Blog Hop: 25 Things About Me

So one of the blogs I read was doing a Blog Hop so I thought I'd join in the fun. Besides, aren't you dying to know 25 random facts about me? Probably not. Unless you are the one reader tired of seeing cute pics of Jack. Anyways, here you go...

1. My first cassette tape was Madonna's "Like a Virgin".
2. I always, always, put my left contact lens in first and I don't think I could do it any other way.
3. I have watched the miniseries "North and South" about 50 times. This adds up to A LOT of hours of television.
4. The sound of nails being clipped makes me cringe. I have to go to the farthest end of the house to get away from the sound.
5. I can't leave Target without spending $75.
6. I have obviously cried at the end of "Beaches" and "Dead Man Walking", but I have also cried during "Freaky Friday" (La Lohan version) and "Father of the Bride".
7. Sometimes I do judge a book by it's cover. Forgive me.
8. In middle school I wore hideous floral denim shorts over longer spandex shorts with lace on the bottom. But so did everyone else.
9. I snuck into a 1998 World Series game in San Diego. Amazing what a little face paint and a Padres shirt can do.
10. I still have my wisdom teeth and I think my dentist is lying to me when he says I have to take them out "or else".
11. In high school I was paid to do calligraphy and personalize things. I guess my handwriting is okay.
12. I have slept on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles and in the bushes in south central LA. all in the name of ‘Oscar’.
13. I still get excited when I see famous people even though I've worked on movies and live in LA.
14. I love massages. Like a lot. If I was rich I'd get one every week.
15. I get air-sick. And car-sick. And sea-sick. I am not that fun to travel with obviously.
16. I wish I were 5'6" instead of 5'8".
17. I record "Saturday Night Live" every weekend with the hope that ONE of the sketches might be funny. They never are.
18. I've lived in a studio apartment with two other people.
19. I've only eaten in a sit-down restaurant by myself once and I will never do it again.
20. I can't stand carrots and celery. Or beer. Gross.
21. If they made a movie of my life I'd want Elisabeth Shue to play me. Circa 1984.
22. I hate eating meat on the bone. In fact, I don't really do it.
23. I hate New Year's Eve because you're "supposed" to have all this crazy fun and it's always a let-down.
24. I'm a Sagittarius which I think means I should like clubbing and sororities more.
25. Because of Oprah's hard-hitting episode, I fear I am wearing the wrong bra size.

Five for Friday: Chick Flicks

Trying out something new that I hope to do every Friday. Because don't people need a break from pictures of the little guy? (I promise they won't all be about movies.)

My Top 5 Chick Flicks:

5. Dirty Dancing
4. Sixteen Candles
3. While You Were Sleeping
2. Pretty Woman
1. When Harry Met Sally

What are yours?

Top 10 essentials for a 4 month old

Four months ago I wrote a post about the baby gear that we had found invaluable for the first two weeks. Well, I thought I'd update you with what we use most now and what Jack loves.

10. Video Monitor - We had originally registered for an inexpensive audio monitor and that was fine for the first few months. But now that Jack is in his own room and we're letting him cry a little and settle himself, I couldn't handle not seeing him. So I pooled all my Babies R' Us gift cards and splurged on this video monitor from Summer Infant. I think it is literally the most expensive one on the market but it got the best reviews. I figure you pay for quality and man, is this thing awesome. The video picture is ridiculously good and the monitor has a touch screen like an iPhone. You can pan and zoom the camera with a touch of a button from across the house. Amazing. And now I can spy on my kid.

9. Baby Bjorn - When the little guy is tired and in more of a cuddly mood, I wear him in the Ergo around the house. But when we venture out to shops and we're in crowds, he loves facing out in the Baby Bjorn and studying everything around him. We have the Comfort Bjorn which is supposed to be better for mom's back but I'm not sure it's true. If it is, I'm glad I don't have the regular one.

8. The big boy stroller aka the forward facing stroller - We've got a Chicco Cortina stroller which I really like. It's not fancy but it's sturdy and does the job. And now, like the Bjorn, he can face out and I don't have to carry him pressed up against my chest now that it's 95 degrees in the hot LA Valley.

7. Rockabye Baby CD's - We only have two albums (Lullaby versions of U2 and Queen songs) but I know they have hundreds and people love them all. (I hear the Kanye West one is great). Jack is particularly found of "Under Pressure" and we play it every single night before his bath.

6. Camp Songs - Sorry, there's no link because they are all in my brain. But I sing camp songs to him at least 20 times a day. It calms him down in the car, it can kill time before bedtime, and it can help put him to sleep at nap time. Amazing. I hope if you are going to have a baby soon that you were a camp counselor in your youth.

5. Bouncer Seat #2 - At two weeks I blogged about an inexpensive Fisher Price seat that we had gotten. It was great. Still is great. But it's nice to have TWO seats because I am constantly in search of a place to set the little guy down for a second while I do something. So we inherited this super sweet Ocean Wonders Aquarium bouncer seat and Jack loves it. The bar over the seat has water that makes bubbles and play a song. We have it in our master bathroom and I can set him in there and he'll let me take a shower and get ready for the day. Truly a lifesaver.

4. SwaddleMe wraps - This is a repeat from the earlier list but we still swaddle him and therefore use these 3 or 4 times a day. I am forever grateful for them because, if I leave the little guy unswaddled, he'll swat at his face, rub his eyes, and wake up in minutes.

