Blackrock Castle Observatory

October 7, 20133 Comments

One of the first things that struck me when we moved to Ireland was the number of castles. You’ll just be driving or walking along here, turn a corner, and–BAM!–castle! They’re everywhere. Some are just little piles of rubble and others have been beautifully restored. Coming from Seattle where the oldest thing we have is a crumbling piece of highway called The Viaduct, the castles have made quite an impression on me.

There’s a really neat castle down the road from Jon’s office called Blackrock Castle. This particular castle was recently restored and is now home to a restaurant and an observatory/science center. It’s right on a pedestrian path that goes along the waterfront, so I frequent the area on my runs. Until this week, though, I had never set foot inside the castle walls. Friday happened to be “Free First Friday” at the castle and, since “free” and “castle” happen to be two of my favorite words, I just had to go.

All of the exhibits were open to the public for free in the evening, and they even had some little workshops and a guest speaker available (we didn’t burden the guest speaker with our presence). We did have a great time exploring the hands-on exhibits inside the observatory.

David colored a rocket ship picture (and it must have made quite an impression on him because now his favorite game is to turn every box in our home into a rocket ship):

We looked out a “moon window” at a cargo ship floating past us in the harbor (I pointed out that this was the same kind of “big ship” that carries little boys’ balls and toys from places like Seattle to places like Ireland).

The boys moved metallic objects around a table with giant magnets:

And David got to experiment with sand and water to see if he could make land formations like they have found on Mars (he really just built sandcastles, but maybe someday they will find sandcastles on Mars, too):

As we were leaving the castle we saw another Irish icon: a beautiful rainbow arching over the dimming horizon:

Goodnight, castle. Goodnight, rainbow. Goodnight, Ireland.

A Visit From Flat Stanley

September 16, 2013Leave a comment

I love getting mail. Especially mail that doesn’t contain the words “statement”, “due” or “billing”. And I really, really, really love getting mail from home (hint, hint). We were all excited, then, to receive a special package a couple of weeks ago from a friend of mine back in Washington. Inside there was a letter from her first-grade son and a paper cutout of a little boy: Flat Stanley.

If you have ever met Flat Stanley yourself, then you know what a special treat it is to welcome him into your home. If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, then let me enlighten you. Flat Stanley is a children’s book (actually, now, a series of books)–it is incredibly entertaining, and I actually used to read it to my class every year. The book is about a little boy named–you guessed it!–Stanley, who gets squashed flat as a postcard when a poster falls on him. Now that Stanley is flat, he can do all sorts of things that he couldn’t do before: slide under locked doors, fly like a kite, and even fold himself up in an envelope to travel the world. And this, of course, is how Stanley came to arrive at our house in Ireland.

We had fun taking Stanley with us around town to show him what life is like here in Ireland. And, although we didn’t have any big adventures planned for the time that he was here visiting, I think we still showed him a pretty good time.

The first place we took Stanley was the harbor town of Kinsale. It is a short drive to Kinsale from our home in Cork, and is one of our favorite places to visit. Kinsale is known for it’s gourmet food scene, art, and history (it is the site where the English defeated Spanish forces in a 1601 battle of the Spanish War).

While we were in Kinsale, we took Stanley on a walk through town. We ate lunch at a yummy cafe called Lemon Leaf, toured Desmond Castle, did some shopping, and visited an arcade to drive the bumper cars. I think Stanley was pretty worn out from all of the excitement, so we decided to head back home for some naps in the afternoon.

Later in the week we took Stanley to our favorite walking path. The path goes along Cork Harbor for miles and miles–I have no idea where it actually starts or ends because we haven’t found them yet. We did, however, spend some time on this beach right off the pathway. David took Stanley down to the shore to throw stones into the water while I tried to convince our dog to get out of the water and rejoin us for our walk (whose idea was it to let her off the leash, anyway?).

Stanley enjoyed looking at all of the fishing boats that were anchored offshore. I bet he was trying to figure out how he could act as a sail for one of the boats and carry it out to sea.

Stanley spotted this playground by the path and he wanted to stop for a little play break, so I obliged. Jacob was happy to help Stanley go for a swing.

We finished our walk in the town of Passage West. Stanley thought that this building, The Shamrock, seemed very Irish. He insisted that I take ONE MORE photo of him here to prove that he was in Ireland (this Stanley is going to make me look like a Japanese tourist. Geesh!).

The next day Stanley woke up early to help us drive Daddy to work. After we dropped Daddy off we went right up the road from Daddy’s office to a castle called Blackrock Castle. The tower of Blackrock Castle was built in 1604 to help protect the harbor from pirates (!) and Spaniards (?). Now there is a science center, an observatory, and a restaurant inside the castle.

Stanley enjoyed Blackrock Castle so much that he was practically begging me to take him to another castle. And, since there are over 3,500 castles in Ireland, we had several to choose from. The next morning after we dropped David off at Preschool we drove out to another castle a few miles away (shhh! Don’t tell David that we have fun while he’s away at school!). This castle is called Barryscourt Castle:

Barryscourt Castle is a Tower House–a castle that a family built as their personal home (a very well-fortified home). This particular castle was built in the early 1600’s and was home to Lord Barry and his family (this family controlled most of County Cork in those days). Today the castle has been restored using traditional building methods (only stone, mortar, and wooden pegs hold this place together!). Inside, several rooms have been set up with period furnishings and fittings so you can get a picture of what life would have been like in the castle. Stanley even climbed right up onto Lord Barry’s chair to see what it would be like to eat a feast fit for a king (it was a big chair for a small Stanley–look really closely and you’ll see him!).

We were all getting hungry by now, so after we picked up David from preschool we stopped by our Farmer’s Market for lunch. Stanley ate some pizza and raspberries, then he helped us buy some milk and yogurt from the dairy stand. He thought that the fresh Irish milk was yummmmmmmmy!

For our final adventure with Stanley, we decided to go somewhere truly memorable. We took an incredible day-trip out to Killarney, and Stanley got to join in all the action. He rode with us on a horse-drawn carriage called a trap through the Gap of Dunloe:

He walked with us to beautiful lakes (he really wanted to go swimming, but we told him it was too cold for that right now):

And, because he loves them SO much, we took Stanley to one more castle. This castle is called Ross Castle, and it was one of Stanley’s favorites. He liked looking out at the big blue lakes from the top of the tower.

Stanley wanted to stay in the castle longer, but he knew that it was almost time for him to leave our family. Even flat little boys start to miss their homes. He had a fun visit here in Ireland, and he can’t wait to come back again some day!

Medieval Festival In An Ancient Walled City

August 18, 20133 Comments

This has been one of those wonderfully rare weekends that had just the right balance of fun, rest, and rejuvenation. On Saturday morning I basically got a mommy-vacation: I went grocery shopping by myself for two glorious hours (because it still takes me that long to figure out where to find things and what packaging to look for and convert prices from dollars/pound to kilograms/Euro so I know if the item is actually worth purchasing).

