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Posts Tagged ‘gdiapers’

When Your Nursery is Smaller Than a Walk-In Closet

Posted by rocketgirlsf on January 30, 2010

So I’ve been saying for months that I’d be posting nursery pics, and as RocketMan still hasn’t gotten around to hanging the rest of the artwork, I figured I’d at least show you the changing station. Which, incidentally, is roughly half of the full square footage in the room (I believe the total is about 47 SF.).

Being that we’re Container Store addicts, and reorganized our bedroom to great success with the Elfa shelving system, we figured we’d use the same idea for the changing station. Open, adjustable shelves, clean lines; what more could a small-space dweller want? The shelves, of course, don’t stop at the changing table; they go all the way to ceiling. But those shelves are just your basic spine-and-bracket. We decided to go with the sturdier tried-and-true Elfa for the unit on which we’d be placing our offspring.

So here, I present: The RocketNursery. Big improvement over the last one we posted, I think.

100130_shelves
100130_toptable

A few items of note:

  • We keep her lined, prepped gDiapers on the second shelf, above the gDiaper inserts; I’m not crazy about the visibility of the system, but when you’re changing Le Squirmy Butt, it’s good to have everything ready to go. 
  • The changing pad is not a full-sized pad. It’s a DexBaby Folding Changing Pad, which is to say, it’s supposed to come apart and fold up neatly for traveling. It doesn’t, at least not easily.  That said, it’s small (16” x 32”), which is really the key here. The cover is terrycloth—not much to worry about, laundry-wise—and it has the ever-vital safety belt for when the RocketBaby in your life starts rockin’ and rollin’.

    (For portable changing pads, go with the $10 First Years Fold and Go Diapering Kit. We’ve stopped carrying the diaper bag because it’s just that awesome.)

  • The flowered boxes are a new item offered at—where else?—The Container Store. They’re drawer organizers, but they’re so darned cheerful and cute that we use them to store moisturizer, fingernail clippers, and the nose-sucky thing. They even have bins, which is tempting as heck. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them on their website, but I believe the small square ones were $7.99, and the larger one was $9.99. The box on the top shelf is where we keep her overnight diapers.
  • The Cavallini & Co. Vintage Flash Cards along the wall were an impulse buy at a local museum about four years ago. Little did we know we’d be using them as decoration, and, indeed, as the basis for a minor new obsession of mine: Dick-and-Jane-styled illustrations. It’s a natural progression: I love a vintage look, I love primary colors, I love reading, and I’m the progeny of two schoolteachers.
  • The print on the wall above the crib is called Waiting, by a divine Etsy seller named Sarah Jane. I’m so jealous—my friends (proprietors of the dangerously addictive ModernKiddo.com) met her at a conference recently.
100130_undertable

Beneath the changing table, you can see the structure of the Elfa shelves a bit better, along with a few other yummy bits.

  • The collapsible storage bins are from Target. They come in great colors and sturdy enough to hold blankets, sleepers, onesies, and on the bottom, serve as a hamper. (We have a fifth in the living room acting as a toybox.)
  • Next to the hamper is a basic recycling bin from The Container Store; it didn’t work for us in that capacity, so it was another toybox until this morning. Not sure what we’re doing with it now.
  • I also love the Small Tint Stacking Drawers, which contain her socks, legwarmers, and other random goodies.
100130_light

One last detail… The room gets no natural light when the curtains are closed, so we’ve installed a small under-shelf light for the changing table. Any ideas on how to hide the ugly black electrical cord would be appreciated.

 

So that’s half of the nursery. The other half is mostly clear so we can stumble in at night without fear of shin-banging. Someday the curtains may grow up to be doors, so look out for that  blog. 

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Posted in Nursery, baby, organization | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Holiday Gift Ideas for Newborns; or It’s Adorable, and So Were the Other 10 We Received

Posted by rocketgirlsf on November 27, 2009

Disclaimer: Despite my nagging sense that this blog could come back to haunt me in a Miss Manners column, it’s a story that needs to be told. So rest assured: if you think one of the Don’ts below apply to you, it doesn’t. We loved your gift and treasure it deeply.

As the holiday shopping season approaches and the Agent of Chaos’ fourth month has past, I feel I’ve become something of an expert on baby gifts. Between the baby shower, visits from friends and family, and our first big trip back to the home planet (complete with a lovely party that felt like a second baby shower) we’ve received a plethora of presents, an embarrassment of kindnesses, several shopping bagsful of goodies… all of which lead me to the conclusion that it’s really, really hard to shop for babies. Why? Because every last item is so damned adorable. It’s all small, it’s all cute, it’s all got woodland and sea animals and little bells and big-eyed creatures, and it’s all designed to make both giver and receiver spontaneously burst into a chorus of “AWWW!” I said “Awwww!” to nearly everything we’ve gotten, and I meant every single outburst. But then, upon returning home, I must wonder: How long must I keep the latest batch of cuteness before passing it on to another lucky soul?

