All Wrapped Up!

I first learned about babywearing when I was at the end of my pregnancy. After, lots of research I was amazed to find that there are many benefits to wearing your baby. I didn't get around to buying a ring sling until W was 4 months old. I'm a little upset that I didn't get a wrap sooner. W was happier when we had to run errands, go on walks and when I had to do household chores. He was seeing the world from a whole new perspective. He was close to his mommy, not laying down in a baby seat staring at the ceiling. I think our society gets caught up in what a baby needs...crib, swing, bouncy seat, bumbo, high chair, jumperoo, stroller etc. YOUR BABY NEEDS YOU!!

Here are two links that discuss the benefits of babywearing
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/fussy-baby/baby-wearing/benefits-babywearing
http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbnovdec04p204.html

To this day, I still wear W and he loves it! Every afternoon, we go for a walk. He usually walks for a few minutes then he is in the ring sling for the rest of the walk. We talk about what we see, hear and smell (there is a bakery down the street that makes homemade donuts, yum!). "I see a bird, tweet, tweet. Do you see the bird?".

Who else uses a baby wrap? What type? I've been thinking about switching to a more toddler friendly wrap, maybe a Girasol or Ergo. Anyone have any suggestions?

W's 1st Field Trip

We have been doing an art project everyday even if it's just something simple. I really enjoy handprint and footprint artwork. I love to look back on past artwork to see how much his little hands have grown.Handprint and Footprint artwork doesn't have to be boring. Get creative! My favorite blog for this type of art is http://funhandprintart.blogspot.com/. This blog is fantastic! Tons of ideas.

On this particular day, I decided to make the day all about fish! We started off the morning with reading   "One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish" by Dr. Seuss. Love, love, love all books by Dr. Seuss! After reading the book, W made hand print fish.

Later in the morning, we went to the pet store. This pet store has tons of animals. Dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, ducks, chickens, rabbits, reptiles, birds, fish and I'm sure much more that I didn't mention. W had so much fun walking around the store, pointing to each animal and making animal noises (more like listening to Mommy make the animal noises). I'm sure we were a very interesting bunch to the staff working that day.

Once we finally broke away from the cute and cuddly puppies, W picked out two feisty little goldfish and some cute fish toys. I'm such an animal lover, it's surprising that we didn't come home with more than just two fish!!! Since our day was all about fish, we spent some time making fish lips at the fish bowl and each other. We had salmon for dinner then we watched Nemo.

This was such a great 1st field trip! I think that our next field trip will be to the Zoo. Keep an eye out for that post!

Cool Whip Finger Painting

This morning, my wonderful mama came over to watch W while I had some me time at a local spa. I thoroughly enjoyed my time alone but I missed my little guy. While my hair was baking (the pain women go through for beauty), I was brainstorming an activity W could do. A few months ago, a mom commented saying that she had done cool whip finger painting and that her baby loved it! Seemed easy enough! 

I put a few drops of food coloring in 1/2 tub of cool whip (I decided 1/2 was plenty on the off chance he decided it was delicious and was going to eat it all) which by the way, if you were wondering, he did! I shouldn't be surprised.

"Yum"

"What color is the cool whip?" I talked to W about the color blue and other things that are blue. I talked to W about the temperature of the cool whip saying "cold".

"Are you ready to get cleaned up?" I feel like he actually understands what I'm saying. 

If I ever do this activity again, I will be sure to use sugar free cool whip.W had a sugar rush afterwards. Luckily, it wasn't raining and we could play outside. Happy May Day!

Mommy & Baby Yoga

I LOVE YOGA! Always have, always will! It's relaxing and energizing at the same time. Every morning, I do a few poses to greet the day. W amazes me everyday. He is extremely observant. He must be watching mommy each morning during yoga time because now when the yoga mat comes out he tries to poses too! 

Abc's of Yoga. Thought this was cute!

Downward dog. "What sound does a dog make? Woof, woof".

Spinal twist! Go W!

Chair...well kind of. "Toes".

Cat pose. "What sound does a cat make? Meow, meow, meow".

The link below is a site of 10 benefits of yoga for children.

http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/09/24/giving-kids-the-gift-of-yoga-top-10-benefits-of-yoga-for-children/