3rd Month Must Haves

Again, we are still really enjoying most of the "must haves" from the past two months.  You can find those posts here and here.  I know that we will outgrow some of these past items eventually, but as of right now a lot of them are still our favorite items.  Anyway, on to this month.

Fisher Price Rainforest Gym

This is one of Olivia's favorite items right now.  I registered for a different one and when I didn't get it, I went ahead and ordered this one from Amazon.  It had a ton of good reviews.  I'm so glad I did.  We use it almost every day.  As soon as you lay her down and turn on the music she gets a big grin on her face.  She will lay there and watch the lights above her head.  She'll kick her feet on the crinkle leaf.  She isn't reaching for the items yet, but I'm sure that will come soon.  We play with the items for her.  Sometimes we read books to her while she's laying there.  Other times we just lay and talk.  We also do tummy time on the mat.  It's great for our morning play times!

Fisher Price Cradle Swing Little Lamb

I swear, I am constantly reading that everyone else's babies nap in this swing.  Olivia isn't a great napper overall, and she rarely naps in the swing, but she does like it.  We've been using it from the very beginning.  This month she has really started to enjoy it.  She has recently learned to watch the mobile as well.  She will sit content in it for a good amount of time.  We tend to put her in there when we need to set her somewhere quick (for us to run to the bathroom, etc.).  It's convenient and she doesn't mind.  We've really only used the side to side swinging.  I tried the front to back way once, but her neck wasn't strong enough and her head kept falling forward.  We also don't use the activity tray yet.  The swing is suppose to be good for up to 25 pounds (although she already looks big in it), so maybe we'll get some use out of the activity tray in the future.

Avent Bottles

Originally, I registered for Tommee Tippee bottles.  I had done some research and they were suppose to be best for breastfeeding babies.  First, let me say that Olivia never had any sort of "nipple confusion".  She went from bottle to breast and back just fine.  We also used the instant bottle things that hospital gave us and she wasn't phased by the small nipples.  I'm not so sure I had to be worried about bottles that were "closer to the breast"... at least not with Olivia.  I know some babies are picky.  Anyway, we didn't love them.  In order for them to be like a breast, they are short and fat so that the nipple area can be really big and round.  Well, it's hard to see what she's eating/how much is left, and because of the funky shape the milk would get stuck in the dents.  I only registered for a few since I had read that babies could be picky about bottles.  We used the 3 pack of 5 oz bottles when she took pumped milk.  Once we made the switch to formula, I knew we would need a much bigger supply of bottles.  Tommee Tippee bottles are expensive, and since I didn't love them I decided not to invest in them.  (Let's be honest--bottles in general are expensive!)  I did more research and was going to go with the Born Free ones.  However, when we got to the store the Avent ones were on sale.  We figured we'd give them a try and return them if we didn't like them.  So far they have worked out great.  We have not had any leaking (which is a major complaint with bottles in general).  Olivia took to them just fine.  We also like that they are easier for us to use.  Also, they are suppose to help with Colic and fussiness.  Bonus!

The First Years Spin and Store Drying Rack

We wash our bottles in the dishwasher (Ok, "we" means Michael in this instance).  Then we put them on this to dry.  It just seem to work better than drying in the dishwasher.  Plus, we don't have any cabinet space for the bottles anyway.  We go through about 6 or 7 a day (and we only have 9 bottles total), so when we need one we just grab it off this rack.  It's super handy and convenient.

Little Hoot Graco Travel System

I pretty much always knew I would go with a Graco travel system when it came to our car seat and stroller.  I'm not really into all the fancy (expensive) strollers that are out there these days.  I love this because it is so convenient.  Convenient seems to be the theme of this post, huh?  The car seat can be carried in and out of the house as opposed to the convertible seats.  I like that.  We have three bases.  One for my car, one for Michael's car, and one for the Volvo at work.  It just works out so well.  We also use the stroller a lot and the car seat just snaps right in.  Seriously--makes my life so much easier.  Especially when we are at gymnastics for an hour with Little Man!  There are two down sides to this system though.  One--people see blue and brown and automatically think Olivia is a boy.  Even if she has a huge bow on her head.  Annoying!  Two--the car seat is only good for up to 22 pounds.  She was 12 and a half at her last appointment!  When we got the car seat inspected, the lady kept saying how long Olivia was.  She's the 95%, but at the time we didn't know she was a long baby.  The lady said she will probably grow out of the car seat by 6 months.  I was shocked!  I was expecting her to be in it for a year.  Also, I didn't register for a convertible car seat because I thought I would be getting Little Man's.  I didn't think it out so well though.  He's still in his car seat and will be for a while.  She will need one before then.  Looks like she's getting a car seat (or two--need one for work) for Christmas! :)

Insulated Bottle Bag

Since we are using the Ready to Feed formula, it has to be refrigerated once opened.  In order to take a bottle along with us when we go out, we have to use an insulated bag.  I happen to have the Tommee Tippee ones.  It  came with two in the box, which is nice.  I've also been known to make a bottle and stick it in the insulated bag and then go to bed.  If it's a night where I've stayed up late and I know she's going to want to eat two hours after I get in bed, I might as well be prepared. :)  Luckily, the Avent bottles fit in the bags--just barely!

NOT IN LOVE WITH...

Tommee Tippee Bottle Warmer 

Since we got the Tommee Tippee bottles, we went with the Tommee Tippee accessories.  We have to heat up all her bottles since it comes out of the fridge.  She'll drink a room temperature bottle, but is not fond of the freezing cold ones.  This warmer just sucks.  It takes way too long.  Especially in the middle of the night when you have a screaming/hungry baby.  I know there are some out there that work much faster.  I'm just not willing to invest in them at this point.  Hopefully we'll be switching to the powder in the next month.  In the past when we've used powdered formula, we just use room temperature distilled water so that should eliminate the need for a warmer.