Photo by Marty Pants

Dad Makes Invisible Jet Out Of Balloons For Daughter’s Wonder Woman Costume

Charming as all.

I spent way too long looking for base pieces in multiple colors that make a good starting point for homemade baby or toddler costumes. These are all available via Amazon Prime, so you can still get them in time without fitting in a run to the store. Here you go:

A baby pilot cap in BLACK for $10. Boom. In 6 months size, they also have blue, yellow, and pink. The nice thing about these is if you pin costume embellishments to them, you can reuse.

If you need a shirt, it’s cheaper to just order a pack of long-sleeved onesies. I’ll use the rest of the colors anyway. These are $16 for four, and come in a bunch of colors: red, black, brown, blue onesies, and tan, purple, pink, navy onesies.

Leveret baby leggings also come in a zillion solid colors, which supposedly match this brand’s onesies, according to a few reviews, but ymmv. Two for $12.

If reusing the costume as clothes is a main goal, consider Primaries, which are just solid-colored kids clothes in every color. Great quality. It’s most of Ozzy’s wardrobe.

Happy Halloween, guys!

I just remembered a thing I meant to mention. Before Oz was born, I bought a bunch of these tiny LED lights for a project, but we had a bunch left over.

Each one is a little bigger than a large vitamin, so I threw a handful in my labor bag. They ended up being so useful that a bunch of nurses asked what they were. Our hospital had clear plastic cups for water, so we put a few in each cup to act as lanterns, but you could just set them out too.

They were the perfect soft glow for checking the baby’s breathing, getting up to nurse without waking dad, using an unfamiliar bathroom without turning on the glaring hospital lights. Plus, they just made the room calmer.

Anyway, if you’re having a baby, consider packing a few. They were so nice.

After a 20 minute “kid joke” search, I finally found one that was funny.

My friend Asha Dornfest runs the site Parent Hacks, and just published the terrific Parent Hacks Book. It’s a quick read, but I learned so, so much, even as a second-time parent. Three of my favorite tips:

#25 After a diaper blowout, take the onesie off top to bottom.

#51 A dry washcloth keeps shampoo out of kids’ eyes.

#119 Use glowsticks as travel nightlights.

Super informative, and a great baby shower gift. Congrats, Asha!

Parenting thing! Putting this here because it was a bear for me to find baby stuff that does not contain Aloe Barbadensis.

Brad gets a severe, burning rash when his skin is exposed to Aloe, and it’s in almost everything you put on or near a baby’s skin. As of December 2015, these are the brands we use that currently do not contain Aloe. If you have some to add to this list, please let us know in comments.

Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers If you’re just realizing your kiddo might have a reaction to Aloe because rash creams are making things worse, and so forth, Huggies Little Movers also don’t contain Aloe.

Pampers Softcare Baby Fresh Wipes don’t currently contain Aloe. But! Their “Sensitive” wipes do. This is true of nearly all brands marked “sensitive” or “natural.”

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste has no Aloe, and it’s terrific.

Anyway, apparently it’s not a common allergy, but if your kid has a rash that won’t go away, even if you’re blow drying his or her bum between diaper changes, this might be something to try.

Brad wanted a cool diaper bag when Ozzy was born, but I wasn’t willing to give up the ease of a bag that hooks onto the stroller handle. We were using Hank’s old Skip Hop Diaper Duo bag, until we came across Topo Design’s Mini Mountain Bag.

It’s not built as a diaper bag, obviously, but we’ve been using it for a few months and it’s perfect. The strap has a clasp near the bag that makes it adjustable, so we’re able to tighten it most of the way and hang it across the stroller handles. It looks small, but it accommodates everything we need, even when we’re traveling.