Baby Registry Regret

Twenty-three months in, and I think it's safe to say that I'm no longer a "new" mom. I have had plenty of time to use and abuse (and then pack away! ::sniff sniff::) a crap-load of baby and toddler stuff.

When I was pregnant and we were creating our registry, I was so indecisive about so many things. There is just so.much.stuff out there, and 145 options for each thing. I did loads of research, asked a ton of experienced parents, referenced Baby Bargains repeatedly, and then made selections... and then changed my mind. A lot. Even after we received things at our baby showers, we took a bunch of items back to exchange them for something else that I had discovered was cheaper/safer/better/whatever.

{Me, registering for baby gear back in the day. Note the Baby Bargains book tucked under my arm}

The thing that kills me now is how much things have changed already... in two years. There are things that are baby necessities now were considered unnecessary or a luxury back then. (I use the terms necessity and luxury loosely, by the way. I recognize that most things are actually luxuries, and that babies actually need very little. But you know what I mean.)

Thankfully, because I did so much hemming and hawing over every decision, I pretty much loved everything that we had, and have no problems using it all again for another baby someday. But as Nora grew and time went on, I came to realize: I have one baby registry regret.

A video monitor.We didn't register for a video monitor. Instead, we chose a basic audio monitor, but a good one at that--I think the thing was like $65 at the time, although it is only $45 now. Video monitors were $200+ and I just felt like, Why do we need to see the baby? At the time, we lived in such a small place that I wondered if we really even needed a monitor at all.

Nora was born and it took us a while to even need to use the monitor--but we did set it up fairly early in her life, when she started going to bed before us, even when she was still in our room with us. It was helpful then, and was even more so when we moved her to her own crib. And although there were times that I wanted to see her--I was able to pretty easily sneak into her room (even when she was awake) and get a peek without her seeing me.

That all changed once she started sitting and standing up in her crib. And that's when I started feeling like maybe we had made a mistake with this whole monitor thing. I resolved that we would probably be splurging on one for Baby #2 someday.

Fast-forward a year or so, and this past spring, Nora had a bout with a stomach flu. And by bout, I mean a bout x 3. She was sick, then she was better for a few days, then she got sick again, better, sick... you get it. It sucked.

The worst part about it was that we didn't know. Nora would throw up in her bed at night and would be completely quiet about it. The first night it happened, I happened to go in there to check on her before bed and found her sitting up, shivering from being wet from being covered in her own vomit. She was awake but totally out of it. If we had a video monitor, we decided, we would've been able to see her up, and possibly see the vomit-covered mattress. I started researching, but we still didn't have plans to get a video monitor... yet.

Then it happened again, but this time, we didn't discover the mess until the morning--after she had fallen back asleep in it. My poor baby. And when it happened a THIRD time, we decided we were fed up. I ran out to Buy Buy Baby that morning and brought home a video monitor.

{This is our actual monitor. That's Nora, passed out at this very moment}

And I swear, this thing is the BEST.PURCHASE.EVER. I am still so pissed at myself that I didn't register for one the first time. They were out there, people had them, but I didn't know anyone who had one or insisted that it was a "must-have." Now? Well, now I think that most people know they are must-haves, no? Take it from me, expectant mamas: YOU WANT ONE. You may not know yet that you do, but YOU DO. They're expensive, but you will use it every day, and for a long time.

Now that we realize the error of our ways, we have plans to keep a video monitor on Nora for probably a couple more years so we can see what she's doing in her room once she's in a big girl bed and can move about the room freely when we're not in there. So when we have another baby someday, we'll purchase a second camera and be able to see both kids in each of their rooms. Brilliant.As for our choice of monitor? We love the Motorola we ended up with. We had a 20% off coupon for Buy Buy Baby so the total was right around $200 after the discount. And again, it was worth every single penny. There are cheaper models out there, but we liked a few things about this: First, the ability to move the camera remotely. We have Nora's camera mounted up on the wall (with a simple screw) in one of the corners of her room and when we control the camera, we can see every inch of the room. When she's older and can move around the room, this will be great. Secondly, it has a two-way talk feature--so not only can we hear her, but with the push of a button, we can talk to her and she'll hear us, too. It's not a feature we use very often right now, but again--I can see this really coming in handy with a 3- or 4-year-old, e.g. "Get back in bed!" :)

Otherwise, the clarity of the video is great in both the daytime and in the complete dark at night. Sound is great, too. We haven't had any problems. And unlike some of the other video monitors out there, the data is encrypted specifically for our receiver, so there's no chance of us picking up a neighbor's feed or vice versa. Obviously, being able to add another camera was a must for us, too.

Complaints? Well, I don't really have any. Two things that I've noticed/heard others say, though, is that 1) You can't turn the volume all of the way down. This doesn't bother me because I figure that if I'm going to turn the volume down, I might as well turn the monitor off completely. 2) The temperature gauge is inaccurate. This is an added "perk" and not a necessity to me, so I don't really care. We're used to it reading about 5-10 degrees warmer on the monitor than it actually is in the room, so we know to adjust accordingly.

