Tropical fishies

Out of all the slings I own, I think my wraps are my favourites. They're basically long pieces of woven fabric which can be worn in a wide variety of ways to carry a child.

They're very comfy, and obviously more importantly totally beautiful! I have a few, in different lengths and colours for different carries and different moods.

One of my favourites is by Didymos and it's called Deep Sea Fish, it's a dark, denimy blue with fish woven into it. It's lovely to wrap with, and very comfy but a little bit boring. So, last night, I cracked out the fabric paints.

You can see the results in the photo, the fish on the left are in their original state, and the ones on the right have been painted. I'm really pleased with the results, I've just got to finish it off and then iron it to make it permanent!

Thank goodness for Dr Sears!

Moobles wasn't a particularly difficult baby, she just puked a lot and fed a lot. We mostly got round the puking by keeping her vertical as much as possible and always having at least three muslins within arm's reach. The feeding wasn't a problem, I happily spent hours pinned to the sofa munching junk food and watching films, afterall, I had nothing else to do, the housework could wait (it's still waiting!).

Aside from the puking, which didn't bother her greatly she was a fairly happy baby, very independant and sociable.

Velcro Boy was a bit different. The clue is in the name really, he was a placid little fellow for the first six weeks of his life, I even remember gloating smugly at him falling asleep in his crib and going 2-3 hours between feeds. Then something happened and he began to cry. All. The. Time. Seriously, unless he was feeding or sleeping he was screaming. There wasn't anything obvious wrong, nothing we tried worked except holding him and singing. So we held him and sang, for about 6 weeks, until gradually he stopped crying quite so much and even smiled occasionally!

VB is still very much a Velcro baby at 16 months, he's happiest when he's being cuddled, he's not particularly adventurous and he's still prone to frequent tears. So we still carry him a lot, he still breastfeeds whenever he wants and we soothe him when he's cranky.

It's been tough, I had Moobles to consider and sometimes VB had to wait while I made lunch or put her to bed, or counted to 10! But generally we've managed ok, mainly thanks to co-sleeping, breast-feeding and a large collection of slings!

So, imagine my delight when I flicked through the Sears "Attachment Parenting" book to discover that VB isn't miserable, spoilt or manipulative (as suggested by some well-meaning baby gurus) he's simply high-needs. And guess what? These babies don't need strict routines, or to be left to cry, they need comfort and cuddles.

So, yay! It wasn't me who broke my boy at six weeks, he's just high needs and he needs extra attention from us all.

So, to summarize; Dr Sears rocks. Babies cry - it's normal and sometimes you won't know why. You can't spoil a baby with love, carry them, cuddle them, sleep with them, feed them, do these things as often as possible. You won't make any kind of rod for your back, you'll just create a happy child who knows they're loved and is secure in that love.

A lovely day!

It was uncharacteristically hot here in South London today, so Velcro Boy and his big sister Moobles, spent most of the day in various states of undress, prancing about in the sandpit and paddling pool.

At one point Moobles came downstairs pretending to be me, wrapped in one of my dresses and wearing a pair of my high heels. Unfortunately a little while later she came to find me in the kitchen and informed me that "Velcro boy is playing in the paddling pool with your shoes". Oh dear. He was indeed sitting, fully clothed in the middle of the paddling pool, splashing about with my shoes and looking rather pleased with himself!

We ventured out to the Post Office today because we had a parcel to collect and I was hoping it was something exciting. Moobles rode on her new bike (well, she sat on it, I pushed it along and steered with the parent handle) and VB rode in our Solarweave Connecta which was the only thing light enough to sling with today. It's my newest sling, and I love it, it's very thin but supportive and UV protective too. Unfortunately, the parcel turned out to be something for my husband AKA Gadget Man, so nothing exciting at all, just more gubbins for his Iphone. We enjoyed the walk though and cheered ourselves up with houmous and strawberries when we got home (although not at the same time!).

Velcro?

Well yes, I've come to the conclusion that Mr Velcro could learn a thing or two from me. I seem to have at least one child attached to me at any given moment during the day (and night, if I'm really lucky!) I've made a conscious decision to allow my children as much access to me as they feel they need, and I'm completely happy with this choice, even when they're hanging off my ankles while I'm in the loo!

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to blog about although I'm fairly sure I'll mention the kids a lot, so I suppose I'll start by introducing them and me.

I live in Sarf London with my lovely husband and two funny children, I have vague dreams of having chickens and rabbits roaming around the place, but as we live in a teeny Victorian terrace, we've settled for the odd visiting neighbourhood cat, fox and giant rats!

Our daughter is 3 going on 13, her current interests include glitter, pink, princesses and cats. I had noble intentions when she was born of never buying her anything pink and instilling feminist ideals in her from the off. However, I neglected to account for the switch that seems to be implanted in every toddler girl and gets flicked around their 3rd birthday, she went from playing with shape sorters and puzzles to pink and fluffy overnight. We've decided to embrace the pinkness, she likes it, it keeps her happy and we get a quiet life. Besides, she still loves climbing, jumping in puddles and rolling around in the mud, so I'm hopeful it won't be princesses and ponies forever more!

Our little boy is 1, he mainly spends his day eating inappropriate objects, drinking "Mik" and sitting in a sling. He's a very different soul to his independent sister, he loves cuddles and is very sociable and smiley but prefers to stay close to us rather than attempting to climb trees with his sister. Slings have proved very useful in parenting him and he's at his happiest when wrapped in some fabric and tied to an adult. This has led to me becoming a sling agent for Petit Poppet (www.petitpoppet.co.uk), I'm such a sling enthusiast it seemed like a natural step to be able to introduce others to the wonderful world of babywearing!