Baby Gear

On my other blog there is a post about baby gear (you can see it here). After I did that one, I thought of some other items that I love having for Sophie, so I decided to add those here. Below is my list of must-haves:

• Two lingerie bags for laundry, one for the socks because baby socks are tiny and easy to lose; and one for bibs that have Velcro this way they don't snag on her other clothes.


• I have separate bibs I use for food instead of bottles. One of my classes had each child decorate a plain bib with fabric paint (they squirted a few different colors, then had the kids fold the bib in half to create the design). I have about 15 of these and because they are bright colors (orange, green, yellow, purple) and abstract designs, I don't mind that they get messy from the peas, carrots and blueberry. See picture below, can't even tell that there are sweet potatoes on it.

• I use a round 2-tiered bottle dryer rack thing. I like it because it is small enough to fit inside one of the sinks. I am pretty particular about the clutter on my counters, so having the bottle dryer out all the time was driving me crazy. I have enough bottles to wash them once a day (usually in the evening). Then I leave them in the sink on the rack to dry. After I take them off the rack (either before bed or in the morning), the rack goes in the cabinet under the sink.



• I buy plastic baskets at the dollar store all the time. I use them everywhere, it's my own personal clutter-buster. Sophie's closet has a bunch that I keep clothes in by type and size. I use one to keep the bath stuff in that way we can carry to the kitchen if we bathe her over the sink. I also keep her bottles in one in the cabinet, with a separate one for feeding bowls and spoons.


• Books, books, and more books. I am a book freak. I have 4 5-shelf bookcases in our home office that are mostly full. I've only recently started purging books (mainly paperbacks). In addition to those, Sophie's room has probably 150-200 (complete guess on part). And for the record, there are 26 boxes put away for MIC and each of those has at least 2 books, some more. I also have a book journal that I found. It has places to write the books you read to your child with title, author, date read, by whom, and any comments. i took this with me to the hospital so I could record the very first story we ever read.
  
• Another item I buy up when I find them cheap are step stools, the little kid kind. Being only 5 foot and a quarter of an inch, it can be hard to reach certain places. Every closet has a step stool so I can reach the top hanging rod as well as the shelf. Keeping the step stool in the closet ensures that I actually utilize those top areas. In Sophie's closet, I keep all the extra diapers, wipes, and such on the top shelf. I also use the top rod for the next size of clothes, but I can easily reach them to try them on to see if we can fit them. And let's face it, Sophie's probably going to be short (her Daddy's only 5 foot 7), so we might as well have plenty of step stools for her too.


• And last, but not least...Sophie has several of those baby photo books. The kind made of vinyl and cloth that babies can chew on. I love photos and scrapbooks, so of course she had to have her own baby-friendly versions.