Baby Stuff

I did some pretty intense research on baby “stuff” while I was pregnant. The time and effort I used to put into travel research and plans was now fully directed towards baby gear. I wanted to make sure that the stuff we chose for Aiden was quality, safe, and useful. There are so many things that people think they need that end up not being used. I kept reading blogs and articles from people talking about all of the things that they thought they “just had to have” that ended up sitting in a corner taking up space.

I’ve decided to talk about a few of the things that Hugh and I feel that we just couldn’t live without. I realize these things may come across as random, but you’d be surprised at how much we use some of these things.

My Pal Scout

This is the coolest toy ever. This was a gift from a friend that swore it was her child’s favorite toy. When Aiden was about 3 months old we decided to pull him out of the package and get it all set up. 45 minutes later, Hugh managed to set poor Scout free. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO PUT 5 million zip ties on everything baby? Anyways, it’s a dog that you actually connect to your computer via USB. The LeapFrog website allows you to customize the things that Scout says for your child. For instance, Scout knows Aiden’s name! He sings songs to her with her name in it and asks her all sorts of questions. We even chose her favorite color, food and animal. Originally these things were red, bananas, and a dog. Currently they are: purple, peanut butter and jelly, and a sloth. Seriously. Sloth was one of the animal options. Aiden just loves Scout. She smiles at him and kicks her legs. She talks to him in her cute little baby babble. I know that she’ll enjoy him much more as she gets older, but this was one awesome gift. Oh, and he’ll play up to 10 minutes of bedtime music, which is really nice.

O-Ball Rattle

It’s a bit hard to see in this photo, but when it’s in her hands she refuses to be still. This ball is great. It cost $4.85 at Target. It was an impulse purchase as I was looking for something that she might be able to grab. She smiles at it and reaches out to grab it when I hold it up for her. She holds onto it and attempts to eat it. It’s fun and it helps with her motor skill development.

A&A Blankets

 I read several reviews about how great these swaddle blankets were. I found them online and was shocked at the price. Typically, they cost $50 for a pack of 4. Owie! However, if you purchase last year’s colors or designs from Amazon, you can get them for about $35. I had no problem with using the older styles. Target also sells a more affordable version. However; they aren’t as large as the original ones. These are blankets that are made out of cotton muslin. The more you wash them, the softer they get. They are very light and airy, which is perfect for Texas. We used them for swaddling, covering her carrier, play blankets, etc. They are very pretty and I love them. We also have several other A&A items and I’ve been extremely pleased with all of them.

Britax B-Safe Infant Carrier and B-Agile Stroller

A cousin of mine suggested the Britax brand to me. They are the #1 safety rated baby carrier and car seat in the world. That sold me. These are not cheap items. The stroller was $200 and the carrier was $180. However, both items were less with coupons! The infant carrier is a breeze to use. The base installed in seconds (after we read the instructions…ahem…Hugh…) and you simply set the carrier on top. It adjusts easily for her changing size, and it washes well. The stroller is super-light, and the carrier snaps on top of it. It doubles as a jogging stroller when you lock the front wheel in place, which is a very nice feature. The stroller folds up easily and has several seat positions for when she’s in the stroller without the carrier.

Waterproof Pads

I told my Mom that I didn’t want any of these, and she bought us two anyways. I was pissed. Then, within two days of having Aiden home Hugh was at the store to buy more. She was right. You need them, I promise. Use them on the changing pad and in the crib at night. It helps with spit up and leaky diapers.

Staying at home...

Hugh and I are extremely blessed, for many reasons. One of them happens to be that I’ve been able to take an extended maternity leave to stay home with Aiden. She will be one week shy of being 5 months old when I return to work. I can’t even fathom how hard it would be to have had to return to work 6 weeks after having her. I’m thinking that I would have had a nervous breakdown…

Nevertheless, I will be returning to work. I can’t even begin to say how much I’ve wrestled with this decision. Never underestimate the power of Mommy-guilt. How can I leave my baby? Am I going to miss everything? Will she still love me? Is she going to know that I’m her mother?

Oh yeah, I’ve asked myself all of these questions. Many times. Hugh as well. He LOVES it when I ask him these questions at 3 am.

I could stay home. We can afford it, but we would have to make some changes. We live a very comfortable lifestyle and enjoy it. Hugh and I own two houses; and while one of them is rental property we are still liable for that mortgage. It’s a risk, and not one that we would be comfortable taking with only one income.

