All that...stuff

When you have a kid, you also have a lot of stuff. I don’t know how millions of families before us survived, but apparently you can’t raise a child without a houseful of gadgets and gizmos. After the required deluge, we are working on minimizing our must-haves and one of the best ways to do that for the future, has been to look at how many things we truly really needed in the past year. Besides the necessary crib, baby seat, highchair, diaper bag, safety and health stuff, these are the items that made the top of our list (all but one are reusable for future kids too, so that is an added bonus):

Things that I would not trade for all the world (ok, well maybe for all the world):

My glider chair with glider ottoman: I wasn’t convinced that I wanted one, but after spending a few hours at Babies-R-Us looking at stuff before KIKI was born, I flopped in a chair while we were making the critical crib decision. John took one look at my relaxed face and said that we had to get one. I protested that it was too expensive (bested only by the crib), and he said that it was worth it if I would look so relaxed in it. He twised my arm (didn’t have to twist too much though!) and we ordered it. I slept in it the week before Katrina was born, labored in it, and have nursed Katrina every night. It is a god-send!

Bumbo seat : I had never heard of this, until Sheila offerred to loan us the one that she used with Rudy. Now they are a staple at Target and everyone and their kid has one. It was something else that I didn’t think we really needed, but it turned out really well. Bumbos were originally designed as a physical therapy device for children with poor back and neck control and is good for strengthening these muscles in normally developing children as well. The bumbo was particularly good for keeping Katrina upright while feeding until she was able to fit in her highchair. You can see a picture of Katrina sitting in it here and here .

Breast pump: The only way that I could provide breastmilk for Katrina once I started to go back to work. I have used it every day, several times a day. Because of my high use, a mechanical pump was worth the money upfront and we can still use it for future kids.

Mylicon: The anti-gas medicine that helped the curb Katrina’s thrush induced gassiness, enough so that she could sleep without spitting up.

The American Association of Pediatrics book (Caring for your young child): The go-to book to have, it lists common developmental milestones, common aliments and treatments, and basic how-tos.

Maya pouch: I got this for John for the Christmas before Katrina was born. We were both committed to child wearing, a practice maintained for hundreds of years and still practiced throughout most of the world. While there are many ways to wear your child, the Maya pouch proved to be one of the easiest ones to work with. We used it when she was a newborn and I still use it to hip carry her. While we are currently looking for another carrier (mainly for the back) as she gets bigger, this one has lasted us almost a year now.

Pack and play: This was a last minute purchase that started out as something for my mom. Since we live in a two-story townhome and my mom would be taking care of Katrina for almost two months, we opted to get something that had a changing table and sleep area so that she wouldn’t have to walk up and down the stairs. We have since taken it to four states now and will still use it for traveling until Katrina is sleeping in a bed.

Fleece snowsuit from Target: We found two fleece one-piece zippered outersuits that Katrina wears over her footed jammies at nighttime. This has cut down a lot on her frozen feet and fingers.

Digital camera: We bought our digital camera the week before Katrina was born. Yes, I know you can raise a child without one, but then this blog would be devoid of wonderful pictures and you all wouldn't come here nearly as often, now would you?