shak-shuka

Vegan Baby Shoe Goodness

I feel like I'm repeating myself when I say this (because I love all the things in our shop), but when I saw this new brand, it was like someone read my mind. I've been back and forth about carrying any kind of vegan baby shoes, because most of them are so hideous and bright, with unnecessary bells and whistles that no sort of footwear should carry. So imagine what a relief it was for me to be introduced to Dimmalimm Kids' gentle-to-the-eyes baby shoes: not only are the easy on the eyes (no fluorescent colors in sight), but they are also stunningly beautiful.

It is not easy to create a vegan shoe - you could perhaps go with a super hard vegan material, but that would be nearly impossible for a child to wear. Dimmalimm Kids managed to get everything right with their buttery soft (100% vegan) ultrasuede which feels even better than real suede (no guilt needed!). A mother and daughter team originally from Iceland but transported to sunny California, Dimmalimm Kids definitely has sure footing with us at Shak-Shuka with their undeniably cute baby shoes in styles reminiscent of adults: Loafers, Mary Janes, and T-Straps. All beautifully packaged in a linen-esque bag making them perfect for a gift or a keepsake item to pass down from generation to generation. I personally expect to see a baby boom in about 9 months so that parents will have a little baby to put into these shoes!

Biodegradable Potty Power

There is a hideous secret we have in our bathroom. A blazing, obnoxious huge green training potty that we purchased for my daughter ages ago when she fancied using the toilet (to mock us, not to actually use it!). Even though those days of toilet play are long gone, that potty remains. As you will remember, we are really trying to limit our plastic consumption and this potty is a painful reminder that plastic is very much well and alive in our house, and lives.

I've managed to redeem myself with this little addition to our boutique - the BecoPotty! We have been hounding them for ages, but finally, the world's first biodegradable potty is now ours (or yours if you get one!)! Not only is this a bit of redemption for the horrendous plastic potty that we (mistakably) purchased, but the BecoPotty is made with rice husks and other natural goodies that are soft and not-too-cold to the touch which will keep the little one's tushy happy when sitting down on their royal thrown! Another added bonus that we've noticed for our daughter is that it's really low, which means that she feels more confident when sitting herself down, and is more likely to actually hit bulls eye in the center! Potty perfect!

BecoPotty even gives advice as to plant the potty in the garden or compost when you're finished, or you could always keep it and pass it on to a sibling or relative. Whatever you do with it, it's a wonderful thought that a passing phase in your child's life won't leave a horrific mark on the environment and future generations. That's what I call Potty Power!

SALE!: For our devoted blog readers, we are offering a 15% discount on all BecoPotty's today ONLY! Enter code "POTTY" at checkout by midnight (EST) tonight!

Get Your AudioBaby On

It's rare and a real treat to bring my readers something so special that I feel as though I have a "breaking story" (even though he's already been picked up by the likes of Ideal Bite and celebrity clients). If you've had a baby, don't you look back and wish you could have documented your pregnancy more? Or if you are planning to give a gift to a new family, don't you wish it could be something unique, and possibly from the whole gang/family? Look no further than AudioBaby from custom audio portraits maker - Audio Heirlooms. Don't get the wrong impression that it's audio of your baby in utero (but maybe that's another avenue?!). Instead, AudioBaby follows the developing story of a pregnancy throughout each tri-mester and after the child is born. Imagine all the stories you would be interested in hearing from your mother about that time period in her life. I seriously cannot think of a better gift to everyone involved: parents, family members, and the child when they grow up!

I'm also thinking that AudioBaby would be perfect for even after the baby is born - my husband always hears me sing (to the horror of everyone) traditional lullabies in English and Hebrew and he wishes that he could remember the traditional Spanish ones that he heard from his Grandmother as a child. What an amazing gift to pass on to future generations - get Granny on the mic! I say gone be the days of the Diaper Genie and baby booties, it's the future of AudioBaby for pre-baby and beyond!

Mamas & Babies on Board

Having moved from big city to small city life (or at least that's how it feels coming from NYC to Rotterdam), we have grown accustom to driving. Although we use our bikes more than any other form of transportation, since we've become parents, it's been essential (not to mention a godsend) to have a car. It makes me cringe to even think of having to have taken public transportation, or my bike (!) when I went into labor to the hospital.

I remember the day we brought my daughter home from the hospital, I felt as though we were carrying cargo more precious than the Wells Fargo wagon. I wished that I had one of those cute "baby on board" signs for the back window so at least people would realize what we had inside and drive more carefully.  Alas we didn't have one when we were driving around, but now we do - at Shak-Shuka! Thanks to the beautiful artistic mastermind Nicole from Ocechou, we have both the "Femme Enceinte a Bord" (pregnant woman) and "Bebe a Bord" (baby on board) stickers that you can place in your car, or anywhere I suppose! These are not your run-of-the-mill stickers: unbelievably cute design of a plump and radiant mama-to-be, or a plump and edible new baby, all gorgeously wrapped in eco-friendly recycled paper. Even though I missed the "Femme Enceinte" phase, I'm still well within the "Bebe a Bord" phase! Drivers beware - exceptionally cute sticker and baby on board!

