Bite My Necklace

As my little Monkey’s hands, eyes and mouth become busier and busier I enlisted the help of two new friends.

Let me first introduce you to Nate the Nursing Necklace.  (yes, we name everything nowadays.  Johnny Jumper, Frankie Fan, Benny Bath, Stanley Stroller…)

Nate has been a great friend to us!  He is a lovely Tigers Eye nursing necklace.  My easily distractable, busy little man loves this shiny stone necklace.  It gives him something to focus on and play with while he is nursing.  He loves feeling the silky smooth stone with his plump little fingers and now searches for it at each meal.  It is very securely attached to an adjustable cord so I can move it up or down to suit the position he is in.  He also likes to play with it while I’m holding him, especially when he’s in his sling or carrier.

Now allow me to introduce you to Tommy the Teether.

Tommy is made of Maple and is sanded down to a texture smooth as your baby’s bum and is finished in an organic food grade hempseed oil.  My Little Mister loves grabbing, pulling and gnawing on this necklace.  Now when I’m standing in line at the grocery store, so close to the finish line, and my baby decides he’s had enough- I remind him of his great little teether I have hanging around my neck so instead of screaming at the top of his lungs he can bite my necklace.  It buys me just enough time to pay and slip out of the store unnoticed without having to endure the looks of pity and disgust,  from the other patrons who’s ear drums are being sharply pierced by my screeching and squealing baby.   Plus I think both Tommy and Nate are pretty fashionable and they will always be dear to me because my baby loved them.

The Tigers Eye Nursing Necklace is from Moon Dog Farm

The Maple Teething Necklace is from Painted Turtle Wooden Toys

Jack of All Slings, Master of None

OK- so maybe I’m really a Jack of one sling (the Peanut Shell), one Ergo Baby, one Moby Wrap and one Baby Bjorn.  I’m one of those moms who keeps things simple…. ahem… yes……..um… simple.

The Moby Wrap, in all its abundance,  is  by far the most comfortable baby carrier- but far from most practical.  I was hysterically laughing at one of my new mommy friends who told me her story of recent public Moby Wrap assembly and humiliation.  She attempted to show off her professional Moby wrapping skills as she wound and wound the many yards of fabric around herself and her screaming baby in front of a bleacher filled with baseball game spectators, the ends of the fabric flailing limply in the dirt.  She did get eventually get it assembled by the 9th inning, just in time to head to the car to go home.  Just kidding- it really only takes about 2 minutes to put together- and you get faster at it the more times you do it.  Just be prepared for skeptical judgmental stares from bystanders as they watch you fumble with the yards of fabric.  After the judgmental stares you get rewarded with impressed eyebrow raises and nods of approval when they see how fashionable and comfortable you and baby are in the end.  All kidding aside, the Moby folds up pretty small so it’s easy to take with you anywhere.  It’s super comfortable and supportive on your back, neck and shoulders.  It offers a variety of inward and outward facing positions and for the real Moby pro you can even do a backpack type position.  It is ideal for tiny infants to nap in snuggled up close to mommy’s heartbeat.  It is the very best for long term baby carries.  If you want to do a quick errand you can forget it.  And don’t put it on near any puddles because the ends drag on the ground until you get yourself and baby all wrapped up.  That said- Moby is my go to carrier for long term carrying and comfort.  (Just make sure you master the wrap technique at home first in order to avoid public humiliation!)

Our cousin gave us a hand-me-down Baby Bjorn which is an all around great carrier.  We do both inward and outward facing positions and its great for infants 8lbs and above.  It has an adjustable head support which is great for the tiny bubbas before they have great neck control.  The Baby Bjorn hurt my shoulders and back, but my husband loves it.  Plus it has a manly, sporty look to it.

I had very high hopes for the Ergo Baby, being that it is attached a very steep price tag of about $105.00.  Similar in style to the Baby Bjorn, it can be worn as a front or back pack, and I believe there is a way to do a side carry but I’ll need to consult my owners manual on that one and get back to you.  It is very comfortable with the padded shoulder straps and wide waist band.  I think I may like it more later on down the road when my baby is a bit older.  My little guy doesn’t seem to prefer it at the moment but I’m not losing hope for the Ergo yet.

I researched obsessively for slings before I pulled the trigger on a purchase.  We tried an adjustable sling but promptly returned it after several unsuccessful attempts to wear it.  I checked out fancy designer slings with price tags of $120+ and I tried on inexpensive versions in the $20 range.  I even looked at lovely hand made ones on etsy.com.   After borrowing one from a friend I decided to go with the Peanut Shell- for babies up to 35 lbs.  The Peanut Shell is a great basic sling carrier and it is of the non-adjustable variety.  It is Moderately priced, in the $40-$50 range and comes in a variety of colors and fabrics.  It seems to have the best of both worlds in both fashion and function.  I love the exterior pocket where I can store cash and car key plus it has a handy dandy toy clip and a padded edge that supplies comfort to chubby baby legs.  This sling by far is not the most comfortable carrier but it is by far the most practical.  It folds up so small I can tuck it easily into my diaper bag and it is simple to slip my little man in and out of it in seconds- no clips, belts, buckles or yards of fabric to fuss with.  I do recommend practicing a bit in front of a mirror before trying to put baby in and out in public.  I found myself an obvious rookie in the produce section of the grocery store, folding my baby’s body into various pretzel shapes, repeatedly removing and replacing him in and out of the sling trying to get him comfy- my face more red than the strawberries I stood next to.  My baby was helplessly staring up at me wondering when the madness would stop; A woman eyeballing me from behind a stack of bananas wondering the same thing.  Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the Peanut Shell it has became my favorite for short term baby carries such as trips to market, running out to the mailbox, or inhaling a quick bite to eat.

