Well Sharon, you are pretty close. The Ergo Baby Carrier D Ring is used to secure toys, pacifiers, or anything else for your little one to play with. I used to clip on my little girls favorite wooden teether. She was completely at ease on my back with her favorite soothing toy. I have also heard you can use it to hang your baby carrier on a hook or a coat rack while storing.

For those of you with the older Ergo Baby Carrier model with multiple d rings, they were previously used to secure the sleeping hood. FYI, this is the same Ergo model that did not have the chest straps permanently secured to the shoulder straps.

What do you use your Ergo Baby Carrier D Ring for? Let us know we would love to hear from you.

We can’t wait to post a review.  The  will be available for shipment from La Stella Blu on 9-23-09.

What does this mean?  Is this a total redesign of the Ergo Baby Carrier where the infant insert is not needed?   Only a couple of weeks left until we have our answer.  Check back with La Stella Blu to see the Heart 2 Heart baby carrier.

Head over to Nashville, Tennessee on August 29th and 30th for the celebration of Attachment Parenting Internationals 15th anniversary. Attachment Parenting International (API) was founded to provide parents information with the goal of improving the wellbeing of children and thus the community.  API continues to grow and build strong families around the world.  Some of the basic tenets of API include creating a strong emotional bond between parent and child.  A childs emotional needs are responded to which enables them to develop the capacity for secure, empathic, and peaceful relationships throughout their lives.

This wonderful event will feature some of the best known experts in pediatrics, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and parenting.  A panel will discuss “Making an Imapact Now:  Creating a Sustainable Legacy for Children”.  The amazing panel includes:

• Dr. William & Martha Sears – Pediatrician, RN, & Authors
• Ina May Gaskin – Director of The Farm Midwifery Center
• Mary Ann Cahill – La Leche League International Founder
• Dr. Isabelle Fox – Author and Clinical Psychologist
• Dr. James McKenna – anthropologist and Director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab at the University of Notre Dame
• Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker – founders of API & authors
and other special guests.

This event is a mere $10 for the general public.  Other events include fundraising featuring well known performers such as Vince Gill, children’s activities, Attached at the Heart book signing, silent auction, and family fitness.

Are you buying a gift for a baby shower and not sure what to get the new mom?  Trying to find the perfect baby gift can be daunting.  A baby carrier or baby sling is the perfect gift.  It is the one piece of baby gear that will get used daily.  It is the perfect gift that allows parents to get on with their lives while keeping their precious baby close and secure.

With that said there are so many types of baby carriers to choose from.  Plus if you are considering a baby sling you may not know what size to buy.  So that leaves you with the perfect option, a gift certificate.  This allows parents to pick out exactly what they need.  So check out our new gift certificates available at La Stella Blu.  You can choose any dollar amount and we offer a 60 day return policy on all of our baby carriers.

Swaddling your baby is a great tool for calming young babies.  Once you swaddle you will be amazed at how it helps your baby settle when overstimulated and sleep longer.  Below is a quick run down on the technique. Check out our Moby Wrap swaddle blankets for a great selection of organic and regular fabrics.

• Lay your blanket on a flat surface such as a bed or the floor. 
• Fold down the top corner approximately 3-5 inches.
• Lay your baby on top of the blanket so that their neck rests at the top of the folded corner.
• Place your babies left arm straight down their side.  Grab the left corner of the blanket and pull across your babies’ body.  Tightly tuck the corner under the right side of your baby.
• Pull the bottom corner up across your baby and tuck it inside the blanket near their chest. 
• Place your babies right arm straight down their side.  You may have to hold it in place as you pull the right corner of the blanket across your baby.
• Pull the corner very tightly as you wrap the blanket all the way around your babies back.  You may have enough fabric left to pull around to the front and tuck the end in.  If this last corner is not wrapped tight enough, your baby will be able to free their hands.

Plants evolved to either encourage their consumption by tasting sweet or turn herbivores away by tasting bitter.  Humans taste buds evolved to detect which foods were nutritious and safe to eat. Sweet foods typically have a higher energy content than bitter foods, so it is of no surprise that people are drawn to sweet tasty treats.  However that is not the end of the story. 

 It turns out that there are two different gene sequences that make up our bitter taste buds.  Once sequence allows the compound that makes up bitter taste to pass unnoticed, while the other sequence will cause the bitter taste to be apparent.  So it is no wonder that some children will not think twice about eating a plate full of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.  For those children who are labeled picky eaters it is not a picky disposition.  They truly do not like the taste of veggies, and it is due to genetic make up.

 If you or your spouse were a picky eater as a young child, there is a good chance your child will be too.  What is parent to do with a child that simply does not like their vegetables?  Cut your children a little slack, but make sure you still offer a variety of wholesome choices.  You can also resort to adding vegetable purees to food that you know they will like.  Some of our favorites are scrambled eggs with pureed cauliflower, pasta sauce with pureed sweet potato or carrot, and pancakes with pureed beets.

 Most importantly remember that in the end you learned to like vegetables, and your child will too.   A healthy dose of patience as well as repeated exposure to new foods, textures, colors, and smells is the best way to encourage your child to expand their palette.

You may be wondering if non-toxic cleaners really get your house clean, and they do.  Not only are there many green cleaners available on the market, you can make many yourself.  Use baking soda as a scouring agent on non-scratch countertops, bathtubs, and sinks. Vinegar or lemon juice make a great cleaner for wooden chopping blocks.  Make a vinegar and water solution to clean windows and mirrors.

Win a free pair of BabyLegs by telling us about your favorite green cleaning tip.  Earn extra entries by:

• Subscribe to this blog.
• Add the La Stella Blu button to your blog.
• Blog about the give away or La Stella Blu.  Leave a separate comment with a permalink to the blog post.
• Tweet about this give away.  Leave a separate comment with your username/Tweet link.
• Add this blog to your Technorati favorites. 

Make sure to post your extra entries so you receive credit for them! One winner will be randomly chosen from all entries.  Open to US residents only. Contest closes July 31, 2009 at 12 noon, Mountain time.

Several months ago I stumbled on a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld called Deceptively Delicious. She recommends pureeing vegetables and adding them to foods that you know your child will eat. Scrambled eggs with pureed cauliflower, chicken noodle soup with pureed sweet potato, and pink pancakes with pureed beets have become staples around our house. You cannot even taste the added vegetables.

I started following recipes in the cookbook, but now I simply add the pureed veggies to whatever I am cooking. Once you are ready to experiment on your own start small with proportions and add the vegetables to similar colored dishes. I make the purees monthly and freeze the extra portions until I am ready to use them.

Tricking your toddler into eating their veggies is a short term solution that can offer you peace of mind. However, remember to keep offering wholesome choices to your toddler. Most experts agree that it can take up to 20 times or more of offering a food before your baby or toddler tries it.