Wee Go Bottle Hunting

I had the fortune of being able to take care of my daughter as a "stay at home" mom, which meant that we were together 24/7. Since I breastfed her and we were together ALL THE TIME, I never had the time/energy/desire to use a bottle, since it was always much easier to just give her the breast than a bottle. But not all moms have it as easy as I did, so I always wonder what the best bottle option there is out there.

As most of us know, using plastic bottles is the most common and well-known way to get fluid into a baby, but more and more parents are becoming weary of plastics. At Shak-Shuka we carry ThinkBaby bottles which are recommended by the Healthy Child Healthy World organization in the US. Healthy Child, Healthy World gives their seal of approval to companies with outstanding commitments to children's safety in terms of using BPA, phtlates and PVC free plastics and other materials. But for parents who want to go the extra mile there are new bottles on the market which challenge even the most eco of bottles.

Wee Go was one of the first "modern" glass baby bottles, and it has a sleek appearance and a silicone sleeve to keep your hands well gripped and not slipping off the bottle. I personally love the look but somehow would be terrified of glass+baby=disaster. I know that many people are happy with using glass, and let's remember that it's reinventing the wheel a bit as baby bottles back in the day were originally glass too! A newcomer to the eco-bottle world are bottles made from stainless steel. Two companies, Organic Kidz from Canada and Kid Basix are the makers of stainless steel baby bottles and they both look like serious contenders for the safe-baby-bottle set. Although to me stainless steel seems a bit extreme (too hot? too cold? or is it just me?) I know that the companies have thought of everything down to the tempered exterior so that little fingers don't get scalded from hot contents.

So there you have it - finding safe and non-toxic baby bottles isn't as hard as we thought, the only really difficult decision is trying to figure out which way you'll go: plastic, glass, or stainless steel? It almost sounds like your recycling bins......but not quite!

Be A Babycook

One of the most coveted pieces of baby equipment I got when I first had my daughter was something for the kitchen. Strange you might think, but given that I'm a chef and I knew I was going to be gung-ho in the kitchen, I wanted to make sure I had the best tools on hand. Enter the Beaba Babycook. It may look like your average, run of the mill baby food making machine, but it's so much more!

Even though I had read about it in almost every magazine that I've come across in Europe (it's originally from France), I was a bit skeptical whether or not I really needed an extra piece of equipment clogging up my already bulging kitchen counter. I already had: the blender, the food processor, the ice cream maker (impulse buy I never regret in the summer), the hand-held blender....the list goes on and on. But YES! I needed this Beaba Babycook because it did all the things that you need for baby food: steam, puree/blitz, and defrost. Basically that's about all you do to simple veggies and fruits in the beginning stages of weaning, and I have to say I've gotten more than my money's worth out of this machine. And now that my daughter is grown, I still use the steam attachment for steaming small quantities of things, and even the food processor attachment for making small batches of hummus or guacamole! Who knew? Best of all, it's comforting to know that the Beaba Babycook is also BPA-free, keeping in line with all the other BPA-free gear we have going on in our house. 

The Beaba Babycook is not on the cheap end (it was over 100euros last time I checked), but if you're into making your own homemade baby food, then I highly recommend it. And if you don't want to foot the bill and pay for it yourself, maybe you can have it on your baby registry list and have a few friends chip in to buy it? That way you also save yourself the humiliation of getting tacky gifts you maybe didn't want in the first place.....

So now we ask: would you like to see the Beaba Babycook at Shak-Shuka? 

Lovin' Kids Vitamins

I normally wouldn't try and jinx myself like this, but I just had to share this information with other parents out there trying to keep their kids healthy. When I was pregnant with my daughter, towards the end of my pregnancy I was feeling a bit low in energy, so I started taking Floradix, which is a natural liquid iron supplement made from fruits, herbs and vegetables. I'm used to drinking strange tasting concoctions, so I was pleased to taste that this was quite pleasant! For those of us not into drinking our vitamins, there is also a tablet form as well. I found that especially useful when traveling, otherwise I was partial to the liquid.

When my daughter was born, we took her to our homeopath and discussed her demeanor, etc and he suggested that another way to boost her immune system to keep her in tip-top shape was to give her a children's liquid vitamin supplement from the same maker of Floradix. I was pleased that I was already very familiar with the brand, and eagerly awaited to see how my daughter took to the taste. Initially she was a bit shocked (I think we introduced her to it when she was 6 months or so), but after a few times she was really hooked! Now during bath time (we do it then in case of any spills) she always calls out for her "Dixie" (this is how she calls Kindervital, which we accidentally were calling Floradix. Oops)! It's great to not have to fight with her to keep her healthy!

