Playground Yoga

We had a really nice afternoon at the park today. The kids and I played for a while in the sun and sand. It was one of the first warm days of spring.

Ursa nursed and fell asleep.  I put here down in the grass, and snagged the moment to do some yoga. I've been doing yoga for many years now. It evolved out of stretching for sports in high school- it always felt good to limber up. At some point I read some books and watched some videos, and began to understand how to take stretching to a new level. I have never taken a paid class. I have joined a couple free ones while traveling. I have allot more to learn, but for more the 7 years I've done yoga a couple times a week at least.

When I was pregnant with Saule that increased to a couple times a day, stretching out on hostel and forest floors all across Central America . We've been doing yoga together ever since, and I'm glad to know this will be a way of life she knows from such a young age.

I've had other moms ask "How do you find the time to do yoga with two kids?" and the answer is,  I multitask. I don't often get time to do deep meditation and yoga all at once in a big chunk any more, but I integrate it into my day and my life.

I do yoga at the playground, or on the bedroom floor all. winter. long.  I do squats while I read aloud, or with Ursa in the ergo. If I find myself waiting, for anything, I do yoga. I do it in public places without shame.  I do the breathing while I nurse, that's when I find the stillness.

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Those other moms are right, I don't have time to go to a class, but my life provides plenty of chances to stay fit. Being a full time homeschooling mama, and I'm nursing x2 (never pumping) meaning I never leave my girls and go out (ok-Pollo and I did go to a movie once right before Ursa was born). Still, I don't have any problem finding time for myself with them still in my care- in fact that's how women have lived for thousands of years. I can find peace, calm, and time for exercise without gyms or daycare.

Maybe when I'm older I'll join a class and get some pointers. Or maybe I'll hire a teacher and start a class- that meets at the playground!

After all, who need child care when you've got a little imagination?  Happy kids, happy mama.

Saule and Ursa playing in the sand

Arctic ring at the Copenhagen zoo!

 

The Arctic ring complex opened at the Copenhagen zoo this past week and we had a couple of really nice trips so far. Saule was very excited to see the new Puffin chicks that were hatched here at the zoo, after the eggs were collected in the Faroe Islands. 

 The Polar bears seem allot more active in their new home. We observed them wrestling and playing in the water, and fighting over a horse head!  They now have a very large swimming area where you can see them drive, and get a better understanding for how comfortable they really are in the water.

No trip to the zoo is complete with out a picnic basket! The Arctic ring has a large indoor section that is heated, so you are able to undress, sit down, and really take in some quality time with the animals.

 There are plenty of Arctic related lesson plans for all ages online but here are a few we found:

Arctic worksheets and other activities-
Arctic map
Arctic Maze
Connect the dots
Polar bear info
Puffin info and games

The zoo also has some very educational and interesting new exhibits worth exploring. Its best to go when its quiet (midweek) so you can really enjoy it all.

Winter picnic with the sheep

 We rode over to the nature center today and had a really nice winter picnic with the sheep. Its great to get out in nature with the kids, even when its cold. I felt so refreshed and recharged coming home again- it was worth the bundling up and bike ride to get there :)

Sea studies- gearing up for the new aquarium!

In preparation for the new aquarium here in Copenhagen, due to open  March 22, we have started working on sea studies. We put on our snorkel gear and watched a few youtube videos and got in the underwater mood! The creature that inspired us mimic octopus.  So we decided to build a octopus cave diorama, complete with a salt dough octopus. We talked lots about camouflage,  the advantages of being a mimic, and underwater living.

While working on our cave we started talking about octopus eggs, and went online to find out what they look like. We came across this adorable video of eggs hatching, but the best part is the ending where they sing happy birthday to the octopus!

Hunting for shells.

Ursa took a little nap

We went to the beach today to collect shells and have a picnic. There were some seagulls who joined us for lunch, as well.

I also really enjoyed the opportunity to share my own octopus catching experiences in Puerto San Carlos, Mexico. I did some really excellent tide pooling there....maybe that should be where we take the girls next....

