New England Aquarium

I have been neglecting my blog. We were busy for a few days and then last weekend my husband and I came down with the norovirus (which felt like certain death) over the weekend. He felt better after about 12 hours or so, it took me a solid 48 hours to get it together again. So bad we had to have family come take Boston for us for several hours. But much better now!
Last Friday, we made our first trip to the New England Aquarium with our aunts and Boston. I thought it might be a little early for Boston to enjoy it but boy was I wrong. He loved it! His eyes lit up, his little hands were reaching and touching the glass as often as possible and his little feet were kicking all over the place in excitement. I couldn't be much happier with our experience.
I enjoyed the aquarium, they had a lot of great exhibits including sea lions, a huge penguin section, giant sea turtles, a touch tank with stingrays and sharks, and of course a million kinds of fish. I think Boston's favorite were the tanks considered boring by others. One in particular was the herring exhibit, and he loved how fast the fish swam back and forth. He even got a little upset while leaving that one.
I hate to do this because I feel like I say this about everything, but I do feel like the sea life center in Alaska is better then this aquarium. But only a little! I did love the NE one, but I kept looking at exhibits like the penguin and sea lions and thinking it would be better if they showed an underwater portion so you can see them actually swim and play. Which is something they do at the sea life center in Seward, Alaska and it's amazing! There is an upper floor where you can see the tops of the tank and then a lower floor where you cans see all the seabirds and sea lions swimming around. So I wish that was a little different because as nice as their penguin and sea lion areas were, once they went into the water you couldn't see much.
If you find yourself on your way to visit the New England Aquarium, here are some things to consider:
Admission is high, currently $24.95 per adult. Plan to spend your day there if possible!
There is a cafe inside however it's typical cafeteria type food and since the aquarium is in downtown Boston, there are a ton of other options! If you want to do that, the aquarium staff will give you a hand stamp that gives you admission until closing.
They have a stroller parking area if you choose to use it. They give you a number card to get your stroller back when you're ready. This was great for us because we could park it and carry Boston around and get him much closer to the displays and not have to fight through people with a giant stroller. This is a free service too, btw.
The sea lion exhibit is outside and a little chilly in the spring/winter so bring a coat!

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Our baby necessities

One of the things I struggled with prior to Boston’s arrival, and really his first few months was what the heck we needed to buy for him and how to prepare. I, like a lot of new moms, consulted with my mom friends and scoured the internet for a list of necessities. It really stressed me out! What if we needed something in the middle of the night and we didn’t have it? What if I didn’t try the one thing that would soothe him or make him happy? Although it can be a little alarming to see the amount of baby products available nowadays, our needs were really minimal. At first I thought we needed all the gear, special toys, fancy crib bedding, learning tools, etc. but really he’s content with diapers, clothes, a blanket and a teething ring. We did however find a few very important buys for us and a few things not so necessary for the first few months. Here are a few of our favorites:

Boppy Infant Lounger
This is an item that didn’t last for very long because he simply outgrew it quickly, but for the initial 6-8 weeks we used this daily. The first couple of months Boston spent the majority of his time in someone’s arms but on the rare occasion we did put him down, we needed somewhere comfy and safe to do so. Laying him in his pack n’ play didn’t always work because at that age he wanted to feel cuddled. His swing would be great except it’s extremely difficult to strap a sleeping infant safely into a swing without waking him. Obviously we couldn’t just sit him on the couch or anything. This is where the lounger comes it. It’s a firm but comfy pillow designed to hug his body and help keep him positioned so he won’t fall off. Of course it isn’t something to lay him on and just disappear but even at a measly 8 lbs, babies get heavy! So when your arms are tired of hugging little one, this is a great place to lay him safely.

Halo Swaddler
We’re still using our swaddler. We actually didn’t start using it until he was about a month old and previously we swaddled him with a blanket. But as he got stronger it was harder to keep his arms in the blanket and I also feared he would loosen the blanket and get his little face under it. Not swaddling is not an option for us at this point in time. When left unrestricted, Boston’s hands get in his way of sleep. He is a chronic eye rubber and also startles very easily so in order for him to get good sleep, he needs to be swaddled. Thanks to the Halo swaddleme wrap, we can safely secure his arms at his sides, snug and warm. It also helps because a lot of babies want to feel that constriction as if they are still safe in mama’s womb, so it’s a comfort for them. I honestly don’t know how we’d get any rest without this.

Little Tummy’s Gripe Water
Boston can get a little gassy and fussy, and as much as I try to burp him and bicycle his little legs and watch my diet, he still inevitably gets bubbles in his stomach. I didn’t feel like we got very good results from gas drops, which I also don’t personally feel comfortable giving to him multiple times a day. I had heard raves about gripe water and a lot of mom’s I know swear by it so we finally gave it a shot. The relief was instant! I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure that it’s because it’s causing those bubbles to disappear right away. I think he enjoys the taste, but I can hear a few burps and other gas exits shortly after giving him gripe water so I do know it helps. So when we find ourselves with an overly fussy baby even after all of our other efforts, our go-to is his gripe water and 95% of the time he settles down as soon as he has it.  

Pacifier
I was hesitant to use a pacifier because of all the babble about how hard it is to break them of the habit, confusion with bottles and breast feeding, and orthodontic problems but we learned in a very short time that a pacifier would be a necessity for us. Boston needed something to suck on soothe. So we waited 2 weeks and made sure feeding was established and then gave him a Soothie pacifier. He had a hard time keeping those in his mouth though so we switched to Avent. It has been a lifesaver for us. It helps calm him down and helps him sleep. Our house would be a lot more rambunctious without that pacifier. I also am glad to know that pacifiers are actually encouraged to prevent SIDS, which is one of my top fears for him so we use it to get him to sleep and it’s done wonders for us. As for eventually breaking the habit, we'll worry about that when the time comes but right now pacifiers are of huge value to us.

Diaper Bag
I know what you’re thinking, don’t all mom’s use diaper bags? Probably. I’ve met a few that try to skate by just using their purse. Not us, we need all the space we can get. My little guy has a habit of spitting up and peeing on every outfit, going through a million diapers, and getting gassy and fussy everytime we leave the house. Add a couple toys, extra pacifier, a cover blanket to nurse, jacket, hat and socks because we live in chilly New England, and of course wipes and you’ve taken up more space then you’d like to admit. So our diaper bag is a big messenger bag style and it is pretty much always full.

So there you have it. Those are the Kat family basic tools of baby survival.