So, all you parents and future parents out there: Get thee a video baby monitor. I promise you won't regret it.

And that is my nugget of wisdom for the day.

Do you have any baby registry regrets? Something you got that was worthless to you, or something you didn't bother with that you wished you had?

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Dear Santa, Part II

Once I hit "publish" on the post about Nora's Christmas list, I realized that I neglected to include some very important wish list items... like movies and BOOKS!

I've mentioned before that we don't let Nora watch a lot of TV--although she is exposed to some daily in the background at daycare--but we're still starting a collection of Disney and other animated movies for her (and any future siblings). We discovered on our recent roadtrip to Virginia that she enjoys movies far more than we thought she could at this age. Rio is her favorite thus far. She "dances" to the music, which is pretty much the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.

(No, we don't normally let her stand that close to the television. And sadly, Nora clearly inherited her dance moves from her less-than-coordinated-on-the-dance-floor parents. Sorry, baby girl.)

We've always read books to her on a daily basis, but now it's even more fun, as she's really "into" them. She's actually choosy about which ones we read to her; we'll pick a book from her rack for bedtime, and if she isn't in the mood for that particular story, she'll push it away. Who knew that she'd be so opinionated this early in life? And I don't know if it gets any more cute than seeing her sitting on the floor by herself, quietly flipping through the pages of a book. MY HEART.

One of her current favorites is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is possibly a "boring" favorite, since it's such a classic. But she can't get enough of sticking her little pointer finger in each and every one of the holes in the board book.

Anyway, with all of this said, we couldn't really pass up an opportunity to add to her growing movie and book collections. Here are some of the movies and books that made it on Nora's list:

(Disney's The Lion King, Amazon.com)

We've been buying the Disney classics as they've been made available again. Last year, Nora got Beauty & the Beast for Christmas. The Lion King was one of our favorites as kids so we wanted Nora to have this one as well. I'm REALLY looking forward to the re-release of The Little Mermaid, though. Get on it, Disney. My little girl needs some Ariel in her life. :)

(Disney's Tangled, Amazon.com)

We've also been taking advantage of some of the "new classics" from Disney as well. Nora received Toy Story 3 for Christmas last year, and this year, we asked her grammy to buy her Tangled. We haven't even seen this one yet, but have only heard good things.

(Despicable Me, Amazon.com)

A Cyber Monday deal that couldn't be refused. We've heard good things. :) We look at these movies not as an opportunity to plop Nora in front of the TV for some peace and quiet, but as something for us to enjoy together as a family as she grows.

Now, for books, you'll notice a theme:

(The Night Before Christmas by Tom Browning & Clement C. Moore, Amazon.com)

CLASSIC. A must-have for every child, I think. I'm surprised we didn't end up buying this last year. I'll give ourselves a pass since Nora was only three months old for Christmas 2010. :)

(The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, Amazon.com)

Another Christmas must-have. Just a beautiful, beautiful book. The story, the illustrations... love. We were lucky enough to have this one arrive in the mail the other day from Nora's "Secret Santa" in a children's book exchange I signed her up for. (Thanks again, baby Cooper!)

(Merry Christmas, Little Critter! and Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad! by Mercer Mayer, Amazon.com)

OK, as you can probably tell by now, we did an informal audit and determined that we didn't think Nora has enough Christmas-themed books. We're looking to make up for that. Anyway, I absolutely loved the Little Critter books when I was growing up, so we've been introducing Nora to them as well. We have a few that I took from my childhood book collection at my mom's house, and we have a few that have been purchased new along the way. Nora seems to like them so far, too.

(What is Christmas? by Michelle Medlock Adams, Amazon.com)

As I explained when I discussed the Little People Nativity Set, we want to be sure to make an effort to teach Nora the real reason for the season. These books (there is also a What is Thanksgiving? book) have good reviews for their message and teaching of the meaning behind these holidays.

(Where is Baby's Christmas Present? by Karen Katz, Amazon.com)

I just really like Karen Katz. We have the "Counting Kisses" book, and it's a regular read in our house. I think "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" is her most popular, but oddly, we don't have that one yet, either.

(All things Sandra Boynton, including this Boynton's Greatest Hits, Volume I)

I was pretty unfamiliar with Sandra Boynton prior to having Nora. We received The Going to Bed Book as a gift after she was born, and it is one of our favorites to read to Nora, and one of Nora's favorites to have read to her. Short, simple, soothing rhymes. (Although, I will never understand why they all take a bath--scrub scrub scrub--and find their pajamas--big and small-- before going up to exercise? What the hell?) Once again, Nora was lucky to receive this set last week from her Secret Santa, Cooper. :)

So, that wraps up our movie and book wish lists for Christmas 2011. What classic (or new, or unusual) titles are on your children's Christmas lists?

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Dear Santa

As Christmas approaches, we've been spending more and more time thinking about what to get for Nora. Our parents want to know what to get her, too, so we've had to put together a list.

