OjoChristmas

Little Hugo, from Madrid, fastens his huge eyes on an shiny ornament. He's learning about Christmas before he learns to walk--and he'll be at the Christmas market pictured below within three years.

Perhaps he'll choose an ornament instead of, or in addition to, the nativity scene figurine that Spanish children traditional brought home.

(Sweet Hugo is the son of Elena at Grupo SM Edgar & Ellen's publisher in Spain)

Quick! What year is this?

This Halloween I noticed a lot of stroller-babies zipped into warm, cozy costumes including a dinosaur, a giraffe, and this little chicken and lion. To look at this photo you might think it was taken in 1987. There's Wonder Woman, "Where's Waldo?" and timeless baby animals. The only clue that it's the 21st century is the name on the stroller, "Baby Jogger." It's October 2008, when the same old days suddenly look like the good old days.

Baby/bebe cribs

According to Kids Today, many of the big gains in Baby Crib sales from now through 2012 are projected to come from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas.

That makes me suspect that we'll soonl be seeing more biligual Spanish/English activity toys, video games and TV shows, more non-blond dolls, more tamarind and mango baby foods. What else?

Mums in hijab and headscarves

Again, my attention turned to big strollers this week on Oxford Street in London (this is partially because they were hard to navigate among the crowds).

Though I noted many strollers, I saw NONE being pushed by women who lacked a head-covering. This points to a clear direction for baby and kid product development--it faces Mecca.