Ah, to be a kid again!  The Children’s Club Expo, sponsored by ENK and held at the Jacob Javits Center, showcased so much cool stuff.  Seeing aisles upon aisles of the newest and the coolest of kids fashion proved that these days kids clothes is serious business.

While buyers were swarming booths like the uber-popular Flowers by Zoe, you could hear crickets at many, many booths, making it clear that it’s tough to compete with established brands.  What were we seeing for fall?  Lots of the usual embellished tie-dyed tees and t-shirt dresses.  It may not be original anymore, but it’s what the kids want -- or what the parents want to buy.

For the littlest girls and babies, the skirted onesies and dresses by Specialtee Designs were fun and cool with tons of designs to choose from.  Most over-the top baby item?  The platinum-plated, Swarovski crystal-embellished pacifiers by Aristabrat.

Tiny Pants is definitely a line to watch for fall.  Cool pieces such as a clear raincoat with pink ribbon trim, velvet blazers with detachable ruffle hems, belted shirtdresses with ruffles in back, and cool fleece headwraps for those early fall, slightly chilly days were all charming and different.  The line runs from size 2-14.

Mija jewelry (mijajewelry.com) makes the perfect gift.  Semi-precious stones adorn earrings, chain bracelets, bangles, and necklaces set in silver and plated (some of them) in 18K gold. Many designs are available in matching mother/daughter styles, perfect for mother’s day!  Bracelets come in all sizes, starting at 3-5 years.

And, we can’t forget the boys.  Graphic tees with cheeky sayings for babies on up to big kids made the biggest statement for boys.  Rock Your Baby, Ed Hardy, House of Mongrel , and Imps & Elfs had cute tees, and Appaman, Charlie Rocket, and Diesel had cool and casual tees, cargo pants, flannels and button-downs to make your little man look like, well, a little man.

If only your closet had been filled with stuff like this when you were a kid…

All moms love products that help their kids be more independent --after all, we only have two hands.   Two products aimed at the toddler set that moms everywhere will applaud are EZ Sox and Myself Belts.

The socks have handles on either side so they can be pulled on easily --genius!  With Myself Belts, one side of the belt attaches to the kid’s pants, and the closure is velcro.  Only having to deal with one side of your belt when you are three-years-old and in a very big hurry to get to the bathroom is huge!