Because I'm a lot like Oprah: My Favorite (Baby) Things

People are always telling me that I'm really good at giving advice and also devastatingly attractive.

Or maybe they're always telling me that my baby is really cute and that's pretty much it.  My point is Mili is almost a year old now and I thought I'd share a list of my favorite things (gear) from baby's first year.  I won't be gifting any of them to any of you though, because even though I'm so much like Oprah, I'm also broke. 

Also, if there's one thing I've learned in the first year of being a young mother, it's that:  1) pretty much all babies are exactly alike, and 2) you should therefore do things exactly the way I did because I've had a baby, and 3) it's now my responsibility to pass on this wisdom to you.  Also, your baby (real or hypothetical) is probably really cold...  especially if the weather is currently in the upper 90s.

Normally you'd have to wait until any and every single time you left your house for the first 300+ days of your child's life to glean these pearls of wisdom from  perfect strangers.  But I'm generous.  And your swollen preggo feet are tired.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy my wisdom from the comfort of your computer screen. 

My Favorite Things / Advice About Stuff You Should Buy:

A Series of Posts  

Because I'm Too Tired to Write This All in One Night.

  

Part One:  Baby Carriers

My Fave:  The Ergo

I have used a Baby Bjorn, Infantino Carrier, a sling (of unknown brand), and a Moby Wrap, and the Ergo is hands down THE BEST BABY CARRIER EVER INVENTED.  You should believe that because I typed it in my shouting font.  

Check out all the chumps using their arms to hold their kids in this picture...  Lame.** 

I just included this picture because I was having a god jeans day. 

Yes, they're pricey, but they're cool (temperature wise), easy to put on and take off, and can support infants 7 - 45 lbs.  The best thing about the Ergo though, is that it distributes baby's weight across the hips using ergodynamics  aerodynamics(?) ergonomics magic so that your back never hurts while carrying baby.  And that's not even a lie.  The Ergo = Winner.


Runner Up:  The Moby Wrap


The Moby is a really great carrier and nothing beats it for keeping your baby extra close and snuggly.  However, extra close and snuggly is not so pleasant during April, May, June, July, August, September and a good part of October if the state you live in often turns a deep orange, or worse, purple/pink.

From: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/heat/images/bchi_day3.gif

The rest of the year though, the Moby really is great.  And an added bonus is the Moby is an excellent tool for making other parents feel slightly incompetent.***  Especially if  they've ever seen the wrap fully, um, unwrapped.  The website (or some website) tells me the wrap is 5.5 meters long.  That's 18 feet (6 yards).  Seriously.  I did the math.  All by myself.   

So it is probably wrong. 

So this concludes Part One of the "Because I'm Like Oprah, Only Broke" series.  Be sure to stop by frequently for more guru-like insights.  

**Just kidding of course.  I'm pretty sure we're friends with some of those "chumps."  

***I found that, as a first time parent, it helps to occasionally feel slightly more competent than some or any other parent.  Particularly if you just hit your kid's head on a ceiling fan by mistake.  Or because you've given up on making your own baby food, at least for now, because you burn food a lot... even peas... even in the microwave.  Just hypotheticals.