Indie Squid Kid

Today we took Kid Indie Squid Kid to (and participated in) his first Independence Day parade.

Fun was had! Flags were waved! Fire trucks were seen! Dogs were pointed at!

After a long day with Daddy (and Mommy too!) at the science museum, Kid Indie Squid Kid returns to find his plush Architeuthis is running amok in his room!

Oh noes! How will this titanic stuggle end? Stay tuned to Plush Week to find out!

It’s been quite a while since Kid Indie Squid Kid made an appearance here, but he’s back and ready for Summer! (As it turns out, they don’t make very many cephalopod-themed Winter baby clothes.)

This tank top (OK…maybe it’s technically a “muscle shirt,” but that’s not nearly as alliterative) features an topsy-turvy green octopus gripping a small blue fish. For an article of child’s clothing, this octopus is uncharacteristically accurate…no smiley face, nose, or eyebrows, and there’s not a sailor’s hat in sight! I found “Hang On” as part of three-piece set (two shirts and a pair of shorts) at Babies R’ Us, but, as I haven’t been able to find it for sale anywhere online, I don’t know if it’s available on it’s own or not.

First there was the Bearsharktopus, but now we see the gentler, fuzzier side of Ursine/Cephalopod hybridization.

Ursapus by Everyeskimo

Everyeskimo posted this wonderful creation to her blog on Friday, and it was apparently for sale in her Etsy shop. However, it must have been snapped up instantaneously, because by the time I got there Friday afternoon it was nowhere to be seen!

Coincidentally, Kid Indie Squid Kid was trying out his new bear costume over the weekend!

I’m not saying you have to decide which is the cutest, but if I did, I think you’d know the correct answer…

AKM is a company that makes novelty socks, which often feature animals, and that’s about all I know. (The Internet does not seem to want to give up its secrets on this one.) This cute pair of baby socks were purchased at the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island gift shop. Each sock features a pair of pink octopuses and a white squid. (They also make a pair of socks for older kids with at least five pink octopuses and two purples squids per sock.)

Here they are being modeled by Kid Indie Squid Kid. These socks are even cuter when worn on a pair of cute little feet!

I realized that the two posts I made earlier this weekend both featured octopuses playing the drums, so I figured I’d go for the trifecta. Once again, Kid Indie Squid Kid is sporting an outfit by OshKosh B’gosh. I won’t go into another mini-rant about unrealistic octopi on baby clothing, but I will say that it’s good to see a full complement of arms on this particular musically gifted cephalopod.

Here Kid Indie Squid Kid models a cute little marine-themed bodysuit by OshKosh B’gosh. Of course it would be better if the giant octopus was attacking the sub…but still, it’s pretty awesome.

This is as good a time as any to mention the generally sorry representation of octopi on children’s clothing and toys. The problem is no that they are hard to find, but that they are rarely biologically accurate. Like the one show above, they usually have fewer than eight arms and little smiley faces. I doubt that in 95 million years of octopus history there has been a single case of an octopus that could smile!

Others go even further and are given cheeks, noses, teeth, and even clothes! Case in point, the octopus that Kid Indie Squid Kid is pointing to on this quilt.

Yeah, the little sailor hat is pretty dumb, and octopi most definitely do not have noses. But the blue rings are a nice touch, and I also like the way the arms curl…even if there are only six of them. This quilt, by the way, is part of the (now discontinued) Sea Life bedding set from Babies R’ Us.

So what is the discerning cephalopod-obsessed parent to do? Personally, I try to not to be too picky, while at the same time staying vigilant for the best octo-gear. The shape of an octopus’ arms and head, and the position of the eyes, can do a lot to lend a touch of realism to what would otherwise be silly and cartoony. For example, I would consider the “Under the Sea” OshKosh-topus to be fairly accurate. (Although not nearly as accurate as the Ahou Octu bodysuit by Finny’s Greens.)

By the way, we’ve finally started decorating Kid Indie Squid Kid’s room (ocean-theme, natch!), so you can expect many more super-cute photos like this in the near future. Oh yes.

Last month while wandering around our local mall, Kid Indie Squid Kid and I came across the following items of octopus-spangled clothing.

octopus pajamas by Kim Rogers®

This girly six-armed octopus was sighted in the “intimate apparel” section at a Belk department store.

Gymboree gets bonus points for giving their octopi the correct number of arms! We saw this pajama set at the Gymboree store, and you can buy them online here.

Today is my first Father’s Day as Indie Squid Dad, and it seems like the perfect occasion to introduce you to my Very Good Excuse for taking so long to resume this blog.

Meet Kid Indie Kid Squid (a.k.a. Commander Awesome)! He’s hanging out with a portion of my plush cephalopod collection. They’ll all be his one day, so it seemed best to begin the acclimation process early! Each of these stuffed toys will eventually make an individual appearance here in the blog, and I’m sure I have another box of them somewhere…

Kid Indie Squid Kid is wearing an Ahou Octu bodysuit (don’t call it a “Onesie,” Gerber has that trademarked!) by Finny’s Greens.