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| Red Carpet Entrance -- It's how I roll. |
Having been inaugurated into the world of baby showers last
year, when I attended Big City Moms’
L.A.
Biggest Baby Shower, I had a more focused mission in mind for my second
go-round. While last year I didn’t know what to expect before it arrived, kind
of like when I first became a father, this year I was much more prepared, like the
second time I became a father, and my goal was to scope out which new parenting
essentials might be of most interest to Dude-Fathers.
The 2014 LA Biggest Baby Shower was held recently at the picturesque
Skirball Center in Bel Air, CA, where
the last time I visited I did an archaeological dig with the Little Dude. For
this visit I also explored with unknown expectations and I left pleasantly
surprised by the results. (Much better than that decoy clay pot we found last
time.)
Just to make sure I had the energy to make it through a
3-hour-long event after another very short night of sleep thanks to the Junior
Dudes, immediately upon entering the venue I jumpstarted my system with some Sprinkles Cupcakes that were sweeter than
my kids while at a toy store. Their triple-cinnamon cupcake was epic, BTW. 
Since the Junior Dudes seem prone to simultaneous chronic
runny noses, allergies and any other conditions that I can classify their nasal
leakage as, I was quite intrigued by the new Clearinse Nasal Cleansing
System I discovered. My guess is that my boys’ condition likely stems genetically
from my own sinus issues, and I know that saline irrigation helps better than
anything else since I use it every day myself. As a result, I am eager to try
out the Clearinse system the next time they are congested to see how it works,
especially since it was created by a Pediatrician who is also a father. Here’s
hoping it’s nothing to sneeze at. (Sorry.)
After checking out the vast selection of stroller and car
seat brands from around the world like Peg
Perego, Orbit and Quinny at the Shower, and learning
about their myriad unique bells-and-whistles, I was most interested in Britax’s new collection of boosters and car
seats that are supposed to be super
easy to install. Especially since I have never actually installed a car
seat, but would like to learn how. Someday. Seriously.
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| Britax: Cool gear and smiling faces. |
Daddy and Company
was showing another great gift collection for both expectant and experienced
fathers. Their Daddy
Scrubs remain the one elusive item I wish I’d had before we went into the
hospital when Mrs. Dude gave birth, since the hospital-issued scrubs were as
comfortable as cardboard covered in paste and made an already nerve-wracking
day even more stressful. I also saw some great gift items for
I saw some cool new products from Ergo, updates of some items my family doesn’t use
anymore and that (briefly) made me want to have another kid. Also, a magical
homeopathic elixir called Camilia
that is so good at helping relieve teething pain that my Littler Dude, who’d
just gotten like 6 teeth in a month when I attended the event, was immediately cured
the day after I got home…and I hadn’t even given him the medicine yet. That
stuff is nails.
There was one brand at the event which I was both very familiar with and most eager to meet, because I’ve used their product since roughly
the day I became a father. When Mrs. Dude was first pregnant, I was totally
clueless as to what we actually needed for parenting beside a baby. I told her
to register for whatever she wanted and the one thing I’m grateful for is my Diaper Dude diaper bag. Unlike most
diaper bags it’s not covered in flowers, paisley or teddy bears and is designed
with Dudes in mind. Sold. I got a sneak
preview of some of their new Major League
Baseball licensed diaper bags and Dude-and-son
matching gift sets. Seriously, these bags are rad and made with Dads in
mind, and briefly made me want to have triplets, just for all the new bags.
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| The Dude of the House and the Diaper Dude finally meet. Dude! |
Now with 2 Biggest Baby Showers under my belt, I can say
that there truly is a place at these events for Dudes/Dads both to-be and
already-are. There is no shortage of great gear, and thankfully there is a vast
enough assortment of vendors to really gain an objective view of the market,
which is really the most important thing, IMO. Just because one stroller is
great for me, it might not be for you. That’s why the Biggest Baby Showers are
truly valuable, because you can meet the people who truly know the ins and outs
of the products, because in many cases they
created them! Every baby is different and so are their needs. Go spend a
night with the Big City Moms when they hit your town and find what’s right for
you and yours.
Though I was not
compensated for this post, I was given complimentary admission to the Big City Moms’ L.A. Biggest Baby Shower and I thank them for hosting me. All opinions
expressed in this post are mine alone, for better or worse.
