I'm not getting paid to endorse these products,

but I would gladly accept free stuff from the companies that make them.

This Fisher Price cradle swing is the only reason anyone in my house has clean clothes to wear. I resisted buying this type of swing because it seemed like it would only be useful for a few months (at best), and I'm too cheap for that. However, I broke down last weekend, and I do not regret it one bit.

My sweet baby boy sleeps a lot during the day, but he really only likes to sleep on me. And while I love, love, LOVE having him sleep on me, it really prohibits me from doing things that are somewhat necessary - like showering. But NO LONGER! I bought this swing for $40 on Craigslist, and it has already been worth every single penny, plus a lot more pennies that I didn't have to spend on it. Ben is snuggled in there all cozy-like, and the swinging and white noise feature totally seal the deal. He sleeps, and I have two hands available to do useful things! Like type this blog!

An added bonus: I couldn't get him to sleep a couple of nights ago, so I put him in the swing and he was out within minutes. Beautiful. If you lived in my house a couple of weeks ago, you would realize how completely revolutionary this is.



And this fancy Baby K'tan baby carrier is my other buyer's remorse-free purchase from this week. It's waaay pricier than what I would normally buy, but another new-mom friend raved about hers, so I caved. And, again, I love it. I had a pouch sling that I liked fairly well, but this sucker is in a whole different league. It is super comfortable to wear, and I don't feel like Ben is going to fall out of it. Don't tell Baby K'tan because they specifically warn you not to do this, but I cooked dinner while wearing Ben in this thing last night. And I've taken a couple of walks while wearing him in it (which is totally kosher).

And since this post was so boring, here's a picture of my baby's cute little face under a cute little hat that his Nana made.

Quick thoughts

There are some things I knew I would love about having a baby. I could imagine how wonderful it would be to nap with a little one napping on my chest, for instance (and that feeling does not disappoint!). And while there are certainly some frustrating aspects of motherhood that I didn't really expect, there are also a million little things I didn't know would be so great. Today I am grateful for:

*my baby's milk breath. I know that's weird, but I think it is the sweetest smell!

*the way my baby looks when I unswaddle him to change his diaper in the middle of the night. It's like opening a little package of pure cuteness.

*the noise my baby makes when he thinks he's going to sneeze but it goes away. His whole body exhales - including his little high-pitched voice.

What's the point of having a baby...

if you can't balance things on his head while he falls asleep?