Baby-wearing, round 4

We have several options for baby-wearing around here...

First up, chronologically by order of acquisition, is the Peanut Shell sling that we got before Cole was born. I accidentally bought it too large (over the Internet) and so haven't really been comfortable using it, aside from bringing Cole home from the hospital. Back when he was wee I was also a) concerned that he'd somehow fall out and b) a little perturbed by the angle that his neck would take on in there... Jamie used it the other day on a whim and it fit him perfectly - although whether or not the zebra-print is too "effeminate" is up for debate... He said Cole had a great time in it in the hip carry and even fell asleep.

Thern there's the trusty Baby Bjorn which has served us well for a coon's age. It saved the day back when Cole was just weeks old and it became a favourite way for us to travel light. He's still under the weight limit on it, so occasionally we'll use it, but winter clothing combined with his height make it unweildly and of course he's heavy and that can be hell on the back.

The Ergo is still in the closet. I have never been really comfortable in it and Jamie hates the thing, but I don't miss an opportunity to point out everyone we see with one. They always look so comfortable and we keep trying it. I hold out hope that when Cole can hang out on our backs it will be great for us...

And the other day when out walking with Kim we spotted a discarded fabric wrap on the ground. Gross, yes, but for a minute I did think about how much laundering it would take to give it a go... Nevermind.

But, wait - there's more! Introducing the newest member of our team, the JJ Cole Premaxx sling. We were on a hunt to TJ's over the weekend to see if any money could be thrown at the sleeping issue, and we couldn't resist trying on another carrier while we were there. This one fit me and Cole like a charm and in a burst of impulse we brought it home. It's adjustable, so it fits Jamie too, and it claims to fit until 18 months, or 35lbs... I tried it today for a walk solo - Cole rode in it to the library on Georgia - and loved it. He was high up on my hip and we could talk and giggle and he also got a great view of everything going on around us. Here we are in our matching shades:

I pushed the stroller too, since the idea was to play at the library and then head out for a long walk/nap. And then after the long walk, I popped him back into the sling for a bus ride, some walking & shopping and a Skytrain ride home. It was awesome the whole time! He was up high, looking around, making raspberries at me and at the beginning anyway (when it was still sunny) trying to steal my shades.

So far, a thumbs-up to this carrier. Let the good times roll.

And other exciting developments...

You know life is exciting when you are jazzed up about a mop. Sad, but true...

I am not one of those people who really enjoys cleaning. I think I've said this before, possibly using the exact same words... Despite the fact that I can easily find 30 things I'd rather do before breaking out the vacuum, I find I'm cleaning much more often now that we have a baby. Guess it's just one of those things you do, along with talking in the third person, discussing baby poop and perfecting quacking sounds for Old MacDonald while walking down the street.

Now that Cole is crawling, I've become concerned about how we clean the floors... I know, I know - exciting stuff. We use environmentally-friendly dish and laundry soaps, cleansers and whatnot, but I could still be caught Swiffering the floors until recently. Our whole place, with the exception of the bedrooms, has lovely dark wood floors, and it seems like there are constantly new little dust dunes forming around the base of the furniture. Dust and random assortments of my hair, since Cole gets about a handful of it a day, fresh off the scalp. Everything I'd read online said that using the wet Swiffer cloths didn't pose a risk to babies crawling on the floors after they dry, but that's from the same industry that said DDT was delicious, right?

Guilty feelings be gone; I just bought an oMop from Method. The wood floor care kit ($40) comes with the mop, a few biodegradable corn sweeping clothes, a washable microfibre pad and this cool non-toxic cleaning solution that you squirt directly on the floor. I like squirting things right onto the floor, I've realized... And the cleaning solution smells like almonds. oMop is safe for people and the environment, so a thumbs up all around.

It was really easy to use. Perhaps the novelty will wear off (I'm almost sure of that!) but it was disturbingly kind of fun to clean the floor for the first time ever... I was even motivated enough to clean the shadowy, dusty underworld beneath the sofa. I noticed it was really gross under there when I lost a bead and we both had to crawl around looking for it, lest it become a choking hazard for Mr. Curious.

So now I can quit worrying that the Swiffer will give Cole a tail or something, and get on with my day. No more stories about mopping anytime soon, if I can I help it.

Wonder-filled, indeed!

Recently I was doing a little research online about the 4-month sleep regression that's so common for babies. Cole had been sleeping extremely well since about 2 months - we'd settled into a pattern where he went to bed around 7:30 and we woke him around 12 midnight to eat. And then he'd sleep again until about 6 am. It was awesome!

And then around 3 1/2 months, something seemed to change. I blamed myself at first (of course - Mom habit, eh?) because I'd gone to the Okanagan and mucked with that formula a little. He started waking up ALL NIGHT long. He wasn't fussy per se - Cole is an amazingly calm baby - but the pattern was different. He still went to bed easily at 7:30 but he would wake with little grunting noises and keep at it until we checked on him. I thought he must be hungry since he wasn't eating as well during the day (and LaLeche League's answer to everything is more boob) so I kept feeding him when he woke. Then we read that would create a bad habit, so we started just replacing his pacifier, and that put him right back to sleep in a second (I'm trying not to worry about that habit just yet!)...

When spending hours at night online trying to figure out a magical sleep solution (didn't find one), I stumbled across a reference to a book - The Wonder Weeks - that seemed to be describing what we were experiencing. The cover claims to tell you "how to turn your baby's 8 great fussy phases into magical leaps forward". Normally, I'm a little doubtful about claims like this. But honestly, this book is amazing! I think that might be the first time I've bolded text on this blog. It's that good!

It charts out the major milestones of baby's mental development over the first 14 months. Most books talk a lot about the physical milestones alone, but this shows how, behind the scenes, there is so much going on at a mental level before it shows up in things that you can see. Before a baby is able to do something physically, he has to understand large concepts that completely revolutionize how he sees his world.

For example, Cole is just 19 weeks now. He seems to suddenly be interested in and physically able to do many new things. He rolls over both ways, lifts up on his arms, tries to move, is interested in music and musical scales, watches us eat, loves tickling and anticipating the tickling, seems to understand certain phrases and songs, grabs at everything, sits up against us and so much more. This is actually Wonder Week 19 - when he has come to understand the world of events - "a short, familiar sequence of smooth transitions from one pattern to the next".

The book says that after the fussy period (usually a few weeks leading up to the acquisition of the new understanding) there will be an easy period when the baby enjoys experimenting with this new skill.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's written in a very positive, upbeat and fluent style and lends itself well to snippet-reading. That's great for me right now because I don't have time for hours of undisrupted tome-reading! I wasn't able to find it at Chapters online, but I did manage to snag a copy at the Vancouver Public Library. It's so good that I'm actually going to order one from Amazon.

Over 9 pounds!

Cole and I had our follow-up appointment today at the Breastfeeding Clinic. Good news! Cole is gaining weight like a champion - he weighs 4145 grams now - or 9.138 pounds! That is terrific!! The Doctor actually asked me three times if I'd been feeding him any formula (I haven't) and she said his weight gain is excellent. Having a baby is turning me into some kind of European Grandmother type - I keep telling Cole, "Eat - you're too skinny!". He is a tall, lanky baby, so he's not exactly the pudge king, but he is looking so pleasantly chubby!

Speaking of breastfeeding, yesterday during our walk at Van Dusen Gardens I delivered my first ever "public" breastfeeding experience. It wasn't super scandalous or anything - first of all, we found a really beautiful and quiet spot on a bench nestled amongst some shrubberies, and secondly I had my new acquisition - my Hooter Hiders!

The name isn't very eloquent ("hooter" is so Bundyesque) - although also sold as Bebe au Lait. It was a great cover-up that helped me not to feel like I'd be traumatizing any unsuspecting youths in the vicinity... I highly recommend one, if the thought of whipping a boob out in public for sustenance purposes isn't really your thing. I have all kinds of stuff hidden under that thing - a baby as well as a full diaper bag and blanket for him to sit on.

Fabric, fresh out of the mailbox!

Yahoo! My fabric has arrived from PurlSoho! It looks terrific and it only took a week, even though I only paid for the slowest $9.00 shipping. I am weird about shipping charges - I'm extravagant enough to buy costly fabrics online, but pay for faster shipping? No thanks! But I still always get ancy when my things don't show up like the next day... I am also like a five year old when "fun mail" comes - isn't it really a great feeling?

Here's a not-very-good shot of the fabrics... Lots!

