Life, Hyphenated: Top Seven of the First Seven Days

If you are like me, the last few days of a year provide you with lists and lists to devour. A chance to see what I've missed and measure my own taste against that of an "expert," give me a coffee and an end of the year "top ___ ___s of 2011" and I'm happy. (A few examples: Best American Poetry, Best Novels, Best Music Albums, and Best(?) Retracted Scientific Studies - NPR doesn't have a monopoly on the market, but they do a good job).

It being the end of the year and about 1 week since our Quincy was born, I thought I'd share my own list. If you make it to the end, there will be a video for you that I think you will find rewarding.

Top 7 Items for the First 7 Days with a Newborn - 2011

7) Music

Quincy loves all music, but we've found it fun to have baby-appropriate music for him. Our favorites so far have been:

Rockabye Lullaby series of music ("Timeless rock songs transformed into beautiful instrumental lullabies. Guitars and drums are traded for soothing mellotrons, vibrophones and bells, and the volume is turned down from an eleven to two.")

They Might Be Giants. One of my favorite bands found time to make a few kids CDs, including "Here Come the 123s."

6) Bouncy Seat

Quincy loves this thing. Need to take a shower? Take the bouncy seat into the bathroom with Quincy strapped in. Need to calm down a fussy baby? Put the "Calming Vibrations" on with the bouncy seat.

5) Little Green Machine

What is impressive, really, is how wide of a variety of messes you can clean up in 7 days. This thing has handled them all.

4) Webcams (Skype, iChat, etc)

Quincy doesn't let physical distance get between him and his loved ones.

3) TV on DVD

A great tip we got from our friend was to have some TV on DVD on hand during the first weeks home. The docket for us includes Friday Night Lights, Community, and Covert Affairs, but we are currently working our way through season 1 of White Collar (highly recommend it).

2) Books

We love to read to our son and are excited for when he'll start to have his favorite stories. Since he isn't talking quite yet, we're assuming his current favorite is "Goodnight iPad," a brilliant gift from a friend.

1) Video Camera

Qualities I'd suggest in a camera for a newborn include quick start and ease of use. You aren't going to use something that takes 2 minutes to boot up and get to the right setting. This led us to the now-discontinued (but not for lack of quality) Flip Mino UltraHD. Unfortunately, it is hard to find these available for sale (we found ours clearanced at Best Buy), so alternatives include the Sony Bloggie and Kodak Playsport.

Since we never got around to posting an official "Life, Hyphenated" announcement of Quincy's birth from the hospital (we were slightly distracted by other things), we thought we'd share this video introduction of him, recorded just minutes after his birth. If you don't tear up, you don't have a soul...