Mark & Olly

Have you seen this show yet? It's actually very interesting. I watched last season as well. These two guys go off into some of the most remote places on earth and live with different tribes of people. They become immersed in the culture and ultimately become adopted family.

I was watching last week's episode today and was taken by the babywearing I saw in the show. I'm fascinated by other cultures and love to see how they care for their babies. Since I was watching on TV, I grabbed my trusty camera and took some shots of the TV (hence any graininess and the stretching of the people). From what I can tell, they appear to wear their children in a pouch of sorts as I don't see any kind of knots. I must say, I'd think they'd be much more comfortable if they spread that fabric over their shoulder instead of bunching it at the neck.

Here's one mother wearing two of her children. One in front and the other behind her with the pouch over her head. I can't imagine that being comfortable!


Mark & Olly were given an infant wooly monkey to care for after the villager's killed the parents for food. Here Mark is tying a jacket or shirt around Olly's neck as sort of a sling.

Babywearing Motrin Stupidity

I read about this a week or two ago I guess. I just never blogged about it. None of my IRL friends have mentioned it so I'm unsure if it's reached their ears yet so here I am to spout off about it!

Motrin put THIS ad out and boy oh boy did they catch flack for it! The snarky tone and the message had me fired up. Did they not do a focus group or survey any babywearing moms? Apparently not. To make it even worse, they put the ad out during International Babywearing Week. Oh my.

I love to wear Bella. I'll readily admit I love the attention and compliments I get when wearing her, but I do NOT wear her as a fashion statement(although my carriers are cute! LOL). She's not an accessory to my ensemble. I am also not in pain when wearing her. If you're in pain, you're wearing the wrong carrier or just wearing the right carrier wrong. Wearing my baby does not make me look tired and crazy. In fact, it keeps both her and I calm. I have my hands free to shop or do things with the boys and she loves to look around. She usually naps in it as well. And really? Now I'm an *official* mom? Whatever. I was an official mom the minute I conceived.

Motrin I know you've apologized but from now on, I hope you do a bit more research into your target audience. Maybe you meant for this ad to come off as sympathetic but you missed the mark.

Animal Kingdom Pics

We were watching this guy go thru a training exercise in which his handler thru food to him. She said he enjoyed the crowd's reaction when he caught it with his mouth. When he was done and going in for the night(park was closing), he stoped and pounded his chest for us. It sounded like bongo drums! I didn't expect it to be that loud or even that pitch.


Wearing Bella- I wore her all day and we were both fine. She loves being so close and she always falls asleep. I get some extra exercise since I'm carrying extra weight.

Zoo day!

I called up my friend Jen last week to see if she wanted to take advantage of this lovely weather and head to the zoo. So that's where we were this morning. It was so quiet- unless you count those loud siamang/gibbons and even the lemurs at one point. They are right next to each other and I swear the lemurs were telling the gibbons to shut up already! :) The boys had a great time together. Ian took a few minutes to warm up to them (as he does with anyone) but after that, he and Zane took off together. I was able to wear Bella all day which I love. I even got her up on my back by myself, not once but twice (scared Jen when she saw me fling Bella up there. LOL). I stole the pic from her blog so I could post it here.

Enter to win a Beco

Win a Beco Butterfly from babySNAZZ!

Go check them out! They carry lots of nice stuff in the store too!

Beautiful day!

This time of year is so nice. Ian, Bella and I went to the park this morning to meet some other babywearing mamas. I got to see some new wraps and a Babyhawk in person. I was able to do a back carry in my wrap with Bella although she doesn't seem entirely comfy back there. She doesn't like back carries so much yet. I've never seen so many BW mamas together! I also saw a mom in a ring sling and a mom in a Mei Tai that were NOT with our group! I never see anyone BW in our area so that was nice.

I also talked to one of the moms about pediatricians and it turns out she doesn't like my ped either. She and some other moms recommended a few others to me that do take our insurance so I'm going to look into them. Except for Ian's behavior at home and in the car, it's been a really nice day!

