Lucas Robert- March '06. My thinker with a huge vocabulary and a bigger heart. So full of life and wonder and imagination. Future engineer or architect or whatever he puts his mind to. My tender mama's boy with the rough-and-tumble outside. Whether playing cars or reading books or just sitting with mama, he lives life fully. And I think that is great!!
Caden
Caden Lauten- August '08 With the warmest eyes that light up the room, he is my little love-bug who wants to be with mama at all times! Never content to just sit, except when snuggled close in the sling where Mama's face is just a reached out hand away. My little explorer, following his brother and puppy everywhere, my baby and the light of my life!
... for funny websites that is. Check out this site with clothes about babywearing and breastfeeding and cloth diapering, etc... Some of the sayings are so cute. I especially like the toddler T's that say "Why yes, I am still nursing" and "Don't ask me when I am going to wean." I am tempted.... just to see people's reactions. :)
Attached at the Hip: Attachment parenting advocacy wear and more
I saw this journal article on one of the babywearing groups I belong to. I thought it was super interesting. Would love to know any of your thoughts....
Infant Carriers and Spinal Stress
There have been several events this past week that have got my mind in a tail-spin so I thought I would try to sort them out a little here... why here? I guess because my thoughts have gotten me thinking about babywearing in general and all that goes with it... So it goes with my theme I guess. I have several friends who blog regularly. I am not a prolific blogger or e-mailer although I have gotten much more into both recently. In fact, my husband had a blog for awhile before I even knew what a blog was. I read my friends' blogs and think, "do I have anything half that profound to say that anyone would be interested in reading?" Probably not, but here is what I've got... take it or leave it.
Last Sunday, we visited a new church with some friends. The preacher made comments during his sermon about loosing two of his children several years ago and what he has learned about heaven since then. This is what started my tail-spin. Then on Tuesday, we had a difficult discussion with our former pastor about our former church. Part of that discussion too was thanking him for his ministry to us over the years. It was this pastor that baptized our first son Micah when he was one day old. Micah died after three days.
When my son Lucas was born, I didn't want to be apart from him. I felt cheated out of so much with Micah that I wanted to soak in as much as I could with Lucas for fear that it wouldn't last. Wearing him in the sling felt natural, like he couldn't get any closer to me. It felt safe and comfortable, for both of us. Using the sling made it easier to nurture my baby like I wanted to without having to sacrifice too much of my ability to be my own person. I have very selfish tendencies. I don't like imposed restrictions. But, I couldn't be separated from this little miracle who needed so much from me. There were things I needed too. I needed to feel his breath on my skin and see his chest rise and fall so I could take a break from worrying that he had stopped breathing. I needed to be able to respond to his needs as soon as he expressed them. I still do. I started wearing Lucas because it was convenient and comfortable and soothed my anxious-mother tendencies. I still wear him for those same reasons, 17months later.
I don't know what Micah's days in heaven look like, or if they even have days and nights. I do know that I still spend many of my days, three years later, thinking about him and what it would have been like to have him even just a little longer. I didn't know my babywearing friends then. Would I have put him in a stroller and let him cry in his crib until he learned to nap? Or would I have found this tool, this concept of babywearing, that has shaped so much of the mother I am and the mother I want to be?
I don't worry as much these days about Lucas stopping breathing. I have moved on to breaking his leg or getting some horrible disease. But when I walk around the house or the mall with Lucas in the sling, we are both reminded that we belong together. We both chill... me from my anxious thoughts and him from his never-ending toddler activity. Just today he was playing in a mall play area. He fell two feet off a plastic frog and came running back to me. He picked up the sling from the seat next to me and said "mama, up-down" (he thinks the two words always have to be said together...) I melted, put him in the sling and we were on our way.
That is why I wear him in the sling. We both need it sometimes, this week especially.
We just recently returned from a family trip to Big Canoe, Georgia where we did lots of hiking and playing at the lake. I don't know what we would have done without our carriers! I met a girl there who asked "How did you take your son hiking? Did you have a hard time with the stroller on the trails?" That launched us into a good discussion about baby-wearing and different carriers. We didn't even bring a stroller!! Between me and my husband and my father, we took my 16month old son on daily hikes up to two different waterfalls, all the while carrying him in the sling or other back carriers. It was perfect. He could get down and explore but we had an easy way to carry him when we wanted to cover more ground or when the terrain got tough for his little legs. It felt like the way you are supposed to experience nature, God's creation - with my own little piece of God's handiwork carried snuggly next to me. He loved being in the woods, and my heart overflowed with joy watching him throw rocks in the creek and copy everything he saw my dad do. So much a little boy, but not too big to enjoy cuddle time with mama no matter where we may be. Even in the mountains.... maybe especially in the mountains.
Lucas with my dad (left) and me (below) in two different style back carriers getting ready to go hiking.
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