Stuff: what we have for baby, and why.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we think we're set on baby stuff. Here's an inventory of it all, with accompanying explanations, which I've pulled together for a couple of reasons. I love getting advice and gathering ideas from other people, especially those who are in situations similar to mine, and I wanted to carry that forward. Also, keeping in mind the old adage "I knew everything about raising kids until I had one," I'm sure this list will, in the future, prove to me exactly how little I know right now.

Everything we chose was based primarily on two main factors. First, our lifestyle. We're active and want to include baby in activities like walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and traveling. We live in a small city riddled with steep hills and rugged cobblestones and get around mostly by foot or public transportation (bus, metro, train), although we do have a car for weekend jaunts into the countryside or the mountains.

As small as the city may be, our apartment, a fourth-floor walk-up in a building with no elevator, is smaller: about 60 square meters, or just over 600 square feet. It's divided almost equally into three separate rooms – kitchen, living room, bedroom – plus one small bathroom, a long hallway, and a little balcony with a peek over the Alps. Thus there will be no nursery. There will be this, though: a quick walk to the lake, nearby parks and green spaces, a peaceful and friendly neighborhood, awesome neighbors, quick access to all forms of public transportation, and more time at home for papa (thanks to office proximity).

Second, our philosophies: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Less is more. Spend little where it doesn't matter, spend more where it does.

Keeping all that in mind, here's what we chose and why.

Transportation

Stroller: Uppababy Vista in slate blue. Yes, it's big and heavy and has a higher price point, but ... it has excellent wheels and suspension, important for comfort on cobblestone roads and trails; it's durable and long-lasting; the seat is high-positioned to keep baby farther away from vehicle fumes; it's well-suited to tall people like us; and it has two handy add-on options for additional children (one can dream, right?). I'll just have to remind myself of these strong points while I'm dragging it up and down three flights of stairs. We also got the Babyganoosh footmuff in black. It's cold here in winter!

Baby carrier: Ergobaby Bundle of Joy carrier and infant insert in galaxy grey. Comfortable, cute, and highly recommended by friends. I imagine this will be our primary means of transportation in the city center and on mountain trails alike.

Gear carrier: Osprey FlapJill daypack in black, which is really more of a charcoal grey. Cutesy "diaper bags" didn't really appeal to me, nor are they comfortably compatible with an on-foot, on-the-go, out-all-day lifestyle. This daypack is ergonomic, well-organized, and fairly sleek and urban. Ergobaby offers a light backpack that can be attached to the carrier. I ordered it and had a try. Yeah. No. This should do the trick instead, quite happily.

Carseat: Still on the shopping list, as is a new car (but no pressure ... baby can come home on public transportation!).

Sleeping

Bassinet: Another great feature of the Uppababy Vista is its beautiful bassinet rated for overnight sleeping. Baby will spend its nights in here, snuggled next to our bed, until it outgrows it at around six months.

Bassinet bedding: This flannel bassinet pad in white, to protect the mattress, and several fitted jersey crib sheets, also in white. To keep baby warm, its cousin sweetly gave us a bunch of gently used sleep sacks. Nice! For the early days, we also snagged four aden + anais (or "anus + anus," as my sister calls them, quite innocently – truly!) cotton muslin swaddle blankets, which can be used for many purposes once the swaddling days are over.

Crib: A hand-me-down from friends. Nice! This too will go in our bedroom, but only when baby is on the point of outgrowing the bassinet. We want to guard our extra space as long as possible!

Crib bedding: To be determined once the crib is assembled.

Furniture

Eh. We haven't felt the need to do much in this category. Sleeping's already taken care of. Changing will be done on a thick towel on the floor. As for the rest ....

Clothing storage: I have a decent-sized closet, half of which contains corporate wear that has not been worn in three years and is not likely to be worn any time soon. This stuff will be donated or cellared, and we'll replace the rods with pull-out drawers. Baby's clothes will live in these drawers.

Toy storage: In the near future, once baby is ready to play, we'll remove some bookshelves (and some books, sniffle) from the living room and add something like this Ikea Expedit shelving unit, horizontally placed for baby-friendliness and furnished with pull-out baskets to keep toys in. This unit can also serve as a room divider of sorts.

Seating: Baby's cousin kindly offered us her outgrown baby bouncer. Since my sister had just sold their Bumbo the week before we "announced" to our family, I tracked down another, along with an accompanying play tray.

Clothing

My sister gave me sacks and sacks of baby clothes that are beautiful, hardly worn, and totally girly. If baby's a she, that will be great; if not ... well. He can wear the least objectionable items while we're at home and nobody else is looking. (I have a feeling I will be okay with this until photographic evidence of precious at-home moments reveals exactly how miserable a darling little boy looks shrouded in purple ruffles, and we're left with nothing to put in our album.)

In addition, a few little green, yellow, and red additions to the wardrobe have been sweetly gifted to us, and let's not forget the bag of stuff I bought during the last pregnancy and ended up shoving down into the cellar during a post-miscarriage fit of "fuck you, universe!" There were some pleasant-to-rediscover, gender-neutral goodies in there.

Feeding

For mama's comfort: In preparation for hoped-for breastfeeding, I bought one soft-shell maternity bra to tide me over until I can shop for my post-birth size, lanolin cream, and breast pads. My sister gave me her Boppy.

Pump and bottles: My sister is weaning her baby soon and then will give me her Medela Pump In Style pump and all kinds of accessories, including bottles. I'm not sure if I will pump, or how often, but it will be nice to have the back-up on hand if needed.

Burp cloths: I snagged three burp cloths in blue, designated expressly for "baby boys" by Amazon's "blue = boy" sex-assignment coloring system. To be determined: if this will balance out the purple ruffles. My stepmom also gave a new life to the legs of my really cute pyjamas that had somehow acquired a lot of little holes in unfortunate locations and thus were no longer wearable as such.

Bathing

Tub: My sister recommended simply placing baby on a towel in the bathtub. Easy and efficient. If not, don't think we're terrible, but we have a low, wide bucket used for mopping that I'm sure can be repurposed. If it weren't for my views on price-value relationships, I'd have the Blooming Bath. In every color.

Linens: I thought baby could just dry off with a corner of one of our towels until I fell prey to this set of four little washcloths and a hooded terry bath towel in ducky yellow during a late-night Amazon spree.

Other stuff

Books, toys, rattles, etc: We have a small collection of hand-me-down treasures, including some from our own childhoods, that will be added to when needed.

Receiving blankets: I wasn't certain these were really necessary, but this pack of five receiving blankets in blue birds and trees were too cute to resist.

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That's it. Other than the bouncer and the Bumbo, which aren't here yet (they couldn't fit into my baggage but will be brought over for us soon during a family visit), and the three-months-plus clothing (which has been stuffed into vacuum-seal bags, sucked into flat little pancakes, and tucked away in the cellar for now), everything fits into the stroller, bassinet and basket both. Baby stuff on wheels!

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That's it, but is that enough? Conversely, is that too much? Bloggie friends who've been through this early stage of babyhood, is there anything you couldn't live without that isn't on this list but that you think I too shouldn't live without? And conversely, is there anything here you didn't find essential or useful? Any and all words of advice will be much appreciated!