My current favorite things

Yesterday "Today Show" did a piece on 20 things that make Mom's lives easier these days. I was surprised to see that I had several of them. One of these things was the "Ergo Carrier." I bought this over the winter because I needed something that I could use in the cold weather to hike/snowshoe with Nora. We already had a Baby Bjorn "Carrier Air," which really lacks in back support (no waist strap) and a "Snugli" carrier, which is much better for support but I HATE the straps on it. It's almost impossible for me to get Nora in it and adjust the straps by myself without raising my BP to dangerously high levels.

I love the Ergo carrier because the support is so great, I can hardly feel Nora's weight (20 lbs), and can easily do an hour long hike with her. (Supposedly you can carry children up to 40 lbs. in it. Don't think I'll be doing that, but for now it's great.) I love it for the cold weather because she fits in it comfortably while wearing her snow suit.

The only thing I'm not so sure about it is that it is made up of thick padded cotton, so it tends to get a little warm for me and her. I originally had a black one and after using it a few times I realized that it would be WAY too hot in the summer with the sun heating it up, so I exchanged it for a khaki one. I plan on using it in the summer and just dressing her appropriately for it.

The other thing with this carrier is that although it can be used for three positions, front, back and side, in all positions, the baby's tummy is against your body, so they are facing you. Not like in the Baby Bjorn, where when they're on your front they're facing out. Well, yesterday on the "Today Show" they had the poor baby in it backwards and he looked so freaking uncomfortable! I couldn't believe it when I saw it.


My other favorite things, and I have to give Kudos to Murphey for this one, are baby gates. When Nora became mobile and the baby gates went up, I was fine with the removable pressure mounted gates, but Murphey insisted on the wall-mounted type (Mr. Safety). I objected, because in my mind, we would just remove the gates when she went to bed at night and have temporary relief from baby-gate hell. All I can say now, is thank goodness for the wall mounted gates. They work great for the keeping the dogs out and they are so much safer for our little escape artist.

Any guesses on what age she will actually make it over the gate??? Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to that day.