A few of my favorite (baby) things... 0-3mo

Let's be honest, when Brady was born I had no clue what items I needed.  Sure, I did my research.  I talked to other moms, read books, subscribed to several Parenting magazines, discovered blogs online dedicated to parenting tips, and reviewed several online consumer reports listing essential baby items.  But, I am a dive-in-and-learn-for-myself kind of person.  It was inevitable that I would have to just learn on the job, so to speak.

From what I've learned thus far in the four months of raising an infant for the first time, here are a few of my favorite things for months 0-3.  I've included images of the ones we have, but most any brand will do!

RECEIVING BLANKETS
As a parent of an infant, you go through these things like water.  I didn't realize Mom would be right about this when she looked at my stack of them when Brady was born and said I'd need more.  I've since bought dozens!  Andy and I use these as burp rags, spit-up catchers, light weight blankets for chilly walks, floor mats when we travel to someone's house, wee-wee covers, drool absorbers, you name it.  They're versatile, rather cheap, and essential!!!

BOUNCER

A generous neighbor of ours surprised us while I was pregnant by giving us several key baby items we, at the time, did not know we would so desperately need.  The bouncer was the best of them all!  This sits on our kitchen table for Brady to join us at meal times and nap in while we prepare food, clean, or surf the internet on our laptops at the table.  He love, love, LOVES it and has developed the ability to kick his left foot to propel the bouncing motion and put himself to sleep or entertain himself while watching the dangling characters sway above him.  He even now curls his feet up to pull the chain on the froggie that plays music!  The bouncer our neighbors gave us was pink for a girl, so we have it upstairs covered with (you guessed it!) a receiving blanket.  This froggie one is downstairs.  They make it so nice to have hands-free time as a parent, while still being close by to your baby!  I use the one upstairs in the floor of the bathroom while I shower.  Brady loves being nearby to watch all of our daily activities:-)

Apparently this toy teaches children how to use their feet to grab things??? ;-D

THE GLOWORM
Best toy EVER!!!  I remember having one of these as a child, so you can imagine my thrill when registering for baby things at our local Babies 'R Us store when we came across the wonderful Playskool Lullaby Gloworm!  This has different modes, but the basic concept is you squeeze the center and gloworm's face lights up and plays music.  The tunes are nice, the light catches baby's eye from an early age, the little tassle ear things (what are they really?) are perfect for little mouths to chew and explore.  Brady loves this more than any other toy and I'm so thankful for my dear childhood friend E who gave this to us!!!  Brady's face always lights up (pardon the pun) when he sees his gloworm.  And for $11, what could be better?!

OCEAN WONDERS ACQUARIUM
Seriously, this thing rocks.  Dear friend E also gave us this wonderful crib soother (isn't she amazing?!) that continues to be extremely useful for calming and entertaining our Brady.  Since we have a crib bumper (yes, I ignore this SIDS risk) all the way around Brady's crib, there isn't much room for us to also attach this to the side of his crib.  So we use this by itself to prop near Brady when he's in his bouncer and keep him entertained while I shower, make dinner, etc.  Now that he's spending more tummy time, he loves having this to look at to encourage him to push up!  The toy has three sound modes (buttons to the right) which are nature (ocean) sounds, lullabies, and classical music.  I never get tired of the tunes (and I'm a musician!) and the water lights up an intriguing shade of sparkly blue with the sea animals moving around to hold Brady's attention.  When he fights extra hard to avoid napping, I can almost guarantee this thing will soothe him to sleep.  Worth EVERY penny!

ACTIVITY MAT
Okay, so there are a handful of things I've claimed (prior to becoming a parent, mind you) to never use/do with my kid.  One such thing I swore I would never buy is the activity mat/baby play gym.  For starters, we have a smallish place, so where would it go?  Secondly, it's expensive and seems like just another one of those Babies 'R Us gimmicks they claim you NEED when really it'll just clutter your house with unnecessary junk.  Right?  WRONG!


After a few weeks of life with Brady, I began to understand what people meant when they exclaimed, "He's such an alert baby!" when they saw him.  Brady did not EVER go through the sleeps-all-the-time newborn phase.  He is happy.  He is social.  He wants to be where the action is and he takes it all in with wide, alert eyes.  Sound familiar?  Perhaps I got my extrovert after all;-)  At any rate, I quickly realized that I would need more than a bouncer and a blanket for keeping my boy engaged and challenged.   

Enter Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym.

 

Yes, it is a mouthful.  Based on my research, though, reviewers claimed that it challenged their babies to begin reaching out to touch things and grabbing hold of objects.  Worth a try, I thought.

At first, Brady didn't know what to make of this most amusing contraption.  He love, love, LOVED the dangling octopus character with the rattle and began talking to it almost immediately. (Have I mentioned he's a talkative child?)  I took several videos of him chattering away with his fist held high. 

See?  No joke.

But then after a little over a week, I caught him doing this:

Need I say more?
It's pricey, yes, but you can get them used at garage sales or through craigslist.  Do yourself a favor and have one for your child.  You'll be so glad you did!  We usually keep it in the kitchen floor so B can watch us while we make dinner and eat.  I love this thing so much I'm actually tempted to buy a second one with a different theme!  Now that is excessive, says Andy;-)