Video time

Thanks to my wonderful step father I now have the video edited up from when we put the Moodd together when it first arrived:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhBrp-yu7Y&feature=youtu.be

A warning that it is a long video at over 12 minutes, but does cover all the stages of putting together the Moodd from taking it out of the box to testing it out.

If you're just interested in seeing what it's like once it's up then jump to around 9 minutes in where our eldest is giving it a test drive and we get to grips with how it works.

Helps if you look!

Finally found 2 minutes today to have a proper look at the baby nest and found the second set of strap guides that resolves all the problems we were having with positioning Ewan in the nest!
There are a second set of strap holes just under the head hugger which bring him up to the right level so his head just abouut sticks over the top when it's zipped up.

Makes far more sense now - one of those things that we missed it while trying to balance being new parents and juggle a toddler and sort out a new pram.

Time to bang my head against a brick wall!!!

More trips out

A couple trips out today. One to Mothercare to get a buggy board for the Moodd where we ended up having a chat about the Moodd as a pushchair with 4 members of staff including the manager. He was suitably impressed with the developments made over the Buzz having given it a quick push round the store.  It's certainly easier to get in and out of the car with the strap to hold it together.
We have had it in parent facing mode today which I like more with a newborn, though I'm still not that impressed with the fit in the baby nest. Ewans head doesn't sit in the headhugger properly so logic suggests that he needs to be moved up (which would solve the problem of the front covering him up) yet because of where the straps are located I can't yet see anyway to move him up without the straps having to go halfway up his back to go over the top of his shoulders which is not good.
One day when either hubby or I have time we'll investigate whether there are any options for strap positioning (don't remember there being any when we unpacked it) and baby position.


Our other trip was to pick up elder son from nursery which gave us a great opportunity to test it on our 'fun' road and across the grass in the park. It coped really well with the dodgy pavement. It's so bad as all the trees are quite old and the roots are so large they are pulling up the pavement next to them so you have to go up and over the roots, and it's generally very uneven. It's not necessarily a 100% 'smooth' ride but it moved easily at the different angles needed and didn't get caught once which was great.

The grass in the park was a different matter. It's not very long at the moment and was very muddy, but the going got a lot harder (as it would with most pushchairs). I haven't walked over ground like that with a pushchair for quite a while so can't easily compare it to anything so suffice to say it was tougher going and I did admit defeat and hand pushchair over to hubby to get it to where we needed. This isn't normal for me but I will give myself a break considering I haven't walked more than 100mtrs without crutches in nearly 4 months. As my muscle strength returns I'll look forward to making mincemeat of the park.

Special deliveries

What a week for deliveries.

I’ll spare you the details of the first part, but needless to say our second son Ewan was delivered safely at 7pm on Tuesday 17^th January, 2.5 weeks early. We were released on Wednesday at lunchtime and arrived home to find a massive Quinny box sitting in the dining room. J

2 deliveries in 2 days, was rather nice. I don’t think Ewan could wait to try out his new pushchair!!!

The box is certainly big. If you’re planning on walking out of a shop with one then it’s seriously worthwhile thinking about whether your boot is big enough as the box isn’t just wide, it’s very deep too. If you get a choice, get it delivered as that must be simpler and save some headaches of getting it into a car. At some point when we’ve got a chance we’ll get the box back down from the loft and try it in the boot of our car – I think it will go, but as it’s a big car I wouldn’t hold out much hope for many people unless you start putting seats down.

Opening the box is supposed to be like opening a gift. Nice theory but in reality it’s a box (especially when tired having recently given birth), it’s rather a pain to have to undo 4 sides and wiggle the top off. I can’t see that many pregnant women (most heavily??) fully appreciating the fiddle of having to wiggle the lid off.

Once the lid is off it was a case of wow. We’ve got the Blue Reliance and the colour immediately sprung out of the box to catch my eye. We got everything out and slowly hubby Andy put it together. – Summary video to follow when it’s been put together. It wasn’t too hard to complete, some of it is similar to the Buzz such as putting on the front wheel and shopping basket.  I think we had the whole thing up and ready for use within about 20 minutes.

First impressions after a visit out:

Looks wise I have compared it to the Buzz in the past and although it does clearly take inspiration from the design of the Buzz, the Moodd reinvents it and takes the style to the next level in class. The back wheels are particularly striking in matt and gloss black with lovely shaping.   The chassis is in principle like the Buzz but has slightly different proportions. Once moving it around, I immediately noticed that the handlebar doesn’t come up as high. It’s still more than enough for most people but I did like the tiny bit of extra height I got with the Buzz as it made pushing it with my wrist problems a little easier when they were going through a bad phase.

The seat is lovely to look at. Rather futuristic but practical. First son who’s a big 3 year old can still get in it (pic will follow another day) and do the straps up so it will take children of most sizes. Having the single hand recline function is lovely and much easier than the 2 handed approach needed with some (Buzz included).

Handling is brilliant. I seem to remember that it’s heavier than the Buzz in actual weight but it felt soooooo much lighter, it was an absolute dream to push around the shops. The easiest pushchair I’ve ever manoeuvred with one hand.

Baby Nest:

This is an interesting one and something that I did want to post about fairly quickly. Looking at it my first thought was that it looked fantastic. The colour highlight is beautiful and the button detail a nice touch. Open it up and there’s a young baby head support and another that pads out the bottom so it’s a snugger fit. A great bit of design work is that these are both zipped in so they aren’t going to go wandering yet can easily be removed as babe grows bigger. For use with the pushchair you do have to put the straps through so baby can be strapped in before it’s done up.

