Bye Bye Baby Stuff

It seems as though turning nine months old has gone hand in hand with saying good bye to a lot of baby stuff.

Yesterday was the last day we used the infant car seat. The little guy is much too long at this point and although I have loved the snap and go lifestyle, it was time to move on up to the convertible car seat. Now the little guy and his sister each have their own convertible seat...one is facing forward and one is facing backward.

On Friday I stopped using the aquarium themed bouncy seat. I had been keeping it in our room for when I needed a safe place to put the little guy. The middle of the king size bed has not been a safe option for quite some time. I had just brought a basket of laundry down the stairs and was headed back up when I heard cries from our room. I ran in to find the little guy hanging out of the side of the seat--half on the floor and half attached to the seat. Not cool. So up to the attic it went.

Later that day I inspected the aquarium themed swing in the dining room and decided it was just too risky to be leaving the little guy in that apparatus. A tumble out of the side of it could be a tad more traumatic than our bouncy seat experience. So down to the basement it went.

Then last night the little guy was super cranky a few hours after he had been put to bed. After checking on him, I decided that perhaps he was claustrophobic. He has been sleeping in a sleep sack since we quit swaddling him at about 4.5 months. I realized that perhaps the sleep sack was on the small side and he needed more space to move (as he now knows how to sit and crawl in his crib). Luckily I had already purchased the next size up when it was on sale this past summer. So into the new and very large sack he went. He only woke once at 3am for a feeding and didn't make a peep other than that.

I know I shouldn't be attached to all this stuff, but I am. These items have many memories attached to them. The past 3 years have really been more manageable because of all this baby paraphernalia, and both my kids have spent a serious amount of time in the assorted baby items which are now being stored away. When you know it's your last time using this stuff, it just feels a tad sad to say goodbye. But deep down, I know it's just stuff...and the years ahead will be filled with a constantly revolving collection of more stuff as my kids grow up. There's just something about the baby stuff that pulls your heart stings.