It's actually a little overwhelming, which sounds ridiculous when you're talking about gifts for a 1-year-old kid. But there is just SO.MUCH out there in terms of toys, books, and necessities.

As of now, here are the things that are on Nora's Christmas list:

(Tot Tutors Table & Chair Set, Toys 'R' Us)

A kiddie-sized table and chairs set. We're still shopping around for this one. We'd ideally like to get something "nicer" looking (so, probably wooden), but it depends on size, price, and what we can get our hands on locally. Toys 'R' Us wants to charge like $25 in shipping for their sets, so... not going to happen.

(Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Set, Family Christian)

This was something that I wanted to get Nora (and future children) to keep under the Christmas tree while they are young. We want to make sure to teach "the reason for the season," and we think having a set like this will encourage play--and encourage conversation about it. I remember playing with my grandmother's nativity set as I was growing up, and I want to be able to let Nora do the same--without worrying she's going to break anything nice! And FYI, if you're interested in this set, Family Christian (linked above) has it for $24.98 shipped--but only through tomorrow, Friday 12/2! This is a really good deal on this particular set, which can retail for as much as $50. There is a similar set sometimes found at Toys 'R' Us or Target (for a bit less $$), but apparently it doesn't come with as many accessories and the manger doesn't play the music. So if you're in the market for this, just be aware of the differences.

(Melissa & Doug Deluxe Cardboard Blocks, Amazon.com)

Every toddler I ever babysat back in the day always loved these things. Build things up, knock them down--they're fun all around. Nora really likes her little lego-like blocks, so we think she'd get a real kick out of these big ones.

(Melissa & Doug Cutting Food Box, Amazon.com)

This set is just too cute to pass up. I think she might still be kind of young for it, but seem to remember our nephew starting to "get" how to use these between 18-24 months, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to have them on hand for a few months down the line. Love pretty much everything Melissa & Doug.

(Summer Infant Tiny Diner, Toys 'R' Us)

This is going to be a stocking stuffer. Now that Nora strictly feeds herself, it's been a challenge when we're at restaurants. We'll wipe down the table as best we can before putting her food on it, but it's still kind of gross to have her eat off of it (not to mention, messy). I'm not a total germaphobe, but this seems like it would be good to have.

(Booginhead Sippigrip, Amazon.com)

I thought that launching sippy cups on the floor was supposed to be a phase, but Nora's been doing it consistently for several months now. So.annoying. I recently found out that this little gadget existed, and we are so getting one. Even if she grows out of the "throwing" phase relatively soon, we figure we'll still be able to use this in the stroller, in the car, etc. when we don't want to deal with lost sippy cups, or "sippy cup overboard" incidents. This is one of those parent inventions where I wish *I* had thought of it. Man. I'd be rich.

(Fisher-Price Fun 2 Imagine Cash Register, Toys 'R' Us)

Nora loves to manipulate objects and put them away. She enjoys a piggy bank toy at daycare with coins to put in the slot, so this seems like it would be right up her alley. I remember having and liking a similar toy when I was young. Plus, I think this is a toy that can grow with her, one which she will play with for a few years. And, we can perhaps even teach her about counting money... some day.

(Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm, Amazon.com)

We gave the grandparents options with the Fisher-Price Little People. There are so many cute Little People sets, so you really can't go wrong. Some of the ones we provided to the grandparents as suggestions are the farm (pictured and linked above), the airplane, the school bus, and the zoo.

Will Nora get all of this stuff? Not unless the grandparents go nuts. :) We plan to Santa will get her a few things (in addition to the nativity set, which we already ordered), but we figure we'll try to keep it relatively light while we still can. In all actuality, she still has no clue what the heck is going on, so we might as well conserve our money a bit. She'll for sure be getting some clothes while she has no choice but to tolerate it. :)

What's on your child's Christmas list this year? Any "must-have" things that you think we should add to our list? (We'll be keeping additional things in mind for her next birthday!) Anything on our list that you have and found that your child doesn't play with? We're open to suggestions.

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Joy Riding

My brother and his wife had a birthday party for their son, Hunter, on Saturday. It was a few weeks late (he turned two in May), but it was a perfect day to be outside for a barbecue, so it worked out. And hey, he's two--he didn't know the difference!

At the party, Nora had fun playing with some of Hunter's toys--including a little push car that she LOVED. I think she would've sat in it forever if we had let her.

How is it that they know exactly how to put their hands on the wheel? :)

I think *someone* is going to need one of these for her birthday. Or sooner.

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Big Girl

Over the weekend, we transitioned Nora to her "big girl" car seat.

For the last several weeks, it has become increasingly difficult to lug her infant seat around. Although her pediatrician originally estimated that Nora would hit 17 lbs. around 12 months, I think she's probably already 16+ lbs. now, so apparently she has been doing some catching up lately! We'll find out for sure at her 9-month appointment on Monday.

