It’s been a while since I’ve done a WEARS THE BABY WEDNESDAY. (My neck/back has been acting up, causing numbness in my hands. The computer aggravates it. Thus I haven’t been spending nearly as much time online.)

We’ve been getting some great feedback from our testers of the Twilli Pie Podegi!! So I decided to post some action shots for you guys to see! And THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me action shots of you & your baby with your pod!

Please LEAVE A COMMENT and let us know what you think about the Twilli Pie Podegi!

TWILLI PIE PODEGI - Out and About & Testing

I’ve been meaning to go to Ikea for a while. So today hubby and I decided to have lunch there and pick up a few things. We got a lot of smiles and looks from people. There were loads of babies there today! And we got a compliment on the podegi from a lovely mama with beautiful month old twin girls!

I decided to wear Twilli in the first TWILLI PIE PODEGI that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I have been testing the heck out of it. Here are my thoughts so far:

I am pretty pleased overall with this design. I LOVE being able to combine fabrics to create something truly unique. I will probably continue to make all of my carriers reversible. I am very happy with the padding in the straps. (It is double layer polar fleece.) I LOVE the long blanket! It is very easy to adjust how high or low baby rides in a front carry. Twilli can “hide” inside or sleep by tucking her arms in and “sinking” down a bit. And it is MUCH easier to nurse in this podegi than any of my mei tais. I was worried that the traditional straight straps would not work with shoulder carries. But the straight straps are much more comfortable than I had expected. My only regret is that I placed the nice white print fabric too low on the reverse. This print ends up hiding under babys bum. So I really only show the Tatsu print side for that reason

Introducing TWILLI PIE PODEGI 2 - for the progressive babywearing daddy

Now for some good news… I just finished with my first TWILLI PIE PODEGI that is designed with the babywearing daddy in mind! It is also the first podegi I have made with angled straps. It is quite a bit more involved to place the straps at an angle. But it seems to be more popular than the straight ones. (Any podegi devotees: What do YOU think?) And it is GREEN! No. Not the color green… but eco green because it uses some reclaimed fabric!

Check out photos of TWILLI PIE PODEGI 2!

I will post action shots soon! The supermodel baby, Twilli, is sleeping.

Hey dads, would YOU wear your baby or toddler in something like this if it were available? PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT and let me know what you think!

Ok. I am a day late for WEARS THE BABY WEDNESDAY. We’ve been sick and I’m still grossly behind in just about everything. Anyway, enough whining. We have new babywearing news and photos for you to see!

We are in the process of creating our own TWILLI PIE line of PODEGI (aka podeagi or podaegi) baby carriers. For anyone unfamiliar, the word is pronounced like this Poe-DAY-gee. The podegi is much simpler in form than a mei tai. It has even greater significance because it is traditionally a Korean carrier. Twilli’s grandparents are originally from South Korea. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to meet them yet. But we felt it important to expose her to some of her Korean heritage early in life.

I made my first diy podegi a couple of weeks ago from a great tutorial that I found on TBW - TheBabyWearer.com. But I don’t like how short the body is and I wanted to create my own pattern/design. So I made it much longer and gave it a unique shape. For now, we’ll see some action shots of Twilli, in a ruck sack back carry, tibetan tied. This is just one side of the design. The other side has some other cool fabric. Stay tuned for more photos!

Even though she’s a bit crooked, Twilli is still quite content in her new podegi.

The smile shows our enjoyment! And look at those new teeth!

A pensive Twilli relaxing in her podegi with Mommy.

Have you ever seen or used a PODEGI baby carrier before? Please leave a comment and tell us what you think.

If it’s Wednesday, it must mean it’s time for WEARS THE BABY!

We have a couple of new additions in our stash. But first I want to share the overdue action photos of the BabyHawk Mei Tai that we got a few weeks ago. It has olive straps and a lovely Amy Butler print. (The reverse is another Amy Butler beauty as well!)