Endless supply of guilt.

As a new mom I have discovered that this job comes with an endless supply of guilt.  These moments sneak up on you unexpectedly and without hesitation.  I will cover lots of these moments in future posts.  I had one of these moments when I found these eye catching black and white art cards when my baby turned 4 months old.  Why, oh why, oh why did I not find these sooner?  Have I caused permanent life long damage to my child’s developing brain because I was not showing these to him from the moment he first opened his eyes?  Am I a terrible mother neglecting the developmental needs of my child?

Since at this point the irreversible damage is done, I can only move forward and hope I never miss out on another thing my baby could ever want or need again.  He loves looking, holding and chewing on these cardboard flash cards nonetheless.

Here are my favorite ways to use them:  My all time favorite way to use them is to put them in his crib during nap time.  I stand them up along the crib rails near his head, that way when he wakes up he has something interesting to look at, which allows him to entertain himself for  a while before he calls for me.  I also love showing them to him while he is in the bath.  He is so calm and relaxed as he reclines in his mini jacuzzi tub; he can really spend some quality time looking at them, hopefully making up for the fact that I introduced them so late in the game.  If my son is not a rocket scientist, I guess we will know why.  I also clip them up various places we play such as his bouncy chair or tummy time play gym.

I found these cards on Amazon.com and they are by Wee Gallery.

Warm Laundry=Happy Baby

As hard as I try, I cannot seem to get the laundry folded.  The mountains of cotton, spandex and polyester sit in cold, wrinkled, lonely piles. I manage to shove the dirty clothes into the wash machine, usually I find enough time to add soap, and somehow I make the transfer in the the drier,  most of the time remembering to turn it on.  But the final step of getting it folded while its still hot to avoid wrinkles ( just go ahead and forget about putting it away) seems to elude me every time.

My mom taught me the trick of dumping the entire load of warm laundry right on top of the baby.  Even if he is fussy the hot clothes surrounding him calm him right down and sometimes he even falls asleep.  If he gets restless I make a big show of shaking out the clothes and he watches in fascination.

 

No More Fallen Soldiers

After about 10 trips to the sink to de-funkify my baby’s pacifier that kept falling into piles of dog hair, into the deep dark crevasses of my car, under shopping cart wheels, inside the dog’s mouth…..

It was clearly time.  Time to break down and buy a pacifier clip.  (see my website links to Bellamina and Daizy Bugz for ADORABLE paci clips) Of course I went on a mission to find the cutest most fashionable clips available.  No sooner than the clips arrived in the mail, my fickle son decided he much preferred his thumb over a hunk of plastic any day.  So there we were with four of the cutest paci clips known to man- all for nil.

As my son rapidly moved forward in his development, reaching, grabbing, chewing on everything he could get his hands on, so the cycle began again. Teething rings in the dog hair, beaded chew toys in the crevasses of my car, tag blankets under shopping cart wheels, oh and wait- he likes his paci again…. inside the dog’s mouth it goes.  I discovered that the paci clips had long enough attachments to easily wrap around teething rings and such.  So while the pacifier is a love-hate, touch and go relationship on a “day to day” status… the clips were happily (and adorably) put to work as toy clips, blanket clips, teething ring clips, etc.

They are now one of my favorite shower gifts to give.  Even if your baby has a tumultuous relationship with the pacifier, as mine does, the clips are still so useful.  No more fallen soldiers.

Teeny Tiny Hands and Feet

Sometimes I wish I could freeze time and keep my wee little one teeny tiny forever.  (other times not so much!) Besides, I have discovered that Mother Nature is an incredibly strict woman who insists on making our babies grow at far too rapid a pace. I found the perfect compromise- a kit that was so easy to use from Michael’s arts and crafts store. Its not just a hand print (good luck keeping your 1 month old’s hand still long enough to press it into the plaster!!) its an actual 3D cast of the itty bitty, pudgy hand and foot.  You are able to see so much detail right down to their finger nails and every wrinkle in their chubby little fingers and toes. It works even if they wiggle! It is safe, non-toxic, and pretty easy to do.

My advice: Do it while they’re nursing or taking a bottle. Their hand will be more relaxed and you’ll be more likely to get nice spread out fingers rather than a tight fist.  Either way you cant go wrong because both are super cute! I recommend mixing the plaster slightly more on the watery side and spoon it very slowly and in small amounts into the mold and gently tap tap tap it on the counter frequently as you go to raise any air bubbles. Its the worst when the whole thing comes out perfect except you’re missing an entire finger or toe because a nasty air bubble got stuck in there.

You’ll pause time  and have their teeny tiny hand and foot forever.  This makes a great gift for Daddy to put on his desk at work or for the Grandparents to proudly display on their nic nack shelf.