Baby Stuff: Towels and Blankets

For general burp cloth usage and other things, these Gerber organic cotton cloth diapers are the best. Easy to use, very soft and absorbent. Inexpensive to replace. $10 for 6. We also have these Gerber burp towels - very thin, so they're easy to tuck under baby's chin.

For swaddling, we started out with these by Swaddle Me by Summer Infant - $11 each. Get 1 to try, then if you like it, get 2 or 3 more. Target has them too for about the same price - might be a good option, since it's easier to return to Target. They come in cotton jersey or microfleece. Our baby busted out of any kind of blanket swaddling, so we had to get ones with velcro fasteners. The only down side is that the velcro doesn't last that long (even just with a few months of use, ours wore out) and baby might be awakened by the velcro sound sometimes. Also be careful to fasten the velcro during washing so it doesn't grab other stuff. At 3 months, we moved on to the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle - $20 each. They give her a bit more legroom and have stronger velcro (she still breaks out of it by morning). These also come in cotton jersey or microfleece. They tend to run a bit large (wide). You can get a set of 2 for $30. For fastener-free swaddling, several friends recommend the Miracle Blanket - $32 (a bit pricier than the others). It's a popular option, although I'm not sure it would be strong enough to contain our baby.

When it comes to little baby blankets, you really can't have too many. I think we have tons and they all serve various purposes or stay in different places. You need options and different sizes… Babies can't regulate their temperature well when they're little, so you will be changing their clothes/blankets a lot to help compensate. Here is what we have and what we use them for:

• Aden + Anais cotton muslin swaddle blankets: 4 for ~ $40. Used for summer time swaddling, for early baths (pre-bathtub) as towel/swaddle, stroller blanket for shade. We have 8 and at any given time, 3 are in use (1 in the car, 1 on the carseat/stroller, 1 somewhere else). Target has them also (slightly cheaper), although the patterns from the ones on Amazon are cuter.
• Fleece blankets: We have 3 - different "weights" - used in the baby's beds and sometimes in the carseat/car. One is like the n-a-p blankets from Brookstone.
• Hand knitted/crochet blankets: We were given 2: Used in crib/pack-n-play and sometimes out travelling.

Hooded towels for bath time - are they really necessary? Well, probably not... but if a little flap of cotton helps keep the towel on a squirmy baby and helps keep them warm (and not crying), then I think it's worth an extra couple of bucks. Besides, babies look so cute in them - the photo opportunities alone are worth it. Here are my thoughts on the 3 hooded towels we have:

• Bebe Au Lait - $40 (got as gift). Very nice because the hood is on the side, so it lasts longer. Very thick and plush - almost too thick - I don't use it much yet, but I will when baby gets bigger. Also, comes in pretty trims that match other Bebe Au Lait gear (burp towels, nursing covers).
• Circo (Target) - $14.99. Cute but cheaply made and not super durable. Also not as soft as the other 2. Not quite as thick as the Bebe Au Lait. Drops lint like crazy. Would use as a beach/pool towel.
• Little Bamboo - $25.99. Super soft and absorbent, perfect thickness for little babies. Poorly knitted - mine sprung loose threads after 1 wash on gentle cycle. Overall, it's still my favorite - just wish it were more durable. I don't wash it after every use (otherwise it would be shredded into nothing) - more like every 3rd use.

Baby Stuff: Where to Shop

Some of this information is pretty obvious, I'm sure... but there are some special considerations to think about when buying baby items - either for yourself or as a gift.

Amazon.com - for almost everything. First, you won't be leaving the house much in the first few months, so wouldn't it be lovely if a kindly UPS delivery person dropped essential baby items on your doorstep? Join Amazon Mom to get additional deals and discounts. It's free to join and you get free Prime membership (free 2-day shipping) for a year - that's $70 right there. You'll then get an automatic 15% discount on things like diapers and wipes. With the Subscribe+Save feature, you can get an additional 15% off these items in addition to the Mom discount, for a total of 30% off. Subscribe+Save has no obligation - you can cancel/suspend any time or make changes to your delivery schedule as needed. Subscribe+Save works on tons of items throughout Amazon (totally separate from Amazon Mom) including soaps and shampoos, vitamins, cleaning products and other stuff.