Regardless, she's big enough now that she likes to be out of the seat when we're out running errands. So, we've been removing her from the car seat and leaving it in the car for a while now, which gets complicated when you only have one car seat and two bases. To resolve this, we decided to take the plunge and buy one of her convertible car seats now.

Doesn't she look like such a big girl now? :( Funny how that happens, even though she technically appears smaller relative to the size of the seat!

I posted a while ago asking for recommendations, and after doing some more research and taking Nora to the store to actually place her in the seats, we decided to go with the Britax Marathon 70. We were originally considering the Roundabout, but felt that the Marathon was a bit more padded and "safe" looking. Plus, we really like that the shoulder straps are adjustable without needing to re-thread them.

We installed the Marathon in my car on Saturday morning, and Michael is keeping the infant seat in his car for now. Assuming we continue liking the Marathon as much as we do now, we'll buy a second one for Michael's car soon.

In other news, Nora seemed to be THISCLOSE to clapping her hands tonight. I was applauding her for something she did, and she got all excited and was moving her arms, and appeared to be trying to put her hands together while doing it. I almost died from the cuteness.

*sniff, sniff* Our girl is growing so fast.

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Soooo Big

We had such a great weekend. It was filled with lots to do, lots of laughs, and lots of time with Nora. It's just too bad it's almost over. :(

The theme of the weekend was undoubtedly, "When did our baby get so big?" I know she's still small in the grand scheme of life, but my gosh, I have no idea what happened to my little newborn.

It started on Saturday morning with her waterbabies class. Now that we're in week three, she's like an old pro in the water. She was moving her arms, splashing a bit, going for the toys... and new this week, we put her face in the water. But to Nora, that was N.B.D. ("No big deal," if you're one of the cool kids.)

That afternoon, we went grocery shopping and Nora sat in the cart--like a big girl--for the very first time. She tried to steal my grocery list from my hand about 4,982 times, but it was adorable. She loved "helping" with the items in the cart. She was particularly in love with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

Today, we took her to Buy Buy Baby to check out convertible car seats. She looked like such a big girl sitting in them (even though the big seats actually made her look pretty small!). Oddly enough, I don't think we're going with the Britax Roundabout, nor the Evenflo Triumph. We actually liked the Britax Marathon 70 the best because of the convenience features and the extra padding/side impact protection.

Another little milestone? Nora will eat pieces of puffs now. I am still paranoid so I break them into quarters (the ones we have are shaped in circles like cheerios), but she eats them. At first, she made hilarious faces (I'm guessing because the texture was different than she's used to?), but she doesn't seem to be bothered by them anymore.

The biggest thing is that we are now comfortable enough in her sitting ability to let her play on the floor all by herself. Tonight, we made dinner while she sat and played happily on the living room floor. TOTALLY SOLO. So again, I must say, WHERE DID MY LITTLE BABY GO? She is well on her way to toddlerhood, people. :(

To top it all off, she sat up in her bathtub tonight. Like big girls do. *sigh*

Although she is growing like a weed and subsequently breaking this mama's heart, she is also bringing us more and more happiness as time goes on. She is just SO.MUCH.FUN. So, as I sit here reflecting on the weekend and thinking about how much she changed in just a few days, I can't help but recognize just what an amazing weekend it was.

I can't wait for the next one.

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Converting to Convertible

Nora is at the age now when I'm starting to wonder when we should ditch the infant carrier car seat and switch to a convertible one.

I've been researching convertible car seats for a while now, and I think we have them narrowed down to two--the Evenflo Triumph Advance, or the Britax Roundabout. They are relatively similar in price, and both are rated very highly in safety, so it's pretty much a toss-up.

For the record, our pediatrician is estimating that Nora will probably be around 17 lbs. at 12 months old, and her infant carrier weight limit is 22 lbs. I'm guessing she'll probably hit that when she's oh, 18+ months old. :) So the size limit is not really a deciding factor for us. (Though it'll be interesting to see when she hits 29 inches, which is the height limit. At six months, she was 25 inches.)

The infant carrier car seats are a godsend during the cold weather months, because it's so convenient to be able to buckle up and bundle up your baby in the warm comfort of your home, before heading out into the blustery, freezing, ass-cold wind and snow. But now that the weather is warmer, that's not as much of an advantage.

The other advantage of the infant carrier is that Nora can go to sleep in it whenever she wants. In the grocery store? Sure, take a little snooze. Fell asleep in the car? Let's carry her inside and let her continue to sleep in it until she wakes up on her own. Honestly, those things are getting less and less common for her, though. Now that she's older and more aware of her surroundings, she's usually awake whenever we're out. And if she falls asleep in the car, she will usually wake up almost as soon as we take her out of the car anyway. But, on the occasion that she does continue napping, that is certainly a "pro" in the infant carrier column.

