BestSeatIBW2016- Morris Louis*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016. Some edits have been made for clarity.  

This wrap is appropriately called “Paint,” and features a rainbow of paint dripping from one rail (presumably the top) down to the other.  Natibaby, who wove this wrap, gives almost no description and only hints at the joy that the act of painting can bring.  No particular artist or inspiration is named, but I think it looks remarkably like Color Field Painting, particularly the work of Morris Louis, an American painter working in the mid-20^th century.

Louis’s work forms a link between Abstract Expressionism, particularly action painting (think of those Jackson Pollock drip paintings, in which we as viewers can see how each layer of paint is applied to the canvas, and imagine the motions the artists made while doing so), and Minimalism, which would take hold in the 1960’s.  Louis’s painting, Where, from 1960 (at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 66.3112) reminds me of the stripes of dripping paint on the wrap, the fluid way in which the medium- the paint- takes center stage.  Much of Louis’s work atthis time features more deliberate and obvious dripping, but the organization here, the primacy of the bands of color, connects it to the woven wrap in design.

Louis’s technique, pouring thinned paint directly onto the canvas while the canvas is spread flat on the floor of his studio, is one he learned from Helen Frankenthaler, the painter who pioneered Color Field Painting.  Artists working in this style reject any emotional, religious, or personal meaning, instead celebrating color itself, allowing viewers to make up their own minds.  Natibaby, it seems, allows us to do the same, by celebrating the paint itself!

BestSeatIBW2016- Piet Mondrian*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016. Some edits have been made for clarity. 

This ring sling (on its way to becoming an onbuhimo by now!) was cut from a longer wrap (I split it with another art historian and educator!). The wrap is based on the paintings of Piet Mondrian, a Dutch-American artist working in a style called “De Stijl” (meaning “the style”) in the mid-20th century. Though he began his career painting landscapes in his native Netherlands, Mondrian came to reject the object entirely in favor of abstract compositions featuring only red, yellow, and blue with black and white. I’ve paired the wrap here with an example of this part of his body of work: Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow from 1937- 42 (Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 638.1967). In part, this turn toward abstraction was an optimistic expression of his belief in the birth of a new, machine- and technology-fueled age after WWI; the rigid, perpendicular lines and simple color schemes are meant to suggest structure and the geometric elements that create a perfect, orderly world.

More than just a suggestion of machinery, the compositions reflect Mondrian’s fascination with New York City in particular, where he fled at the outbreak of WWII. The straight vertical and horizontal lines look like scaffolding, or the steel skeletons of skyscrapers, rising on Manhattan. But if the picture plane is imagined on the floor in front of us, the black lines suggest the city's grid, the movement of traffic, and the colors become blinking electric lights.

Mondrian was also interested in American jazz music, particularly boogie-woogie; the rhythms of squares and rectangles also created a syncopated beat that visually represents jazz’s irreverent approach to melody and improvisational aesthetic. The colors appear random and spontaneous, but are still grounded by the structure provided by the white background and black bands.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has produced a quick video detailing Mondrian’s fascination with jazz and dance here.

BestSeatIBW2016- Vincent van Gogh*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016. Some edits have been made for clarity.

The last few posts from IBW 2016 (#bestseatIBW2016) feature contemporary carriers inspired by famous artists and works of art! Each carrier featured is a different type, though all are a wrap or wrap conversions.

First, check out this onbuhimo inspired buckle carrier belonging to ABE Sarah C. Miller-Fellows​! The design of the wrap from which it was converted is a painting familiar to many: Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night from 1889, which is owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (472.1941). Vincent van Gogh is known for exuberant compositions and rough, excited brushwork, coupled with vibrant colors. Indebted to the Impressionists for their techniques, but not loyal to their sense of the fleeting moment, Vincent painted works from his memory, imagination, and dreams. The Starry Night here includes the cypress trees- often a symbol of mourning- seen from his residence in the south of France. The town nestled into the hillside with its prominent church tower is more reminiscent of the Dutch landscape where he grew up. The church spire is important for two reasons: it reflects Vincent’s faith and his original ambitions to serve as a pastor (dashed when a catastrophic mining accident befell his parish), and it echoes the surge of the cypress, creating a ripple of energy across the canvas. This energy is matched and carried on by the swirling brushstrokes that fill the sky, frequently attributed to Vincent’s often agitated emotional and mental state.

