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| (All those toys and he usually just wants the box) |
Baby Einstein Table: This is a toy that still gets used daily at our house. When he was first learning to pull up on things it wasn't strong enough to hold him without me holding it down. But when he was standing against it he would play for 10-20 minutes (an eternity in baby time.) He has played with several different ones so this exact one isn't particularly "must have". At 11 Months Eli is still playing with this occasionally.
Peekabo and crinkly books: Eli still doesn't sit still long enough for an entire book but these are nice because they are a little more interactive.
Bob: Great stroller, everyone loves it. It was especially useful for Christmas this yeas as we traveled to Minnesota and needed something that could handle a lot of snow.
Teething:
Dr Browns teether: We tried several tethers but this one seemed to be his favorite. It is a little smaller to fit in an early tethers mouth. It's also easy to hold onto. I couldn't find the hand shaped one on Amazon, but this is another one we have that I like. Luckily he has not been too terrible while teething so it hasn't taken more than a little Tylenol when he's super cranky. I've tried the Hylands teething tablets and didn't see much of a difference. Many of my friends swear by the Amber teething necklaces. I still use the mesh feeders with an ice cube occasionally too.
Feeding:
Summer Booster Seat: I love how easy this seat is to take places. We usually use it on the counter in the kitchen but can also put it on a chair. I also like taking it to restaurants as it fits on most tables.
We originally wanted to do "baby led weaning" which basically means you skip purees and let them gnaw on solids from the start. I ended up doing a combination of both. The produce in the grocery stores near us isn't very good so it was easier to buy frozen organic veggies or stock up when we make our bi monthly trip to Whole Foods and puree and freeze it than give him fresh. I would steam and puree his food and then freeze it in an ice cube tray, then store them in plastic bags. When ready to feed him, we would take out however many cubes as we wanted and microwave them.
Beeba babycook: For homemade baby food you can use any combination of steamers and blenders but I really like how this is all in one. Now that we are moving away from purees its easy to throw in frozen or fresh veggie pieces to steam for his dinner. Making your own baby food is SO easy. Aaron insists on trying everything he gives to Eli to eat, and says he can definitely taste a difference in the pouch food and the homemade food:)
Puffs/pouches: So handy for traveling since they are shelf stable. I also really like the pouches for new flavor combinations and fruits and veggies we can't buy at the store. We generally buy Plum, Happy Baby, and Ella. I always have a couple in the diaper bag.
Snap container: We make sure to have puffs on hand at ALL times. You never know when you'll get stuck somewhere and need to pacify a cranky baby. These containers are great for storing small amounts of puffs for the day.
We decided to skip the sippy cup and go straight to a cup with a straw. It took him a few weeks to figure it out but now he has no problems with it. He drinks LOTS of water which I love. We use the munchkin brand for now but will experiment with others as he gets older.
Diaper update: still using target during the day and Huggies overnights for the night. During travel I do get the huggies little movers just in case.
