My first memory of consumer mania would have to be the Cabbage Patch Kids. I was about 7 years old, and ALL of my friends had one… at least. One of my friends had 6! I was so jealous.

You couldn’t buy them anywhere. We heard stories of lines for hours outside the store and parents literally knocking people down to grab one of these prized possessions.

Then one day we went to one of the local stores to see if they had any. Of course, they didn’t. But a helpful employee clued my mom into the fact that they would be getting their next shipment in at about 2:00 p.m. that day!!! So we went to lunch and arrived back at the store at about 1:40. That was the longest 20 minutes!!!

Lo and behold, in roll the prized Cabbage Patch Kids. There were probably 30 of them. They were gone almost as quickly as they rolled in. But there was no violence. And I did manage to get a very pretty one! I was so happy.

I think I got a second one for Christmas the same year. So I had a bald baby and an older girl with long hair. Eventually the fad died down… only after the gross callback by Garbage Pail Kids cards. Blehhhh!

Now Cabbage Patch Kids are celebrating their 25th anniversary! (Wow. That makes me feel old.) This season you can get a one-of-a-kind, Limited Edition 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kid. So now, my generation can share the warm memories with our kids. I only hope that people don’t hurt one another trying to grab one!

I was lucky enough to receive an advance shipment of one of these lovely ‘Kids. Her name is Stella Debby. Her birthday is June 28th. She came in a specially marked box with a commemorative 25th anniversary silver spoon. (We were admittedly a bit let down to find that the spoon is actually plastic. Oh well.)

Twilli loves the spoon!! lol She carried it around for about an hour, while I was promptly using Stella as a model for photographing my Twilli Pie Podegi baby carriers. I was pleasantly surprised to get the ‘Kid. I’d been wanting a doll of more appropriate size to use as a model for the still photos of the podegis. The only other baby doll Twilli has is very small… an appropriate size for a baby to actually play with.

Twilli is very curious about the ‘Kid’s clothes and disposable diaper. It’s an old-school diaper. You know. One of the shiny plastic kind… Not the improved, fabric-type ones. (The fact that my teen son wore those old-school diapers also makes me feel old!) I’m trying to keep her from getting at the diaper. At least it has the resealable tabs!

I find it curious that someone with one tooth, in a diaper, could have such long hair! lol And my friend was concerned that Twilli would grow up with a complex about wanting blonde hair. I’m not too worried about that.

I’ll do an update once I get some photos of Twilli playing with the ‘Kid. But until then, check out the CPK 25th Anniversary celebration website.

Please LEAVE A COMMENT sharing your stories/memories of your Cabbage Patch Kid. Send a link to photos. We love old photos! Will you buy one for your kid?

I realize it’s been a while since I’ve posted about cool products. So I decided to send some link love in more than one direction.

I just found a great contest website called The-Giveaway.com! They are giving away a pair of soft-soled leather shoes from Bobux.

I hadn’t ever seen Bobux shoes before. They have an amazing selection. I want to buy one of almost every style!! I would have to build a special closet for all of Twilli’s shoes! That would be a great problem to have. lol

These are definitely my favorite style… mainly because they remind me of my old Doc Martens Mary Janes that I kept for over ten years! I would love for Twilli to have some cute little black MJs too! Of course, we’d be lucky if she could fit in them for 10 weeks!

So check out the Bobux shoe giveaway and maybe you will win some cute shoes for your little one.

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!

Today our sweet Twilli Pie turns 1 year old!! It has been an amazing ride so far. She has grown and changed so much. Yet she is still the same unique person that she has been since she was born, this day, one year ago. A birthday wouldn’t be complete without remembering the BIRTH. Twilli’s birth was an amazing story! Read about the “3 Minute Baby” made her grand entry.

You can see more photos of Twilli on 21st Century Dad’s Flickr photostream.

I have a few things I’d like to share with Twilli.

Twilli, today we celebrate your birthday. You were already very present to us BEFORE you were born. But it was such a blessed day when we finally got to see you! Touch you. Hold you.

You have grown so much. We have grown so much! You have already taught us so much about life… about how to LIVE in the present. You are a divine teacher. You have gently taught us how to transcend fear. You have shown us that the birth process is a beautiful thing! You have helped us come back to things that we had somehow forgotten or brushed off… as humans. You have taught us the joy and warmth of attachment! You introduced us to babywearing! You have given us superpowers! (Yes, even when all you wanted to do was nurse, I was thrilled to be able to bond with you and care for your most basic need in such a natural, loving way!) You have helped us find new careers… new callings! You helped us extend our old skills, too! You have even helped your daddy embrace his Korean roots!