The carrier here is an onbuhimo inspired buckle carrier; an onbuhimo is a traditional carrier from Japan, designed to be worn without a waistband. It typically has looped straps that connect at either side to a long panel. These go over the wearer’s shoulders and the panel forms a seat when the straps are tightened. Traditionally made with a ring finish, there are now onbuhimo inspired carriers on the market with buckles, too (like this one). Best for a larger baby or toddler, they are loved for being quick and comfortable! What strikes me here is that Vincent would probably have loved seeing his work on a Japanese style carrier (if he knew what it was!). He was a lover of Japanese art, particularly the style of print featured earlier, ukiyo-e, and collected and copied many of them throughout his career.

BestSeatIBW2016- Dogon Couple*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016. Some edits have been made for clarity.

Just kidding!  My files were out of order and I almost missed one of my favorite objects.  The image above is two sides of the same sculpture (1977.394.15), found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  This type of sculpture is often called a “primordial couple,” and was probably made for display at a funeral. Much funerary art across cultures features themes of rebirth and new life, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life.

 

Created by the Dogon people of Mali around the turn of the 19th century, it consist of simple forms- cylindrical arms, legs, and torsos that recall the shape of the wood from which it was carved, linear patterns for facial features and scarification- yet recalls an important aspect of Dogon attitudes toward marriage, that is it a partnership of independent equals. Note that they are similar in size and complementary in pose (check out her labret piercing to match his beard, her hands on her knees to match his over his lap, etc.). This is a technique meant to imply unity in purpose and equality of importance.

 

For our purposes, the quiver on the man’s back that would have contained arrows (signifying his role as provider and protector) is paired with a worn baby on the woman’s back (signifying her role as child bearer and nurturer)! Because some of the iron adornments are missing or compromised, I suspect the same fate befell the fabric that would have kept her baby close in a low torso carry. Fabric is one of the most fragile materials used in works of art, and it is difficult to preserve. Side note: if you’d like to check out a fabric for this kind of carry, our Twinsburg lending library has a kanga and several educators who can help you learn to use it safely!

 

Other details of the sculpture reinforce themes of family and ancestry: the enlarged navels are a reminder of where the couple themselves originated, and the small figures carved into the legs of their seat are likely images of ancestors, who literally and figuratively support the couple.

BestSeatIBW2016- Teishinkō*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016. Some edits have been made for clarity.

This is the last art object of this series on babywearing and art.  Don't worry, it's not my last post (I still have some more in store)!

Titled “Teishinkō” (from the Library of Congress, FP 2 - JPD, no. 2003) which translates to “the courtier Teishin,” this print by Utagawa Toyokuni III shows a woman carrying a child on her back. She was probably a member of the recently wealthy middle class, which rose to prominence during the Edo period. The Edo period was a period of peace, which meant that resources and wealth could be spent on luxuries like, theater, women, and art, all of which the middle class did lustily. This work falls under the category of “bijin-ga,” or images of beautiful people, a subset of the ukiyo-e prints that were popular during this period (this print was probably produced around 1843-1845). Ukiyo-e prints, “pictures of the floating world,” were often of the actors and popular entertainers of Edo Japan. They were light in theme and celebratory in nature, exemplifying “joie de vivre,” or joy of life. Woodblock prints, because many could be made from a single carved block (think a rubber stamp, but made from wood), were wildly popular and widely disseminated. They became especially popular with European collectors and painters such as Vincent Van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who admired the flatness and bright colors.

The carrier is hard to see in this print, but the black X-shaped lines across her front are similar to photographs of Japanese women wearing babies that appear in western publications in the nineteenth century.** They appear to be straps that would attach a to panel to secure a baby to her back, then cross under her arms and tie behind her. The arrangement of bodies here is stylized, or simplified, so what appears to be straps also seems to be quite loose! I have my suspicions that the artist was both unfamiliar with the intricacies of babywearing and also more interested in aesthetic effect (note, too, how the lines of flowers in her garment do not bend very convincingly with her pose, and the fabric itself is rendered as flat planes of color).

The portrait behind her, the partially unrolled scroll, plus the tablet with a poem on it in the background might give us some more context to this work, but (without reading Japanese) reflect the literary history of Japan, and recall playbills and posters for popular theatrical events, like Kabuki, as if this mother and child were just off to a show!