After my little “shopping spree” I went to our church for a women’s mini conference. It was a beautiful event with a talented speaker, heartfelt worship, and delicious food–including my favorite: scones (oh my, the scones here are to die for. Seriously, one of my favorite things about Ireland. The fact that scones with jam and cream are a part of daily life makes living here 100% worthwhile).

While I was at the conference noshing on scones, Jon took the boys to our local castle in Blackrock for a tour of the dungeons. Turns out, this was not nearly as cool as it sounds. The dungeons were not actually dungeons–it was just the basement, and had never been used as a dungeon at all. Very misleading. The boys enjoyed themselves as much as they could walking around an empty castle basement for half an hour, and at the end of the tour they got to go up to the top of the castle to check out the view (upon which David stated that he was going to throw his baby brother off the roof. We may need to work on the whole “brotherly love” thing).

On Saturday night, Jon and I got to go out on our first date night since moving here to Ireland. A sweet girl from our church came over to our house and looked after our (sleeping) children so we could go out to a movie. It wasn’t the most unique date, but it sure felt nice to get away from our house and enjoy some time together.

The big event of our weekend, though, was the Youghal Medieval Festival. The event was in Youghal (pronounced “yawl”), an ancient walled city in County Cork where people actually lived during medieval times–how cool is that?! There were lots of fun events going on at the festival: food, music, crafts and medieval demos. And lots of people dressed up in awesome medieval costumes. We forgot our costumes, but we tried to fit in as best as we could.

We all enjoyed listening to the Youghal Pipers:

And we got a great view of the town:

When asked what his favorite part of the day was, David said it was “watching Mommy get scratched.” This is what he was referring to:

They had a tent set up with all sorts of medieval torture apparatus and drawings showing how they used to be implemented. Gross. A little girl was manning this tent and she convinced me to help her demonstrate some of the apparatus. She literally tied me up to this torture board and started hacking at me with a foam axe. I was putting on a great show for the kids, cringing and writhing in pain each time her axe came down on me. It was all fun and games until my tormenter went over to her table of torture devices and picked up a real metal anvil. I quickly slipped out of my restraints before she could finish her demonstration.

I have suspected for quite some time now that our son is crazy. My suspicions were confirmed today. There was an arena set up for toy sword fighting. All of the kids were invited in to use foam swords to attack some guys in medieval garb. While all of the other kids rushed to attack their targets, David ran in the opposite direction and started “stabbing” an unsuspecting spectator (David is in the green shirt in the left side of this photo). Thankfully David’s victim wasn’t caught too off guard by David’s advances and he managed to fight off the wild little beast.

After all of the excitement of the festival we had to get some nourishment. We ate grilled kangaroo (yes, the jumpy things from Australia–not totally medieval, but definitely different), sausages, pizza and ice cream. Yummmm…

A very sweet weekend, indeed.

Farm Field Trip

August 16, 2013Leave a comment

I’m really on a kick this week, folks–and a farming kick, nonetheless. Perhaps it’s because you can’t drive more than 2 miles (er..kilometers) here without passing through a sheep paddock or a cow pasture. In fact, 1 out of every 7 jobs in Ireland is involved in agriculture and food. I love it. Yesterday I took the boys to our local farmer’s market (read more about our escapades here) and we had so much fun that I decided to take a little field trip out to a REAL farm today (mommy gold star: earned). It wasn’t difficult to find a farm to visit (like I said, lots of farms here) so I chose one just outside of Cork city called The Farm at Grenagh. It’s an open farm with real animals and tractors and crops…and lots of fun things for the kidlets, too.

When we got to the farm David was in a mood, so I sat him on a bench to brood while Jacob and I checked out the riding tractors. I even managed to snap a quick photo of him before he tumbled right off the slick little seat (don’t worry, Gramma Doreen, I caught him before he hit the ground).

Seeing that the farm was actually a fun place (duh) David decided to join in our activities. The next place we headed was the sandbox. We had fun building sand castles (and, for Jacob, eating a fair amount of said sand castles).

After getting our fill of sand (literally) we went into the animal barn to meet some furry friends. This goat was very friendly. A little too friendly for my comfort. Jacob kept sticking his foot up near the fence and the goat would lick his shoe. Knowing goats tendencies to eat assorted non-food objects (like, for instance, leather baby booties) I decided it was probably best for all involved if we parted ways.

Just outside of the animal barn there were several pastures with cows, sheep, horses and donkeys. My children love donkeys. Both of them. Kinda strange, but you’ve gotta love something. As soon as we rounded the corner to where the donkeys were, both boys started heeing and hawing. The donkeys must have liked it because they sauntered over to the fence to say hello. The boys could have stayed at that fence all day stroking those soft little donkey noses but, alas, there was more farm to be seen.

Next on our agenda was a lesson in cow milking. They had cow “statues” (not quite sure what to call a large metal cow with udders full of water) and the kids got to learn how cows are milked and put real milk suckers (again, not sure what to call them) on the cows to “milk” them.

After our lesson in cow milking, it was time for a tractor-pull train ride. Jacob and I even managed to squeeze into one of the little barrels so we could tour the farm with the other kids.

Then we went into the farms museum that was full of old-timey memorabilia. David enjoyed working as the telephone switchboard operator (after I told him that they were telephones, that is. Poor thing has only ever seen iPhones, so he really didn’t have a clue how to work them).

We ended the day with a visit to the ball pit. There are many things I love about Ireland, and right at the top of the list is the fact that there are ball pits everywhere: at shopping malls, at playgrounds, at farms. There is almost nothing else in this world that brings my boys so much joy as a romp in a ball pit. Thank you, Ireland, for providing me hours of whine-free entertainment.

And then it was time to go home. Singing “Old McDonald” the whole way.

Dublin, Day 4: Double-Decker Bus Tour to Trinity College and The Guinness Storehouse

August 7, 20132 Comments

Dublin is a very difficult city to drive in: parking is a nightmare and the roads go in crazy patterns (so if you miss your turn, it could be half a century before you find your way back). Because of this non-drivability, we’ve been walking everywhere. Today, though, we decided to mix it up and try a hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus tour.

While it was fun riding the bus and convenient getting dropped off at each destination, I think the big red bus actually caused us more trouble than help. It took a long time to get places (the loop through the city took over an hour). My kids don’t do well sitting still–and remaining content–for more than two micro-seconds, so that was a bust. Plus, most of the buses we “hopped” onto were super-crowded and I had to give puppy dog eyes to comfortable-looking passengers in the hopes that they’d sacrifice their seat for a distressed mother carrying a baby, a diaper bag, a stroller, 3 jackets and an ankle-grabbing toddler. In the end, though, the experience did make for memories (and a cute photo).

