Favorite Things Post #2

i've bought quite a few baby carriers, but one of my favs is my mei tai that i purchased from heavenly hold. i really don't know how i would have managed all this time without a baby carrier. J loves to be held, which is all well and good, but makes doing pretty much anything else a bit of a challenge. so the carriers really allow us to multi-task. and he loves being close to us. he usually falls asleep, but when he is awake he just quietly looks around and checks things out (much like he's doing in the pic above). a definite must have for parents everywhere!!!

PotD: Not so little anymore

here is a comparison of J in the baby carrier on...

6.26.10

today (9.21.10)

i can't believe how big he is now. i remember when he wasn't big enough for his legs to hang out of the carrier. wow!

5 wk status and other happenings...

well my little guy is 5.5 wks old. i seriously can't believe that it's been that long - amazing! i was telling D the other day that now that we have J here, it feels like he's always been here. no awkward "wow, there is a baby in the house" feeling. he just fits!


we've been really busy lately entertaining guests. last week D's mom and sis came to visit J for a couple of days...

then my parents/sis came (and are currently still here) to visit their adorable grandson/nephew...


here are some cool things that have been happening with us:

• J is now ~11 lbs 5 oz (with no clothes on) when i weighed him a couple of days ago, so he's still gaining weight pretty regularly
• he is now sleeping a *little* longer through the nights. the last few nights he's had about 3.5-4 hr sleep cycles, which i greatly appreciate!
• he does GREAT with "strangers". as long as he's fed, he does awesome being passed around from person to person. no meltdowns at all!
• he likes to start his day off with a BIG bowel movement. i get woken up around 630-7 am to the sound of grunting, and eventually he does his business. but he seems to be making a habit out of starting his day out with an empty intestine!
• he can now follow things with his eyes/head. and it seems like he can pick out my voice and tell who i am (or at least that i'm the one with the food)!
• i'm back to teaching my zumba classes after 4 wks off! it's good to be back teaching especially since i really enjoy the people and the class! and i've been feeling great!
• i can finally wear my pre-pregnancy clothes! after ~7 months with a limited wardrobe i now feel as though my wardrobe has more than doubled. it feels great to have options again!
• breastfeeding is going MUCH better!
• J has much longer awake cycles. but again, as long as he's fed, he does fine just sitting and checking things out for a while until he wants to be held.
• he LOVES the new mei tai carrier we got from heavenly hold! he is out like a light once he's in it. and its allowed us to get out more since i'm not worried about him being fussy. we also just got a mesh ring sling with the hopes that this will make bath/shower time easier/shorter for both of us.

and finally, i tried to get a pic comparison of J then and now. here he is at 1 wk old...

compared to him at 5.5 wks old...

he's filled out a bit, eh? :)

baby carrier heaven!!

a few posts ago i mentioned that i purchased a baby wrap from a wonderful seller off of Etsy. well, a few days after that i also purchased another baby carrier (an Ergo) from heavenly hold. i know, i know, i have SO much self-control!! ;)

i had received my wrap a few days ago; but yesterday when i got home from the gym, i noticed that my ergo had come in. and in typical "immediate gratification" fashion, i whipped them out (as soon as i got them), got out the cabbage patch simulation baby (please don't ask me why i still have my cabbage patch doll), and started practicing (and taking pictures - must.document.everything).

the wrap (which is very similar to the moby wrap in that it is 1 long piece of fabric) was SO intimidating to me (as i knew it would be), but after i found a very helpful video on youtube, i got the hang of it.

here's my 1st attempt

as you can see, i pretty much epic failed at tying it. it should NOT be this tangled looking in the back

but in my defense 1) it was my 1st attempt, and 2) it's hard to maneuver things around my ever-growing belly. i tried again last night, and did much better, so i think i'm just going to practice daily so that i can master the wrap.

the ergo was considerably easier because it just buckles in the back. so once again, i gathered my assistant, and strapped her in.

i can't wait to take Baby T for a spin in these!! :)

Yay more baby stuff...

i'm so excited! we have a car seat! one of my very generous coworkers gave us his son's old car seat. and it's so cute! i just love cute, free stuff! i wasn't able to get a pic of it this morning, but it looks like this:



i believe it's a Graco Snugride.

i also ordered this baby carrier and wet bag from Snuggy Baby on Etsy (another one of my favorites)


can't wait for it to come in! this feels an awful lot like christmas!! :)

system overload...

last night D and i attended a local "new and expectant parents" meetup group. and last night's topic was cloth diapers and babywearing. for those of you that don't know me (and can't tell from my blog), i'm a bit of a hippie at heart. and the idea of cloth diapering/babywearing just fascinates me. so i was super excited for the meeting! as was D because he would love to find a way to hold the baby and play his computer games at the same time! :)

but yikes! talk about system overload!! there are just SOOOOO many options out there, and it can be so overwhelming for a 1st timer, like ourselves. it took all of my will power not to run from the room crying with my fingers in my ears. but then again, i'm easily stressed out. that's just part of my personality.

we are registered at target, and surprisingly enough they do have a selection (albeit a small selection) of cloth diapers and slings/baby carriers.

i think the brand of CD that we decided to go with is bumgenius. as i already mentioned, target didn't have much of a selection, but i've heard good things about BG so that works out well. check out how cute they look - man, CDs have come a long way...

and now onto babywearing....

we got to see/learn about SO many brands of baby slings and carriers it wasn't even funny. the thing that originally interested me in babywearing was the you could keep baby close to you, while you did other things (i like to be efficient). but i learned last night that there are other benefits to babywearing:

1. helps baby with their transition from the womb
2. reduces crying (sign me up!) and colic
3. improves baby/parent bond
4. helps with baby's growth, physically, intellectually, and emotionally
5. ....and it keeps strangers from germing up my baby!! :)

the 2 that i really liked were the moby wrap and the mei tai. the moby is a bit more complicated to tie than some of the other wraps/slings/carriers we looked at, but it seemed to be (at least to me) the most secure and versatile. and excitingly enough, target carries it, so we've put it on our registry. luckily i still have time to learn how to wrap it properly before Baby T arrives. the mei tai, however is not carried by target, so we'll have to order that online ourselves. but no biggie!

moby wrap

mei tai

and some useful resources, for those interested:

1. the baby wearer
2. diaper pin
3. cotton babies