**I can't be sure of the provenance of this image, but the credit on the website is to M. Nakajima of Tokyo

BestSeatIBW2016- Shipibo-Conibo baby carrier*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016.   Some edits have been made for clarity.

Here’s another artistic carrier from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (1999.47.306). This is a carrier from the Shipibo-Conibo people from Peru, and was made sometime in the 20th century. Here’s a portion from an article about Shipibo-Conibo textiles that describes some of the meaning behind the design:

 “Textile and ceramic arts of the Shipibo feature a distinctive all-over pattern of designs known as kené or quene designs. Shipibo people frequently say that these are like the paths of life, or roads, or the meanders of the rivers where they live, sometimes they say they are the patterns and movement of the anaconda or of Ronin the cosmic serpent, and sometimes they say that these patterns are only a fraction of what their ancestors used to know…”

The meanings behind the patterns are often overseen by a shaman, whose “expanded consciousness and sense of cosmic vision is the key to understanding the distinctive Shipibo designs. It is the responsibility of the shaman to rescue the designs of the heavenly world and transmit them to the women. The production of these designs on all the objects of material culture gives power and protection to the home, to individuals, and to the whole group. Through kené designs, the culture of the Shipibo is at once defined, decorated, and owned by both individuals and the group.” (Odland, Claire and Feldman,Nancy, "Shipibo Textile Practices 1952-2010" (2010)). Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. Paper 42.)

Fun fact: horizontal stripes and patterns are features of women’s garments, while men’s clothing features vertical designs!

As for this carrier, it seems to looks quite a lot like a pouch, in that it appears to be stitched into a tube, with the bone portions dangling off what must be the bottom. I suspect, given the narrow width of the fabric, that it was not hands-free to use, but must have mitigated the strain of carrying a baby or child, and certainly served to reinforce community bonds, within the family and beyond.

BestSeatIBW2016- Dayak Ba*

 

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016.   Some edits have been made for clarity.

Art historian checking in with a carrier that functions like a work of art! The decoration on this ba, by the Dayak people from Borneo, serves to beautify AND protect the baby carried within! This one comes from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (2014.839), and features a protective symbol on the back panel.  I admit this is outside the scope of my study, so I've quoted some background information on these carriers from an expert below:

“Dayak baby carriers, called ba, resemble small chairs without legs, supported on the mother’s shoulders from straps, like a backpack. The seat is made of a semi-circular plank to which the woven basketry back is attached. This wood and rattan basket is usually lined and covered with hand loomed cloth and finished with a beaded panel at the back depicting powerful protective symbols and further embellished with tassels, bells, teeth, claws, or cowry shells and strings of large beads.

The Dayak beaded baby carrier or ba was created for two reasons – to display the prestige and wealth of the family, and to protect the baby when it left the safety of the communal longhouse and compound. They were used only when mother and baby were away from home.

The source of the protection offered by the baby carrier was primarily the beaded panel called the aban, which faced outwards from the rear of the ba. The Dayak are animists and their world is populated by powerful spirits, many of which are dangerous to humans. The designs of most women’s art are defensive, designed to erect barriers between their families and the malignant spirits and this is a particularly important role of baby carriers, which guard the baby from the rear.”

BestSeatIBW2016- Babywearing Hare*

*This post was originally written as a Facebook post for Babywearing International of Cleveland for International Babywearing Week 2016.   Some edits have been made for clarity.

Hi all, I'm Wendy, one of your resident art historians and volunteer babywearing educators! This is the first in a series of images of a work of art that features babywearing, or a carrier that's also a work of art!

To start off, here’s an image near and dear to my medievalist heart. This babywearing hare comes from the margins of the Pontifical of Guillaume Durand, produced near Avignon before 1390. A pontifical is a book containing rites and ceremonies to be performed by the pope or a bishop, a very rich book, indeed! A manuscript of this type (“manu” meaning hand, and “script” indicating written) was painstakingly copied by expert calligraphers, artists painted in images, and gold leaf was applied to enhance the beauty and luxury of the final object. It took a whole team of skilled workers to produce a single page. The images and decorations (especially the gold) make this an illuminated manuscript, one enhanced by pictures that often related concepts from the text within, or revealed the sense of humor of the monks who labored over them. No one’s sure why or how this puppy-wearing hare made it to the edges of the text of this holy book, but I’m sure glad it did!

(Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, ms. 143, fol. 174r, originally sourced from discarding images)

#bwicleveland102 Perfecting the Babywearing Selfie

Wanna learn how to take the perfect Babywearing Selfie, capturing pretty chest passes, knotshots, and of course the infamous Pfaupose?! Well you are in luck! This months 102 is Perfecting the Babywearing Selfie! Bring your cell phone and your biggest smiles to your next meeting and we'll have you spamming the world with your pretty faces (and carriers of course!) in no time!

But let's have some fun and start practicing now at home!! I am going to go over basic lessons here today and then when you come to your next meeting this month you can be one step ahead of the game.

Lesson One: Know Your Angles

By having your camera too low you will result in giving yourself a double chin, a view of up your nostrils and a rounder then usual face. No one wants a double chin! By simply raising your camera upward and moving nothing but your eyes, voila! No more double chin!

In this picture on the left you can see the top picture I had my camera down low and I was looking down at it. I didn't move my head in any of the pictures, I just slowly moved the camera upward, only moving my eyes to gaze at the screen. When I got to the camera positioning where my double chin disappeared I stopped. This is your sweet spot. 😊

You will notice you will also be in the best positioning to getting your little one in the camera line of vision. (My little one was in bed so I did this selfie solo.  So as you can see these lessons work for all selfies, not just babywearing ones! Lol) 

Lesson Two: Use Your Timer

Don't you just hate it when you have a great photo, but it turns out blurry because either baby moved, or my usual problem, my hand shakes when I hit the volume button for the camera. I just can't hold the camera still enough when I need to use those side buttons! Solution- use that self timer! Most cameras allow for a 2 or 3, 5 and even 10 second pause before automatically taking the photo for you. 2 or 3 seconds is my favorite for selfies. Just enough time to get your angle (see lesson one!) and get baby's attention. 

In the first picture here you can see that I did not use my timer and it resulted in a blurry photo. In picture two I used the timer which gave me time to compose the picture a wee bit better and took away the blur. Some cameras will take a "burst" of 3-5 photos. This is so that you can pick the best of the bunch! Just delete the ones you don't like! 

Left: iPhone- On the iPhone, the timer looks like a little stop watch at the top right of your screen. Click that and it will get you to the timing options. the second photo you can see across the top the different timing options. Right: Samsung Galaxy- On the Samsung you need to first click the gear in the upper left of your photo screen, this will take you to your picture settings.  The timer is in the bottom row.  Turn this on. 

If your camera does not have a self timer, like my old phone, the App Selfie Cam is fantastic! I actually still use this app a lot even with my newer iPhone 6. It takes really nice front camera pictures and softens the lighting just right. 

Now let's practice! Join us in our Facebook Group today for Try it Tuesday and show me those beautifully composed, non-blurry, Self Timed Selfies!! You can also tag us in Instagram at @bwiofcleveland and be sure to use the hashtags #bwicleveland  #bwicleveland102 

Thank you Tula Baby Carriers!!

Babywearing International of Cleveland is overwhelmed with the generosity that Tula Baby Carriers has shown to us this week!  And what perfect timing being that it is International Babywearing Week! To include all of our members in the excitement Erin Fabian, our President, recorded a Facebook Live of the BIG Unboxing and boy was it FUN! We wanted to share it here as well for all of you that may not be in Facebook or if you just wish to watch it over and over again (because seriously how adorable is Erin's daughter Alisz?) and see the awesomeness to your hearts content.

You saw that right, Tula donated to us EIGHT carriers- 4 baby sized, 3 toddler sized, and one ring sling plus FOUR infant inserts!  Now each one of our Lending Libraries will have a Tula in each size and an insert (which is a hot commodity)!

These six carriers will be making it into our Lending Libraries :

Baby Size

 From left to right: Bliss, Montana Sunset and Betty

Toddler

From left to right: Trendsetter, Shenandoah, and Trillion 

In celebration of International Babywearing Week, Babywearing International of Cleveland is excited to offer a Tula Coast Seafarer Soft Structured Carrier (Standard Size) and a Petit Love Fraise Wrap Conversion Ring Sling (size L/XL) for raffle. Funds from this raffle will go towards the purchase of new carriers for current and future lending libraries!

