Tag Archives: onya

A Walking Revelation, Darth Vader Sweat, and Avery in a Zippy

03/21/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

So, I had a revelation while walking with Avery and Abby. Since Avery never has much input and Abby is just looking for a place to poop, I’m usually alone with my thoughts during the 1+ hour long walk. Today, I thought of how much I used to dread work and couldn’t stand to be sitting (ha ha, that’s funny) inside. Poor Kelley, she had to listen to me complain about the same thing almost on a daily basis! Sorry, Kelley.

But now I’m here, raising our precious daughter and staying out of an office setting. Sure it’s hard work, but one look at Avery and I know it’s well worth it. Plus, I’m really hoping she’ll be nice and not put Kelley and me in a crappy nursing home one day.

Then, in thinking of the future, I realized I need to cherish each and every walk I take with Avery in the carrier and everything else we do together. Because one day, she’ll suddenly be fully grown and off doing her own thing. It’s the bittersweet fact all parents know is inevitable; our babies grow up.

Sometimes it takes deep thought before you realize the obvious, and today it just hit me. I know I’ll have to remind myself many more times, but as parents, we should make it a point to enjoy the time with our little ones as much as possible. That’s the best advice I’ve ever received and will ever give. I love our little family and will forever hold it dear to my heart!

Today’s walk was very warm with the high in the 80’s, and windy too. I sweat a lot, and poor Avery had to be right up against my stomach and chest. But, I made good use of the handy hood on the Onya Outback and she didn’t mind one bit. As a matter of fact, Avery slept almost the entire walk which lasted over an hour today.

Once we returned home, Avery was startled awake by splashing sound while I used the restroom. Hey, it’s a part of life, and I like to share it! I took my well rested but slightly damp with sweat daughter out of the Outback and went to the sink to splash my face with cool water. But, before I turned on the water, I was surprised to see my giant sweat mark from carrying Avery beared semblance to Darth Vader.

The force sweat is strong with this one. — The ~~force~~ sweat is strong with this one.

Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, just about as cool as my Dos Equis bike socks I wore for the walk….

Despite her mobile slumber, Avery didn’t last too long before getting cranky again. We just received a swaddle transition blanket called a Zippy from the very kind Stephanie at Zipadee-Zip. Stephanie sent us 2 beautiful Zippys to use for Avery and I will post a review in the near future.

Kelley has been pushing to stop swaddling Avery, but I’ve been reluctant since I worry her constant arm movement will disrupt sleep. But, Kelley is right to want to transition Avery out of the swaddle since she’s starting to roll over now.

Anyway, I decided to give a shot for a quick afternoon nap. I couldn’t help but do a photo session before trying to get her to sleep though. Isn’t she just even more adorable in this thing?

After rocking with Avery for about 20 minutes, she finally dozed off and I laid her in her crib.

30 minutes later and she was awake, but that’s how most of her afternoon naps are anyway. We aren’t using the Zippy for nighttime quite yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as we do.

Our neighborhood friend has one for his little girl and nicknamed her “Patrick” from the Sponge Bob cartoon. Now I get why, they look like starfish! I love it, and Kelley didn’t want to take it off of her when she got home.

I’m thankful the weekend is hear and my faithful companion, Going Mom, will be here with us for 2 full days. I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my two girls as usual, and I hope you enjoy your time as well!

Total time in the Onya Outback = 1.5 hours / ~4.5 miles

Onya Notes: today I used the chest clip instead of crossing the straps and am not sure how I feel about it. Crossing the straps feels more secure, but I do like putting Avery in the carrier better when the chest clip is used. I’ll have to test this more and report back.

Do you ever have to remind yourself of things more than once?

Have you tried the Zippy or another swaddle transition alternative?

Parenting

The 4 Month Checkup and Avery Might be Taller than Us

03/20/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Don’t you just love taking your baby to the doctor knowing full well they’re about to get poked with those monstrous needles? Yeah, me either….

Just so happens that’s what I did with Avery this morning! Her delayed visit became the present and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t happy. I could ramble on and on about her visit, but I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Feeling pretty good today and Daddy is just taking pictures of me in my car seat.

Wait a second……why am I in my car seat?

W-wh-what is this building? There’s no food here!

Noooo! I smell a doctor’s office and Daddy is looking at me with apologetic eyes!! Oh, I just pooped a little.

I’m not going to stop this until Daddy takes me back home now!! No, don’t take me in another room!

Hmm, my hand is pretty good and I’m quite flexible…

Oh, okay, Daddy just took me to hang out in this room while I work on my hand.

What the!?! That was the worst feeling ever! Daddy, you are now my arch nemesis!!

Seriously, where is Mommy? And why am I still crying with my thumb in my mouth? Self-soothing my diaper rash!

I feel a little tired now, maybe I’ll just rest my ey….

And that was our trip to the doctor’s office for Avery’s 4 month checkup. Luckily we are following the alternative vaccine schedule I mentioned before and she only got 2 shots. She’ll get more next month, but at least her body won’t be overwhelmed.

Avery weighed in at 13.9 lbs putting her in the 68th percentile for her age and she was 25 inches in height which is in the 86th percentile. This didn’t seem to be too concerning since she is on a strictly breast fed diet. Our doctor said after the 4 month mark, we should start seeing a boost in weight. So, we’ll see how she’s doing at the next checkup!

After a long 3 hour nap, I took Avery for our first walk in the Onya Baby Outback. I’ve been very anxious to test it out on a long walk and eagerly headed out the door with our dog, Abby in tow.

Heading out for our first of many "Outback" journey — Heading out for our first of many “Outback” journeys

We went our standard route which is a 1.5 mile loop that I do twice. I really like going up the big hill to make it more challenging. Yes, I’m weird like that. Wait until you see what I do with a Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Mower. I’ll go into detail in future posts.

Avery was fussy for a while, but ended up falling asleep. I was worried she wasn’t into the Onya, but after we got home, we found the culprit of her fussiness was a dirty diaper! Oops, sorry Avery!

Along the route, we ran into the neighborhood goose. He usually around the same area every day we go for a walk.

After we finished our hour of walking, which was close to 4 miles, Going Mom was home and we went for another 30 minute walk. So the total time in our Onya Outback was just over an hour and a half today and about 5.25 miles!

I’m thoroughly satisfied after our first long walk in the Outback and know Avery will enjoy it more when she is bigger. I did use the Baby Booster this time and it helped her temperament over how it was without. One thing I noticed it that I can move my arms to wipe sweat or bugs from my face without worrying about the carrier moving around while she sleeps. In the Baby Bjorn, since the tension is all on my shoulders, any arm movements usually disrupt her slumber.

I am seriously liking the Outback and look forward to another journey tomorrow. Hopefully Avery will be more accepting too!

I'm warming up to it! — I’m warming up to it!

Going Reviews

Our First Day Out in the Onya Outback

03/19/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

As I proclaimed yesterday, I was anxious to get out and give our new Onya Baby Outback carrier a try. What better way to break it in than by going grocery shopping?

I have about 4 or 5 different stores I’ll go to for various food items depending on what we need. The most frequent stores I visit are Costco and Sprouts. I used to go to Central Market (owned by H-E-B) but haven’t made it there as much. Hopefully soon because I love that place! Anyway, today we went to 3 stores; Sprouts, Kroger, and Costco, in that order.

Getting Avery in the Outback from her car seat was not as easy as the Baby Bjorn, but it wasn’t difficult either. Plus, the pros far outweigh the cons as far as comfort and security go.

Avery is still unsure of her new carrier and let me know it by squirming and giving tiny whimpers every now and then. The Outback is made more for babies a little older than Avery, so she has some growing to do. The Baby Booster that Diana sent along with the carrier does help and Avery was better when I had her in it yesterday, but I didn’t take it along for the store trips.

As you can see, Avery can’t see when in the Outback at her size. This didn’t give her any head room and it was basically stuck in one spot. Eventually, she’ll grow and her head will be poking out like in the photos from Onya’s website.

Ha ha, I had to go pee while there, and as I stood at the urinal, I looked down at Avery and said “It will be better when you’re bigger.” I paused, looked around and luckily no one else was in there, and then I laughed at myself. Oops!

With the Baby Booster, Avery would ideally have her head up higher so she can see out and ultimately be happy. She still fell asleep after a while, but I know it really will be better when she’s bigger.

Almost an hour in Sprouts and now it was time for Kroger. This is where I buy a lot of frozen veggies since they have great prices. It only took 30 minutes here and would’ve been faster if I didn’t have to wait for an old lady return two kinds of lip gloss. Ugh.

Avery didn’t whine too much at Kroger, but I could tell she was getting antsy about something. Then she dug her face into my chest and started eating my shirt. Ahhh, she’s hungry!

Once we arrived at Costco, I offered her the bottle before we went inside and she eagerly accepted.

Really? Pictures even when I'm eating? — Really? Pictures even when I’m eating?

30 minutes later and we were off for the last shopping trip. More fussing ensued followed by falling asleep as I was ready to check out.

Back at home I unloaded the groceries as Avery sat in her swing watching me. I knew she was tired, but it was too late to deal with swaddling her and getting her to sleep, so I did the next best thing…..go for a run.

Strapped in the B.O.B. stroller, we went for a quick 4.5 miles with Abby (our Golden) and Avery got a little nap as a result. Phew, something is better than nothing!

Once Kelley made it home, I strapped Avery in the Onya Outback for the fourth time and we went for a short walk. The weather was beautiful with only a minor chill in the air, and I enjoyed being with my two ladies while taking it all in.

As things were winding down and Avery was about ready for bed, we tried to get her to roll over as she has been the past couple days. But, no, she was exhausted. She would have bouts of crying and then just suck on her hand. Poor girl, we’ll try again tomorrow. Oh yeah, she’s getting shots!

Today’s Onya Outback total usage time = 3.5 hours

Notes: Avery definitely has some growing to do before getting really comfortable in the Outback, but the Baby Booster helps a lot. For me, I am way more comfortable wearing the Onya than wearing the Baby Bjorn. No growing tension on my shoulders and Avery doesn’t flop around every time I twist, turn, or bend down. Tomorrow I plan on taking her for an hour long walk and hope to have a good report afterward.