Product review plus some: ERGObaby Carrier System

Image from http://www.ergobaby.com

We're Baby Carriers 'R' Us! No, really!

When Daniel was first born, I had no idea about the idea or huge cultural trend behind baby wearing, but we were naturally drawn to it like so many of the other childrearing practices we decided to do with little to no outside influence. Before he was born, I went on maternity leave and received so many wonderful gifts from my colleagues, including a Moby Wrap. As comfortable with it as I am now, I looked at this 6 yards of fabric and said to myself "I'm supposed to wrap my child to me using this?". It was at least two months before I got the courage to try it, and we haven't looked back! I couldn't get over how cute he looked wrapped up all warm and cozy to me and how comfortable it was to wear him like that.

For those first two months of his life, we used the Baby Bjorn Air that my in-laws bought for us and let me just say this right now: that thing was a lifesaver. While there are many reasons for parents to  not front-carry, one of them being it's too over-stimulating for the baby and though we wore him tummy-to-tummy 90% of the time we used it, we front-faced Daniel quite a bit and he seemed to really enjoy it (but that is just the kind of baby he is). My one gripe with the Baby Bjorn that I didn't find to be the case with my Moby Wrap, is that after about an hour or so, the small of my back would be strained. Ouch! So for the second month of his life (we didn't use anything for 2 weeks, then our in-laws were in town for 2 weeks and they held him all the time...), we used the Baby Bjorn exclusively before I finally figured out how to use the Moby.

With a side of crickets.

Holy cow! HELLO! What a jam-packed, completely crazy couple of months we've had! I didn't completely forget about this blog, believe me, but it seemed like every waking moment (both mine AND Daniel) was spent playing, eating, crying, and (primarily for me) job hunting. Still no go on the last little tidbit, but I fear not and enjoy the fact that I've spent 8 MONTHS at home with my little monkey.

Thanks right, folks! Daniel is now 8 months young and gosh, the things he does. In the last few months, he's accomplished so much growth! Let's see...

1. At his 6 month appointment, he was still at 20 lbs. (his dad and I believe he probably gained several pounds between 4 and 6 months, but once he started moving around the weight dropped down to 20) but measured in at a whopping 29 inches! Still a big boy, that one!

2. He's been crawling for a little over a month now, pulling up on anything he can get his hands on (which he actually learned to do way before mastering how to crawl) and as of about 2 weeks ago, started balancing on his two feet completely unassisted! Look ma, no hands!

3. For the sake of updating, because I sucked at blogging over the last 3 months, his two bottom teeth have completely come through and now we look forward to his top two teeth to start poking through. So far, no sign of them though. Speaking of teeth, he's a voracious eater now too! His favorite foods are avocado, sweet potato, and his morning pureed apple or pears mixed with rice cereal (I plan on upgrading him to oatmeal or something with more substance once this box is gone, though). He also loves little baby crackers and cookies, but if he's anything like me, we have to keep those at a minimum.

4. Still babywearing, still co-sleeping, still nursing...

5. Daniel used his passport for the first time when we went to Japan earlier this month! He was fantastic both to and from our destination; he met both sides of his Japanese family and received many gifts. So many, in fact, that we had to pack an extra bag on the way home. His other grandparents enjoyed him greatly! While in Japan, he went to the beach for the first time. Lots of firsts during this trip!

6. Mama. That will be his first word. He's said it on numerous occasions, but not AT me. At least, I don't think he has... until today. When he was whining, all of the sudden I hear him saying "ma ma, ma ma", not his usual "ma ma ma ma". It was very obviously, and I think very deliberate too. WOW! My baby's first word... I'm honored <3