mismikado down the sidewalk: Our Favorite One Month Gear

I cannot believe over another month has passed! Minion is now 2 whole months old and he has developed quite the little personality. I am loving every new stage and milestone he hits more and more. This past month was so much better than our first and we really felt like we had a system down. Here's some of the things that did and didn't help us...

ABSOLUTE NECESSITIES

Beco Gemini
Maxxima MLN-50 5 LED Night Light with Sensor
Rocker Recliner
Nuk Nursing Pads Ultra Dry
Earth's Best Organic Soy Formula
Comotomo Natural Feel Baby Bottle
Muslin Swaddling Blanket
Pacifier Clips

1. We semi-retired the Moby this past month in exchange for the Beco. I had done a lot of research on which hard carrier I wanted and the Beco Gemini won out because of it's versatility. We tried it during the first month but Minion was still too small. So it didn't start to shine until this month. My mom or I carried him in it every time we went shopping and I even figured out how to nurse him in it which made life so much easier at meetings. 2. Since I started nursing Minion in the living room at night and the light switch is n the opposite end of the room from our bedroom, we needed some sort of night light. The 2 that came in this pack were perfect for lighting our 16x22 living room and I don't even have to turn on any extra lighting. 3. I can't say enough how much I wish we had gotten the rocker recliner sooner. It is so comfy and was a huge lifesaver in the transitioning period from Minion's colic to restful nights. 4. I had the hardest time finding nursing pads that worked for me. I started with lasinoh disposable pads for convenience and bc they are suppose to be THE breastfeeding gear brand. But I find the material they were made our of to get incredibly hot and sweaty and itchy. So my mil recommended reusable pads. I tried the ones also from lasinoh but the size was weird and not conforming so they looked weird under shirts plus they were scratchy. I tried making my own with sift cotton and fleece but they weren't anywhere near absorbent enough. I was about to give up and had been suffering with the least bad disposables for a month and a half when I ran out and went to buy more at Wal-Mart. The cheapest box they had were Nuk's ultra dry so I decided to give them a try. They were perfect! So soft and absorbent that I forget I'm even wearing them. Plus with a target online price of $3.99 that I can price match in store to use a $1 off coupon to get a box for $2.99. 5. It turns out minion has some intense food intolerances that led to us supplementing one feeding a day (I have a whole post I'm working on about this). Since he can't have dairy, I was on the lookout for some soy formula and found Earth's Best on 60% clearance at Babies 'r us. I was able to buy a six month supply for $80 and I feel good that the formula I'm giving Minion is premium and organic. Plus he absolutely loves it. 6. We have several different nursing friendly bottles but the como tomo is our favorite so far. The soft bottle design makes it easier to hold and I think it reminds minion more of nursing when he grabs onto it. 7. Muslin swaddling blankets were something I never even noticed until after minion was born so I was late to the game in buying them. They are so great for this Texas heat and calm him right down on fussy nights. 8. I don't know why it took us so long to start using pacifier clips. After weeks of constantly washing dropped pacifiers, I finally got smart enough to start using the clips we were given and life has been so much easier.

GLAD WE BOUGHT/WERE GIVEN

Pandora One
Seventh Generation Diapers
Graco SmartSeat All-in-One Car Seat
Lansinoh mOmma Brush
Hanes size 6-12 month socks
Star Wars Poster
Hello Baby High Contrast Book & Flash Cards (8+ Weeks)
Breast Pump
Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Lemon Verbana Dish Soap
Munchkin Sprout Drying Rack
Car Seat Toys
Fisher-Price Snugabunny Cradle 'N Swing
2 Nursing Pillows

