Spring Camping Trip

For the first time in a long time we took the kids on a camping trip! Our last camping trip attempt was almost a year ago when we tried to go camping over Mother's Day weekend and it was just too windy to be any fun. This time, we went with our friends Ben and Rachel and their two boys, Sagan and Izzy. Izzy is just 10 months old, and was their first camping trip as a family of four!

We went to a park that we'd never visited before, China Camp State Park, so named because it was a Chinese fishing village in the 1880's and now part of it is a historical site. It's on San Pablo Bay and it has a couple of small beaches where we picnicked and the kids had fun playing in the sand and rocks and water. 

Our campsite was beautiful. It was nestled at the end of a row of sites, with a little trail behind us winding back into the trees. Calvin and Henry had a wonderful time. They're becoming very outdoorsy just like their dad :) Calvin loves walking the trails, picking up rocks and leaves, and especially throwing rocks, which is sometimes problematic, but not altogether a bad thing since he mostly wants to throw rocks into water. The beach at the China Camp historic site is a rocky kind of pebble beach which was perfect for him. He was happy to stand there and toss rock after rock after rock into the bay. Henry, as always, needs sensory breaks every so often which usually means strapping him into the Ergo with the hood up so he can kind of hide and relax, but at other times he has really sunny, happy moments of gazing at the trees, or exploring the ground around him, or just playing with his toys or playing with us. Of course it would be easier if those stretches of play and enjoyment lasted a little longer, but for now I'm thankful that we have an easy way to help him calm down when he needs a break (Thank you Ergo!!), and honestly, I'm thankful that he has those sunny, happy moments at all!! Seeing how much the kids loved camping makes me want to go more often! Anything healthy that makes them this happy is worth the work!

Calvin takes off down the trail, following Ben and Sagan ahead of him.

Get to work kid. We need some firewood. ;)

That's our tent behind James and Henry.

Down by the bay. Lots of rocks to throw into the water!

James & Calvin, Rachel, Izzy & Sagan

Beach bums.

Happy Henry!

Such a big boy!! And a cutie!!

Cute even (or especially!) with his hat hair!

Back at our campsite, getting ready for dinner.

James took the kids on a walk while dinner was being prepared.

Campfire time

Henry liked the campfire just a little bit. 

Sunday morning oatmeal and coffee

They called this their "boat." They hung out here for a bit while the grown-ups packed up camp.

After packing up our campsite on Sunday, Ben & Rachel and their kids headed home, but we hung around for one more picnic at a different little beach in the park.

That awkward moment when you realize that you and your spouse are wearing the exact same outfit...

Beach bums.

Splash!

We got home dirty, sandy, and exhausted! Everyone needed dinner and a bath. There was gear to be put away and piles and piles of laundry. The babies were cranky and fussy from being so tired. In those moments it's hard to feel like it's worth it to get out of the house at all! But no. Of course it's worth it! Being out in the woods, out at the beach, out in the sun, enjoying each other's company, seeing the kids so happy. It's the best. 

Does your family do camping trips? 

What kind of weekend trips or vacations do your kids enjoy?

Muddy Hike at Tilden Park

Tilden Park, just outside of Berkeley is pretty much heaven for Calvin. Maybe second to the zoo... but maybe not. We've been to Lake Anza beach in Tilden Park a couple of times in warmer weather. Today we visited the Little Farm and walked around Jewel Lake. Next time I definitely want to take the boys for a ride on the steam train and there's also a carousel that we haven't checked out yet, plus of course, more hiking trails. This place is amazing. So many things to do and it's just beautiful.

By the time we got there, we were hungry for lunch so we sat down for a picnic before heading over to the Little Farm. 

Chickens and geese and ducks - oh my!

At the Little Farm, you're allowed to feed some of the animals either lettuce or celery, but you have to bring it yourself. We didn't bring any, so at first Calvin started picking up tiny shreds that had fallen on the ground and was feeding those to the goats. Then a man who was there with a kid about Calvin's age gave us some of the lettuce they had brought so Calvin was able to feed the animals :)

These two goats were gettin' feisty over that lettuce!

When the cow's big tongue came out, Calvin panicked! He wouldn't feed the cows after that.

Calvin was still a little shy of the cow. But he liked watching the other kids feed her.

After we left the farm area, we walked through the education center. 

Then we walked to Jewel Lake and followed the trail around the lake. It was very muddy because we've had rain the past few days. Calvin found some puddles to throw rocks in.

The kid likes to make a splash.

Calvin also found a spot to throw rocks into the lake. 

Hanging out while big brother plays by the water.

Those two nuggets are some cute babies. #totallybiased

It was a fun day. I got grumpy at the end because I wound up covered in mud from carrying Calvin and his muddy shoes... but overall it really was nice. Mud and all. Such a fun park! Next time, steam train!