The first stop we departed our bus for today was Trinity College, a several centuries-old university in the heart of Dublin. As a former college tour guide myself, I just had to go on the student-led tour of campus.

Our tour guide was friendly and witty and loud enough that I could hear her over the two screaming banshees we were pushing along in our stroller. It’s a beautiful campus full of interesting architecture (one dorm didn’t get running water and electricity until the late 1990’s–and now the entire dorm shares one measly bathroom), traditions (graduations are–and always have been–done entirely in Latin. The poor graduates can’t understand a word of their own ceremony), and colorful histories (a group of discontent law students murdered their law professor–and got acquitted in court. Hey, at least we know the late-professor taught them well…).

The most famous piece of history that we saw at Trinity College, though, is The Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is a gospel book written in Latin by monks in the year 800 AD. It contains the first four books of the gospel, and it is beautiful. There are ornate drawings throughout the book and the text itself is so fancy you can hardly tell there are supposed to be words on the page. We almost didn’t wait around to see the Book of Kells because there was a horrendous queue, but I’m sure glad we did.

After we viewed the Book of Kells, we went upstairs to the long hall of the “Old Library”. It’s a massive room with hundreds of thousands of volumes of literature dating back hundreds of years (this library has a copyright agreement that entitles them to one copy of every book printed in England or Ireland every year–that’s a lot of books).

After our tour of Trinity College we hopped back on our bus for our afternoon adventures. Jon was really excited to go to the Guinness Factory but, since neither me nor the boys enjoy drinking beer yet, we decided to part ways for the afternoon. Jon had a great time learning about Guinness brewing and learning how to pour (and drink!) the perfect pint.

While Jon was at Guinness, the boys and I returned to the zoo to visit some of our favorite furry/feathery/scaly friends. The boys’ favorite part of the zoo today, though, was playing in the sand and hitting bushes with some sticks they found on the ground. Ah, cheap thrills.

To round out our day we made one last stop in Temple Bar for dinner. We went to a restaurant that a friend of mine recommended called Boxty’s. A boxty is a bit like a potato crepe stuffed with savory fillings, and it is delicious. Really, really scrumptious.

Another busy day of adventure–and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Dublin, Day 3: Newgrange Tomb, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and St. Stephen’s Green

August 5, 20132 Comments

For Day 3 of our Great Dublin Expedition we actually left Dublin and drove about 30 minutes north to a place called Newgrange. Newgrange (along with her sister sites, Knowth and Meath) is an ancient Stone Age passage tomb. When you first see it, it doesn’t look like much more than an earthen mound at the top of a knoll, but it is most certainly more than a lump on a hill.

The tomb is old…very, VERY old. Since it was constructed long before people had a written language, the only way to ascertain its age is through carbon dating. Estimates place Newgrange’s construction at about 3200 BC–making it well over 5,000 years old. This means that Newgrange had already been standing for several centuries when Stonehenge and the great Egyptian pyramids were built.

Nobody knows for certain what Newgrange was used for, but it was definitely a burial tomb with deep religious significance. Incredibly, every year at 8:58 on the morning of the Winter Solstice, a ray of light reaches from the entrance if the tomb all the way to the central chamber and illuminates the space. For the life of me, I cannot fathom how people living 5,000 years ago constructing giant stone domes would be able to create such a flawless design. I barely passed Physics 101, so I know they wouldn’t want me on the planning committee.

The tour of Newgrange takes you all the way in to the central chamber of the passage tomb. It would have been really awesome to stay and hear the tour guide’s spiel about the mystical and historical significance of this Neolithic wonder, but we were politely asked to excuse ourselves so the other guests could carry on with enjoying their day (“Ma’am, are you sure your squawking baby wouldn’t be happier outside in the fresh air?”).

It’s actually a good thing she asked us to leave, because shortly after we got outside David had an incident (c’mon, we’re traveling with two children under the age if 3. You just know something has to go terribly wrong). David was having a great time running through the grass in front of Newgrange and we were happy to let him blow off some steam. That is, until he ran across the field, pulled down his pants, and started to pee.

By the time I could catch up to him (running across this ancient burial site with Jacob in the Ergo and lugging 3 jackets in my arms), he was already mid-stream. Whelp, guess you just peed on the oldest sacred ground known to humankind, Buddy. Thankfully our tour group was still absorbed in their lecture, so I was the only one who had to witness the Great Desecration.

Potty incidents aside, it was an amazing experience walking through Newgrange. Perhaps we will visit again some day–some day after our children are fully potty-trained.

When we returned from Newgrange it was time for the boys’ afternoon snooze. I seized this opportunity to sneak out alone while Daddy manned the fort. I decided to use my alone time to walk down to St. Patrick’s Cathedral (because, after the morning’s incidents, I realized that sacred sites and toddlers just don’t mix well).

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a 1,000 year-old stone cathedral that is said to be the spot where St. Patrick himself baptized new converts to Christianity. Incredible! Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels Was a Dean here and spent several years serving The Church. The cathedral is also where Handel’s “Messiah” was first performed in the 1700’s.

The inside is beautiful–full of marble statues, stained glass, and ornate carvings. It was breathtaking. The Cathedral Choir was also singing while I was walking around, their music echoing through the cavernous halls.

It was a remarkable place to visit–and I’m so glad I got to see it sans-children!

By the time I got back from my trip to the cathedral, the boys were up and it was time for dinner. We wandered down the street until we happened upon St. Stephen’s Green, a large park near the main shopping quarter of Dublin (Grafton Street). We picked up some burritos to-go and had a picnic dinner in the park.

The boys had a great time running through the grass, watching ducks in the ponds, and playing on the large playground. And, because no day would be complete without a treat, we stopped for gelato on our walk back home.

A sweet finale to another great day.

Dublin, Day 2: Dublin Zoo

August 5, 2013Leave a comment

For our first full day in Dublin we decided to do something child-centric (perhaps if we appease the munchkins upfront they’ll allow us to enjoy some museums and cathedrals later this week. I know it’s probably unrealistic, but I can still hope…). The Dublin Zoo came highly recommended to us–and, as an added bonus, we have free admission thanks to our season pass to our zoo in Cork.

After a frustrating attempt to find breakfast before 10 AM (really, do Irish people not have kids that wake up hungry at 6:00?!?! If so, I need to know what “supplements” you give your children to help them sleep in), we drove across town to the zoo.

It was a really fun zoo with lots of lively animals. David INSISTED that we find hippos (thankfully they actually had them at this zoo), so we bee-lined it up to the African Savannah portion of the zoo. Here’s David with his beloved hippos:

The hippos were actually quite entertaining to watch, but I think the main reason David wanted to see the hippos was because he was hoping they would sing and dance like the hippo in his favorite YouTube video.http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zHDLUbssMIw

The hippos didn’t sing, but they did swim and chomp and pounce upon each other.