Mostly all blues, whites, greys and some lime and other stuff thrown in for fun. The colours turned out to be really true to what was pictured online, so I think I'll be ordering more from this site. My last five days stuck at home with the flu gave me an idea of what it would be like to live as a shut-in, so at least I know I can survive without trips to an actual fabric store!

Most of it will be going into projects for little PJs (along with all that other fabric I have at home), but I think I see one piece that would work better in a little something for yours truly... ;-)

I'll post some photos once I get my projects started...

Best books ever

Jamie and I went shopping today to pick up some books that we can read to PJs, now and later too. We found some adorable books, including some cardboard tactile and peek-a-boo books, a classically-illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh ABC book, a Seuss ABC book and my personal favourite, Scaredy Squirrel, a story probably better suited to a child a few years older, but so funny that I had to get it. I read it to PJs already, and I think he likes it too!

And, we also found the most hilarious tongue-in-cheek book for us, the Baby owner's manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on First-Year Maintenance that came in the Baby Owner's Starter Kit. The book is awesome - it suits Jamie's programming brain and my design sensibilities! It also has lots of actually factual information and is co-authored by a pediatrician and his son, but written in a really irreverent way. Love it! We love it so much that we've ordered the other books in the series too: the Maintenance Log; the Games and Activities book; and the Toddler's Manual.

A life saver

Ahh, pregnant lady pillow - how could I live without you?

I have been having trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep in for the last couple of months. With the growing bump, I haven't been able to lie on my stomach for ages, and sleeping on your back is a no-no (and becoming painful). Side sleeping is recommended, but then my knees knock together and everything gets all out of whack...

Body pillow to the rescue!!! Jamie picked this up for me down in Texas earlier in December. The story of him lugging it home was so funny. He drove to Target to get it (he's not naturally a shopper!) and it's really bigger than I thought. He brought it on the plane with his other carry-on luggage and got many sideways glances from the flight attendants and dirty looks from his seat mates for his troubles! And a huge hug from me when I saw him in arrivals with his backpack, rolling suitcase and the enormous pillow with the pregnant lady above pictured on the side of it!

While sleeping is still not perfectly comfortable what with all the getting up at night and back pains, this pillow really makes a difference. You curl up around it and you can also fold it behind you when sitting on the couch or in bed. It's so squashy and cozy. I highly recommend it to any other pregnant people out there!

Must have

Love, love, love this idea. The Huffington Post recently launched a project to graphically represent the "lunacy of the Bush years" in a series of posters. They asked the public to contribute words that captured this concept and over 1000 suggestions came back. Check out what the submissions amounted to: Bush slogans, people and events.

The end result is a series of three posters that pick the best of the best. The one above is the Bush slogans version - I must have it! They're selling litho'ed copies of the posters for $20 each and the funds will pay for large-format versions of the posters to be placed on buildings in NYC, LA and Washington, like in the concept below.

Do you love it, or do you love it? Buy yours here.

Paper, glorious paper!

I love paper. Fancy paper, journals, art paper, cards... I was looking for part of a gift recently for someone who I don't think reads this blog (although their Mom might- shhh!!) and I needed a cool sketchbook that agrees with my personal stance on the environment. It's so hard to turn down all my favourite Japanese sketchbooks and cool journals and letterpress cards because they're not environmentally sound...

Then we found the Mirage Ecojot series!!! Lovers of art and the environment rejoice! It's not lame looking (unfortunately, still a problem - hello, designers love paper!) and it's perfectly ethical. The pads are made in Canada from 100% recycled post-consumer waste (no new trees!) and certified by the FSC. They're made at a mill that uses alternative power and the inks are veggie-based. And the paper is acid-free, so your lovely musings will be safe from the ravages of time! Oh, and a portion of the price goes to environmental causes.

Locally, they're available at Opus (probably lots of other places too). A great stocking stuffer (Dear Santa...)! :-)

PS, the one shown is not the one I'm giving, but isn't it adorable??

Keep your eyes on the ground!

I love looking into the lives of strangers through the random debris we shed, via book or online form. Since Vancouver's pretty clean, I rarely find anything good floating around! For some fun reading, try the well-known Found Magazine - a series of books, a magazine and accompanying website. The author collects "FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles - anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's life."

