We Bought What?

No, this is not about Betsy, the cow in the freezer, although that would be an appropriate title for a post about her. This is about all the crap we have accumulated for X and what was worth it or not so worth it. I have wanted to write this for a long time, but just today X put himself to sleep (no crying) for the first time, so I am taking advantage. Okay, here is my list of invaluable items and worthless crap :)

Best things we bought:
Fisher-Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker--HE IS SLEEPING IN IT RIGHT NOW! Enough said. But it is really cool and it grows with them eventually turning into a little rocking chair.
Organization cubes for his nursery--nurseries get messy, these make life so much easier and give me a chance to maintain some sort of order at least
Cloth wipes warmer--I really love it because you can just add water and a solution cube and let it dissolve, add wipes and voila. Disposable wipes suck and they are expensive.
Mei Tai Baby Carrier--X is too big for a Moby style wrap, I can't figure out the ring sling and it is too damn hot for the Ergo with baby insert. The Mei Tai is perfect--completely adjustable, comfortable, pretty and X fits in it.
Newborn photos--they change SO fast, he is completely different than that little bundle we brought home, and as much as I wanted to, I was too tired to take a lot of pictures. These photos were totally worth it.
A gazillion receiving blankets--we don't use them as much now, but those first few weeks we actually ran out of them. We have like 25.
Breastflow bottles--he uses them, we have no issues nursing (besides all of our issues nursing). Does the bottle matter? No idea, but it worked so I am not messing with that.
Mother Love Nipple Cream--helped me get over my allergy to lanolin and possibly continue to breastfeed
Large wet bags--lets face it, you aren't going to change the baby in its room all the time, these are a life saver.
Diaper Bag--it doesn't really matter, but get one that you like. I love mine. Was it ridiculously expensive? Yes. Is it huge? Yes. Do I love it? Yes. Mike has his own. Get one you love, it will be your ONLY accessory.
Dinosaur Art Cards--no idea why, but he has LOVED them since he was days old. 
Nice Play Mat--he spends a lot of tummy time on it, it is clean, bright, easy to move and as he grows there are toys to play with.
Extra Waterproof Pads--They are so much nicer than puppy pads for naked baby play time.
Gas Medicine--Seriously. This stuff is pure gold when you have a screaming baby at 3 am. I am not sure if he always had gas, but the medicine always made him stop screaming, so I am not sure I care either way.

What were we thinking?
Newborn clothes--these things go up to 8 pounds, he was 9.5 pounds, enough said?
Cloth diapers--I LOVE cloth diapers, but I wish we would have waited until he was here and tried a bunch of them. I am not sure we have ones that will work for him.
Black and White Toys--They can only see black and white so they will need something to play with right? Babies don't play. They want you, not some stupid, overpriced toy that is supposed to stimulate them. Babies are easily over stimulated, don't buy into the stupid toys.
Huge stroller--I am torn, part of me wishes we would have just gotten a BOB and a snap and go. The stroller is really large and he hates his carseat anyway so we don't use it much. When we do use it it is nice though, so not horrible, maybe just not the best choice. 
Muslin Blankets--People swear by these, and they are super soft and big, but they are too big and get bunched up really easily and X gets tangled in them and it scares the shit out of me. I like the regular blankets, thanks. Plus, they are $20 a piece. For a blanket.
Ergo Infant Insert--it is a big piece of super soft, fabric to wrap baby in and put in the carrier. I live in CO and my son was born the end of May. What the hell was I thinking. It is SO HOT. It would be awesome for November babies, or those born in Alaska.
Pack and Play--not horrible, I just wish I would have gotten a co-sleeper instead. 

Week 5

X is getting so big, it is both awesome and super sad. He looks in the mirror now, laughs, smiles and plays. He also naps less and wants to be entertained more. He isn't usually great about just hanging out-he is either asleep or wanting my complete undivided attention. It is exhausting, but fun. This week we went to the botanic gardens and the art museum with Allison and Otto. X slept the entire time at both.

