What I Love Wednesday: Big Baby Gear Edition
How is is already November? I feel like it was just yesterday when Eloise was born, and now here we are, already closing in on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some people are of the camp "Wait until Thanksgiving is over before you jump into Christmas!" I am not one of those people. As you know, I love all things Fall, and if there's one thing I love more than Fall, it's the Christmas season. I was so exhausted this morning after a whole slew of super busy days/evenings and just as many nights of less than ideal amounts of sleep, but I got in the car and my mood was immediately lifted when I realized Christmas music was on the radio! I am also one of those people that wants to get a head start on Christmas shopping, or at least making a list so I know exactly what I'll be getting for people.
Today's What I Love Wednesday is geared towards getting into the Christmas spirit of giving and gifting to new parents. Or if you're a new parent or going to be a new parent, gifting to yourself (who doesn't love that?!?!) or helping you build a baby registry. I didn't build an Amazon Baby Registry when I was pregnant with Annabelle, but totally wish I had because they offer an awesome Welcome Box of free samples and you can add pretty much anything your heart desires to the registry. My list today has a lot of "Big Baby Items" that we have either purchased for ourselves or received as gifts. If you're a parent, you know these things can add up, so I thought now is a great time to share some of these items in case you're looking for a special gift for some parents-to-be on your holiday shopping list this year!
You can find my previous What I Love Wednesdays here:
Just as before, you can find everything on this list on Amazon, and the links will take you right to these products. If you're an Amazon Prime member, as you know, you'll get everything super fast. If you're not a Prime member, you should be! Total game changer for us.
Ok, maybe I'm overdoing it on the photos here, but this stroller is AWESOME. I don't think they make the color we have any more, as I could not find it, but that's a small detail. We actually have the entire Graco Fastaction Fold Jogger Click Connect Baby Travel System, but if I recall, they were purchased separately. Either way, the stroller is compatible with any Graco Click Connect car seat. When baby is small, you just strap them in the carseat, and it will click right into the stroller. As you can see, it grows with baby too. We still use it a lot for Annie, and Ellie is just now getting big enough to use it without the carseat. As the name states, it folds up as well for easy travel and storage. It's slightly heavier than say, a non-jogger, but I was still able to lift it while I was pregnant. It's really easy to take over a slightly rougher terrain and is a smooth ride, which is especially nice when your baby is smaller so their head isn't jostled around at every bump you go over. I thought the handlebar might be a little high for me (I'm 5'3"), but it's not. My sister has the same stroller and is about 5' tall and she loves it as well. I'd love to say I'm a fit mom, but that's not the case, so I didn't feel it was warranted spending a lot of money on the top of the line joggers, but still wanted to have a jogging stroller. This is a great option if you're like me and want a lower cost, but still good quality jogging stroller. I could go on and on about all the things I love about this stroller, but I'll just stop. Otherwise we'd be here all day!
Boy, was this ever an awesome gift! My Grandma gave it as a shower gift when we were pregnant with Annabelle, and let's just say it's been used and abused and still looks FANTASTIC. We're starting oatmeal with Ellie now that she can support her giant noggin better, and this high chair has an infant insert so she doesn't get swallowed up in it. Annie was in this high chair - sans the infant insert - for meals until recently because we knew Ellie would need it soon. It's super lightweight and has wheels on the front so I can move it around the kitchen and place it wherever I'd like for dinner and then take it right back to it's corner for when it's not in use. The seat is a vinyl-plastic type material so makes for easy cleaning. It also folds up pretty short and sleek so can easily be stored away if we don't want it out or aren't using it. Perhaps my FAVORITE feature of this high chair though, is the removable top insert layer of the tray. We easily pop it off and rinse it in the sink without having to take the ENTIRE tray over to the sink and wash it. It seems like a small thing, but when you're washing a high chair tray multiple times a day, having a lightweight tray that is easily removed and washed makes a big difference.
This was one of those "Do we or don't we?" items, and let me tell you, I'm so glad we landed on DO. With Annabelle, we were in between houses and living at my parents' house for a few months so didn't have a proper crib for her to sleep in. Once she grew out of the Rock and Play that we had her in at first, she slept in this. I'll be honest, we didn't use the changing table feature much with her because at the time, we were living in a ranch so just used the changing table. With Eloise though, we used ALL the bells and whistles on this and it made a big difference, in my opinion. We now live in a 2-story home, and having just given birth, the last thing I want to do is go up and down stairs all the time to change diapers. I could have changed her on the floor, but again, after having a baby, it's not really the best idea to be bending down and bearing weight like that multiple times a day. Also, we have dogs. So we dedided to set up our pack & play (or port-a-crib or play yard - what ever you want to call it) as a changing station on our main floor for the first few months of Ellie's life. I stored diapers, wipes, cream, etc. on the raised shelf underneath the changing station feature so they were out of sight for guests. It was great! We also used the bassinet part a lot more with Eloise to help keep her sister (and to some extent, the dogs) away, ESPECIALLY the first few weeks when Annie hadn't quite grasped the concept of "gentle" yet. We would lay Ellie in the bassinet while she was sleeping and put her up on the coffee table where she'd be safely guarded from her tornado of a sister. Regardless of whether you have one children or multiple children, a Nursery Center/Pack & Play is a great idea, especially for travelling. I can't tell you how many times I've been so glad we have a pack & play for Annie to sleep in during overnight trips or even for a nap if we're gone for the day. Definitely worth it in my opinion!
