Registering

Shortly after I went public with my pregnancy, friends started dropping off baby supplies. Lots of clothing , swings, slings, books, you name it. As I've been told by multiple friends that babies outgrow many things so quickly and I've come to realize that the baby industry will suck you dry-I feel incredibly fortunate to have such generous friends. I checked in with a close mother friend (J-Gil) who not only appears to have had success with parenting (she has 2) but also researches important stuff like safety and durability and requested that she tell me what it is we really need. Her advice seemed solid.

Once I finally decided I had a decent collection of gently used items and it was time to register. Since I took last Friday off to see Flight of the Conchords with GK, I figured that he could entertain me by coming along to register for the big items at Babies "R" Us before the concert.

Here we are contemplating heading inside. See the calm/smug look on GK's face? Apparently he thought registering was just completing paperwork at the store. About an hour later he was like a trapped mouse looking for an exit route.

While I was finishing the initial paperwork-GK told me that he found something he wanted. This seemed encouraging and I assumed that he had been checking out the baby monitors next to the registration desk. I should have known it was more something like this-a double breast pump, "because we can't have lopsided boobs," he told me. Seriously-how difficult can it be to register? I have to admit I was totally I overwhelmed myself within about 30 minutes.

When you register at Babies R Us you're given a list of "must haves" that includes items I've never heard of. I did my best to stick to the basics-car seat, stroller, playpen, sheets. They have many of the products on display so I took advantage of this opportunity to introduce GK to some of the gear.

Here he is successfully (post-sales clerk demonstration) folding up the Snap n' Go stroller. I encouraged him to pick out some of the prints for swaddle blankets and he gravitated towards the ones that had animals that looked like Elsie. He did good and once he started pacing I told him we could leave after we made our first actual purchase for the baby. This:

One of the perks of having a baby in the winter-it's completely legit to dress them up like animals on any old day. I've always had a soft spot for polar bears. Ten fun facts about these gorgeous creatures-my fav., they're obsessive about staying clean.

The following day I went online to add a few things and it was surprisingly much easier than being in the store distracted by the variety. I prefer to sort items by highest rated as I completely trust what 400 people seem to agree on. My goal is to try to complete it by this weekend and then have J-Gil review and give the final stamp of approval.

What would you recommend as your must have baby item?