Wishful Thinking

It's time for... *drumroll* my Baby Wishlist!

Up until this point, I've been pretty relaxed about this whole "there's going to be another baby around here" business, but that's mostly because we already have a boy, and we're getting another boy. So I guess I figure we already have everything that we need! But lately I've been thinking that maybe there are a few things we could track down that may make our lives a little easier once our new little bundle sets up camp in our home, and not in my uterus.

For starters, this baby's going to need somewhere to sleep.

Oliver spent the first three months of his life sleeping in his car seat.

For realskies.

We tried him in the pack-n-play in our bedroom (since we decided to forgo the whole bassinet scene) and he just wouldn't have it. Wouldn't sleep in his crib, either! Just too much space for him, I guess. He liked things to be snug and cozy, and a bit confined (we also swaddled him until he was almost 9 months old!) We weren't sure it was the best idea, but we asked our doctor about it, and he said it was fine. So that was his bed.

It also helped that after we rocked him IN his car seat for an hour, he was already in his bed when he fell asleep. Win-win. (The only way we could get him to chill out sometimes was to rock him. But only in his car seat. Not in a rocking chair, not in our arms. In his 20 lb. car seat. Ah, fond memories...)

Oliver's sleeping in his crib now, and we're not in a rush to get him out of it either. We attempted the "toddler bed" thing, just to test and see if maybe by some weird tiny little chance he was ready for it. He was super excited about it, laying in it and climbing onto it and off of it. We actually thought it would be an enormous success.

Then the night came, and it was SO not. That kid can really bang on a door. And I mean bang. Like, at a certain point, I thought I heard a techno beat in there. I'm surprised the entire neighbourhood wasn't at our door wondering what was going on. And we live in the country. 

So we're just not going to rush it. Don't see the need. I think he likes the boundaries, to be honest.

It does, however, mean that the new baby sleeping in the crib thing is not an option.

We're thinking we'll try the pack 'n play idea again. It has a higher setting so that baby isn't quite so low, and we're hoping he's not quite as crazy particular as Oliver was. Hoping. Probably not a good idea. Still...

We did stumble across something on Amazon that we thought may make our lives easier in the long run, though, and we're popping it on the ol' Wish List.

Hello genius invention.

This, my friends, is the Nap Nanny. It was designed to be shaped like a car seat (with a little buckle to boot!) and is supposed to help crazy tricky babies sleep better. It helps with digestion, gas, and colic, and is supposed to make for happy babies. Even Sandra Bullock's baby uses it. That makes it legit. Right?

However, it's a bit on the costly side. And that's why it's sitting on the wish list, and not the already-have-it list. We're hoping a family member (or an entire baby shower) springs for it. Kinda one of those we-don't-need-it-but-it-would-be-so-awesome things. Hint hint.

And that solves the where-will-baby-sleep conundrum. At least for a little while.

Another big wish list item? Baby monitors.

The much sought after Angelcare Baby Monitor. And no, we do not need the fancy one that shows if the baby is moving or breathing. That's crazy town. Or a recipe for crazy town. All I know is that if I have one more reason to obsess over how my newborn is doing, I may just go right over the edge. I remember how I was with Oliver, that's for sure. And don't even get me started on video baby monitors. I'd miss all of my favourite shows! And then where would we be.

With Oliver, we used these extremely old, terrible, barely working unless you had the cord in exactly the right position monitors. My mom gave them to me, she had used them with me and my brothers when we were babies. Yeah. That old. And they crackled and fizzed and were noisy and terrible.

We needs us some new monitors, folks! And I've heard nothing but great reviews about this puppy. Again, however, it's a bit on the pricy side. So if nobody decides to pick it up for us, we're going to have to go out and invest in something slightly less fantastic, but a little closer to our price range.

It is so pretty, though.

The third item on the wish list is a new dresser for Baby Boy's clothes. Well, actually, we're thinking we might use Oliver's current dresser for the new baby's clothes, and buy a new one for him that will one day match his bedroom decor, and be a little better scale for the size of his clothing (and the sheer quantity - yikes!)

Ikea has some cool options for relatively affordable prices. Winnipeg is actually getting an Ikea in about a month (not that I'll go then - since it's going to be a mad house when it opens!) But I'm pretty excited about the new furniture shopping experience. I've never been in an Ikea, but I subscribe to the catalog and drool over it every season.

This might not be specifically the dresser we're looking for, but something similar would be nice. That way his can retire to a new nursery (which we will someday have, but for now will have to be the corner of our bedroom) and he can upgrade to a big-boy-dresser.

Funny how life adds up so quickly, though, isn't it? Just looking over this list is making my wallet ache with emptiness. But as we all know, God will provide and we're all going to be just fine. I think what I'm most excited about is going through all of Oliver's old newborn clothes and putting them away in drawers again, instead of the messily thrown together carefully organized bins they currently reside in.

There are, of course, many other things we need. But they're little things. Like newborn diapers, bottles, a new nursing bra would be nice. We'd also like a breast pump, since I'm going to be shooting a few weddings before the new baby is independent from breast feeding, but that's not really a purchase other people make for you, if you know what I mean. I'd also love some new little boy clothes (since all of Oliver's newborn clothes are gender neutral.) And maybe a new cozy blanket or two so the baby has some things that are actually his and not just hand-me-downs from his super cool big bro.

Also a few things we'd like aren't on the baby wish list, but are rather on our Christmas wish list. But that's for another day. Right now I'm satisfied just dreaming about the busy three months ahead of me, preparing and organizing, and staying up all night sterilizing every corner of our apartment. I got a little OCD in the final months of my last pregnancy, and I expect a very similar experience this time around too. I'm already a little OCD, so a little more OCD for me can actually get kind of crazy. Bless the man I married...