Archive for June 2013

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Please come back sun?

Just looking through my photos on my phone and stumbled across this one. It was so lovely to get Elsie up on my back in the warm weather, she got to look around at everything and even had a small toy on occasion whilst being carried. I was getting much better at the back carries and loving my okinami Harris (based on hokusai's wave) which seemed very fitting for our beachy days out. 



Oh and this is Elsie after one of our walks! Just managed to get her down whilst still asleep, if not in a bit of an odd position!!
Signing off, Tamsin xx

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Keeping baby close

When they are newborn it's all about keeping them close, but somehow you lose that and it seems like it's less important. I don't think my 8 month old son needs me any less than he did as a newborn and wrapping helps me keep him close- he's thriving, he's engaged with his surroundings, he's happy and content  and independent. I love wearing my baby. At 4 days old we were finally discharged from hospital and I laid on the sofa, unable to hold my baby in my arms as I was so weak from a massive PPH. I tucked him skin to skin up my jumper and felt at ease. Now I feel the same when he's slung and nestled into me. Baby wearing makes us both happy!


4 DAYS OLD, MY TSHIRT WAS MY MAKE-DO SLING!

8 MONTHS OLD AND STILL AS HAPPY!


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Swings!

Grayson is too young for swings really, he can't even sit up yet, but I donned my ring sling and went for a play. Not only did I get to indulge myself acting like a 6 year old but my 8month old son was wide eyed as we swooshed in the air :)

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Shopping

I hate food shopping, always have, and having a baby in tow doesn't make it any easier. So today I sat in my parking spot for 5 minutes trying to decide whether to take the car seat in the big trolley, or take the baby in the little trolley with the seat, or wrap him, like I usually do. I don't know why I dithered really, the sling is absolutely the best option. So I slung him and marched on in, and man did my back kill! But not because of my sling, my little boy was all cuddled in helping me choose bananas, but those blinking trolleys should come with a wonky wheel warning, it was like steering a tank!


GRAYSON ENJOYING THE STRAWBERRIES FROM OUR SHOP


 At least I got a lovely comment at the tills as I was packing with ease with a little face watching - 'oh doesn't that carrier work well, I must tell my grand daughter to get one' :)

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Not a buggy in sight

This morning we took the Little Frog on our dog walk and did a front cross carry without spreading the passes (thanks Bryony!) which meant that Edward only had 1 layer of fabric holding him in as it was lovely and hot. He stayed pretty cool really, I think as he was against me I could regulate his temperature. I remember reading that about newborns and skin to skin contact, so presume it still applies?! 


Then in the afternoon we took Morse (the dog) for a haircut. While we were waiting I popped into Asda and put Edward in the connecta. At the checkout a lovely lady in front said how happy he looked and that it was lovely to see someone carrying their baby. She said her daughter had just come back from travelling around Cambodia or Laos or somewhere exotic and she said how everyone carries their babies there. She told me how they have the older ones on their back and younger ones on the front with a basket on their head for anything else, not a buggy in sight! 

I love Edward being in the carrier, he's so happy looking out at the world. He has so much interaction with people that I'm sure he would miss out on if he were in a buggy. Checkout people nearly always give him a 'hello' and a wave and have a chat to him, random people come up and say hello to him all the time, if they're lucky he'll give them a cheeky smile or two. It's so brilliant how he gets to interact with the world rather than just being an onlooker.

Steph R

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Unicorn...

Unicorn is the name given to very rare & desirable wraps throughout the babywearing community.

Yesterday, my unicorn arrived! I had been searching for 6 months for a Kokadi Glückstuch and I now have one! This pretty wrap is 50/50 hemp/cotton blend. I love the toadstools and four leaf clovers x




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Little Frog diary - day 2

Today on our dog walk we tried a kangaroo carry and took the little frog to play on the swings:


Then we headed down to Holsworty waitrose to get some yummy food for a BBQ in this glorious weather! We did a front wrap cross carry and I managed it without draping the ends of the wrap all over the ground. 


Walking around Waitrose, 2 lovely ladies came up to us and said how wonderful 'it' (the wrap!) was.  They said how happy he looked and how clever it was. The checkout lady commented that I 'had my hands full', which was actually completely untrue as Edward was quiet and happy in the wrap and my hands were perfectly free to pack up the shopping. I knew he was happy and close to me and I didn't have to worry about keeping an eye on him or entertaining him as I would if he were in a trolley. We lovebaby wearing! 
Steph x

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Little Frog diaries

So today, the lovely Hannah dropped off the new library Little Frog size 5 wrap to me. My mission is to make it soft and lovely for people to use! So I thought we'd try it out first on our daily dog walk, I usually use my beloved connecta, which I can wear Edward in for a few hours in snuggly comfort, so it had a lot to live up to. 

After originally thinking rainbow wraps were not really me, I think I may be a convert. I wasn't totally sure at first as it seemed a bit bright and I'm more of a brown/black/grey neutral kinda gal, but I put it on (I admit I though about what I would wear that would tone it down a bit - white Capri shorts and black vest top) and felt the love straight away, unexpected! We tried a short cross carry that Tamsin had shown me at the last sling meet and although Edward was a bit low down (I think because the wrap is a bit tough at the moment) it was comfy carrying him for our long dog walk:


Edward was quite happy in the wrap and I wore him around the house a bit when we got back.


I actually love the cheery, happy summery colours, perfect for a beautiful sunny day. I think I've decided already I need one of these in my life! 

Later we went into Torrington for a quick trip to the co-op and I tried a front cross carry (FCC) with sling ring on my back, an amazingly clever carry (thank you Lindy for introducing me to this one and to Gill for showing me at the last sling meet) that doesn't even need to be tied as the ring holds it in place somehow! Wow, it blows my little mind. Anyway, I've decided it must be a lucky wrap somehow as in the coca-cola bin by the door there, staring up at me were two coke bottles with mine and Edward's name on. I bought them. Clever marketing coke, very clever. Why I bought them, I'm not sure, I do not really have any need for coke bottles with our names on but there we go. 



The FCC is a great carry as you can pop your baby in and out pretty easily and quickly so I got Edward in the car and left the wrap on. I drove home with a warm summery feeling, being all wrapped up in the pretty rainbow, almost wore it for the rest of the day without Edward in! So day 1 with little frog has been great, it is admittedly quite stiff and thick I think (although my knowledge of woven wraps is pretty limited!) but if I do my job properly, I'm hoping as well as being full of summery loveliness it will be buttery soft and snuggly too! (Then I'll need to buy my own and do it all over again!)
Steph x



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We did it!

Hooray! Today I decided, finally, that I must have a go at a back carry. It went much better than expected. I must admit I've been putting it off for ages, worried that it would all go horribly wrong, but actually it was fine. 


My short size 2 wrap was just sitting on the sofa and I thought 'Right, we're gonna do this'. I thought back to sling meet where lovely people showed me various back carries, laid the wrap out on the sofa, put Edward down in the middle of it, tucked it in his trousers, crossed my arms and held his arms and the wrap and somehow managed to get him onto my back! Tried to adjust a bit and tied it off, and there he was in a 'ruck' carry on my back! It felt surprising secure and I did a bit of tidying up with him back there happily tugging on my hair. Will have to rethink that bit! 

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