Sherry took us out to Babies-R-Us today to get us signed up for a last minute baby shower. She had some good tips, although I honestly don't have an opinion about most things because, well, I don't have a baby. :)
In any case, there's some neat stuff out there for babies. I also noticed that there is way too much stuff designed to continuously stimulate kids. I mean, vibrating seats? For real? Why does a kid need constant stimulation?
It reminds me of one of the times we went for an ultrasound. The family's older kid, 2 I'd guess, had a DVD player in his stroller. No joke. When the kid got bored with that, the father busted out his iPhone and showed him video on that. Does anyone read with their kid or do something that engages them instead of distracts them?
We were talking about how we never really noticed this stuff before, until we started thinking about making our own baby. Yes, it's easy to judge when you haven't been there, but we're still in agreement that we'll do our best not to foster this kind of stimulation addiction where the kid can never be left to his or her own devices.
OHHH Man, you have SO much to learn! As the parent of a 1 year-old I can tell you that if your infant is colicky, still too young to hold up his own head, and isn't napping right, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with a vibrating chair if the end result is 5 minutes of peace. Same goes for a toy with blinking lights or spinning things on it. Look back at this post when your kid's 3 months old and tell me if I was wrong. But yeah, a 2 year old with a portable dvd player in the stroller; that is a bit too far. My opinion is video/tv isn't a babysitter and is at most a very temporary distraction (like for the 10 minutes you're trying to cook dinner). And yes, he still loves to be read to. He's even handing me the books!
Master Joseph LOVES books. No matter where they are in a room, he will spot them immediately, crawl over and proceed to look through every one page by page. (Followed by throwing it with great flourish off to the side when he is done.) He doesn't watch shows or DVDs, but he likely knows the Law and Order theme song, as it's in the background a lot of the time. haha
Speaking of books -
My one piece of advice for you new parents is to read the parenting books with a grain of salt. Joseph and I co-slept for two months on an easy chair. It was the only way he would sleep for longer than two seconds, and in hindsight I think he had some reflux issues. After he started moving more, I was too nervous, so we switched methods. He slept in his carseat (buckled in and everything) for the next four months. First on the floor next to our bed for about two months and then in his crib - still in the car seat - for another two months. He didn't sleep in his crib until six or seven months. And that was OK. He does now and is a CHAMPION SLEEPER! He has been since about three months.
With future Richmonds, I will be worrying less and loving more. Books give good ideas, but the real test is being there, in the thick of things.