Now that Nora is bigger, the weather is better, and she is working on becoming an expert at sitting up on her own, we are taking her out of her car seat more and more. For instance, this weekend we were at the mall and instead of taking the entire seat out of the car, I unbuckled her and let her sit upright in her stroller, facing outward toward the world. She loved it. And we're likely to start taking her out during grocery trips, too, so she can sit in the cart and look around. For these same reasons, it seems like a convertible seat might be better suited for our upcoming road trip out West, too. With so many trips in/out of the car, that seems like a "pro" in the convertible seat column.

Welcome to my world of indecision.

More than likely, we'll end up keeping her in her infant seat through at least the end of May/early June (she'll be about 9 months old), but maybe we'll change our minds on a whim.

If you're a parent, what did you do, and why? Or, if you haven't made the switch yet--do you have a plan for when you will?

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Scout

Nora doesn't have too many toys yet.

We put a handful of cute things on her "wish list" for Christmas gifts from the grandparents, and she got pretty much everything on it (she's a lucky girl). But, she's not yet at the age where she can really play with anything beyond rattles, teethers, and the little plush animals that hang down from the handle of her car seat, her bouncer, or her play mat. So most of the toys are still in their packages, waiting for the day when Nora can sit on the floor to play--which, sadly, is probably not too far off. (She's growing too quickly!)

There is one toy, however, that we've already been able to enjoy.

Meet Scout.

Officially called "My Pal Scout," this little guy is made by LeapFrog. Although it's intended for ages 6 months and up, Nora is already fascinated by it. It sings, it talks, and the name tag on the collar lights up and blinks. It's wonderfully stimulating for developing minds like Nora's.

The funny thing is that EVERYONE loves this thing. I walk around singing the little songs to Nora all day long, whether Scout is actually around or not. "Me and my friend--NORA--we like to do everything together. We jump up and down... Jump! Jump! Jump!" I mean, seriously. Who can resist this stuff.

That's the greatest part of this little guy--He comes with a USB cable that allows you to connect it to the computer to customize it. You can download the child's name, which is then inserted into songs and activities when they play. You can choose the child's favorite animal, color, and food, which are also used periodically. It's simply adorable.

One of the paws plays recorded tracks that are meant to be some kind of an activity or question--like "I bet you can guess what animal I am--oink! oink! oink!" On the opposite side, there are fun songs, like the one I mentioned above with Nora's name in it. You can also select some other songs from the software--there are 30 available, and you can choose which five to load onto the toy. The third paw plays lullabies (options are for 2, 5, and 10 minute increments) to help put baby to sleep.

Because it's educational and interactive, older kids like Scout, too. On a whim last week, I stuck Scout in Nora's bag for daycare. When I picked her up that day, our daycare provider RAVED over how much all of the kids loved it. She said it was a huge hit--and Mary loved it so much herself that she ended up going out to buy one for her granddaughter!

It's a great little toy, especially for the price. Would you believe this thing is under $20?? And, in case you're wondering... there's a My Pal Violet, too.

(No, LeapFrog did nothing to solicit this review from me. I did not receive anything from LeapFrog. I just love the thing this much.)

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Just a Spoonful of Sugar

We're at the beginning of a 10-day, twice-a-day amoxicillin regimen in this house. As such, one of my goals today was to figure out an easier way to "make the medicine go down."

When we gave Nora her first dose last night, it didn't go too badly. Her little tongue kept thrusting out of her mouth, causing some of the medicine to come with it, but we pretty successfully administered the majority of the dose. It didn't happen without a bit of a mess, though.

Then, this morning, I worked from home for a bit to let Nora sleep in (after the crappy sleep she's had these last several days, we didn't have the heart to wake her!). When she did wake and it was time to get her ready for the day, Michael was already at work and I was on my own. Needless to say, her morning dose did not go as smoothly. When all was said and done, I felt like half of the dose was smeared on her face, down her neck, and on the changing table.

Does she not like the taste? It's possible, but unlikely, given that she used to take gas drops without too many issues, and she's been sucking down the Tylenol like it's going out of style. Maybe it's too cold? Amoxicillin needs to be refrigerated, and the little one is not accustomed to drinking anything that isn't close to room temperature or warmer. Regardless of the reasons, I went to work on a mission to figure out a solution on my lunch break.

I remembered hearing about a pacifier medicine dispenser, which--let's face it--is a pretty awesome invention. One of my "tricks" to getting Nora to take gas drops when she wasn't in the mood was to squirt them in her mouth and quickly put her pacifier in to get her to swallow it. So the pacifier dispenser seemed like the perfect solution. The only problem? I ran out on my lunch break and couldn't seem to find one at Target, except as part of a larger baby care kit that we don't need.

My lunch break was over, so I had to return to work without one. I figured I'd check a drug store or two on the way home. Late in the day, however, I was talking to one of my coworkers about how Nora has an ear infection and is on amoxicillin, and she semi-jokingly said, "Do you have a ReliaDose?"

The name sounded vaguely familiar to me, but still I said, "No, what's that?" She explained that it's a bottle with a syringe inside that allows you to administer medication while your baby drinks his/her milk, formula, juice, etc. I asked her where I could get one. As it turns out, my company used to work with the makers of ReliaDose. So, wouldn't you know--one of my other coworkers happened to have a box full of them under her desk. For free. That I could immediately take home with me. Score!