Craziest things

Ian, Bella and I went into Goodwill this afternoon because someone said they had a Leapster charger/battery. We were walking towards the back where they keep that stuff locked up and a lady walked by me and smiled at Bella (I was wearing her) and proceeded to rub her head. Please don't put your hands on my baby. I don't know you. Ugh.

That's not the craziest part though. She joined up with her friend and walked to the cashier. When the friend turned around, she had a monkey, an honest to God, live monkey in the cleavage of her shirt. O.M.G. It was really cute though. When I told dh, he said it must have been a very happy monkey. ;)

Great Babywearing article

Babywearing and strollers from the Washington Post

Babywearing at the park

Ian, Bella and I went to the park this morning with some friends. It was too nice of a day to pass up. We don't get many non-humid days at this time of year so I like to take advantage. I decided to wear Bella in my new O&A SSC. I tried getting her on my back but it took 3 tries and help from a friend in order to do it. How come I don't have these issues at home? I felt stupid because I know anyone looking at me was probably thinking "and that's why I use a stroller" or "that just looks too complicated". Ugh. I want to be a role model for babywearing. Guess I need more practice and Bella needs to learn to keep her legs in one place! LOL

I did talk to one mom who was wheeling a huge travel stroller everyone included ON the equipment (wheelchair accessible playground). I mentioned she should try BW and her reaction wasn't what I expected. She was all like I'm a 3rd time mom and I've tried this and that and she(baby) wants me to hold her and blah, blah, blah. So I just mentioned I had a wrap with me if she wanted to try it when the baby woke up and then dropped it. I don't get her excuses though. Her baby wants to be held. Hello?! What do you think you're doing? Your baby is up against your chest if you are doing a front carry. There's no where better! Ugh. I'm guessing she started out with a pouch that was too big or a ring sling she didn't like/know how to use or even an uncomfortable Bjorn and now she's just turned off of BW. Wish I could have helped her.

Babywearing Circa 1963

Babywearing
The Mei Tai hasn't changed much except we don't "lash" our kids in. LOL Think the wood seat was the precursor to an infant bucket seat? She was way ahead of her time!

Great Mail Day!

Everything came today. Yippee! Got both of my carriers and of course I tried them on immediately. Even did a back carry in my O&A and Bella didn't complain. I tried 2 different carries in my new wrap. Still not brave enough for a back carry. She's so little and my arms aren't that flexible to hold her and wrap at the same time. I put her on my back in the O&A while sitting on the bed just in case she fell. :-O

My books are here although I seem to have no time to start them. I'll do that tomorrow. And dh's Crocs along with mine came in but mine are going back. :( I got the Adara and they are too wide for even my wide feet. Darn. That's why I don't like shopping online. It beats paying full retail though even if it takes a bit longer.

Patience is not my thing

I hate waiting on mail, especially when it's fluffy mail! Where are my new carriers??? One was sent from Canada a week ago and the other was just shipped Thurs/Friday so I'm not really expecting that one until next week. I keep checking the tracking numbers on one carrier and my new books (Twilight for book club and Brisingr for fun) to see where they are!

Are they here yet? Are they here yet?

Wanna see what I'm getting?
Gypsy Mama Crinkle Gauze (hand dyed) wrap in Rainbow Sherbert


Olives & Applesauce (O&A) 16" in Disco Dots. This is a SSC (Soft Structured Carrier) so it's a bit different from my Mei Tais. I can see how babywearing can get addictive! LOL


I sold my Kozy and the fabric so I could fund both of these. I'm antsy to get them and try them out!

Tired

What a tiring day! Judge me if you will, but we took the boys to Disney today. Go ahead, tell me what a bad mom I am. Logan's homework was turned in early and I have his list for next week already so we were good to go. It was Robert's last official day of vacation too.

