Friday, August 30, 2013

blueberry muffins for the road

happy labor day weekend!

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we're driving to florida tomorrow morning (8 hours in the car with a baby, please pray!) for a church conference. i'm excited to get out of the house for the weekend, because that means no chores or dirty laundry or house projects staring me in the face and making me feel guilty and annoyed all. weekend. long. it's going to be pure bliss. and hopefully it will make up for the fact that the baby has a thing about his carseat, for which i am extra grateful to my friend jen for sending wilder a new toy (perfect timing jen!).

because we're living on a smaller budget these days, i'm packing a cooler with food and made these blueberry muffins for breakfast so we won't have to eat out as much.

muffins are one of my favorite food groups. if i'm not much mistaken they make up the sturdy base of your essential foods triangle. i highly recommend you make yourself a batch of these, for they are delicious!

big beautiful muffins:
(aka dr. B's essential *blueberry muffins)

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 cup plain yogurt (or vanilla and honey if you choose)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (about) vegetable oil
1/3 cup (ish) soy milk
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup blueberries*

preheat oven to 375 degrees. spray muffin tins.

mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. beat eggs with yogurt and soy milk. fold into the dry mixture. fold in melted butter and oil. add in blueberries.

divide among muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes.

makes 12 regular muffins. or six jumbo muffins and seven regular muffins. i like to have options.

this recipe is adapted from a friend of a friend's recipe, by way of not having enough yogurt and thus adding in some soy milk and oil. also, you can substitute blueberries for any ol' fruit your heart desires! in fact, you can probably substitute in any ol' thing you want. this recipe is very forgiving! which is how i know it's a keeper.

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

the blessings of babyland

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last night i imagined wilder as a toddler, still chubby and buttery-skinned, pajama-clad and sleepy, standing in the doorway to his nursery on his own two feet, asking for something — to be tucked in or for a drink of water, i imagined — small arms and legs so independent and capable and yet, still so childlike —brushing the door frame or clutching the cotton front of his dinosaur pajama top or sleepily grazing the edge of his temple (as he's begun to do in real life) in that unaware, constantly moving way children have. i tried to imagine his little face, a grown up two- or three-year-old, and his little voice. what will he be like? will he really one day be standing and walking on his own? chirping real words in his baby bird voice?

it is one of the most tragic and also most mesmerizing thing as a mom, watching your baby grow. i both can't wait to see that grown up baby and am also desperately wanting him to stay just the way he is.

that is the thing about motherhood. it is a constant and perfect mixture of joy and pang. of days that are so full of wonder and days that are so ordinary you want to chew your socks off. of beauty and boredom. and maybe, i suspect, of tender sighs and holding your temper.

it is the most blessed and also the most un-awarded occupation i know. which is not the same thing as unawarding. you know what i mean, moms, right?

a few nights ago i read this post about motherhood. i found it so encouraging. even though i chose this occupation, and even though i am in love with it, i've suddenly found myself wishing for a job recently. i'm not exactly sure why. (yes i am, money, duh). maybe it would be nice to just pay someone else to vacuum my carpets and do my laundry and dust the darn knick knacks, i thought.

obviously, i don't miss the 8 am and 5 pm commute in traffic. or the sitting at a desk all day. or doing things all day long that i dont want to do (oh wait...). and it's not that i want to leave wilder with someone else (even if i occasionally wouldn't mind having my hands free for longer than an hour-long naptime. or you know, some adult conversation before 7 pm).

but sometimes, motherhood is monotonous. even while your baby is changing before your very eyes and you can't bear to look away for more than a minute, and at the same time, you also want to just look at something other than the very hungry caterpillar for the millionth time in four months...it can be a little lonely. a little boring. a little tedious.

this line: "in this mixed up media world of things to do and places to go and dreams to follow the beauty of simply being a mother is completely lost."

don't i know it? i have dreams! things to do! places to go! stuff to accomplish! when i look around day after day and there is my never-changing to-do list of laundry, dishes, vacuuming filling up my schedule, it can be frustrating.

when my accomplishments of the day are: "laundry folded and folded and folded."

and, "the things that don't get celebrated on Pinterest that much."

amen.



