Maggie's Birthday Wish List

 In just about a month, Maggie is turning two! Thanks to her older sister, she pretty much has all the toys a two-year-old could ask for, but any of the following would be welcome additions to the playroom:

Peppa & Friends Figurines. We found a KidKraft doll house at Goodwill last year. It was in perfect condition and included all the furniture, but the little people were missing. We rectified the situation with some Peppa's family figurines. Maggie absolutely loves playing with it and I'd know she'd appreciate the addition of Peppa's friends. 

Edushape Ball Drop Set. The girls love playing with toys like this whenever they get the opportunity. I like that it's a toddler-friendly version of the marble run I loved as a kid.

Plan Toys Concertina. We have a big basket of musical instruments - drum, xylophone, trumpet, recorder, various shakers - that we pull out frequently for jam sessions. A concertina would be a perfect addition to the collection.

Hape Alphabet Puzzle. Maggie's finally at that age when she can do puzzles without frustration. Thanks to Claire's help, she's starting to recognize letters and is obsessed with the ABC song.

Petit Collage Beginner Puzzles. We really love these for once kids have moved passed the basic wooden puzzle stage. We have forest babies, safari babies, and ocean babies, but we'd love to add pets or farm babies to the stash.

Of course, books are always appreciated around here. We have checked out The Princess and the Pig and Henry Finds His Word from the library multiple times. They're both cute, clever stories. We haven't read The Baby's Catalogue because the library doesn't have a copy, but Maggie loves Each Peach Pear Plum by the same authors. Their illustrations are so charming.

We are getting Maggie an Anna dress (from Costco and also conveniently her Halloween costume) as well as two KidO airplanes to round out our vehicle collection. Claire knows about the dress and is so, so excited for Maggie to open her present!

Claire's Birthday Wish List

Claire's third birthday is a month from today! We've got a Frozen party in the works and everything. Just in case you're interested in what an almost three-year-old would like for her birthday, here's a few ideas:



Her big gift from us is an outing to the ballet with just mom and dad. We'll probably get some ballet shoes for her to unwrap with the tickets. Other than that, we used some Amazon credit to purchase a couple interactive books she's loved from the library - Tap the Magic Tree and Mix It Up. We also picked up some lacing beads and cards from the Target dollar spot.

She's been requesting a "little piano" lately and pretending every surface of our home is a piano, so I think she'd get a big kick out of this one. But then we saw it in store at the Land of Nod last weekend and she didn't pay it that much attention. Maybe just because there was so much to explore?

While we were there, we saw an adorable set of suitcases, another item she's been requesting. She loves to pretend that she's going on airplane and train trips. Packing an assortment of random toys is always involved. And, of course, Maggie is her travel buddy, so I know they'd appreciate having enough suitcases to go around.

I think she'd really enjoy a basic train set, like this one from Ikea, and I've heard many good thing about Magformers building sets.

We're planning to turn her crib into a toddler bed soon. She's only napping a couple days a week now (other days she just happily plays in her crib for ninety minutes) so I see the transition to quiet time happening soon. Things like simple twenty-four piece puzzles or magnetic dress-up dolls would be perfect for keeping her busy.

Besides a piano and a suitcase, she's also been requesting a kite. I'm not really sure where that came from? While we're on the subject of outdoor toys, I'm sure a basketball or soccer goal would see lots of action.

Honorable mentions leftover from their Christmas wish list: a toaster or stand mixer for their play kitchen, a ball drop set, and dot markers or other basic art supplies, like kid's scissors.

And, of course, you can't go wrong with books in this family. Wouldn't it be fun to start a collection of Caldecott winners?

Claire and Maggie's Christmas Wish Lists

Just in case you're curious what a 2.5 year old little girl and a 13 month old baby girl (who already has most toys a baby could ask for, thanks to her big sister) would love for Christmas:

Our big gift for the girls this Christmas is a play kitchen. We are making one out of an old entertainment center. We got started last weekend and I'm just so excited to show them the finished project! To go along with the kitchen, I'm sure Claire would love any one of these KidKraft items - a toaster, mixer, or doll high chair.

Like most little girls, she's currently obsessed with Frozen. She keeps asking for a Frozen book. I am not a fan of book adaptions from movies or tv shows, but I know she would be so excited. This one is a new story about Elsa and Anna, which I wouldn't mind as much. If I could choose, I would go with an interactive book like Tap the Magic Tree or Mix It Up. She also loves dressing up. We found her a Snow White dress at Goodwill but it's a little small. I'm sure she'd be ecstatic over a princess dress from the movie. Dress-up accessories of all kinds (hats, shoes, necklaces, scarves, headbands, etc) are always welcome.