By late afternoon, everyone was exhausted and ready for a nap (hmmm…maybe we shouldn’t wake up at 6 AM, children). We didn’t quite see everything, but we made some good progress. Since we get in to the zoo for free, we may go back again if we have some extra time later in the week.

After a much-needed siesta we walked along the canal to an area with lots of restaurants. We typically avoid taking the boys out to eat very often (because they’re loud and messy and require more attention than the meal I just paid $20 for) but, hey, we’re on vacation. We found a great Asian street food restaurant called Neon. The food was good and (by Dublin standards) relatively cheap, so the place was busy. Just busy enough that I don’t think the other patrons could hear David yelling 10,000 times about wanting to play the coloring game on my iPhone, busy enough that I could blame the pile of noodles under our table on the family sitting next to us.

The day was absolutely grand. No, it was brilliant (look how Irish I’m becoming–already using fancy words like grand and brilliant!). Brilliantly grand.

Getting Established

July 24, 20132 Comments

One of my favorite–and most dreaded–parts about moving somewhere new is getting established in my new home–getting past the unpacking and the millions of phone calls to set everything up and finally starting to settle in to this place and find my place in it. It is my favorite part of the move because getting “established” allows me to feel like I belong here and I’m not just some lost tourist. It’s my least favorite part because it’s hard. I’m actually a pretty shy and introverted person so it takes a bit of courage for me to step out there and get involved. It can also take some time and patience to discover what opportunities and resources are available and to break into a new social circle. Thankfully, Ireland has been kind to me. This week I’ve had some exciting breakthroughs in the “getting established” department.

Yesterday I took the boys to our local library so we could get library cards and check out some new books (the 4 books I carried with us on the airplane are getting sooooo BORING).

Each of the boys got his own library card that he can use to check out 10 books at a time from the children’s department. The boys’ cards were free, but I decided to also buy myself a card for 15 Euro because I know I’ll use it. I went ahead and checked out a few books on Irish history from the vast selection of books on that matter (I think about 20% of the library is devoted to books on Irish history)–figured it would be good to know a bit about what I’m getting myself into here. I also signed David up for the library summer reading program. If he reads 15 books he gets a shiny “gold” medal. He’s already 2 books away from his prize (could be due to the fact that we checked out 10 books on soccer…er…football…from the library yesterday).

This morning we did something that got us legally established here in Ireland: we registered our visas at the garda (police) station.

As you can tell from David’s expression, it was an exciting venture. Actually, it wasn’t too bad. We were the first ones in line when the immigration office opened and they got us processed in about 10 minutes. Jon and I both have special visitor/worker permit cards that we have to carry with us at all times just in case somebody suspects we’ve outstayed our welcome.

After I dropped Jon off at work I headed out to Fota to meet up with a mum’s group (how cute is that…mum?!) from our church. Every Wednesday they go to this place called Go Safari to hang out. It’s an indoor play area for kids with food and drinks–perfect for hanging out while the kids run around and burn off some of their boundless energy.

I had a great time getting to know the 6 other ladies and their sweet little kids. They gave me some good tips on where to shop for the cheapest nappies (diapers) and who to contact for babysitting. Cha-ching! David and Jacob both loved playing in the ball pit–so much so that I couldn’t even get a photo of the 3 of us together before one of them would try to squirm away to jump in the balls again:

On Friday we will be going to get our PPS Numbers (kind of like Irish Social Security Numbers). After we have our PPS numbers we can set up our local bank account–something we’re really looking forward to since we’ve been racking up enough foreign transaction fees on our credit cards to purchase a small car. Unless you’re in Ireland. In which case, enough to rent a car for a month. Or maybe just buy a week’s worth of groceries. Oy…

Fota Wildlife Park

July 14, 20132 Comments

We had expected to be able to move in to our house yesterday. However, as we were getting ready to leave Seattle a few days ago, our landlord contacted us to let us know that his tenants wouldn’t be moved out until Monday. So, instead of unpacking and settling in to our new home this weekend, we found ourselves with some free time on our hands. We rarely have free time together as a family–let alone a whole weekend–let alone in a foreign country. Plus, the church we found here is out of town on a retreat this weekend so we didn’t even have that to go to today. All that to say, we got another family fun day today. Yahoo!

We decided to drive just outside of the Cork City Center to the Fota Wildlife Park.

It’s a really neat zoo with free-roaming and barely-fenced-in animals–perfect for getting up close and personal with the wildlife. Here’s Jon walking up to some Mara (large South American rodents) and wallabies:

There were also zebras, ostriches, and giraffes in a large enclosure near the entrance:

We saw lots of monkeys, including a sprightly baby Gibbon (on the roof in this photo):

All of the monkeys are housed on their own private islands:

We had so much fun at Fota that we bought a membership so we can return again soon!

On our way back to Cork we drove through the town of Cobh (formerly called Queenstown). This was the last port that Titanic stopped at to pick up passengers before making her fateful journey out to sea. Coincidentally, this is also the port where the ship Lusitania was sunk by a German U-Missile , thus instigating World War I. Besides it’s fascinating history, Cobh is just a quaint little town:

From Cobh we caught the (2 minute ride) car ferry back across the water to Rochestown (where our house is).

Tomorrow will be moving day and Jon’s first day of work–back to reality!

Allison’s Exhaustive Guide To All Things Baby

December 29, 20121 Comment

If you are not pregnant, don’t plan on becoming pregnant any time soon, or are a dude: Please disregard this post.

A friend of mine who is pregnant with her first child recently asked me for my recommendations on all things baby. And, to be honest, I’ve just been WAITING for someone to ask me about this. Having just been through the new-baby thing twice in the last two years, I have developed some pretty strong opinions on baby products. Since I have a lot of friends who have recently entered (or are about to enter) parenthood, I thought I’d write out a comprehensive list for y’all on what you REALLY need for a new baby. A little disclaimer: This list is written according to my preferences, so you may find that some of these things work well for you and others don’t. Now, like I said, I have a lot of opinions and I’m not short-winded, so bear with me. I’ve started each review with two categories:

Desirability:
Must have- This is a product you can not live without. Buy it now.
High priority- Get it if you can!
Nice to have- A good product, but not necessary for your baby’s overall health or well-being

Acquisition:
New- This is a good investment, so buy it new at the store.
Used- Find it on Craigslist or at a garage sale to save a few bucks. I also love the seasonal kids’ consignment sales (My favorites are Jack and Jill and Just Between Friends)
Borrow- Just beg, borrow, or steal from your friend/sister/neighbor/co-worker who just had a baby and is no longer using it
Repurpose- Re-use something you already own

Anything marked with a double asterisk (**) is one of my personal favorite products

Also, if it’s not on my list then I don’t feel it’s something totally necessary to have. You could go to Babies-R-Us and go bananas buying every baby product under the sun. Really, though, there are a lot of useless products out there that are just a waste of space, time, and money.

