Baby Necessities: 0-6 Months

Now that I'm a pro at this whole mom thing (HA!) I thought I'd share a few baby items that have become necessities in our household.

1) Sound Machine

City living with a baby has caused me to dislike many things including Tuesdays (garbage day), car alarms, loud college kids, honking horns, traffic in general, and anything else that threatens to wake my baby up during her nap time. Having some type of white noise machine is essential. I really liked the features on the Graco Sound Machine but unfortunately it wasn't loud enough. We now use this Marpac Sound Conditioner and it works well. I don't travel without it.

(find it on Amazon)

2) Cooshee Changer

This is the best product ever. No change pad cover means no extra laundry. It stays warm to the touch and easily wipes clean. Little m loves naked bum time and she plays in the Cooshee changer a few times a day while her bum bum airs out. I lay an extra cloth diaper down in case she pees and don't have to worry about her making a mess everywhere. It's most definitely worth the cost.

(find it on Amazon)

3) Play Mat

I was gifted the Tiny Love Activity Gym and it quickly became a favourite for me and baby. Whatever you do, make sure you have some place to lay your baby down. Play mats are great because they provide effortless entertainment. Get one for the sake of your mental health.

(find it on Amazon)

4) Night Light

I recently ordered this cute Kinderglo night light and have quickly grown to love it. It would have made things much easier if I had it from the very beginning! It's bright enough to allow me to see what I'm doing during night feedings but not bright enough to disturb Little m's sleep. Plus, it's a moose and reminds me of my home and native land!

(find it on Amazon)

5) Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets

Wow, there are so many uses for these blankets. We used them as swaddles in the very beginning but now I always carry one in my diaper bag to use as a nursing cover if needed. They are so light and breathable. Have you ever tried nursing with a real blanket? Schwetty.

(find it on Amazon)

6) Baby Connect App

I have used this app pretty much everyday since Little m was born. At first I used it to track her feedings, now I use it to track her sleeping and weight. It costs $4.99 and is so worth it, and that's coming from a lady who refuses to pay for apps!

(find it on iTunes)

I hope this little list of my most loved items helps someone out there!

Paddy or Patty?

Whether or not you say it St. Paddy's or St. Patty's (read about the correct way here), Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago is quite the sight to see!

M's parents were visiting, so we bundled up the munchkin.. err, I mean, slathered the munchkin in sunscreen and headed downtown with the other hundreds of thousands of people to see the river turn green.

80 degree weather in mid March? Weird, just plain weird. But lovely.

After checking out the green river we found a spot in the park to watch the parade, which turned out to be a bust. Was the parade really that crappy or is it just because we were at the very end of the route? Either way, the parade was a bit of a snooze fest and Little m had way more fun playing with her Grampie than anything else. I had fun people watching the sea of green.

I've turned into a huge old grump now that I have a kid and was dreading the drunk college students making a huge racket at all hours of the night but it really wasn't too bad. I guess since they start at 8am it's hard for them to make it to the end of the night, right? Other than having to dodge a lot of broken glass on the sidewalks this morning, I'd say St. Patrick's day was a lot of fun. The peanut liked it too!

Catching Up...

There are so many things I'd like to blog about but finding the time is difficult! Or more like when I do have a spare moment to myself, sitting down and writing is nearly the last thing I want to do! So that being said, here's a quick mish mash of things I meant to blog about ages ago, didn't, but am now!

1) Halloween? That was only four months ago! Seems like yesterday, no?

Our little "pea"nut partied hard at her daddy's Halloween work party and was definitely the youngest in attendance. Finding a costume for an eight pounder was quite the challenge.

2) At the end of October was Little m's first trip to Toronto and first time flying in an airplane!

She had a great visit with her nanny and grampie and got to meet lots of our friends from the Tdot.

3) A visit from C&R in early November! And guess what, now they're expecting a little one themselves!

4) Little m's first Christmas! We spent nine days at her grandparents' house in Ottawa and had a nice time introducing Little m to two of her great grandmas. Sadly, I took next to no pictures, and the few that I did take are crappy iPhone quality.

And if you can believe this, Little m missed seeing Santa Claus this/last year! We left it to the very last minute and found out that Santy only works half a day on Christmas Eve!

So there we go - a few events I meant to record but never got around to. Feeling a bit more caught up now!