Our collection of puzzles has gotten too easy for her, so I'm sure she'd appreciate a little challenge. I love how this Bear Family puzzle is kind of a cross with paper dolls. This beginner set comes with four puzzles that grow progressively trickier.

Claire loves doing art. It's not my strong suit, but I'm trying to give her more time to create. I think these dot markers or these first paintbrushes and spill-proof cups would be a big hit.



We have a green Kid-O Go Car that the girls are constantly fighting over. Maggie would definitely appreciate one of her own and why not go with pink? It would be lovely to add a plane and a boat to our vehicle collection as well.

Maggie loves when we sing Wheels on the Bus or Five Little Monkeys, so I know she'd appreciate them in book form. We discovered Farmyard Beat at the library. It's so catchy and colorful we'd love to have a copy of our own.

Our music class teacher has this Lamaze Octotunes toy and Maggie is just obsessed. Each of the eight tentacles play a different music note when you squeeze it. This isn't strictly for Maggie, but I've heard many, many good things about this Rollipop ball drop set and I have a feeling it would see lots of action at our house.

Baby Gear: Two Years In

For Maggie:

- Our biggest purchase necessitated by Maggie's arrival was a double stroller. A bunch of my mom's super wonderful and generous friends in China chipped into cover most of the cost. We went with the Baby Jogger City Select, because we have the City Micro single stroller as well. We just love both of them. They're so well-designed and intuitive. The City Select can also be a single stroller, but if I could go back in time, I don't think I'd purchase it from the beginning. You just can't beat the City Micro's compact size. Perfect for traveling and our small trunk! Now, the City Micro pretty much lives in our trunk for running errands and we use the City Select for walking around the neighborhood and to the park. We really probably could get by with no double stroller at all (just the single and the baby carrier) but it's certainly nice to have.

- We got by just fine with a dozen cloth diapers when we only had Claire. We kept Maggie in disposables for the first few months, but now that we have them both in cloth and will continue to do so until Claire's potty trained (hopefully around 2.5) we invested in six more Bum Genius 4.0 cloth diapers with snaps. Eighteen seems to be the perfect number for our every other day washing schedule.

- With Claire, I used a hospital grade pump for the first couple months, then a manual pump, then a bottom of the line of the electric pump. This time around, our health insurance covered the cost of a Medela Pump In Style. Starting when Maggie was a month old, I pump every night before going to bed (during our sitcom + dessert routine). It's important to us that our kids take bottles (date nights!!) so Adam feeds her a bottle once a day or once every other day. 

- I'm short. Like really, really short. I found a nursing stool made sitting on the couch feeding a baby for hours and hours so much more comfortable. This is definitely not a requirement, but if your feet don't touch the floor when you're sitting down, it can be super handy during the first few months! It looks like Medela doesn't make theirs anymore, but this one seems pretty similar to mine.

 

- Maggie was not a big fan of the swing. We really enjoy eating meals with both hands and one of Adam's uncles sent us a Target gift card, so we purchased this basic Fisher Price bouncy seat. It's so much more portable than a swing. We'd use it next to the table during meals, then carry it into the bathroom while Claire was in the tub, etc.

 

- As we were leaving the hospital with Maggie, the nurse gave us a Halo Sleepsack swaddle blanket. Claire did not like to be swaddled (I think from those first weeks sprawled out in an isolete in the NICU) so we didn't get a lot of practice wrapping swaddling blankets. The velcro on the Halo sleep sacks make it so easy and you don't have to worry about hip displaysia, which can potentially be an issue with regular blankets. Halo's marketing strategy worked and we ended up buying a few more!

 

-When Maggie grew out of the bouncy seat but we were still looking for somewhere to sit her down for a few minutes, we bought an Evenflo Triple Fun exersaucer on Craig's List. It's an older version of the one I linked to. It takes up a lot of space, but it sure is nice to have your hands free!

- Finally, we bought another Ikea Gulliver crib and Simmons Kids Slumber Time Naturally crib mattress for the nursery. We didn't want to move Claire out of the crib if she's still happy in it. We're planning to turn them into toddler beds when the time is right.

 Claire, Eating:

- Claire doesn't use the tray on her high chair anymore (we use it as a booster seat now, though, so we bought another for Maggie.) The plastic plates, bowls, and cups from Ikea are great. She still mainly drinks from sippy cups, but we let her drink water or smoothies (only at the table!) from those regular plastic ones.

- I couldn't resist using some of Claire's birthday money (from last year) to purchase a custom Sarah and Abraham plate and bowl set. I know it's completely unnecessary, but it's just sooooo cute and has held up really well so far. We have this Sarah and Abraham place mat as well.

- We also have two sectioned plates from Target (similar to this) for when Claire's eating things with dipping sauces, like pancakes and syrup or hotdogs and ketchup. They help keep the mess contained at least a little!

