Muffin Tin Monday - Byoo-duh-fuh Nunch For Baby!

The other night, as I was loading her baby dolls and accessories into the new (used) Cinderella toy chest Unka Kee-ile and Auntie Nizzie gave her for Kimmens, she decided she had to play with one of her babies right now. She chose "brown baby" (her name for it, not mine. I just call them all "baby." The others are "pacifier baby" who came with a pacifier tied on; "bottle baby" who came with a bottle tied to the wrist, although now I think she calls it "feeding baby" since it makes sucking sounds when you use the bottle it came with. There's a "pink baby" too, with a pink body/outfit (they ALL came with pink clothes!) but that may be Tually's. Oh, no wait. They each have a "pink baby." Slightly different ones though.)

Brown Baby is the second baby doll I ever got for her, and it was on super clearance at Target for $3! (First baby doll was Pink Baby. Then Brown Baby, Pacifier Baby and Feeding Baby.) She came with a hat, cloth diaper, and footie pajamas. When you press her tummy, she cycles through "Mama," "Papa," giggling and crying. When we first got her, Little Z would burst into tears whenever the baby made the crying sound, after I told her that the baby was crying because she was sad. Oops. I was just trying to teach vocabulary and emotion identification! I told her that feeding the baby made her happy again, but it didn't work. So we had to turn Brown Baby off for a while.

The reason behind the name, I'm ashamed to say, is because of the doll's skin color. This doll was intended to be Hispanic (hence the "Papa" instead of the more standard "Dada.") I don't care about what race/color her toys are, and it was super cheap, so I bought it. I have *never* called the doll 'brown.' I *have* shown her that her skin is a different color from that doll's (and any other toy with different coloring,) in an attempt to teach diversity acceptance in a safe setting where I won't offend anyone by pointing out their differences! But I also point out that *my* coloring is different from hers (I have brown hair and eyes, she has blond hair and blue eyes) and I talk about how everyone is different and looks different and can do different things, and everyone is special. I've started playing "I Spy" games with her when we eat out, as a way to get her to see differences without saying "look at the kid in the wheelchair." I'll say something like "I spy someone with brown hair" or "I spy someone with a hat." "I spy something that rolls." "I spy someone wearing purple" etc.

Anyway...

She finds the feeding spoon I got for her with a set of baby doll crap accessories and decides she must feed Brown Baby. Since I refuse to open the dolly sippy cup of old stale Goldfish crackers that was in with her baby stuff, she gets out the muffin tin from the Melissa and Doug Cupcake Decorating set and starts putting cupcake liners in each cup.
When I ask her what she's doing, she says she's making a "byoo-duh-fuh nunch" for her baby. Awwwwwwww! Too cute! A Muffin Tin Meal just like Mommy makes!
She puts a wooden cupcake in one liner, the cuppie with stale goldfish in another, and starts spooning out imaginary food to feed the baby from an empty cup.

Her very first Muffin Tin Meal!

FYI: Preemie clothes fit great on the littler baby dolls, and you can often find them super cheap on clearance racks, thrift stores or consignment stores! Cheaper than buying doll clothes! I like to shop Carter's outlet store's clearance racks, but sometime Fred Meyers has some too. Many other brands, like Osh Kosh B'Gosh, Children's Place and Gymboree don't make Preemie sizes. Gerber probably does. Babies R Us might carry some, but I've never seen any on the clearance racks. Newborn size (not 0-3 months. NB specifically) fits medium to larger baby dolls okay too. Brown Baby is wearing a NB-sized outfit I got for $.50 at a garage sale. Many moms clubs have community garage sales, so search Craigslist for club, group or multi-family garage sales! The moms club ones tend to have a great selection of baby stuff!
I usually have a 20% off $40+ purchase coupon for Carter's, so if I'm buying other stuff, I tack on some clearance Preemie clothes for her dolls. Off a 70% off rack I found a set of 2 onesies and a pants for $3, 3 pairs of Preemie booties for $2, and a 2-pack of PJs for $3. Plus the 20% off! So $6.40 plus tax for it all! Most toy store doll outfits you only get one shirt and pants, or one dress, plus maybe shoes or socks or a hat for that price or more!

**Shameless plug alert!**
If you know a kid totally into her doll, like an American Girl doll, for example, my sister makes awesome custom jewelry for the doll and/or child. She can do bracelets for both, necklaces for both, bracelet/necklace set for either/both, whatever! Personalized, if desired. Check her stuff out! You can contact her directly too!