Tula love ♥

For three months now I've been obsessing over the Tula Emma Mai. The fabric is oh-so-similar to the pattern on the card box and stationery I used for my wedding, and since the carrier is called Emma (my name) Mai (a Japanese girls name I love), I felt like this carrier was fated to be mine.

The last time I wrote on this blog, I was entering a competition to win a Tula carrier. I didn't win, which is actually a blessing in disguise because the prize was a stretchy wrap. Now that Elliott is a heavy toddler a stretchy wrap is not appropriate for him at all. Amazingly, I won a 40% discount at the Tula store instead. Yay!

It took a while to convince my husband that we need a carrier for Elliott anymore seeing as he already knows how to walk and weighs 24 pounds (11kg). Luckily my friend Erica from Everything Mom and Baby had one my husband could try on, and even he noticed the difference in support between the toddler sized Tula and our Beco Gemini.

Summer is almost here and I really want to take Elliott outside the city to explore nature. I would love a repeat performance of his face when he saw a goat at Riverdale Farm last year:

Riverdale Farm is accessible by the Toronto transit system, but it involves a tram ride. We've learned the hard way that our stroller and trams don't really mix well... With Elliott on my back in a Tula we will have no trouble getting around!

I am also hoping to take Elliott to Leslie Spit, which we have not been back to since he was born. We will take him to the Beaches (also involving a trip on the dreaded tram), and to High Park. I would also like to properly escape the city and take Elliott hiking in the Tula, so please leave me a message with your favourite hiking spots around the GTA!

Without further ado, here is a photo of us trying out our new toddler sized Tula. I love it because Elliott feels so weightless that I actually forgot he was on my back for a while!

Me (at our local sling meet): "Has anyone seen Elliott??"
*A roomful of lovely mamas looks frantically about*
Mama friend: "Uhh... He's on your back!"

(^o^)

The photo above also shows you my card box (bottom left corner) and wedding stationery (above the card box) contrasted with the Tula Emma Mai fabric on the right. Cool huh?!!

Legacy wrap

Before I had Elliott I had no idea that carrying a baby could be so important. I don't own a car, so all the dedication and love other people pour into choosing and maintaining their car, I poured into choosing a stroller. I finally decided on a Maxi Cosi Foray, and spent much time before Elliott arrived testing it out with my childhood friend:



Then Elliott arrived... and from the very first day he let it be known, loudly and clearly, that he hated seats of any kind. One day, as I was pushing him home through the snow and almost in tears at the sight of his red, screaming face, a lady approached me and gently said "Some babies just need to be held" and gestured upwards at her own chest. That was my biggest parenting epiphany. From that day on I left the stroller at home most days and carried Elliott in a Baby Bjorn my mother had kindly bought me, and we were both happier.



Elliott grew very quickly, and by two months he was too big for the Baby Bjorn. His need to be held is showing little sign of abating at 14 months, and I fully expect to be carrying him when he's this big:



Choosing a carrier to replace the Baby Bjorn is where my obsession began. If we can compare stroller shopping to car shopping, carrier shopping is like handbag shopping. You can be lured by a pretty design at any moment, and whatever you buy it will always fit! Just as with handbags, some people like to have different baby carriers to match their outfit - a concept my husband truly struggles to understand.

I have a Beco Gemini Paige which I love, and which my husband is happy to use as well. It is still comfortable to wear even though Elliott is 14 months old and over 11kg. However, looking at other carriers is FUN!




If you are a new mother reading this blog post, I'd like to give you a few links to really pretty carriers, in the hope that you'll catch the bug and we can chat prints :-P

For the most supportive carrier to take you from newborn to toddler:
Manduca

For the prettiest prints, an Asian style of tying, and a do-it-yourself ordering system you can lose yourself in for days:
BabyHawk Mei Tai

For more pretty prints:
Olives and Applesauce

For personalised appliques, gorgeous fabrics, and labour so filled with love you have to apply to go on a waiting list to have your carrier handmade in Australia:
Beetlebums

See what I mean? This can get addictive!

Tonight I came across a brand of carrier called Tula. They are based in Poland, and I feel an affinity for the globe-trotting international couple who started the company. As I looked at the fabrics, I felt my heart skip a beat at this:



It's a carrier called "Emma Mai". How perfect is that?! I'll tell you how perfect. Back when I was planning my wedding, I had a card box wrapped in this exact same fabric, and it was the inspiration for my entire wedding. This carrier and I are linked by fate!

If you think this post is getting a bit crazy, yes. I fully admit that I am the baby carrier equivalent of a crack addict...

I would love to own this carrier. Now if only the fates would align to somehow bring one to me!