These are a few of our favorite things (baby edition)

I recently asked a friend who just moved to the U.S. if there were many differences in raising babies in her home country. She told me that not many things were different except that Americans have a lot more STUFF for our babies.

It is true, isn't it? We have a lot of stuff for our babes. I think it is partly that babies can be so confusing that when they (or we) are having problems, we are constantly looking for THE solution to make them not insane.

When Preston was a little under a month old, and he was miserable and refusing to sleep anywhere but his car seat, I SERIOUSLY considered buying this hundred dollar piece of foam. I thought it would be a miracle...it HAD to be if people paid that much for it...right???

Thankfully, I never pulled the trigger on that one, but there have definitely been some other duds. Like this bumbo seat:

WHY did he look so pathetic in it (and why does my dog look like an alligator)? And by the time he looked normal in it, he could practically sit on my own. Once again, a VERY overpriced hunk of rubber. On the up side, we chose to borrow the hunk of rubber, rather than buy it. Phew!

However, there are a few items that have been worth every penny. Here are our favorites for the tiny tots:

1) Rainforest Bouncer- Provides hours of fascination, and it also has this obnoxious light show attachment (not pictured) that babes seem to LOVE. This is definitely TMI, but whenever P was constipated, I just put on the vibrations, and it did the trick (since babies can't just drink coffee when they need relief :).

2) Boppy- The boppy is supposed to be a nursing pillow. I never really found it helpful for that (a regular pillow was easier), however I loved sitting P in the boppy and having little chats with him. Apparently, Sam found another use for the device...

3) Car Mirror- No picture, but it's pretty self-explanatory. Good to be able to see why he's wailing or if he's sleeping. 

4) Jumperoo- From 3 months, when this dude could barely fill out the seat, he was obsessed with bouncing. Totally obsessed.

5) Ergo Baby Carrier- I know the bjorn is all the rage, but for a ridiculously overpriced glorified backpack, I want something that is not going to kill my back. Perhaps your child is less gargantuan than mine, but by four months my shoulders couldn't handle P in the bjorn.

Now that Preston is a "big" baby, he has moved on from flopping around in bouncers and boppys. Despite the more-than-adequate toy supply grandparents, neighbors, friends and colleagues have bestowed upon him, THIS is his "toy box" of favorite things:

Other faves include remote controls, keys, pens any electronic wire he can get his hot little hands on when mommy isn't looking.

What were your baby must-haves?