Claire, Toys:

- When Claire visited Maggie in the hospital for the first time, we gave her a Corolle doll and accessories set. She instantly fell in love and it's been her favorite toy ever since. Well, this doll ("dolly") is her comfort item, but "baby" (we're real creative with names over here) see far more play time.

- After her dolls, Claire probably spends the most amount of time playing with blocks. For Christmas, she got some foam blocks and alphabet blocks that were both a big hit. We gave her some Mega Blocks for her second birthday, which seemed to be just the right age for her to figure out.

- Around eighteen months, Claire finally got interested in puzzles. Her favorite is this personalized name puzzle (we have one for both Claire and Maggie). We also have a couple Melissa & Doug sound puzzles and their latches board.

 

- Right around her second birthday, Claire started getting into to pretend play. We gave her some basic dress-up clothes (feather boa, tutu, hat, wand, fancy slippers, etc) and a tool set for her birthday. I also got out the Fisher Price doctor kit that my parents saved from when I was a little kid (so the old school version of this). She's really into setting up tea parties with her play food and dishes right now too.

Claire, Books & Other Media

- When Claire was around eighteen months old, we started phasing out board books and moving onto beginning picture books. Some of her early favorites were Mercer Mayer's Little Critter series, Mo Willem's Pigeon series, and Lucy Cousin's Maisy series.

- As her attention span lengthened, she grew to love the Madeline books. We also have the DVD of the original Madeline series. There's one episode for each of the books and they mostly follow the stories very closely.

 - My parents passed down lots of great Robert Munsch books. I have fond memories of listening to his storytelling tapes on family car trips, so we bought his albums on iTunes. They're the perfect introduction to audio books. When Claire is sitting at the table by herself for a meal, we usually turn these on for her to listen to.

P.S. We just purchased two of these travel high chairs for our upcoming summer vacation. I'm interested to see how they'll work out!

Five Favorites: Board Books

1. Where's Spot? From about nine to fifteen months, Claire absolutely loved lift-the-flap books. This is a classic and taught her a bunch of animals sounds to boot.

2. Brown Bear, Brown Bear. This was the first book Claire begged us to read over and over again. She would literally cry when we reached the last page.

3. Goodnight, Gorilla. There's not a lot of text in this one, so you have to ad-lib most of the story, but the illustrations are just great and Claire's always found it hilarious.

4. Anything by Sandra Boynton. It's so hard to choose a favorite - Moo Baa La La La or the Going to Bed Book? Maybe Hippos Go Berserk or Barnyard Dance? You really can't go wrong with Sandra.

5. Magnificat bibles and prayer books. Before bed each night, we read a page from the Gospel or Bible for Little Ones and then say a couple prayers from one of their "my first prayers" books.

Bonus - pretty books! I'm always excited to find the Mini Masters series at the library. Each little story features a different artist's most famous works. In my opinion, the Cozy Classics series is far cuter than the Baby Lit books. I like the idea of distilling the story into twelve simple words more than attempting to apply it to colors or opposites. And the adorable needle felted illustrations certainly don't hurt!

I've spent a lot of time reading board books since Claire arrived and I've come across a few that I'd really rather avoid. Like books for older children that have been reprinted as a board book. Just putting it on cardboard isn't going to magically get a baby to sit through an Arthur story. Leslie Patricelli's Huggy Kissy is definitely in the running for the worst board book on the planet. I can't get with the baby talk. I'm also not a big fan of counting or alphabet books that just list completely random objects without any sort of story or rhyme. I'm looking at you, Olivia. 

Linking up with Hallie for Five Favorites! 

Baby Gear: Eighteen Months In

Eating:

- We weaned Claire from bottles to sippy cups using these tops to our Life Factory bottles. They do leak though, so we only used them when we were sitting with her, like before naps and bed. 

- Once she was weaned, we went back to the Playtex sippy cups we originally used just for water.

- Claire was fascinated by our water bottles, so we got her a Camelbak of her very own.

- She uses these Gerber Graduates forks and spoons to feed herself.

- This Munchkin snack catcher is super handy and gets used pretty much daily.

Summer:

- We have two Charlie Banana reusable swim diapers, which worked out perfectly.

- She's still a little small for it, but this Puddle Jumper life jacket gave Claire some much appreciated freedom in the pool.

- When we were heading outside for a good chunk of time, we lathered up with BabyGanics sunscreen, but if it was a quicker trip we used this California Baby sunscreen stick.

Travel:

 

- We found these disposable bibs and place mats really handy on our summer trips. Now, we can some in the trunk for when we're going out to eat.

- I usually pack a travel-size bottle of dish soap to wash Claire's sippy cups, but for trips we also found it convenient to bring along some disposable cutlery. We try to reuse it when we can though.

