The aesthetics of this carrier were enough for me to give it a second look, and then a third look. But as a Bjorn user, I contemplated the financial wisdom of buying another carrier. Baby is now 9kg and carrying him in the Bjorn feels like being 9 months pregnant again. My knees ached and I felt tired and unwieldly. After a conversation with several moms, I decided to give it a go.

The purchase process through MummysMilk was fast and very pleasant. Lulu, the owner of the cool online establishment, herself an AP (attachment parenting) mom with 2 kids, was a delight to talk to. Her articles on AP are a must-read.

After I paid last night via Internet Banking, the Ergo arrived the very next day via courier. Mom was surprised how small it packed into (as a packing genius herself). It is light, comes in a clear A4 pouch, with clear instructions in print and in a DVD. I wasted no time opening it up.

Like kids under the Christmas tree awed by the lights, Mom, Jack, and I gathered around to have a look at it and oohed and ahhed. Visually it is as beautiful as it appears on the picture. No boring navy Bjorn or tired navy triangle hip carrier, this is jet black with a maroon trim. Definitely the epitome of cool.

While my Mom carried baby, I strapped the Ergo on and sat baby in it. I felt no weight at all! No sigh of weight like when I put baby in the Bjorn. Jack was rather amused by the new experience and beamed widely as I played with the straps. We danced around with it for a while. Then I decided to try putting the poncho on him. He brushed it off three times (okay, I put it on him 3x) and began to fuss.

Removing Jack from the Ergo (reach behind, unstrap + undo arm strap) is way faster than with the Bjorn, which is a three-action removal (undo button x2, undo long pin). I just undid the neck strap, undid one arm strap, and off he went chasing after the DVD box and the other papers in the pack.

For me, the Bjorn felt safer when baby was small and now, when bending over to pick up something while carrying baby. It gives better head support too without the use of a poncho (for fussy bears who hate stuff on their heads) and you can turn baby outwards. I'd been concerned about him being held by the crotch for a while on the Bjorn and am pleased that the Ergo carries him by the rump instead. The Ergo also allows back carrying and is certainly better for Mom's back.

All in all, highly recommended.

Ergo Carrier - Official Site
Ergo Carrier Black with Cranberry Lining at MummysMilk

Buying Experience at MummysMilk *****
Ergo Carrier *****

Legend:

***** Excellent and highly recommended
**** Pretty good
*** Acceptable
** Only if there is absolutely no substitute
* Bad beyond belief

Technorati: Ergo, Ergo baby carrier, bjorn, Bjorn baby carrier, baby, baby carrier, attachment parenting

A post from my cat-son Boy on Five Cats Blog:

"I reckon we're pretty lucky kitties to have been rescued by Mom and Aunty Mini when we were mere kittens. Mom's always taught us to help others if we can (well Tuxie still demands food but I think the rest of us got the lesson).

The good kitties at the Paw Pledge Shelter need your help. Please pop by their website and blog to say hello. They've got cats up for adoption and neat merchandise you can buy to help the shelter."

Could a Mom be prouder? :`)

Tags: cat, cat shelter

Huge and the warmest congrats to my BFF Shen on the arrival of her sweet sweet son Gavin. :D

Welcome to the world, Gavin!

Although he's been doing it for months now, especially when he was first learning to crawl, he would wake up crying on all fours, puzzled and upset why he was in such a position. I used to think he got himself there, but according to Moxie:

"All that physical development also makes it really tough for babies to sleep, and they often wake themselves up in the middle of the night with movement. It's a little funny when your baby wakes up and is shocked to be up on hands and knees rocking. His or her body just did it without any conscious effort."

Now he also stands and does a little "I put my right foot in, I put my right foot out, I put my right foot in..." but stops short of "shaking it all about". It's really cute to watch!

Technorati: baby, sleep, parenting, motherhood, Jack

BREAKING NEWS: In an effort to rescue a baby's toy dinosaur, two community cats meowed feverishly till the baby's mother peered out the window to see the poor dinosaur lying on the ground. She rushed out to retrieve the poor dinosaur and thank the kind samaritans but the two had left after their good deed.

In an interview, the mother said, "If not for the cats, Mr Pterodactyl would have been run over by a car in the morning. Whoever they are, thank you from the bottom of my heart." She will pledge a membership and donation to the Cat Welfare Society, who helps these caring critters.

Beset with guilt from neglecting the kids, every day their Dad feeds them in the morning before he goes to work and while one of my parents is playing with Jack, I go spend some time with the kids, petting them and talking to them, and giving them some grub.

I noticed today that all of them accepted pets, and dear sweet Kaku who spent the past few months staying away from me, leapt onto the table and lay in her "please pet me Mommy" pose (prone with bum up in the air). I gladly petted her and cooed at her calling her my sweet baby girl.

I gave her some food then, which she nipped at and after, fed the rest too. Buffy rushed and ate but the rest hovered around. I petted each of them and then left them to their own devices. When I turned, Boy went to eat some more.

It broke my heart that he would rather I pet him than eat (although yes, they had been fed not long before), which probably means he is feeling neglected. Unlike the rest (and maybe even Kaku), he doesn't seek much solace in feline company.

I should try to organise more time with them as baby grows more independent.

Meanwhile, I made Baby a Treasure Chest (from a small blue cat-laden mug box with a lid) with a rotating assortment of toys inside: his rubber soccer ball, Baby Tigger, a yellow plastic donut ring, a photo album with the cats' pics, his cardboard "mobile phone".