I also used Amazon.com for our baby registry. It was very user-friendly and included great features like a 10% completion bonus on most unpurchased items in the month before and after baby's birth. It also generated a lovely thank-you list that made writing up thank-you cards very easy. Returns/exchanges were fairly convenient too. Most items can be returned/exchanged within 1 year of purchase.

Target - in store and online. They have pretty decent baby department (even compared to superstores like Babies R Us), plus one of the easiest return policies around - 90 days and you don't even need a receipt - if you have the card used for the purchase, they can look it up with that. Online, their selection is even more vast. I found a huge array of nursing tank tops and bras online, at great prices. Free shipping on orders over $50, although you will pay sales tax.

Zappos.com for baby clothing, shoes and diaper bags. They also have a small selection of maternity clothes. Can't beat their free shipping both ways, making returns very easy. They also have video reviews which are very helpful for "test driving" items such as diaper bags. Their prices were very close to Amazon's and they also frequently upgrade your shipping to 2nd-day UPS. I bought 2 diaper bags here, after shopping with them for shoes in the past.

My Impersonation of an Igloo

It's late November and winter seems to have arrived. For southern CA, this means that the temperature dips below 50 F, which it did this weekend after a bit of rain. So, I gave in and bought a maternity overcoat - something I was hoping to avoid. My selection fit all my criteria for an overcoat - being comfortable, warm and not completely ugly. As an added benefit, it makes me look like a small building... and it makes me look about 30 pounds heavier than I actually am.

However, I was already grateful to have made this purchase (or to have had it made for me by my husband - thanks, honey) on Saturday, since I have already had occasion to wear it 2 days in a row.

Carseats (Infant in specific)

So I am working my way through research for the first major baby-related purchase, the carseat. This goes along with my car transition (from G35 6MT to RAV-4), but I'm not going to call that a baby purchase for now, since cars are not technically baby accessories.

I started out at BabiesRUs online and cross-checked the top-rated model there against Amazon. On both sites, it was rated 4+ stars (5/5 stars on BRU.com). Then I read up on the chapter on carseats in Baby Bargains... almost all 67 glorious pages. I skimmed the bits rating models and brands I wasn't considering. Happily, the model I selected is their top pick as well.

So now, to make the purchase... of my Graco SnugRide 35 in Brunswick brown and green argyle or the Graco SnugRide 32 in Zurich brown and green. It's funny how one has the tan base/frame and the other has gray.

BRU.com has the same model in a stylish black and white houndstooth pattern for $10 more that includes a free Carter's mini diaper bag. I'm going with the Brunswick pattern since I think the brown is slightly lighter colored and thus not as sunlight-absorbing as the black. Were I more fashion conscious, I'd go for the black though.

Adventures at the DMV

After renewing my driver's license online on October 7th, I accepted that it had been stolen or lost or for whatever reason would not be arriving before my birthday (and the expiration date of my current license) on November 20th. Thus, I ventured to the Department of Motor Vehicles with low expectations (earliest appointment: December 16th, average wait without appointment: 1 hour, 48 minutes).

10:05 a.m. Things did not look promising as I pulled into the parking lot, which had at least 5 cars stalking any pedestrians, on the chance that they would be departing patrons. In some strange bit of good luck, I was able to get a parking space after a mere 2 circles. This occurred moments after watching 2 cars in front of me fight for a space - the victor of that battle was the douchebag who pulled (wrong way) into a spot on the opposite side of slanted-spot aisles while the loser was blocked by the car vacating the space. Yay, humanity.

The other ominous sight that greeted me was a group of at least 50 people standing in a line that stretched out the front door and wrapped around the building, out of sight. As I approached this line, others walking up to it would speed up their pace, each hoping to queue up 1 person closer to the front.

10:40 a.m. At the front of the line, two ladies were wrangling the crowd. One was preventing stray idiots (who chose not to see the line of 50 others waiting) from attempting to gatecrash the front door or somehow pretending that there was some kind of invisible line for special folks who don't like waiting. The other lady had a nicely rigged rolling file cabinet full of the forms people would need to conduct their business. After herding the crowd back into non-fire-hazard-single-file, she patiently asked each person what their business was, then handed them the appropriate form. Inside the front door, was a (male) security guard, whose job it was to stand around with his arms folded and stare blankly at the front door. I believe he was armed with a flashlight.

