Paradis list of must-have gear

A good friend of mine just told me that she passed along my blog to an expecting mommy for some ideas of gear to get and gear not to get. While I'm flattered. . .I am in no way an expert on the topic. What I have done, however, is read about one kazillion articles on baby gear you absolutely need, went out and purchased about half of it, and then re-gifted most when I came to my senses. (Of course, not to anyone that reads this blog. . .I wouldn't do that!) ;-)

What I will do is go through a few of the top listed must-haves for the new parent and give you our Paradis take on the necessity factor. . .our gear is linked for you to check out, if you're interested.

A pack'n play - although a true necessity for spending a night away from home, ours was used mainly as a changing table downstairs. In fact, Bill just recently convinced me we didn't need it in the living room anymore, as it was holding toys and dirty laundry. Every now and then it held Cole when he threw something he shouldn't have thrown. Overall. . . you should probably have one.

Baby monitors - even in our tiny 2 bedroom condo, I find these necessary. I'm sure I could hear Cole crying anywhere in the house if he got loud enough, but I found being able to hear his every whimper (especially in the early days) helped me not run in his room and check his breathing every 10 minutes.

A good sling/baby carrier - a necessity. . . especially if your sweet thing, like mine, refuses to be put down for any amount of time for his first 6 months of life. I have, however, purchased way too many of these and have two (maybe three?) with the tags still on it, waiting for a re-gift. My suggestion would be to find one that feels good on, and can accompany the baby through a few different weight stages.

Baby bouncer - not such a necessity. Some swear by these. . . my experience with Cole was that he truly disliked the bouncing, vibrating and nature sounds I thought were so important to have with this chair. If I had realized that I just needed something to strap him into while I took a shower, we certainly would have opted for a less expensive chair.

Clothing - certainly a necessity. . .but, take it easy on yourself and choose clothing that is easy to put on, snap, button, etc. Cute little overalls, hoodies with zippers, little swaddling blankets that come with directions, hats, booties. . .all unnecessary when you really are having a hard time putting his head through the hole. In those first few weeks, it took all we had to keep him still for the diaper. . .choose a bunch of easy to wear onesies.

Exersaucer, swing, highchair - necessary again for some, not for others. These were not items we purchased right away. Cole was able to play in an exersaucer and swing and show us that he enjoyed it before we rushed out and bought one. Which, of course. . .the minute he smiled in a friend's swing. . .we rushed out and bought one. . . .and we used it for about 5 minutes until he was sick of it. C'est la vie.

Diaper Genie - The first time you are awakened in the middle of the night to the smell of a "solid-food" poop. . .you'll want to call the person that gave you the Diaper Genie immediately and thank them for buying a $40 trash can. Seriously. They're that good.

Obviously you'll want things like a crib, changing table (although not a necessity), dresser, car seat, stroller, bottles and other feeding stuff depending on formula or breastfeeding, and receiving blankets.

Here are a few things I wished we either registered for or had gotten ourselves. . .

Organic crib mattress - there's a whole lot of junk in our mattresses. . .these usually come with a hefty price tag but it would have been an investment we wouldn't have minded. We do have an organic mattress pad, which I would recommend getting to put over your regular mattress.

Cloth diapers - depending on your lifestyle, these really can save a few bucks for you but require some investment up front. Again, this is something I've spent way too much money on and we've haven't really been successful. After purchasing different types of diapers, I realize now what kind we should have gotten, but at this point, a penny saved is a penny earned.

Diapers, diapers, diapers - and all things diapering-related. I was fortunate enough that my sis and sis-in-law asked everyone attending my baby shower to bring a package of diapers with them. This got us through Cole's first 5 months without needing to purchase any diapers. You can imagine my shock at what the premium Pampers jumbo pack cost when I finally had to buy our own. I've since hunted down the best deals and stock pile when I can. A good place to start searching is Babycheapskate.com. I also like Diapers.com and their automated delivery. But there's nothing wrong with registering for diapers. . .and I think many people would appreciate purchasing something for you that they know you'll need. This is also a great way to try different brands.

Overall, I think most first-time moms would agree that you end up registering for all kinds of stuff that you don't need, don't use and don't realize a Tupperware you already had in your kitchen cabinet would work just as well, too. It's okay. It's part of the fun of expecting. Don't underestimate the effect it has on the dads, too. If you didn't register for all kinds of stuff you didn't need. . .he wouldn't have to put it all together. . .and wouldn't feel like a contributing partner in the "getting-all-the-baby-stuff-ready" nesting phase.

playing with our food

We let Cole play with a lobster for a bit before dinner. I thought he'd be a little freaked but he went right up to the lobster and started talking to it. There was a bit of crying when it was time to inevitably put his new friend in the pot. . .Cole's first lesson on the circle of life. ;-)

the play-doh smashed into the couch really gives the room a new feel

This week flew by. And not because we were particularly busy. . .in fact, we were really just cooped up with the rain. So Cole and I pulled out the crayons and the Play-Doh. . .and yes, they both ended up in his mouth, my mouth and the carpet. But luckily for everyone we were able to remove them from all three.

Here's the thing about crayons and Play-Doh with a 15 month old. . .they don't so much care about doing with them what you should do with them. Mostly, they want to shake the Play-Doh can (which, incidentally, you'll find you appreciate because it's much cleaner than stuffing it in between the couch cushions) and they just want to stack the crayons back in the box (equally a cleaner feat than shaving the crayon on his top two teeth).

One more tip. . .don't leave the room for a second when they have either crayons or Play-Doh. Not that I've done this. . .but I can only imagine. ;-) That's a total lie. There would have been pictures to show you if I wasn't so angry at the scene I came back to. . .

We also went to the doctor this week for our checkup. Good news is that Doc M says Cole is the epitome of health and happiness and is right on schedule for his development. He clocked in at 22.5 pounds and whopping 31 inches (2.5 inches more than just last month)! We were praised for having a toddler that doesn't like juice and who eats tofu and likes it.

Although, on the topic of liking and not liking. . .I can see the dark tunnel ahead that most books call the "toddler independence" phase. Food that he loved last week is getting thrown at me this week. You'd think I was trying to pull his teeth out rather than trying to put on his shirt every morning. And his poor Cabbage Patch buddy gets tossed out of the crib at nap time. We will persevere . . .

I probably should have gotten a degree in "Finding Foods A Toddler Will Eat While Maintaining Healthy Nutrition". . .it would have come in more handy than one in English. . .God knows we are not communicating. ;-)

We did a toy swap this week too. I'm finding that is one of the chores I need to keep up on. It helps to keep my living room from looking like a Fisher Price warehouse and keeps Cole excited about his toys. His Pops and Nana gave him this creepy horse thing for Christmas and he's just now big enough to play with it. He really digs it. . .

Is he looking like a big boy or what?

In unrelated Cole news. . .here are a couple updates I thought some of you might like.

On today's Weelicious site. . .Think Baby kid-ware is profiled. We got this dish set for Cole and he loves it. . . especially trying to drink out of the mug. If you're in the market for a good BPA free set. . .this one is great. The bento box is especially nice for travelling. . .

And. . .the other neat thing I discovered this week is a website that Old Navy has where you can "hunt" for coupons. I found a $10 off a $30 purchase one today. Apparently they have ones like $60 off $80 purchase and more. You just need to 'click' around the site to try and find them. They are reset each week so at this point there might not be many left. . .but try early next week if you're into Old Navy.