what we don’t have

in the near future, i want to put together a post of all of our newborn must-haves — in part so that i can remember for the next time around [hopefully!]. however, i thought it would be sort of interesting to share what we’ve done WITHOUT so far.

since we live in a 2-bedroom apartment with little storage [and given that i’m NOT a fan of clutter or excess stuff lying around . . .], i really did try not to buy anything that wouldn’t be used.

we do have a gazillion extra receiving blankets lying around, but for the most part i’d say our fairly streamlined approach has been successful.

so here’s what we DON’T have . . .

► swing — i definitely have nothing against these, and still wouldn’t rule out getting one.  in fact, if we had more room, i think this would be the #1 item i’d add, because annabel loves it when i rock her rock ‘n’ play, and sometimes it would be nice not to have to do it manually!  however, we’ve been fine without it so far and i’m glad to have kept our floor space that much clearer.  it helps that she is fairly easy to soothe, and it definitely helps that she is an only child — it’s no big deal for me to devote all of my attention to her to calm her down.

► vibrating bouncer – we have a baby bjorn babysitter balance instead, which again requires me to be there to bounce it.  she loves it, and i honestly appreciate that it encourages me to share the fun WITH her.  i get the biggest smiles from her singing to her while bouncing.  so much fun!  again, i might appreciate the mechanical automation if i had another child to chase after!

► boppy lounger – i guess she mostly just lounges on us, or in her rock ‘n’ play bassinet.  i don’t really think i would use a dedicated pillow like this, although this baby does seem to be enjoying it:

► glider — this is another ‘would be nice if we had more room . . .’ item, but honestly i’ve been fine without one!  i generally nurse annabel in bed or on the couch, which has a long portion for stretching out my legs.

► wipe warmer 🙂  i had written about this previously, and was impressed at how polarizing this little device is!  i ended up deciding we’d get one only if annabel really seemed to go crazy with cold wipes — and really, she doesn’t care.  sometimes she she fusses at being changed, but it has more to do with being pinned down and diapered than anything else, especially if she’s hungry.

► baby detergent  — from what i’ve read, a regular fragrance free/hypoallergenic detergent is just as good.  we already use all free and clear because josh is an allergic guy, so i didn’t make a switch.  this was easier, cheaper, and so far annabel’s skin is fine [although of course this is subject to change as things like eczema typically appear later].

► baby monitor — i realize this probably seems crazy, but as i’ve mentioned we live in a loft-like apartment where none of the walls go to the ceiling. i.e., you can hear a pin drop from one end of the apartment to the other.  this is less than ideal for a’s sleep situation [hopefully she will learn to sleep through . . . everything], but it’s great for monitoring.

we don’t have a video monitor because i know i’d just drive myself crazy staring at it, and i know that babies [including myself!] seemed to have survived for eons before they existed.

in other news . . .

✩ i made this awesome cucumber + avocado soup from the time for dinner cookbook.

✩ as planned, i went and got my hair japanese straightened yesterday.  it’s a 4-hour ordeal, but now i’m set for the next 6 months with manageable hair!  my wonderful cousin happens to live right near the hair salon [half an hour from our apartment] and was thrilled to babysit. annabel enjoyed a pumped bottle and several naps. she did fabulously!

✩ we had been struggling with some bedtime battles at 10:30 – 11 pm — a time when i am typically far too tired to cope very well. i did some reading and decided that perhaps we were putting her to bed too late. i ended up seeing ‘tired’ signals from her at around 7:15 pm last night, and put her down.  miraculously, she did incredibly well, essentially sleeping from 7:15p – 11p, then 11:30p – 3a, then 4a – 7:30a. i’m not going to draw any conclusions until a pattern develops, but thus far the advice in healthy sleep habits seems to be spot on for us.