Check out the website and click back through the "finds of the day" for some entertaining coffee/lunch browsing. And if you find something good that strikes you, send it in! Here are some finds from the website that made me laugh, laugh harder, wonder and shudder in holy terror, in that order:

FOUND by Linn in Oslo, Norway I found this on the street eight years ago and I've kept it in a box ever since. On the back it says "Step on the gas" in Norwegian. I love this boy who drinks soda and becomes a superhero!

FOUND by David Gonzalez in Los Angeles, California

I found this at the MOCA information desk.

FOUND by Anne Kuhns in Atlanta, Georgia

My roommate and I were walking to the corner store on a rainy Saturday morning, and we found this lying on the sidewalk. I can only assume that the writer and the recipient are BOTH psychos.



FOUND by Kevin Habberstad in Portland, Oregon
I found this while cleaning an office building. It chills me to the bone.

Dear cheese thief...

On Tuesday I bought some delicious Babybel cheese for a snack at work. Each package comes with six adorably small cheeses. I ate one and then left the rest in the fridge at work for future consumption... Well, the following day I went to enjoy some more of my tasty cheese, and lo and behold, some thieving jerk had eaten 3 of my cheesy treats! I left a post-it on the fridge with this note:

Dear cheese thief. YOU STINK! Buy your own food. -M

I bought some more little cheeses today and put them in a container with a note just in case someone breached my not-too-secure system:

Dear cheese thief. Don't you dare steal food from a pregnant lady! -M

I am curious if I'll have any cheese tomorrow! Maybe this person will rub their butt on my keyboard or something to get back at me for, um, not appreciating them stealing from me... Anyway, it reminded me of a new book, Passive Aggressive Notes. Check out the website for some reader-submitted notes, and if you spot any good ones send them in! Here's a snippet from the site:

Good to know that so many people experience the bitter pain of food thievery! And if you see anyone with cheese breath, let me know!

Need some bathtub reading?

I need magazines when I fly. Plural. I normally cave and buy a trashy gossip rag and at least one other magazine that I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen reading. Not including British Glamour, because that's still kind of embarrassing. In Seattle before our flight out to Europe, I bought an issue of GOOD, enticed by the cover article on game theory.

It's terrific - insightful, funny and environmentally-focused, with excellent design that meant it was easy on the eyes! I normally jettison my used magazines in hotels as I travel, but I liked this one so much that I've brought it back. I liked it so much, in fact, that I've just subscribed. When you subscribe 100% of the subscription fee goes to the charity of your choice from a list of great ones. How can they offer such a deal, you might ask? Magazines make money from advertising, not subscriptions (why do you think the phone book is free?). Higher circulation & subscription numbers help magazines sell ad space, so it's win-win.

Speaking of phone books, I read the most disturbing fact today. 10% of landfill waste is phonebooks. Can you believe that? I was so pissed to see phone books on our doorstep when we got back from holidays. We don't even have a house phone!!! Leave us alone with the phonebooks already. I must add emailing a grouchy note to Telus to my list of chores.

Now on the way home from our honeymoon it was a different story. We didn't have time to airport shop (oh, the agony!) and I didn't get a chance to buy more magazines. I gave up on reading the leftover British Glamour and instead suffered through Transformers, Hot Rod and some other equally terrible movie that I can't remember. I didn't realize that movies aimed at teenage boys had gotten so bad!

Mmmm-armalade

On the weekend I bought this delicious MacKays Scottish 3 fruit marmalade from Stongs. It's really tasty! Bitter and tart enough, but sweet too. I am going to try to make my own marmalade again this year (haven't done it for a few years). I hope it turns out better than my ill-fated attempt at making low-sugar pear jam earlier this Fall (more on that later!!).

This marmalade is great on extra crispy toasted English muffins. I think I'm going to have this for dinner tonight with scrambled eggs and tea. If only the marmalade folks and the muffin people had gotten to know each other centuries ago - the border region may have been more peaceful! ;-)

As good as gold!

The Bella Band is fantastic! I had to wait another entire day to find out, because I didn't make it to the store in time on Sunday - they were closed by the time I got there unfortunately... After my doctor's appointment this morning I high-tailed it a few blocks over to Yaletown to Vie Maternity.

Basically the Bella Band looks like a stretchy spandex tube top and feels so soft and sproingy. And that's pretty much how it fits, but imagine pulling on your tube top only to give up when it's around your belly, over your pants. That's it! I went to try it on at the store and I had to come back out of the change room, holding it up quizzically and ask whether I was supposed pull it on from the top or the bottom! ;-) From the bottom, fyi.

