Latest Obsession:Babyhawk Mei Tai

Me n the kids at an indoor winter farmer's market

I finally, after several weeks of poring over the Babyhawk site and its hundreds of choices of strap/body panel color and pattern combos, chose my combo. I thought I was going to get espresso straps, because i love my brown ERGO. However, a Twitter friend showed me her grey-strapped Babyhawk and swayed me. I showed the hubs a couple of options for the body panel fabric, and he liked a grey/white/yellow combo, so I took the plunge and ordered.

This mei tai is going to help me have a more comfortable back carry option, because the baby is too heavy now for more than 30 minutes of front carry. I tried on the mei tai at Mini Metros natural parenting store in NYC and they showed me how to get him nice and high up so he can see over my shoulder.

Update 7/1/14: 

The Babyhawk mei tai didn't work out for back carrying the boy. He was too heavy- the straps totally dug into me.  I put the mei tai away... and got it out to try after the second baby was born... I LOVED it from the very first week. I wore her froggy style until 6 weeks or so, when she was big enough to let her legs dangle.  

I could be totally hands free- wearing the baby and still able to fully attend to the 3 year old on the playground.  Nice high back, easy to put on... I liked it so much better than the Moby wrap I had when Q was little!  

For backwearing toddlers, I've learned I prefer the Boba carrier to the ERGO.   Click here to read full entry.

New Obsession: Kokopax Back Carrier

My other personal blog, Fancy Pancakes, has regularly featured an "Obsessions" category. It has included:

BOB jogging stroller, Bugaboo Cameleon, a babywearing poncho, the color orange, the Obamas, and Guitar Hero.

This is the very first obsession for my new mom blog:

THE KOKOPAX BACK CARRIER.

I forgot where I first read about it. Probably some random website, one of those zillion "Mom Blogs" that is not a Mom Blog so much as a series of ads for products, which I think is a waste of time.

Anyway, here's why I need this carrier.

1. I stil have pelvis issues, and I wear my ERGO all the time, but the front carry pulls my pelvis forward, and the back carry puts the baby too low. The Kokopax puts the baby up higher on my back, which my physical therapist says would be good.
2. I babywear all the time. I need another carrier so my body is not always being pulled in one direction.
3. I think the baby would like it.
4. I think I'd be able to blog while wearing him.
5. No one else around here has it, and I'd be the envy of all the other moms.

My dear parents have offered to buy me the Kokopax for Xmas. (YOU ROCK, MOM AND DAD!!!) Now I'm just trying to figure out if I should wait for the 2010 model, which comes with a waistbelt. It's not up on the Kokopax website yet, so I have 2 emails in to them demanding info. I also need to know if the 2010 model has better shoulder straps, because online it says, "This carrier features the most advanced technology in shoulder strap construction and a stowable, padded waist belt for added comfort." I don't want CRAPPY shoulder strap technology if that's what the 2009 model has. Kokopax better get back to me soon, because this IS my current obsession, and you do not want to be the person who gets in the way of my current obsession. Click here to read full entry.

Latest Obsession: Babywearing Poncho

I've been babywearing since Q was born. It's just a practical way to:
1. Take him grocery shopping while keeping him right next to me so nosy people don't get to close to him and expose him to their germs
2. Have hands free while still carrying him (and his baby-related crap).
3. Get chores done around house if he's crabby and/or wants to sleep.
I do not know how people DON'T babywear.

Anyway, winter is coming, so it's getting a little trickier. There is quite a bit of body heat between mom and baby, so even on our chilly Oct/Nov days, I can just wear a long sleeve shirt, put Q in socks and a hat, and feel confident that we're both going to be warm enough. However, it's getting colder.

Someone at a mom's group had mentioned a sweater you can wear over both you and the baby. I can't find that, but I did find a cool poncho that covers you and the baby, just exposing your heads. I must have this. Winter SUCKS, and one way of dealing with it is having the proper clothing; that's probably the biggest lesson I've learned up here in CT.

I still wear Q on my front, because he's little enough not to kill my back. I like having him where I can see him.

There's also this $300 dollar Psny Babywearing Down Coat, but I'm not a NYC mom who walks everywhere, so I don't think I need something that hardcore! Click here to read full entry.

My First Favorite Person

OK, probably my baby and my husband should be my favorite people, but I feel an extreme kinship with my almost 6 year old nephew Jack. This post and poem that I wrote a few years ago when he was almost 2, and still my only nephew, describe how he changed my life. (Photo: My first bday with nephew!)
In the past few years, another amazing nephew was born, and then an amazing niece. Obviously, I cannot as a good aunt call my first nephew my favorite. In fact, I probably should no longer speak in terms of favorite, as I could do 5 years ago when my nephew was the brightest spot in my life. Instead, I'll say that this quote from him, that my sister emailed to us yesterday, makes me think of how much Jack reminds me of me.

Here's the email:
Thought you might get a kick out of this quote from Jack. We were at the dinner table.
Jack: "I'm probably the smartest kid inside my class. (Pauses for a second.) When it was 1:58, the other kids thought it was 2 o'clock."
Dumb kids.
Love,
A

I love that smarty pants attitude- and you know, the kid is right. He probably is the smartest kid in his class, and those little dummies can't tell time as well as he can. The kid can read clocks better than most of my sixth graders. I think I'm pretty smart, and I'm a fast learner, so I can relate. In first grade, my teacher had to cancel the fifty state spelling lists, because Marty and I were the only kids who could handle them. I see a lot of myself in Jack. That, and the fact that he was my first nephew- the first important kid in my life that was in a way at least a little part of me- will always make him special!

Oh, plus, if you read this post where he tells me I can't steal his sippy cup, you can see that he and I are sort of telepathically connected. He read my mind. I was going to steal his sippy cup.

The pictures below are funny, because you can tell all I wanted to do was follow him around any pay attention to him. I'm barely IN any photos with him because I was usually taking photos.










(these first two photos, I had yet to meet my husband, so OBVIOUSLY Jack was my favorite person!)

















(this last photo is from 2 months before my 2nd nephew was born.) Click here to read full entry.

Other Smaller Obsession: The Obamas

Me: I just found 2 great new Obama sites.
Husband: Whitehouse dot gov and c-span?
Me: No, This Week With Barack Obama dot blogspot dot com and Michelle Obama Watch dot com.

I'm sorry, I love the First Family. I love the video of Barack and Michelle reading to second graders, and I love the photos of the Obamas leaving on the helicopter for Chicago, with each daughter carrying a backpack. You know they did homework the entire way.

Michelle Obama Watch has short articles like "Video: First Lady Obama Visits Howard University - (”Be True to Yourself” Work/Life Balance)," "Cute Video From First Lady’s Visit to Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care- Hugs For Everyone," and "Michelle and Barack Understand the Value of Informal Gatherings." That last article says, Michelle and Barack Obama maintain what Amie Parnes describes as a "dizzying social calendar" to make sure organic relationships trump political maneuvering. Reporting for politico.com, Parnes reveals that the Obama's host informal gatherings where guests eat hot dogs, pizza and ice cream - and don't sit around talking about politics.

Obama Watch is a little more politically-oriented, which is understandable, but it still has fun posts like "Obama License Plates" (only available in Illinois) and "Ebony Magazine Obama Cover the Best Selling Ever." It, like the Michelle site, has good video and photos.

I prefer my political news interspersed with healthy amounts of feel-good video and paparazzi-like photos. Click here to read full entry.

New Obsession: Bob Jogging Stroller

I think I have shaken my obsession with the bugaboo Cameleon. I visited it at giggle in Greenwich yesterday, and realized that although it drives like a dream and is cute as sh!t, it truly is a pain to fold. The saleswoman told me that the Maclaren Quest Sport stroller (with orange accents!) is OK for babies 3 months or older- and at $225, 13 pounds, and a simple fold, that's a better deal than the 20 pound, $900 Cameleon! The Maclaren can also hold a kid up to 55 pounds, whereas the Cameleon can only hold a kid up to 40 pounds. So, until 3 months, I'll just use my Maclaren $80 frame with my Graco carseat, then I'll get me a Quest Sport or maybe just a Quest.

Dropping my bugaboo obsession leaves room for a new one: the Bob Revolution jogging stroller. It's 400 bucks, but also pushes incredibly smoothly, almost as smoothly as the Cameleon. It doesn't turn as sharply, but it got easily through the aisles at giggle. I am definitely going to get a jogger, so why not get the dreamy Bob? I hear great things about it from all my facebook friends, and one of them is a chemistry professor; who's going to argue with her?

I'm getting the Bob. It's only a question of when (I'm thinking a few weeks after baby is born?) and in what color (maybe light brown and light blue). The Bob does have a car seat adapter, but you can only walk with the baby until the pediatrician gives you the go-ahead to jog at 6-9 months. I think the doc has to make sure baby's neck and other important parts can handle the bumps.

I'm not supposed to work out until after I have this baby- doctor wants me to rest- so I am ITCHING to get moving as soon as I have recovered from delivery. I really like to move, and not working out has been very, very annoying for me. I'll get the Bob car seat adapter for my speed walks, because I need to do some damn cardio ASAP.

Bob, I already love you. I'm just waiting for the husband's approval to buy you. I'm also trying to decide if I should just get the dark blue or organge model, which is on sale at giggle for $311, or if I should pay $389 for the cuter light brown/blue model. So far, I'm leaning toward the sale item, mostly because it makes me feel justified in buying it like, tomorrow.

I have not completely forgotten the Cameleon. I know that no other stroller rides as smoothly, and thinking of my baby in his rickety Maclaren (well, rickety in comparison) hurts me just a teeny bit. I don't want to jiggle my baby, but Baby, $900 is a lot of money for a stroller, and Mommy wants the Bob, too. There's only room in the bank account for one over-priced stroller. Click here to read full entry.

Obsessions: Nursery, the Color Orange, Bugaboo

My to-do list is far too long to write a coherent blog post, so I'll make this a several-topic, list-form post.

1. I am totally obsessed with my baby's nursery. I hang out in here all the time. It's actually the only place in the house I really hang out. I look up stuff on my laptop and look through my baby binder (has to-do lists, receipts, doctor info, lists of stuff I still need, etc.) Then, I either make a phone call related to the to-do list, or get up and do something, like baby laundry or get a drink of water, or pee, which I seem to be doing a lot. The doctor said the baby is pretty much sitting on my bladder. Well, sitting with his head, because my little angel is already head down. Good job, baby!

Today I am going to put together a little table from IKEA that will go beside my chair in here. Right now, I'm using the Diaper Dekor as my chairside table. It's actually quite good, but once there are stinky diapers in there, I probably won't want to set my coffee on it.

2. I truly am obsessed with the color orange. My wedding flowers were orange and light blue, the baby's room is light blue and my favorite sheets are the orange striped ones, and the concert poster I need to hang on the baby's wall has orange in it. There were orange dots on my wedding cake. And I bought a stuffed animal with orange in it.

3. The rumors I hear about Chris Brown, one of my celeb crushes, assaulting his girlfriend Rihanna, had better not even be the slightest bit true, or he is OFF my list of celebrity crushes.

4. I am obssessed with the bugaboo Cameleon stroller. This stroller is unfortunately $900. Since I can't have it, I am obsessed with it. I view the cost of all items in terms of a bugaboo. Example: "This dinner cost a hundred bucks!?! That's 1/9 of my bugaboo!" Or, "That IKEA chest is $240? That's almost a quarter of my bugaboo." The bugaboo comes in orange, which as you can imagine, only fans the flames of my bugaboo ardor.

See? See the cake? With the orange dots?

Click here to read full entry.

Guitar Hero: Obsolete Obsession?

Original post: November 2008 I am turning into a total teenager. No, that's not true. A lot of adults play this video game, and Rolling Stone says it's a fixture on many bands' tour buses. All I can think about today is that video game: Guitar Hero.
Guitar Hero, where do I start. I met you in Woodstock, NY. I was afraid to try you, because I could tell I was going to get sucked in. I was right. The second I got back to CT, I talked about you until I got you for my birthday.

Details are fuzzy, but I conquered easy in a breeze, and medium after a few hours. Sometimes, when I arrived home and had to shower and leave in 20 minutes, I'd turn you on really fast, play one song, turn you off, and run upstairs. That burst of happiness was worth having to hurry.

Then, difficult level: the addition of the orange fret. That wasn't easy. I bombed out every time. I even sucked at the tutorials. Even in super slo-mo, I couldn't get my pinky to the orange fret and still get my pointer back to the green. I set you aside, knowing it would take hours to become competent, knowing I didn't have those hours.

This weekend, we were together again, and it flowed. Orange fret? Got it! Somehow I knew where to slide my hand; I could find the green. Maybe the 80's version was easier. Whatever. All I know is, now I can do the orange fret, and now I can start to try the difficult level... when I have a whole day to play. I'm obsessive like that.

A new game called Rock Band is out. It's by the same company who made Guitar Hero. Wired hails Rock Band as the next big thing, improving on GH enough to make it obsolete. Rock Band has four parts: vocals streaming across the top, guitar and bass just like GH, but with the addition of drums. It's only 170 $, and it's on my wishlist. Even though Wired says RB makes GH obsolete, I still want a 2nd GH guitar and the 80's version of GH. Before you buy me all that stuff, though, let me do some research.

Update: I got the '80s version, but I haven't been playing lately because I'm doing my other blog constantly and watching TONS of television. I'm also working full-time and tutoring, and I have a husband to pay attention to, and unfortunately, he does not like playing Guitar Hero. And, since I never play GH anymore, I haven't bothered to research Rock Band. I do have faith that GH will rise again in this household. Click here to read full entry.