Things you didn't know you need

These items were lifesavers for us:

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Newborn Starter Set
If you're a hardcore "breastfeed only, nature is best" nazi, skip this section. Otherwise, if you're like most modern working people who don't have infinite time and energy, then you're probably going to (at some point in your baby's life) bottlefeed your baby. In my opinion, there's nothing better than a set of bottles where the nipples actually mimic the natural breast. By using Tommee Tippee, our baby never had "nipple confusion" and could switch back and forth easily. Highly recommended.

Zojirushi Tuff Slim 17-Ounce Stainless-Steel Vacuum Bottle

If you happen to have the world's most perfect baby (<1%) then skip this section. But if you happen to have a normal baby that is picky about the temperature of the milk (fresh 98.7F), then this is for you.

Normally a new baby will wake up every 2-3 hours (around the clock) and by the time you're done heating up the water/milk, the baby is furious and screaming for milk. By pre-mixing the right temperatures, you can just pour water straight to the bottle without having to worry about temperature. This is a time and scream and stress saver. Must have. Get the best. Zojirushi vacuum insulated ones are the top of the line. Tiger brands (Korea) are decent too. American brands just don't cut it (most don't give you the exact temperature retention ratings).

Munchkin Formula Mixer, Colors May Vary
Have you even spent over a minute mixing the formula and still see clumps on the bottom? Have you ever endure your baby's screaming cry for milk while you shake shake shake shake shake the bottle and yet it's still not read? You must get this mixer. In 10 seconds, the milk is ready. Scream and stress no more.

HDE Temperature Gun Infrared Thermometer w/ Laser Sight

and the

MicroTemp MT-100 Digital Infrared Thermometer

I don't need to say how great it is. You already know how great it is. You can use it to measure the temperature of the milk (INSTANTLY) and approximately whether he/she is having a fever. You can use it to measure the temperature on the floor (ambient temperature) and temperature outside. This device is amazing. It is not as accurate as basal or armpit methods (to the closest 1 degree), but it is FAST, and accurate enough. Just get it.

Summer Infant 2 Pack Cotton Knit Swaddleme, Green/White

An infant has no hand-eye coordination. He will sleep, wave the arms randomly and hits himself and starts crying furiously. Why torture your baby when you can give him a sense of peace and tranquility with the swaddle? Please swaddle your baby so that he will sleep better. No, swaddle him/her so the entire family can live in peace. Just get it.

P.S. Please spare me the "I want to give my baby freedom! Swaddling looks so cruel!" and go take a parenting class before lecturing me about how evil it is to swaddle children.

Sanyo NEW 1500 eneloop 8 Pack AA Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries

You'll notice that baby toys use batteries. Lots and lots and lots of batteries. Get the rechargeable ones, they're worth it in the long run.

La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger

You'll need a great battery charger with the expensive Eneloop batteries. These are amazing. They will tell you how much charge you've used, voltage, refresh (memory effect), so on so forth. Just get it.

Renting vs. Buying

No I'm not talking about housing. I'm talking about baby stuff.

One of the things I noticed about parenthood, is that 1) there are always surprises (e.g. you need this, you need that, baby outgrows this, outgrows that) and 2) you're on a never ending quest to buy more and more and more and more stuff . Very soon you'll realize that either you need more room, or to organize your life better.

We're city folks and we live in a 2 bedroom apartment. It's not very big, and yet half of the items in the apartment belong to our son, Calvin. There's the jumper, 2 electronic rockers, one rocker-seat, one walker, one crib, boxes and boxes and boxes of diapers, dividers, and toys toys toys toys toys toys toys and more toys all over the place.

Toys are wonderful. They keep your baby pre-occupied so that you can do what you need to do. For example, a baby squirms and turns while you change the diaper. But with a new toy, they are pre-occupied and it makes diaper changing experience 100x easier. Toys keep them busy while you heat up their meal/milk/bath-water or just going to the restroom. Toys are wonderful. Unfortunately, babies get bored of new toys quickly.