We know you will do amazing things. Heck, you already have done amazing things! Thank you for being awesome! Thank you for choosing us. Thank you for being YOU! We love you more than anything!

Happy Birthday Twilli!!!

…an entire BABYWEARING STASH!!! Visit Along For The Ride, at the link below. You get only one entry. But you can get a second one if you post a link on your blog/website. Good luck! (Of course, I’m crossing my fingers that *I* win! But you guys at least deserve a chance! hehehe)

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Anyone who started reading the blog at the wee beginning knows that we practice EC: Elimination Communication or IPT: Infant Potty Training, at least on a part-time basis. So I wanted to do a quick update.

We had what I guess to be about 50-60% “success” rate of catching potties. And we were only having to change a dirty diaper about every 2-3 days, since Twilli does most of her poops in the toilet, first thing in the a.m.

While we were out of town, we really relied mostly on the diaper. But I still took Twilli to the potty in the morning to do her daily “business”. Since the schedule was wacky, she wasn’t as regular as usual. So we were having at least one dirty diaper about 5 out of 7 days.

Since we’ve been home, I’m proud to say that Twilli is doing really well with it again! I think we’ve only had 1 or 2 dirty diapers in the 6 days we’ve been back!

We’re also happy to be starting the transition to cloth diapers! We picked up a small, 1 day supply of 6 unbleached Indian cotton prefolds and 3 covers. I decided to scrounge up enough funds to do that in order to support a lovely mama of triplets, who decided to amp her efforts from an online store to a p/t brick & mortar store.

Cutie Tooties - CLOTH DIAPERS and more

Sunny was SOOOO helpful about making it possible for us to get the BARE BONES minimum “starter” set. Her store is lovely! I wish her the best of luck and hope all of the natural parents in Knoxville support her!

Those prefolds are SOOOOOO soft!!! And I truly believe that wearing the cloth diapers is going to accelerate the EC, since Twilli definitely feels the effect of the wet diaper and definitely TELLS US about it! (She’s always been very laid back about the wet disposables. At least they do their job of pulling the moisture off baby’s bum.)

I somehow feel like we’ve taken an inside out approach to all of this! Everything I read recommended combining EC w/cloth diapering. But my Westernized “modern” ways sometimes hang on with a vengeance! lol

Please leave a comment and let us know if you have any experience with EC or CLOTH DIAPERS.

[We suspend our scheduled tales of babywearing adventures for this memorial...]

It has been a rough week for us. We finally said our last goodbye to our dear feline fur baby, Portnoy, today. His body finally lost the battle to feline leukemia and he passed away in his sleep the other night. Even though Portnoy was “Elliott’s cat”, the whole family feels the pain of this loss.

It is so surreal to not have him come lay on my chest, purr loudly, and suck on my shirt. Portnoy was one of those “golden boy” personalities. EVERYONE who met him fell in love! He was gorgeous and charming and the sweetest kitty I’ve ever met. (I’ve known quite a few kitties in my life. At one time in my childhood, we had 10+ cats living on our 0.8 acre property. lol)

When we learned, early on, that he had FeLV, we knew Portnoy’s time on Earth would be foreshortened. We vowed to cherish every moment… to make each day count. Elliott and I always had a theory that he was a young soul… perhaps a child victim of an untimely, tragic death, in a previous life. (Our 1st cat, James, on the other hand is definitely an old soul.)

Portnoy, we will always love you! We miss you dearly.

Baby Loves Disco is a new trend that I’ve heard a lot about lately. Basically it’s a chance for families to come hang out in a nightclub, with child-friendly environment, with cool music, snacks and even a chill-out room. (I’m flashing back to my days as a rave dj. I’m sure it won’t be quite THAT crazy… but hey, I haven’t been “out” in a LONG time!)

