12.11.07

It all began in the back seat of the car! Crystal Kane, her husband and little daughter were riding in the car when baby Lily needed to be fed. You know the routine - stop the car, Mommy gets in back and everything will be fine! In this instance it was not fine as Lily's bottle began leaking. In desperation to comfort her daughter and stop the leaking Crystal wrapped Lily's soft pink blanket around her bottle and "for the first time in my little Lily's six months of life…she reached up and held her own bottle". "Not only that, but she began to stroke the softness of the fabric, and was suddenly soothed, happy and full."

It was at this point that Crystal received her inspiration to design something that would foster independence by helping babies hold their own bottles. A devoted animal lover, she "thought animals and bugs would be really fun for babies and toddlers, and we could use their soft ears and wings as handles to learn to lift and hold their own bottles and cups".

She began by making a prototype for her baby Lily who was nicknamed "LilyBug" the day she was born. This became the only way Lily would drink her bottle. She just loved her new soft and cuddly animal friend. Now she has many new friends in the LilyBugs collection.   

I love the bright yellow bee "BumbleBug", the charming butterfly "FlutterBug" and the darling ladybug "LuLuBug". Wild animals contribute to this colorful menagerie with gentle lion "RoarBug", classic penguin "ChillyBug" and our favorite striped zebra "ZeeZeeBug". Farm animals and household pets are well represented too; my all time favorites being the swishy fish "MissFin-Bug" and a special feline friend "TabbyBug".

They are easy to use, quickly slipping on a bottle or sippy cup while fashionably absorbing condensation and leaking. The body has a lovely soft texture and the ears have a fun crinkle sound. Crystal and Lily invite every child who receives a LilyBug to "beecome a bug" and join the Bug Club.  How grrrrrrreat is that!