Lucy is officially four months old! Where has the time gone? I'm not a pro mother in the least, but there are several things over these past four months that have become invaluable to me and to Lucy. I read tons of blogs and thought I needed all sorts of different things that I haven't used at all and there are things I never really saw mentioned anywhere that I HAVE to have on a daily basis. You can click the pictures to see the full descriptions of what each product does. I am only going to touch base on the product and how it helps me and Lucy out so much.

HALO SleepSack Wearable Swaddle Blanket.
(Click the picture for more information)
This thing was and still is my most prized possession. Lucy was a preemie, so she had such bad startle reflexes that she could not sleep unless she was wrapped up as tight as she could be in this swaddle blanket. The only problem was that her father and me couldn't wrap a swaddle tight enough for our little hulk baby. She would bust out of our blankets we'd swaddle her in about 30 seconds after we'd get her all bundled up. This bad boy was great and she couldn't escape from it. It was so easy too. No thinking involved. I like that! Ha-ha! She is still wearing hers, but we're weaning her out of it. I have had her swaddled with one arm out for about 2 weeks. Last night and tonight are the first nights I've taken the swaddle part off and just had her in just the wearable blanket. She's done much better than I thought she would being unswaddled.

The Angelcare Sound and Movement monitor. (Click the picture for more information)
After Lucy stopped breathing those few times I was completely paranoid about her being in her own crib, but her sleeping right beside us in the bed in her co-sleeper bassinet was not working because she made so much noise (Preemie grunts. Look it up. Ha-ha!) while she slept that I couldn't sleep. Plus I would check on her every 5 seconds to see if she was breathing so that didn't help either. The Angelcare monitor tics every time it feels her breathe or move. It also alarms every time it doesn't feel her breathing or moving for 20 seconds at a time. We've had several false alarms once she's started rolling, but it is still a wonderful product that lets me know she is breathing and ok.

The Motorola MBP33 Wireless Video Baby Monitor with Infrared Night Vision and Zoom 2.8" Color LCD (Click the picture for more information)
This monitor is also a life saver because I can see her and watch her little chest rise and fall. It also helped because she can roll from her back to her stomach, but she can't roll from her stomach to back yet. We can see when she does that and we can quietly roll her back over.

If I had it to do over again I would have gotten this
(Click the picture for more information) .

This model is the same exact product only it can be rotated, tilted and zoomed so that I can follow her around the crib. When she was stationary the model we have was perfect, but as she has learned to move around, she so often moves out of the camera's line of vision and I can't see her.

Munchkin Nursery Projector and Sound System
(Click the picture for more information)
This little thing was paramount in getting Lucy's sleep routine together. Once she heard this thing switch one and saw her sheep and stars dancing on the ceiling she knew Momma wasn't playing around anymore and it was time for her to get to sleep. I use the white noise setting and I use the Sleepy Sheep slide to be projected on the ceiling. Once she is asleep I turn it off because she gets too distracted by it sometimes when she would wake back up. I basically just use it as a cue that it is time for bed. It does a great job of drowning out neighborhood noises and our loud dogs that bark for no reason at all sometimes.




Bright Starts Start Your Senses Safari Activity Gym, Spots and Stripes

(Click the picture for more information)
Lucy could honestly care a less about this gym as a whole, but the tiger that plays music and flashes lights to the beat of the music has been a life saver when it comes to her riding in her car seat. If it weren't for this thing I swear she'd cry constantly in her car seat. It has a music mode and a nature sounds mode. The lights flash on both modes. It also has a soft mode and loud mode. Her favorite mode is the one where it plays short little songs and she can change it herself each time she "hits" the tiger. That captures her attention and she forgets she's in the car seat. She'll occasionally like to lay in the gym and play with the toys that way, but mostly she just likes when they're hooked up to her car seat. As much as it has saved my sanity during car rides I would pay double what we paid for that little tiger. Ha-Ha!


Fisher-Price Cradle 'N Swing My Little Snugabunny

(Click the picture for more information)
This thing is the only thing Lucy will take naps in some days. When she was littler she loved the side to side motion, but as she's gotten older she loves the front to back swinging motion. She is obsessed with the music on it and the second it stops she will cry until we can get over to her to turn it back on. She loves her music! This thing is super cozy and she loves to just sit and swing. She likes to look at the birds that rotate over head and she has learned over the past several weeks that she can look up and see herself in the mirror. This was JPMA certified so I felt confident in letting Lucy use it. Everything we've gotten her has been JPMA certified or I wouldn't buy it.


Fisher-Price Go Wild Jumperoo (Click the picture for more information)
Lucy LOVES this thing! She loves to sit up. She is so strong and loves to sit up, but she just doesn't have the balance yet to sit up unsupported. She also is really active and loves to kick and jump. This thing does it all. It teaches her about her animals and the sounds they make. Her fruits and what color they are and it plays tons of songs. It has tons of lights and we both just adore it. She will spend tons of time in it just playing with her fruits, turning the pages on her book and just jumping her little heart out.


Summer Infant Island Giggles Super Activity Fun & Booster in One Seat

(Click the picture for more information)
This seat is a Bumbo on steroids. It has toys to play with on the tray and toys to play with hanging above and it has a comfy seat that she fits perfectly in. That part comes out when she's older to be a booster seat when she needs it. She really likes to sit in this and watch her 30 minutes of Sesame Street each morning. She's really independent and this seat is right up her alley when it comes to sitting up on her own and watching Elmo!


All of the free Fisher Price Baby Apps for iPhone and Kindle
(Click the picture for more information)
Lucy has fallen head over heals for all of the Fisher Price Baby Apps. My favorite for her is the Laugh & Learn Puppy's Player. It has all of the videos, apps and books right in that one app. It is really easy to flip from one little video to the next to keep her occupied and happy during car rides. They're so cute and they're very educational. I really recommend these for parents. You can't beat free, fun education!





(Click the pictures for more information) 
This trifecta of bottles, nipples and rice cereal were literal life savers. After Lucy's incidents with stopping breathing because of her G.E.R.D. these bottles with these particular nipples helped her safely drink her formula with rice cereal. The rice cereal helped to thicken her formula so that it is harder for it to be refluxed. We had a really hard time finding nipples that would allow the thickened formula to flow through. We found these at Babies 'R Us. If you have a baby that has really terrible G.E.R.D. then I'd really recommend these bottles, nipples and the Organic Brown Rice Cereal to help thicken your formula.

Of course these aren't the only things we use everyday, but these are the things that help us get through the day by having fun, learning a little, eating, napping and sleeping well and safely. I hope you got a few idea of things you can do or get to help your baby have a great time growing up!