1. Minion is a huge "standards" fan when it comes to music. So Pandora is perfect for punching a station like "What a Wonderful World" and getting a never-ending stream of music he loves. However he hates commercials and I figured we were gonna blow through our 40 free hours in no time with the amount he wanted to me soothed to classic tunes. So at $3.99/mo the Pandora One subscription seems definitely worth it. 2. I'll share my thoughts on why I love these so much in my upcoming diaper review post. 3. Now I can't justify putting the no stops barred full bells and whistles of the Graco SmartSeat as a necessity when there are comparable cheaper convertible seats out there. But we LOVE our SmartSeat. We are fortunate enough to have a relative who worked for Graco and offered to give us this seat with their employee discount. It is truly the king of seats. There is so much padding and safety features that I feel so secure in Minion's safety when he's riding with us. Plus he has no problem getting cozy and conking out. 4. Another non-necessity but total convenience is the mOmma bottle brush my parents got us. The shape and size of it is perfect for reaching and cleaning the breastfeeding friendly bottles we use. 5. These socks are the ONLY ones that stay in Minion's feet. We were given 1 pair and now I don't know where to get more. 6. His Star Wars poster was a $12 project that I love so much. I find a cool pen and ink star wars piece that I vectorized with Illustrator's "live trace" tool. Then I ordered it as a 2x3 engineering print from staples for $3. Popped it in a cheap poster frame and we hung it over Minion's changing table with industrial strength Velcro. He loves staring and smiling at it during changes. The high contrast is perfect for his developing senses. 7. Speaking of high contrast, these books and flash cards were the first ones to capture his attention and engage him. It was so cool to see how intently he starred at them the first time at 8 weeks. 8. Since I started supplementing one feeding a day, I've needed to pump for that feeding and I'm so happy I got my free Bailey pump. It empties my milk in 9 mins flat. 9. I've always marveled at the pretty packaging of Mrs. Meyers soap but never tried it. I love the consistency and scent for using this stuff for Minion's bottles, pacifiers, and nipple shield. Hope to pick more up with coupons. 10. I really wanted the boon grass but when I was looking they only had the bigger sizes that didn't fit anywhere on our counter. (This one would be perfect now). So I went with the sprout rack and its perfect for Minion's bottles. Plus I love how much it holds since we are really bad about washing stuff frequently. 11. This month marked Minion getting into his car seat dangle toys as well. I'm thinking yellow is his favorite color right now because it constantly grabs his attention and his Bee toy is his favorite. We'll catch him just smiling and giggling at it while in the car. 12. We were so fortunate to have some generous friends pass on their son's swing to Minion. I know that some babies don't care for them but, Minion loves swaying in his and takes some of his best naps there. Plus it helps us get some house work down since it's the only place he will tolerate being other than in our arms. 13. Having 2 nursing pillows is by no means a necessity but it's been so convenient to keep one in the living room in my rocking chair and the other by our bed for night feedings. Plus I can take one next door when we go to my parents and not have to freak out if we forget it over night.

HAVE, BUT HAVEN'T USED/NEEDED

Shoes
O-cal-ette Nursing Cups

1. Minion hates shoes and will kick them if before we are even out of the driveway so we've just stopped trying to put them on. 2. I got these nursing cups to help with tenderness and try to collect some of the milk I was leading at home. They really didn't collect much to be worth it and while they felt better than my other pad options, I could only were then at home since they're so conspicuous. Once I discovered the nuk pads these were obsolete.

DON'T HAVE, HAVEN'T NEEDED

White Noise Machine
Wipes Warmer
Video Monitor

1. I've never wanted to use one of these bc I'd hate for minion to become dependent and ONLY be able to sleep with one. When he needs some background noise to calm, we just pop on his Pandora station. 2. Ditto to the wipes warmer to getting him dependent on something. 3. Our house is too tiny to justify one of these. Plus he's never been out of adult supervision yet since he demands being able to see and preferably touch us at all times.

CHEAP ALTERNATIVES

Doggy Poop Bags

These things are the exact same bags sold for dirty diapers but you get 120 in the pet section for the price of 36 baby ones. Plus I found a bunch on clearance for even cheaper.

THINGS WE STILL USE REGULARLY