Yay Friday: Bubbles

I’m going to let the pictures do most the talking this week, but bubbles are a favorite at our house. See those wide eyes? We love them so much we will be having a bubble machine at somebody’s first birthday in just two weeks. AAAHHH! I’m so excited!

Nesting advice and nursery essentials

Shopping for a baby can be overwhelming. Especially if you’ve never had one. I spent weeks researching products, because I had the have the RIGHT everything — even though much of it comes down to personal preference. The following is a note a wrote a friend who was expecting when my little one was about four months old. It’s nesting advice I would have written to my former self. Now I could go on and on about what you REALLY “need” for a baby, but I liked re-reading the words on my newborn-mothering self and thought it would be fun to share.

Don’t wear yourself out. If I could go back in time I would have spent more time sleeping!

Just about a month to go, how are you feeling? I don’t know how many mom friends you have but I thought I’d offer a little unsolicited baby advice for your final preparations. I had a very fussy baby for a while and thought I would share some shopping tips for calming your little one an other random things. Take what you will, but it’s stuff I would have loved to know:

• Target Up&Up diapers are like Pampers and Costco ones are like Huggies. Both way cheaper.
• If you don’t already have them, stock up on: baby Q-Tips, they are great for ears and noses; Little Tummies Gas Drops, boogie wipes, and saline nasal spray for stuffy noses. Also invest in a nice thermometer. I have a digital one that takes it in his ear, which is fast and much easier than other ways …
• Look for baby pajamas with zippers or even the goofy looking nightgowns with elastic at the bottom. You won’t want to bother with snaps during 2 a.m. diaper changes.
• Get a travel sleep sheep — it plays white noise. Bust it out at bedtime when she’s cranky. It’s weird but it works! Also make sure you have a nice swaddling blanket with Velcro, I have a Summer Infant one that is awesome. (Pictured above.)
• Will you be breastfeeding? If so, stock up on bra inserts for leakage, lanolin for sore nips and shirts that can easily be pulled down or up. Do yourself a favor and buy 5-7 nursing tanks now. Target has good ones in the bra section they are like shelf tanks with clips to undo the front at the straps. I had to send my husband to buy some for me while we spent a week in the hospital with our son. I wore them for weeks. They are perfect to layer under a top. Then you can pull the top layer up and the bottom layer down to nurse discreetly. Also get a nice nursing cover, Babies R Us has good ones I can nurse discreetly in restaurants and pretty much everywhere with mine.
• Our best big purchase was our swing. It’s his chair in the living room. We got the Graco Soothee and I completely recommend it! It vibrates, swings either back and forth and side to side, plays white noise and music and the seat comes off and works as a little cradle I can more around the house.

Hope these tips help and aren’t too annoying. I know you are probably getting tons of unwanted advice right now! I cant wait to see pics of the nursery and eventually your little lady! Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy! Treat yourself to pedicures and rest!

13 awesome reasons to get in the swing of baby wearing

Confession. I have three strollers — much to my husband’s chagrin at the expense and space they take up in our garage — and I love all of them. They all have a totally different purpose and I’m glad I have them. But my favorite way to stroll with my little one doesn’t involve a stroller at all. It’s baby wearing. Little did I know that my ErgoBaby Carrier would be one of my all time favorite baby items. I take it everywhere, even when we take the stroller “just in case.” So I thought I would share a few awesome facts about baby wearing:

1. It’s easy: Throw a wrap or sling in your baby bag and take it everywhere. No setting up a stroller, no taking elevator/ramp instead of stairs, easy to slip through crowds.
2. Look ma, no hands!: You can be close to your little one and have two free hands. Let’s face it, half the time we’re out and about I end up taking my son out of the cart/stroller/etc. and carrying him anyway and pushing the stroller anyway, at least for a bit. When I wear him it’s never an issue.
3. A happy baby: Proponents of baby wearing say babies who are worn a couple hours a day are calmer and cry less.
4. Strengthen your bond: All that time in close proximity strengthens the parent baby bond and makes you more in touch with their needs.
5. Less fussing while out: With a baby just under your chin it’s easier to know what they need and quickly respond when out and about.
6. Multitasking mama: Baby wearing means I can care for my little one AND get things done. Whether it’s a brisk walk, shopping or even dishes and laundry.
7. Great for travel: I’ve worn my baby in a wrap and Ergo carrier through airports, museums, aquariums, busy downtown areas, farmer’s markets and even on a halibut fishing charter tour.
8. No cheek pinching: Ladies always touching your baby’s hands and face in the grocery store and sharing their germs with your little sweet cheeks? While many people seem to have no problem crossing into a baby’s personal bubble, they are far less apt to touch a baby snuggled up under your chin in mama-bear’s personal space. And it’s easier to step away or put your hands between them and per-immunization newborn.
9. The view is great: Wearing a baby puts them at the caregiver’s eye level allowing them an excellent view of the world and learning ground during everyday activities.
10. Small talk: Having a baby that close makes it easy to chat and tell them about what you are seeing and doing. Talking, reading and singing to your baby are key to speech development.
11. All shapes and sizes: There are a zillion different wraps, carriers, slings and baby backpacks out there to suit almost any shape, size and lifestyle.
12. Nurse that baby: Close physical contact is key to establishing a good breastfeeding relationship in the beginning. Also, many baby carriers can be adjusted to a nursing position to help a mom discreetly feed her baby on the go.
13. Coping with colic: Some babies experience hours of unexplained crying in the early months where the only thing a parent can do is hold and sooth the baby for hours in the evening. Baby wearing can help parents and newborns cope with this difficult time.

Before you hop on the baby wearing bandwagon, please, educate yourself on safe practices. Use the acronym TICKS:

TIGHT
IN VIEW AT ALL TIMES
CLOSE ENOUGH TO KISS
KEEP CHIN OFF THE CHEST
SUPPORTED BACK

Here’s a great PDF with illustrations from the School of Babywearing.

Find out more about baby wearing safety at babywearinginternational.org.

Yay Friday: The world outside the window

Babies have excellent observation skills. I never cease to be amazed by the wide-eyed wonder of my son’s baby blues when taking in new sights. Sometimes sensory play isn’t about making noise or wild new experiences. Sometimes it’s simply taking a quiet moment to stop and admire the visual roses. I know any time my little guy gets cranky, a quick way to calm him is to stand at the window and enjoy the view. We talk about colors, the weather, animals and transportation. We take a couple moments every day to observe the neighborhood dogs and cats, cars passing by, airplanes flying overhead and whether it’s sunny, rainy, foggy, windy or snowing. On the very lucky Saturday morning pictured above, we saw a double rainbow.

I picked this tactic up when my mom was staying with us during the first few weeks. She would take him to the window and observe whether the neighbor’s red truck was home or not. Even at just a few weeks standing at the window brought a new perspective to a fussy afternoon.

Happy observation time. Have a great weekend.

Yay Friday: Mr. Piano Man

My son seems to have a special kind of love for music. Keyboards are awesome sensory fun because babies seem to love exercising cause and effect, and the effect of little hands banging black and white keys is immediate, easy and widely varying. Electronic keyboards are especially fun because you can adjust the tone, music style and even set it on special effects. Bonus, you can turn down the volume if their happy gets a little to loud for your taste!

Shake it up by playing a little tune yourself while your little one sits on your lap and freestyles.

Make some joyful noise. Happy Friday!