Amazon Store

I have an Amazon store now, so any and all things mentioned in the last few posts and mentioned in the future will be easily accessible by clicking on that little link on the right of my blog!

Doodle Dolls

We are on a strict budget in our family, making me very mindful of how much "fun" money I have each month.
I saw this item at Barnes and Noble about a month ago and didn't impulse buy, due to the new budget restrictions.
However, I keep thinking about it and I'm going to buy it!
And, yes, I'm buying it for myself, though I suppose I'll share with my three year old -- I have always loved paper dolls and coloring, so this is just the best of both worlds.
And now I see it's $2 cheaper on Amazon!

Favorite Baby Items

Well, this may be funny given the post a few below this about "No one is missing" but we are expecting our second child, and it has me thinking about all my favorite baby things we used with our first and the one item I never bought when we had her that I wish I had.

So that first item is an Ergo -- I balked at the price, but now that I see how many YEARS of use my friends get out of them (per child!), I wish I had gotten one.  I'm definitely getting one now, especially since we'll be on the go even more than I was when I had my first, since we'll be going all over town doing the things the four year old loves to do.

The carrier I did have and loved and will definitely use again is the Moby wrap -- it just didn't last as long as the weight limit indicates, as it would get too stretched out to really work for any length of time.  But for several months, it was the only carrier I used, and I loved it. My daughter would fall asleep in it almost immediately every time I put her in it to go for a walk.
I've had people tell me that they find it intimidating, since it's a very long piece of fabric that you have to tie around yourself each time you use it.  But, honestly, after you put it on twice, it'll just be second nature and takes very little time to put on.
I got lots of compliments on it when my daughter was young about how nice it looked and how comfortable it looked for both of us, and that is all true:)

An item that we gave away and now will be getting a new one from a friend is a play gym -- we used ours quite a bit with our daughter, and I think with a second child, it'll definitely be nice to have an interesting place for the baby to play during those times I need to have one-on-one time with my older child.
There are so many options out there for play gyms, but two of my favorites are this Skip Hop one and the Tiny Love one we had for our daughter.

My absolute favorite piece of "gear" we had for our first (and we did hang onto this one just in case, and I'm so glad!) is the Fisher Price Zen swing.
I loved the look of it, as it wasn't bright and primary colors, but instead looked great in our apartment, and we really wanted the papasan style swing for her.
The swing can swing either direction (side-to-side or front-to-back) which is great since some babies are picky about which way they go.
Also, something I didn't realize before we got it which ended up being our favorite thing:  The seat is easily detachable from the swing base, and therefore becomes an independent seat.  My daughter sat in that seat in our bathroom every single day for the first three months of her life, while I took a shower, and peeked out at her every so often to begin establishing object permanence;)  The easy portability of that seat is amazing, as it has handles on the side, letting you move even a sleeping baby in it from room to room.
Also, the cover is easily detachable and machine washable -- a must!

Favorite Things

I started a new blog with a list of some of our current favorite things, but no one really knows about it. This one has been around long enough to have an audience:)

 A few of our favorite things include: The book Everybody Cooks Rice -- my three year old loves reading about the different cultures and recipes, trying chopsticks and picking a recipe from the back to make for dinner (it was rici e bisi!)

 Another favorite are the Usborne sticker dolly dressing books. The first one we got is still my favorite: Around the World. But Dream Jobs and Fashion Long Ago are awesome too.

 Finally, forever and always a favorite will be Keva planks -- someone is getting some for her birthday (don't tell her:). For now, we enjoy them at the grandparents' when we visit and at our local science museum. The creativity they bring out and fun for all ages make them one of my favorites of all time.

We Will Come Running

With the notable exception of the two nights I gave into peer pressure (regretfully) and let my daughter cry it out until my husband asked me "What do you WANT to do?" in response to my "What should we do?" as she cried and cried. I said "I want to go rock her to sleep!". "So do that!". Wiser words were never spoken. Yes, I went and rocked her to sleep that night and many many nights thereafter.

And what nights do I regret?

The ones where I spent an hour or more rocking her to sleep? No.

The two where I made her cry.

If I could change one thing in my 3.5 years of parenting, it would be those two nights.

Why?

Because it went against everything we believed as parents.

Because instead of teaching her to "know you won't come for every little thing" as some people advised, no, no, we want her to know we will come running if she needs us.

When she was a newborn, we wanted her to know that if she cried, we were on our way.

When she was six months old and cried, we wanted her to know we were running to see what she needed.

When she was one and called out 'Mama' in the middle of the night, we wanted her to know that we would wake up and get into her room for a hug and a snuggle and, yes, almost always a nurse.

When she was two and called out 'Mommy!' in the night, we wanted her to know we were coming...and again, almost always a nurse:)

She is 3.5 and just woke up on her floor where she decided to camp out on her 'spaceship bed' tonight. She cried out 'Mommy!' and I went in for a hug and moved her to her bed and stayed until she was asleep (this only took about 90 seconds:).

Why?

Because I want her to know I am here.

And why is that so important?

Because when she starts kindergarten and someone is unkind to her, we want her to know that we are here to talk to about it and give her hugs and tell her that she is our favorite girl and that she is a wonderful person.

Because when she is ten and isn't invited to a friend's birthday party, we want her to know that we are here to share in the hurt and disappointment.

Because when she is twelve and achieves a long worked for goal, we want her to know that we are here to celebrate, and celebrate we will!

Because when she is fourteen and tries alcohol or smoking or drugs, we want her to know we are here to talk to about all of those things and guide her into better decisions.

Because when she is seventeen and tells us she wants to go on the pill, we want her to know that we are here to walk through that with her.

Because when she is away at college and wakes us in the night with a phone call, we want her to know that we are here and awake in a flash just like now when we are right down the hall.

Because when she has her first baby, we want her to know that we are here for care and support and to say 'Trust yourself. Trust your baby. You've got this, and we are here to do what we can.'

So that's why we were okay with sleepless nights and feet in our faces and ribs and long nursing sessions in the middle of the night (yes, I kind of miss those - the feet in my face are here to stay for now;).

Because it all lays a foundation.

One that says "We are here. And we are running to meet you where you need us."