Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

Little is pretty intrigued by the whole babywearing thing.  It’s just part of her life (being the only thing she’s known since Boo was born), but it is cute when she talks about it.  Here are a few of her recent comments concerning babywearing…

Several weeks ago she was in the big part of a shopping cart playing with the reusable shopping bags while I gathered the things we needed.  She put the handles of a red-patterned bag over her head, slid her baby doll between the bag and her body and declared, “Baby in sling.”

Most anytime we’re running errands I pop Boo into a carrier and push Little in the cart or let her walk while holding my hand.  A couple of times recently we’ve been running into a store to pick up a single item, and instead of taking the time to get Boo into the sling or mei tai I’ve just carried him on my hip and held Little’s hand with my other hand.  She’s always very concerned when this takes place (and heaven forbid if I put Boo into “her” seat in the shopping cart!) and tells me in no uncertain terms that “Boo need to in ride sling!”

And finally, the other day she was playing with her baby doll.  She was holding baby against her body with her “dee” covering the baby’s body.  For a few minutes she just walked around the living room with baby like that.  Finally, her daddy asked her what she was doing.  Her response?  ”Carry baby in mei tai.”

I think she needs a child’s sized sling or mei tai for Christmas.  Matt thinks I’m crazy.

November 12-18 is International Babywearing Week and to celebrate Steph of Adventures in Babywearing is hosting a carnival where she’s invited all of us to share our babywearing stories.  She’s also giving away a Nest Sling and a Hatchling Sling courtesy of Nonny & Boo to lucky participants.  (I would love to have one of these beautiful slings).

When Little was born a little over two years ago I’d really never heard of “babywearing” and all of the slings, wraps, and other babywearing accessories.  I did, however, feel drawn to the closeness and convenience of having her in a carrier as opposed to pushing a stroller or, especially, toting around an infant carseat everywhere we went.  I registered for and received an Infantino buckle carrier and so began my babywearing career.

I used the front carrier with Little for about 5 months, but it was never really comfortable for me; I felt like I was constantly tightening and adjusting the buckles and straps.  (Not to mention that she’s tall and I’m short, so it wasn’t too long before her feet were hitting me in the knees.)  When Little was several months old I found Steph’s blog and through her writing and a few other resources became very interested in wearing my future babies.  As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Boo I started contemplating babywearing, what types of carriers I wanted to use, and how helpful it would be to wear baby since I would have a not quite two year old in tow as well.

My first carrier was a Sleepy Wrap; I purchased the wrap before Boo was born on the recommendation of my SIL.  I started wearing Boo in the wrap almost immediately.  He was about two weeks old when we took him out for the first time, so that was his first ride in the wrap.  I loved having my tiny baby so close to me and with the wrap I was able to cover his head if needed when we were in crowded places.  It also discouraged random people from asking to touch him which was a very nice benefit.  Any time I wrapped him he fell right to sleep and would sleep the entire time he was worn.  The Sleepy Wrap saved my sanity several times in those first few weeks and months when he was fussy but I needed to be doing something else with my hands (cleaning, cooking, helping Little, etc.).

When Boo was a few months old I gave myself heat exhaustion wearing him in the wrap (black) at the zoo (in June) and decided it was time to invest in a new carrier.  I tried a pouch sling and couldn’t get one to fit properly, so I bought an adorable blue and green ring sling.

I wear my ring sling all the time and love the convenience of slipping it on to run in to a store real quick and for times that we have several errands to run.  It stays in the car so that I always have a carrier handy when I need it.  I do need to learn some new carries (for older babies) because Boo is getting a little cramped in the kangaroo carry and doesn’t like to bend his legs nicely to go into the tummy-to-tummy carry.  Any suggestions for different carries?

My current favorite carrier is my BabyHawk.  We got it before we went to the beach a few weeks ago and I love, love, love this mei tai.  Boo loves to ride in it and look around or sleep sweetly against my chest.  He’s big enough now that we can use the back carry some, and I’m looking forward to trying out the back carry with Little sometime.  It is pretty much guaranteed that he’ll fall asleep in the mei tai if he’s the slightest bit sleepy, so I’ve used it more than once to get him to nap when he didn’t want to lay down.