3. Car seat toy bar - My son's car seat woes are well documented here and while he's slowly growing out of that phase (the one where he screams bloody murder every time we go anywhere), this toy bar helps a lot. He is fascinated by the frog and has learned how to push the eyes to make the song play. Endless minutes of fun.

2. Baby Bath Tub - I know some people can get away with just setting their baby in the tub or the sink, but we tried that with Jack and he won't have any of it. So I love that we have this Fisher Price tub that we use every night. The hammock part was great when he was a newborn and now he's grown into the second stage. And when he can sit up on his own we can take out the bumper and he can splash around the whole thing. Fantastic.

1. The ball - Oh the exercise ball. That damn ball. At two weeks it was such a miracle. No crying! And at 4 months I guess it's a mixed blessing. Yes, it still works and that's how we get him to fall asleep. The downside is that it's the ONLY thing that works. It's pretty much the only way he can fall asleep...on the ball. Man, did I create a bad habit. We are slowly working on weaning him off it but it'll be an uphill battle. Nonetheless, it's certainly something we couldn't live without so it gets the number one spot.

Top 10 essentials for the first two weeks

We were lucky enough to get a lot of baby gear prior to Jack's arrival. I know it will all come in handy at some point as he gets older. But the first two weeks we were so out of it (we still are), it was so nice to have these things at hand. Some of our essentials...

1. The Fisher-Price My Little Lamb swing

We weren't sure the swing would work but the lil' guy loves it. He'll nap in there for hours during the day. We set the swing motion on low which is still frighteningly intense. But he likes it.

2. Zip-up footed pajamas
We have a lot of super cute outfits that are pants, shirts, sweatshirts, etc. But in the infancy of our parenthood, we didn't want to deal with things going over his head and pants, etc. So our savior has been the zip-up pajamas. Sure, he still goes through about 3 a day since he pees all over them, but they are so easy to get on and off.

3. Fisher-Price Bouncer Seat

This little seat vibrates which Jack seems to love. We can pull it up next to the dining room table and stick him in there while we attempt to eat dinner before he wakes up. And it usually works!

4. Cloth diapers as burp cloths
We go through so many burp cloths a day and these cloth diapers are perfect for the task of wiping up spit-up. And we have so many that we can station them in every room of the house so they're always within arm's reach.

5. Snuggle Nest within the Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper

We got a co-sleeper for little Jack and we've had to make a few adjustments. I'm sure all of these fall under the "unsafe" category but he seems okay. First, we had the co-sleeper attached to the bed with a strap but I quickly changed that. Trying to shimmy out of bed a few days after giving birth was hysterical. I couldn't stand the damn thing in my way. So we detached it from the bed and now we just move it close to the bed when he's sleeping and push it away when I need to get out of bed. That was step one. But he still didn't like the co-sleeper. I think it was too big and cold for him. So when the lactation consultant came over and saw our snuggle nest, she said it was the best for newborns. The snuggle nest is meant to be put in bed between mom and dad, but our queen size bed combined with two large bodies and 10 pillows doesn't really have room for such a thing. So we had the genius idea of putting the snuggle nest in the co-sleeper. It's worked pretty well. I think he feels more nestled in now. He still only sleeps in there about 60% of the night, but that 60% is way worth it.
(You'll also notice that he's sleeping on his side, not his back. Yeah, I know that's terrible. But we wedge him in so he can't rollover and some "experts" said it was okay.)

6. Glider/Recliner
We got a glider that I absolutely love for the nursery. It's become breastfeeding central because it's the only super comfortable place that I can breastfeed because it has back support. The couch is okay and the bed is pretty dreadful. But this chair in the nursery is fantastic. And if I'm super tired, I can just recline after a feeding and fall asleep with him on my chest. (In a perfect world where he hasn't pee'd through his diaper or started crying.)

7. Summer Infant SwaddleMe
These pre-formed swaddling blankets are the best. They are ready to go with velcro tabs so they're perfect for parents with, um, less than professional swaddling skills. We still use a regular old blanket during the day and do our makeshift swaddle... but for serious straightjacket purposes at night, we use the SwaddleMe.

8. Grandparents

We've been lucky enough to have my mom help us the first week and John's parents visit from Pennsylvania for the second and third weeks. Without their help we would never be able to take showers, eat home-cooked meals, or get laundry done. Let alone do some of the home projects that John's dad is tackling. Yes, we're super lucky.

9. Total Baby iPhone app
Wow. This has been a lifesaver. I should have made this number one on the list (but I'm too tired to go back and redo it.) I spent $4.99 on this app which users claimed was the best one out there. They were right. It's been our bible for two weeks. It tracks breastfeeding (left/right, how long), bottles, dirty diapers, wet diapers, sleeping, crying, baths, etc. At any time I can push a button and see how long it's been since he's fed. When I'm bleary-eyed at 3am, I can just push "start" when I start breastfeeding and it'll track how long I do it. Every doctor, nurse, and lactation consultant has asked to see our breastfeeding log or diaper log, so I've been so grateful to have this. Can't imagine doing it with actual pen and paper.

10. Exercise Ball



Before we had Jack, every mother told me I had to have a bouncy ball. So I went to Target and spent $8 on an exercise ball. Sure, I could have duplicated the motion manually but those squats would have been too much exercise. :-) The ball was the best $8 we've ever spent. The little guy LOVES bouncing on the ball and it's the only guaranteed method to soothe him, day or night. It's a miracle. Excuse the poor quality of the video, but you get to see John demonstrate the magic of bouncing.