For our purposes, this “guide” is only for baby’s first year. After that, you’re on your own.
With no further ado, here are my favorite must-have baby items:

Transportation

Carseat (Must Have, New)
So, here’s the thing with carseats. You have to have a carseat or they won’t let you leave the hospital with your new baby. There are about 5,000 models to choose from and a price range of anywhere from about $50-$400. In the end, though, if you buy your car seat in the USA, they all have to pass the same safety standards and, really, they all work about the same. The main thing you want to keep in mind is the type of carseat you want (I recommend an infant seat for at least the first 9 months) and the brand (find one that works with the stroller system you decide to buy: see below). Always buy your carseat new because you never know what could have happened to a used carseat. If the carseat was ever dropped or involved in a car accident, it can have hairline fractures that you can’t see but that compromise the safety of the seat. Bottom line: Don’t spend a fortune on the car seat, just buy a new one that you like. (For the record, we have a Graco Snugride and it suits us quite well).
P.S. You can also buy additional bases for your car seat. We have a second base for Jon’s car, but I really don’t think it’s that necessary because we just don’t transport the kids in his car that often. However, if you go between vehicles often (especially if you share drop-off/ pick-up duties for child care) you’ll definitely want a second car seat base. This is something you could easily buy used or borrow rather than buying additional bases at full-retail.

Stroller (Must Have, New or Used)
Alright, I have a confession to make. I don’t have a stroller. I have 5 strollers. And I love them all. Do I NEED 5 strollers? No. But does a woman NEED more than 1 pair of shoes? You see, they all serve different purposes. I have the cheap umbrella stroller that I got for 8.99 at Target (because it fits in the tiny trunk of Jon’s car). I have a snap-and-go stroller that I can use to transport Jacob while he’s sleeping in his car seat. I had a **BoB single- jogging stroller and I loved it so much that now I have a BoB double-jogging stroller (which I have nicknamed “The Beast”. It’s massive). And I have the swiss-army-knife of all strollers, the Phil and Ted’s with Doubles kit. Another versatile stroller that comes highly recommended to me is the Baby Jogger City Select. So, what is my recommendation? Get what you need (or, in my case, just buy them all). I jog and take the boys with me to a stroller exercise class several days a week, so the jogging stroller is essential. I have put hundreds of miles on that thing. But it’s HUGE and takes up the whole back section of my car and doesn’t fit between aisles at the store. So, I have a skinny double decker stroller for taking on trips or to the mall. And I have the wee little strollers for when I just have Jacob or when we’re going somewhere in Jon’s wee little car. The important thing is that you need a stroller that works for you and what you’ll be using it for. For the love, don’t drop $400 on a jogging stroller if you don’t plan on ever taking it jogging! Also, just about every stroller on the market today has some way you can use it with an infant car seat (which you’ll want to be able to do–nobody wants to wake a baby who just fell asleep in the car, just to transport them to a stroller, just to have them fall asleep again in the stroller, and then have to wake them back up again to put back in the car at the end of your walk). That being said, find a stroller that works with the car seat you like…or find a car seat that works with the stroller you like 🙂

Infant carrier (High Priority, New)
I have an **Ergo and I love, love, love it! I use it just about every day to hold Jacob while I’m doing some other task–chores, playing with David, going to the bathroom (did I mention that once you have a child you’ll never get to pee alone again?). The thing I like about the Ergo is that it’s comfortable to wear, it holds the baby in a healthy position (some baby carriers are actually bad for baby’s back), it is relatively easy to stuff in a bag or under a seat while traveling, it’s good quality (like I said, daily use with 2 kids and it’s still in excellent condition), it retains it’s value well (this is why I suggest buying it new: if you can find an Ergo on Craigslist, it will be selling for about the same price as a new one–so why not just get a new one and have something special!), and you can use it for a long time (David was about 16 months old before he got too big for me to carry him comfortably on my back). There are many other options in this category. Several of my friends rave about the Beco Gemini and the Moby Wrap. If you can, find a few different carriers to borrow from friends for a “test drive” before you choose one (some of the specialty baby stores also have several models you can try on in-store). Carriers all fit a bit differently and you will probably find some to be more comfortable (and, thus, more useful) than others.

Stroller and Carseat Accessories (Nice to have, new or used)
There are lots of accessories you can buy for your stroller and car seat. While none of them are totally necessary, they do make life easier. Some of my personal favorites are a stroller cup holder, diaper bag clips (to hold the diaper bag when you run out of storage underneath the stroller), a stroller weather shield (necessary for keeping baby dry outside on 90% of our Seattle walks), a bundle me (necessary for keeping baby dry during 90% of our Seattle walks), and a carseat canopy. You can usually get a promo code for a free carseat canopy from the advertisement section in the back of Parents Magazine to use on http://www.carseatcanopy.com/ You just have to pay shipping ($8.99) making this a pretty decent deal.

Vehicle (High Priority, new or used)
We had a Jetta sedan when David was born. We outgrew it in about 2 seconds. Yes, babies are small, but they always need a whole lot of STUFF. And the dang car seats are so big you can hardly fit another full-size person in the car once they’re installed. When we started talking about having a second baby, we knew our little Jetta wasn’t going to cut it any more. We upgraded to a Honda Pilot 2 weeks before I found out I was pregnant with Jacob and we LOOOOOOOOOOOVE it! You don’t need a huge car or an over-sized SUV with a baby, but be warned: whatever vehicle you are comfortable in now is about to become cramped and very UNcomfortable once baby joins you!

Sleeping

Crib (Must Have, new or used)
Your baby has to sleep somewhere, so you’ve got to buy a crib. Again, this is an area where you could spend a LOT of money, but it’s not necessary. The main thing to keep in mind with a crib is safety. The space between the crib slats should be no more than 2 3/8″ (about the width of a pop can) and it should not have a drop-side. If you have a chance to see the crib assembled in person, give it a good shake to see how sturdy it feels. Your newborn will sleep peacefully in a little ball wherever you place it, but soon that infant will grow to be a toddler who is standing up and shaking that crib like a caged monkey. As long as you can find a crib that meets basic safety specs, go ahead and get a used one or an inexpensive new crib (I don’t recommend borrowing a crib because it seems like everyone I know who has ever done that ended up having to give it back to the original owners for THEIR new baby before they were ready to relinquish the borrowed crib).