Babywearing is not a big thing in our area.  I’ve seen a few other moms out and about wearing, and I’ve gotten a ton of questions and more than a few strange looks as we’ve been seen wearing Boo around town.  I’m happy to say that several of my friends are planning to babywear (at least sometimes) as a result of hearing me rave about how much Boo and I enjoy the experience.  Hopefully they will love it as much as we have.

I love having Boo close.  I  love the extra snuggles and kisses I get to sneak in as we go about our day.  I love having my hands free to chase Little or do the things that I need to do.  I love this babywearing thing, and I’m so glad that we’ve chosen to make this a part of our parenting plan.

In fact, I’m trying to convince Matt to add “Babywearing” as a line item in our budget.  Think it will work?

Hi. I’m still here and everyone is doing fine. I would love to say I’ve been away because we went on a fun trip or because something super exciting was going on, but that’s not the case. I’ve spent the week with a potty training 2 year old (more on that later) and a teething 6 month old (more on that later, too) and a good time to blog just hasn’t presented itself. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

Tonight I’m off with my best friend for a girls’ night out to celebrate meeting our Challenge goals. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The random integer generator spit out number 58 which matches to the comment where Stacy says her favorite Starbucks drink is “Just a plain ‘ol vanilla latte.”  Congratulations, Stacy, you’ve won the $5 Starbucks gift card!

Thanks to all 265 people who left comments entering the giveaway.  It was fun reading everyone’s favorite drink, and I got some ideas for something new to try if I can give up the Pumpkin Spice Latte for a visit or two.  A lot of you love the Caramel Macchiato or the White Chocolate Mocha which are usually my standards when Pumpkin Spice is out of season.  I was also interested in all the comments about the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate; I’ve been intrigued by this drink since it was introduced but was scared to try it (ya know, “don’t mess with a good thing” and all).  Several of you commented that it is very good, so I’ll have to give it a try.

If you came by just for the giveaway I hope you’ll stop back by sometime.  I’ve enjoyed having all the company.

It’s the fourth Tuesday of the month which means it’s time for the October edition of “What’s on Your Nightstand?” at 5 Minutes for Books.

My nightstand stack has gotten a bit shorter this month because I’ve focused on reading what was there before moving on to the rest of my Fall Into Reading challenge books.  Once again, I planned on posting a picture, even took one and uploaded it, but for some reason WordPress isn’t let me add it to the post; maybe next month.

So, here’s what’s on my nightstand:

Currently reading – The River Why by David James Duncan

Still there from last month – Stardust by Neil Gaiman, The Pact by Jodi Picoult, Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

Still there from August – Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

New additions:

The Englisher by Beverly Lewis.  I’ve read several of her books in the past including The Preacher’s Daughter which is the previous book in this series, Annie’s People.  The tales of Amish life and love that she tells are always enjoyable.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.  This one’s been on my “want to read” list for a while, so I’m looking forward to diving into it.

I don’t feel like I read much in the last month, but I managed to finish three books.

My Beautiful Idol – this book was great!  It is a memoir telling the story of one man’s (Pete Gall) journey with and toward God.  It’s entertaining, well written, and quite convicting.  I would definitely recommend this book.

A Wind in the Door – I finished the second installment in L’Engle’s Time Quintet and really liked it.  I thought it was just as good as A Wrinkle in Time, and I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series sometime in the future (probably this winter).

The Center of Everything – This was a fun coming of age book without being cheesy or “chick-lit”-y (um, yeah, had to make up a word there).  It addressed a wide variety of topics facing the narrator between the ages of 10 and 15 as it explored growing up in small town USA as a less-than-privileged child.  Look into this one for a well written, engrossing read.

I think that covers it for October.  Check out “What’s on Your Nightstand?” to see what others around the blogosphere are reading this month.

Happy reading!