And let me tell you: It.is.BRILLIANT.
Image from ReliaDose.com. Still confused as to how it works? Check out this diagram.

Without ever having used the pacifier dispenser, I think that the ReliaDose is better for a couple of reasons: 1) It's easier to ensure that your baby gets ALL of the medicine, since the syringe is still technically the "dispenser." 2) Not all medications taste as good as amoxicillin. If you happen to have a nasty tasting liquid, this little gadget can help mask the flavor since you can administer the medication slowly, mixing it little by little with a better-tasting beverage, right in your baby's mouth.

Some might wonder why you wouldn't just mix the medicine in with the baby's milk or juice. Well, you usually can, but the advantage to using this is that the medication and the drink are kept separate until just before they are in the baby's mouth. That way, even if baby doesn't finish all of his/her drink, you know that he/she still got all of the medication. Pretty cool, huh?

Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I love this thing.

When I first prepared it to give Nora her nighttime dose tonight, I turned it upside down to make sure it wouldn't leak and milk came shooting out of the nipple. It concerned me that maybe the milk flow would be too fast for her to handle, but to my surprise, she took it like a champ and didn't mind it at all. In fact, the medicine itself was gone in less than 30 seconds and I had to wait several more minutes for her to finish the amount of milk I had put in the bottle part--tomorrow, we'll be using less milk!

Anyway, I've been meaning to write a post about my recommendations for "must-have" baby items--you know, the things we personally cannot live without--but it keeps falling to the wayside because I just don't feel like I have enough time! I'm still planning to get to it eventually, but I couldn't wait to tell you all about this gem. I think this might be on the list of little-known baby gadgets that I'll be giving as baby shower gifts from now on!

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Cloth Diapering: Starter Stash

I think I've mentioned in passing how we're planning to cloth diaper our baby. But I know I haven't gone into much detail, and since there are at least a few of you who are curious about it, I figured I'd post about our choice and, eventually, our experience. So, this is just the first in what is sure to be a series of posts about cloth diapering.

The Decision
In the past, I never, ever would have thought that I would cloth diaper. But enter the internet, and well... you end up finding out and researching things that you never would have considered on your own. Even before we got pregnant, I saw cloth diapers discussed on numerous blogs and message boards. Once I learned about all of the different types of cloth diapers available these days, I was intrigued. However, I brushed it off as something that I would love to do if I were a stay-at-home mom, but not something I would be able to handle as a working mother.

Then, I kept reading about all these working mothers who were successfully cloth diapering--all of these "CDing" parents who swore that it's really not that much work. So when we found out we were pregnant, I started slowly doing some more research to see if it was something we should consider. The biggest thing, however, was approaching the subject with Michael. I was sure that he would immediately tell me how ridiculous I was being and I'd be knocked back into my sensible world where disposables were the only option.

But then I mentioned it. I told him about the pros and the cons, and my reasons for wanting to do it (money savings, less waste in the landfill, and more natural materials on baby's bum). And to my surprise, he was 100% behind the idea. That meant getting serious about my research and figuring out a plan that was going to work best for us.

The Plan and Our Starter Stash
Although I did a lot of research, I was still largely non-committal to any one method or style of cloth diapering. I figured that before we made any decisions and started buying anything, we needed to make sure that one more very important person would be on board with us--our daycare provider.

When we started meeting and interviewing potential daycares, we made sure to add the cloth diapering discussion to the list of questions. I knew that if these daycare providers knew how many of today's cloth diapers work, they'd probably say yes, but I feared that they would say no based on assumptions of complicated folding and pinning and rubber pants. Surprisingly, no one seemed to really bat an eye--even the daycare center that we interviewed. And thankfully, our perfect daycare provider was cool with it, too. It was a relief!

With baby in daycare, one thing was for sure: By the time the baby is in daycare, we need to be using an all-in-one or pocket diaper to make it as easy as possible on this woman. We don't want to burden her when she has other children to care for; we figured the easier we can make it, the more successful we'll be with cloth diapering. Although we know we're most likely going with a pocket diaper, and we definitely want to go with the "one-size" versions, we're not making any final decisions on brands until our baby is here and we can try out a few different ones. It seems like everyone has differing opinions on BumGenius, Happy Heinys, FuzziBunz and Blueberry, so we don't want to make an investment in anything until we know what works best on our particular baby.

The problem with the "one-size" versions of these diapers is that, although they claim to fit babies between 7-35 lbs. (so, yes... you can use the same diapers until they are potty-trained!), they don't actually fit well on teeny little skinny newborns. It seems that most parents aren't successful with getting them to fit properly until babies are about 2-3 months old.

