Best Purchases of 2023

2023 was a year of significant changes in our family structure and lifestyle, as I experienced my second pregnancy and childbirth.
Along with that, the things we needed in our home, as well as our clothing and children's supplies, have changed. Today, I am recording the items we bought in 2023 that turned out to be great purchases.

Bouncer
I bought a BabyBjörn bouncer in preparation for my second child. With my first, I managed fine without a bouncer, using only a high-low chair, but I realized that when taking care of two children close in age, I would need more places to put the baby down or rock them, which led to this purchase.

As a result, I am very happy with the purchase.
Since I bought a bouncer made of mesh material, it is a huge help when I am bathing the baby alone, as I can temporarily place the baby in it. Also, I can rock my older child, who is going through a phase of acting like a baby, in the bouncer while soothing the younger one in a baby carrier. It has been useful in a wide range of situations, such as letting my younger child, who cannot hold their head up yet, sit in the bouncer while I play with my older child on the floor.

Silent Mouse
I replaced the silent mouse I have been using for a long time. I had been using it for over five years, and its responsiveness had started to decline.
It is truly quiet, so I don't have to worry about the sound at all when I work in the room where the children are sleeping. It feels good to click, has operation buttons on the left side, and I am very satisfied with this mouse.

Where the Crawdads Sing
This is a novel. I wanted to read the original, so I bought it in English. The descriptions are delicate and beautiful, and I was immediately immersed in its overwhelming world. While it has elements of a murder mystery, it is not a novel focused on investigating a crime; rather, the story unfolds with the protagonist's growth at its center, so it feels more like reading a human story than a mystery novel. I love the ending; it is quietly dramatic. It has become a novel I want to read over and over again.

MUJI Fragrance Mist: Sleepy Blend
This might be famous, but I bought the MUJI Fragrance Mist in the Sleepy Blend. When I was sleep-deprived with a newborn, I wanted to soothe my feelings, even if just a little. When I smell this scent, my feelings calm down instantly, even when I am feeling irritable from lack of sleep.

Children's Scissors
My two-year-old daughter loves arts and crafts. Since she started wanting to use her parents' scissors, I bought children's scissors in Japan.
The blades are at a right angle, making them safer than adult scissors. The tips are covered, and they have a spring, so even a two-year-old can easily open the scissors. With regular scissors, she could cut but struggled to open them afterward, so this spring feature is very useful.

Crayons
They have great color payoff but can be washed off with water. They are hard to break but draw with a light touch. Furthermore, they don't use harmful materials. They are the perfect crayons. In Vietnam, I could only find crayons that didn't color well or seemed to use harmful dyes, so I bought these from Japan.

Japanese children's products are truly divine. I have been using them for about half a year, and there hasn't been a single day (except when traveling) that I haven't used these crayons. They have now become my daughter's important companion.

That concludes the list of items our family bought in 2023 that we are happy with. There are a lot of children's items, aren't there?
I think our needs will change again next year, so by recording them like this, I feel like I can document the process of our family growing.

Is there anything you bought this year that you are happy with?