but in the end, i am so thankful for what i have right now. it is my blessing to be the one to pick the boogers out of this booger's nose. to be the one to move him from playmat to bumbo to bouncy seat. to be the one whose hairs he grabs, whose shoulders he gnaws on, whose kisses tickle his tummy. i want to stumble to the bathroom in the morning with just time to remove my retainers before getting the baby up. i want to have my shirt yanked and neck scratched while nursing because my baby is the most aggressive eater ever. i want to open all the curtains to let the morning in while we set up camp on the floor —tummy time for him, downward dog for me. i want to gauge the stage of fussiness by the number and urgency of his little left leg kicks. i want to rinse sophie the giraffe off for the umpteenth time after its been thrown on the floor and licked by the dog. i want to hurriedly run from nursery to kitchen to laundry room in the evenings, trying to fit in all the chores i didn't do during the day because i was too busy reading dr. seuss's alphabet book and encouraging someone to roll over again. i want to look sideways at the baby monitor while i write this, and spy on him sleeping in his bassinet, my little swaddled caterpillar.

and sometimes, when we're lucky, like this week, i want to meet a friend at the most awesome little children's store in my most favorite neighborhood and then walk our strollers over to yogli mogli for frozen yogurt and pretend i'm like an urban mom or something. and then i want to spend an afternoon in the pool with another friend and her two babies and reflect on how easy i have it now while my baby is still relatively immobile and not yet talking;). and actually, now that i think about it, i want every week to be like this week.

it may not bring in a pay check or any awards, but this week in babyland there was lots of slobber and lots of laughs and a little bit of sugar. and that is more than enough.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

bradley group reunion, with all the babies!

over the weekend we got to meet up with all our bradley group classmates (and our awesome teachers) and their babies. it was great seeing the new additions to the families. all the babies together! oh the yumminess! makes you just want to have another. not right now, of course!

i kind of imagined that we were going to sit around in a circle (like all our classes) and get to hear everyone's birth stories (woa, some of the ones i did get to hear...birthing is not easy!), but it was really nice to just hang out, drink lemonade, see who's munchkin got dramatic and fussy first (ours, naturally;).

a few photos of our time:

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a group shot with our teachers. and almost in order of birth! wilder should be third, but he cut the line. ;)

the last four photos are by Wendy, at whose house we met. her little man is the oldest (and wisest), by far. thanks for the great photos, Wendy!

Friday, August 23, 2013

things i've learned lately

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rainy mornings in our pjs with coffee are a great way to chill out from a hectic weekend.

sometimes, what you really want is sleep, but what you really need is a shower.

date night can be as simple as a glass of wine and a heart to heart on the couch with the loverboy.

tv is addictive and it makes me depressed. no more tv! but, we're on the last season of that 70s show and i want to see hyde and jackie get back together. but after that, no more tv!

the baby's vocal chords are working. hello 6:30 a.m. alarm clock!

postpartum hair loss is tragic. lars and i are shedding buddies.

trader joe's bagels are the best i've ever had.

friends who come over and help hang curtains and read to the baby while i iron and also bring popsicles? awesome.

and, i hate ironing.

it is really great to tell God everything.

babies hate getting hot. dogs hate leashes. the park can be challenging. twice.

this chicken piccata recipe is SO good and SO easy.

i could hold this baby all the live long day. stop growing my perfect sized baby! at least for awhile!

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and yes, this blog is just a big excuse to post photos of my baby.

happy friday!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

things i get wrong sometimes and how i learned i married a Brit

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math. even though i like to think i'm better than some people (after all i never calculate tip on my fingers;), the embarrassing truth which i've recently realized (all on my own. is that better or worse?) is that sometimes, i'm wrong.

the week after W was born, i spent two fretful evenings fervently trying to convince loverboy that wilder turned one week old on monday evening (he was born tuesday evening). i drew pictures, i gesticulated wildly with my hands, i spoke emphatically...and was frustratingly incapable of enlightening loverboy as to the exact date of this important milestone. i even shed a tear or two. because, well, really! how can one not know when they're own child is turning a week old?? i asked crankily. how can you even call yourself a parent if you can't even do simple math? i wailed.

loverboy stared at me, blank eyed, shrugging his shoulders, clearly missing that late-night-baby-date-counting anxiety characteristic of all those upon whom parenthood has been conferred. how could we celebrate his one week birthday if we didn't know the exact day, i worried. look, i'll show you again, i said and began desperately counting the little bridges between the days on my hand-drawn one-week calendar. six! i declared triumphantly, my finger hovering over the monday dot. six days make a whole week, because the seventh is the start of a new week. obviously. after this careful, detailed brow beating, "i guess you're right," he said carelessly, with another shrug of his mystified shoulders.

