Exciting times around here... my friends are having about a million babies between now and December! A couple brave souls are on to their second littles. Most are on their way to begin first time parents, just a few months after us. I'm beyond excited about this! When Joe and I announced our pregnancy, we only knew a couple friends in the city who already had kids. Yet by the end of my nine months of pregnancy, there were at least six little babes on the way. Elise is going to have a ton of little friends to play with before we know it!
Try as I might to avoid, I'm sure I'm giving far too much unsolicited advice. Which is funny, because I still feel like I know NOTHING about how to parent a child! Ha! But some of my friends have asked questions on things we've already experienced, and I really love talking anything baby-related. So I figured instead of yammering on and on to them, I'd use this as an excuse to blog. And not just blog... I made a freaking collage! It only took me about two hours when I should have been doing dishes/laundry/my nails. But I was far too entertained once I started, so you should just tell me your impressed, ok?
So here ya go... a few of our favorite things. Every baby is SO different, and your baby might hate all of these. But as long as you appreciate the picture below, and take my insight with a (huge) grain of salt, then we should be good...
1.
The Soothie pacifier- I was pretty skeptical of pacifiers before Elise was born. I just assumed if I used one, she'd automatically be cursed to be the three year old sucking on the stupid thing at the playground. We did hold off at first, because of breast feeding. And then we tried to introduce a number of different pacifiers, because babies can cry a lot, and you'll do anything to sooth them. It still took a couple months before she's do anything other than chew on it, but at this point the soothie is our favorite. There are times that it is truly a lifesaver!
2.
Harry the Dirty Dog- I've mentioned before, but Elise loves being read to. This is her absolute favorite. As long as she's in the right mood, she'll just stare at the pictures while we read. And I appreciate that it's an actual story, instead of just a word-per-page type of book.
3.
Angelcare Motion and Sound Monitor- We didn't get a monitor before Elise was born, because we live in a small condo, and people said we wouldn't need it. But people didn't predict that Elise would hate her bassinet, and that we'd all sleep like crap with her in our room. We tried out the crib, and she slept better. But we couldn't handle leaving our brand new baby (seriously, about a week old) in her giant crib all alone. Is there a parent out there who isn't obsessed with the terrifying concept of SIDS? This monitor doesn't just let you listen to baby, but it checks that they're moving, and is sensitive enough to alert you if they're not breathing. It was a godsend to us, and allowed us to enjoy our precious little bits of sleep in our own bed.
4.
Boppy- Everyone has heard of the Boppy. This is nothing new. But we have loved it, and used it a ton. Whenever we go on a trip without it, I totally miss it! At 5.5 months, Elise is still exclusively breastfeeding, so we use it all the time. We use it for tummy time, too. Things I've learned along the way-- get two covers, so you can wash one at a time. And you can actually wash the entire Boppy pillow, too. I should probably do that at some point. Ewww.
5.
miYim Musical Owl- This has some extra sentimental value for me, because it was a gift from my grandmother (with some help from my aunts, since grandma was stuck in the hospital). My grandmother has since passed away, but she at least got to do some FaceTime with Elise before she went to join my grandpa. I think Elise knows it is special. We love to pull it for the music (Twinkle, Twinkle), which really soothes Elise when she's fussy. It's almost always a part of her bedtime routine, after her baths. We've even packed it for our trips to St Louis and Los Angeles!
6.
Skip Hop Alphabet Zoo Activity Gym- Every baby loves some kind of activity mat. Elise's Skip Hop mat has gotten a TON of use, since she's still not able to sit on her own. I do try to not just lay her on her back all day, but when we are letting her "play" on her own, it's usually on this mat. This is far and away one of our most used baby gifts!
7.
Carter's Sheets- I bought some cute sheets at Target, but they were really small. It was a serious workout trying to get them on to the mattress! These Carter's sheets from Babies R Us fit the crib mattress perfectly, and have held up well. We love them, and I'd recommend them to anyone.
If I was a clever girl, I'd figure out how to do affiliate links, and maybe make a buck off this silly blog. But after spending too long on the silly collage, I'm just calling this charity. Even if it doesn't help anyone, it entertained me for a night, so that's worth something, right?
Now hurry up babies! Elise and I can't wait to hang out with you tiny snuggly little creatures!
