The things men do best.

Don't get me wrong...I love putting things together with the best of them. It's actually something I enjoy but since I was knee deep in sorting our shower gifts, Nic made himself busy putting together a couple big items. Namely the stroller and co-sleeper. He wasn't even sure if it was something he should get into since I had already adequately made a mess of the living room. I told him to go ahead and do it. I've also heard some horror stories of waiting until items are needed to put them together only to find out that things were missing. The little nagging voice in my head was saying...do it now, don't wait, you'll be sorry! It was fun watching Nic dive into the daddy role. He'll be putting together a plethora of toys, bikes, furniture and I'm sure many other things that I haven't even thought of, over the years to come. Please pardon the quality of these photos...I was in documenting mode and not paying too close attention to camera settings. Nic only was going to let me have so many and even those he was trying to hide. I got what I could get. ;-)

Here he is getting started to putting together the Jeep Overland stroller. Nic's so good about doing things the right way. There's no doubt in my mind that he's be able to figure out how to put it together and not use the instructions. But why go through the hassle and possibly get frustrated or brake something when they tell you how to do it? Of course there have been plenty of times where I've seen him throw away instructions, curse the morons that wrote such a useless instruction manual and continue on putting the thing together without a problem.

It's all pretty simple really...front tire...

Goes on like such.

The rear tires too.

And tada! You have a rolling stroller.

Wouldn't you like to see a photo of it finished? That would be nice wouldn't it. Well sorry. I didn't get one. Yup that's right, Nic cut me off. No more pictures were allowed. I'll get one up here soon. It's a pretty sweet ride. Easy to fold. Stylish. A built in sound system that works great!


Here he is browsing through the instruction manual for the co-sleeper. This one didn't have as many parts but also wasn't as self explanatory about what went where. This was the first time Nic saw such an item in person. I'm not even sure he took a peek at the pictures when I was researching it. He did great though.

Here he is, making sure I got his back. I once thought that he would turn not realizing that I was trying to take a picture of him. I now know that it is, in fact, quite intentional. BUTTHEAD! (Don't you love my mess of baby clothes on the couch? I was trying to sort. What you can't see is another 6 bags on the floor that held: books, rattles/toys, bibs/burp cloths, receiving blankets, sleep sacks and hygiene items. I told you that I made a good mess of the living room!)

Here we are having a good laugh about it. I made sure to catch him as he had his hands full and couldn't get away! This is the end of my photo taking since he started to put up another fuss and I was needed to grab my side.

All in all, both items were quite simple to put together. The co-sleeper was much easier than many of the reviews let on and will be easy to do it alone if I need to take it with me. (Not likely but still a nice option if necessary.) Thank you again to the many family that purchased both of these items as group gifts for us. The wee man will use both items many times over!

Armsreach Cosleeper

This is going to be an invaluable tool. I found this company right around the time I discovered the ergo baby carrier. This is the Arms Reach Co Sleeper. I prefer the original style over the universal or mini. It is a bassinet that attaches to the parents bed. It allows for the closeness and convenience of co sleeping without any of the dangers. Considering that I plan to breastfeed as long as possible. This will make our nighttime feedings much more convenient. Our son will be right by my side, within comfortable touching distance. I will be the primary care giver during the night to give Nic some downtime. Since I'll be staying home with baby as much as possible, I'm going to be up when necessary at night to eliminate Nic being tired while working all day. I know that he'll have plenty of bonding time between playtime, diaper changes and bath duty. I'm sure he wouldn't mind having a full night sleep. Also the convenience of having the baby in the room with us is that if he wants to be up with me while I lay in bed to feed, he wont have to fully wake up to feel like he's a part of the process. I was also a little concerned about this item being a unitasker. If anyone has watched Alton Brown on Good Eats then you'd know that the item would only hold one purpose in life. Not so cool. I want something to have many uses, versatility, extended life. This can also be used as a stand alone bassinet and a play yard. What's even better is that it folds up all nice and neat into a 10x10x30 carrying case. Since we have family all over the place, this will be very convenient as a travel bed too.
This will function as a play yard when he outgrows night time feedings too. It'll be something that we can have in the living room, out in the yard when we're gardening, or who knows doing what else.
Here is what it'll look like from my perspective. I'm sure I'll spend many hours watching our little guy sleep and coo.
This is more likely what it'll look attached to the bed with me watching over him. I doubt we'll have a sleep position-er but I haven't ruled it out yet. I need to do a little more research on that subject.
Oh and I love that there are pockets on all 4 sides!. Since a diaper change usually follows a feeding, it'll be convenient to have cleans on one side and dirties on the other, plus a pocket to hold miscellaneous things. Yeah, I think I have this all planned out. There's no need to get out of bed. :-)

www.Armsreach.com has the original sleeper that I would like to have for $209.99. This is an item that will be used for all of our kids in every part of our home. For that very reason, I would like to have something that is fairly neutral. I think that the Toffee/Short liner would fit that bill.

I found it in the Natural color on Amazon.com for $179.95 with free shipping. I found it in the Toffee color on Albeebaby.com for $169.99, shipping unknown. Babyearth.com has it in Toffee for $169.95 and free shipping.

This has been another installment of Kristiina's Wishes and Wants. Have a good day!