Brazilian-born designer Ana Lerario-Geller launched her own collection, Lerario Beatriz, after years of working at top design houses. Her four years spent at Marc Jacobs proved to be life-changing—it was there she met her future husband, designer Robert Geller (and winner of this year's CFDA Swarovski Award for Menswear). The new parents, to 10-month old daughter, Luna, live in a decidedly adult apartment filled with pop art and modern decor—no baby-proofing in site.
Luna, 10 months, February 2011
2. Bird crochet mobile (over Luna’s crib)
3. Wooden stroller mobile
4. iPhone baby apps: "When I have to travel with her and need to keep her entertained while sitting down for a few hours, it comes in very handy!"
5. Hospital swaddle blankets: "The nurse gave me a few and I used them until she was five months. I tried to buy prettier ones, but none of them fit as perfectly!"
“I’m lucky to be able to make my own schedule. I’m still breast-feeding so, only now at 10 months, I started going to work regularly. I had a hard time detaching. Now I go and stay for three or four hours. I wake up early with her and we hang out until 12:00 p.m. After that, it’s office time. At 6:00 p.m., I’m home to give her dinner and put her to bed. That’s how I found my balance. Since I have more of an option, it’s been especially hard—which is more important: staying home with her or going back? I share the office with my husband, Robby, which is so nice."
“I love these—they were a gift from my friend [designer] Araks. The colors are gorgeous and they're so soft.“
“Because of her coloring, everyone looks at her and thinks, ‘Oh my god, she looks just like Robby’, but if you look at photos of me when I was her age, she looks at lot like me.”
“My labor was really crazy—it lasted 42 hours! I didn't get an epidural until hour 38. The beginning was amazing—I stayed home for as long as I could and took a walk. The first 25 hours were really magical and romantic. I was working with a doula, doing hypnosis. Of course it’s intense, but I was able to do it. Then after a while, I was so tired from not sleeping for two days that I got an epidural. After that, I slept, I waited, but then I had to get a C-section.”
“I don’t want to baby proof my house, I just plan to teach her not to touch certain things. My mom said she never baby-proofed our house. We just learned what not to touch. If I go visit friends, their houses may not be baby-proofed so I want her to learn. If she just knows what 'no' means.”
“I wanted a girl, both Robby and I did. We had a girl’s name picked out, but we didn’t have any idea for a boy. We were so happy we didn’t find out the sex first. When the doctor said it was a girl, Robby could not stop crying.”
“It’s really hard to go out at night because I love putting her to bed and don’t want to miss it. And, if I'm out until midnight, I'm aware that I still have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. There’s no Sunday anymore. I used to go out almost every night, even just to get dinner with friends, so it’s been a huge change. At the beginning it was hard to adapt, but then you start to love that other side to your life. I don’t crave it anymore."
“She's a really good eater—even when we're in Brazil, she’ll try anything. One of the recipes I make for her is: any kind of protein (fish, chicken, pork, beef), beet root, carrot or sweet potatoes, squash or pumpkin, zucchini, quinoa grains, beans, parsley, a little garlic, a little olive oil, and a touch of salt—she loves it! She eats every type of fruit, and especially loves plain Greek yogurt and fruit.”
"She’s an amazing sleeper, and has been sleeping through the night since she was two months old. When she wakes up at 5:00 a.m., I bring her into bed with us and she pokes my husband until he notices her. The only time she really cries is when we try to put her down for a nap. I have to put her in the stroller and take a walk.”
"I try not to look ahead and think, 'I can’t wait until she is big enough to....' Every age has it’s challenges and it’s beauty – you won't always be able to hold your baby so closely at all times as you do when they're little."
"She loves books with textures! I can keep her focused on them for a good 20 minutes, which is a lot when you are talking about a 10 month old!"
Baby Bjorn:"It helped me so much when she was little. Every time she was fussy, she’d get in there and totally calm down. It still works, but now she’s too heavy and I can't keep her on me for too long.
Baby Cook:"I cook every single meal for her in it–it’s so easy and healthy."
Video baby monitor:"It saves me a lot of trips to her bedroom to check if she’s OK."
“I didn't want the baby room to look too much like a baby room—I just wanted it to be really cozy and calm. I found this paint color, which I thought was really neutral, but when I got it on the wall it looked pink! I was like, ‘Oh no, I hope we have a girl.’ It’s actually a really warm color that adds a bit of brightness—we had to make up for the fact that there are no windows in here."
ABC Carpet & Home chandelier
Framed map from a flea market in Sao Paulo: "It's an old map of the south of Brazil made in Germany."
“I bounced back really quickly after giving birth. Two weeks later I was one pound more than I was before I got pregnant—I was shocked. I think the fact that I breastfed for so long helped (you can eat 500 calories more a day). I've also taken really long walks with her since she was two weeks old – one hour, twice a day. I still have not found time to go back to the gym, but I feel that between the walks and pilates (which I do once a week), I’ve been able to stay in shape."
Lerario Beatriz jumpsuit
Crochet mobile from Giggle
"Birds are her favorite."
“The biggest surprise about being a mom is the lack of sleep. You know, but you never really know—it’s hardcore. I felt like my husband and I were really prepared. We came home with her after four days in the hospital, and you're like ‘oh my god, what happened to my life?' There’s no weekend, no time off. I didn’t hide anything from Robby—he was feeling the same thing and it made me feel so much better. You just have to adjust—we're both in bed by 9 p.m.”
Jellycat sheep (a baby shower gift)
"I put on the Sleep Sheep every night when I put her to bed."
"I speak Portuguese to her and Robby speaks to her in German."
"Take naps whenever you can, drink enough water, and accept that you look tired (and that’s not necessarily bad).”
“Robby’s mom named a star for Luna as a gift for her baptism.”
"My mom brought this elephant back from India when I was pregnant."
“When she was three weeks old, I was the maid of honor in my cousin’s wedding in Brazil. I was so nervous to travel with her. My doctor told me to enjoy because it would be my easiest flight but, even though she slept the whole time, I couldn’t appreciate how great she was because I hadn’t slept in three weeks. We've traveled a lot with her since—to the south of France, back to Brazil, and then to Germany for Christmas."
Oeuf changing table
“So much of the girls clothes I find are super frilly. Most of what I get is from the Gap—Stella McCartney's collections, especially, were so good.”
Bu and the Duck sweater and tights
Stella McCartney for GapKids dress
"Everything about being a mother is a surprise—no matter how much information you have, when it actually becomes reality you see that you can never really be prepared!"
Ana's baby-time info still taped to her front door
Luna's favorite Jellycat pig from Stella
Ana's recipe for quinoa risotto