From left to right: Coast Seafarer Soft Structured Carrier, Petite Love Fraise Ring Sling

Each raffle ticket you purchase will get you one entry into our drawing for a Tula Coast Seafarer Soft Structured Carrier or a Petite Love Fraise Wrap Conversion Ring Sling. Tickets cost $10 each (winner will be responsible to arrange for pick-up at a BWI of CLE meeting, or pay for shipping).

To enter the giveaway for Coast Seafarer Soft Structured Carrier please click HERE.

To enter the giveaway for Petite Love Fraise Wrap Conversion Ring Sling please click HERE.


Thank you Tula Baby Carriers from the bottom of our heart, our members are going to fill these carrier with so much love #IBWwithTula. Happy International Babywearing Week!

Introducing our new Partners, Baby Boot Camp of Cleveland!

I am excited to announce BWI of Cleveland's very first Partnership! We have teamed up with the local organization Baby Boot Camp Cleveland! Baby Boot Camp is an innovative stroller and babywearing fitness program that helps moms regain or enhance pre-pregnancy fitness levels and meet the physical challenges of parenting by emphasizing strength training in a supportive environment.

Through this Partnership we have so many fantastic opportunities opening up to all of you! BBC is offering a 10% discount to ALL BWI of Cleveland Sustaining Members for her classes! We will also be holding regular joint classes for both BWI of Cleveland and Baby Boot Camp!

Instructors, Suzanne Caraballo and Connie Kowal, have created a unique program that is much more then just exercise. With regular playdates, a supportive online community, cooking demonstrations and recipe swapping she has fostered a beautifully strong support system to women in our community. We are proud to be working alongside you!

So stay tuned for lots of FUN ahead!

Did you get to check out our Babywearing Bachata class yesterday in celebration of International Babywearing Week with Baby Boot Camp?  Don't fret if you missed out on the fun because Monday evening you and your littles can join us for Babywearing Yoga in the park!  See you there!

Thank you West of the Fourth Weaving

We would like to offer a heartfelt Thank You to West4thWraps for this stunning woven wrap they have graciously donated to our Chapter! "Tribute" made her debut partying at a Mardi Gras Shindig and will making its way to one of our Lending Libraries soon! Be sure to come to our Potluck Picnic on October 8th for IBW to play with her and give her a whirl!

#bwicleveland #wovenwrap #bwiofclelendinglibrary

International Babywearing Week Events

This is only a TASTE of the Events that we have planned for #bestseatIBW2016 Please visit our Events Tab and our Facebook Page and Group for all the exciting Events we have planed for you during International Babywearing Week!  See you there!

#bestseatIBW2016 Come Join in the Fun!

International Babywearing week is quickly approaching! #BestseatIBW2016 Do you know why we celebrate? Babywearing International at large says: It is a week-long opportunity to celebrate, promote, advocate for, and focus media attention on the many benefits of babywearing. All true. Even more so why do we celebrate locally? We Celebrate International Babywearing Week because it furthers our mission! BWI-Cleveland’s mission is thus: "The vision of Babywearing International of Cleveland, Inc. is to create a community of caregivers with a shared interest in babywearing, through educational meetings, outreach events, community engagement activities, social media, and partnerships with other community organizations. Our strength is our people, including volunteers, members, and attendees; therefore, we will strive to nurture these relationships as a means to spread the knowledge of safe babywearing to all caregivers in our area. In addition, we will work to grow leaders within our organization to ensure the sustainability of our organization. Our success will be measured by our reach into the various neighborhoods, suburbs, and diverse populations of the greater Cleveland area as evidenced by the prevalence of safe babywearing in our community."

If you’ve never attended one of our 7 regularly scheduled Monthly Instructional Meetings but you want to have fun while wearing your baby maybe an IBW event is more your speed? This year we are especially passionate about raising funds to support an 8th meeting with a full lending library so that we can serve actual CLEVELAND with a downtown or as close by as possible regular instructional meeting. We have to give a special shout out to TulaBabyCarriers! Tula is helping us make our dream of having an additional lending library downtown a reality! Stay tuned for more news about this exciting and incredibly generous donation!

