We last left off with little one napping from 5:40 til 8pm Friday night and I was worried since 8pm was supposed to be his bedtime. I took my mom's advice and kept him up til 11pm. He was happy and playing independently, not cranky, so all was good. He went down at 11pm and only cried for about 2 minutes! Woohoooo!!

He slept straight from 11pm to 6:30am, half-waking and letting out little cries or whimpers, but never standing up or totally waking up. He finally stood up crying at 6:30am, but that wasn't enough sleep so I moved to the couch and let him cry, for an hour! He passed out around 7:30am and slept for another hour, after which he woke up and I took him out for breakfast and play time.

Saturday's day time naps were totally screwed up since we were out all day. Dana of the Sleep Sense Program would totally boo-boo me, cuz she says you have to be really strict the first few weeks of sleep training with a set routine and they have to fall asleep in their own crib by themselves at the same time every day and night. But, you know what, everybody's gotta make it work and fit their lives however best they can. Frankly, I cannot just give up my life for this, and hopefully my baby will still learn to sooth himself to sleep.

For the first nap of the day, he passed out in his stroller and slept for one hour, which is great for him as of lately. I'm fine with him passing out in the stroller, the main habit I'm trying to break is needing a booby to fall asleep!

But the second nap, ohhhhh boy. Clearly we waited too long and he was overtired. He was screaming in the stroller for a while, so I gave up and put him in the carrier. But that didn't work either, he was content and living it up in there. Time ticked on and finally it was 7pm by the time his eyelids were getting heavy and looking like sleep was near. But we were still out and I didn't want to run into the same issue as the previous day with a really late nap, that could turn into a habit! So I kept him up. Singing, talking excitedly, boop-boop-booping in his face! He wasn't upset, but he obviously wanted to sleep. I told him it was his punishment for not taking a nap earlier. #MomOfTheYear

We got home at 7:50, did our bed time routine which is same as usual except with the added key phrases of "night night" and "sleepy time". I put him in bed at 8:05pm and he cried for all of 10 seconds!!

and then...

HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!

From 8pm til 6:30am - hooooooooorah!!!! I could hear him rustling about changing positions and such, but not a single cry or whimper! Is it possible he's learned to fall back asleep by himself already??? Or just a lucky night?

He hasn't done this or anything close to this in about 5 months. OH. MY. GOD!!

Now... if this can continue and I can just make myself go to bed earlier I will be one friggin' happy mama!!!

Raising a child is expensive. Raising a child in New York City is ridiculously expensive! But as I just found out, filling your child's closet with great clothes can be a steal and a whole lot of fun! Yep, we just attended our very first swap event, hosted by Red Tricycle Awardee Little Swappies!

Here's how it works (or at least how the one we went to on Saturday worked):

1.  You pre-register for $20 or you pay $25 at the door, and you have to bring at least 5 items to donate (children's or maternity clothes, books, and/or toys).

2.  You get to the event (doors opened at 10am), sign in, give the items you're donating to a staff member, and are handed one ticket and a huge tote bag which you will fill up during the swap (only get stuff for your kids now - no hoarding for their whole childhood!!). You print your name on the ticket and peruse the table of various raffle prizes, putting your ticket in the box for the prize you want. They had really great prizes from a ton of vendors (see photo below). It was a hard decision, but I put my ticket in the Kidz Central Station box for 1 month free Gymboree classes (P.S. I actually won!!!).

3.  You've got some time to kill since the swap doesn't start until 11:15am, but no worries! There are loads of vendors stationed around telling you about their cool products, new apps, handing out freebies, etc!

You could even get your stroller cleaned for free by CleanBeeBaby. The wait was long, but actually it was like cleaning and stroller check in one. I filled out the stroller tag and left our stroller there, strapping Kenzo on for the rest of the event figuring the stroller would be too cumbersome to deal with during the chaos of the actual swap anyway!

4.  11:15 am came around, everyone was lined up at the door chomping at the bit. I felt like I was at Filene Basement's annual wedding dress blowout!! My adrenaline was pumping! haha!! Doors opened, and everyone scurried to the table of the age and sex they were looking for. The room was laid out really well - it was huge and had boys stuff in the back row and girls stuff in the front row with toys and books and maternity gear at one end. Each table was for a different age group. I headed straight to the boys' 7-12 months table and started pillaging through the clothes. There were several other moms at MY table, but no one was aggressive or anything. Literally within about 5 minutes the table was bare save 3 or 4 random onesies that no one wanted (leftover clothes are donated to a different charity after each swap). I have to admit I then moved on to the next size up table, cheating?? I then headed to the toy/book section which was already picked over pretty well but I still found a few fun items! Here's a photo maybe 10 minutes into the swap, it's more or less over (well, I was done anyway, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted time to stop and take a photo LOL):

5.  Now your bag is filled, you go pick your nice and clean stroller up, and wait for the raffle to be held at 12 noon. Some of the vendors have snacks, and there was free Starbucks coffee - HELLO!! I actually was talking to some of my Mommy Nearest friends and missed the raffle, but luckily enough they print your name on a poster and contact you afterward if you won! How nice! So, I know you're all dying to see...

Here is my Little Swappies Swap Loot!!!

I know - we made a killing!!! I LOVE LITTLE SWAPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will never shop retail again, haha!!

I've been wearing my baby since he was about 2 weeks old. I had 3 different carriers handed down to me: two of which I never figured out how to properly use, and 1 which we've loved using for the past 8 months. I love it, but that's not to say it has it's issues. Mostly that it's a bit bulky to carry with me for the just-in-case situation in which little one is screeching in the stroller and needs to be held, and also that it takes a bit of effort to wrap and tie on. Not to mention every time my husband wears it, little one ends up sagging down further and further until he has to be hoisted up and carrier retied.

So, yes, I'm always on the look out for child carriers that address above issues and was so excited to come across Bitybean child carrier recently. When they say that it's "ultralight and portable" they are not kidding!! Look at this thing packed up, weighing in at all of 8 ounces, ready to easily slide into your diaper bag:

So, it's ridiculously light weight and portable - check! But is it comfortable?? Hubby and I had to give it a good test run...

Never having worn a buckle carrier before, I was really curious as to how it would do. I'm not gonna lie, I did my best to get baby in the back-carry position by myself and was a hot sweaty mess before I finally had to give up and ask hubby for help. Maybe after baby can stand on his own it'll be doable? The front carry position was easy peasy, MUCH quicker than my current tie-system carrier (and less dirty because none of the straps are long enough to hit the ground!!). It's also much cooler because it's such a leightweight nylon and mesh material (not to mention quick drying - great for a beach trip!).

I took my 20 pounder for a 30 minute stroll around the neighborhood and it was so comfortable! Seriously!! No aching shoulders - the weight is distributed well between the shoulder and waist straps (full disclosure, I'm a regular baby wearer; someone wearing their child for the first time might not find it ache free until their body and muscles get used to it). Not a pinch or a rub or any issues whatsoever! Kenzo was happy as could be, snug as a bug in a rug. Of course, he always loves being worn!! You can see the Bitybean is very supportive for baby's legs/hips/spine, distributing weight out to the knees (or nearly) rather than leaving them hanging with all weight on the spine and hips in an unnatural position (such as some popular carriers which I will not name).

The next day I had to venture into The City by myself, which is always an adventure since the New York City MTA is so completely stroller and wheelchair unfriendly. None of the subway stops I'd be using had an elevator or escalator, so I usually just wear baby all day when I go in by myself. But as you can imagine, this is so tiring - carrying a 20 pound baby and 5+ pound diaper bag. Agh!! But Bitybean, being so tiny it fits into my diaper bag, gave me an idea!!! We took our stroller, then I quickly put Kenzo into the carrier when we reached the subway, and I just bumped the stroller (now super light without baby inside) down the stairs to the train! It worked just as easily coming up out of the subway. No more stress of having to ask someone to help me with the stroller. No more being super exhausted after a whole day of walking around wearing my baby. HOORAH!!! Bitybean has cured me of my dread of taking mass transit alone with my baby!! THANK YOU BITYBEAN!!!

You can buy a Bitybean on Amazon today for $59.95, or you can enter to win one along with 10 other awesome baby products in my Baby Bonanza Giveaway ending September 18, 2013 - enter HERE!!

Disclaimer: Although I did receive this product free of charge, I was not compensated in any other way to do this product review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and completely unbiased.

The Summer is ending - BOOOO! But cheer up - we've got a FABULOUS giveaway for moms and dads and to-be's!! 11 awesome baby products worth a total of over $250 going to ONE WINNER!! Whoop whoop!!

I'd like to thank my co-hosts: We're Parents, Parents and the City, Willy B Mum, and Meg-in-Training for their support throughout the giveaway - go check out their awesome blogs!

The giveaway will last 2 weeks (starting today and ending Wednesday Sept 18 at midnight) and you can keep earning entries with daily tweeting, pinning, and sharing on Facebook! Keep checking in daily for posts with company highlights and reviews of each prize (I'll be adding links below to each sponsor's box as reviews go live - or you can see them all here on my main blog page). Enter the giveaway in the Rafflecopter box at the bottom (you must be over 18 and a US resident), but first, let's meet our fabulous...

Sponsors & Prizes:

Bitybean is a comfortable and convenient child carrier. Weighing in at just 8 oz, it compresses into a pouch the size of a child’s water bottle! Receiving one, our winner will be able to comfortably front and back carry their 8-40 pound child from the age of 3 months!
**Read my product review HERE**

Miny Moe's diaper and nursing pad samplers give you 6 brands in each pack, so new parents can quickly find the best brand for baby and mama! What a unique and helpful baby shower gift! Our winner will receive a 30 count diaper sampler including 5 diapers from each of the following 6 brands: Honest, Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, Target Up & Up, and Walmart Parent's Choice. The winner can choose the size: Newborn, 1, or 3.
**Read my product review HERE**

Happy Family has contributed an amazing prize pack of their yummy organic baby foods, including Happy Bellies (baby cereal), Happy Munchies (rice cakes), Happy Baby (baby food and yogurt pouches), and Happy Puffs  (melt in your mouth finger foods)! What a fun (and healthy, and HAPPY) selection to help you start your little one on solids!
**Read my product review HERE**

Little Bowtique by Christine will send a pair of these adooooooorable hand-crochet baby booties (size 0-3, black) to our winner! Boy or girl, this baby is going to be kickin' it in cuteness!!
**Read my product highlight post HERE**

With its unique over-the-head design, SwaddleTee is the kind of swaddle that every baby needs and every parent wants - safe, silent and secure. And if you're the winner of this giveaway, it's yours for free! It won't come undone in the middle of the night, and the rip of velcro won't startle your baby awake!
**Read my product highlight post HERE**

The MilkCharm from Eepples is a pumping mother's dream, but our winner won't have to dream about it - she'll get her very own set! Just dial in the day (and time if you want to be exact), hang the MilkCharm on the bottle, and you're good to go! No more dealing with tape and sharpies or sticky notes! Bonus - how cute are they!?
**Read my product highlight HERE**

Lil' Melon baby knee pads are made with a light-weight cotton blend that is soft, stretchy, breathable, and durable for padding.  Strategic ventilation slits are placed on the backside of the baby knee pads for maximum comfort. With a pair of these, our winner's little one will be crawlin' and cruisin' in style with well protected knees!
**Read my product review HERE**

Melzy Baby will let the winner choose between one of their two awesome products: the Blowout Blocker or the Soaker Stopper. Beyond having really fun names, they get the job done, saving you middle of the night clothes and bedding changes and on-the-go embarrassment and mess! Hoorah!
**Read my product highlight HERE**

Our winner will also receive a 5-pack of these handmade flannel and minky burp clothes from BlueStitchBaby. The clothes are 10"x17" in size, gender neutral, and soft as can be!
**Read my product highlight HERE**

Octo-Brush by Baby Banana Brushes, maker of the super popular Baby Banana training toothbrush, is another goody in the winner's jackpot! The brand new Octo-Brush is an exciting combination of a teether and a toothbrush in one, with large, durable, soft “token” bristles that help young teethers soothe their sore gums. What's more, it is completely non-toxic and non-allergenic.
**Read my product review HERE**

Flowspoon is the first and only baby spoon designed to effortlessly transition baby from bottle or breast to spoon feeding (at around 4-7 months). Our winner will receive one of these Flowspoons, which minimizes the introduction of air that may aggravate reflux and is much less messy than traditional baby spoons! BPA and phthalate free!
**Read my product review & see my demo HERE**

Now that you've seen the prizes, I know you're all chomping at the bit! So... on your mark, get set, GO!!!!!!!

I love my local mommy group. Love love love! Since I started the group on Facebook in March of this year, we've grown to over 150 mommies strong!! Need a buddy to take a stroll with on a lovely afternoon? Need reassurance that you're not the worst mother in the world because you bumped babies head into the door frame? Looking for baby food recipes or a eco-laundry detergent recommendation? Check, check, and check. Need a babysitter? We've got a babysitting circle going on, too! My most recent creation within the group has been a Mommy & Me Class Co-op.

A lot of us are stay at home moms on tight budgets. We love the classes such as Music Together and Gymboree and Piano Masters, but just can't justify paying $30 per class for our infants. Months ago, a few of us were chatting about how we should go spy on these classes, and teach them amongst our group for free. That idea took hold and came to fruition just a few weeks ago as the Bay Ridge Baby Mama's Mommy & Me Class Co-op. I really had no basis of how it would work, but somehow, it's been working!

The basic principal is that 1) it is free for all members, and 2) you have to take turns teaching. We started with 3 groups, each having a different regular day/time to meet. Each group has a leader who comes up with the schedule for their own group. To join a group, you have to agree that you will teach/lead/host the meeting in rotation with other members. When it's your turn, you can do whatever you want! You can lead the group on a strollercise-esque walk, you can do a Spanish Immersion class, you can read, dance, sign, sing, whatever you want! If you're hosting in a space that can accommodate more people, you can invite members from the other co-op groups. If you're hosting in a space that is very tight and can't accommodate even all of your own co-op members (which is OK if it's not happening regularly), then it would be the first X number of moms to RSVP only.

So far, we've been having a blast!! A couple weeks ago, the mom in charge of leading that week had her professional dance instructor come in and teach us a choreographed dance to "Say Hey (I Love YOU)!" while WEARING OUR BABIES!!! It was hilarious, fun, a nice workout, and did I mention HILARIOUS??? Check out some of these photos:

Should this be a baby wearing commercial or what? haha!! Anyway, this co-op is rocking our mama socks off. I highly recommend starting one of your own!!

I'm a self-proclaimed sun lover. I love being tan, since I was quite young. I have fond memories of sun-bathing on our deck with my mom and sister when I was all of about 10 years old. Now, of course, I realize the damage sun causes to our skin, the increased risk of skin cancer, etc. My crows feet are deepening daily, yet I still can't manage to flip the switch on my brain. For myself that is. For my little one who is almost 6 months old, it's a completely different story!

The doctors tell you not to use sunscreen until your baby is at least 6 months old. So you wonder, why? Is it because they are so loaded with toxic chemicals that it's just not safe for an itty bitty baby. Super! Sure, you can do your research on the EWG's Skin Deep cosmetics database and find yourself the safest of the safest sunblocks. We did that and have 2 tubes of unopened Badger's sitting in our hall closet. But so far I've been able to avoide having to use it on my lil' one.

For now I'm resorting to 1) keeping him in the shade and 2) covering up any sun-exposed parts.

When he's in the stroller, the shade on our Britax B-Agile is really big and covers all but his legs, depending on the angle of the sun. To tackle the leg exposure, I carry around a pair of UPF BabyCool BabyLegs to throw on him should his legs end up in the sun. They're nice and long so I can pull them down to cover up his little tootsies too ^_^

When I wear my little one in his Mei Tai carrier, he's quite a bit more exposed and he's probably pretty hilarious looking to bystanders the way I've got him covered up head to toe! We're talking hat on the head, BabyLegs on the legs and feet, and Sunny Sleevez on the arms and hands.

What are Sunny Sleevez you ask? They're 50+ UPF sleeves that cover from the base of the fingers (or over the fingers in the case of a baby) to upper arm. The great thing is that you can easily pull them off when you're in the shade or go inside, and slap them back on before little one is in the sun again. You can also wet them for a nice cooling effect. I was worried that their smallest size would be too big for my 5 month old, but there's a little button you can hook at the top to make them snugger, and they fit him just fine! We bought ours through The Eczema Company, but it looks like they're out of stock for the rest of the 2013 summer season (check back with them for next year though!) If you need them for this summer, check out www.sunnysleevez.com (they also have them in adult sizes).