NOTE: If the baby registry’s still going, buy from it!

Do NOT Buy…

  • Resist the temptation to buy stuffed animals!

    Stuffed animals. They’re cute; they’re easy; they sit on a shelf for years and collect dust. Immediate family—grandparents, especially— will take care of all the baby’s stuffed animal needs. Instead: Buy a cute toy that has edges that crinkle, parts that move, or little mirrors, like Jacques the Peacock.
  • Goodnight, Moon and/or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The new parents already own it. Trust me. I’ve had four copies of GM and three of TVHC come through the door, and I got another just last week. They’re terrific books, but they’re on everyone’s list. Instead: Check a list of Caldecott Medal books and buy the titles you remember from your childhood. My favorite gift book is Hug, by Jez Alborough. It’s sweet, funny, and has been known to make grown men cry.
  • Clothing in gender-specific colors. I like pink. Love it, in fact. My wedding dress was pink. If I get one more pink anything, though, I won’t be held responsible for my actions. Instead: Buy green, yellow, orange, anything but pink or blue.

  • Legwarmers for the tiny dancer

    Baby pants. A personal pet peeve of mine. Pulling up pants over squirmy legs is a pain in the diaper. Instead: Baby Legwarmers, which keep her little chubby thighs warm AND stay on during diaper changes. Even better: one pair can fit a newborn from hip to toe, and a toddler from thigh to ankle, so she’ll wear them for a long time.

DO buy…

  • Something practical, but boring. If you’re parent, think about what you overlooked after childbirth; if not, use common sense. When in doubt as to the brand of items below, I always err on the side of anything labeled “natural,” “organic,” or “something-free.” Some useful gift suggestions:
    • Newborn-sized diapers
    • Gift card to Diapers.com (or Walgreens)
    • Washcloths
    • Baby-sized fingernail clippers
    • If Mom is nursing and you’re close to enough to get a personal item, nursing pads will be MUCH needed. In addition, eyedrops, chapstick and a big water bottle will be invaluable—breastfeeding dehydrates like you wouldn’t believe.
    • If the birth was vaginal and you’re close enough to buy a personal item, maxi pads, ibuprofen and witch hazel pads will be worth their weight in gold for the first month.
    • Baby wipes
    • Food: bring a prepared dinner in a reusable container. Just make sure to call first.

  • Itzbeen one week since you cried for milk...

    Baby gadgets. The Baby Industrial Complex is awash in safety devices, gewgaws and other bright flashy things, and they’re a great way to exercise your creative gift-buying freedom. Websites like www.thinkgeek.com have loads of baby gadgets that, at first blush, seem silly, but in reality are terrific… and more than likely, new parents will not have considered them as registry-necessary. Just be sure to include the gift receipt if the parents aren’t into it.
    • Itzbeen: This handy device times the baby’s day-to-day tune-ups: sleep, diaper, feeding, the last breast fed (right or left) and a few wildcard timers. I used it in the hospital to time when I’d last taken a Vicodin, and we’ve used it since to time the baby’s naps, as well as when we last made a bottle (Is this bottle an hour or three hours old?). Thanks to Tony and Randi for that!
    • Bottle Warmer: Better than the microwave, and more convenient than the stovetop.
    • Grobag Egg Thermometer: We received this from my mother-in-law’s cousin, and while the packaging is ludicrous—implying that the cute little glowing egg will save your baby from crib death—it actually is kind of nice to have at her bedside. Sometimes it’s hard to know how cold or warm a room really is (especially when you’re overheated from breastfeeding dehydration) so seeing the egg glow blue is a good indicator that she needs an extra blanket.

    • Yellow Alert: Baby is snug like the rug bug.

      Sleep Sheep or other white noise machine. Or if you’re super-techie, the Voice-Activated Crib Light w/ Womb Sounds. I don’t own it, but I want it. When your baby begins to cry, it switches on a colored light and plays womb noises. How cool is that?
    • Easy Expression Hands-Free Pumping Bra: Allows a breastfeeding mom to let go of the bottles while double-pumping. It even zips up the front for easy wearability. Fricking BRILLIANT. Thanks to the friend of the NICU mom who bought it as a gift, or I’d never have known it existed.
    • Alternative Diaper Starter Set: While this could seem like an unwelcome hint that the parent shouldn’t use disposables, if they’ve expressed interest in it, it’s a good gift. Many parents might not realize how far technology has brought the non-disposable diaper world, or maybe they just don’t want the upfront cost of trying them out. GDiapers are great for partially disposable diapers, and I’ve also heard great things about Bummis cloth diapers.

And really, we do love all the gifts we’ve received. Honestly!