Anybody else love Tilden Park? Other favorite parks for toddlers in the SF bay area? 

Little Tykes and a Little Hike

Things are feeling like they are back to normal around here after a crazy October. Some good crazy, like lots of fun Halloween stuff and watching our SF Giants win the World Series! But some pretty tough crazy, like Henry spending a week in the hospital. So it's nice to be back to our version of normal - though I do miss getting to watch the Giants play almost every night!

Henry is doing really well now that he is all recovered from his surgery.

Like, really really well :)

No more puking or reflux symptoms, even at night. No more chronic runny nose. No more meds at mealtime. Still a little snoring, and he does have to use the BiPAP when he sleeps, but he is getting closer to sleeping through the night again and we can tell that he is getting better quality sleep because he's also transitioned to just one nap (like a big boy!) and he's starting to show signs of reaching more milestones!

He's started doing his own version of "commando" crawling, which usually looks like he is swimming across the floor.

And yesterday for the first time I saw him move himself from lying down to sitting up all on his own! And then he wouldn't stay lying down for nap time... Good one, Henry. Touché.

He's babbling a lot and eating a lot and I'd swear he's had a growth spurt in the last two weeks. It's wonderful to see!

Calvin is also doing well. He's all recovered from his clavicle injury and he's been out of the sling for a couple of weeks now. No news on a date for his hernia surgery. We decided to wait until his clavicle was all healed up, and we are not in a hurry to head back to LPCH. Calvin's got another evaluation coming up with his SLP (speech and language pathologist) doc at Stanford next week, so I will write a more detailed wellness update on him after that.

Henry has another sleep study coming up this weekend, so we will get some info on exactly what settings on the BiPAP are right for him and just how well it is helping him sleep.

We've had no doctor appointments for two weeks in a row, which may not sound like a lot, but to me it feels like a big break! I imagine that things will start to feel stressful again once we get the ball rolling again on Calvin's medical stuff, but for now I'm thankful for things feeling a little calmer around here.

We took a little hiking trip last weekend up near Mt. Tam. Beautiful weather, beautiful location. Our friend Matt and his daughter, Autumn, came with us and Autumn and Calvin were super cute toddling along the trail.

Calvin loved picking up little rocks and pine cones and his favorite thing to do was to throw rocks into the little creeks and pond.

Happy Fall, y'all.

Babywearing

Thank God for baby carriers! Especially for my little snuggler Henry who wants to be attached to Mama 24/7 :) I have tried out 6 different kinds of baby carriers, and between the two of us (James and me) that count bumps up to 7! We also have 3 strollers: an umbrella stroller, a jogger (our baby car seat snaps into the jogger - we sometimes used that for Calvin when he was an infant), and our awesome Contours Options LT tandem stroller. 

Love our tandem stroller! I can change the configuration of the seats to have them face me, face out, or face each other. It handles well and has a ginormous basket for carrying all our crap. Or groceries :) This was a group shower gift from lots of friends and family who chipped in - so, Thank You Thank You Thank You!!

Though I think our stroller is awesome, the baby carriers are so versatile that ultimately they have been more useful. Plus, like I said, Henry is much much happier being carried. If Henry is fussy, I can wear him around the house while I'm washing dishes or cooking (gotta be careful with cooking, though, and use common sense - I put him down if it's time to do something over the stove or in the oven, for example.) When Henry was still nursing, I was able to feed him in the Ergo, and actually I still can, but not hands free anymore. Obviously babywearing is great for hiking, since trails aren't stroller friendly. It's also great for shopping with babes too small to sit in the cart, or who can't sit up because of hypotonia, or if you've got two under two and the cart only has one seat! When we just had Calvin, it was easy to go out to eat while he was a newborn because he was tucked up in a sling or wrap. And while they were tiny, we've let them sleep in the Ergo or sling so we could stay up and play board games at a friend's house. (Now we just put them to bed :)

Babywearing also keeps little ones close so they feel safe and comfy snuggled up with mama or daddy. For some kids like Henry, this can be really important. Henry happens to be one of those babies that just really likes being held. One school of thought about parenting "needy" babies like him is to go ahead and hold them close and let them feel safe as much as possible and that eventually, that feeling of safety will carry over to the times when they are not being held. Another reason Henry really benefits from babywearing is that from what I've read it's common for Dup15q kids to get overstimulated easily, and this can make it hard for them to calm down and go to sleep. Wearing Henry, and especially keeping him facing me, creates a nice calm place for him to be even when we are out and about. Bedtime can be really hard for Henry, but I do find that if I wear him around the house for the hour or two before bedtime, he is calmer and falls asleep faster.

Here are our favorite baby carriers:

The Boba Wrap:

Like the more popular Moby, this is just one long piece of fabric that you wrap 'round and 'round and then tie. Putting it on is a bit of a pain and takes some practice. My midwife taught us how to do it, but there are lots of tutorials on YouTube. When Calvin was an infant, I used this ALL THE TIME. I'd just wrap it on over a nursing tank and wear it the whole time we were out of the house. So, the solution to the problem of taking it off/putting it on is to just put it on before you leave the house and then only take it off when you get home, or if you're going to be away from your baby (obvs). Bonus: it covers a postpartum belly relatively well. 

What makes it different from the Moby is that the fabric is stretchier. This means you can wrap it on yourself snugly and then stretch it open to put the baby in and then the baby is really secure. I never used the Moby, so maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like it's harder to get the baby snug in there because when you put it on, you have to leave enough slack to get the baby in. Whenever I saw other parents using the Moby, there always appeared to be a litte loose fabric around the baby, whereas you can see in the pic that it's wrapped nice and tightly around baby Calvin. 

I will say I think this one is best for really teeny babies. It wasn't quite as comfy for Henry, who was bigger than Calvin from birth. But I really think this is perfect for newborns because they're just so close and you can pull the fabric over their heads so they can sleep (which, of course, newborns do all the time!). It's funny because it's almost like still being pregnant! 

The Ring Sling:

Most other parents I know do not love the ring sling and say that they could never get it to work for them and their babies. But I love it, and it totally works for us and has since my kids were newborns. There are a few ways to wear a ring sling and again, YouTube has lots of tutorials, but these pics show the two ways I've used it. In the bottom pic you can see newborn Henry in a kind of cradle hold. At first I thought the way the cradle hold curved their backs was bad, but my midwife assured me that it was fine, and both boys were always happy and comfy that way when they were teeny. Henry quickly became too long to fit this way comfortably, but my shorty Calvin could be carried in this cradle hold in the sling for months!

The top picture shows an upright hold, kind of like carrying a kid on your hip, which works for Henry now. There was a gap with Henry when I couldn't use the sling because he was too long for the cradle carry, and didn't yet have the head control for the upright hold. I think this would only be a problem for hypotonic babies. 

The con with the ring sling is that it's not truly hands free. It's just not as secure as other carriers/wraps so I always feel like I need a hand on the baby just in case the fabric slips one way or another. Still, this one is the one I like to use in the house because it's so comfy and lightweight and it's a quick transition to get him in or out of it.

The Ergobaby:

This is our all-around fave. You can do front, back, or side carry and it's totally comfy for mama, daddy, and baby. (Though if Henry had more severe hypotonia, it wouldn't give quite enough head support, but I've seen moms who have adapted theirs by adding some padding.) It's easy to get on and off, and it's easy to adjust. Some parents say it's hard to clip the neck strap behind your head, but I say it just takes a bit of practice. I have no problem with it. The Ergo is designed to support healthy hip development for babies and there's a new Ergo 360 which features an outward-facing option. In the first pic you can see that I'm using an infant insert to give newborn Henry some extra support and padding.

Other good things about the Ergo... Our kids could/can sleep comfortably inside. There's a hood, which is nice for Ergo naps and also for porcelain skinned babes on sunny days (I'm looking at you, Henry!) and a pocket to stuff the hood into when not in use. And there's a zipper pocket big enough to hold phone/wallet/keys and even a disposable diaper ;) 

Our first Ergo was the water-resistant "performance" one and it met with an untimely death when I shut the car door with the strap hanging out and the strap got caught under the tire and ripped off :( We immediately bought a replacement, and opted for the organic one in a pretty navy blue which I love, but in the rain I was missing the performance one! 

The Kelty Frame Backpack:

We don't actually own this one, we're borrowing it from a friend. Obviously these frame backpacks are for bigger kids and they're great for hiking or long walks because the weight of the kid and the carrier is more on the adult's hips and less on the back and shoulders. The main thing we like about it is that Calvin is up high so he can see all around, whereas in the Ergo on his dad's back he can only see to his sides. We only use one this for hiking. It seems too bulky for other kinds of outings, but we have friends who use their frame backpack all the time. 

A few carriers that did not work for us:

Pouch sling: This was like a non-adjustable version of a ring sling, and I could never get Calvin comfortably situated in it. 

Pouch ring sling: This was one of those that kind of looks like a bag with a strap. This one basically swallowed Calvin. He may have just been too small at the time, but other slings that are more adjustable can be used for teeny babes as well as bigger babies. 

Baby Bjorn: These don't give the hip support for the baby that the Ergo and some of the other similar carriers do. Henry was always too floppy in general for this one - not enough support all around. And for me, it felt like all his weight was on my back since it doesn't have a waist strap. 

Anybody else love babywearing? Which carrier is your fave?