Overall his favorite things are the mirror above his changing table, nursing, sleeping on daddy and walks, but not in his stroller as that requires his carseat, which was invented by the devil obviously. He currently weighs 11 pounds 14 ounces!

We're also back in cloth diapers. We've been struggling with a rash, but it is getting better so we're back in them. I really hope it works this time, disposables are expensive and we go through so many of them. Plus they're so cute!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.2

Week 4

Almost a month. I can't believe you have been with us, well out of my belly, for almost a month. I can't believe how much I love you. This week you grew a ton and had your first growth spurt, which meant you wanted to eat all.of.the.time. Mommy is still having a hard time breastfeeding, so that was rough, but we are working through it. You love to breastfeed, but now are not always as sleepy afterwards. Sometimes you just want to play and mommy misses out on the snuggle time that she used to always get. You also seem less interested in tummy time, but bath time is still super fun. You love to eat your hands and play with us. You are starting to smile when you hear and see us and make more noises to show you are happy or upset. This week we went to your first music class. You slept through most of it, then cried a little. Then we went to Amy's to visit and your cousin Rebecca checked you out for awhile while Amy held you. Everyone is so in love with you. Afterwards we went to grandma's house for the first time where you slept, and slept and slept. We tried to wake you up, that you did not like that idea at all. Then this weekend we went to Wash Park with Allison, Ben and Otto and walked around a lot. You had a hard morning that day, so again you slept but we let you. Sadly, dad went back to work yesterday and mommy and you had our first night alone. It was hard, you didn't want to sleep and mommy really did. But we made it through okay. Today you took your first nap in your crib. It was somewhat successful, you slept there, but only if I rocked you to sleep every 15 minutes. That is okay, that is the parenting strategy we are going with, plus I love rocking you just as much as you love to be rocked. Happy four week birthday little man.

Yet Another App

I wrote a really long post about breastfeeding. I REALLY long one. And I waited to get a posting confirmation, and where is that post? Yeah, I don't know either. So I uninstalled that app and found another. Hopefully it works better. If I'm less annoyed tomorrow I'll try to rewrite it. It took about an hour to write though!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.1

Using babies to save marriages

It seems like everyone I know acknowledges that this is a bad idea. Yet it is common knowledge that people do this all the time. Which people? I have no idea, but you know, people. The thing about it is, I get it. When I was married to me ex I would never have had a kid to save it. Probably because I knew deep down I didn't want to save it, and also because I originally chose the wrong man to father my children, but I digress. Never would I have had children to save that marriage. However, having X has changed how I feel about Mike. I'm amazed every day by how much I love him. Watching him be a father to X makes me love him more than I thought possible-so if our relationship ever got rocky I could see how I would think having another baby would fix it. Still a bad idea of course, because babies are insanely stressful and I'm sure ruin plenty of marriages, but X, for our psuedo-marriage, hasn't hurt a thing. I love watching Mike father X, and I love the kind of dad he is and wants to be, and I love the amazing little boy he gave me. Happy father's day Mike.

posted from Bloggeroid

Mother F

So, at like 5 am I write blog posts, on my phone, using an app, with one hand. Usually it works well, but twice now they've disappeared. What the fuck?! And in my sleep deprived state I can't even remember what I Blogged. All I remember is that I wrote about how our new dishwasher fucked up our pump by melting the sucky part, like the part that makes it suck literally. And I wrote about how much I love X after I nurse him and he snuggles and makes lovey sounds. The other entry was way better.



There two parts should be identical.

posted from Bloggeroid

Being fat

Everyone says breastfeeding helps you lose weight, and god knows I hate being fat, dieting and exercise. Right now that seems like the only benefit of breastfeeding. Granted I say that as I sit here and pump after an excruciating breastfeeding session. I fucking HATE breastfeeding! It is so painful. I dread feeding my son, which is the worst feeling in the world. I feel like such an awful parent, but I hate it so much. I feel like I've lost everything I really believed in when it came to this whole experience. I couldn't give birth to him, I can't feed him. It totally sucks. I'm over it. All I do is look stuff up on breastfeeding and none of it matters, I still can't do it.

posted from Bloggeroid