Back to baby stuff!

It wouldn't be "baby stuff" without pictures of the baby!


Auditioning for the remake of Home Alone - Macauly Culkin was never this convicing.


You know the Pooh hands are enough to melt you.


He's totally practicing raising his hand for when he starts school. He's also making his "pondering face."

Here's Turtle's monitor, just in case you were interested. It comes in a spiffy carrying case for easy travel. Don't let the small size of that speaker fool you, either. I can hear the alarm go off upstairs, in the bathroom, with the water running.

And now for the dull stuff: Things I learned this week (from Mom) that might come in handy.

1. Make everything as EASY as possible. This was fantastic advice, especially considering everything we have gone through. Before Turtle came home, Mom assessed our house and came back with the following suggestions:

a) Have a PNP upstairs in our bedroom and one downstairs where we would keep Turtle during the day. At first, I thought she was insane, but then when I built our first PNP, I realized that there was no way I would want to tote that bad boy up and down the stairs twice a day. The other benefit is that he's used to different sleeping places, so that the transition to his crib will hopefully not be too traumatic.

b) Set up changing areas on both floors. Again, I thought the nice changing area in the nursery was perfect. Turns out, we're never actually in the nursery. We got a white plastic drawer system for downstairs that we loaded up with diapers, wipes, bath supplies, burp pads, extra PNP sheets, extra gowns and receiving blankets that we keep next to the PNP. Upstairs, we hung one of those canvas storage organizers over the back of our bedroom door and stocked it the same way. That way, we're not rushing all over the house in the middle of a poop emergency, trying to get him changed. It's phenomenal.

c) We also set up a feeding area in our bedroom. We moved the big leather chair from the nursery into our room, and we bring his bottles for the night upstairs, with a bottle of water and formula. That way, when he wakes up, we are ready for him, without having to do anything more than pour and shake. In the middle of the night, this is a total lifesaver.

d) Although we're not taking him out much, we have two diaper bags totally stocked and ready to go. That way, we're not scrambling to find things when we're trying to walk out the door with Turtle. The trick is going to be remembering to restock the bags when we come home from outings, but we'll see how it goes.

2. Don't let things build up so that you find yourself getting overwhelmed. Again, this seems critical. Turtle does nap a lot, so there is time to get things done, but it seems easier to do things little by little rather than wait to do everything all at once.

a) For example, we do a baby wash every other day, after his 7am feeding. At that point, we have a few gowns, blankets, burp pads, washcloths, sheets or bathtime stuff to go in. By the afternoon, everything is dry, folded and put away where it belongs. We have enough of the basics to make it through a few days (if it's just an item or two, I'll wait), which is also a great help, but this way, we never run short of things we need for him.

b) We have an ongoing rotation of bottles on the counter. Rather than waiting to run the dishwasher, we wash the bottles, and sterilize the nipples as they are used. That way, we are never without. As soon as everything is washed and dry, I refill everything with liners, and we are ready to go. It's a great system and again, we aren't out.

We are really thrilled with how all of this has been working out for us. It's been a great few weeks of parenthood, and while we totally miss the presence of grandma, I'm glad that she was able to impart all her experience to us before she left.