I’m glad that the Baby Loves Disco wave is sweeping over Fort Lauderdale! I’m surprised we don’t have to drive to Miami to catch something like this. (I know Twilli would LOVE some good Salsa dancing. But I’m not able to move that way! hehehe)

Also, a super cool chic from one of our local Meetup playgroups, is one of the sponsors. (Maybe we’ll bring home some cool SWAG!) Nicole is the head chef and chief bpa-free bottle washer for Rockin Mamaz - for Moms who ROCK the Cradle with the Flyest Gear and Coolest Clothes. Bringing you Hip and Funky Maternity and Infants to Big Kids Apparel. Unique toys, BPA- Free Glass Bottles, Sippy Cups and so much more. I immediately resonated with Nicole when we first met. I can’t wait to see what she’s put together for her shop!

Twilli LOVES music! And she loves to dance! Right now, it looks more like HEAD-BANGIN’ than anything else. Actually, that’s part of the humor! Twilli looks too sweet to be a head-banger! But she loves when Au-teen plays metal on guitar, too! I guess she inherited some of her daddy’s taste in music. Oh, and she looks great in black! lol

Hopefully, Elliott will shoot LOTS of photos of everyone shakin’ it to the Village People! lol And maybe we’ll post a video or two of head-bangin’ Twilli!

Yay! We are back home in sunny Fort Lauderdale. (It wasn’t sunny AT ALL yesterday when we flew in though.) I am very glad to be home. We really missed DH! This fantastic 21st Century Dad was sooooooooooo happy to see Twilli!!! And Twilli was jumping up and down in her mei tai when she saw Daddy at the airport. It was too cute.

We had a great trip. Got to see a lot of people that we hadn’t seen for years. Got to introduce Twilli to a lot of people too! Sunday we enjoyed a church picnic at this beautiful park by a lake. (I’ll try to post photos soon. They are trapped inside the camera. Can’t find the memory card reader.) We thought it would be rained out. But the rain stopped JUST BEFORE the picnic started. The weather was cool and beautiful. And it was great to see Knoxville through new eyes. My architecture studies have informed me about a personality that Knoxville has that I had never been aware of before.

I realize that none of this really has anything to do with babywearing. Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that babywearing SAVED OUR SANITY throughout the trip! Anytime Twilli was tired, disoriented or just OVER IT all, into the podegi she happily went! So many people made comments about how HAPPY she was to be “in there with Mommy”, or what a “great ride” it must be.

One lady at the airport, with baby, bags, stroller, etc. in tow saw me wearing Twilli in the podegi, with my backpack and diy OnBag strapped to me. (I absolutely HATE to have my hands full, and will almost always be happier as a pack horse than to be manually encumbered.) She said, “Wow, you really have your HANDS FULL!” I laughed and said, “Yeah. But not REALLY!” and raised 2 EMPTY hands while shrugging my shoulders. People are crazy. I saw so many people in the airport struggling with strollers or just holding their infant in arms, while trying to keep up with a toddler or other small child. Each time I wanted to point to Twilli and say, “There’s a BETTER WAY!” But I just kept my mouth closed, with a smile and a nod. To each his/her own.

And for those of you who are curious about the next Twilli Pie Podegis, check out TwilliPieDesign.com. There you will find photos of the design “schemes” that are queued.

Photo: 1′Up

Hello everyone. Long time… I JUST NOW got DSL hooked up at my parents’ house in TN. Yea! So I should be posting with a bit more frequency now.

I returned from the Babywearing Conference in Chicago on Sunday. The conference was amazing! I learned so much and met SO MANY wonderful people! It is amazing to see so many like-minded people in one place. And it was very refreshing to be in an environment where I can wear and nurse my baby at any time, and still be part of the goings-on! Twilli responded REALLY well to everyone there too! She got to play with a lot of little babies and toddlers.

The TWILLI PIE PODEGIs were well received! I will be requesting testers soon, so please contact me if you are interested.

I met SOOOOO many influential people in the babywearing and attachment parenting realm! I probably don’t know the HALF of it! I plan to continue seeking wisdom from these people who have “walked the walk” and continue to share with us relative newbies!

It was awesome to traverse the city via public transit. (Gas was $4.47 - $4.89 per gallon there. Eeek!) And I did a LOT of walking! Babywearing makes a HUGE difference in that regard. And I was very pleasantly surprised at how much people helped me with my luggage on the train or in the train station/transfers! I guess I was quite a spectacle with a baby strapped to me, a backpack, a diaper bag/purse, and my suitcase pulled behind it all! lol

I will write more about the conference in the next few days. But I wanted to touch base and let everyone know that we are still alive and kickin’!