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Babywearing then and now (baby 1 vs. baby 2)

By “then” I mean wearing Jonathan, and “now” I mean Vivienne.

With Johnny, I tried six types of carriers. Ultimately, I looooved my Baby K’tan. So much. He loved it, too. He would get excited any time he saw me pull it out. I wore the kid a lot. A lot. We were cozy in it and his weight was well-distributed.

Around 12+ months or so, I bought a used Ergo. So many people raved and I thought I’d need something more structured as he got larger, and also something that Shane could comfortable use. Johnny and I tried it a handful of times but neither of us liked it. I couldn’t get a comfortable fit and he just preferred the K’tan and let me know that.

So I put it back in the box and saved it for later. I thought maybe if I tried it again with a younger baby, maybe that would work better. And if it didn’t work for my next baby, I’d sell it.

With Vivienne, I started her in the K’tan. I even bought another color for variety and so I could have a spare! But I didn’t wear her nearly as much in the earlier months and I’m not entirely sure why. She didn’t seem to like it quite as much.

I got out my Ergo to give that a whirl and we did have more luck. I think she could see better out of it earlier on and liked that.It also held her in a different way and less snugly and she seems to prefer it.

I like it this time around because it distributes her weight much better for me. Vivienne is a big girl and is shaped differently than her brother was at this age. The Ergo supports her better, and also is more comfortable for me.

I’m still keeping my K’tans. Still love ‘em to bits. When she’s a little older I will try her in it again, in case her longer length helps even it out. Or I could do the hip carry. I love how versatile the K’tan is!

All that to say, babywearing can vary among a mother’s own children, and it certainly varies mom-to-mom. Keep experimenting with types of carriers and holds until you find something that works. It’s great to borrow and try something rather than buy ‘em, but good slings usually hold their resale value.

This time around, we use strollers a lot more. We have a double Jeep umbrella stroller and the kids sit side-by-side. They love it! Johnny especially. And he hold his sister’s hand when she gets squirmy. The thing is so wide that we barely get through doorways, but it is handy to have when I need both kids to be seated somewhere and contained, like if I have an appointment or something of the sort.

Used our single umbrella stroller just a handful of times with Jonathan.

Her name

(Note: This post was mostly in draft form since January. I probably should publish it now!)

We spent a long time looking at name lists, tossing names back and forth, trying them out and whatnot. A lot of hours, seriously. Most of my pregnancy. We had a much easier time naming our son.

But a person’s name is something that they’ll have for their whole life (probably) and it’s not something to be taken lightly.

So here’s how we chose Vivienne Elise’s name. We so truly hope she loves it.

Back when I was pregnant with Jonathan (but before we knew he was a boy), I happened across the name “Vivienne” on a message board. I thought it was beautiful, feminine and classic. A name that would be great for a little girl and an adult.

I originally thought going with the more common American spelling “Vivian” would be better. I thought people would be able to spell it a little easier. But then I realized that people really can’t spell names anyway, so why not choose a spelling we like? “Vivienne” is the French spelling and it can have a slightly different pronunciation, with more of an emphasis on the ending syllable and maybe mashing it into 2 syllables. Like: viv-YEN, I think I’ve seen it phonetically spelled.

We say it the standard American way and also call her Viv, Vivie (Viv-EE), Vivie-girl, etc.

Jonathan is an easy-to-spell name, so I thought. But we’ve seen it Jonathon and Johnathan and Johnathon, so whatever.

And then in July 2008, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named one of their twins Vivienne. And I was MAD. I was so worried that Vivian/Vivienne would go the way of Isabella and become superduper popular in a short time. Or that by naming my child that, people would associate her with the Brangelina twin.

My anger was short-lived when we found out in August 2008 that we were having a boy.

I filed the girl name away for potential future use, though.

In the summer of 2010 when we found out we were having a little girl, I instantly wasn’t sure about her being a Vivian. Didn’t know if the name would work for her or if we’d need another.

We tossed around a variety of names, and had another one as a front-runner for awhile: Jocelyn. It was a pretty name and we could call her Josie for short. But Jocelyn sounds and looks a lot like Jonathan, and I didn’t think I could handle a Josie and a Johnny. Sometimes I accidentally call my son “Julie” if I was just around or speaking with or thinking about my sister of the same name. So yeah, the more different the names sound and look, the better.

Plus, I didn’t want to get boxed in on similar-sounding names for a potential third baby.

We did test out ‘Jocelyn’ on the girl in my belly for awhile, but it just fell out of favor for us. That just wasn’t her name.

Another girl name we sorta liked but won’t use is Evelyn. Pretty, classic name. It’s really moving up the popularity charts right now, and that’s fine. I just didn’t 100% love it for our baby. I didn’t like Eve or Evie as nicknames, and since those sorta sound like Viv/Vivie, we won’t use it if we have another girl.

Vivian/Vivienne came back into the picture. Shane polled a few coworkers and some loved it, and some were like, “That sounds like an old lady.” Shane was a little worried about that last part.

It kind of IS an old lady, classic name. So what? Those names are in style now.

In a way, the Brangelina twin might help make the name a little more common, and that could be a good thing, in Shane’s eyes.

In the United States, the Vivian spelling was #164 in 2009, on an upward climb. The Vivienne spelling entered the chart in 2009 at #532. Vivienne was #428 for 2010 and Vivian was #158. Hundred-point jump on our spelling in just a year.

The name means “lively” or “alive,” depending on which source you consult.

Her middle name also posed a challenge. We wanted something that flowed well between her first and last, something that was pretty and feminine, and something we just plain liked. I was being drawn toward names that meant “compassion,” “benevolence,” and “mercy.” Couldn’t find a name that really fit the bill though.

Turns out, Vivienne was born at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. Maybe that’s where the Mercy connection came into play.

Elise was the front runner out of all of the options we tossed together, with Shane strongly favoring it and myself liking it but liking other options equally. I liked “Louise” thinking that Vivie-Lou would be too adorable for words, but Shane wasn’t really on board.

Baby name books say that Elise is a derivative of Elizabeth, meaning “my God is a vow.” Also French.

We are about as French as the Coneheads.

The babe is 8 months old now. I think she is totally a Vivie. She knows her name and perks up whenever Johnny calls her from across a room and charges toward him. Or she could be playing with a toy with her back to me and I could start talking, but she won’t turn until I say “Vivienne!” and then she grins and comes over.

I’ve realized that I don’t care so much about popular names or if names are on the rise. Every time I hear about another baby Jonathan, I’m happy! I think “Oh yay, someone else is using that wonderful name” and I don’t feel grumpy about it at all. Jonathan is such a timeless name, anyway. Same goes for whenever I hear of another Vivienne/Vivian. I think it’s nice to hear it on others.

If I happen to love a baby name in the top 10, I’m going to use it. Besides, a top-ten name doesn’t mean it’s going to be excessively common. The #1 girl name in Indiana last year was Emma and 454 babies were given that name. That’s it. I don’t know how many were born total, but really it’s not that much. The #100 baby name in Indiana was tied with Maci/Sofia/Kayla. Only 66 girls each had that name.

So what if Vivienne comes across another Vivienne who is around the same age? That’s life. She might even think it’s kinda neat.