Spring on the farm- take two age 4!

 This is our second attempt at a shoe box diorama meets window box (see her first edition HERE). The barn is a tea box, and we lined a shirt box with a plastic bag for the field. 


We spent the day talking about food and farming, and created this mini farm complete with alfalfa field. Its already sprouting on day 2, which is a great reason to choose alfalfa seeds.

We read a bunch of farm related books, here is the collection Saule chose and a bunch we read together to Ursa. 

We also used youtube.com to watch everything from  orange picking here, sheep shearing, my old job as night lamber, carrot harvest, and olive oil production (those are some good links). We talked allot about how farmers choose which crops to grow, and what it means to them if the crops fail

A couple of weeks ago we started some Kentucky Wonder Pole beans in the window, and they are growing, even with just 4 hours of day light! 

Farm themed gaming (Hi Ho Cherryo) and lots of farm themed songs (old Mc Donald, Bingo, farmer in the dell, etc). You can find lots of songs on youtube if you need more. 

A couple of farm puzzles we did.

Winter baby wearing

Baby wearing is an art as old as humans and mothering, and the list of reasons to keep it up in the cold goes on and on but for me one of the most compelling is that you can nurse your baby on the go, while doing almost anything, if you are wearing them. This means you don't have to stop life, or make a scene to nurse. And since all the experts are calling for AT LEAST 2 years of breastfeeding these days, that's 2 full winters you will have to get through. SO unless you intend to find a park bench in a snow storm, or take off all our layers in the super market or bus stop- baby wearing is the way forward!

I wont lie, baby wearing in the cold can be frustrating. I'm not generally a winter loving person, mostly because I don't like tight clothing.  What stinks about it most about winter baby wearing is that you have to wear all those layers of clothes that make you feel "bungled" as Saule always says.

You may remember the scene in "A Christmas Story" when the younger brother is so dressed up he can't move and Ralph says he looks like "A tick about to pop"- that's how I feels. Now, combine that with a screaming, kicking, biting baby, and strap both of us into a wrap and try and nurse and get Saules winter boots on at the same time....leaving the house these days is NOT a pretty picture.

BUT IT IS DRASTICALLY BETTER THEN IT USED TO BE!

How can this possibly be so? Partly because with Saule (round 1 in which I was a new mother...) it was so bad I pretty much gave up on leaving the house until spring thaw.  But that's not the only reason.

Now I have a much better system. 2+ years living in Denmark and 5 winters under my belt and I will share with you the information I couldn't find when I needed it most.  It took trial and error, and allot of people watching to see how they were doing it.

A couple of tips, from a budget minded, thrift shop loving 24/7 hour baby wearing/nursing mama-

1. Find your inner peace. Kids and babies generally don't like getting all bundled up, but they do enjoy and NEED to have time outdoors (and so do you!). So find your zen and allow them to vent their own frustration. It will all be over in just a second or two....

Saule telling me how upset she was to get dressed

2.  Having the right combo and wrap/carrier, jacket, boots, etc really does make all the difference. I have tried many.  If its not keeping you both warm and dry its no good. Piling more and more layers will not help, it will only make things more uncomfortable. However YOU DON'T NEED TO SPEND A FORTUNE TO MAKE IT WORK! My first wrap I made from an unhemed piece of cloth I simply cut and used. I have always just used my own clothes- I have never invested the big bucks in a Amuati or a baby wearing jacket, but I would love to try one.

3. If there is a hole is your getup (like your have everything warm except your feet or babies hands) you might as well be naked. Really! Its true! Because you will have to go inside after a short time due to this single spot. So buy yourself a decent pair of boots and a good winter jacket, and they will last YEARS. And get baby a full outfit including quality mittens (that come all the way up and are water proof), booties (that reach the knee so when the pants ride up the leg isn't exposed), hat, and snowsuit.

4. A little yoga goes a long way! If you can think of baby wearing as a sport, and limber up a little prior to starting the day, your body will thank you!