Posted in Nursery, Product review, baby, personal | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Blog Quickie: This is Why We Have Landfills

Posted by rocketgirlsf on November 11, 2009

I recently ordered a case of gDiaper refills from diapers.com (yes, we’re still using them, and only use disposables when traveling), and they arrived, as promised, two days later, shipping for free. Diapers.com’s a great service, especially for items like the refills, which aren’t readily available at the corner store. They also arrived, however, like this:

It's a box in a box.

Really, Diapers.com? It’s necessary to put the smaller box in the bigger box in order to ship it?

In other news, Halloween was low-key in the RocketHouse, and the Agent of Chaos showed her true supervillain colors.

RomulanSuperVillain

Here she is, looking less villainous.

091111_facepic_sm

Someday, when RocketMan gets around to framing and hanging artwork, I’ll show her nursery. Why don’t I do it? Because he insists on doing it. Except he’s not doing it. So if you know him, nag him.

Lastly, I’ve been busy lately with directing the comedy sketches for The Devil-Ettes’ Go Go Spectacular. GO SEE THIS SHOW. It’s going to be—you guessed it—spectacular!

Posted in Nursery, baby, personal | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Crib or Pack’n'Play? Pack’n'Play or Bassinet? Bassinet or Moses Basket?

Posted by rocketgirlsf on April 25, 2009

The hallway-cum-office-cum-library-cum-nursery

The hallway-cum-office-cum-library-cum-nursery

Some things about pregnancy, I’m finding, are awfully fun. Last week I popped—meaning the woman at Golden Gate Meat Company, the receptionist at my office, the co-owner of the market across the street, and a guy in my neighborhood all feel free to ask when I’m due and/or if I’m in the family way. (That was Peter, the guy in my neighborhood. He followed up with “So how long have you been married?” He’s 88, though, so give him a break.) A guy on MUNI asked if I wanted his seat, a concept so foreign that he had to ask me twice before I understood the question. And EVERYONE tells me I look great.

OK, OK, This is a Small-Space Blog

A surprisingly less-than-fun part? The registry. When we registered for the wedding, we knew exactly what we wanted. Pots, pans, knives, juicers—all of it felt like a giddy shopping spree through Sur La Table. But then, I’d cooked before. I’ve never set up a nursery before. And if our research online is any indication, except for a few city-dwellers at places like Apartment Therapy, no one online has ever kept a baby in a less-than-1000-SF home, and by not moving, my husband and I are kissing up to the concept of child abuse.

So we’re flying in a fog here, but we do have an incredible support group; in preparation for RocketBaby’s takeoff, three of my friends were even kind enough to have baby girls in the last three years! The writer of the wonderful Good Crafternoon blog, for instance, will be sending me about 6 months’ worth of baby clothes, from onesies to socksies to hatsies. A woman at work gave me her Boppy; my sister gave me her baby carrier and sling; and another friend will be passing along her carseat. Someone in our apartment building even left a baby bouncer by our door, although we haven’t tested it to see if the vibration feature works.

But what kind of crib to get? What kind of stroller? San Francisco hipsters roll around in the Bugaboo, but I can’t justify spending $600 on a stroller; not even the $400 a used one would cost. Cribs all seemed to be gigantic wastes of space. Do we get a bassinet or a Pack’n'Play? A crib or a Pack’n'Play? Or maybe even a Moses Basket? And what about the changing table?

Disposable, cloth, or flushable?

Disposable, cloth, or flushable?

No on the last, at least–we’re foregoing the changing table for the dresser we found on the street last year. (Covered in an earlier blog!) So that was easy: first thing on the registry, a changing pad. Second thing: lots of cute blankets. Cute I can select like nobody’s business. Then there’s the breast pump, and the bottles, and the diapers—oh, but the diapers have so many options! Disposable or gDiapers or cloth? (Fortunately, Dottie of GoodCrafternoon is using all three and invited us over for a day’s worth of diaper duty so we can test them all. Such a good friend!)

DaVinci Emily Mini Crib

DaVinci Emily Mini Crib

As our apartment’s not really big enough to warrant a playpen, we decided to go with the crib option. RocketMan’s convinced he can build a bassinet for the early months when the baby sleeps in the bedroom, and as long as I can test it and RocketGirl-proof-it, I’m OK with that. (I’m far clumsier than anyone I know, so if it stands up to my rigorous arm-flailing, I have confidence in its structural integrity.) Fortunately, there are plenty of mini-cribs out there; we went with the Davinci Emily Mini Crib, which measures in at 40.5 x 28 x 38 inches–not as small as some, but the reviews were good. The side drops, and it converts into a bed.

Still to come: a stroller; and some kind of rocking chair. Actual rocking chairs tend to have huge footprints, so we’d prefer something glider-like, but we’ve had bad luck finding a glider that doesn’t look like its design was last updated in 1987. At the last Alameda Flea Market, we found an adult-sized chair that operated similar to baby bouncers–a metal frame that gently bounces, as opposed to rocking or gliding. Alas, it was a huge chair, but if you happen to find anything out there similar, let me know.

Posted in Nursery, organization | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »