Carrying the bébé

Now, I never thought this would be a major issue in my life. But it became.

If you have an old and borrowed stroller like us, when you are alone, you need a quick and dirty way to get out of the house with your bébé. In the European market you have multiple choices but we were recommended especially the following:

1. Baby wrap:
I so wanted to be one of those hot and hip moms who carry their babies in colorful wraps in every possible position. I was daunted. After all, these things come with a user manual and a CD.
My friend Nadine who is a sworn believer in baby wrap (tragetuch, as she calls them) owns 3. She even went to Didymos factory in Germany to buy new ones, including *ahem* a limited edition wrap.

N. rocking limited edition wrap with her son

So when she came to visit us, she brought one wrap for me to try. I tried the cross-cradle. Nadine made it look oh so easy. But in fact, it's like this:
http://www.wrapyourbaby.com/crosscradle.htm

Okay, I gave it a shot.  I mean look at the beautiful fabrics and designs they have on the right. It took me and blueberry a while to get used to it but he finally looked comfy.

Pros: It's good for babies, there are many different ways to use it, it is easy on your back, and pretty.

Cons: While you're preparing the wrap you either need someone to hold the baby or to put the baby down. And almost always the wrap is on the floor. It is complicated and takes a lot of practice.

Later that day, at a hot café downtown,  I made a show when I tried to put him back in my wrap: half of the wrap on the floor, half wrapped around my legs, him crying, customers laughing and watching, me sweating...Pff, I gave up.  I'm not cool enough. Maybe my decision was too quick of a decision, maybe I should have tried and practiced more but I'm impatient, sorry wrap, you're not for us.

2. Manduca

Manduca is a German brand and multiple parents in Brussels told us that it was THE BEST. We believed and we bought it (I mean yaya did,thanks mom).

Sleeping comfortably

Pros: You can have the baby on your back (for hiking), in front,even on the side. It is supposed to be perfect for your hips and shoulders, and you can use it until the baby is 20 kgs. You can easily slide the baby in without someone else's help. Plus the baby's posture is good, legs apart, back straight.



Cons: There's no way to carry him in front when he is not facing you. At 2-3 months, they get curious, they wanna look around, but with manduca,since head is against the chest, it's not easy.

I'm never comfortable pulling his legs this much apart, and he doesn't seem to like it. Plus, after I'm done using it, I realize that his legs have red marks.

And finally, when it's hot outside, despite the fact that it is 100% organic cotton, you both sweat. Here's a picture of us with Manduca.


3. Baby Bjorn Carrier: I haven't tried this one but it looks like this.

Pros: simple,quick,easy to put the baby in, baby can look around.

Cons: The legs of babies don't really rest (versus look how they sit in manduca), especially not very good for baby boys I heard, parents get tired after 2 hours max.

I talked to a dad who told me they had all 3. He said they were using all at different times for different purposes.

4. Ergo Baby: Ergobaby and Manduca show a lot of similarities. They are both good for your back, baby's position is very good. You can have it in organic fabric. etc. Ergobaby is a little simpler than Manduca.

We tried an Ergobaby before and we chose Manduca over it. Simply because to carry a new born you needed an insert that you had to buy extra that looked like this.

We didn't like the idea of carrying 2 things (insert+carrier)(what if you forget the insert?) and sweat even more with the extra cushion layer.

**********



These things are a budget, if you are like us and don't want to buy all of them, the best way is to wait until your baby is born, and try them with your baby and see how you both feel about it. But keep in mind that it might be difficult at first but eventually, you'll both get used to it.

Blueberry is 4 months!

Sorry for lousy blogging, so many things happenned last month.

On the way

Blueberry took the train for 7 hours non-stop to go to his first wedding. He was sublime, the pessengers nearby almost thanked us in disbelief, yes, he slept almost the entire way, you're welcome people :)

and the way back :)

He got his first shot: I was so nervous about it that I delayed it for about a month and a half. At the end, it wasn't that bad. 

He got his French passport, Turkey, here we come!

He is grabbing and almost rolling.

He is drooling, a lot.

He is not only smiling but also laughing. 

We found him an organic daycare (bio crèche) walking distance to us. The details on how we found it will be on another post but it involves a lot of stess, sleepless nights, keywords to impress,an interview, multiple wait lists,etc. He'll start part-time in October.

As on me: The other day, a saleswoman asked me if I had an adolescent daughter and told me that "hmmm medium size was a little too tight for me". I was already feeling old and fat (an adolescent child??? How old do you think I am seriously?!) so I went running to a hair dresser. Below my new look.

As if feeling old and fat was not enough, I started to shed, I thought I was supposed to shed right after labor and was thinking "whooohooo, lucky me, I'm not losing my hair." Oh not too fast!! It started, after 4 months, hair is EVERYWHERE!