So here are some combinations that I found worked well, and some that... didn't.

YES! Lets cut straight to the chase, if its not raining a good infant snow suit (see note below) and an Ergo over my own jacket worked great from the start. Its easy to use, get on and off, and you can nurse in it.

Again, the simple Ergo and jacket combo. So fool proof even Uncle Jesse can do it.

Then there was the wrap we made out of stretchy material, cut to the right size. This worked great in many ways! It fit better under out jacket in the case that it was wet out- so Saule's tiny snowsuit didn't need to be waterproof (it is very difficult to find a quality infant snow suit! They are rarely waterproof, rarely warm, and almost always bulky).

Again our homemade stretchy wrap, with Paulius wearing her on a cold but not wet day.

Saule LOVED to face outward like this and watch the world go. It isn't the best to the babies hips I know, but for short time periods she really loved it.

So then we decided that it was REALLY cold out and Saule should have a warmer snow suit. This is what we ended up with, we call it "the lion suit". Can you see her? NO?! OK....she hated this, and so did we. WAY WAY WAY TO BULKY TO BABY WEAR (or move...)

Here it is, the lion suit, all wrapped up. she looked like one of those pull string dolls 

After 4+ years of baby wearing we upgraded from our homemade wrap to this Didymos woven wrap (purchased at paxbaby), which gives way more support. It holds Ursa nice and close to me, with very little give, so I feel like we are moving as one body, not two. She can happily nurse in it, and it can be tied in many different ways (front and back). It took a long time for me to commit to this expense but so far I am very happy with it. On the down side it is more difficult to tie, takes longer to get on (no fun with a screaming baby), and is almost impossible to get on with out it touching the ground which means that getting it on here in Denmark where the ground is always wet is a bit of a problem. It does hold her close enough to my body that I can wear it under my normal jacket on wet days, this is me wearing her on a cold, not wet day.

My all time everyday workhorse fall back baby wearing getup. Ursa in her PERFECT WARM WATER PROOF hand-me-down non-bulky snow suit from H&M, in the Ergo, under my jacket so she can nurse. She is wearing her Stonz booties because after trying to do multiple layers of warm socks with Saule I was finally forced to admit that 1. they always fall off 2. they aren't waterproof and 3. they aren't really all that warm. These booties solve all of those problems, and give Ursa a way to walk and crawl outside, totally waterproof, for any length of time. Which is a blessing if you plan to spend any real time outdoors with your kids in cold weather. Yey! 

After all, if you still can't find a jacket that fits over your carrier, or a carrier that feels great all the time,  have no fear. It will soon be spring and you run naked through the hills with your naked baby strapped to your breast like you always dream of doing.  Summer time baby wearing is so much more fun.

One final note- one carrier will not work for ever. As soon as you figure out how to make it all work, your baby will grow or change her mood and you'll have to start all over. So try and be flexible!





and here are a few true fails we found along the way.....

Don't think that buying a "top of the line" infant snow suit from Patagonia will solve your problems. They may make great adult gear but the baby stuff stinks. The inseam of this was WAY to short for her to straddle you in a normal pose, riding on your hip or in the carrier. The only position a baby can be in while wearing this suit is laying flat on his back. Plus, its not water resistant or even warm. In the USA its very difficult to find good infant size outdoor gear. the company Molo or Reima are two that have great quality suits which you can find used for better prices than they go for new.

Again, another total bust, Kelty Adventure child carrier. Kelty packs are for stuff. The structured carriers stink. Saule kept on coming un-clipped making her wobble and threaten to fall out of the pack. Plus she is far away from your body making her feel heavier, and not keeping her warm at all. Fail. 

Not a winter picture here, but another structured frame carrier we tried. This is the Sherpani Rumba, which we got for out trip to Central America when Saule was 3, and should have held her as an older child better then the Ergo. You can read my review here. The Ergo would have been better on this trip.

You can find some great resources about baby wearing  here