ha! i said. (quite a catch am i, i know.) it wasn't a very triumphant ha, however, because i was still nagged by the suspicion — mostly precipitated by the words "i guess" — that he didn't really agree with me and was simply appearing to agree for the sake of keeping the peace, of all things. and also, maybe he was a little afraid of extra hormonal, new mama B. well, let's just hope our baby gets his math skills from me, i thought secretly.

and then i read this post the other day and as i was laughing to myself, it hit me: my loverboy is british in his soul. it also hit me that i can't even count on my fingers. but let's focus on what really matters here — all this time, i've been married to a brit. this really bears thinking about.

i have always thought that my dear loverboy hates so much to disagree with people that he just tells them what they want to hear. and ok, it's sort of true (can you blame him?). but it turns out there is a whole country of people who are just the same way!

so, when loverboy says, "you're right, but...," he really means he hasn't heard a word you've said as it's clearly nonsense. he's just too polite to say so.

that right there is a literal translation. i have successfully transdecoded the loverboy. so now you all can go back and reassess the convos you've had with him and realize how very wrong you were in your takeaway. you were very wrong. trust me.

for example, i am now quite sure that six days are not enough to make a week. it actually takes seven days to make a week.

and i'd like to take a moment to thank my many years of college and higher education for this blindingly astute discovery. and also, postpartum hormones, for apparently robbing me of my right to be right all the time. the sad proof.

for the record, baby, i hope you do not get your math skills from me. and, your papa is one good-looking brit;). (but i am usually, mostly, almost always right;).

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Monday, August 19, 2013

tornados of laundry and other such housewifely things

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it's becoming abundantly clear that "weekend" is code for "disaster" in this house. except for that one weekend where things were unaccountably smooth and drama free, our weekends as a family are akin to bad weather. f3 tornados, i lovingly call them.

despite the fact that friday's cool, good-mood inducing weather had me believing we were in for a snuggly, feel-good, romcom of a weekend, it was, as is often the case recently, the woody allen of romcoms. everything was a bit off, and there was neither a respectable amount of romance or comedy.

i knew we were in for it when on saturday morning loverboy announced there was a dead animal of some indeterminately largish size in the crawl space that is accessible through our closet, just outside of which our sweet baby was napping. 400 dollars or maybe 2000 to come clean it up! said the animal exterminator on the phone. do it yourself! said the diy pest control place down the road (fancy that). mom and dad come help! said loverboy. yay! said i, as i eyed the mound of laundry, pile of dirty dishes and a wee patch of rug just visible underneath the new-always-off-season-midsummer-shedding layer of lars' fur. i would like to take a moment to say: my dog is molting. like a bird. it is seriously mangy. the clumps of fur i find around the house could bed a whole host of rodents. he especially likes to molt in the nursery. yay.

excuse me while i forget how to talk abut anything other than this house and this baby for awhile. i'm in the middle of a new motherhood/home-owning crisis right. you should know, i was going to write an incredibly creative, entertaining post about this weekend, filled with humor and peppered with woody allen references, but instead, i'm here to say this weekend was crap and woody allen. brilliant, aren't i?

suffice it to say, my crisis is manifesting as a crazy cleaning person. i feel like the tasmanian devil, whirling madly around the house, looking for my sanity inside washing machines and dishwashers. and i know. i know i have no one to blame but myself. i know that i'm supposed to just let everything around me go to rot while i stare at my lovely baby. people keep telling me to ignore the mess, spend time with my baby, get to it later...but when? in 8 months? 15 years? when is it that you can clean? and also, when is it that you can stop cleaning? it's like as soon as things are relatively tidy, everyone needs to dirty some dishes/clothes/diapers because it's time to eat again. i find myself making lists of things to clean, because i can't keep up with the insane cleaning woman in my head that keeps reporting new things it's spotted that need my instant attention.

i used to be a master procrastinator. i studied for finals around midnight, the night before. i wrote my wedding vows in like fifteen minutes. heck, i applied for college the day applications were due! but these days, i am incapable of ignoring the laundry or dishes for a day. (to be fair, our baby's butt would be bare if i did, and we're limited on counter space as it is, so...)