Portable Crib (Pac-N-Play) (High Priority, new or used)
We use our Pac-n-Play quite often. It’s where our new babies sleep next to my bed before we move them into the nursery and it’s what we use whenever we travel. I know a lot of people who use their pac-n-play as a napping space downstairs when the baby’s room is upstairs. We don’t use it every day, but it is sure handy to have one when you need it. Costco actually sells a nice basic model Pac-n-Play for about $50, which is about the same price as a clean used one sells for on Craigslist.

Swaddling Blankets and Sleepers (Must have, new)
New babies need to be swaddled when they’re sleeping. In my sleep-deprived middle of the night fumblings, I could never figure out how to properly swaddle a flailing baby, so I relied on the SwaddleMe for the first few months with each boy. If you want to go for a real blanket, though, don’t buy a standard receiving blanket or swaddling blanket from the baby store–they’re never big enough or stretchy enough to work properly. Though I don’t have one, I love the over-size muslin swaddling blankets made by Aden and Anais. After the first 3 months or so, baby doesn’t need to be swaddled, but you still shouldn’t cover your baby with a blanket (it’s a SIDs risk). We use Halo Sleep Sacks, and having about 3 per size seems to be sufficient.

Baby Monitor (High Priority, new or used)
This is yet another category where you could spend a LOT of money. You can buy fancy video monitors with iPhone apps so you can watch your baby sleeping from half-way around the world. While this sounds neat, it’s not necessary. In fact, we have a friend with one of those fancy video monitors that allows you to watch baby sleeping from half-way around the world. Our friend’s mom watches the monitor feed like it’s cable television programming. Grandma will call her in the middle of the night to inform her that her baby is awake (“Yes, Mom, I know. I’m walking up the stairs now.”). We had a very cheap monitor that we ended up hating because we were picking up signals from our neighbor’s house and could hear inside their baby’s room (which makes me think they could hear inside MY baby’s room. Creepy). We have a new monitor now that was inexpensive and works well (and, best of all, it’s a closed circuit so we’re the only ones who can hear what’s happening on the monitor!). The monitor we have now is made by ** Samsung and it’s great. In all truth, though, I only use the monitor about 20% of the time now, because I just don’t want to hear all of the little sounds Jacob is making. If he’s really crying I can hear him just fine without the monitor, so I really wouldn’t spend a lot of money here.

Feeding

Breast Pump (Must Have, new)
Breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby, so if you’re at all skeptical about it, just give it a try. Even though I don’t work out of the home, it’s useful to have a breast pump for those nights when baby actually sleeps through the night and you don’t want to wake him to have him empty your engorged boobs. It’s also useful if you ever want to have a date alone with your husband and baby needs to eat while you’re away. I have a simple Medela manual breast pump and it works perfectly for my usage. If you spend more time away from your baby, though (like if you work outside the home), you’ll want a nicer electric breast pump (which you can also rent from a hospital, but my understanding is that it ends up costing about the same to just buy your own). Always buy your breast pump new because there’s something about cross-contamination of breast milk that can be harmful to your baby.

Extra Bottles and/or Breast Milk Storage Bags(High priority, new)
It’s a good idea to have extra storage space for your breast milk. Breast milk can be frozen for up to 6 months and you can even make baby food with breast milk, so it’s nice to have a little supply on hand in your freezer.

High Chair (Must have, new or repurpose)
Unless you want to hold a squirmy toddler on your lap at every meal, you need to have a high chair. We just have a space-saver chair that sits on top of our dining chair at the table. It was about $30 and it’s worked fine for the last 2 years. We also have a ** portable booster seat that I got at a consignment sale for about $10. We use it any time we eat over at a friend’s house or travel out of town. Now that Jacob is about to start eating solids, we’ll use the portable booster seat as David’s chair at our table at home and let Jacob sit in the high chair.

Nursing Pillow (Nice to have, new or used)
It’s nice to have somewhere to lay baby while you’re feeding him and I find that I’m more comfortable having the boost of a pillow. Regular pillows that you have at home work fine, but I like having a nursing pillow during feedings. Nursing pillows also make great places for baby to rest during tummy time. I had a Boppy and a Brest Friend, and I prefer the Brest Friend. It snaps on so you can move around while “wearing” it. It’s also nice and firm so baby doesn’t get lost in the pillow.

Baby Bullet (Nice to have; new, used or borrow)
I make all of my own baby food. Here’s my reasoning. It’s cheap (I can make 20 servings of rice cereal for about 50 cents), it’s really not that difficult, it’s healthy (100% fresh with no preservatives) and it exposes my baby to the exact same foods that I’m eating so he’ll start developing a taste for my wonderful cooking early on 🙂 I’m not opposed to pre-made baby food–I still use pouches and puffs from the store for snacks–but I use that stuff as a supplement to the homemade stuff. I use the Baby Bullet to puree all of my baby food, but you could really use any standard blender or a food mill just as well. If you’re not sure you want to commit to making all of your baby’s food, just try using a blender you already have and see how you like it.

Bibs and Burp Cloths (Must have, new)
While baby is still on milk, you’ll want to have some good absorbent burp cloths on hand. My babies aren’t big spitter-uppers, so we only need about 5. If your baby likes to up-chuck after every meal, though, you’ll want a supply of at least a dozen. Your burp cloths don’t have to be cute, just make sure they can soak up a lot of liquid without making a big mess. We also lay down a clean burp cloth over our changing table so when we change a blow-out diaper (which happens at least once a day in our house) it doesn’t get the whole changing pad dirty. We can just toss the dirty cloth into the laundry and lay down another clean one for the next change.
Once your baby starts eating solids, you’ll need somewhere to catch all of their messes. And if your kids are anything like mine, there are LOTS of messes (in fact, some meals I think more food ends up on the bib than in my kid’s mouth). Far and away my favorite bib is the **Bjorn soft bib. It’s spendy for a bib (about $10 per bib) but we use them multiple times every day and they work like a trough to catch everything from chewed up chicken to spilled milk. You can also toss them in the dishwasher. They’re fantastic, and I think every baby should have at least one.

Feeding Utensils (Must have, new or used)
You’ll want about 5 of each of the following: plastic plates, plastic bowls, plastic spoons, plastic forks. You’ll also need a range of sippy cups–I find that you just have to buy a bunch of different cups and see what works for your kid at each stage of their drinking capability. David destroys any cup that is not enirely made of hard plastic, so that’s what we have now. We also have some small plastic cups (not sippy cups) that we try to use any time we’re at home and can adequately deal with spills. It’s also handy to have a nice pair of kitchen shears. We use them to cut up all of our toddler food into small pieces. The shears make quick work of cutting everything from chicken to spaghetti noodles.

Clothing
I’ll do this section a bit differently. For each section I’ll just say how many I think you need in each size. I do laundry 4-5 times a week now (yes, it’s ridiculous) so adjust these numbers if you don’t do your laundry as often and need to have more clothing in stock. I have borrowed, bought used, or received as gifts just about every article of clothing that my children wear. While it’s fun to go shopping for baby clothes, it’s really not worth spending much money on them because they usually grow out of them within a few weeks of starting to wear them.

