Seven Great Things at Seven Weeks

I was reading a blog recently where the author listed things she could and could not live without in parenthood, and I thought I would talk about some of our favorites at seven weeks of life:

Burp Rags – cheap and great for spitup, diaper leaks and spilled beer. We have some beautiful fancy ones from showers, but the first day home we went through them and my mom ran out and got us a 12 pack and we use them all the time. I take the nice ones out with us, but at home I use the cheap ones and they are great.

Boppy – we were lucky enough to get two of these from showers and since our house is two stories, we decided to keep both. I am so glad we did. We use them for EVERYTHING. We brought one to the hospital, and I used it to learn to nurse and I still use it for nursing. It’s great for us. In the mornings, I prop Ryan up on it after he eats and talk to him and when other people are holding him, they will ask to use it. On Saturday mornings when we sleep in, I will bring him in bed with us and put him between us on the boppy because he can look around, and Jeff and I can snooze a little longer. We love the Boppy. I have two covers for each and wash them fairly often.

Angel Care Monitor – without this, I am certain I would spent 99% of my time making sure Ryan is still breathing. It’s not foolproof, but it allows me a sense of security that I appreciate. We have some static on ours (no clue why), but it is still worth it.

Stroller – I never wanted to be a family with three strollers, and yet… we have three. We have a Snap and Go for our carseat (the Baby Trend carseat, which I give a HUGE thumbs up to), a big awesome jogging stroller (BOB Revolution) and a nice umbrella stroller for later on. So far, I love both the Snap and Go and the BOB so very much (no opinion on the umbrella yet). The Snap and Go stays in my car and I use it for shopping and errands. It’s easy to use and easy to push. The cupholders are nice, but for tall drinks are tippy (like water bottles). But, I usually have the diaper bag attached, so I’ll just keep my drink in there. The BOB is amazing. It pushes like a dream and we have the carseat adapter and the “parent console” and we love both. This stroller has allowed me to take a walk almost daily with Ryan and Lola and, superficially, I love the way it looks. We get a lot of comments on it and I’m happy we went with this and not with the Phil & Ted’s.

Glider Rocker – we have two of these as well; one in Ryan’s bedroom and one in our living room and both are FANTASTIC. Ryan loves being cuddled and rocked, so we use this every day. We nurse in it in the middle of the night, we read books during the day and cuddle all the time. I love having these.

Activity Gym – we put this out when Ryan was first born and he uses it every day. He will sit and stare (baby lazer light show!) at the lights and the mirror and is even starting to try to grab for the toys (or just bat at them). It keeps him entertained, lets him stretch out and I know we will get a lot of use out of this in the future. Since we have hardwoods, I put a throw blanket underneath it to better pad it. This toy is one of his favorite things when he is awake, which is nice because I can put him down and check email, unload the dishwasher or just lay on the couch for a while and know he is entertained and happy (he is starting to “talk” to things on it which is adorable).

This Book – for whatever reason, Ryan loves this book. When he was like 2 weeks old I was at Marshalls and grabbed it because it reminded me of a book from my childhood. The first time I read it to him, he was mesmerized. Figuring it was a fluke, I tried again later and had the same results. It is a go-to book for calming a fussy baby (especially when combined with the glider!) and it’s amazing to watch. It must have some sort of cadence that Ryan likes, and we read it so often, we have already started to memorize it.