Baby Gear According to Erin

My pal Erica is deeming this week BABYWEEK and asked if I would share my must-have items for baby for the early weeks of life.  I'm not going to say these things are must-haves but they sure were helpful to have! Enjoy.

When I was expecting Haddon, I spent a bit of time researching exactly what kind of baby stuff I would need.  Not a lot of time compared to some (heather!) but I wanted to be sure that whatever we bought or received was a good buy, both price-wise & quality-wise.  Fortunately, I had a lot of friends go before me into babyland, so they were super helpful in the purchasing process.

Without further ado, here is my list of things I found very important to my sanity and Haddon's happiness. 

In no particular order, 

1. Aden & Anais muslin blankets

Here is Haddon napping with one of the blankets. he loves pulling them up to his face. *Supervised, of course, I don't want him to suffocate.

I used these all. the. time.  Kate got me them for Christmas in a pack of 4 (I think from Target) and they are seriously awesome.  I used them to swaddle Haddon each night so he'd sleep better. However, he was predisposed to sleeping with his hands near his face so I wouldn't swaddle his arms in because he'd just pull them out.  Being a summer newborn, these blankets are great because they are lightweight.  Also they are huge.   I highly recommend them.

2. SWING.

They say some babies don't love the swing, but Praise Jesus Haddon loved it.  It seriously was such a lifesaver because he slept so well in it from day 1.  Also, it's great for when they are in their 'quiet alert' time.  Our swing plugs into the wall (no batteries) and also the seat removes to serve as a bouncy chair complete with vibration settings. You can see it here in a different pattern. 

 

3. Breast Pump

 Around week 3, we learned that Haddon wasn't gaining weight quite as fast as the doctor (and later Dawn the lactation consultant) wanted. For a long explanation and variety of reasons, I had to begin supplementing his feedings with pumped breast milk.  This meant the pump and I got very close very fast as I had to use it 8 times a day after feeding Haddon. Though I was able to read many the blog while I pumped, it was not that fun.  Anyways, we were gifted with the Medela Pump in Style and I had no idea how often I'd be using it.  It's a double, so that reduced the amount of time I had to pump.  Also, if you want details on my DIY pumping bra, shoot me an email as I will spare the world the intimate facts of that endeavor.

4. Bottle Drying Rack

Because I was pumping so much and giving Haddon an extra bottle every feeding, I was so thankful for the drying rack as I washed bottles many times a day.  It's compact and has enough space to contain all the parts to the bottles & breast pump accessories. It was on my Amazon baby registry. You can see it here.

5.  Burp Clothes

No need to get all fancy on this one.  Pre-folded cloth diapers work great.  I had plain ones from a diaper cake from one of my showers and then Erica sewed me up some manly ones for my Hadman.  I use them all the time. 

6. Newborn Sized Clothes

Before Haddon was born, I had a ton of 0-3 month clothing so I figured we'd be fine to use those right from birth.  After all, 0 months is how old he is when he's born, right? Well, even my fairly average sized baby (7lbs 12oz) didn't quite fit into 0-3s.  We had to get a few newborn outfits and thankfully received some as gifts early on.  I think he had 3 newborn jammies, about 7-8 onesies and maybe 3-4 pants.  He stayed in those for about 3-4 weeks until he got bigger. 

7. The Boppy

 

How cute is little bitty Haddon? He hung out like this a lot during the day, especially when I would have to pump after feeding him.  It has many uses; I used to lay it under his activity mat (another fave I didn't include) so he could reach his toys.  I would also put him on it for tummy time and I use it now for nursing when I feed him up in his room. I love it.  The cover is removable, you know, so it's easy to wash. 

8. Turtle Bath Sponge

There is Haddon at 4 days old.  I used the sponge pictured above when I'd bathe him at the sink and in the tub.  It's awesome.  It is only $5.  It wrings dry & is very easy to store.  I still use this for Haddon's baths. (I also have one of those bigger sitting up style tubs but he's very wiggly in it so I prefer the sponge.)

9. The pacifier. 

I was one of those new moms who pulled the whole "I don't want him to get addicted to the paci, it's just going to be a sleep prop" thing for a day and found myself sitting over Haddon's bassinet holding the paci in his mouth that very night at 3 am.  Haddon loved and still loves his pacis.  I have the Avent 0-3 month ones primarily.  He loved those right away.  I learned that babies need to suck on things, it's just part of being a baby.  So having a paci to help Haddon calm himself down and be soothed was just fine by me.  I love them.  I also highly recommend pacifier clips that you attach to the baby's shirt.  This saves you from bending down 57 times a day to retrieve pacis.

10. Perspective

Ok, so you can't buy this at the store or register for it, but it was something that I prayed I would have for the first few days/weeks/months of Haddon's life.  When I would find myself getting frustrated by my baby who wouldn't fall asleep or having to pump all the time, I tried to remind myself what everyone tells you, that it will all go by so fast.  Keeping things in perspective made a big difference to me early on, especially throughout the whole weight gain saga. Trying to soak it all in instead of just 'getting through it' yields a happier mom, dad, baby & life.

So there you have it, my top 10 baby items for the early weeks.  I hope it is helpful or interesting or whatever you want it to be. 

Just a few Haddon pictures to document our days here at home.

Happy Haddon! I LOVE that face.

We've been going on a walk almost every day now that it's cooler. Today he actually went the first time not in his car seat. But I forgot to take a picture. Oops!

Wearing overalls for the first time. He cracks me up because he always looks right at the camera! I think he recognizes the little beeping sound of it turning on.

My Crafty Half

Just a warning: I plan to brag on my husband in this post. I vow not to use superlatives and label him "the best husband ever in the world/universe/galaxy." I will, however, dedicate this post to him and his mad crafting skills. That doesn't sound too manly, does it.

For the almost 2 years we've lived in our house, there has been a large, blank gray all staring me down every day. In our living room, we have a fireplace with a pretty good sized metal medallion-type thing hanging above it. I knew that was the focal point so I always struggled with what to put on the adjacent wall. I already had picture frames up nearby so that was out. I thought about what kind of artwork I might like, but could never settle on one.

Until pinterest came along.

You may also frequent that site, which turned out to be the place of inspiration for me. I found on there a couple who had made a piece of art from little rods of wood. They looked like the cuisanaire rods from math class, but stylishly arranged. I showed Ben (who is actually quite picky; he had already turned down awesome chevron ideas I had.) and he liked it!

So literally, the next day, Ben heads over to Lowe's and picks up small paint cans & the few other things we needed. And so began our project.

Ben, not wanting to be photographed. This is after we had cut all the boards with his big saw. Or Ben cut the boards & I caught them at the end.

I don't have any of the painting part pictured, which is sad because that was a time-consuming portion. A lot of our neighbors were interested in what we were up to. One has commented to me that she "always sees your husband working in the garage." Yup.
The above picture was where Ben really impressed me. He arranged all of the pieces on his own & glued them all down as shown. He has a lot more sticktoittiveness than I do.

And now, the finished product!!

I love it. Ben rigged it up pretty cool by screwing it into the wall so it lays totally flat. Two of the slats are secretive & can be removed to get to the screws. Pretty ingenious.

Here it is up close, with weird lighting. You can kind of see how some of the slats are thicker than others, giving it a nice 3-d effect.
So, my husband is pretty darn talented. More than his actual craftsmanship, I am constantly humbled by how attentive he is to detail and how dedicated to the task at hand he is.

Because I'm not those things. Hence why he's my crafty half.