Jammies- 4-5 pairs per size; I like the foot-less sleep gowns for newborns (makes middle of the night diaper changes oh-so-easy) and footie jammies with a ZIPPER from 3 months on (snaps annoy me to no end).

Onesies- 10-20 per size; I usually go through 3-4 onesies per day (everything gets very dirty when you have a pooping, spitting, flailing baby). Get some that are short-sleeved and some that are long-sleeved. I usually have my babies wear them alone, but they also make great layering pieces if you have cute shrits, vests, jackets, etc. that you want your baby to wear.

Pants- 5 pairs per size. Make sure they’re comfy for baby and easy to get on and off (read: elastic waist bands). If they have animal faces on the feet or tushie, that’s also a plus.

Foot Coverings- 5-10 pairs of socks per size. Once baby starts crawling and pulling up to standing I like having Robeez leather baby booties (although, I still try to have my babies go barefoot or sock-foot as much as possible because it’s best for their foot development). Once baby starts walking, I like Stride Rite shoes (they’re made to support baby’s foot development).

Other– You’ll need some seasonal accessories: a warm hat, coat, and mittens for the winter and a sun hat for the summer. If you plan on going swimming with your baby you’ll need a swimsuit and swim diapers.

Diapering

Changing Table (Must Have, used or repurposed)
It’s handy to have somewhere to change those thousands of diapers. We got a used changing table from a friend with older children. We also put a changing pad on the top of David’s dresser to use as a second changing table.

Diaper Bag (Must Have; new, used or repurposed)
You can get any diaper bag you want. Some features that I have found to be most useful: A top that zippers shut or velcro-closes completely, large pockets on the side (big enough to hold my water bottle), a small zippered pocket to hold your keys and cell phone, ample storage space inside the bag itself, pouches to hold diapers and wipes, backpack straps for carrying the bag. And, above all else, it needs to be durable. After all, you’re going to cart that thing around with you everywhere you go for the next 2+ years. I also use my diaper bag as my purse anytime I have the kids with me (which is basically all the time), so I like it to have space for my wallet and other purse essentials. I had a standard diaper bag from Babies R Us with David, and it broke after about a year (all the zippers came off, it got holes in it, the fabric was fading). So, I splurged and bought a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag. It was ridiculously expensive, but it’s cute and durable and I love it. And the resale value is excellent if I ever reach the day when I have no more children in diapers. You could also just use any old bag or backpack you have lying around your house. Do what works for you!

Diapers and Wipes (Must Have, new)
Cloth or disposable, that is the question. Moms seem to get very passionate about their diapering choice. I say, if you want to use disposables, use disposables. If you want to use cloth, use cloth. Done. I can’t fathom doing one more load of laundry than I already have to do in the week so, for me, it’s disposables all the way. Whatever your choice, just make sure you always have about a week’s supply of diapers and wipes on hand. You don’t want to run out in the middle of the night and have to wake up your husband for a midnight run to the drugstore to buy more.

Diaper Pail (High Priority, new or used)
You can use a trash can for dirty diapers, but they do get rather stinky if you don’t take them out after each change. We had a Diaper Genie with David, but the refill “bags” were insanely expensive for a plastic sleeve that holds poop. Now we have a **Baby Trend Diaper Champ that uses standard trash bags instead of expensive refills. It works great for Jacob’s diapers, but David’s more rancid diapers still get stinky in it. Still, though, I can take empty the diaper pail every couple of days and it’s no big deal.

Bathing/Grooming/Health

Baby Bathtub (High Priority, used or borrow)
You can wash a baby in your kitchen sink (I’ve done it), but those little buggers get pretty slippery when you lather them up with soap. I like having a baby bathtub with an infant sling for when they’re super-tiny. As soon as the baby can sit up independently, he can sit in the regular bathtub. We also take our babies in the showers with us pretty frequently and they love splashing in the “rain”. You really don’t use a baby tub for very long, though, and they take up a lot of storage space after you’re done using them. For this reason, borrow a tub from a friend or buy one used.

Baby Shampoo (Must have, new)
Buy an all-in-ne baby shampooo (soap and shampoo) that is tear-free. Burt’s Bees and Johnson’s (the purple one) smell really nice.

Towels (Must have, new or used)
Get 2 baby towels that are nice and soft. And a couple of wash cloths are handy, too.

Nail Clippers (Must have, new)
Newborns usually have long fingernails when they’re born. They need to be trimmed because babies always seem to be clawing at their faces, but clippers don’t work at first (the nails are too soft). I just use my teeth to chew away at the nails for the first few weeks (a bit gross, but it works well and you don’t accidentally cut your new baby, which is terrifying). Once the nails are a bit more solid, you can use small nail clippers to do the job.

Medicine (Must have, new)
It’s a good idea to have some infant Tylenol with a syringe dispenser on hand in case you ever need it. Also, if you have a baby boy that you know you’ll be circumcising, have a tube or 2 of Bacitracin on hand to help with the healing.

Thermometer (Must have, new)
Babies can’t tell you how they’re feeling, so there are times you have to analyze their vitals for clues. A rectal thermometer is the most accurate. I don’t like sticking probes up my baby’s bum, however, so I usually start with an infrared forehead thermometer. If I get questionable results off that, I’ll move on to the more-accurate rectal for the official read that I can relay to the doctor.

Nasal Aspirator (Must have, new)
I have a **Nose Frida (a “snot sucker”) that works amazingly well. You just put one end on the baby’s nose, and suck through a tube to dislodge all the gunk in baby’s nose. There’s a filter in the Nose Frida so nothing goes anywhere near your mouth while you’re sucking, but it does make a gross sound as you suck out the snot. When baby is sick or stuffed up, this thing is a miracle worker!

Toothbrush (Must have, new)
To be honest, I never even thought about getting a toothbrush for a baby. They don’t have any teeth. But then a friend of ours who is a dental hygenist gave us a cute little toothbrush set for David’s baby shower. Turns out, even babies without teeth need their gums “brushed”. And once those pesky little teeth start poking through baby’s gums, you’ll need to brush those every day, too. We like this set by Nuk.

Toys/Entertainment

Infant Swing (High priority, used or borrow)
Every baby has different preferences, so some may love the swing and others may hate it.David loved his infant swing and, in fact, it was the only place he would consistently sleep for the first 3 months of his life. Jacob actually got upset every time we put him in the swing. You won’t use the swing for very long and they take up a lot of space to store, so if at all possible find one to borrow (this is what we did with each of our babies). If you use a swing, find one that plugs in to a wall for power and that has different speeds you can select. I also prefer the papasan-style for baby swings.