Solution: rent toys. Like media or anything else, there is no reason to buy something you use for only a times and then store them in the box forever. We've been renting our toys from http://www.babyplays.com/ and are loving it. The fees are cheap, the toys are sanitized and well packages, and we get new toys once every 2 months (the cheapest plan) via UPS. Calvin is excited with new toys, and we no longer have to worry about storing old toys in boxes that just take up more space (or that we just end up donating, hence wasting $). We've considered those places that allow parents to trade books and toys with each other, but it's been difficult due to our tight schedules.

So before you go out and buy something that your baby will use only a few times, consider renting. It is better for the environment, it saves you money, and it saves you the headache of having to deal with space and storage.

Air travel with a 1 year old

Traveling with an infant is a great challenge, and it can be manageable and even fun if preparation is done well. We just came back from Maui. It was Calvin's first flight and it was really fun. Here are a few big lessons we learned:

1) Day time flights are better. In general, people have more energy during day time and are crankier at night. So when you fly with an infant (or <4 year old kids), aim for day time flight because infants are unpredictable and require more attention when you're traveling, and you will have more energy to deal with them during day time. Let's look at a few scenarios. Suppose the infant is active during day time: he can walk around the isle (or you can walk him around) and people in general will not mind. And if he sleeps, great! On the other hand, when you have a redeye flight, you are gambling-- if he sleeps, great. If he doesn't sleep, no one on the plane sleeps! Here are some key questions to ask yourself before you decide to fly redeye flights: will my baby sleep through heavy turbulence, constant intercom from the pilot and stewardess (even at night), stewardesses asking if you want a drink, people walking back and forth on the plane, so on so forth?

2) Rent a condo/house (or go to a resort if you have +2 year old), and on day 1 buy lots of water/bread/etc so that you can spend more time with kids. Chances are, you're not going to go to the same activities before you had kids (cycling down Haleakala Volcano, snorkeling with your spouse, romantic dinner for 2, rough boat trip to Molokini, etc). Chances are, you will spend more time with the kids because they demand your attention. What that means is that with kids, it is much easier to stay close to where you live and just relax by the pool or the ocean. Renting a condo/house is great because chances are, it is a lot easier to eat breakfast at home (than to drive out to the restaurant, having to buckle the infant, pack up stroller, prepare milk/water, toys, so on so forth). Also, condos/houses have washer and dryer (absolutely essential with kids), as well as dishwashers so it makes your hectic parenting life a lot easier.

3) Leave all the baby stuff at home and rent them. This will save you a lot of trouble in the airport. We rented a bunch of baby stuff, including an umbrella stroller, high chair, bath toys, bathtub, and plastic potty, and toys. For a whole week, it was only ~$80, delivered to your condo/hotel of your choice. There are many great rental places in Maui (just Google for it). We used http://easytravelhi.com/ and they gave us a BUNCH of toys and books that Calvin loved. Some condos/hotels will provide a complementary crib as well, or you can rent them as well.

4) Call the activity sites to see if they are stroller friendly. We went to Feast at Lele Luau and it was right on the beach, so we had to hand carry the car seat, stroller, and a bunch of stuff to the sand (pain). The Luau turned out great anyways, but keep in mind not all activities are baby friendly.

5) Similar to 4, there are actually many great baby friendly places if you do some research ahead of time. For example, Baby Beach (north-west of Lahaina) is a really really great shallow beach for kids, but it is not well documented even on the web so you may have to do some research to know how to get in.

Road to Hana is really Road to Hell for infants and children, because the drive is long, rough, and restroom access is very limited.

6) Aim for high number of adults/kids ratio. The more adults there are, the less daycare work for each person and more fun you'll have. We had 3 adults and 1 infant, so each person only needed to spend 1/3 the [full-time] energy on daycare and the rest on fun. On the other hand, imagine 2 adults/2 infants-- the adults will spend the entire vacation taking care of kids!

7) Internet != WIFI. Many hotels/condos that say they have internet-- but many will still use ethernet (no WIFI). This means if you bring a Macbook Air or a tablet, you're screwed.

That's it for now, I hope this helps other parents!