Toys:

 

- Claire really enjoys this Plan Toys drum she got as a birthday gift. We also have a xylophone and some various shakers to round out her musical instrument collection.

- Another well used birthday gift has been her Little People Noah's Ark. It always bugged me that Noah's wife wasn't included, until I found her at Goodwill the other day! Her Little People nativity set sees a lot of action as well.

- I really like this Tupperware shape sorter because Claire can't get it open by herself. We originally had the Ikea version, but you could just lift the lid right off. She figured that out pretty much instantaneously and then gave up trying to fit the shapes in their correct spots.

- In terms of play food, we have the Melissa & Doug food groups set and the felt produce from Ikea. We also have this little Ikea cookware set and some dishes I played with as a kid. I'm thinking a toy kitchen will be Claire's big second birthday gift!

- In the past month or so, Claire's started to get into coloring. We have the Crayola "My First" crayons, markers, and watercolors.

Books:

- Right around a year old, Claire became fascinated with lift-the-flap books. "Dear Zoo" and "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" have been some of her favorites.

- She's also developed the patience from a few books that previously bored her, like "Goodnight Moon" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Looking Ahead:



- We're getting Claire a real doll as a big sister gift when Maggie arrives. If I have time, I'd really like to make her a doll carrier to go with it.

- We haven't had to purchase much at all for Maggie's arrival. We're still waiting until she arrives and seeing how long we can get by without it, but I'm sure a double stroller is in our future. Whenever I see someone with the Baby Jogger City Select, I've been asking them how they like it! 

- We plan to keep Maggie in disposables for the first few months, but after that I think we'll invest in some more cloth diapers. We only have twelve right now, so I'm thinking we'll get at least six more and maybe even a dozen.

Dressing Little Girls Under Two

Shopping for little girls is so much fun! This week I've been busy switching out clothes for the fall and washing the newborn stuff. Inspired by my friend, Natasha, I thought I'd share some of my ground rules for dressing Claire and Maggie. 

Outfits. 

I like to have about twelve outfits for each size/season. Two for each day of the week besides Sunday, plus an extra to keep in the diaper bag for carsickness incidents.

For newborns...

I like really little babies to be comfy, so for the first couple weeks or months I feel like they should wear mostly sleepers, day and night. With just a few outfits and dresses for church thrown in. If I lived in a warmer climate and had newborns in the summer months, they'd probably mostly wear onesies and comfy rompers instead. 

In the summer...

 Spring and summer in Seattle are pretty variable temperature wise. It's often pretty cool in the morning {when we're out and about the most} but then really warm in the late afternoon when we're outside again after naps. Plus, we need real summer clothes for visiting family and friends that live outside the Pacific Northwest. So, I like to do four long-sleeve shirt/pant outfits, four short-sleeve/carpi outfits, and four play dresses or rompers. Claire did have a pair of shorts this summer, but I feel like they're awkward with diapers, especially cloth ones. 

In the winter...

Fall and winter are pretty simple. I like to have about ten long-sleeve shirt/pant outfits and then a couple play dresses. That way, on a nice fall or spring day, Claire can wear leggings with a dress in the morning and then strip them off in the afternoon when it's a bit warmer out. 

Sets and Separates. 

{carter's}

This will change when she's outgrown clothing that's sized by months, but usually half of Claire's outfits are matching sets. Cute and so, so easy. 

Shirts...


{old navy}

The other half are separate shirts worn with jeans or jeggings. For babies under one, especially in the winter, I don't like their shirts riding up and their bellies being exposed. So onesies are awesome and even better are shirts that are actually onesies in disguise!

Jeans...


{carter's}

Jeggings are the best. I feel like they look weird with onesies though. That's where real jeans come in. Especially for babies under one, I like jeans with comfy elastic waistbands. They stay up better and I don't like seeing the indentation real buttons make on their little bellies. I look for plain, gender-neutral pairs that could be handed down to potential little brothers in the future. 

Dresses. 

For play...

{carter's}

Crawling babies don't wear play dresses. It just leads to a lot of frustration. But I love simple, comfy cotton ones for walkers and non-mobile little ones. I really like the ones with onesies built in, but I've only ever found short-sleeve versions.

For church...


{carter's}

 Everyone in our family dresses up for church, even newborns. Crawling babies wear dresses just for church and get to change right afterwards. It can be hard to find nice dresses that aren't sleeveless, but everybody in our family has to have their shoulders covered during Mass. We either layer a onesie underneath or add a cardigan on top. Especially after the newborn phase, I like to have about four nice dresses per size/season, with maybe an extra special one for Christmas or Easter thrown in.

Pajamas. 

In the summer...


{gap}

For older babies and  toddlers, I like to have three of the three-piece sets that come with shorts, pants, and a top. 

In the winter..


