Toddler Kicks: Get 'Em at Foot Locker

What drove me to shop toddler kicks at Foot Locker the other day? The rain. After I perused JCPenney and Express in Manhattan Mall, it started raining cats and dogs and I had no umbrella. Luckily there's a Foot Locker entrance across from the mall on 33rd Street, so instead of returning to the office I sprinted through the rain right into the arms of these:

With toddlers, as with infants, you're still not wanting laces. I got Converse hi-tops for her at three months and while they were the cutest things ever, they were a pain to get on baby feet. The Nikes above have faux laces and a velcro strap, which makes a mom's life much easier in the AM.

She was so excited about her new shoes, she tried to wear them to bed. And when she woke up this morning, I had to put them on first thing. Note the pattern mix with the PJ's: bumblebees meet gingerbread men, very on-trend for spring 2012. And very chic with neon kicks, yes?

Foot Locker

120 West 34th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue

Birthday Girls Need Faux Fur Vests

Because I'm holding off on ridiculous birthday tiaras until I know they aren't going straight in the mouth, I had to get some style points elsewhere. That's where H&M Baby comes in handy. Soft pink faux fur vests do a girl good for slightly chilly, mid-October morning birthday parties. And what aren't striped leggings good for?

Baby Herald turns one and discovers trucks. Happy birthday to my Arm Baby.

I got the vest at H&M on 34th and 7th Avenue, and the leggings (Sonia Rykiel for H&M) at the Herald Square H&M on 34th & 6th. Both stores are well-stocked with kids and baby stuff, but only the Herald Square store has maternity. All the lines stay true to the H&M aesthetic so your kid, or your niece or nephew, or your friend's kid, is going to be all on trend. And did Baby Herald cry on her birthday? Not quite as much as her mom did!

H&M, 34th Street at 7th Avenue

H&M Herald Square, 34th just east of 6th Avenue