10:45 a.m. Entry is granted to me, so that I'm able to make use of the paper-filling-out table just inside the front door, to fill out my "Request for Duplicate License" form. Then, the Gatekeeper lady tells me to go stand in another line "between those ropes."

10:46 a.m. Since there are no people in the line I am in, the lady at sitting at the counter motions me up. She does this despite the previous customer still standing in her general vicinity at the counter, filling out a form. I make a small motion towards the other customer, but the counter-lady confidently motions me forward. I am additionally skeptical, since the sign above her says "Check-In and Information" and, having entered the office proper, I can see the 70 other people waiting in the chair-lined waiting areas, watching the monitors for their number to be called. I step up and tell her my situation in as few words as possible ("I renewed online over a month ago, but never got my license."). She asks for my form and my current license - this latter, she swipes through a machine. Then she types a bit. A paper prints out, which she hands to me. "All your information correct?" I look it over... "Yes." She replies, "Sign here."

10:47 a.m. I exit the DMV with my shiny new paper Temporary Driver's License. At the top it says "Not a valid form of identification." At least I can survive with my ATM card... until I have to buy something bigger.

In conclusion - well done, Torrance DMV, for executing the fastest DMV experience I have ever had, despite my not having an appointment. As for you, DMV.ca.gov - you fail. Also, should anyone out there need to renew their license or conduct other critical business with the DMV, make sure you have time for an in-person visit before your documents expire.

Nesting & Air Filtering

I know that the nesting instinct is natural for pregnant women, but I don't like the term as it connotes inexplicable animal behavior. It's perfectly natural to see one's environment with newly critical eyes, in preparation for it being the home of a newborn human. It's also a sense of wanting clean before making a big mess... like cleaning up before a house party.

Anyway, among all the other cleaning (carpet, de-cluttering, dusting, etc.) the next thing to clean is the air. Hopefully this air filter will help to reduce the persistent dog smell that defies my attempts to extinguish it with weekly baths and carpet cleaning every 3-4 weeks. I even got a mini-model for the bedroom, which is relatively free of dogginess, but is probably where I spend the most time when home - 8 hours every day.

Netflix price gouging 2009

So Netflix has decided to kick us when we're down or try to pull us down with them as they're drowning. In either case, what this means is that they have decided to suddenly hike up their rates for customers opting for Blu-Ray DVDs (when available), from a flat $1 per month to $4 a month for those of us on the 3-DVDs-at-a-time plan. It basically works out to an additional dollar per month per DVD-out-max, starting from the 1-DVD out limited plan.

This represents the 2nd Blu-Ray-related rate increase in less than 6 months, the first being a flat $1 per month charge which was instituted (to much customer protest) in November 2008. It is clear now that this rate increase was insufficient, if an entirely new rate schedule was implemented less than 6 months later. Good job, Netflix finance people.

1300 titles in a library of 250,000 titles represents 0.052% of Netflix titles in Blu-Ray. How this translated into a 11-20% rate hike that they charge every month regardless of availability or actual receipt of Blu-Ray discs is ludicrous. To make such a move in a time of economic difficulty is financial+marketing suicide. Worse than the actual financial analysis behind this decision was the very poor way this decision was communicated to customers (e-mail: "Hello, we are instituting a 400% rate increase for Blu-Ray access and will automatically start charging you for this immediately.") - without showing them the reason behind the different rates and the options for changing plans/rates, should the new increase be unacceptable.

The only reasonable reaction to a business that is so clearly gouging its customers and overcharging for mediocre-at-best services is to take one's money elsewhere.

I will be:
- Investigating Blockbuster's competing service, which does not charge extra for Blu-Ray titles
- Immediately reducing my plan

Kato laughs

Actually, she was just blinking. But doesn't it look like she is laughing so hard her eyes are closed?

Kato went home yesterday, but before she did, she conquered her fear of the elevator and stairs. Also, she made friends with a chair cushion... all over our living room, around the dining table and in and out of several corners. Her persistence amazed me, as she seemed to amuse herself with the cushion for hours at a time.

Once in a while, she would hop off it and sort of give it a little kick, as if rebuking it. But within a few minutes, she would look at it longingly while playing with another toy, then return to the cushion, often with a sort of embarassed look. Of course, all of this provided me with hours of entertainment during the cold, rainy weekend. Thanks, Kato!