We have a decent sized house, but I'm still all about space-saving options. Dan and I like that our home is rather open concept for a 2-story home, and don't want the sight lines to be cluttered with TONS of baby gear. Naturally, there is a lot of baby and toddler paraphernalia in our home, but if we can cut down on the clutter of big items, we'll do it. That's why I love this swing. It's a swing and removable bouncy seat/rocker in one. The swing features alone are fantastic! There is a mobile, lights, a mirror, and music. It can also swing side-to-side or front-to-back, based on how you attach the seat. Pop off the seat and it 's a rocker/bouncy seat that you can take wherever you want. This is another thing that I suggested to my sister as be a good piece of gear, and she ended up going and getting one for herself when my niece was a baby and she loved it just as much as we do. When we're done using it (because much to our chagrin, babies DO get bigger and outgrow things like this), it folds up really nicely for storage underneath our stairs.
Whoever invented the Jumperoo must have been a parent, because these things are a lifesaver! The one we have at home is actually a discontinued item, but this is the one at the girls' daycare and is just as awesome and roughly the same size. Jumperoos can be pretty bulky, which is the biggest drawback of having one. Because of what they are intended to do, they just take up a decent amount of space. However, there are some out there, such as the Fisher Price one shown here, that aren't quite as big as others that I've seen. I like that it's open on the top as well, making it seem less cumbersome. Size aside, these are great for parents and kids alike. Every jumper that I've seen has lots of engaging toys attached to the tray part. They encourage babies to interact with the toys, explore different sounds, and of course, the best part, encourage the little ones to start bearing weight on their legs so that they can eventually grow stronger and walk. My girls have both LOVED their jumpers, and as a busy parent, it has been a God-send being able to put them in one while I get dinner ready, for example. I obviously still have the kids in my sight while I'm doing something like making dinner, but it allows me to easily supervise while I'm getting things done without having to worry about if Ellie's going to get stepped on or get something dropped on her head. If you have the space for one, I'd definitely put it on your wish list! Bonus - this particular model is on sale on Amazon today (11/01/2017) for $34 off the regular price. Music to this bargain-hunter's ears!
Everyone that I've ever talked to that owns this playmat LOVES it, and we are no different. We got this after we had Annabelle and are still using it with Eloise. It's super easy to wipe up when it gets covered in spit up, drool, etc. Both of our girls loved the piano part as babies, because they could kick it and music plays, and almost all babies I know love music! All of the hanging toys come off of the overhead soft bar (which also easily detaches) and can be played with as individual toys, or you can put them on the soft hooks on the mat itself to play with or reach for during tummy time. Eloise obviously hasn't outgrown it yet, but when Annie got too big for it (though based on the above photo, she clearly doesn't think she's too big!), we stored everything but the piano part. That part we left out as a toy for her to play with, and if it weren't attached to the mat currently, I'm sure she'd still be carrying it around with her. I personally think this playmat is so great because of all those detachable features. It can be used in so many different ways and really does grow with your child. Another great thing about this one is that it's only $25, so won't break the bank at all!
Ok, I admit, we don't have this EXACT walker, as that is clearly not my child in the photo. I bought the one we own at a garage sale, but it is very similar to this one. It's obviously not something that a baby will be using right away, but trust me when I say it will get LOTS of use. As soon as Annie was starting to walk behind things, she was using her walker and Dan and I spent countless hours on either side of our living room with her walking behind it going back and forth from Daddy to Mommy. The one pictured here, as well as the one we have, has a detachable activity station, so if your baby isn't ready to walk behind it yet OR they no longer need the support of a walker, you can remove the activity board and that functions as a toy itself. Or, if your kids are anything like Annie, they'll just want to push the walker around and dance to the music anyways, even though they don't need the support. If you can't tell yet, I'm all about multiple uses for things, and this is another great piece of baby gear that serves many different functions. As luck would have it, this one is also on sale today for just $20, which is pretty awesome considering the amount of use it will get.
That's a wrap for this week's edition of What I Love Wednesday! If you own any of these items, or something similar, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with them. If you're going to be a new parent (or are a parent already), are any of these on your wish list?