Innocent Light

I love my Moby Wrap. Wearing it, I feel like a fifteenth century Asian, using a simple cloth wrap to transport my child.

 

I love the awesome crunchy street cred I get when I’m walking down the street. I love how well it supports my back. Grocery shopping and other random errand runs are a breeze with her in there, often in the blissful drift of baby sleep.  Imogen loves being bundled against my heart. But, for excursions like day hikes, we really need something more substantial. So, after weeks of scouring Craigslist for a good price, we picked up an Ergo.

Before deciding on an Ergo, we did a fair amount of research on it. The Ergo comes with no shortage of crunchy parent fans. We have heard bad things about some of the other carriers on the market: that babies fall out of them, that they hurt your back, and so on. Hopefully, we will not regret the choice. We feel pretty good with our decision, considering that 9 out of 10 parents we see on the street are rocking the Ergo.

Imogen’s Grammy and Daddad were in town for a visit. Last time they were here, they really didn’t get a chance to see the city at all. This time, I wanted to make sure they got a chance to see what an amazing place Portland is. If you accept the local lore, which I think is probably apocryphal, Portland is actually built on an ancient unicorn burial ground.

No… really, there’s even a facebook page

Anyways, I decided to take them on a drive along the historic Columbia River highway through the Gorge, which is one of the most beautiful stretches of Earth in America, save the masses of tourists. Since we were going to be hiking around, I figured it would be a great day to break in the Ergo.

 

Everything was going great. Imogen loves the waterfalls. We have been several times together to take visiting family and friends to see them. Each time, when we get close to a waterfall, she stares with wide eyed delight and begins to squeal with excitement. Her hands start to reach toward the water and it is evident that she loves the feel of the mist on her cheeks.

Everything was going great. But then… have you ever heard the joke about waterfalls and bladders? I don’t know if it was the sound of the waterfall or the sight of it cascading over the mountain side, , or the uber sized Diet Coke I had been nursing, but suddenly I had to pee! With a baby attached to my chest, I knew things would get interesting. Grammy offered to hold her, but I knew that I had to figure this out sooner or later, so off I went.

(don’t worry, I’m not going to post any Ergo/baby/bathroom shots!)

I will admit that I was a bit nervous as I walked into the restroom. All of the stalls were full, so I moseyed up to a urinal. I unbuckled my belt, lowered my shorts… and suddenly Imogen’s hand had flung out of the Ergo and was lurching for the urinal handle! Great! So, I quickly let go of my shorts and grabbed her arm. I tried to reinsert the flailing arm in the Ergo, but she wasn’t having it and I was having trouble maneuvering with my shorts at half mast. What should have been simple turned into quite the juggling act. I will spare you further details. But I am happy to report that we escaped the bathroom with dry clothes and germ free hands!

Being a daddy isn’t easy. But, lesson learned. Next time I will wait for a stall.

Tags: baby, bathroom, burial, carrier, ground, hiking, pee, sahd, unicorn