Saturday, April 26, 2008

BabyLegs...from Hollywood to your home


We started off getting BabyLegs for my little ones to easily keep their arms/legs warm when we get into an air-conditioned room. Now we've found so many new ways to wear BabyLegs, even for Daddy and Mommy! It is versatile and fun, and we decided to share it with all our friends at TBL too.

Most popular for babies and toddlers, celebrity moms and dads have been fans of BabyLegs for their little ones since the company’s 2005 debut. Mira Sorvino, Keri Russell, Halle Berry, Dr. Drew, Angie Harmon, Sheryl Crow, Adam Corolla, Holly Robinson-Peete, Angela Bassett, Tia Carrere and Diane Farr are just a few of the celebrity moms and dads smitten with BabyLegs!

BabyLegs is now available at The Baby Loft:
Malaysia Store
US Store

Despite myth, old age is the happiest time, research says

This article makes me look forward to aging gracefully :)

By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- Newsflash for rock stars and teenagers: It turns out everything doesn't go downhill as we age -- the golden years really are golden.

That's according to eye-opening research in the U.S. that found the happiest people are the oldest, and older adults are more socially active than the stereotype of the lonely senior suggests.

The two go hand-in-hand -- being social can help keep away the blues.

"The good news is that with age comes happiness," said study author Yang Yang, a University of Chicago sociologist. "Life gets better in one's perception as one ages."

A certain amount of distress in old age is inevitable, including aches, pains and deaths of loved ones and friends. But older people generally have learned to be more content with what they have than younger adults, Yang said.

This is partly because older people have learned to lower their expectations and accept their achievements, said Duke University aging expert Linda George. An older person may realize "it's fine that I was a schoolteacher and not a Nobel prize winner."

George, who was not involved in the new study, believes the research is important because the general public continues to think that "late life is far from the best stage of life, and they don't look forward to it."

Yang's findings are based on periodic face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of Americans from 1972 to 2004. About 28,000 people aged 18 to 88 took part.

There were ups and downs in overall happiness levels during the study, generally corresponding with good and bad economic times. But at every stage, older Americans were the happiest.

While younger blacks and poor people tended to be less happy than whites and wealthier people, those differences faded as people aged.

In general, the odds of being happy increased 5 percent with every 10 years of age.

Overall, about 33 percent of Americans reported being very happy at age 88, versus about 24 percent of those age 18 to their early 20s. And throughout the study years, most Americans reported being very happy or pretty happy; less than 20 percent said they were not too happy.

A separate University of Chicago study found that about 75 percent of people aged 57 to 85 engage in one or more social activities at least every week. Those include socializing with neighbors, attending religious services, volunteering or going to group meetings.

Those in their 80s were twice as likely as those in their 50s to do at least one of these activities.

Both studies appear in April's American Sociological Review.

"People's social circles do tend to shrink a little as they age -- that is mainly where that stereotype comes from, but that image of the isolated elderly really falls apart when we broaden our definition of what social connection is," said study co-author Benjamin Cornwell, also a University of Chicago researcher.

The research rings true for 81-year-old George O'Hare, a retired Sears manager in Willowbrook, Illinois. He's active with church, AARP and does motivational speaking, too. His wife is still living, and he's close to his three sons and four grandchildren.

"I'm very happy because I've made friends that are still living," O'Hare said. "I like to go out and speak in schools about motivation."

"Happiness is getting out and being with people, and that's why I recommend it," he said.

Ilse Siegler, an 84-year-old retired nurse manager in Chicago, has a slightly different perspective. Her husband died 35 years ago; she still misses him everyday.

She has vision problems and has slowed down with age. Yet, she still swims, runs a social group in her condo building, volunteers in a retirement home and is active with her temple. These all help "make life more enjoyable," she said.

While Siegler said these aren't the happiest years of her life, she's content.

"Contentment as far as I'm concerned comes with old age ... because you accept things the way they are," she said. "You know that nothing is perfect."

Cornwell's nationally representative study was based on in-home interviews with 3,005 people in 2005-06. While it didn't include nursing home residents, only about 4 percent of Americans aged 75 to 84 are in nursing homes, Cornwell said.

It's all good news for the aging population. However, Yang's study also found that baby boomers were the least happy. They could end up living the unfortunate old-age stereotype if they can't let go of their achievement-driven mind-set, said George, the Duke aging expert.

