The Best Invention Ever...so far

So I know that there are many other great inventions out there, most of which have nothing to do with babies (artificial heart, anyone?) but when you are the parent of a newborn or two, you really only care about items that will make your life easier, i.e. sanity savers.

The first real sanity saver I considered was the pacifier. It's cheap, simple, and does it's job...it pacifies. But, unfortunately our dear boys only like the soothies-type binkies which are very hard to keep in their mouth, without assistance from us. So, while the binkie is a great invention, it is not the best invention.

Something that completely blew the binkie out of the water was the Swaddle-me swaddles by kiddapatomous. They not only allow our babies to sleep through the night thanks to the baby straitjacket construction, but they work on velcro which means it is almost impossible (note, I said almost) for them to wiggle their way out of it!!

(note, this is not my baby, but the high paid swaddle-me model)

I admit, it does look like some sort of torture device, but I assure you, it is not...and I promise that I will find a way to create adult swaddles if it means they will sleep through the night until they go away to college!!

And while the swaddle-me is still on the top of my list of great inventions, I have to say that though, getting a baby to sleep, while important, it is just as important (if not more) to find a way to entertain the baby while awake! Sooner or later (unless I find that adult version!) the swaddle will be put away, but the best sanity saver - THE JUMPAROO will still be there!!

For those of you that are not blessed (meaning, those of you who are not gluttons for punishment, he he) with babies, or for those of you who have had babies a while ago, a jumparoo is a contraption in which you place the baby into a swing-type holder which is attached to a circular tray filled with many distractions for the baby. That tray is then attached to what I can only guess is bungy cords that allow the child to move. Here is a picture:

Our boys have the above "Rainforest Model" which is jungle themed in not only it's garish color choices, but in it's obnoxious melody choices. And while I did try to find a jumparoo to match our non-rainforest decor (crate and barrel, are you listening??), we figured this was our best bet because, at least it matched our other rainforest themed baby items. Well, I couldn't care less about how obnoxious the look and/or music is...the bottom line is that it ENTERTAINS OUR BABIES!! And not for a few minutes, but hours at a time!!

And even better, it puts our babies to sleep, without said baby straitjacket! Oh, what a glorious invention!! Not only are our babies happy, downright joyous in this contraption, they jump themselves to sleep!! Here is the evidence (note, some pics are taken with a video camera and some with a regular camera, so please excuse the graininess of some of the photos)

Here's Brody, dreaming of jumping...

And Josh, passed out from his jumping excursion...

And here are some photos of the boys actually consciously enjoying their jumparoos :) Josh is very fascinated with the wheel that makes noise when he spins it!

And here is Brody wondering how to get that blue lizard-thing in the bubble!

I am sure that in months from now, there will be a new greatest invention ever, but this takes the cake...so far :) Have a great weekend everyone!