Winter clothes for me

When you find yourself jealous of your baby's wardrobe it's time to go shopping. I confess I already bought most of the things here.  I would feel horrible about that normally BUT I don't really have any winter clothes this year because my old clothes are still too tight in the chest or hips and the things I wore last year while pregnant are way super big. 

Zara customer service part 2

Remember when two pairs of jeans split and I got all upset with Zara for betraying me?  This is what happened-

I got a letter from Inditex telling me to take the jeans back to Zara with proof of purchase like a credit card receipt and they'd give me my money back.  I only had one pair of jeans, I'd already thrown the other pair in the trash.   I went online and printed my credit card statement with the Zara purchase and my online order receipt.  I also took the letter from Inditex which was a good thing.  At first the employee at Zara didn't want to give me a refund without the tags and original receipt.  However after they read the letter they gave me a refund.  

As a result I fell back in love with Zara.  Still my favorite European retailer by far.  And they have great customer service.

The end. 

Buying toys for baby

I've been thinking about getting my baby girl some toys.  Sophie is one of the only babies I know who doesn't have a ton of stuff.  We didn't get very many gifts when she was born because we live so far away from all our family and friends.  Most of the things her grandparents bought for her were big purchases like a stroller or crib. 

When my Mom arrived two weeks ago one of the first things we did was head out to the toy store.  After looking everything over we carefully selected this fantastic toy for Sophie.  It moves, lights up, sings and talks. 

 

Bright Starts Having a Ball Roll and Chase Bumble Bee: Baby

It looks like the best toy ever, right?  Except that it made Sophie cry every time she saw it.  Turns out moving-glowing-talking robot bees are scary.  (Confession: I used it as a baby scarecrow by putting it front of my laptop so she's stay away from it.  I know, I know, I'm so mean.)  Now she's seen it enough to not be scared of it but she still isn't very interested in actually playing with it.  This got me to thinking about what I could get her that she'd enjoy and play with for years to come.  Right now some of her favorite toys are 3 € stacking cups from the drug store and Lamaze stuffed animals. 

Below are my favorites.  I picked these out for Sophie especially.  She is pretty advanced for her age physically as she is crawling properly and sitting up completely alone.  She also loves music. I didn't add any books because there was no room and books are an entirely different category to me.

Learning toys for babies

Edushape Baby Xylophone Musical Toy, €16 / Skip Hop Treetop Friends Animal Ball Trio, €12 / Haba Eene, Meene, Miny Zoo, €35 / Amazon.com: Fisher Price - Precious Planet Kick & Play Piano Crib Toy:..., €38 / Amazon.com: Haba Fantasy Blocks: Toys & Games, €28 / Amazon.com: Hide N Squeak Eggs: Toys & Games, €19 / Amazon.com: Haba Cozy Chicken Clutching Toy: Baby, €10 / BRIO 30193 - Schildkröte: Amazon.de: Spielzeug / Sigikid 40127 Greifling Katze: Amazon.de: Baby

I purchased the Piano crib toy from Ebay.de after Sophie loved playing with something similar at a friend's house.  Another Mom tipped me off on a Fisher Price baby jumper also from ebay.de.  I couldn't believe it, the jumper on ebay was over 100 € less expensive than the jumper we tried to buy for Sophie months ago.   The Cat, shape sorter and wooden turtle I ordered from Amazon.de.   Everything else will have to wait for Christmas.

My fingers are crossed she's going to like her new stuff!