Before San Franciscans Dave and Kelly Sopp had their son, Atticus, they rarely had a free moment. If they weren't working the long hours demanded of advertising copywriters, they were trolling flea markets and auctions for their antiques collections. But when Kelly got pregnant, they decided to shuffle their priorities and left the corporate ad world to start a babywear company and create what Kelly calls "a real family life." The Sopps channeled their wordsmithing talents into a home-based enterprise: Wry Baby, known for a modern sensibility epitomized by a line of charmingly irreverent baby tees bearing statements like "I eat dirt" and "Someday I'll demand a pony." The freedom to set their own schedules and work from home let them maximize their time with their son. And forget about sitters or day care—Atticus worked and played right alongside them. "We work him into everything we do," says Dave. "We didn't want to change who we are when we became parents. I don't even know what we would have changed into."
For the first seven months of his life, Atticus occupied only the front section of his modest bedroom, which had space for his crib and not much more. The room's other half held two Wry Baby employees, separated from Atticus's space only by an archway. The Sopps themselves worked 15 feet away at a stately vintage walnut dining-room table that, like all their furnishings, is beautiful without being overly precious. Back then, it served as a communal desk, a conference table, a mail catchall, and, at the end of the day, a place to eat. "I figure that if an antique has lasted this long, it'll probably outlive whatever I do to it," says Dave. "It's seen far stranger things than piles of onesies."
Today Wry Baby is thriving. In addition to producing prolific amounts of clothing, the company has written two tongue-in-cheek parenting guidebooks, Safe Baby Handling Tips, which was published in 2005, and Safe Baby Pregnancy Tips, which will come out in November (both from Running Press); created a website featuring an interactive Arcade of Parental Diversions, including quizzes and games linked to various Wry Baby products; and expanded its wares to encompass note pads, towels, bath sets, bibs, and an exclusive line of T-shirts for Barneys. Its success has allowed the Sopps to move the company to an office space outside their home (an easy 15 minutes away)—and Atticus to claim the rest of his bedroom.
Which is not to suggest that the little company muse, now 6, is no longer part of the action. "He's always hanging around," says Dave. At the new Wry Baby offices, Atticus has his own workstation right next to Dad's, where he can draw, tap away on his laptop, shred paper, even pitch in on the "creative." (He gets credit for the "I eat paste" and "I'm not a baby" T-shirt slogans.) And after work, he not only tags along with his parents to hunt for collectibles, he also actively participates. Atticus has become a regular at all the local yard sales, flea markets, and antique shops.
