A Few of My Favorite Things

This post is dedicated to my friend, Laura. :) 

She is the researcher type, and now that she is pregnant she is in full interview and research gear.  So in thinking of her, I decided to make a list of my favorite baby things.  Some are things we did together and others are just things.  Here we go!

Prenatal Yoga – With Addie I did this at the Yoga Center ofMinneapolis, and with Max I simply continued the Vinyasa class I was currently taking.  These classes helped me to decompress, focus my breathing, connect with my babies, and build a community of other expecting mamas.

Baby Yoga – I also did this at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis with Addie, but they discontinued offering those classes but soled the rights to them to Blooma (where I did BYOB with Max).  Baby Yoga is what I would rank as the #1 item on this list.  It got me moving again right at 6 weeks, helped me to connect with other new moms, and most importantly, my babies.  I also learned things like baby massage, and different stretches and poses that helped with Addie’s colic.  That alone made this priceless!

Breast feeding – So many good reasons for this and rewards from it, I can’t even begin to list them all.

Baby food – I purchased one jar of baby food total in my life.  With the help of our magic bullet and Le Petit Appetit I made all of Max and Addie’s food.  They are now two healthy children who are great eaters and I have to believe that feeding them fresh real food contributed to this.

Fresh Baby storage trays - Great for food and breast milk!

Hotsling/Moby Wrap/Bjorn – Baby wearing items

Sleep Sacks/Gowns – Great newborn sleepwear

Dwell Studio receiving blankets – larger than normal receiving blankets, which made swaddling much easier

Booster Seat with Tray – Saved tons of space over a highchair and it was easily portable to the cabin

Crib Aquarium – Gave the kids something to do when they woke up in the morning (they both still stay in bed until at least 7!)

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems – This book helped us so much in sleep training our kids and getting them on a routine

I realize that this is not a complete list, and does not include all must-have items, but these were just a few things that may get left off of a standard list that made a big positive difference in our lives!

Before I finish, in committing to be honest, I do have to add my most hated item – our Baby Trend jog stroller.  If I had to do it all over again I would have purchased a slightly used BOB on craigslist.  Speaking of strollers, the last favorite item I will add to this list is our Burley.  Now having two kids it is great to use as a double stroller and has opened a whole new biking world to us.

And there you have it… A Few of My Favorite Things!