Baby Industrial Complex

What better way to celebrate our return from Los Angeles (and other points south) than with a post about STUFF! Baby Stuff! So much stuff stuff! Or, as Zach likes to call it, the Baby Industrial Complex. (okay, okay. I know we've been bak for a while. But first there was the tooth [yes! a tooth!] and then the cold... we've got excuses for days!) I first encountered The Complex while I was pregnant. Our house was a mess even without the baby stuff and then kindly folks started giving us baby stuff. Luckily (or not) I was able to avoid dealing with it by dropping it off in the guest-room-soon-to-be-baby room. I turned off the light and closed the door. I was in total denial. And when people asked if we were ready for the baby I acted casual and said all we needed was the car seat, diapers, and my boobs & we were good to go. Technically, I was right. But you can rest assured that the room no longer scares me and we only keep the door shut when Molly's sleeping. In the last year, however, I have gotten increasingly drawn in by The Complex. I can spend hours researching the best sling or hip-carrier (no clear winner here yet), reading reviews of bath safety gear (thermometers shaped like duckies, heat-sensitive anti-skid stickers, hippopotomus spout covers, and more!), and following gear-head blogs like daddytypes.com, thingamababy.com, bloggingbaby.com, and urbanbaby.com. My point? There's an amazingly wide selection of things out there that parents simply must have. I mean, what kind of parent wouldn't buy a $1,000 car seat (if it were available in the US)? You want the best for your child, right? Anyhow, I have several friends who are pregnant right now (yay for more babies!) and so I've been thinking about what gear to recommend for them. Mostly, I think my initial thoughts on the matter were mostly correct: so long as you have a car seat (they're all fine), diapers (a very individual choice, with no perfect answer), food (boob or formula, can't go wrong there), and a place for the baby to sleep (parent's bed, bassinette, moses basket, cradle, crib, or mattress on the floor; whatever's comfortable for the family), you're set for the first few weeks. After that you'll know what sort of gadgets might make your life easier. They may not exist, but at least you'll have something to dream about. Later, I’ll post my thoughts on specific baby gear. For now, enjoy the photos of our lovely amazing incredible baby girl. Who, by the way, weathered the cold like a champ and is back to her jolly little self, plus a little extra snot (but with all that drool, it’s hard to notice a little snot). from top: In the swing at Grove Park; With Uncle Seth in a park in LA; Celebrating Pop's "66th" birthday; With Cousin Branda & Cessna; Zonked after a spin with the Great-Aunt; Chillin' with mamamama; Doin' the downward facing dog yoga pose; Scheming on how to keep me from combing her hair; Hard at work.