear online at our favorite splurge site, PoshTots.com.

Wherein itinerant infants are imperceptibly imprisoned
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Most of the time, Totakaze is free to wander the house. But on certain occasions — say the cat has thrown up and Mamakaze needs to clean it without the “help” of the wee one’s tiny hands — we need somewhere safe to stow our little one.

For such occasions, we couldn’t make do without our Superyard, a play yard that is indeed quite super. It has extra-high walls to keep tykes from scaling the sides, and encloses a generous 18 square feet of play area (or 34 square feet with the optional two-panel extension).

Unlike her playpen, which lasted only until Totakaze started crawling, the ample dimensions of the Superyard let our wee one feel as if she still has free roam of all the land. With several dozen toys in her play yard, Totakaze could last for hours (not that we’d do that to her!).

The panels are, quite literally, a snap to assemble and the Superyard can be set up indoors or outside. This summer, Totakaze played on the beach but remained safe from dogs, scary seagulls and her own lust for danger thanks to the Superyard, which fits easily in the back of Mamakaze’s small SUV.

This roomy, durable play yard is available online for $75.

We believe the famous song goes something like this: “A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” The lyrics are more than 50 years old, but we’re pretty sure most women agree that jewelry is pretty swell!

And while Mamakaze’s not such a material girl as to turn up our nose at, say, breakfast in bed or a sweet crayon-drawn card, we must agree that one the most delightful gifts a mama can receivem is something we can wear daily to remind us of our much-loved wee ones.

With charm jewelry being in vogue at the moment, along with many other of our fave ’80s fads, we think there’s nothing better to pair with our ankle boots and skinny jeans (well, as skinny as maternity jeans get!) than an uber-cool oxidized-finish charm bracelet made of three different sterling silver chains, with our babies’ names and birthdates insribed on simple hammered silver discs.

Mamakaze found this perfect gift — we’re thinking it’d be great for Christmas or perhaps as a little gift from Papakaze when our bun emerges from the oven — for $130 at Bliss Living, along with lots of other cool and elegant Mommy jewelry.

And lest we fail to instill an appreciation for good accessories in our young daughters, there’s plenty of bling for the babies there, too.

Wherein tiny tots get a head start on back-to-school fashions
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Shopping for school clothes is one of the great joys of the fall season for shopaholic mamas and tykes, and just because a baby’s not in school yet is no reason to prevent him from looking like a class act. That’s why Mamakaze has spent the past month combing the stores and checking out the runway fashions to come up with a sampling of fall togs that make the grade.

Whether your tot’s tastes lean toward college prep or the school of rock, we found outfits for all budgets and sartorial styles. Mamakaze especially loves the rich, velvety European-inspired styles for girls and the new take on classic menswear for little boys! Not to be forgotten, hip-hop styles for the savvy urban tyke, floral crochet for the boho babe, and boys’ threads fresh from the skate park all found spots in our big binder of fall fashions.

It wouldn’t be a Mamakaze fashion preview without accessories, and we’ve chosen the cutest and comfiest footwear for each darling little outfit. Whether your budget is $15 or $115, baby will be putting his best foot forward in style-savvy shoes.

Check out our fall 2006 baby fashion preview for the hottest looks on the racks this season. They’re a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and everywhere in between.

Daddies love babies, but they sure do hate diapers. (Unlike us mamas, who relish our every opportunity to get elbow-deep in poop!) And one thing they hate even more than diapers is the dreaded diaper bag. Even the most unisex of totes is treated as an affront to Papakaze’s masculinity.

We suspect that men simply have an innate distaste for carrying anything with a strap unless that bag has a rubber-to-fabric ratio of 1:1 and contains something containing several thousand dollars’ worth of microchippy goodness.

But the days of daddies shirking diaper duty with spurious claims that bags of any kind are some sort of testosterone Kryptonite are over. Thanks to Dad Gear, taking baby out no longer requires the toting of a purse-like object. Guys can play it close to the vest with, well, a vest. A diaper vest, to be exact.

Interior pockets stash diapers while maintaining a dad’s sleek silhouette, while travel wipes are easily accessible via a front zipper pocket. Extra pockets allow Papakaze to stash his stuff even when he’s wearing those sweatpants we hate, and deep side pockets are perfect for extra bottles. Even the changing pad is not forgotten; there’s a thin pad cleverly concealed in a pocket in the back of the diaper vest.

With diapering supplies concealed in such a clever, Bondlike gadget, that’s one less excuse for daddies come bottom-changing time. We think it’s a great gift for dads and dads-to-be. (And a great gift for the mama, too!)

Mamakaze found the Dad Gear diaper vest for $80 at Uncommon Goods.

There are few things that evoke the richness of autumn more than the color, texture and aroma of new leather. Now, it would be very naughty of Mamakaze to splurge on a pair of knee-high, butter-soft leather boots when we have a babe in arms and one on the way, wouldn’t it? However, we can’t think of a more responsible way of indulging our love of leather than to purchase a diaper bag, which will doubtless get much more use than even the most versatile pair of riding boots.

This fall, we’re loving the rich, buttery browns and the roomy, casual style of the latest leather diaper bags. Not only will they go perfectly with those boots that we are not, we repeat not going to buy, but these bags are versatile enough to tote with jeans and a T-shirt or carry while wearing a tweedy and autumnal suit.

Right now, we particularly adore the Suzy bag by Hammitt. Schlepped on the famous shoulders of Angelina Jolie, it’s no wonder this diaper bag is getting so much attention: It’s got storage to spare, and its stylish yet superlong straps make it a breeze to carry. We found this Italian leather beauty online for $595.

Of course, variety being the spice of life, Mamakaze has taken it upon ourself to amass an assortment of our very favorite leather diaper bags for fall. All of which are much, much more justifiable purchases than lovely leather boots.

Mamakaze generally believes in letting toddlers have free roam of the living areas in our house. We are annoyed, mind you, by the endless unraveling of our toilet paper rolls and the constant dispersion of our Tupperware throughout the kitchen and surrounding rooms. But we remind ourself that by exploring and experimenting, Totakaze is creating new synaptic connections and, with any luck, all the chaos will one day result in a full scholarship to the Ivy of ~~our~~ her choice.

However permissive Mamakaze may be, there are certain cabinets that are better left unopened. For our tot-level repositories of dishwasher detergent and glass mixing bowls, we have amassed an impressive collection of babyproofing gadgets. The only problem is, parts of our once-attractive kitchen now look not dissimilar to Fort Knox. And this, dear readers, is not our ideal aesthetic.

Lucky for lovers of stylish, sleek kitchens, Mamakaze found this “invisible” magnetic cabinet lock. The lock is mounted inside the door with an adhesive and operated with a magnetic “key” that can be stored out of reach of busy baby hands until we’re ready to work our magic. This drill-free solution even works for doors without handles — a must in an ultramodern kitchen!