Hugh and I have discussed the issue numerous times. It simply makes sense for me to go back to work. My paycheck will allow us to provide a life for Aiden that we want to provide. While I work in public education, we aren’t sure that it will provide the best education for Aiden. I want to be able to travel with her and show her that there IS life outside our day-to-day routine.  I want to be able to take vacations that don’t require us to save money a year in advance. I know that many people disagree with this viewpoint. I know that my parents made serious sacrifices for my mom to stay at home with us when we were kids. My sister is a SAHM, and they survive perfectly fine with one income. I don’t think one way is right or wrong. I truly believe that the right thing is doing what will make you happy and content.

The time is simply not right for me to be a SAHM right now. I’m not saying that I won’t change my mind in a year…but for now, this is the right decision. While I absolutely adore taking care of my little girl every day, I miss adult interaction. I’m a very social person and it’s been a big adjustment for me to be alone all day with only Aiden and the dogs to talk to. I sing along to Aiden’s interactive stuffed dog named Scout, even when Hugh is home. It’s frequently the soundtrack playing in my head. 

With all of this said, it’s still going to be hard for me to go back. We’ve lucked out and my sister is actually going to come keep Aiden for us at our house while we’re at work. I don’t think we could have found a better situation. I trust her implicitly and I won’t have to worry if Aiden is being taken care of.

Nap Time Notes...

I’m taking a few moments during Aiden’s morning nap to write down a few thoughts I wanted to share.

Apparently my daughter has decided to enter into the “4-month wakeful phase” about 2 weeks early. A serious parenting decision awaits us on the horizon. There are pretty much 2 different schools of thought on this issue. Everything I’ve read says that around 4 months babies go through a huge cognitive development phase where they are suddenly aware of their surroundings in a way that they haven’t been before. It’s essentially sensory overload for them in the sense that they want to LOOK and PLAY and TALK to everything. It usually disrupts their sleep patterns and it can be tough for parents that have gotten used to their little angel sleeping 10-12 hours a night. The books I have all suggest this to be a good time to start “sleep training”, which is essentially where you let your baby cry-it-out at sometime during the night. I’m not opposed to this suggestion; I’m just concerned that Aiden might be too young for it. She’s only 3.5 months, not 4. I don’t want her to feel that we’ve abandoned her at night, but I also don’t want to set a precedence that we like to play at 4 am. AAGGGHHHH!!!!!! Parenting is tough! I just want us to make the right decision and yet I realize that there probably isn’t any one true right decision.

I feel like I’m sounding more and more like a fortune cookie these days.

Aiden has started to roll from her back to her tummy. The only issue is that now anytime that you put her down in her crib for a nap or bedtime she immediately rolls onto her tummy and then gets pissed. I don’t think she’s put it together yet that she can roll both ways. It is awfully cute though, watching her roll around all the time.

We got a treadclimber! A good friend of mine had one and didn’t want it anymore, so we volunteered to take it of her hands. It’s set up in our bedroom and Tobey barked at it initially. I’ve wanted one of these for years. They used to have them up at the gym but they replaced them with stairmills about 2 years ago. I love the machine and it’s made me SO much happier. I get on it every morning when Aiden goes down for her nap. I think it’s helping me keep some of my sanity. If I choose to go to the gym in the evenings, then I miss out on the one hour where Hugh gets to play with Aiden. I hate to do that, so working out at home is the solution for now.

As of today I officially have one month of maternity leave left. While I know that going back to work is the right answer for me, I find myself wanting to stay with my baby girl. It’s going to be a tough transition for me, I can already tell. 

Hugh and I got used to not getting sleep when Aiden was a newborn, and we survived! However, it’s really tough to start getting sleep and then to lose it again. WHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Yes, I’m crying.

I was so tired yesterday, but Hugh was very sweet. After Aiden was down for the night (HA!) he told me to get into bed and he proceeded to fold the 4 loads of laundry that I’d been staring at for three days. I really do love that man!

I discovered yesterday that we have a Smart Meter on our house. I was able to go to the website and look at our energy consumption broken down into 15 minute intervals. It’s really cool, and it was interesting. We are currently using about $10 worth of energy a day. I’m going to try unplugging the TV and a few other things that we leave plugged during the day to see if it affects the usage. I’ve heard for years that leaving your cell phone charger, etc. plugged in during the day actually uses energy but now I can actually see for myself. YAY!

Wow…how much of a dork am I?