So I am not saying that Kindervital will keep your child free of illness, but I think that it definitely gives a bit of a boost during flu seasons, and has managed to keep illnesses in our house at bay. Of course nothing can replace a healthy diet, loving and healthy relationships and environments, but a little bit of tasty liquid vitamin-y goodness can't hurt!

Available on Amazon under the name "Kinder Love Chlidren's Multivitamin"

Available in the Netherlands as "Kinder Vital"

The NEW Diaper Hybrid

Before my daughter was born, I was adamant about finding a diaper that was as eco-friendly as possible. Living in a small apartment (with a huge dog) I knew that we weren't going to be able to do the full-on cloth diaper, but I wanted to see if there was another option out there. After reading an article in a magazine about "eco backlash" (how companies are green but not promoting themselves as such because people are tired of being hit over the head with the green mallet), there was mention of a US diaper company that did just that. G Diapers were created as an answer to the "cloth vs disposable" diaper conundrum, as they call themselves a diaper hybrid: part disposable (flushable liner) and part cloth (waterproof diaper outer cover) all in one. We tried them out in our house back when my daughter was born, and I loved them, but it was hard to get my husband to convert. There isn't that much work involved, but you do have to remove the biodegradable liner and flush it down the toilet which he wasn't too fond of. There were minor drawbacks that in retrospect I wonder if any diaper could've contained what my daughter was sending out in her early infant days!!! Once she outgrew the G Diapers we switched to Naturcare Diapers, which are mostly biodegradable, and to rave reviews in the house (and tushy). G Diapers now has these super-cute styles (like the ruffled one above) that make me want to re-invest in another set of G Diapers, but my daughter is just about to go into the potty-training stage....bum(mer)!

E.T. Baby Phone Home

One of the most fun and challenging things as a parent is making sure you buy all the right things for your baby. As a first time parent, it can be especially daunting as some of the things you have NO idea what they are (belly button clamps?!! what?!!). I was lucky enough to not be working before the birth of my daughter, so I had plenty of time to read up and obsess over everything from baby wipes to strollers to baby monitors. 

When deciding on the baby monitor, I was really eager to buy the most high-tech, most intrusive one they had, as it only seemed fitting that I watch/hear my baby's every move. I then read an article about the negative effects of "electrosmog". Believe it or not, electrosmog is the real deal and it comes from the invisible electromagnetic radiation from the use of both wireless technology and main electricity - aka - your mobile phone, wireless networks, and yes, that baby monitor. I even have a friend who bought an "electrosmog eater" which is supposed to help the baby sleep as it eats up or sucks up the electrosmog in the air so that it creates a more neutral and peaceful environment! I don't know if I was ready to go that far (those electro-vacuums run into the 000 mark), but I was willing to make a commitment on the baby monitor. 

After doing my research, I discovered that the German brand Vivanco makes the one and only "eco" or low-electrosmog emitting baby monitor. The Vivanco Babyfon even carries the Oko-test (a very strict evaluation of products in Germany which then receive a rating based on their safety/effectiveness) certification which won major points in my book. The Babyfon is also reasonably priced and for our family was the perfect match: great for small apartments, easy to use, no fuzzy noise, and clearly no additional heavy electrosmog! Decide for yourself how much you do or don't believe in electrosmog, but I think that the evidence is clear that chatting for hours on your mobile phone isn't particularly good for you, so something must be "in the air"..........

www.babyfon.de

Plantable Birth Announcements

A few weeks ago we received a birth announcement card from a friend of my husband. The card was minimalist and sleek, a silver cover and on the inside, an adorable picture of the baby girl and her details (height, weight, etc which were all a mystery to me until I had my own child!). Soon after receiving the card, we did the right thing: found a gift for her (at Shak-Shuka perhaps??!) and sent it off. Delightful. Happy. Done. But now what do we do with the birth announcement? To keep all the baby announcements we receive would require a whole new room in our house, but throwing them in the recycling bin just seems, well, strange. What to do what to do with this modern "baby birth announcement" issue....

Time to tackle it eco style! Low and behold there are eco birth announcements out there, and not just made from recycled paper or recyclable, but instead they continue the cycle of life (at least in my opinion) as you can plant them in soil and they grow wildflowers! Botanical Paperworks has really come up with what I think is the most stylish, "green" solution to broadcast the excitement of your new little one to the world! Talk about "cradle to cradle" eco-friendly! I think that if I knew a baby being born anytime soon, I might suggest they use Botanical Paperworks plantable birth announcements....or wait a minute, maybe I just did?!!

Check out all that Botanical Paperworks does that is friendly to the environment:

www.botanicalpaperworks.com