Entering Munchkin Land

Int. Farm House -- MCS -- Dorothy enters from l.f.g. and opens the door to reveal Munchkinland -- CAMERA BOOMS forward through the door and around to the right -- to shoot down on FULL SHOT of Civic Center of the Munchkin Village -- Dorothy looks around confused by it all --


MLS -- Dorothy with Toto in her arms looks about the Village and speaks -- 
Munchkins rise before camera in f.g. and watch her -- 


     DOROTHY
   Toto -- I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.


This is a snippet from the Wizard of Oz script (did I really need to say that?) where Dorothy first enters Munchkinland in her trip to the Land of Oz. We definitely had a similar trip this past weekend as we spent numerous hours researching all of the gear we're going to have to amass for our own little man.


Who would have known about all of the specifications surrounding baby stuff? Mattresses need to be firm, but not too firm, but not too soft. And definitely not made in China. No, nothing can be made in China because of the lax standards and high recall rates. Brands with seemingly European names like Babi Italia are actually made in China. And then there's baby furniture, which is like adult furniture, but about 70% more expensive because it's baby furniture. You could get adult furniture for cheaper, but not many people make cribs in adult furniture stores.


Enter an army of car seat options, strollers (three-wheeled monsters that could easily trek up the face of Heavenly Valley, or four-wheeled buggies with compatible docking systems with car seats) and things called "combo units" (I'm still not sure what those are). And don't even think about broaching the taboo subjects of cloth vs. disposable diapers or (shudder) breast pumps. You're likely to not make it out alive.


Here are a few pictures of us in this strange new land. The day started off in our old, familiar Kansas (brunch at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville), and then jumped into Munchkinland (Babies R Us). To the right is a picture of me trying to find out the difference between "normal" Method soap and "baby" Method soap. What is the difference? The baby soap is organic and bio-degradable, but isn't that the Method brand promise? Something must explain the price difference... ah, it's the other ingredient on the front: baby.


As we passed through the aisles we were confronted by what mommy could only label as an "over-stimulation machine" (and then she mumbled something about if the baby is as wild as its father...). I was able to capture the excitement below on my iPhone. This thing was able to bounce, play music and throw a giant giraffe head in front of the baby as he crazily spins a clear cylinder stuffed with two elephant heads and rolling balls.

Perhaps our favorite moment in Oz was seeing some of the more exotic breeds. Not quite animal, not quite mineral, not quite vegetable. In this case, we believe we came across diapers modeled after the denim short-shorts worn by those werewolf teenagers from the Twilight Saga. We know Edward and Jacob are very popular names right now, but somehow we can't see the denim diaper fad catching on. Or can we?


To the right is a picture to prove I'm not kidding, as well as an Amazon link to confirm this is indeed a real product, and we did not dream the entire Munchkinland trip up.


In all seriousness, we are really enjoying ourselves preparing for our little guy and are thrilled to be taking each successive step into parenthood. We're truly over the moon. 


Or over the rainbow.


P.S. - Right before publishing this, I opened Google to see that today is the 71st anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. What a coincidence. Just this past weekend during Uncle Danny's birthday celebration we were talking about Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which coincidentally had its 25th anniversary the next day. What's up with the movie serendipity? My guess? Sprout is going to be a famous actor, director, or writer. And he will buy us mansions and Porsches. 


Here is a clip of the Google doodle: