What I Wish I had...

Everyone asks what I would do differently now that Riley is 5 months old, or what I wish I had known, or what I wish I had bought, or not bought.  I have read sooo many blogs on different peoples own thoughts post birth. And frankly, most of them were not very helpful for me since I never went overboard in the first place. So here is my list:

What I Would Do Differently

• Um, really nothing .... sorry. I did a lot of reading before hand (mostly because I had no clue how to care for a baby) and then never really freaked out or went overboard. Riley gets plenty of loving but he never got warm wipes, sanitized bottles, or so on. He is happy and healthy, I am happy and maintaining my individuality, and everything has gone smoothly so far.
• If I did have to say something though...I would say that I didn't really need family to come stay and help out so much. I was afraid it was going to be horrific, cue the baby crying for no reason and waking at all hours during the night. But those are just the nightmare stories. In reality, most babies cry for a reason for a very short period until you feed them, etc and there is usually only two (for like a month) to one (for like another month) quick mid night feedings and you can nap all morning or in the afternoon if you want. Instead, I would have spent even more time soaking in his newbornness (if that's a word). Afterall, they are only a newborn for like one month. ONE MONTH. Do you know how quickly a month goes by? Let that sink in. We often forget this and are too quick to complain instead.

Known

• Putting baby to sleep - I don't know why I didn't expect this, I did hear and read lots about how to put a baby to sleep but I just didn't know you would need to if you weren't a strict scheduler. At first, the newborns sleep all the time. But then after two months or so, they don't know how to all of a sudden and will cry until you put them to sleep. Its not horrible and I kind of miss it now. You get to rock and cuddle. In fact, I didn't really think much of it until summer came and we started using the pram/stroller instead of the Moby Wrap.  I would have to stop, pick him up, and rock him to sleep every time and it wasn't always convenient. It wasn't until then, that I realized we had to teach him to put himself to sleep.
• How they go through stages and growth spurts - Its amazing how quickly things change. Every growth spurt (which seem to come every few weeks at first) brings new abilities, new likes and dislikes and new schedules naturally. One week he hates the stroller, the next he is fine with it. One week, going to dinner seems daunting and overstimulating, the next its easy-peasy. So don't worry and keep on trying things.

Bought

• Pacifiers - Everyone says to buy lots of different pacifiers/nukis/binkies because you never know what the baby will take so we had lots of different (and cute) pacifiers stocked up and ready to go. They have NEVER been used. The baby will only want what they give them in the hospital.
• Other than that we didn't buy much at all. I didn't want my house to be overcome with baby and I hate stuff. If it wasn't a necessity...and I mean that literally - food, bed, stroller, and clothes - I didn't want it. After all, we didn't have half this stuff when we were born and it was fine. Heck, I didn't even buy more than two blankets (I still don't know what people use blankets for), a special diaper bag (Gasp...SHOCK, HORROR) or toys (they wont use them anyway for the first months). NOTE: However, we did get lots of "stuff" as gifts and that's hard to avoid but some of which we have used. Really, the most useful was the baby bath and the toys.