Volcano!

What happens when Papa has the kids for a Saturday afternoon while Mama's off at bellydance workshops?
They make a papier machê volcano, of course!

3...2...1...

Lava!

Doodle's totally got a leg up on the grade school science fairs in her future.
"Make a volcano? Sure. Piece of cake. I did that when I was four!"

If that wasn't awesome enough, our friend Liv just posted a link to this amazing photo journey to the Nyiragongo Crater in Africa. So now Doodle's really REALLY excited about volcanoes and lava. and lava lakes. Really, check out the photos. Very cool.

We may make the eruptions a regular thing; stage our own reliably-timed lava flows. Y'know, like Old Faithful, only with molten lava. Ohhhh yeah. Parenthood is pretty awesome.

Leaf Sled

"WooHoo!!!" I hear her yell from the yard.
This is no ordinary leaf pile jumping yell.
Something is up.

Papa made a sled run of leaves, then pulled out our never-been-used, $4 yard sale sled.

Leaf play has hit a whole new level.

Even backwards, laying down.

Beer zills and bubble wings

Doodle, as you may know by now, loves bellydance. She loves to put on my bellydance CDs and will dance for over half an hour without losing interest. Sometimes she insists on wearing my tinted chapstick because she knows that when I perform I wear lipstick. She also enjoys the props: she has some small silk veils she dances with, and a hip scarf she'll sometimes wear. But lately she's been coveting two of MY props: zills and wings. The zills (or finger cymbals) I'll let her play with on occasion, but only once has she gotten to wear and dance with my silver lamé Wings of Isis.

So what happens when she asks her creative, resourceful Papa if she can play with my wings or zills? He improvises and makes some just for her. Behold the beer zills and bubble wings:

Beer bottle caps with holes punched in them and ribbon running through.
Doodle dubbed them "Beer Zills."

The wings are bubble wrap with chopsticks as the handles.
(Apologies for the fuzzy wing photos - they're from my phone.)

What a lucky kid.

International Babywearing Week!

Today marks the start of International Babywearing Week. In honor of this week, here are some pics of J and I wearing Doodle.

Doodle five days old, and being worn in the big wide world.

Wearing her in a wrap was the easiest way for me to eat dinner when she was itty-bitty. As you can see, she didn't mind.

My favorite J-wearing-Doodle picture. We were hiking this slot canyon, Doodle sound asleep against her Papa's chest in the wrap. I just love the little foot peeking out.

As you can see, we've worn her on hikes all over the place. Now that she's fully bipedal and being Little Miss Independent we wear her more on our backs in the Mei Tai or backpack, or we just take very slow hikes with her in the lead.

Happy with her Papa. I love these two.

I had to show off this cool traditional baby carrier from China. A friend sent it to us. It is hand-embroidered and beautiful. Near as I can tell it is a Podaegi-style carrier (I think). We haven't used it much but it is really pretty and fun to pull out now and then.

Us this summer on a hike above Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park. This Sherpani Rumba baby backpack is great for long hikes. We can pack food, water and diapers in the pockets and away we go.
This photo and the first one above show Doodle in our BabyHawk Mei Tai. We *love* this carrier lately - I just put her on my back, tie it on, and away we go.

Want to know more about babywearing? TheBabyWearer has a lot of really great info on babywearing, different styles of carriers... pretty much whatever you need to know. My friend PrairieMama has a post about babywearing this week, and will be posting another one over at The Bee in your Bonnet soon. PrairieMama also makes custom ring slings, available over at her Etsy shop.

Finally, who doesn't like a contest? Adventures in Babywearing is running a contest to give away two Nonny and Boo carriers. Go check it out!