{carter's}

 I like to have six sleepers. Nightgowns are really handy for newborns with their many middle of the night diaper changes. Claire didn't like to be swaddled, but she did use a wearable blanket for the first couple months which kept her legs nice and cozy. When she got older and started protesting the blanket, we layered a onesie under her sleepers for extra warmth.

Outerwear.

In the summer...


{old navy}

I like to have a windbreaker with a hood and a light-weight sweater to wear over dresses.

In the winter...


{carter's}

I like to have two coats - a nice one for church/special occasions and a waterproof one with a hood for everyday. It doesn't get too cold here, so a big, puffy jacket isn't really necessary.  We got one of those little fleece suits for Maggie this year. I'm curious how much we'll actually use it.

Shoes. 

For non-walkers...

 
{target}

Especially in the cooler months, once babies have graduated from wearing sleepers all the time, I like them to wear shoes. Mostly because socks just don't stay on. Unfortunately that can be the problem with a lot of crib shoes too. I can usually find a pair of dress shoes with velcro instead of useless elastic, but sneakers with velcro are harder to find. The Robeez style shoes {there's lots of different brands out there} work really well though.

In the summer...


{amazon}

I like to have a pair of sneakers, a pair of white dress shoes, and a pair of sandals. This year, we got the sneakers and dress shoes at Stride Rite. They can be pretty pricey, but there's sales and coupons to be found. The quality just can't be beat. I also ordered a pair of white Saltwater sandals from Amazon {the reviews recommended a size smaller and that worked for us}. Not only are they so cute and classic, they fit great and held up really well.

In the winter...


{zappos}

 Last week, we made another trip to Stride Rite to pick out a pair of sneakers and black dress shoes. Claire has wide feet and high arches, so some of my favorite styles {like Keds, Converse, or Tom's} don't work for her. Instead, we got a more durable pair of dress shoes so she can wear them with some of her dressier outfits. Sneakers just don't work with everything, you know? I also ordered a pair of rain boots from Zappos {again the reviews recommended a size smaller and I'm glad I listened}. Since these have handles, she can actually get them on and off herself.

Accessories. 

In the summer...


{gap}

I like to have two bathing suits, a one-piece and a two-piece rashguard set. Two reusable swim diapers worked perfectly. It's also handy to have a cover-up, even if it's just a sundress dedicated to the task. I like to be prepared with a sun hat and sunglasses, even though Claire rarely uses them. The only sun hats she'll consider keeping on are the ones that tie under her chin.

In the winter...


{gap}

I like to have a hat {that also ties under her chin}, a pair of mittens, and one or two pairs of plain tights. It's really hard to find tights for little babies! My best bet has been choosing dresses that come with a pair. Six or eight pairs of socks has always been more than enough. Plain white is simple and easy, although I also like to have one cute lacy pair to wear with dress shoes when it's too cold to go barefoot but not quite cold enough for tights.

Favorite Brands.

Most of Claire's clothes are from Carter's, either at Costco or online. After that, it's a mix of Gap and Old Navy, with a few things from the Children's Place and Gymboree. I do most of my shopping online, but Claire's music class is in our little outdoor mall, so I often check the clearance rack at Baby Gap while we're over there. And I sometimes pop into Janie & Jack when they're having a major sale.

 I'm not the best at saving money on kid's clothes. It's definitely something I could work on. We're really lucky to have grandmas with impeccable taste who also really like shopping for baby girls. I try to stick to the clearance rack and almost always use a coupon code. I haven't really done much shopping for future sizes yet. Claire wore size 0-3 months for more like six months, then zoomed through 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months in another six month span. She did wear 12-18 months for that exact time frame and just moved into 18-24 months, so I think her sizing is pretty predictable now.

The two consignment stores in our town have like the exact same prices as the clearance rack, so there's not much incentive to shop there. I have found pretty great stuff at thrift stores {usually one or two outfits per size/season} but browsing the clothing section with a toddler can be challenging to say the least, so we mostly stick to the toys, books, housewares, and furniture sections at Goodwill.

I feel like if I wanted to do more thrifting for both the girls' and my wardrobes, I'd have to go at night or during weekend nap times. That's fun sometimes and I know great deals are out there, but honestly I'd rather just hang out with my husband at home!

Questions For You!

Remember how I answered some faqs about our new addition? Well, I actually have some questions for all you moms of more than one out there!
 

 

Have you cloth diapered two kids at once? How many diapers do you have? We just have twelve right now, because we're cheap and also only like to store the essentials while apartment-dwelling. I usually wash them three times a week. I'm debating whether we want to invest in more diapers though. I like keeping babies in disposables for the first few months and I hope to potty train Claire when she's around two and a half {shortly before the new babe's first birthday.} So both kids would probably be in cloth diapers together for about six months. Is it worth it? Or should I just keep Claire in the cloth diapers and her sibling in disposables until Claire's potty-trained?