i actually left the house sunday during wilder's nap time to try to find some peace and sanity, only to end up at target buying things like bleach, fabric softener and dishwashing detergent! and that was after a million loads of laundry, dishes and vacuums of the carpet! holy mother of cleanliness!! where does it end?! i'm pretty sure i birthed 10 pounds of laundry along with this baby.

to top it all off, we only got to lie our lightweight, mostly flat, side-sleeping little selves down on 8 mattresses. nowhere near the epic mattress-buying adventure i'd planned. i should be happy there were any mattresses at all, though, what with the cyclone that took over my weekend. maybe i need one of those vacuum robots. don't you love buster bluth? he's my favorite.

and that is all. about time, huh?

in the eye of the storm:

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Friday, August 16, 2013

friday! friday! ...you know how it goes

it's friday! and i took a shower! that's how you know it's going to be a good day.

but also, wilder discovered this little elephant i bought him in his crib this morning, all on his own. i walked out to do something and when i got back, i found him holding and staring at it. he wasn't even eating it! it's so silly, but it really made me happy. what's better than babies hugging stuffed animals? probably nothing.

(notice lars creeping in the background. he really wants to eat that elephant.)

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speaking of cute things, i'm not much of a cartoon fan, but i kind of love this little show loverboy just introduced me to last night. i mean, catbug. how can you not?

loverboy has declared he wants a calm weekend (a what?). little does he know i've planned an epic mattress buying adventure for us. because what's the weekend without an epic to-do?

also, can you get over this weather? it's turned fall suddenly. when i opened the door yesterday morning, leaves were actually falling. i love summer, but there's just something about cool, overcast weather that gives me the happy feeling. consequently, my mood is through the roof. friday, you did alright.

a merry weekend to all!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

a baby takes up residence

last week, i realized that my baby is bored. so i decided to finally buy him a play mat. it was a particularly fussy week in our house (four months seems way too early to teeth by the way. and also, i really got used to once a night feedings. what's with this suddenly two times a night routine, baby?).

anyways, in the midst of the fussies, i broke down and got one of those hideously colorful mats with cartoonish things dangling from it. the kind of thing i always thought i'd be able to avoid. turns out, there's a reason all moms have these things. happy baby = happy mama...am i right? 

i don't know why it is that before you (i) have kids you (i) have all these lofty ideals about spotless houses and minimal, chic decor (and dinner on the table and outings with friends, but that's another story). before i had a baby i would have looked at this baby mat and secretly thought to myself, i'm not going to be the kind of mom that let's her house get all cluttered with cheap, tacky crap when the baby comes. famous last thoughts...

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recently i read this post a friend wrote about her not-so-glamorous and yet still-completely-enchanting life as a wife and mother. it was so heartfelt, and i really related to a lot of it (definitely minus the picket fence;). we are slowly being welcomed to a new reality, in which mama wears pjs and spit up all day long and garishly colored, plastic toys are welcomed with open arms. 

how can a 14.5 pounder wield such tyranny over one's life? it's ludicrous. and yet true.

for instance, you can only run a max of one errand at a time. sometimes you just turn around and go back home because gosh darnit, it's raining again and i forgot an umbrella and anyways we were headed to the park so an umbrella isn't going to cut it with one mama, one baby stroller and one dog. and sometimes, like saturday when we were driving to the mall and hit traffic and the baby is screaming in his carseat, despite the awesome new toys back there, you realize, it's much easier to entertain the baby at the mall than to deal with evening fussies at home, where turns out that play mat is only good for so long. and so, you brave the traffic, order up a coffee and shop in fast forward. ;)

kind of like this:



in other words, any other horrible, noisy baby toys out there, come on in! our house is open!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

taking tuesdays off

when your to-do list seems never ending...
when your baby has started waking up twice at night again...
when your wrists are mysteriously sore...
when you're cloth diapering for the first time and you're not entirely sure you know what you're doing...
when you're happy as all get out and also bored and also wondering how three people can create so much laundry...

when you've got fresh blueberries in the fridge...

and it's tuesday...

you take the day off and make blueberry coffee cake. and decide to make a habit of it. because this cake just made my day.

