These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things.

My expression of lurve for the SwaddleMe blanket got me to thinking: what are the great baby products in my life that I could not live without? I got a lot of great tips and product reviews from friends before I registered, so I thought I would share my top ten list with all of you now that I've lived it.

1. Obvi, the SwaddleMe blanket. Unless you are employed as a nurse and/or learned some secret ninja skill at a secret Mom camp, you will never, ever be able to swaddle your child like they do in the hospital. Never fear, this contraption is foolproof. Jake could probably swaddle Alex in it if push came to shove. Right now they are buy one, get one 1/2 off at BRU...just sayin'.

2. The Happiest Baby On The Block. Specifically, the DVD. There's a book, but why read when you can watch? Joe and I had big plans to watch it over pizza the night my water broke, but we just got around to watching it about a week or so ago. Dr. Harvey Carp is a Baby Whisperer, I swear. I promise you will learn some serious baby soothing skills that will save your sanity on more than one occasion. If you're local, I have a copy you can borrow. Have your people call my people.

3. Travel infant swings. (The link is the one we have.) The 'travel' part is k-e-y. The regular swings are so big and bulky, and unless you have the Jon & Kate + 8 diesel minibus, you can't take it with you anywhere. I've already taken mine on two different trips, and even if I would have paid retail (Yeah, right. Like I would EVER do that!) it would have already paid for itself a billion times over. But since I am awesome and scored it for $15, I would say it's been more than worth it. Score!

4. Skip hop bottle drying rack. So many people told us the typical drying racks you would register for are cheap and crappy, so we actually weren't even going to get one at all. By some freak accident, we found this one on clearance at T.J. Maxx and thought it looked cool. Turns out, it's such a great product! The brush fits right in it, and there's a place for all the different pieces of the bottles to dry. Not to mention it actually looks pretty spectacular on the counter.

5. Soothie pacifier. I'm fully aware that this one might be specific to Alex, but it's the only pacifier he will take. I think it's because that's what they gave him in the hospital and the nipple (it's even a gross word when you're not referring to boobies) is shaped like the ones on his bottles. He just won't take the Nuk-type pacifiers that are wider and flatter...I will have to post a video of me trying to put it in his mouth. The look on his face is like I'm trying to feed him brussel sprouts.

6. Binki Grip. Brills! Keeps the pacifier from falling on the floor, and this particular one will fit ANY brand of pacifier, so you don't need to buy one for every kind. Thanks to Auntie Jen for ours! :)

7. Bibs. Buy 100 of them. You cannot have enough. Personally, I will use a burp cloth as a bib from time to time, but Joe claims he "is not a heathen" and will only use a fresh, clean bib every time. He likens it to eating a delicious steak with dirty silverware...it ruins the meal.

8. White noise machine. I honestly thought these were ridiculous until about a week ago. So many people told me to register for one and that they were worth their weight in gold, but they have always annoyed me. I take it all back. They are awesome. The one we have (in link) also has a cool projection feature that will project lighted fish, stars and animals on the ceiling.

9. Bath Sling. We don't use this when it's both Joe and I giving him a bath, but when it's just me this thing is the BEST. You only have two hands and those little buggers are slippery! This helps to keep him in the warm water, but with his head above the water line. Plus, I can actually have some hands-free moments and just let Alex enjoy the water before he is old enough to sit up on his own!

10. Washcloths. Sometimes, wipes just don't hack it. We keep a stack of about 25 white washcloths next to the changing table for those emergency situations...whether it's a ginormous poo or an impromptu whiz block. The white is necessary so that you can wash them with bleach once they are, um, soiled.