OK, so I caved. I've hopped on the babywearing bandwagon via the Moby Wrap.

Lately I have found that Linnea is simply inconsolable unless she's being held, and being a busy work-at-home mama, holding her all the time just doesn't work; but neither does letting the poor little thing cry and scream for hours on end. I've heard great things about babywearing, one benefit in particular being that a parent is freed up to actually get things done AND have a happy child at the same time… SOLD. Not to mention that some experts say that babywearing improves sleep habits, reduces stress and crying, and helps develop secure (but not dependent) attachments to mom and dad. Sounds like a good plan to me.

I have to admit that, at first, babywearing was off to a rough start for us. While Linnea is a very curious, alert little girl and loves to be propped up on a shoulder so she can see everything, and while she loves to be held, she also likes to have freedom to move. The first hold I tried with the Moby Wrap was the Hug Hold, which is basically her facing me front and center with her little legs dangling out below. And let me tell ya… when she was awake, she was NOT. A. FAN. She likes to be able to look around, and Mom's chest is not acceptable scenery. So we turned her around a la the Lotus Hold, and she loved it! Given that she's probably gonna be a runner like her mama (I mean, seriously, she's built just like me! With her dad's face! Haha), we let her legs be free and she kicks around excitedly when we're on the move. That's one thing- while babywearing, she's not happy unless we're moving. Hopefully that will change.

The Moby Wrap can be a little intimidating at first- it's literally a twelve-foot-or-so-long piece of fabric that you have to learn to wrap around yourself properly, or else it won't work. If it's not tight enough, it won't work. If it's too tight, it won't work. And as with pretty much everything else, it fits everyone differently. I chose the organic wrap because of its notable softness and pretty light green color (called Celery) and once I got the fit right, we were good to go. Linnea is a whole nine pounds now and growing, and the Moby Wrap is good up to 35 pounds- not sure how I feel about carrying her around at that size, but we'll see…

Hanging out around the house with Mama:

Poolside in Fountain Hills with the Lentz family:

Helping mama in the kitchen (and before you start FREAKING OUT, this was only for show- I didn't actually have her near any hot pots or ovens! No Linneas were harmed during the taking of this picture).

The whole babywearing thing is still a work in progress, but it's fun and hopefully she will learn to love it as much as I do! As long as I don't get pooped on!

Next in the line-up: a cloth diaper trial.