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and you guys, this blueberry coffee cake really is the best blueberry coffee cake you will ever have. i baked mine 15 minutes longer by accident and it was none the worse that i could tell. also, i used about 1/3 cup more powdered sugar than called for in the recipe because my glaze wasn't turning out all white like the photo in cup of jo. it was delicious. go make it immediately.

happy tuesday!

Monday, August 12, 2013

the house saga continues...and a cute baby for your time

i'm not sure how it's possible, but i seem to have the cutest baby of all time. prepare to agree with me:

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those rings. he really has their number now.

so, you know how life is. one minute you're installing diaper sprayers on toilets and the next minute, there's water all over the bathroom from the elves who mysteriously tightened the gaskets too tight. (i'll probably look back fondly on these days when water is all that's all over the bathroom, hmm? let's not think about it. cloth diapering. why?)

but the upside is that we did get a lot done in the house department this weekend. thanks to taskmaster B;)  poor loverboy didn't know what hit him. i was all, install the diaper sprayer! hang the curtain rods! put together this end table! paint the nursery! let's go to trader joe's! whew. i'm exhausted just thinking about it. oh, wait, no, i'm exhausted because we've had to wake up at 6:30 TWICE in the last three days. TWICE! we do not get up before the sun in this house. it's just unholy. and yet, so much got done. i choose not to believe there's a correlation.

this little man was surprisingly pretty cheerful about it all. i think because he got to go to the mall for the first time. and let me tell you, if there's any way to introduce a mall, it's during tax-free weekend. there were so many people my mall stress knots got squished to death. and i never knew i could be so happy clustering around a starbucks counter with 50 other people. you know it's gonna be a good day when you get to feel a little superior picking up an americano in a sea of white chocolate mochas and vanilla bean frappuccinos (while gobbling a chocolate chip cookie). ;)

all in all, a deliciously productive, caffeine-fueled time. and how was your weekend?

Monday, August 5, 2013

All My Favorite Baby Stuff for the First Three Months

a friend of mine asked me recently about my favorite baby products. i am by no means an expert on these things, and i firmly believe that everyone's ultimate baby list really depends on their family/situation/environment/baby/personal style, etc. but when i was pregnant i loved looking at other people's lists (this one and this one were great) to get an idea of what i might need.

so, i thought i'd put together my own list of the 50 (or so) baby products you might need for the first three months. i've broken it down to what i had to have, what was really nice to have and what i haven't really used (yet) but could be important. since it's only for the first three months, i haven't included things like high chairs, baby proofing apparatus, etc.



WHAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE (if you're like me):

Gear

1. obviously the one thing you have to have to take your baby home in a car is an infant carseat. we got the chicco keyfit 30 and it works fine (although my baby is not fond of being in it), but next time i would consider getting one that converts to forward facing for when baby gets bigger.

2. baby carrier. we have the moby and the baby bjorn. the bjorn is easier to put on, can be used longer and the husband likes it too.

3. baby swing/seat so you can get stuff done during baby's awake times! we bought a cheap one at target or you could get one used.

4. my stroller came with a bassinet that was perfect for having him with me in other parts of the house while i got something to eat or took a shower. the only thing about this stroller is that it doesn't turn easily enough***. if you're active, you might want to look into this stroller. also, get a stroller adaptor that fits your carseat. ***edit: we have since figured out how to unlock the wheels (head slap!) so actually we love this stroller and find that it turns wonderfully well when you have the wheels unlocked. ;) 


Clothing

5. infant long-sleeved shirts with fold over tops for tiny little fingernails. it was nice that the hospital provided a few of these because shirts are better than onesies since they don't irritate the cord stump as much. also, tiny little newborn pants. you might want 6-12 of these depending on how often you want to do laundry (babies are messy!). also: 8-12 onesies (0-3 months), 4-6 pants (0-3 months), socks, mittens.


Sleep

6. swaddles. i used SwaddleMe at first. you'll want two packs because there are numerous blowouts in the beginning. now i LOVE the truewomb swaddle, and i only need one because he doesn't blow out at night anymore.

7. a bassinet to keep baby near you at night. we like this one. (plus a mattress, mattress pad and sheets)

8. a sound machine. we got the travel sleep sheep which is perfectly sized for throwing into a bag; however i hate that it turns off after 45 minutes.

9. a fan. adds an extra noise buffer to the room and keeps air circulating which is linked to increased infant safety while sleeping.