So far, baby boomers -- those born in the late 40s and 50s as soldiers returned from World War II -- aren't lowering their aspirations at the same rate earlier generations did. "They still seem to believe that they should have it all," George said. "They're still thinking about having a retirement that's going to let them do everything they haven't done yet."

Previous research also has shown that mid-life tends to be the most stressful time, said Cornell University sociologist Elaine Wethington. "Everyone's asking you to do things, and you have a lot to do. You're less happy because you feel hassled."

The new studies show "if you can make it through that," there's light at the end of the tunnel, Wethington said.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Jolie-Pitts ride in MacLaren stroller

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take their daughters Zahara and Shiloh for a walk in a MacLaren Twin stroller.



Now you can get a MacLaren stroller at The Baby Loft too, buy on our online store, or come into our Desa Parkcity boutique to try the strollers first!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Positions for wearing a baby ring sling

The Cradle Hold
This hold is most popular for newborns, but can also be used with an older child or a nursing baby.

Pull the inner fabric up on your chest, creating a "pocket" for your baby to sit in. Place your child in the sling with his feet on the side with the rings. (slings can also be used with the child's head on the same side as the rings. Either way is fine; it all comes down to what is more comfortable for you and your baby.) When the baby is comfortably in the sling with his head either inside or outside the sling (again, whatever is more comfortable for your child) pull the tail of the sling to tighten it. You can make the sling fit more snugly by adjusting the top and bottom rail independently.

Vertical Position
After pulling all the material around your back tightly, put your baby inside the sling with his bottom resting on the bottom rail, his tummy against yours, and his head resting on your upper chest. Holding him securely with your left hand, pull the fabric around him tightly, holding all of the slack between your hand and the rings. Gently tighten the sling with the top rail covering or mostly covering his head. This is for a newborn carry; a baby with head control will not need his head covered by the sling but may still enjoy the vertical position.

Kangaroo Carry
This position works best with younger babies who have head control. Put on your sling and create a pocket as if you were planning to use it in the cradle position. Cross your baby's legs ("Indian Style") and place the baby inside sitting up with his back against your chest. While supporting your baby's weight, pull on the tail to tighten the sling.

Front Carry
Put your child in the sling facing sideways; he will be facing the rings. Be sure the bottom rail comes out to your child's knees. If your child is restless or tired, you can place his arms inside the sling. Tighten the sling until your child is secure.

Hip Carry
This is an excellent position for heavy toddlers because your hip is used to support your child's weight. Put your child in your sling resting on your hip with your child's legs straddling you. The bottom of the sling should extend out to your child's knees. The top of the sling should come up to his shoulder blades. This position can be used with the child's arms inside or outside the sling. Tighten the sling until your child is secure.

Back Carry
The back carry position is recommended for children who are at least one year old. Put your sling on with the rings too high (either on or behind your shoulder.) Place your child in the sling as far back on your hip as possible with his arms covered. Tighten your sling until your child is secure. Carefully slide your baby around to your back. Until you are familiar with this position it's a good idea to have someone help make sure your child is secure in the sling. The back carry position should only be used with a cooperative child.

As long as you and your baby are both comfortable, there really is no "wrong" way to use your sling. The more you use it, the easier it becomes, and the more indispensable it will be to you.

These positions can be used with The Baby Loft's LOFTSling

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Earth Day!

Thanks for sharing Earth Day with The Baby Loft!

~~ Get started today...Earth Day is a chance to reflect on our lifestyles and see if we can change one little thing about it to extend the lifespan of our planet ~~

- Cloth Diapers are all 5% off at TBL until April 25th...shop now!
- Keep posted to the blog, we have received many of your entries for My Little Green Secret, and will be publishing our special edition end of this month. Continue to email us with your entries until end of April!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Earth Day special edition - My Little Green Secret - send yours in today!

Earth Day is on April 22nd, are you doing your part to help make our planet a better place for us and our future generations?

The Baby Loft is putting together an Earth Day special edition for our blog...write to us with a favorite tip to help the environment. For example, I use old mineral water glass bottles to hold an ample supply of drinking water next to our beds. No need to buy new jugs or cups, and that glass bottle didnt have be thrown away!

Here's the best part...we will feature all eligible submissions on our special edition, AND the winning entry will get a gift voucher to shop at The Baby Loft, redeemable at either our Malaysia or U.S. store!

Send your little green secret to us at blog@thebabyloft.com, you can even attach a picture if you want. Then stay tuned for our Earth Day special edition!

