My loves kindly posed for a photograph after Miss Leyba had a “get me out of this stroller right now because I barely napped today and feel incredibly overtired, so please feel sorry for me and give me extra love and attention because I am grouchy” moment. You can’t really tell from the photo, can you? She’s adorable no matter what. Even when she’s about to start crying again.

I thought it might be worthwhile to write about some of the items that we’ve found to be most useful. I know that many or all of these items may seem like extras, but they have been invaluable to us these first two months. And it’s because they seem unnecessary that I feel compelled to tell you about them.

Wipes warmer
We use: Prince Lionheart Ultimate Wipes Warmer

Miss Leyba loves changing table time and we think these wipes play a large part in that. From the very beginning, getting her diaper changed has always been comfortable for her: a soft towel underneath her, warm wipes to clean her, organic diaper cream to sooth her tushie, and naked time to kick her legs and move around. What’s not to like?!

We use cloth wipes with our warmer and the whole thing is so easy. We have around 6 dozen wipes, so we don’t need to wash them too often. We just wet them down in the bathroom and then plop them in the wipe warmer. An hour later, they are toasty warm. It’s super easy! (Plus, using cloth wipes we don’t need to use their antibacterial inserts that need to be replaced regularly.) If you want you can even add soap, tea tree oil, or other essential oils to the wipes solution. Right now we are just using water because of Miss Leyba’s sensitive skin and it works perfectly.

Light dimmer adapter
Similar to ours: Plug-In Lamp Dimmer with Nightlight

Wow, I wish we had one of these the first couple weeks! At night we dim our bedside lamp so we can keep an eye on Miss Leyba while we co-sleep. When she fusses and needs to be fed, we just turn the light up ever so slightly so I can see well enough to help her latch on, then we turn the light back down and all go back to sleep (or try to anyway!). Miss Leyba sleeps through the whole thing. It’s a godsend. Buy one. Really.

Aspirator
Similar to ours: Nasal Aspirator

I thought this was the dumbest product ever before I became a parent. The aspirator we have came in our birth kit and I never in a million years thought we’d ever use it after her birth. Well, we use this thing pretty much every single day. You see when ever Miss Leyba has congestion she can’t breastfeed properly. See, pretty essential. A few squeezes and then we use a tissue and it works like a charm. She’s finally at an age when she understands what we’re doing, so she doesn’t squirm anymore. Makes it a bit easier to clean her out, but really it wasn’t that hard to begin with.

Nail scissors
Similar to ours: Safety Scissors

Did you know that cutting a baby’s nails is really easy? The hard part is remembering when she’s sleeping to actually cut them. You need a good pair of safety nail scissors and they are hard to find. (The scissors we are using were from when I was baby. Thank you, Mom, for saving them for us!) You place the nail that needs to be cut under the scissors before you cut that way you don’t need to worry about cutting the babe. (I’ve heard lots of horror stories!) I’m not sure I explained that so well, so please email me if you’d like more specific instructions.

Bouncing chair
We use a discontinued model, but this bouncer looks cool

I know, it seems like the ultimate indulgence, but here is why I love ours (which we got secondhand from my friend Jenn). In her chair Miss Leyba can sit comfortably and face me. This is huge. We stare at each other and make faces, chat with each other, and I frequently read to her this way so she can see my facial expressions (some times she just watches me instead of the book).

Also, the chair gives me a place to put her down, usually when she isn’t interested in being placed on her back and I need a break from holding her. I like to place her in the chair in our dining room where she has a great view of me while I unload the dishwasher or do the dishes (two activities certainly not conducive to baby wearing). She goes in the chair when I run off to pee. I also put her in the chair when I’m at home alone so I can eat my meals in peace. She likes to watch me eat and frequently opens and closes her mouth along with me (too cute!).

And let me say it again, the chair gives me a break from holding her. This is huge. Especially late in the day, I need to conserve my strength so I can comfort and hold her when she needs me. Trust me, holding her for sometimes upwards of 14 hours a day is no piece of cake. In theory I’d love to hold her all the time, but it’s truly exhausting. I need a place where I can put her down and she’ll still be comfortable, near me, and safe.

By the way, our chair vibrates, which totally reminds me of that episode of Sex in the City. The vibrating certainly doesn’t calm her (who came up with that part of the episode?!), but it keeps her fairly fuss free until she’s had simply had enough and is ready to get out. Right now, Mommy.

Do you know of any other baby products that may seem trivial, but are actually quite essential?

Miss Leyba is getting awfully good at holding her head up.

Shortly after this she got tired and started chewing (i.e. drooling) on David’s finger.

Love those baby cheeks!

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Here’s a photo of playtime from this morning.

My little cutie loves swatting at and talking to her toys. (There has been some debate in our house if Miss Leyba fully realizes that by swatting this toy, the one above that she’s looking at moves. Or does she think that by moving around she makes the above toy move?)

On Sunday afternoon we headed out to the park with our new stroller.

Miss Leyba in her car seat having just woken up from a 5 minute cat nap.

I love how just one eye is open all the way. She likes to wake up slowly.

Check out the super-soft and adorable organic poncho that cousin Rachel knitted for Miss Leyba. (Rach, don’t worry: it will fit for a long time yet! Thank goodness there aren’t any arms!)

The girls admire the gorgeous view.

We walked around the lake while David ran circles around us. We all so enjoyed being outside (Miss Leyba was especially captivated by the trees) and we are thrilled with our choice of stroller. I loved being able to go at a faster pace that we were able to reach when we were carrying her in the Moby wrap.

Our cutie-pie, wrapped up in a blanket knit by Grandma Diana, about 2 minutes before she fell fast asleep. Note the glazed, tired eyes.

And, finally, a bonus picture of our goofball wearing her organic “give peas a chance” outfit right before story time.

We’re a happy family.

She’s constantly drooling and everything now goes in the mouth.

I can’t stop buying things for my daughter. Granted, it’s all things we need (like pants, socks, and a hat that fits), but I certainly spend more on her than on anyone else in the house (David and my wardrobe is quickly becoming threadbare). In fact, it’s a long standing family joke that I never spend money on myself and have 28 years worth of birthday and Hanukkah presents in the bank (I do, actually). But tempt me with something super cute, well-made, practical, and a good deal for my daughter and I just go crazy. A non-shopper suddenly becomes a shopper.

Take our new stroller. Several friends highly recommended Maclaren strollers (quality! style! durable! lightweight!), but I thought they were outside of our budget (I mean, who spends over $200 on a stroller?!). Then I found a great deal on a model from last year with free shipping and no tax and, well, I just couldn’t help myself.

Rather that reprimand myself for a few modest purchases (lol), I guess I should instead focus on how proud I am of myself for the restraint I’ve exercised by not buying every single item on our gift wish list and every children’s board book at our local bookstore… and trust me, I’ve been tempted!

We read every children’s book in the house every single day. Usually twice. Yep, we Spritzer Leyba’s love our books. Thank you to everyone who has given us so many fantastic books! (For her complete library, see the list in our sidebar further down this page.) We are so enjoying them!

Special thanks to Alexis for buying us the board book version of Harry the Dirty Dog. Miss Leyba gets SO animated and smiley when I break it out. I think that’s her favorite book right now. It brings such joy to my eyes seeing her so excited about books!

Here we are reading another favorite, The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

(Thank you to Stephanie and Andy for this Eric Carle classic!)