I'm all about neatness and cleanliness when it comes to mealtimes, but for a still-getting-the-hang-of-it silverware user (who also relies on the medieval hand-to-mouth method the rest of the time) like Wills, just getting that loaded spoon from bowl to mouth without having it all fall overboard halfway there is hard enough as it is.
He's getting better, but just can't help having most of each spoonful end up littering his lap and somehow ending up smushed into the seat of his pants.
Regular bibs just don't cut the mustard when it comes covering mass area, and painting smock-type bibs with attached sleeves aren't very breathable and are about as uncomfortable as the plastic couch cover on Aunt Honey's Queen Anne-style camel-backed sofa on a 90 degree day.
Poi Wear (named for the traditional Hawaiian dish that got the designer's niece messy beyond belief) gets that and more, so the Hi-Chair Bib (shown at top left, $20) makes sure to keep tots cleaner and less inclined to need three outfit changes following daily trips to the family table.
Each bib is hand made from 100% silky-smooth, fully machine washable lightweight cotton (that's lined in 100% water-resistant, non-staticky nylon) that doesn't pull around the neck (this is key at our house if it's going to stay on), and comes in a trillion, gazillion patterns to suit every tyke's flights of fancy like Cosmotot's pick, the Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque World Traveler Maps & Planes (shown at top left).
The split-leg design also makes it a cinch to use with all the newfangled high chair styles and models on the market (and those bar-in-the-middle throwbacks found mainly in restaurants or sometimes, at grandma's house), and we found the one-size-fits most 6 months-3 years claim to be accurate, considering that Wills is long and lean like the Jolly Green Giant.
I just wish that it was completely water-repellant, too.
Wills is also practicing drinking out of an open cup.
And, since we're talking about covering all the bases when it comes to mealtime, why not do the same for playtime with Poi Wear's Nee-Pad Pants (shown at bottom right, $70).
The name is pretty self-explanatory - each pair of hand-made, pre-shrunk, stretch denim pants comes with two themed knee pads (choose from balloons, hearts [shown at bottom right], basketballs or cars) to keep tender little knees soft and scratch free during those crawling months, and even includes a coordinating cotton tee.
