Oprah, in case you do a "my favorite things: baby" episode ...

Ok, probably not.  Anyways...
Since my life is largely dictated by a little 6 month old right now, that is where my brain usually is.  I am embracing it and thought I'd make a list of my favorite baby items that make life easy or fun right now.
Here they are, in no particular order other than what comes out of my brain first:

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1. sling:

I know baby slings got a bit of bad press this year, but I still love them.  With Drew I used mine when he was still teeny, with Ben he didn't like being in it until he could sit up a little more.  Either way, for those times when you have a cranky baby who doesn't want  to be put down but need to get things done, you can use this and still have 2 free hands.  Somewhere, I have a picture Brandon took of me with Drew in the sling, drinking a bottle while I washed dishes.  Now, why Bran was taking a picture instead of doing the dishes... I don't remember.  There are lots of different styles of slings but this is the kind I have (along with an adjustable D-ring kind) and I love it!
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2. baby legs:

Yeah, leg warmers for babies.  :)  There's so cute and funny, but useful too.  They make changing diapers easier, are nice to warm up babies without the bulk of a blanket, and become useful again during potty training days!   Ooooh, the cute patterns they have for girls!
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3. the Bumbo:

Ben's been sitting in this for a while now, but we've actually been using this lately when we feed him too.  We don't have a good high chair, and the one we do have still seems to swallow him up, so this has been a good spot to keep him upright and stable.  These are great in general though to let babies sit up before they can do it all on their own.  We took ours to the beach this summer and Ben was much happier to be up, seeing all that was going on around him.  A worth-it buy in my opinion.
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4. nursing cover:

I am not including this because I sell them, but because they are so useful!  I did not have one with Drew and there is nothing like the stress of a possible awkward situation while nursing.  I felt like I had to close myself off from everyone every 3-4 hrs or sweat the threat of a falling blanket if I dared to do it with someone around.  With all the traveling we've been doing this summer, it has been a lifesaver and probably my very favorite baby item.
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5. jumpy seat:

Ben's pretty into this right now and it's so cute to watch him in it.  He makes himself laugh!  To me, it's better than a saucer because they get a good leg workout from it at this same time.  We first saw my nephew play away in this thing and decided we had to get one of our own.  A big purchase but I'm happy to have it.
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6. Dr. Brown bottles:

Even though I am nursing Ben, it's always nice to have some good bottles for the times you have to pump.  In fact, I have a 2-day women's conference I'll be attending soon, and this is reminding me that I better start stocking up so daddy can do the feedings while I'm gone!  I love these bottles and I've heard the same from so many people.  There are more parts to clean, but especially for gassy or cholic-y babies they are worth it because they are supposed to be able to digest the milk so much better.  We only use Dr. Brown-- I love the chunky ones best!

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7. baby food grinder:

We're about a month or so into baby food and it's no surprise that our little chunker is loving it!  I made all my own with Drew and plan to do the same with Ben.  It might seem like an extra, time-consuming task, but even when I was working it was no big deal.  We have a little grinder like the one above and some little freezable containers to stick them in if you aren't using it immediately.  For Drew, when we first started with foods, I'd just grind it all at once for the week on Sunday evenings.  I'd stick some in the diaper bag each day and it'd defrost in the fridge by lunch.  As Drew got older and was eating more variety, I'd still use those at lunch and then just grind up whatever we were eating for dinner and give him that (which in turn made us eat healthier too!).  It was easy to move into whole foods because I'd just grind it less and less each week.  I feel like we saved money and were feeding him fresher (and at least better smelling, maybe better tasting?) foods from the start.  I love this little device!

So those are my random 7 favs.  I tried to think beyond the obvious-- some fun, some practical, some unique.  Yeah, I know I included a bottle, but it's because it's a DR.BROWN!  :)  Anyways, those are mine... what are yours?