The Best Things

Random and unexpected things that worked for us:

A mini-vacuum is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to anyone with kids. We have a Kone (a cute one that sits on the counter) and we use it several times a day. Sometimes I wish I could attach it to the back of Micah so it could trail behind him and clean as he goes.

Nuk pacifiers. They're the only ones Micah would take.

The KidCo. food puree machine. BEST!! Made all of Micah's baby food with it for several months and now I puree veggies to hide in casseroles and cakes.

The Deliciously Deceptive cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. Easy recipes that incorporate pureed veggies into recipes that even fool Terry.

A toybag with ties. This came with our bedding set, so I don't know how easy it would be to find another one. It has 4-5 little compartments. We tied it to the side of the crib and we keep a small push light in one compartment, small toys in the others, and pacifiers in the last one. That way we had easy access to anything we needed during middle of the night checks on Micah. Now he's old enough that he can get his own paci out at bedtime and put it up before we get him out of his crib.

Push lights!! These have been awesome! We bought the ones you see at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They can stick to any surface, use batteries, and with one finger you push them off and on. We stuck one above our changing table so we didn't have to turn on a light and wake Micah up too much for middle of the night diaper changes. And we keep one in the bag tied to his crib so we can easily check on him (and search for pacifiers that have fallen beneath the crib).

This one is expensive, but if you can afford it, it's great. Micah's dresser has a built in changing table and I think it works much better than a stand-alone one. When he outgrows diapers, we'll just take the pad off, add another shelf and it will be a great piece of furniture for his whole childhood. And having his clothes in the drawers below him, and all of his lotions, wipes, etc. nearby is such a help!

A clothes hamper with a removable bag. We got ours from Babies R Us and it works great. The hamper stays in place and I don't need a basket to carry the dirty clothes to the laundry room. Just pull the bag out and go.