Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Sometimes there is just no way to get things done the way you want with the way products are originally intended. Or in a "traditional" fashion... you know, the way they lay it out in "What to Expect..."

*Side Tangent* I have a serious love/hate relationship with the "What to Expect" books. I love them for milestones, you know: this month your baby is the size of a lemon, this month your baby is the size of an envelope, in the ninth month your baby is the size of an eight cylinder Hemi. The same goes for the first year: this month, your baby should sit up supported... blah blah blah. HOWEVER it is NOT good for parental paranoia. Any symptom you could possibly have, no matter how small, leads somehow back to a catastrophic illness. I have a hangnail turns into "your baby's head is growing feet where the ears should be." Of course that's not going to happen, and I understand the need to inform parents of all the scenarios. Maybe they can make an edited version for people like me who read (and retain) the entire book cover to cover. That way, all the gloom and doom can be hidden behind little doors like an advent calendar. "Open this door only after you have diagnosed that you have ALL of the following symptoms, have had your doctor confirm said symptoms, and have an extremely pragmatic person sitting next to you with a paper bag for you to breathe into." Okay, so that's a lot to print on a little door, but you get my point.

So back to invention... baby baths are great (thanks Christine and Jeff!) but they only last a couple months. After that, a little emotion called fear enters your baby's brain. All is well and good in bath land, its cuteness and pictures with washcloths on their heads. Then very suddenly, leaning back in the bathtub = drowning in your baby's mind. Screams ensue, there is mucho mad wriggling and soapy slidey near misses, and you're sweating and wishing for a much needed shot of Grey Goose by the end. Enter the Bumbo. Now, this works for me, in my sink with my baby. I'm sure the people at Bumbo would seriously freak out if they knew I was using their product in such a blasphemous manner. Lawyers would be retained and new warning stickers would be printed. I. DON'T. CARE. The Bumbo has made bath time not only tolerable, but fun! In our new house, we have a nice size double sink. I squish the Bumbo down in one side, then fill the other halfway and add a wind up duck and the ever-so-helpful temperature duck (says HOT if the water is not the right temp.) I then stick Alex's little round hiney in the Bumbo, wind up the duck, wet some washcloths and set to work. He loves to watch the duck do it's turn on the catwalk, make waterfalls (as only boys can) and doesn't even mind the whole washing part.



Then there is the constant need for entertainment. I think it's really cool that my son loves sounds and music. I know all babies do, but it just gives me the warm and fuzzies that he stops fussing and focuses so hard anytime there is music around. That being said, the original mobile we had on his crib is so so cute and matches all the bedding and decor in his room. But its the old school wind up kind. It lasts all of about 4 minutes, then you better hustle your honky ass back to his room and wind 'er up again. Enter Granny with a battery operated mobile complete with projected lights and a remote. So what to do with the perfectly good albeit abbreviated mobile? My brilliant (and exhausted) hubby finds a way to attach it to the back of a kitchen chair. Voila! A mobile mobile. We use it in the kitchen over the high chair, we use it over the pack and play in the living room, I'll probably even put it in the gazebo this weekend during the festivities! It's good times had by all, and an excellent distraction for mommy's dishwasher flipping/coffee time.




Have a fantastic fire-work-filled fourth everybody!