Video Monitor Upgrade

Since day one, we couldn't possibly have lived without a video monitor.  They are seriously the best invention to hit the baby product market...EVER.  Especially for a control-freak like myself.  It just gives us the piece of mind that we need to ensure that Evelina is safe and sound in her crib/bed. In the early months it helped me check if she was still breathing or if she had escaped the swaddle, we caught her moving from lying to sitting via the video monitor for the first time, standing, trying to climb out of the crib and actually succeeding with a bang.  We would have never known these things to have happened with just sound alone. It has also come in very handy to determine if she is just whining or actually awake so we don't go it to get her if we really don't need to.  Seriously...the best invention!! 

Until a few weeks ago, we used the Summer Infant Day and Night Monitor. It has been adequate at meeting our needs but the volume control started malfunctioning months ago and with the impending arrival of Siby, we needed to think about investing in a monitor that could accommodate multiple cameras easily. 

After endless research (you know me), we decided on the Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor with 3.5" Color Screen. Babies R' Us had a great offer for one with 2 cameras which we couldn't pass up.  So far, we are loving it.  Some of our favorite features are: 

• The nice large screen
• The camera has the ability to pan around the room so if Evelina gets out of bed during the night, we can pan the camera and look to see where she is (aka, not in any trouble).  
• Adding the second camera was a breeze and is ready for Siby's arrival.  It can also hold up to 2 other cameras so if we ever wanted to put one in the playroom, we could.  
• It has a scan function that can rotate between cameras automatically.  This should come in handy once Siby arrives.  
• It displays the temperature in the room.  I LOVE this.   
• It has a two-way communication function, which has been invaluable for us.  I thought this would be totally useless, but the first time I used it, Evelina proceeded to do exactly what I said and was back to sleep in minutes.  We continue to use it when she wakes during the night and rarely have to get up to go into her room.  We think she is afraid of it, but not enough to cry or scream.  So until she starts defying the voice in the monitor, we will go with it. 
• It has a music function that you can set to play lullabies in the room, this may come in handy for Siby.

The only negative I see at this point is that the battery power isn't the best, especially if you have the camera on for an extended period.  I think this is common for most video monitors though.  

I clearly have issues or nothing better going on in my life if I'm this excited about a video baby monitor!! Oh well :-)