More crochet and a lovely find

I wore the Monkey in the Moby D wrap today. It was the first time in ages that I've worn her and I'd forgotten how delicious it is to have a baby nestled asleep against your chest. We had a lovely lunch with a friend and her little girl, Monkey was so tired but stayed awake through lunch, charming the people on the neighbouring tables before conking out when I got on the tube home.
Crochet update: after about two hours of creating chain stitches and then failing to do the single crochet and having to start again, I finally cracked it. Well, almost. I've done it to the point that it looks something like crochet should look like, but I still need to refine it because I'm not sure I'm wrapping the yarn around the hook the right way. As for turning for the next row, well, that's not working out just yet because it's sloping so I assume I'm losing a stitch each row? I'm enjoying working it out, even if it is a little frustrating. The movement of the yarn and the hook is quite elegant. 

You know what the funny thing is? I feel like I'm being a traitor to my knitting! I've got work on my needles and I feel like I'm having an affair with crochet. Can it last or will it be a mere dalliance? Watch this space.

Isn't this divine? It caught my eye on a stall in Angel Market, and is a vintage, off-white vanity case with a lovely red lining. I wish I could say it was a thrifty buy but, being Islington, it really wasn't!
I thought it would make a nice case for carrying the Monkey's toys around in, or I could use it for my sewing or knitting bits and bobs. I love the little pink containers for toiletries.

Ditch the Pram Week (continued)

Ditch The Pram week continues...

Here's Monkey and I this evening, heading out for a walk in an on-loan Ellaroo:

I realised with horror at about 5pm today that the Monkey hadn't left the house since Saturday- no fresh air, poor baby girl! So we got wrapped up and strolled around the block, stopping to look at all the pretty Christmas lights in windows and gardens. DH has been poorly with flu- we had guests yesterday who were visiting from Holland, so I decided to go ahead anyway and cook the roast we had planned. We missed DH's company (he stayed upstairs so as not to infect our visitors) but had a lovely afternoon and I even managed to cook Yorkshire Puddings for the first time ever. But with all of that busyness we didn't get out during the day, and then this morning I took advantage of DH being at home to nip out to Bluewater alone to get some Christmas presents and to have my eyebrows done! I got there at 8.45am and was mightily relieved to be finished up and leaving by the time the crowds descended at 11am.

On Saturday we went to Rochester, which was lovely. We were expecting it to be really busy but it was very quiet indeed. I had Monkey in the Hug-a-Bub and we strolled along the High Street and went for some tea and cake. We found two lovely shops in particular: a 'Green' shop selling all manner of environmentally-friendly goodies, and a sewing/ craft shop which had lots of lovely fabrics and handmade items. We bought two 'Eco-friendly Toys', both battery-free: a microphone with flashing lights for the gadget-obsessed Monkey, and a rocket for a friend's little boy. They are lovely toys and worth the little extra they cost, I think. The rocket in particular is fantastic fun.

My Babywearing Pledge and other thoughts...

I love my Mum dearly but I'd also like to be adopted by Soulemama... is that a bad thing?! Either that or I'd like to *be* her. Do go and visit her blog, the photos in particular are so beautiful.

So, before the Monkey was born I really liked the idea of babywearing and bought a ring sling initially, which I wore her in a little bit but she never really got on with it and could be quite unpredictable. I found it quite stressful because I never knew if she would be fine or would scream her head off, so the pram got used more and more, and began to feel like the easier option. I still coveted slings though, and got a Sleepy Nico to add to my collection (gorgeous!). This week I've caught the bug again, mainly thanks to my friends Sue and Kate, who are fast becoming sling addicts and talk about their 'stashes', so I've decided that this week is Ditch the Pram Week and I'm going to try getting the baby used to being worn (I say week, I only started yesterday though). Yesterday was not a good start: I went to Babycafe and brought the Maya ring sling with me, just to use to and from the car. I'd found it okay putting the baby in it on my hip but for some reason it just didn't work out. I've decided I don't like the padded shoulder on the Maya, for a start. I couldn't get the baby to sit comfortably, particularly wearing her coat, so I gave up in the end. That afternoon I experimented with my borrowed Hug-a-Bub stretchy wrap, and had Monkey wrapped up in it for a short while successfully. I found it really comfy, much more so that the Nico, actually. This morning we went out to meet a new friend from the ivillage Attachment Parenting board, so I wore the wrap again and it was a great success. I did a front wrap cross carry (I think!), the version which you can tie on and then just slip the baby and out. We wandered around M&S a bit, then the Monkey came out while I had a cup of tea, and then back in for some more shopping. She was even on the verge of falling asleep, it felt really nice to have her snuggly, head resting on my chest. As it happened we had to get going before she fell properly asleep. So I'm really chuffed and on the look out for a woven wrap... I'm thinking an Ellaroo...

At the farm

Monkey has been very sad and grizzly today. I'm thinking that waking up at 3.30am might have something to do with it, also perhaps some residual grumbliness from yesterday's exploits at the hospital. It didn't stop Nanna and Grandad from visiting, so we went to the cafe in the woods for some lunch and then to Woodlands, a city farm. It was a grey drizzly afternoon (note to self, must find a waterproof for the Monkey) but we said hello to a pony, some chickens, guinea pigs, a pot-bellied pig, sheep, cows, a duck, some geese and a goat!

This morning we went to Boob Club, aka Babycafe. Lots of mamas and bubbas as usual, a nice atmosphere and a place to share the trials and tribulations of breastfeeding... the relief of hearing that other mums are also being woken every 2 or 3 hours at night, that there exist other 'small' babies like Monkey, showing off cloth nappies and slings and watching our babies play on the mats. One of my favourite places.