Officially Homeschooling

Today was Logan's last day in the public school system.  We have to go finish filling out the paperwork on Monday but today was his last day.  I'm glad and relieved.  He told me that he was worried that he wouldn't be able to learn at home because he's "really not that smart".  We'll see how his self esteem changes over the next few months.

I'm extremely excited about this new chapter in our lives and so is Logan.  His only apprehension was that he wouldn't see his friends anymore.  We assured him that they could still come over for playdates, birthday parties, etc.. and that calmed his fears and made him even more excited about homeschooling.  He's most excited about "science".  He is really in tune with nature and loves to discover new things outdoors so we're going to include that in most of our lesson plans.

I've already been working with him as far as learning to read phonetically.  He "gets" that better than the sight words and repetition. (of course, he still has to learn sight words but his main focus will be on 'sounding things out' which he's really good at)

In other news, Laney is potty learning on her own and is saying new words daily.  She also got a "big girl bed" today and is very excited to sleep in it tonight.

I'll update in the coming days!

SAFE Babywearing.

Lately, there have been posts from a very well known blogger about babywearing.  Unfortunately, she has been using a STRETCHY wrap (Ex: Moby, Sleepy Wrap, homemade, Baby K'tan,....) to do a BACK carry.  This is EXTREMELY unsafe.  Never ever ever ever do a back carry in a stretchy wrap.  Even if the instructions say you can.  Sometimes they say "Back carries in this wrap are for experienced babywearers only".
I consider myself an all knowing expert/babywearing goddess  pretty well-versed when it comes to babywearing and I have years of experience to back it up.  I AM an experienced wrapper and I have tried back carries in a stretchy (with my lovely husband spotting of course) to test the safety of this babywearing "method".  Fact:  My kid fell out.  Fact: It's not safe.  Fact: If you do back carries with ANY stretchy, regardless of how "tight" you have the wrap or how "experienced" you are, you are RISKING YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY.
I tried this at 7lbs, 9.5lbs, and higher weights, and EVERY SINGLE TIME my child ended up in an unsafe position or she fell out of the wrap.  Don't do it.

There are several ways you can SAFELY wear your baby on front or back!  Why risk doing it in an unsafe carrier?

Soft structured carriers:  Carriers that buckle and usually have a thick padded waist. (our current fave is the bECO)

WOVEN Wraps:  Theses wraps do not stretch.  (Girasol, Ellevill, Didymos, Storchenweige, Hoppediz, etc..)  (added some front carries for good measure)

Ring slings:

You can also use mei tais but I can't seem to find any pics at the moment.  I'll try to add some later.

This is the ONLY way a stretchy should be used:

PLEASE click and share.  Spread the word regarding safe babywearing.  If you have a question please don't hesitate to leave a comment and I'll respond ASAP.