Baby Wearing

My writers block is (hopefully) gone! Apologies if you were getting a bit fed up with my "10 Things" posts. This is the first time in months I've had time to sit down and properly write something instead of collecting things that happen, or random thoughts I've had, in the notes app on my iPhone.

In November last year, while we were out shopping for furniture for the nursery Caroline came across this :
The Mamas & Papas Morph Baby Carrier.

I decided that I definitely wanted one of these, my reasoning being that Caroline had carried Baby Irvine for 9 months (to be fair Mara was out in 7 for *ahem* good behaviour...) it only seemed fair that I should do a bit of carrying myself, despite reservations that I would look like Alan from The Hangover as mentioned in a previous post. Click this handy link in case you missed it!

Today was finally the day I got to test that baby out (bad pun?)

I spent 20 minutes before we went out reading the instruction manual and assembling the Morph and then another 20 minutes strutting around between our house and Gran & Papa G's. testing it out (they live next door to us for those who don't know - handy for babysitting!)
Mara seemed to relish this new experience of being carted around in a baby sized rucksack in her pyjamas! So we set off to Falkirk to visit The Kelpies & Helix Park again, this time with Gran & Papa G in tow, before heading up to Hotel Colessio in Stirling for afternoon tea! 



This is where the interesting bit kicks in and to help me describe it in the best way possible I got in touch with a fellow dad blogger, Matt Coyne from Man Vs Baby (& the guy off of the telly!) to ask if I could quote one of his latest posts about baby wearing. Thankfully he agreed as I feel that I might not have been able to do it justice otherwise! He nails it! Thanks for allowing me to use this buddy!!

Matt wrote on his product review for Amazon -

- Trying to get it on feels like you're being sexually assaulted by a set of bagpipes....

- It says in the instructions that its designed so that you feel a real bond with your baby... when I wear it I feel like I'm doing a tandem skydive with Verne Troyer.

- The baby sits at exactly the right height to... repeatedly kick you in the bollocks.

- It's hard to describe but, with Charlie in it, it feels like I'm going to topple over.. When I walk I feel dangerously top-heavy like one of those women with record-breakingly massive tits.

Anyway, The daft thing is I still gave it 5 stars. Why? Because Charlie absolutely loves it.. He's suddenly 4 foot taller and enjoying striding around the place like he's f*cking Godzilla. (He must feel like Sigourney Weaver at the end of Aliens when she climbs into that big forklift suit thing and turns dead hard).
"Get away from her you bitch."

Honestly, everything he said was exactly how I felt today and I wouldn't have changed any of it!! I'm not gonna lie, there was a little bit of peacocking happening on my part: "I'm awesome, I'm wearing a baby and totally rocking this!" Mara was just happy to be doing something different, although I did feel like I should have been wearing a mirror as well so she could see what was happening since she was stuck facing my chest. She's beginning to hold her head up now unaided, but can't sustain it for long periods of time so Caroline adjusted the straps so we were both still comfortable but her head could be as supported as she wanted it to be... and also, Mara could still have a nose around by peeking out the sides! A few times though, she would look up at me with this massive cheesey grin and it made me so happy! I secretly think she loved it.

Now, I'm looking forward to when she is able to sit front facing and totally enjoy the experience. It also means I won't end up with a soaking wet shirt and look like I've been dribbling on myself when I take her off! Damn teething! There's drool everywhere, she's worse than Beethoven right now (the dog, not the composer!)

Lastly, something else to look forward to this week coming... we're going to try a bit of weaning... We are armed to the teeth (too soon?!) with bibs, spoons, rusks, baby rice & fruit purees!
Wish us luck!!

Here's a link to my last blog post in case you missed it too - 10 Things... Part 13
And as always, please get in touch with any advice (or criticisms)! Feel free to share your stories and my blogs!

Mark




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