This was the first time we had tried a BACK CARRY. All of the tutorials I’ve seen about doing a back carry with a mei tai were a bit daunting because they all involve “tossing” and balancing your baby on your back

Twilli is a bit too squirmy for me to feel comfortable trying to balance her on my back. However, I decided to go the easy way and lay the carrier on the bed, put Twilli on it, and tie it on from there. It worked great! I’ll probably post a YouTube video for anyone else who wants to try the EASY BACK CARRY.

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And now for the GOOD STUFF!

We really enjoy designing, making and wearing these SCANDI MEI TAI baby carriers. For now, I will call them “TWILLI PIE Mei Tai” Baby Carriers, in order to differentiate them from any *commercially available mei tai. I often call Twilli “Twilli Pie” and Elliott thinks it’s so cute.

[*Note: I had originally hoped to introduce these MTs to the market. But the pattern I used is not licensed for commercial use. Sorry, these are for our personal use only. But I will be working on developing my own unique design.]

So here is the second MT we did - TWILLI PIE MT2. It has red corduroy straps (reinforced with a layer of denim, for added strength) and designer fabric that was actually recycled from a pair of Jones New York pants. The fabric is lovely, but I don’t think it should have EVER been on PANTS! It has a satin ribbon embellishment. The reverse side is red-orange satin and red-orange cotton solid.

I’m LOVING the cord straps! They help the carrier stay in place. It’s as if Twilli is attached with VELCRO! These straps are very long! I wanted to make them long to accommodate certain variations of a back carry. But they are a bit unweildly. I’m considering making them shorter. But I’ll probably experiment some more before I do that.

Next up we have the 3rd one TWILLI PIE MT3…

***If you are having trouble viewing the photo slideshow, you may look at the photos here. ***

I made this lovely blue one especially for my Mom, who is visiting from Tennessee. She will be leaving tomorrow. We’ve really enjoyed having her here. But she is missed by Dad and my 2 nephews. I hope they enjoy the mei tai!

I went looking for fabric that would suit her, and found this beautiful cobalt blue canvas. (Blue is Mom’s favorite color.) Then I hunted down some quarter flats that had a tropical or ocean feel and that matched the blue. I think it turned out very pretty!

Mom has shoulder issues and cannot easily tie things behind her back. So I made the waist strap extra long, allowing her to tie it in the front. I was afraid this might be too much fabric around the waist. But I gave it a “test drive” yesterday for several hours. It actually felt good for my back to have the added support.

I finally replaced the sleep hood on TWILLI PIE MT1. It looks so much better! AND it actually functions as a sleep hood now!

So I’ve included some more photos of it, with action shots! (I can’t resist the opportunity to show off the Twilli!) She’s such a cooperative model!

Ok. That’s all for this week. I’m already working on the next one. So stay tuned!

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of my TWILLI PIE Mei Tai carriers!

Dyson DC15 Animal Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner

DYSON DC15 Vacuum Cleans Pet Hair with Ease and Style!

If you have pets, you know how hard it can be to keep their HAIR off of everything. We have 4 cats. (Yes, I am crazy.) So keeping the cat hair is like a full time job, in and of itself. I am trying to run a business from home. So I don’t want to see cat hair everywhere I look. Mind you, sometimes cleaning actually relaxes me. But this is becoming a futile endeavor.

We have a little bagless Shark upright vacuum that does a decent job. But it was purchased, years ago, by DH when he was a petless bachelor. Now that we have 4 cats — started with my 2 cats, James and Boo, then DH got Portnoy, and we recently we took in a “foster” kitten, DJ Destructo), not to mention a teen boy with his messy friends, and a pre-crawler — we need something must more robust.

Needless to say, I’m in the market for something a bit more robust. I haven’t actually had the chance to use this wonderful device. So I’m basing this write-up on Dyson’s excellent reputation. I’ve actually been wanting a Dyson for years! Now I have just cause for my desire. And I’ll consider this a request to the universe!

