And suddenly it was Spring
I’m not holding my breath that winter is over just yet (after all it’s only March) but we had a beautiful weekend here in Winnipeg. We borrowed our friends backpack carrier and checked out a provincial park that is right near the city. Isaac was a little sleepy from napping in the car and Bailey was having so much fun with birds and squirrels he couldn’t sit still, but we had fun. 
Jason and I both tried the pack out as we’re hoping to do some hiking/camping this summer with Isaac and Bailey. We liked it so much we bought a new (to us) one the very next day. In preperation for our summer plans we also picked up Isaac’s first birthday gift…don’t tell him, but he’s getting his very own down sleeping bag. We’re more than a little excited to start checking out all the great parks in the area.
Wrapping fun
We left our beloved Ergo at the babysitter’s today. While I could easily pick it up tomorrow, I’ve decided to wait until he goes next Monday and work with our much neglected wraps instead. So with Jason at a Moose game (hockey) and a soon to be cranky pants Isaac to entertain I thought we’d try a few new carrying positions before bathtime tonight.
ruck back carry
Now they’re still a little sloppy, but not bad for first tries. While I was pregnant I just HAD to have some wraps as I loved the idea and still love seeing pictures of babies and toddlers wrapped. But the Ergo is just SO easy that these have fell by the wayside.
hip carry
Hopefully with a bit more practice these will become just as comfortable as our Ergo and we’ll reach for them more often.
Carriers and more
Here are a few (albeit bad) shots of two of our other carriers. The first is our Mei Tai Baby (MTB) and the second some poorly lit shots of my BB Slen Blueberry wrap (it really is a gorgeous colour in real life or good light).
Please note, he could be wrapped better in the blueberry, but we’re still working on perfecting that one as the material is thicker and softer than my Gypsy Mama Bali Breeze wrap. We’re still not loving the Ergo so he’s never in it for more than 5 to 10 minutes. I’m not sure if we’re just not use to it yet, or if he’s still a little too young. He is a big and tall boy, but I still feel the Ergo forces his little legs too wide right now to get around my body.
To make up for the previous bad shots I thought I’d add a few cute pics of Isaac whose new favorite past time is trying to get all of his toys in his mouth.
It’s a wrap!
Better late than never. Here are some pictures of one of our carriers in action. It’s our Gypsy Mama Bali Breeze 5.5 yard Gaia.
We’re starting to enjoy wraping more now that we’ve had more practice. Also now that Isaac is getting longer he’s not so keen on being froggied in the Baby Mei Tai for long periods of time.
Babywearing
So before we were even pregnant (but almost everyone else I know was) I got very interested in anything baby. I followed a few links and viewed a few blogs and decided baby or not, I NEEDED an Ergo and a Mei Tai Baby (MTB). Somehow I even convinced Jason to support this purchase with the notion that while we’re not pregnant yet (or not even trying at the time..too early in the school year) we know we want kids, and beside if for some reason that didn’t work out, they’d make marvelous gifts. Not sure how that worked, I think he might have still been suffering from speaker glee (common side effect of spending what your wife thinks is too much money on a new set of speakers or some other stereo component). Anyhow we’ve had the Ergo and the Mei Tai Baby in the closet for awhile, then once we found out we were expecting I decided that I need a wrap. After seeing Lorne and Angela’s Moby in action and seeing a picture of Dale with Nate in a Moby I decided that was what I wanted, but while researching these I discovered Gypsy Mama Bali Breeze (GMBB), gauze wraps that are not stretchy but are said to be nice and cool for hot summer days. Since we’re expecting a June baby I decided a GMBB would be a better choice. I became rather addicted to thebabywearer.com (TBW) and found a used one in Jason friendly colours. Once it arrived I decided I need to learn how to use it so I looked up babywearers in the Kingston area. There is a group that meet once a month and I went to a meeting and got to try one of the ladies woven wraps a BB Slen (until then I was thinking I wanted a Didy after reading countless posts on TBW). So then I decided that a) I needed a woven wrap and b) I wanted a BB slen and c) you need at least two colours of wraps so as not to get bored. Anyhow over the Christmas period I acquired two beautifully broken in previously loved BB Slen wraps…now I’m done…at least until baby gets here. I should note I’ve been interested in baby wearing since before me and my friends even thought about having kids. I’d seen a lady wearing her toddler in Vallhalla downtown Courtenay and after staring for about two minutes finally approached her and asked about it. I loved the idea of not having to maneuver a stroller through the store and her little man just seemed so happy. Enough talk, here is the good stuff – stash pictures:
From left to right: MTB with dragon flies, blueberry BB Slen, MGBB Gaia, paprika BBSlen, and Black Ergo with camel lining.
Close up of beautiful blueberry
Close up of savory paprika
You’ll note all carrier (save maybe the shimmery dragonflies) are in papa friendly colours too!