10. an awesome baby monitor. probably the most important thing after the swaddle for baby's sleep/mom's peace of mind.

11. a nightlight. you'll want to be able to look over and check on baby during those first few weeks at home without waking him up. also, really handy for nighttime feedings when you want to keep things quiet and boring so he goes back to sleep easily.


Nursing

12. lanolin for sore nipples. the hospital might provide a tube. i went through at least four tubes before i stopped using it. i also really recommend Dr. Brown's All Purpose Nipple Ointment if breastfeeding continues to be painful after the first week or so. you need a prescription from your doctor or midwife and the pharmacy will have to prepare the compound for you.

13. a million disposable breast pads. even if you don't leak, the lanolin will stain your clothing so you need a pad for protection. i don't recommend the washable ones because you will go through literally a gazillion in the beginning so it's not worth it. and, if you're like me, you won't leak after the first month so you will eventually stop needing them at all. i went through maybe 15 boxes? you can buy lanolin and pads at target in a pinch but they are cheaper on amazon.

14. a breast pump. after a month of pain, i pumped every other feed for a whole weekend to give my nipples time to heal, and it worked like a charm. $200 well spent. and if you exclusively breastfeed, you'll want to send your baby with breastmilk if you ever need a babysitter, even if it's just for a few hours.

15. this nursing bra (you'll want three) is pretty comfy, though the removable pads are a little ill-fitting sometimes. a sleep bra is also nice to have.

16. burp cloths. these work great for us.


Postpartum Relief

17. pads or panty liners for the first 6-8 weeks of bleeding postpartum. it's just the name of the game. ibuprofen, witch's hazel, and epsom salt also help with healing.


Diapering

18. disposable newborn diapers with cut out for cord stump. (p.s. babies go through 10-15 diapers a day in the beginning!)

19. wipes

20. this diaper pail is great for disposable (keeps the odors in). but the opening is too small for cloth diapers. here's a pail i like for cloth, and more carbon filters. a pail liner, if you're going to cloth diaper. and while we're on the subject: cloth diapers. diaper sprayer. sprayer shield. diaper detergent.  drying rack



23. changing pad liners (trust me on this and get atleast two packs)


Health

24. baby tylenol/ibuprofen (ask your pediatrician. ours recommended ibuprofen versus tylenol)

25. thermometer

26. hand sanitizer


Bathing/Grooming





32. baby brush


Soothing

33. we never bought a rocking chair and instead used an exercise ball to bounce baby during those first 6 weeks of evening fussiness. it also helped to put him back to sleep at night. 



WHAT IS REALLY NICE TO HAVE:

34. a breastfeeding pillow is really nice for the beginning when breastfeeding is difficult. My Brest Friend was better support but the Boppy was more convenient.

35. we love this travel crib. it's lighter and easier to assemble than a pack and play. it's great if you need to take him to a babysitter while you go out or if you want him to nap while you're visiting a friend.

36. wipes warmer. soothing for middle of the night changes. you'll need more inserts eventually.

37. these linen blankets are so, so nice and very handy. i use it as a sheet, a nursing cover, a car seat cover, a wrap, a blanket and a burp cloth!

38. a nice diaper bag. i love this one though it's really big. bonus: it comes with a changing pad. 

39. a wet bag to throw in your diaper bag for stashing dirty clothes or diapers. it's washable, but i wish it were larger.

40. sun shades for the car

41. books, soft rattles, colorful teething links, high contrast picture cards, and other toys for baby to look at and hold.

42. bibs to catch all that drool.



WHAT COULD BE IMPORTANT (though I haven't really used them much yet)

43. pacifiers. my baby generally doesn't take one, but every baby is different and sucking is an important calming reflex for a baby. you can also try different kinds.

44. diaper rash creme

45. snot sucker and saline drops for little stuffed noses

46. humidifier

47. bottles (you do at least need a nipple for the bottles that come with the ameda breast pump)

48. bottle brush cleaner

49. teething toys. this one is so cute and made of all natural material so it's safe for baby to chew on.

50. all-natural sunscreen. it's not recommended to use sunscreen on a baby before 6 months, but ask your pediatrician.

51. gripe water and/or gas drops. my pediatrician recommended this, but i haven't tried it.



well, that was fun. hope it's helpful! and i'd love to hear of anything i missed that you thought was useful in the comments!