Do you have experience with this model of Dyson Vacuum Cleaner? Please leave a comment telling us your experience with the Dyson products!

This is the first of a new weekly feature, Friday Fun Finds. These are things I come across online. They will never be paid reviews. (I have yet to do any of those anyway.)

IKEA POTTY

First up we have the sexy LÄTTSAM POTTY from Ikea. These babies are only $2.99!!! Holy Moly! I think I’ll have to buy one in every color. (Then I can take pics of Twilli sitting on it, and it will match her outfit! lol) I am actually going to Ikea as soon as I finish this post!

UPDATE: I went to Ikea. They only had white. I bought 3, realized I only need 1. So act fast and BUY the other 2 for $2.99 each, plus shipping. You cannot buy these from Ikea’s website. So if you are too far from a store, JUMP ON THIS! There are only 2. I will honor the first 2 claims in the comments. Please note: I am not making any $$ off of this deal. Just trying to be helpful.

I read about it in the forums at one of my favorite sites, TheBabyWearer.com. Some people questioned the quality. One of the readers said her 46 pound son could use it with no problem. So it sounds pretty sturdy to me!

iROCK BABY SHIRT

Next we have a super cute baby shirt that says, “iRock“. If you have been living under a rock, I’ll let you in on a secret. It is a callback to the iPod ads. I found this at ShopIntuition.com, a celebrity boutique in L.A.

I would totally buy one, except for the fact that it depicts a baby holding a bottle. So since Twilli is a booby fan, that wouldn’t be totally representative. Maybe I’ll design one that says “iNurse“! lol

Speaking of nursing… gotta go take care of the Twilli. Stay tuned next week for more Friday Fun Finds!

MARIO ONE UP MUSHROOM - CROCHET

I remember one of my aunts would crochet EVERYTHING! I was always amazed by her craftsmanship. I can imagine, if she were sill around, that she might make something like this.. for her grandchildren.

I found out about this Etsy shop on GeekMomMashup.com and went ahead and added this (literally) at the eleventh hour, since we need the extra (wakefulness) to get through today’s workload.

Image courtesy of GeniousJones.com

I recently gave birth to a new blog called “Design Sexiness“. This is the blog where I get to wax poetic about any form of what I refer to as design sexiness. It is several steps above clean, functional design. It has to be really special to warrant the “sexiness” label.

It will be about architecture, interior/decor, industrial design, furniture, art, graphic design, web design, user interface design, etc.

In my research, I have come across many things that could fit in this site as well. I thought it would be cool to do a regular feature, of applicable objects, here at 21stCenturyParenting.com. Sunday seems like a good day for this feature. Please leave a comment to let us know how often you would like to see these features!

So today, I give you the Candela Tooli lights - at Genius Jones Miami. Genius Jones is an AMAZING store for kids and babies. they carry beautiful, modern design. I visited the store when they were on Lincoln Road, in South Beach. The store owner was very friendly and down to earth. Now they have a location in the Miami Design District too! I need to make contact with them again, now that I have a Twilli.

Now I have to admit that I do not own this product. (I would be happy to do a more comprehensive review/shameless plug, if someone wants to send 1 or 2 of these guys my way!) So I can only guess how cool it would be to have these cordless, thus portable, lights for midnight diaper or potty duty! Plus they are rechargeable!

And I find the forms to be very friendly. I guess there will be SOME kid out there that screams in fear when he sees it. But I think Twilli would giggle when she saw it! Seems like this could be a good thing to “keep monsters away”. And it seems a lot safer than the traditional night light, with a glass bulb.

Some further research illuminates the fact that these come in a set of 2 lights - with one base, use LED lightbulbs, and automatically light up when removed from base, or if the power goes out. (That’s perfect! I can justify it as hurricane supplies!) Oh, and they claim to have a battery life of 8 hours.

Do any of you have these? Please leave a comment to tell us what you think. Are they worth it?