 

 

Do you have a double stroller? Do you think it's worth it? What kind do you have and would you recommend it? I want to hold off buying a double stroller until the new babe arrives. It seems like we can probably get by with a combination of the single stroller and the baby carrier {we have the Ergo and Bjorn} for a while. I think we'll want a double stroller eventually because our neighborhood is so walkable {we walk pretty much daily to the grocery store, post office, library, or just along the trail near the river.} But, it might be nice if we could get by without investing in one and don't have to figure out where to store it in the apartment. I've heard lots of good things about the Baby Jogger City Select {we have the Baby Jogger City Micro right now and really like it} but the price tag is pretty scary! Maybe we'll get lucky on Craig's List?

Baby Gear: Twelve Months In

Now that Claire's almost a year old {ahh!} I thought I'd share some baby gear we've acquired in the last six months.

Major Purchases:

 

Since her birth, we've used a Graco infant car seat and the coordinating stroller. I don't have any big complaints about the stroller, but I don't have anything really great to say about either. It's just okay. When I saw the Baby Jogger City Micro on clearance for $99 at Target, I couldn't resist and after checking with Adam, into the cart it went. The City Micro was discontinued in 2010 and is basically a slightly more pared-down version of the City Mini, which is usually priced at over $200. We are loving it so far! It takes curbs so much easier with the three wheel set-up, it has a huge canopy, and the "quick fold technology" is awesome. It collapses so much smaller than the Graco stroller, which is perfect for small apartment/small car living!



We were really happy with the Baby Bjorn for a long time. It's literally half the price, Claire loved being able to face forward, and it's really easy to put on by yourself. Since we didn't know exactly how baby-wearing would fit into our day-to-day life, I'm glad we went with that option first. But as Claire got closer to the twenty-pound mark, it started hurting my back more and more. We still use  the carrier several times a week and I definitely see us continuing that for the next few months, so we decided it was worth to upgrade to the Ergo. It is so, so, so much more comfortable! My only complaint is that it's a little harder to put on by myself. I'm almost always wearing a raincoat with it and the hood gets in the way, I think? Maybe I'm just not used to it yet?

We decided it was finally time to switch Claire to a convertible car seat, so we just ordered the Diono Radian R120. We chose that one because it's the narrowest car seat around {you can actually fit three in the back seat of a sedan!} and while we certainly hope to have a bigger car before we have three kids, it's always nice to have extra room, right?

Other Stuff We Like:



- Rocking Green Detergent. Seattle has really soft water, which led to the cloth diapers eventually getting detergent build-up and giving Claire a rash. Based on a friend's recommendation, I used Funk Rock to strip them and now I use Soft Rock to wash the diapers.

- Playtex Lil' Gripper Straw Trainer Cup. Claire just didn't understand what sippy cups were for until we switched to one with a straw. This one is pretty neat because you can squeeze the middle of the cup and water will come out of the straw, so it teaches them how it's supposed to work.

- Crane Cool Mist Humidifier. The nursery gets really dry in the winter and a humidifier seems to really help. And it doesn't hurt that they're all so cute!

- Nosefrida Nasal Aspirator. This thing works so much better than the bulbs they give you at the hospital. There's a charcoal filter to keep everything hygienic, don't worry. Claire really hated it at first, but now she really doesn't mind. I think she understands that it makes her feel better?

- JJ Cole Bundleme. It's a blanket that attaches to your stroller or car seat, so you don't have to put them in a snow suit or bundle them up in a blanket that keeps coming unwrapped. Claire loves, loves, loves it. As soon as she gets in the stroller, she grabs a fistful of the blanket and starts sucking her thumb. She's almost outgrown the infant size, but it won't warm up here for quite a while, so I think we'll upgrade to the toddler one.

Toys and Books:

- We're big Sandra Boynton fans, but Claire also really loves "Where's Spot?" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."

- Rosy Cheeks Baby Doll and Fisher-Price Walk Along Stroller. These are hands-down Claire's favorite toys. She just started taking a few steps while pushing the stroller!

- Baby Einstein Ocean Orchestra. Claire just gets a huge kick of this musical turtle. She likes to turn the music on over and over while emptying every board book out of their box or something similarly messy.

- Playskool Poppin' Pals. I found this while browsing at Goodwill one day {they had at least three of the exact same toy}, cleaned it up, and let Claire go to town. She hasn't figured out how to open them all yet, but loves closing them as I open them.

- She also really enjoys her Kid O Go Car {perfect for little hands!} and these Edushape Sensory Balls, which are a lot like some we play with at music class.

P.S. These aren't affiliate links or anything, just sharing the wealth!

