There have been a number of things that we have found extremely valuable and useful in various aspects of Emmett's life to date, so I thought I might mention a couple.
1. Snappi's. How in the world were cloth diapers even used before the invention of the snappi? I hope that the snappi inventor now owns a series of small islands in the Pacific as reward for such a spectacular invention. What it is, as pictured at left, is a three-armed piece of rubber that has a set of plastic teeth which bite into the diaper at the end of each arm. The two long arms reach to hold the sides of the diaper in and the shorter arm grabs a bit of diaper in the crotch region to hold the whole thing together. Do you know how many times Andrea, Emmett, or I have been accidentally poked putting on the 10+ diapers we have changed each day? Zero. Ask your grandparents if they can say the same. Besides ease of use, the thing that makes these indispensable is the fact that they are elastic, so you don't have to struggle to hold the diaper extra tight while you slip a diaper pin through. Plain brilliance, says me, and it earns a 7 sock-monkey rating.
2. The bouncy chair. When this arrived at our house as a hand-me-down from Andrea's sister, I think it would be fair to say that Andrea was less than enthused about the jungle print. The fact that a good number of pictures posted on this and Andrea's blogs show Emmett relaxing in the chair serve as testament to the fact that this chair overcame its jungle print deficiencies to serve as a house staple. Though the chair can be run with small vibrations via battery power, its real usefulness comes by plopping Emmett in it and really rocking it by foot or hand. I would guess that this has about a 90% effectiveness in nipping Emmett's crying in the bud when the cries are for no easily solved reason (i.e. not hungry, not messy). The fact that it can be rocked relatively easily by foot is especially useful when we are eating dinner. Yes, jungle print is no longer only for Graceland. Seven sock-monkeys for the chair, too.
3. The crib mobile. I had my doubts about the crib mobile. It is of cheap construction, isn't visually appealing, and isn't very adjustable in height or position. It resides in the crib that is in the room with the changing table (we often deposit him in that crib while washing post-diaper-changing-hands), and it was while looking at this mobile that he let out his first laugh. The mobile doesn't rotate and shows some colored patterns on the cardboard plates (his view of the mobile is shown at left), but the simplicity is a hit with Emmett and he is more than happy to lay under it and shift his gaze from one plate to another for relatively long periods of time. Personally, I don't think it is a great mobile, but the fact that Emmett loves it moves it all the way up to six-and-a-half sock-monkeys. There is no accounting for a two-and-a-half-month-old's taste.
4. The swaddle blanket. When we got home from the hospital I still wasn't getting the whole swaddle thing (for those that don't know, the swaddle is this method of forming a kid-filled burrito with a blanket shell that keeps the kid filling from self-inflicted face slaps by uncontrolled hands throughout the night). The nurses were able to swaddle Emmett so well that he wouldn't even contemplate moving. Well, since that time we have both improved in our swaddling abilities (the trick is to realize that Emmett can take the swaddle being pretty darn tight), but in the last month or so Andrea came home with a swaddle-designed blanket called the "Kiddopotamus" and it revolutionized our lives. The Kiddopotomus has a pocket for Emmett's legs and two wings which are wrapped around his arms and chest with a velcro closure (the only picture I have of Emmett in one is of the upper half---unfortunately he is already in bed else I would get a better picture). We got a size a bit large and put a regular blanket swaddle underneath (it is chilly at night in SF). Since starting to use these blankets it is a pretty rare night that one of Emmett's arms sneaks out of the swaddle and starts clocking him in the face. The Kiddopotomus definitely gets 7 sock monkeys.
5. The Ergo. I have mentioned the Ergo before, but it really has been a great carrying device for both Andrea and I. We both use the same one, which is nice, and though it doesn't pack incredibly compactly (like a sling, say), it is quite comfortable to wear and Emmett is usually very relaxed inside it (the picture below is what Emmett looks like inside of it looking over Andrea's shoulder, and the picture at the bottom is of Andrea wearing it at the wedding on Sunday with some friends---see, it makes great formal wear). The infant liner that one is supposed to use until the baby is 15 lbs is a little bit of a hassle (Andrea has given up on it, but I still use it). The fact that we can use this until Emmett is 2 or 3 is really nice. I do wish it was positioned just slightly lower so that Emmett's weight was really being carried more by my hips, but he is not so heavy that it is a problem just yet. I would give the Ergo six sock monkeys--not perfect, but a very worthwhile product.
