Wrap Baby Wrap

UPDATE: Make sure you do a lot of research first when making a DIY wrap. After this post, I was able to learn more about DIY wraps. You can search Babywearing Philippines in Facebook to learn more.

I've been a baby wearing Mama ever since I became a mother to my beautiful toddler. She's almost 17 months old already, so that's about 16 months of baby wearing. :)

We got our very first baby pouch from the Mommy Mundo Christmas Bazaar back in 2012. Ava was barely a month old then and we braved the Christmas bazaar season in Powerplant. Amongst the baby carriers that we saw, I fell in love with the simplicity of Indigobaby's Baby Pouch. It was also a good decision to get the pouch right after I gave birth instead of ordering online because I was able to check the correct size for me and Ava. Apparently, if I followed the size chart, I would've gotten a wrong size. It is always best to try the (sized) carriers first before getting them because a wrong size can be uncomfortable and can make or break your baby wearing journey. We were yayaless during our first couple of months with Ava and I was doing household chores while attending to my newborn. Those include breastfeeding, cooking, cleaning and washing baby clothes. I don't think I would've survived if not for baby wearing. I guess I rubbed off some of my love for baby wearing to Mr. T because a few months later, we got an Ergo Sport for him thanks to our sponsor (aka Grandpa). It's a Soft Structured Carrier (SSC) with lots of buckles and straps, it was really perfect for him. Then I became a member of the online Facebook community called Filipino Association of Babywearers (FAB) and oh boy! Hahah! Fellow baby wearing parents with different types of carriers sharing tips and helping each other which made me learn a lot. That resulted to me getting another carrier called Saya. It's a hybrid type which is a lot lighter than Ergo since it is only made of very lightweight fabric.

Left to Right: 1 m.o. Ava in our very first Indigobaby Pouch | Ergobaby Sport at 5 mos. |
Our second Indigobaby Pouch at 5 mos. | Happy to be in our Saya at 7 mos.

Recently, I joined an international Babywearing DIY Advice and Support group and was so amazed with all the projects that the other moms were doing. So I decided to try and make our own that both Mr. T and I can use which is the wrap type.

Before I share with you a simple tutorial let me just remind you that you should always consider your baby's safety before making your own baby carrier. I figured a wrap is the safest type to do since it does not consist a lot of straps and buckles that require sewing which, when done incorrectly, can tear and cause accident to you and your baby. So please do your research first.

My Reading List

I love reading. I stopped for a while though because of so many things happening at the same time. I sucked at managing my time. Funny thing is, now that my list of things to do has multiplied by a hundred from work stuff to being a mother to a toddler, it is when I found time to finally read again. Lovely.

One of the reasons why getting an iPad last Christmas was a good decision. Though holding a real book is nothing compared to flipping pages just by swiping a glass screen, there's just people like me who benefits from the convenience of ebooks more than a paperback version. But when the day comes and maybe when I'm just at home with time in my own management, I will definitely go back to bookstores.

Read books.

The Hashtag Project

This is just the perfect entry for today because it's a #ThrowbackThrusday kind of thing. :)

I recently ordered an Instabook from Imagesmith. It's a book of your pictures gathered from your own Instagram gallery. For my first Instabook, I chose photos of Ava from her first year. And here's how the book turned out.

If you'd like to make something out of your Instagram gallery, then I would say go for an Instabook. ;)

#100HappyDays

About a month ago I decided to join this on-going campaign called 100happydays. Basically, what you do is post one photo that made you happy - everyday for 100 days in a row. According to the website, 71% of people who tried this challenge failed due to lack of time. How can that be? Posting a photo a day shouldn't be that hard.

Yes, posting one photo a day is really not that hard. BUT, posting one photo of what made you happy for the day, for 100 consecutive days is a challenge. Trust me, I know because on my 28th day, I almost gave up on this. But I'm glad I didn't. :D

Baby's Safety Online

This has been an on-going topic amongst parents and it seems like it's going to continue along with the evolving virtual world of social media internet. And ever since our very own little belle entered toddlerhood, this has become a part of our discussion as parents as well.

Amongst the articles I've read discussing/debating this issue, I've come across two questions that are always being asked. (1) Are you violating your own child's right to privacy? (2) Is it safe to post photos of your child?

And these are my takes.

(1) Violation of my child's privacy. This sounds silly to me, trying to imagine my toddler, who can't even control her bladder yet, invoking the right to control her own photos.

"The violation of personal privacy doesn’t start until an individual has the ability to understand what the violation means." - New York Times

Makes a lot of sense to me. That's why it becomes part of our many responsibilities as parents -  to make sure that our children are safe and protected - whenever, wherever. For me, bum-naked is already a violation of my child's privacy. I once posted a photo of her right after birth, blurred out except for her face. But eventually took it down after a while because I find it too much for sharing. The context of how photos are being shared should also be considered.

(2) Safety of my child. This one I find a bit too much.

“Research shows that there is virtually no risk of pedophiles coming to get kids because they found them online,” said Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute. While the debate makes this crime seem common, he said, all the talk is really just “techno-panic.”

Exactly my point. Of course protecting children from dangerous people should be a concern to all parents. However, these people are more likely to target children they know and who trust them already, instead of those they have only seen on the Internet.

Hey! Still Here :)

I think it's time to state the fact that I am a negligent blogger. Or maybe a seasonal blogger instead, so as not to be too harsh on myself. :P Yes, I am still keeping (or at least trying to) my blog updated so I'm just gonna move on and jump on to what's current instead of holding off till I can complete my backlogs which will just make everything pile up all together. So yeah. Let's move on. Maybe I'll just post about them when I get the chance. :)

Let me just do a quick roundup instead of blogging about each event one by one. Last I posted was all about my little belle's Little Miss Audrey stint. It was then followed by her series of birthday celebrations, then the holiday season and the start of her toddler year. Yes, this little person right here took over our lives. But we're not complaining. Just loving every minute of it.