Baby Gear: Six Months In

Now that Claire is six months old already {still can't get over it!} I thought I'd share some of the baby items we've purchased and loved since her birth. 

Diapering

We started using our cloth diapers when we moved to Seattle back in July. They are working out great so far! I don't foresee us purchasing more than our original set of twelve unless we have another little one while Claire is still in diapers. I won't go into detail about how we wash them because there's already so much information online {here's a really great post about the exact same diapers we use} but I will say that we just have to wash them every other day. Easy peasy. We do have several accessories that go along with cloth diapering: 

- Planet Wise hanging wet bag. A sweet gift from our lovely friends, Tim and Abigail. We store all the dirty diapers in here until it's laundry time. It does at great job of keeping the stench at bay and we can just toss it in the wash along with the diapers. 

- GroVia cloth wipes. We have thirty-six of these and that's more than enough. We keep a spray bottle filled with water on Claire's dresser and just mist the wipes before using them. They get tossed in the wet bag too and then into the same load as everything else.  I get a weird sense of satisfaction from not needing any sort of diaper pail or trash can in the nursery! 

- Bum Genius diaper sprayer. This attaches to our toilet and is used to spray down particularly messy diapers before they're stored in the wet bag between washes. It becomes more and more of a necessity as babies start solid food and other things also become more...solid. 

Feeding 

- Life Factory glass bottles. Ever since we had to start supplementing with formula, Claire usually nurses three times and has three to four bottles a day. When she outgrew the smaller four-ounce bottles, we invested in two more nine-ounce ones. So, now we have two of the small size and four of the large size. When we introduce a sippy cup of water in a few months, we'll bring out the small bottles again with the coordinating sippy cup tops.

-The First Years single electric pump. I had a manual pump, also by The First Years, that I used for most of the summer. With all of our traveling, I did a lot of pumping and it eventually bit the dust. Besides the forearm workout, it was actually really nice to have a manual pump on our trips because I could easily use it on the go. I'm weird about nursing in public and Claire was a very slow eater back then, so it was easier to give her a bottle while we were out and about. Now, I use the electric pump every night while we're watching tv after Claire's gone to bed. I was a little worried about our decision not to shell out the big bucks for a Medela pump, but it's only used once a day and I've had no problems so far {almost two months in}.

- Munchkin formula dispenser. Just a few bucks at Target and so nice for when you're out of the house all day.

- Baby Bullet. This was a surprise gift from my parents. Being the expert coupon-clippers they are, they got it for a steal at Macy's. Since we don't have a food processor, it's been really handy for whipping up Claire's purees.

- Fisher Price healthy care booster seat. A very sweet gift from our awesome friends, Brett and Natasha. Since it's used with a regular chair, it's a great space-saver for apartment living. After my experience as a nanny, I knew I wanted a booster seat with absolutely no fabric so it would be really easy to wipe down. Even the fabric that is supposed to be stain-repellant always gets gross when confronted with baby food. The price also can't be beat!

- Baby Bjorn bibs. Well, they can be put in the dishwasher. And they're pretty darn cute!

- Gerber soft bite infant spoons. Since we just started purees, they're the only baby dishes or utensils we've needed so far.

Nursery



- Ikea Gulliver Crib. I like the simple lines and I love the price tag. But, we didn't really enjoy how two of the pieces were broken and Adam had to drive all the way back to Ikea to replace them.

- Simmons Kids Slumber Time Naturally crib mattress. We were planning to get a mattress at Ikea when we picked up the crib, but all the mattresses there seemed weirdly soft. This was the firmest one we found in store at Target.

- American Baby Company quilted waterproof mattress pads. We have three of these, along with three crib sheets, and that seems to be the perfect number for us. We got them on sale and were surprised to find that they really are just pads rather than normal mattress covers that go around the mattress like fitted sheets do. Getting them to stay in place while changing the sheets is a little annoying, but not really a big deal.

- Angelcare movement and sound monitor. Did you know that when someone returns an online purchase to a store, Target automatically marks it down to fifty percent off? We were planning to buy a more basic monitor, but when we saw this one for about the same price, of course we couldn't pass it up. When we were really worried about Claire in the beginning, the motion sensor gave us so much peace of mind.

- Munchkin changing pad. We just have one cover for this, a Goodwill find, but in the first couple of weeks when diaper changes tended to get a little out of control, a back-up would have been really nice.


Toys and Books

 - Evenflo doorway jumper. Claire is pretty petite, so she's just now big enough for this. But she {usually} loves it! Today she had such a fit of the giggles while sitting in there. Honestly, I love having something to contain her when I need to get a few things done. And I love that it's so much more compact than an exersaucer.