Soooo... although the one-size, pocket diapers are our long-term solution, we needed to decide what to do for the newborn stage. At first, I thought maybe we'd use disposable diapers for the first 2-3 months. But then, I actually got some disposables at my first baby shower, and quite frankly, I was kind of grossed out by them. Don't get me wrong--I am in no way "against" disposable diapers. Literally everyone I know uses them, and I've changed many a disposable diaper in my day (have I ever told you guys how I was an all-star babysitter?). But after doing so much research on cloth diapers and making the decision to use them for our baby, it was like I just really didn't want to use disposables. Sure, we'll use them in the hospital while the baby is still passing his/her meconium, but after that, we plan to switch to cloth as soon as we can.

What's our system of choice for the newborn stage? Well, let me show you our "starter stash." These are the things that we have purchased to get us started:

Two dozen newborn-sized, unbleached pre-fold diapers from Green Mountain Diapers, along with a 3-pack of Snappis

4 Thirsties Duo Size 1 diaper covers, 1 Planet Wise medium wet bag, 1 Planet Wise pail liner

As you can see, we plan to use pre-folds and covers. This seemed like the best solution for the newborn days, and it appears that many parents are successful with this system. In fact, many parents end up preferring the pre-folds/covers over the all-in-one/pocket systems, even though the pre-folds seem like more work.

All of the newborn CDing supply lists I've seen for the pre-fold system include 24-36 pre-folds, 4-6 covers, Snappis, two wet bags, and two pail liners. So keep in mind that the above is our starter stash. We plan to add at least another pail liner and wet bag. Once the baby is here and we get a better idea of how long four covers and 24 pre-folds last us before we need to wash, we may decide to order another dozen pre-folds and 1-2 more covers.

But that's the plan! We'll use the pre-folds/covers for the first 2-3 months, until the baby can fit into the one-size pocket diaper options, and go from there. Also, we figure that this newborn system will allow us to really try out cloth diapering and get a feel for it. If we can do it with the pre-folds/covers, we figure it'll be even easier to do the pockets when it's time. And if, for some reason, we change our minds on cloth diapering as a whole, we only invested a little bit of money upfront for the newborn stash.

Other People
Let's get one thing on the record: Our friends and family think we're crazy. I actually try to avoid talking about cloth diapering with anyone at this point, because I feel like everyone is thinking, "They're so naive. Just wait until the baby is here; they'll realize cloth diapering is not realistic." Once the baby is here and we are (hopefully) successful with cloth diapering, I feel like I'll have some clout and be able to tell everyone about what we're doing and how we're doing it, so I'm sure I'll talk about it a lot more. But for now, I'm keeping quiet. When people ask, I'm generally very vague about my answers and I casually say, "We're just trying it. We'll see how it goes."

Oh, how I would love to prove them all wrong. I really hope cloth diapering works for us!

Anyway, I feel like my thoughts on the subject are a little bit disorganized and there's a lot to say, but I'll wrap this first post up and plan to post about different aspects of CDing when it occurs to me.

Questions? Interested in researching for yourself? Feel free to ask away in the comments, although I am most definitely not an expert, especially given that my baby is not here yet.

Some suggested websites to check out for cloth diaper information:
The Eco-Friendly Family Blog
Jillian's Drawers
Green Mountain Diapers
Abby's Lane
Cotton Babies

And a couple of cloth diapering moms who have posted about their experiences:
My Life in Transition
The Lewallens

(I'm sure I'm forgetting some helpful sites and blogs, so I'll add more if I think of them.)

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26 Weeks: Under 100 Days

Alright, well, I know I just did a pregnancy update a few days ago. And I know it was actually my last post. So... two pregnancy posts in a row. Sorry!

Thankfully, I still have new, "fun" pregnancy things to share. Aren't you excited?

I know you are.

First up, my updated belly pic:

26 Weeks Pregnant

Guess what? I don't know how it happened, but suddenly, we are under 100 days! There are less than 100 days left until baby's estimated date of arrival. Whoa. I remember there being a "100 Days Until Graduation" happy hour when we were seniors in college, and after that, it was like--BOOM!--we had graduated. Sometimes, September seems so far off still, but then I think of things like that and I realize that it's really NOT.

In my last update, I forgot to say that I had a doctor's appointment right before we left for Montreal. It was my "24 week" appointment, but I was pretty darn close to 25 weeks. I'm up 14 pounds now, which I guess is good. We didn't have any questions for the doctor this time, so it was one of the quickest check-ups I've had so far--but the waiting was brutal! We had a mid- to late-morning appointment, which we rarely ever do. I guess our doctor had fallen behind with her earlier appointments, because we had to wait for 45-50 minutes just to be seen! That has never happened before, but it was annoying. We'll be sticking to the early morning appointments from now on, or the early afternoon (so they're coming off of lunch). Now, my next monthly appointment is at 28/29 weeks. After that, we start going every two weeks! Crazy!