Jumperoo/ExerSaucer (High priority, used or borrow)
I’ve never met a baby who didn’t like their jumperoo. And I’ve never met a parent who didn’t like having a place to set their baby down where they would be safe and perfectly content for hours on end. As with the swing, though, there’s a relatively short time that baby actually uses the jumper or exersaucer and they’re quite large to store. Borrow from a friend if you can. We like the **Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo–it’s good-quality, highly entertaining for baby, and folds up easily for moving or storage.

Infant Seats (Nice to have, used or borrow)
It’s nice having a place for baby to sit before he can sit, stand, or move on his own. We like having a Bumbo and an **infant bouncer (find one that’s easy to bounce with one hand or foot. If it folds flat for storage, that’s a great feature to have.).

Toys (High Priority; new, used or borrowed)
Babies will play with anything. A plastic cup with a straw can be endlessly entertaining to a 6-month old. Find some simple, durable toys for your baby that don’t make obnoxious noises (balls, shakers, soft toys that crinkle). David’s absolute favorite toy of all time is his “lovey” Mimi, a stuffed monkey made by **Jellycat. I love the Jellcat toys so much that I just bought Jacob their stuffed giraffe for Christmas. It’s also nice to have a soft toy that attaches to baby’s car seat or stroller to keep him entertained while you’re out and about. Lamaze makes some that both David and Jacob enjoy. Really, though, everyone else will buy your baby toys so you probably don’t need to run out and buy out the toy store just yet!

Books (Must have; new, used, or borrowed)
As a former first grade teacher, I feel it’s my duty to inform you that it’s never too early to start learning or start reading! One of the single best things you can do for your child’s future success in school is to read. Read to them, read with them, read by yourself and just let them watch you making it a priority. Really, just read! Soft books and board books are good for babies because they can throw them, chew them, mash them with a hammer and they’ll survive the abuse. I also love borrowing books from the library. You can check out board books by the bag-full at your local library to keep things new and interesting for your budding reader.
Another thing I’ve bee doing lately is making my own books. There are so many places that make photo books now, and with coupons I can usually get a custom book shipped to my door for about $10. I’ve made a book with photos of David doing our daily routine called “David’s Busy Day” and another one with all of our family members and text that tells about them. For a younger baby, you could also print out photos, glue them onto paper and write one word or sentence about the photo on each page. Then take your pages to an office store like Staples or Office Max to have the pages laminated and binded in-store.

For The New Mom
Here are a few items you should have on hand for yourself before you bring home that new bundle of joy.

Food
You likely won’t be cooking for a couple of weeks, so make arrangements for meals ahead of time. Cook and freeze meals, find friends to bring you food, train your husband to cook, or set aside the phone numbers for your favorite delivery restaurants.

Maxi Pads
Get at least one large package of overnight (super-absorbent) maxi pads for your postpartum blood flow. No tampons, just the pads.

Nursing Pads
You can get reusable or disposable nursing pads to wear in your bra to avoid milk leakage. I like the Johnson’s disposable nursing pads.

Nipple Cream
For the first couple of weeks you’re breastfeeding. I like Lansinoh Lanolin.

Comfort Items for Late Night Feedings
You’ll be spending about 8-12 hours a day breastfeeding during the first couple of weeks, so it’s nice to have some comfort items ready for all of those feedings. Make sure you always have a full water bottle handy (nursing makes you THIRSTY!). My favorite is the **Camelbak water bottle with bite valve–it’s easy to use one-handed and never spills. I have one of those bad boys planted in every room of my house so my water is never out of reach!
I also like having an iPod or my iPhone handy during feedings so I can read, respond to e-mails, watch a movie, browse the internet, etc.

Nursing Wear
Find what’s comfortable for you. I actually don’t like nursing bras, so I always just wear a normal bra that I can pull down easily or a nursing tank. I like the nursing tanks best because they cover my mid-section when I lift up my shirt to nurse. Also have some nice, comfy shirts that are easy to either lift up or pull down for access to the milk-makers. And, even though it’s not technically nursing wear, make sure you have some nice comfy pants. When you come home from the hospital you still have a belly the same size as your 6-months-pregnant self. So invest in some elastic waistbands for yourself, and maybe a pair or 2 of jeans that are a couple sizes bigger than you wore pre-pregnancy (because you’ll be SICK of your maternity clothes by the time you have the baby, but you won’t fit into your pre-baby clothes. For awhile. Maybe a very long while. It’s sad, but true. Call it your miracle belly if it makes you feel better!)

Things To Do With Your New Baby
Here are a few activities that I enjoyed doing with my baby during the first year. It’s good for baby to get out there and socialize. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s good for YOU to get out there and connect with other moms! It’s so reassuring to have other people who are in the same boat as you who you can share this journey of new-motherhood with!

Play Groups
Look for formal or informal play groups that meet in your community. This could just be you and some of your friends who get together each week for a walk with your babies (this is what I do!) or you can search for a group on http://www.meetup.com that meets in your neighborhood.

**Story Time
I took David to story time at our local library every week from the time he was 3 months old until Jacob was born. It’s a great free program that involves reading, singing and playing. Just about every library I’ve ever seen has some sort of baby or toddler story time program. I loved going each week for fun and making new friends. They also have story time at most book stores, they just aren’t as elaborate (however, I do enjoy the story time at University Bookstore because they give out free Top Pot donuts to the little guys).

**Stroller Strides
This is a new one for me. Stroller Strides is a fitness class for moms that you bring your baby to in his stroller. It’s really a great workout and they make the whole class fun for the babies. It’s very social and the other moms are friendly and health-focused. There are hundreds of Stroller Stride classes that meet all over the country every day of the week. Stroller Strides requires a membership and monthly dues, but I think health and sanity are worth spending a bit of money on!

Parks and Rec Classes
The Parks and Rec department in your city will offer a number of classes geared toward babies and toddlers. These classes may include music, dance, art, and even foreign languages. I’ve never actually done one of these classes, but they always look like so much fun in the brochures!

Swimming Lessons
We took David to his first swimming lessons when he was 6 months old. He loved splashing around in the water and we loved that our baby was getting exposed to water in a positive way so he’ll (hopefully) be comfortable being around water and swimming alone in water when he’s old enough. We did our swimming lessons at the YMCA and they were very reasonably priced.

Alright, folks, I think that’s it. Overwhelmed yet? In the end, a baby really doesn’t need that much. Get the basics, don’t stress about it, and know that grandma and grandpa will always fill in the gaps 🙂 Of course, the most important thing you can give your baby is your love–and that doesn’t cost a penny or require a minute of your time to research.

I’d love to hear what your favorite products and activities are. Feel free to leave a comment if you have something to add to this list!

We Love, Teach, Grow

My journey through motherhood

Category: Children