Baby Expo to help dads feel burden of the belly
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Gary Asato tries on an "empathy belly" outfit to the approval of his wife, Denise, who is five months pregnant.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser New Baby Expo 2003 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Blaisdell Exhibition Hall $3.50 (free for 5 and younger) 239-2229 |
Thanks to an "empathy belly," Denise Asato's husband, Gary, could do just that in a big way.
After test-driving the custom-made belly sewn of cloth and stuffing, he told his wife: "With 20 pounds on you, you can't see your toes. How do you cut your toenails?"
The Kailua couple, expecting their first child, will be attending the Baby Expo on Saturday, where three custom-made bellies will be making their first appearances, said Anna Lau-Parrish, show director for the New Baby Expo 2003.
This sixth annual baby expo will have more than 100 exhibits geared for the prenatal-to-preschool crowd.
Annual events include Saturday's Foremost Dairies Baby Crawling Contest, with more than 80 rug rats racing, and Sunday's "Hawai'i's Largest Baby Shower," where the first 500 expectant parents will receive gift bags and play shower games such as a bottle (as in baby bottle) drinking contest and a diaper-changing game. Fathers will be wearing the empathy belly while playing the games.
Expos are always fun places to spot the newest thing, such as the "maternity portrait," offered by several photographers, one of the hundreds of new products and services to be on display.
"It's new — women used to hide," said Lau-Parrish, who warns that if you don't capture your pregnant self on film for memories, you'll miss out, because "once it's over, you forget."
Kim Gennaula, the KGMB news anchor, is making her first appearance as an exhibitor. She and her husband, KGMB weather anchor Guy Hagi, are introducing to Hawai'i a service called Stork News of Oahu, a stork rental/baby announcement service.
"It's a hobby," said Gennaula, who spotted the 8-feet-tall fiberglass storks on a trip to California before applying for the exclusive rights here.
At the expo, there will also be free classes for parents and children, plus a demonstration of the correct way to buckle up infants.