I feel pretty good about covering him up as I've heard a vast majority of sun damage is done in the first year of life, but I do worry a bit about Vitamin D deficiency. Our pediatrician had him on Tri-Vi-Sol supplement during the winter, but I've stopped that now. I guess they can always do a blood test if they're worried about it...

So, what do you do about protecting your little ones from the sun? Have a sun block to recommend or one that your child hates? UPF Clothing? Cute little beach parasol? Do tell!!

Worried. Anxious. Stressed. Dubious. A thesaurus full of such words is how I felt leading up to my first flight solo with little one in tow. How did it actually go? Smooth. Swimmingly. A-OK!! Phew!

The morning started off rather hellish though. I had 2 Miny Moe orders I had to drop off at the post office. I thought my flight was leaving at 2:30pm and I would have plenty of time in the morning. Then I checked the info... whoops... LANDING at 2:30, departing at 12:15! Taxi scheduled for 10am, post office opens at 9am and is a 30 minute walk from my apartment. OMG. Got back from the P.O. at 9:40 spectacularly sweaty and had to feed the baby... more sweat. Taxi comes, and despite my telling the dispatcher several times that I will have an INFANT who needs a rear-facing car seat for a YOUNG BABY, well, of course there was NO CARSEAT!!! $@#*&@#$ are you $#@^&*#@$ kidding me???!!!! Driver seemed sorry, it obviously wasn't his fault. He asked me what I wanted to do, and well, what could I do?? Out in Bay Ridge you can't exactly just haul a taxi with an infant car seat. So I said, well, f-ing drive carefully man!! And he did. Probably the safest taxi ride of my life!! I wasn't sure of the safest way to hold a baby in a car. Hadn't exactly researched that and probably should. I knew better than to put the seatbelt over both of us, but that's about it. I decided to put the seatbelt on myself and tie him in the carrier to myself over the seatbelt. This way he wouldn't fly about in an accident, though my chin might have cracked into his little head, so I kept my hand up there most of the ride.

Got to the airport, checked in, waked to the security line and OMG it is like 200 people deep. Seriously. No exaggeration. Well, I really really wish I didn't have to pee really really bad. No bathroom to be seen and I just go ahead and get at the back of the line. I am thankful I didn't bring the stroller, this would have been extremely frustrating snaking through the narrow Disneyland-esque lines. Instead I had Kenzo wrapped up snuggly in his Mei Tai carrier, and had his diaper bag hooked on top of our carry-on suitcase. FYI I highly recommend this method as it left me with a free hand (or 2 if we weren't on the move) and I was very mobile and not weighed down with too much crap. A few minutes after waiting in line (I am living in NY but I will never say "waiting ON line" haha) a worker comes and scoops me and Kenzo up, walking past EVERYONE up to the wheelchair entrance and bam, we have cut the line shaving a good hour off of the process! Niiiiiiice. Next came the part I mostly dreaded. I thought I'd have to take Kenzo out of his carrier. Then I wouldn't have enough hands. Yikes. I asked the worker and HOOOORAY baby could stay in the carrier!! On top of that, I didn't have to pour the water out of my water bottle - he said "Well, that's for baby..." haha. Technically, I guess it is. If mama gets dehydrated, baby won't get enough milk. We shot through the metal detector and then I had my hands swabbed for chemicals. Interesting!

Got to our gate, and wouldn't you know we're delayed. Keeps getting pushed back 15 minutes, 20 minutes, another 10 minutes... By the time we're ready to go it's been delayed a total of 2 hours. But in that time, Kenzo took a beautiful nap on my in his carrier:

So boarding started with the typical "Passengers with small children needing extra time or assistance are welcomed to board first". I had debated whether to board first or last, thinking the less time cooped up in that tiny seat the better. But I went ahead and boarded first. I asked them if I could check my suitcase at the gate but they said we're not full so there is no need. I explained "But, well, I can't get it into the overhead bin" motioning at the baby strapped to my chest. So, I got my own little bell boy to assist me! He rolled the suitcase onto the plane and stowed it away for me - niiiiiiiiiiiice!! I sat down, and the flight attendant came over right away to say hello  and explain where the infant life vests are and how to use the emergency oxygen mask on the baby (WHAT?? OMG! NO!!!). The rest of the passengers boarded and pretty soon the flight attendant came back to explain that there are a lot of empty seats and do I want to move somewhere more spacious. Yes please!! I moved back a few rows so that the 10 seats surrounding us were empty. Wow! This is awesome!! No pervy perves to worry about peeking under my nursing cover! Kenzo stayed awake the whole flight. I nursed him while taxiing. He had no issues during the ascent. We played and sang songs (thank god for my 3x a week library babies and books classes - I had quite a repertoire of songs to work with during our 90 minute flight!!). I nursed him again during the descent and he didn't seem to have any pain whatsoever. There was a magnetic changing table in the bathroom, but thankfully we didn't need to use that.

And there we were, safe and sound in Charlotte and picked up by my own mama. One more hitch to work through though... she'd borrowed a car seat from my aunt and it seriously took us 15 minutes to figure out how to tighten the straps! haha!! Despite what you may be thinking, neither of us are not blonde ^_^

That sums up  my first solo flight with Kenzo (5 months). In case you have your own trip coming up, be prepared - make sue you know the policies of the airline (ours required no ID for the baby, nor a letter from
daddy saying we weren't abducting the baby - of course both are required for int'l travel), bring enough toys, diapers, food, etc for double your estimated trip time - you never know when delays will happen!! Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right??

The first postpartum month was rough. I think I showered about once a week. Why you ask? Exhausted, check. Massive leakage from top and bottom that made being nude a nuisance, check. Did I mention exhausted??? I think I stepped up the showers to twice a week during the 2nd month, and then up to 3 times a week the 3rd month. Then, I met my mommy friends and actually started getting out of the house on a regular basis, which forced me to pull it together... somewhat...

So, here is the "SAHM with a New Baby" Style I've been sporting as of lately:

1) Disproportionally tan hands with the to half of fingers still rather pale and a wedding ring tan line, from strollering around the neighborhood endless hours a week. Why no sunblock? Because little one likes to suck on my hands and fingers, and I don't want him ingesting my sunblock. And not sure how much of those chemicals would end up in my milk. And, I'm a secret sun worshiper - shhhhh don't tell my sister! And as for the nails, forget the manicure. Gotta keep these bad boys trimmed short or else I accidentally scratch the bejeezus out of my poor boy when changing his clothes or diaper. Also, cuticles? What are those? Haven't seen mine in a while!

2) My scent? Not the yummy Ferragamo my hubby bought me a couple of years ago that I STILL haven't finished. Oh no. These days it's Eau du Spit-up, which is an interesting blend of sour spoiled milk with a hint of buttered popcorn (more one or the other depending on how digested the spit-up is, yum!). Also have developed a lovely B.O. since giving birth, gotta love those hormones!! Since finding out I was pregnant I stopped using regular deoderant and have been using this great liquid crystal roll-on for over a year now. While pregnant, it worked awesome, I never stunk!! But since giving birth, omg, yuck. It's getting better, slowly, but now summer is drawing near and I'm afraid. But I refuse to wear regular deo cuz of the chemicals and links to breast cancer, and don't know how well the natural sticks work, and what I love about the crystal deo is no more deo stains on my clothes!! Ugh.

3) My hair also screams new mom. Thinning, receding (Again, thanks hormones! Everyone assures me it's temporary, I can only hope!!), and always in a pony tail because little one loves to grab it and pull. He also loves to grab my jugular, I'm serious, my actual vein. If  you don't hear from me for a couple of days, just assume that he's ripped it right on out of my neck and look for my obit in the Sunday paper.

4) Jeans and a t-shirt. I'm so so so bored, but this seems to be the only thing I can wear these days. Because of aforementioned spit-up, I don't dare wear anything delicate that can't be washed and dried regularly. I can't wear any relatively low-cut tops cuz I'm always leaning over to get Kenzo into or out of his stroller, and when carrying him he's pulling my neckline dangerously low. I also can't wear dresses because of breastfeeding. What am I gonna do, hike up the entire dress up above my boobs in the middle of the park? Riiiiiiiight. Speaking of jeans, can I just say that my favorite pair right now are maternity jeans from my sister? hahaha!! Even funnier, I couldn't wear them when I was actually pregnant! They're not the full panel kind, they have a thick elastic that went under the belly and was too tight on me, I was worried about hurting the baby! I've been back in my regular clothes since about 2 months postpartum, but these preggo jeans are just so damn comfortable, with the added benefit of skimming valuable seconds off of you trip to the bathroom cuz there is no button or zipper to mess with! haha!!

5) I love wearing Kenzo in his Mei Tai carrier, but there is one big fat problem. Key word here is FAT: Back Fat, Muffin Top, whatever you want to call it. The ties of the carrier dig right into my fat child bearing hips and it's NOT an attractive look. Yikes.

6) As mentioned above in #1, baby has been gnawing on my hands and arms lately. I'm like a human teether, and I enjoy it! But ashy arms is the price I pay since I don't dare use lotion knowing he'll be lapping it up in no time!

7) I've never had the best posture, but since having a baby I have become the hunchback of Bay Ridge! Hours upon hours of walking around bouncing the baby in those first couple of months did it. And now, hunching over the stroller or the crib or the playpen or the changing table, or sitting on the floor playing with him. I need some sort of back brace to force me to sit and stand up straight.

8) I'll finish up on a positive note. I have finally painted my toe nails!!! I couldn't reach my feet (comfortably) during the last few months of pregnancy, and after popping the baby out it was winter so what was the point. And if I was too tired to shower, how could I possibly paint my toe nails? But now spring is upon us and I finally got around to a self-pedicure. Looking down at my feet they look so alien!! What are these hot pink growths on my feet?? But, it was about time. Now if I could just start pumicing and lotioning them up on a regular basis, they might actually be presentable by mid-summer...

So I posted before on the pros and cons of baby wearing vs. using a stroller. I love doing both. I love our Mei Tai wrap and the closeness of having Kenzo on me, but I love the stroller's ability to carry all of my crap! I'm usually of the "to each her own" kinda mentality, but when marketing leads to something dangerous becoming the norm, it really really irks me. So, here's what I've heard and come across in my research. Do what you will with it!

I've heard that the Baby Bjorn carrier is terrible for the baby's hips and spine, and in doing research came across a whole plethora of devices that can lead to hip dysplaysia. Hip what now?? Actually, I'd heard that term before. It's quite common in some breeds of dogs. I knew that, strangely, but I didn't really know what it is. Here's the explanation from HipDysplasia.org: "If the hips are forced into a stretched-out position too early, the ball is at risk of permanently deforming the edges of the cup shaped socket (hip dysplasia) or gradually slipping out of the socket altogether (hip dislocation). Hip dysplasia or dislocation in babies is not painful so this may go undetected until walking age and may also result in painful arthritis during adulthood." Yikes!! No i understand why the doc gently rotate Kenzo's legs around at his check-up each month, they're looking for signs of this!

Basically, in any activity or situation you should avoid having baby's legs stretched out straight and pushed together. In a carrier, have baby in froggy position or hug position, with legs supported throughout the butt all the way to the knee, with knees parallel to or slightly above butt level. Don't put baby in a jumper, walker, exersaucer, etc for extended periods of time as these put stress on baby's hips. In a carseat or bouncer, make sure baby's legs and hips are free to spread out and bend. When swaddling, have the legs bent up (think fetal position) or use a sleep sack where the hips and legs are loose (go here for a swaddling how-to video). Interestingly enough, because of the danger of incorrect swaddling, it has recently been banned from day care centers, which I think is crazy town because little babies NEED to be swaddled to sleep well! But we all know how the government loves to get involved by telling us what we can and can't do... Anyway, here is some more info & photos showing the good and bad positioning in car seats, carriers, etc.

Some general safety tips for baby wearing:
* As mentioned above, baby's position is key to avoid developmental problems with the hips and spine. Ideally, baby should be in the froggy or hug position, depending on age with legs coming out into hug position after 4 months or so.
* Baby's chin should never be touching his or her neck - this would make breathing quite difficult. Unfortunately, this position is tough to avoid with a newborn in the cocoon kind of slings. Not impossible, but you have to be really careful. I should add laying in the cocoon sling is not great for baby's hips.
* Do not let fabric cover the baby's face. This could cause the baby to "rebreathe" air, which is believed to be one of the causes of SIDS. You not only have to be careful about the sling or wrap's fabric, but also your clothing. When wearing my baby, I sometimes look down to find him face down on my chest after he's passed out, and I have to be careful to make sure his head is turned so that his nose is not nuzzled in my shirt. Or I arrange his hands so they're tucked under his chest to push his head back away from my chest a bit.

Not to rag on Baby Bjorn, but it's sub par for many reasons: 1) bad for hips (as discussed above), 2) bad for spine (doesn't support natural curvature of baby's spine), 3) bad for brain (front facing, baby has no escape from overstimulation). Yet, somehow Baby Bjorn is the most popular and most well known brand of baby carrier in the States. Go figure. Well done to their marketing team >_<

Helpful websites:
* Read in detail about Hip Dysplaysia, a risk especially in the first few months from bad positioning in car seats, baby carriers, and swaddles.
* Safety tips from Baby Wearing International
* 9 reasons why carrying your baby front-facing is bad

Before getting pregnant, the only baby wearing I knew about was the Baby Bjorn (**see side note about this carrier below) ala The Hangover! But thanks to the hand-me-down from my sister, I am now the proud owner and wearer of the Mei Tai wrap, which I love love LOVE!! I also got one from her similar to the Moby, and was able to get a small teddy bear in there after some practice but never was able to get my actual baby in there!! Might give it another go now that he's a bit older (much sturdier) and I'm not so afraid to break him! hehe

During Kenzo's first two months, I mostly wore him for the simple fact that our stroller with bassinet attachment was quite heavy and difficult for me to lug up and down the mere 2 steps at the entrance of our apartment building! Now that I've taken the bassinet off, I can roll/bump the stroller up and down those 2 steps and it's no hassle at all. For short trips to the neighborhood drug store or grocery store I usually wear him in the Mei Tai, and for long walks or ventures that we'll need to bring his diaper bag and other essentials along, I usually go with the stroller.

This Saturday I have to head into the city by myself for half of the day. I'll need the stroller unfortunately, so I am dreading having to deal with the 2 flights of stairs at our subway station for the first time by myself! I think I can kind of roll/bump the stroller down, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to wait for someone to help me carry it up. I'm terrified that someone will help but will accidentally drop his/her part of the stroller, or trip on the step and fall down with the stroller, etc. I guess I'll just have to be sure Kenzo is buckled in nice and tight!

Here are my pros/cons list for wearing your baby and pushing your baby -

BABY WEARING:

Pros:
* Wonderful bonding time for you and baby
* In winter, you are both warm and cozy
* Stairs? No problemo!!
* Depending on which carrier you have, you can go right into a regular bathroom stall and do your business without having to take baby off and not having to worry about fitting your stroller in the handicapped stall or have it unattended outside.
* Can wear your baby around the house as you do house-work or work-work
* Great in crowded spaces

Cons:
* In summer, might be a bit hot and sweaty
* Can get heavy on your shoulders and/or back, especially if you also have to lug around a diaper bag
* Could be dangerous in ice/snow

Stroller

Pros:
* Can lug around stuff other than baby, i.e. diaper bag, groceries, etc.
* Baby can sleep uninterrupted in the restaurant or anywhere while you relax and do your thing nearby
* Can provide an easy & clean place to change a diaper and take care of other needs

Cons:
* Stairs can be a big obstacle and you'll rely on your superhuman strength or kindness of strangers
* Crowded areas such as subway cars during rush hour, boutique shops, etc. are tough and you may get the evil eye from strangers
* Not great in ice or snow
* Difficult to use an umbrella, cell phone, or anything else requiring one hand/arm

**From what I've read the Bjorn is a terrible carrier because it puts all of baby's weight on his/her spine which is not built to support the whole body - you should use a carrier that distributes supports through at least to mid-thigh and brings the knees up parallel or above the bum; side note, infant's legs should be tucked into the carrier froggy style, which is a natural position for them).