We also want to formally thank Baby Bjorn for their incredible donations to our Lending Libraries (7 brand new carriers will be added to our libraries!!) and also for joining us for an In-Person collaborative adventure with Hike it Baby Cleveland! Baby Bjorn will be attending our hike and demonstrating each of their carriers along with holding a giveaway for two of their carriers- the Baby Carrier One and their brand new Baby Carrier One Outdoors!

We want you to be a part of our community of caregivers! So come apple picking with us here and here, or sign up to attend a babywearing workshop, or make memories and participate in our photo shoot fundraisers! Please visit our Facebook Page for full details of our many Events! Or you can follow along in the fun virtually by joining our facebook group, following our public page, and hashtaging your babywearing selfies on Instagram  #bwicleveland #bestseatIBW2016 you can also tag us @bwiofcleveland for a regram throughout the week!

However you decide to participate please tell your own friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about how babywearing has benefited your family. Don’t let International Babywearing Week pass you by without reminding fellow parents that they have access to this great parenting tool in their toolbox!

International Babywearing Week 2016
October 5- IBW2016 Eastside Apple Picking
October 5- IBW2016 Let's Take a Hike with Baby Bjorn and Hit it Baby!

October 6- IBW2016 Bachata Babywearing with Baby Boot Camp
October 6- IBW2016 Adult Bingo Night 

October 7- IBW2016 Westside Mini Babywearing Photo Shoot
October 7- IBW2016 Eastside Mini Babywearing Photo Shoot

October 8- IBW2016 Potluck Picnic
October 8- IBW2016 Mommy and Me Dance Class with Carrying w/ Karyn

October 9- IBW2016 Westside Apple Picking
October 9- IBW2016 Trick-or-Treat Trail at Goblins in the Garden
October 9- IBW2016 Intermediate/Advanced Back Wrapping Workshop

October 10- IBW2016 A Day at the Zoo
October 10- IBW2016 Introduction to Back Wrapping Workshop
October 10- IBW2016 Babywearing Yoga with Baby Boot Camp

October 11- IBW2016 Raspberry Picking

Written by Karyn Tankersley, our very own Advanced Babywearing Educator and VP of Meetings. You can also see her reaching our babywearing community through her business, Carrying with Karyn, as an Independant Babywearing Consultant.  She resides in Lake County with her devoted husband and 5 beautiful children.  

Congratulations to our Medalists for our #babywearingrelay Event!

***EVENT NUMBER FOUR WINNERS!***

Thank you to all who participated in our Babywearing Relay Race as Event Number Four of our Summer Babywearing Games!! #babywearingrelay

Congratulations to the winners! Since no one (other than volunteers) submitted more than one photo, no special bonus prize will be awarded. BUT we do have our usual gold, silver, and bronze medal winners! See below for the winning photos!

GOLD -  Lauren Rowan and her husband!

SILVER - Julia Bulia and her baby’s grandfather!

BRONZE - Tina Popp and her baby’s sister!

The GOLD medal winner will receive either $5 off a new membership or renewal OR the opportunity to borrow two carriers at a meeting!

The SILVER medal winner will receive an item made from a woven wrap!

The BRONZE medal winner will receive a BWI of Cleveland car decal!

****Please volunteer@bwiofcleveland.org to make arrangements to receive your prize!

Welcome to Event Number Five of our Summer Babywearing Games!!! Thank you to all who have participated thus far!!

If you haven't participated yet in our Summer Babywearing Games, now is your last chance!! It's time for Event Number Five: The Babywearing Quadrathlon ‪#‎bwquadrathlon‬. For this event, we want to see your photos in all the different types of carriers!

We are always talking about how no one carrier is best for every person, and that's what makes our lending library so great! We give you the opportunity to try the different types, and see what works for you and your baby!

**To enter this event, simply post a photo of yourself wearing one of the four main carrier types: wrap (stretchy or woven), mei tai, buckle carrier, or ring sling. POST EACH PHOTO AS ITS OWN COMMENT! Each vote you receive is worth one point - if you share photos of yourself in ALL four carrier types, you'll get 5 additional points! The people with the most points at the end of the contest will win some awesome prizes and be entered into our grand prize drawing!

This contest will end on August 20th!

Thanks to educator Wendy Haas for sharing these photos of herself and her daughters in the 4 different carrier types!