Terms and Conditions
* one entry per email address
* all entries must be received by April 30, 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Malaysians in Motion featured in London paper

Update on our TBL friend's journey around the world...14 days till it starts!

They have been featured in a London newspaper: Island family to explore the world

Keep track of Alison's journey at Malaysians in Motion. Have you noticed the interesting things on their preparation list...potty, child monitors, and all these baby essentials we take for granted.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Are you ready for kids?

FOLLOW THESE 14 SIMPLE TESTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO HAVE CHILDREN


Test 1 - Preparation

Women : To prepare for pregnancy:-
1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children:-
1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time


Test 2 - Knowledge
1. Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
2. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.


Test 3 - Nights

To discover how the nights will feel:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4-6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.


Test 4 - Dressing Small Children
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.


Test 5 - Cars
1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glovebox. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.


Test 6 - Going For a Walk
1. Wait
2. Go out the front door
3. Come back in again
4. Go out
5. Come back in again
6. Go out again
7. Walk down the front path
8. Walk back up it
9. Walk down it again
10. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
11. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
12. Retrace your steps
13. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
14. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.


Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.


Test 8 - Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.


Test 9 - Feeding a 1 year-old
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.


Test 10 - TV
1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.


Test 11 - Mess

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?


Test 12 - Long Trips with Toddlers
1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly.
Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy.
Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.


Test 13 - Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.


Test 14 - Getting ready for work
1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work


You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

TBL U.S. online store is now open

Visit The Baby Loft's U.S. store - http://americas.thebabyloft.com.

Spring sale going on with 10-30% discounts, and free shipping with $150 order! Hope to see you all there soon!

Congratulations to our Slingshots winner!

Congratulations to our February winner Zarita bt. Hussain!
See all the other lovely Sling Mommies and Daddies in our slingshots photo gallery!!

You can join too - please scroll to the bottom of our online store for more details...

Shop now, take a slingshot, and send in your pictures...Get a LoftSling or a LoftPouch!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Baby Loft's Events Calendar

Featuring our new Events Calendar - Check often to see what's going on!


Events are held at:
The Baby Loft
Parenting Resource Boutique
@ DESA PARKCITY

FF21, The Waterfront @ Parkcity, 5 Persiaran Residen, Desa Parkcity 52200 Kuala Lumpur (map)

FREE Babywearing 101 workshop @ TBL Desa Parkcity

Hi TBL Moms and Dads, we will be holding a Babywearing 101 workshop at our new studio in Desa Parkcity. This is an awesome chance to come and learn what baby carrier works best for you, how to use your sling, and other tips/tricks. You'll find ways to use the sling that you've never thought about.

Come and meet other Moms and Dads just like you. Feel free to bring your little ones, and bring your slings if you have one already. Babywearing veterans, please come and share your tips!

Location: TBL Parenting Resource Boutique at Desa Parkcity
FF21, The Waterfront @ Parkcity, 5 Persiaran Residen, Desa Parkcity 52200 Kuala Lumpur (map)

Date/Time: May 10, Saturday, 3-4pm

Agenda:
- What type of baby carriers work best for you?
- What type of fabrics should you look for?
- What are the different positions to use the sling? What are the other ways you can use the sling?
- Tips/Tricks, Questions, Discussions, Social time

We look forward to seeing you there! Limited spaces, please Register Now!

April Fools Day recipe - Mock Sushi

There's definitely something fishy about these Japanese-style rolls. The rice is crispy, the wraps are fruity, and your kids will love them -- no fooling!

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups crisped rice cereal
20 to 25 gummy worms
1 to 2 boxes of fruit leather
12- by 17-inch baking sheet
2-quart saucepan
1. Grease a 12- by 17-inch baking pan.

2. Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth.

4. Remove mixture from heat and stir in the rice cereal until it's evenly coated.

5. Turn the baking sheet so that the shorter ends are at the top and bottom. Then press the marshmallow mixture on the sheet, distributing it evenly.

6. Starting at one side and 1 inch up from the lower edge, place gummy worms atop the mixture end to end in a horizontal line.

7. Gently roll the lower edge of the marshmallow mixture over the gummy worms.

8. Then stop and cut the log away from the rest of the mixture. Use the same method for 4 more logs.

9. Slice each log in 1-inch-thick "sushi" rolls and wrap them individually with a strip of fruit leather.

Credit to FamilyFun.com