I'm starting to experience a little more discomfort these days. My back tends to hurt at the end of the day, and when I lie in bed, it's really uncomfortable for me to lie on my back. This is actually a good thing since pregnant women aren't supposed to spend too much time on their backs in the first place (it can reduce blood circulation to the baby), but I'm not sleeping as comfortably now that my only two choices for positions are left side and right side. Bummer. I have also been feeling some stretching pains in my belly when I turn over or get up out of bed to go to the bathroom. Thanks, Baby!

I still feel like I really can't complain, though. I am still feeling pretty damn good, aside from the minor aches and pains and occasional heartburn. I am a lot better off than many of my pregnant peers!

State of my belly button: People always want to know if your belly button has popped out. As I think I've mentioned before, I have a REALLY deep belly button, so I'm skeptical that mine will ever really pop out. However, I've noticed the past few days that it feels really... tight. I think it's actually getting more shallow and stretched out, but it's still no where close to popping out, if that makes sense. Innnnteresting.

Things are coming along for the nursery. We are still waiting to do anything major (like move furniture in) until after our new carpet is installed late next week, but we're still making progress. Last week, we went and picked up a sample can of paint and painted a patch on the wall to make sure we were going to like it. We do, so we'll be buying the real paint this week and painting this weekend. Also, on Saturday, we disassembled the futon we had in there and put it in storage. We also cleared off the bookshelf in there in preparation to move that out as well.

On Sunday morning, I went over to my mom's and we got started on the DIY bedding! Even though we had purchased a pattern, we opened it up to find that, for the pieces we're making, the directions said things like "Cut fabric to XX" x XX" measurements." Say what now? No helpful pattern to use to cut with? The answer, unfortunately, was no. Sooo I had to make my own patterns out of tissue paper so I wouldn't have to measure 20 separate times. Those bastards! Needless to say, the cutting part took way longer than we anticipated, so we didn't get to do too much sewing. But we did almost get the crib skirt done, so we're getting there.

I know some of you have been interested in or wondering if we're going to do a baby pool here on the blog. YES! :) Yes, we're going to do a pool. We're going to let y'all enter guesses for the baby's sex, birthdate, weight, and length. We're actually going to offer a prize as well, so stay tuned for that. We just don't want to open it too early and have to wait so long to determine the winner. Originally, I was thinking we should hold off until about 35 weeks, but I'm starting to think maybe we'll start it up sooner than that. We'll see!

My first baby shower is coming up in a couple of weeks, but we've already been lucky enough to accumulate a couple of gifts. I had lunch with some of my friends at my old job a couple of weeks ago, and look at what they got us:

A mini adirondack chair! *LOVE*

Also, my mom decided to help us out and buy a few necessities that weren't on our registry--the car seat and the crib mattress. We ordered the car seat a couple of weeks ago and it was delivered right to our house. It was so exciting to receive and seeing it in our house makes things feel so much more real. Isn't it cute?

Now, I'm off to savor my last week of the "heavenly" second trimester before this all turns to shit. ;)

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Strollin'

I felt really PREGNANT today. I wore my cute Old Navy maternity jeans for the first time (although, they were still a bit too big--had to wear my Bella Band to hold them up!) and I felt like my belly was actually somewhat noticeable. Weird how that happens so suddenly.

We decided to do a little preliminary browsing for baby stuff this afternoon. We took a ride to Buy Buy Baby to see if they had our current favorite contender for a stroller. We had never seen it in person, so we were happy when we found that they did, in fact, carry it in the store. We got to push it around a bit, play with the different adjustments, and fold and unfold it. We're pretty sure we love it, so it is officially the front-runner.

What stroller, you ask? Well, it's the Bumbleride Indie. The only problem now is that we have to decide which color we like best, which is pretty much impossible since they are ALL adorable. But we're pretty sure we've narrowed it down to the Ruby or the Seagrass:

Right now, we're leaning more toward the Ruby. Although I love the green, I'm not crazy about how light the blue is in the seat and toward the feet. I'm worried it'll get too dirty! The red seems like it would be able to hide dirt better.

We're looking to buy ONE stroller that will serve all purposes. We're not crazy about the travel system strollers, and from what I hear from tons of experienced parents, they don't even use it that often because it is so GINORMOUS that it takes up the entire trunk. When folded, this actually is a bit smaller than most of the travel systems.

Since we're fairly active people, we'd like to have the actual inflatable wheels instead of the plastic wheels that are on the travel systems. The nice thing about the Indie is that it seems to be somewhat smaller than a lot of jogger strollers, but still features all of the same benefits. Grass, sand, snow, ice--this thing can handle it all (or so I'm told!). It also comes with an infant seat adapter bar, so we can still "snap" baby's car seat into the stroller when he/she is little.

We'll see how it goes, but we're pretty sold on it! :)

We also checked out a few car seats, and then, on the way home, we stopped by a local baby furniture store to check into cribs and dressers. The specialty store prices seem to be kind of steep, though, so we're pretty sure we're going to end up ordering from JCPenneys.

It felt a little bit weird to be out among all the other expectant parents, looking at stuff that will be used by our baby. Like, an actual baby. Whoa.

17 weeks down, 23(ish) to go...

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