And honestly, it worked great on the pants I've been wearing with the button open and the zipper halfway down, since they fit everywhere but the bump area. You couldn't even tell, and it made them so comfortable. Four thumbs up for the Bella Band!

Baby stuff!

New sidebar area on the site! Baby supplies good stuff list - this is just an ongoing and developing list of things I love and am keeping in mind for little PJs arrival. I thought I'd post the list so that I could share the things I love with everyone! I'm noticing that the big-box baby store isn't going to be the only stop on my travels. Many of the things I really want to buy for PJs arrival are from all sorts of random places...

Recently I read an article about the safety issues around the use of polycarbonate bottles. Glass baby bottles are an option, but I am also clumsy and somehow glass seems less safe for a baby too.

These Adiri Natural Nurser Ultimate Bottles are the ones I'd like to buy for PJs. They're 100% polycarbonate-free and bisphenol-A free, soft, ergonomic and the design is gorgeous!

Bee-utiful lotion!

Love, love, love this Baby Bee Buttermilk lotion from Burt's Bees! It smells delicious, like milk, honey and some kind of softness that I can't put a finger on. I've been using it my hands lately, in the interests of trying it out for PJs, of course. I figure if it can deal with my sensitive skin, that's a good sign before putting it on a little baby...

They have some other tasty baby items too, and this sweet kit is adorable. I love the Burt's Bees line in general particularly the beeswax lip balm and their other body lotions (not so much the facial lotions & toners - too vegetable-y for my taste).

And great news - the packaging is made from 96% post-consumer plastics from recycled milk jugs, soda bottles and the like. Available at Capers locally (other places too), online everywhere!

Stickers + Presidents = Hours o fun!

Jamie bought this little gem in Dallas last week. He had flown in for a meeting which ended early, leaving him several hours to while away before heading back to the airport. He spent some time at the JFK memorial (second in popularity to the Texas Schoolbook Depository, oddly) and found this dusty little prize among the offerings at the gift shop.

Our favourite part? Gee Dubya looking all thoughtful (as can be) on the cover rounding out the group of Washington, Lincoln and JFK. I sense a new Mount Rushmore in the works. Except I might recommend three other supporting characters... It's like that Sesame Street game and song "Which one of these things doesn't belong?".



The cover boldly claims that inside there are "facts and true trivia!" - perhaps an overstatement? I really doubt that statement is actually true in the truth sense (as opposed to Colbert's truthiness sense) but if you would like to warp a young child's developing mind, you too can buy the Presidents Sticker Book. Truth and stickers go hand-in-hand.

Perfectly spacey

Today bought a couple songs from this album, Spaced Out: the very best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. Particularly good in the cheesiest of ways: Visit to a Sad Planet (predictably, Earth) and The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. I almost choked when I listened to Shatner do a rendition of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. So. ACHINGLY? terr-ible...

What with becoming a parent soon, am I suddenly getting all legit with the music downloads? Nah - just can't find everything I want for *free*, so occasionally I'll buy from iTunes. Problem is they only carry 20% of what I'm looking for! I suppose if you're downloading whatever they play on repeat on [insert local radio station call letters here] or whatnot you're in luck...

I totally have something in mind featuring one of these songs.

Drink up - they're deee-lish!

Bonnie, Jamie's mom for those not in the know, has found the best new juice ever - it's organic pomegranate and blueberry from Happy Planet. It's the tastiest! Pomegranate is the thing, of course, and so good for you.

I also love POM's pomegranate peach white tea iced tea - it's fantastic, and comes in a glass! Kind of like Nutella did, back in the day!

Yum, yum - new book!

Yesterday I picked up a tasty new book that I've been waiting for - Last Minute Patchwork... written by one of the owners of Purl Patchwork, a fabric shop in NYC, with contributions from the other women at the shop too. The book is fresh off the presses and could only find it locally at Indigo in North Van.

It's chock full of lovely projects - I am especially in the mood to make the adorable toy elephant, the baby quilts and flannel blankets and so much more for little PJs. It's given me a few great ideas for gifts too! True to the name, these projects don't take scads of time to make - divided into categories, they can be made in as little as a few hours. Larger projects like quilts are in the "more than 12 hours" category.

Check out a selection of the projects here.