We decided to hit Epcot today. We got to do quite a bit! Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Soarin' (twice), Mexico's boat ride, new shows/stuff inside Innoventions (free velcro frogs!) and Test Track! Since Ian is now tall enough, he was able to do both Soarin' and TT. He never smiles on rides but he says he loves them when they are done and wants to go again. This was only my second time on Soarin' and I loved it even more. We were in the 2nd row and it was better than the 3rd row. Maybe one day I'll make it up front. It really does feel like you're flying!

New stuff- Velcro is now a sponsor of an exhibit at the Innoventions building. They put on a little show and some kids get to participate in building a velcro skyscraper and the second half of the show, a couple of dads get to participate in a baby diapering/feeding race. Guess who was picked? Yep- dh!! LOL I was cracking up! I'll post the video in a sec.

Right outside the show is a velcro frog station. Jen, I'm sure your boys will love this. They are just plain green frogs and you get to dress them up with crowns, glasses, ties, clothes, etc. We even got Mickey ears for Ian's frog. All FREE! Still not as good as the free robots we were getting but it's all good.

There's also a new recycling/Waste Mgmt exhibit and storm exhibit. The WM exhibit wasn't working at the time. The storm one is a preparedness quiz and puzzle thingy. We didn't really go thru it.

What else....spotted a Daddy Babywearer today! When I came off of Soarin' he was standing nearby wearing an Ergo. I had never seen one in person so I went over to talk to him. Little ole shy me stopped a complete stranger (a man at that) to ask him about his carrier. I really liked the look of it. (Did I mention I sold one of mine to try a new one? More of that in another post)

Can I just say what a pleasant, wonderful baby girl I have? She fussed maybe once or twice today. She was up way past her bedtime and didn't make a peep despite being super tired until we got home and I set her in her crib. Then she let me know she was ready for bed! LOL I think I have the only baby in the world who won't sleep in the car too. She doesn't cry at all, she just sucks her fingers and sometimes talks back there. Ian however was asleep before we even hit the parking lot! Ok enough jabbering...here's that video. I'm lucky I got it. My battery was THIS close to being dead.

How cute is he in his pink/purple apron?

Vacation day 2

I think I forgot to mention that dh is on vacation this week. It's nice having him around- for a week at least. We headed to the Florida Aquarium this morning to see some fish, sharks, penguins and more! Unfortunately, they are undergoing renovation so no sharks and we missed the penguin encounter so no penguins either. Ian was disappointed. I really don't see the appeal in a FA membership except if you have small kids who like to play in their Explore A Shore outdoor water area. Ian's not really into it so we didn't bother today. I guess I'm just not that into looking at fish and either is dh.

After the aquarium, we were all hungry so went to Mimi's Cafe where I got to taste my first fried pickles appetizer. If it ain't fried, it ain't the south! They were okay the first few bites but they were way too salty after that. I need to guzzle down some water tonight and tomorrow! I did have some yummy pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies. Mmmm. It's been so long since I had pot roast- probably not since my mom last made it. I may have to make some up in the crock pot one night for the boys and I.

After lunch, it was time to go get Logan at school. We were early (I'm always there at least 30min early so I can park up front) so dh took a nap and Ian watched part of a dvd. Came home, ate dinner and off to tumbling class.

Logan is doing so well in class! He's taking direction really well. No more tears either! He can do a handstand and hold himself up with someone spotting him of course and holding his legs. I can see how his arm muscles have gotten stronger. When we first started, he had jelly arms. I just paid for October's classes tonight so you'll get to hear how he's doing for at least one more month!

Here are a few pics from today!

Who you staring at?!
(It doesn't look like it but this fish was HUGE! He could have swallowed Ian whole)







Look! It's Crush!


Bella in our Mei Tai Baby.

Selling my Mei Tai

I'm just not using it like I had hoped I would so it's up for sale on thebabywearer.com if anyone is interested. HERE's what it looks like. Asking $70ppd.

A long Ikea day

We finally made it to Ikea this weekend! Yay! We even took all 3 kids. The boys were really good for the most part. I think we were there for at least 4 hours including lunch. Bella was perfect. I wore her for the first half and after lunch I put her in the stroller. She even took a nap in it without a fuss.