- Haba baby's first blocks and Green Sprouts stacking cups. We don't have a Bumbo chair, so we sometimes sit Claire in her high chair to play. She loves pushing the blocks around on the tray, unstacking the cups, and throwing everything around for her mom to pick up. It's endless fun. 

- Sassy go go bugs. These were the first toys Claire was really interested in. She was happy to stare and smile at them in her car seat forever, it seemed like.

- Bright Starts lots of links. Claire is a huge fan of these, especially when she's in a teething mood. 

- Melissa & Doug linking crab and Gund rainbow caterpillar. Rattles are always a hit. She has these and several others that were received as gifts. She's especially obsessed with a little musical dog; you can see Claire mauling him in this video.

- The Bible For Little Ones and The Catholic Faith For Little Ones. I love all the board books from the Magnificat. We also gave Claire the "My First Pictures of Easter" one {for Easter, obviously} and the "My First Bedtime Prayers" one as a baptism present. The illustrations are so sweet! 

Random Stuff 

- Babies R Us stroller rain cover. Well, it's pretty rainy here in Seattle and we live within walking distance of our regular haunts {the grocery store, the library, etc} so this definitely comes in handy. 

- Bricca UV Alert sun shades. With all that rain, we don't have to worry too much about sun exposure here, but these are still nice to have for longer car trips. Although, I'm pretty sure we forgot to bring them on our trip to Vancouver, so clearly they don't get a lot of use. 

- J.L. Childress stroller and car seat travel bags. We flew to Texas and Florida when Claire was really small, so we checked everything else and just kept her in the baby carrier. Our car seat and stroller {just the regular Graco stuff} have made it through four flights unscathed. We've just used the regular pack-n-play storage bag so far, but how cute {and smart!} are these travel bags?

- Booginhead pacifier holder. After lunging to retrieve Claire's pacifier off the dirty floor at church for the thousandth time, we finally got some pacifier holders. Then, she promptly decided she doesn't need pacifiers anymore, of course. 

- Skip Hop outdoor blanket and cooler bag. This bag zips out to a wipeable outdoor blanket and has an insulated pouch. It's perfect for picnics when the sun is shining! We also use it every week for play group; I just use the insulated pouch to bring along some toys.

P.S. I also chatted way too much about baby gear right after Claire made her big debut! 

Baby Gear: Clothes and Blankets

We're so thankful for all the baby clothes and blankets we've received from generous family and friends.  We really haven't had to purchase much ourselves yet, just a few clearance holiday outfits for next year and some special occasion things {like her Easter dress and Pitt gear for Adam's graduation}. But here are a few of our favorite things thus far:

- Nightgowns. They make those 3 a.m. diaper changes that much quicker. We don't worry about her little feet getting cold thanks to the next item on our list. 

- Wearable blankets. Claire absolutely hates being swaddled. She will wriggle and wriggle until her arms are free. We don't mind too much, though, because the latest SIDS research says not to swaddle your baby while they're sleeping. These wearable blankets {from Dwell Studio for Target} keep her cozy instead. 

- Sticky hair bows. You could definitely make them yourself, if you're a bow-tying expert, but Claire's collection is from Etsy. We use KY jelly to make them stick. 

Baby Gear: Random Stuff

Parenting Books:

- BabyCenter pregnancy and first year books.  So helpful for looking up all our questions!

- The classics, the Happiest Baby on the Block and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. 

Accessories for Big Ticket Items:

- Baby elephant ears. A handy little pillow we use to support Claire's head in her swing. 

- Bricca jumbo car seat mirror, so we can see what Claire's doing in the backseat while we're driving.

- Three Graco pack-n-play sheets. Claire inevitably spits up in her sleep at night, so three sheets is the perfect number to get us from one load of laundry to the next.

Baby Gear: Toys and Books

 Toys for when Claire is tiny:

- Skip Hop treetop friends activity gym. When I bought my diaper bag on Black Friday, I also found this activity gym marked down from $75 to $15.

- Melissa & Doug wiggling worm and rainbow fish grasping toys. We like Melissa & Doug toys because they're wooden and we prefer to avoid plastic when possible. We used two Living Social deals {to YoYo Toys and EcoMom} to buy all our Melissa & Doug toys.

- Ice cream cone rattles from Ten Thousand Villages and, of course, Sophie the Giraffe. 

 Toys for when Claire's a little bigger:

- Melissa & Doug jumbo knob puzzles, rainbow stacker, and bead maze. 

- Plan Toys dancing alligator.

- A cute knitted animal {we can't decide if it's a cow, moose or donkey} from Anthropologie that we couldn't pass up because its the nursery colors. 

 

With the exception of some Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle board books we received as gifts, we've amassed quite the collection of children's books from Goodwill. When I pop in there about every other week or so, I always find a couple books we enjoyed reading as kids for under fifty cents a piece!