He always delights in playing with them. Sometimes I add small plastic bottles of different colours and sizes. Sometimes different balls. Anything that teaches him categories and are fun to play with.

He's been pulling up to standing since 6.5 months, but it's his most favourite activity now. He even lets go of one hand and looks at me, like look Ma, one hand! He also crawls like a speeding bullet, usually when his Dad comes home and shrieks in delight when he picks him up.

On Sunday, he amused all of us by sticking out his tongue whenever we say shh and put a finger to our lips. I have no idea where he learnt that from but it sure brought laughter to everyone watching.

Now he usually wakes up before me. Sometimes he pulls my hair and I yelp ouch! He quickly buries his face in my chest and hugs me tight. I smile and hug back and tell him it's okay. It is just ouchie for Mom. And he returns the hugest grin. It's the sweetest thing.

Technorati: parenting, motherhood, babies and cats, Jack, cat, cats, Kaku, Boy

I've been hungry all the time since I gave birth. Yet at the same time I have no appetite. My snacking habit seemed to die off even with the sporadic munch on pork floss during the early months or more recently Cheez Balls by Brim's, which I suspect bought the product over from Planter's, or bought Planter's. Anyway will Google and find out. Must be a reason why it disappeared from the supermarket shelves for 2 years (or is it 3)? Hmm...

Last weekend the whole family (sans cats) was down with some sort of stomach bug. Their poor Dad threw up violently about 10 times in 2 days. He gleefully said later his stomach had shrunk and he has lost some weight. I was spared the violence but felt cold and achy. It recurred again the last 2 days, this time with an awful nausea and body ache. I stayed in bed all day yesterday. After Jack threw up his food twice in the last 2 days (this is the third time in this para already), I realised he might have it too.

Anyway, it hasn't stopped me from eating. I am trying to gain more weight before someone calls me Skeletor. If people notice I am visibly thinner, that's a bad sign. I know many Moms have trouble losing weight after baby but oddly for me the weight keeps falling and falling. Either Jack's just drinking a lot of milk or I am just not sleeping enough, or it's because he's 9kg now and I am carrying him everywhere so that's some kind of exercise, or my appetite's been bad, or really, all of the above. I've yet to breach the 50kg mark in over a month and I've started drinking full cream milk and even Milo again. Okay, today I am 49kg. I haven't been this thin since I was 12.

Very disturbing...

On a cheerier note, Jack crawls very fast now. Last night when I got up to use the bathroom, he realised I was gone and starting calling for me. I rushed back in to find his voice oddly near the edge of the bed. I reached out and there he was, crawling towards me.

Actually not cheery but also very disturbing.

Note to self: buy another foldable mattress to wedge on floor at the edge of bed.

After a month of silence and some screaming, he is starting to talk again. Today he said Baba Boo. :)

Okay, I think I'm a pretty hip Mom. I hold one of the coolest jobs in the computer game industry, I play WoW, I fix my husband's computer, I care for my bebe almost 24/7, and I am practicing to be the next Nigella Lawson. But there is nothing like PINK that screams WOMAN!

Should I win the PINK Nintendo DS Lite with their super neat Brain Age game (which by the way, is perfect for late-night breastfeeding sessions), I will appear to be ever cooler to my kid who will realise Mom's still a girl after all. :)

8 Infant Sleep Facts Every Parent Should Know by Dr Sears

Nightwaking has developmental benefits. Sleep researchers believe that babies sleep "smarter" than adults do. They theorize that light sleep helps the brain develop because the brain doesn't rest during REM sleep. In fact, blood flow to the brain nearly doubles during REM sleep.

During REM sleep the body increases its manufacture of certain nerve proteins, the building blocks of the brain. Learning is also thought to occur during the active stage of sleep. The brain may use this time to process information acquired while awake, storing what is beneficial to the individual and discarding what is not. Some sleep researchers believe that REM sleeps acts to auto-stimulate the developing brain, providing beneficial imagery that promotes mental development.

One day as I was explaining the theory that light sleep helps babies' brains develop, a tired mother of a wakeful infant chuckled and said, "If that's true, my baby's going to be very smart."

Yup, Jack too. :) He wakes every hour...!

Oh and the sleeping through the night part? 1-4 months is right. They begin night-waking after that.

Meanwhile, Jack is teething and has been waking up rolling over onto his tummy, and even sitting up once. So I reckon the wakings is likely due to both teething and his developmental milestones.

Yet, even though babies achieve this sleep maturity some time during the last half of the first year, many still wake up. The reason? Painful stimuli, such as colds and teething pain, become more frequent. Major developmental milestones, such as sitting, crawling, and walking, drive babies to "practice" their new developmental skills in their sleep.

Jack's sleeping well again. Last night he slept 1+2+3+3+3. Well, better than 1+1 or 2+2 ad infinitum.

Now he can crawl, pull himself up, sit very steadily, and in the past 3 days, practicing clapping. He recognises his Mom, Dad, Grandpop and Grandma, regular aunts and uncles and cousins. And yes, he still smiles at girls. More so at the pretty ones. :p

AskMoxie has some words on how babies sleep poorly when they are learning new things and sleep well again when they master them. Considering what Jack has achieved in the past few months, I'd say he's mastered a lot.