Lunch over there was decent. The boys had mac & cheese with fruit and gobbled it all down. Dh had a veggie wrap and I had some chicken & fries. We all shared a slice of their apple cake with vanilla sauce. The cake was so-so. My chicken was really good though- tender and moist and the fries were seasoned. They have some yummy honey-mustard sauce too. On our way out we picked up some cinnamon rolls too. I just ate one- yumm!

We got a few things for Christmas gifts, a ladybug rattle/toy for Bella and this huge playmat for her. It's really nice. It has a baby proof mirror and some toys attached to it plus it's skid proof on the bottom. It's much larger than our little playmat and since she rolls all over the place I really wanted something bigger. We don't have nice soft carpet anymore. We also bought some new cutlery for the boys to use. I didn't see any plates for them though. I was hoping to find some sort of melamine type plate so I could stop using paper.

I found so much I want to get for us and Bella's room. They have really cool flower lamps for her bedroom and in a couple of years, I want to get her a toy kitchen and buy her these and these and these. They are all metal and can actually be used for cooking. I could easily furnish and decorate my entire house in Ikea stuff! I can't wait for ours to open! It will only be 25 minutes away versus 90 minutes away!

On our way home we hit a nasty storm. A lot of lightning and torrential rain. I could hardly see in front of me and we were going way below the speed limit. Thank goodness it was over in a few minutes. I hate driving in the rain! After hitting Mickey D's for dinner for the boys and Publix for subs for dh and I, we headed home. After putting Bella to bed, I went out to SuperTarget for some groceries so I'm just getting home once again. I started this blog probably 4 hours ago and I'm just getting around to finishing it. Phew! Busy, busy!

Hahaha!!!

I was out shopping today for diapers and grabbed some sushi (calif. rolls) at SuperTarget on the way out for a late lunch. Dh had never had wasabi so I gave him a small taste of just that. He tasted it and nodded his head that it was good and then it hit him 5 seconds later. If you've never had it, the heat of it goes straight to your nose. I was dying laughing at him! I wish I had thought to get my camera out.

I also had to go to Costco for a few things and was wearing Bella in my mei tai. She had fallen asleep and one of those sample giver ladies asked me if she was suffocating in there. I was nice and said no, she's just asleep. But really?! Do you think I'd let my daughter suffocate against my chest?? Oy vey!

Babywearing contest!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Wow! You can win 5 different baby carriers if you enter this contest! I'm all for that!! So please enter and if you win and want to pass one of the carriers back on to me, I'll love you forever! LOL

Wordless Wednesday

Downtown Disney (final installment I think)

Boy I can drag out a 2.5 day weekend vacation, huh? LOL

We checked out of the hotel Sunday morning. On our way out, we passed a guy who was sitting outside his room. Mind you, it's like 9:20am and there's already one beer bottle outside his door and he has another one in his hand and a cigarette in the other hand. Classy. Maybe he has kids like mine though that drive you to drink or at least wish you had a drink.

We drove over to Downtown Disney (like a 5min drive) and it was so empty! We've never been there that early before so it was nice. We walked around one of the Disney shops and took some pics with a lifesize Buzz. The boys each made a LightSaber which Ian had been asking for all weekend. I forgot to get pics of that. Then we walked over to McD's for brunch for the boys and back across the plaza to Earl Of Sandwich for Dh and I to eat. And back again to the Lego store. We got plenty of walking in! ;)

The boys were in Lego heaven (and so was dh). The one thing they really love is making Lego people so we found the station where you can do that. They each made 3 people and got a lanyard to put them in. They have a wall of Lego People (presumably all different in some way) across the front wall of the store. The back wall is all bins of different colored/shaped Legos in bulk you can buy. Oh boy. Dh had a ball with that! I even found a few cute things like little Lego flowers and trees. :) Had it not been Bella's lunch time, I'm sure they could have spent hours in there. (It was just too hot outside to nurse and too crowded inside)





This is the new T-Rex cafe they are building. It's by the same owners of the Rainforest Cafe. Looks very cool!!





Wall of people