My bugbear with the nest is how it does up. Pull it shut and do the zip up fully and the head of your young baby is virtually completely covered. There isn’t any scope to adjust this as the straps holding the nest in position mean there isn’t any leeway to move baby up so they aren’t covered. I think this is a big flaw as I certainly don’t want my baby’s face covered, and if you don’t do it up completely and try to create an additional fold so it’s not covering their face; it does need regular checking to ensure that it hasn’t sprung back up over their face.

There is a simple solution to this and I hope Quinny do take this on board and make the adjustment in future production runs. It needs a second button further down. This would then allow it to be fixed into position (where I’d want it to end up is in the pic below) that is more appropriate for a younger baby.  At some point I will get my friend to try it with her 5 month old to check that this issue doesn’t exist with older babies.

Having said all this about the baby nest, if I was buying the Moodd I would buy the carrycot as well as I prefer young babies not to need to be held in by straps. That’s just my personal opinion and preference as if out for a long day I’d rather they were not restricted by straps in their pushchair/carrycot having been restricted when in the car seat to get to wherever we’re going.

I'm so far very impressed with the Moodd and looking forward to put it through it's paces in the coming weeks and months as we settle into our expanded family life.

More pics from our first trip out:

Nearly time for my Moodd to change!

Happy New Year!

It's the middle of January, the Yezz has hit the shops (comments I've seen so far seem positive) and the Moodd is starting it's way there now!
I've gone for the Blue Reflection which will hopefully arrive in this country next week so I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. Quite useful for me as still trying to sort some of the house out ready for the fun of having toys and gear around for 2 children rather than 1.

If you're itching for an advance look there's now an intro video that Quinny have posted on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll1eABAsL7g&list=UUq_TW6Qh7tciu1IuKLynsFQ&index=1&feature=plcp


I'm really looking forward to giving the Moodd a good workout once baba mc 2 arrives. My Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix is down from the loft and raring to go. It's such a bonus that it's a full travel system (if you have the extras) as I do love the flexibility travel systems offer. On the other hand I'm pretty sure we're not getting the carry cot to test as it's not part of the core Moodd package so it will be interesting to try it out without that option. This means I'll be relying on the layflat option of the seat and the baby nest which is provided with the UK version, and the car seat where it's potentially appropriate or necessary to use it.

At the other end of the scale, my 3 yr old still wants and needs to use a pushchair at times - the way he ran off in a shop today strongly reminded me that he's not ready to be a dutiful walk by my side son yet!!! :-)  He is currently around 17kg so above the weight 'limit' set on the Moodd (yet under that of the Buzz). It's becoming rather a bugbear of mine that so many pushchairs are not being tested and approved to higher weight limits and it's disappointing that Quinny have decided not to get the validation up to the higher weight to match the Buzz. If I was choosing a pushchair it would be one thing that would push me towards the Buzz rather than the Moodd.

Having seen the Moodd in the video it does remind me more and more of an upmarket Buzz, and having owned a Buzz in the past it will be interesting to compare the two, along with the comparisons I'm sure I'll end up making with the Phil and Teds Verve that we got for our double pushchair, and the Baby Jogger City Mini that we've had for a couple of years.

The time is near at the end of a busy week

What a week. If I had been able to get near a machine then it would have been great to post about 4 days ago as I finally had the confirmation through that I had been waiting for - I'm testing the Moodd!!! Very happy about that as with a newborn due in less than 8 weeks now (Yikes - where has the time gone) I wouldn't be able to do very much with the Yezz.
On the downside, the Moodd is due at the end of Jan which is right around the same time as baba 2 so I will be hoping, and crossing my legs that the Moodd will be delivered before baba decides to emerge!

Lots has been going on with Quinny. The Yezz is now in the UK and shipping to shops. A video has been released which you can see here:
http://youtu.be/eVIHwy-frzU

I like the concept of the Yezz a lot but I think it is going to have fairly limited advantages for many. On the other hand if the standard Zapp is phased out then the Yezz is going to be the main option for anyone that wants a small fold and isn't worried about recline. I think the wheels are good - they look like the wheels on C's scooter that he got last week for his third birthday. I think they will be an improvement over the Zapp as those wheels make an awful cheap clattering sound over pavements and I would imagine that these will be quieter, yet just as hard wearing. New revelation is the pocket on the back. Not big for much but would at least take a spare nappy, wipes pack, piece of fruit (or chocolate bar/bag of crisps) which helps relieve the handbag of a few bits when travelling.
An expensive luxury for going on holiday or a key bit of kit for those based in cities where there aren't always escalators or lifts. I think if I regularly visited London then this would be a key bit of kit for me as once your child can walk at least a bit (or you're happy carrying them), it makes far more tube stations accessible as the Yezz can go over your shoulder with a bag and you still have your hands free to deal with a child.

Changing the subject to Christmas.
With just 2 weeks to go and first son's birthday out of the way thoughts are now turning to Christmas. Most pressies are bought, and I think we've got most plans organised now. Can't believe the number of giveaways that are appearing on Facebook and elsewhere. You can apply for everything from gadgets through to food and a surprising number of baby bits. Quinny are joining in too and will be giving away ever increasing sized packages depending on the number of people following their facebook page. A Yezz has already made an appearance and there's still more to come. If you've found me here, but aren't yet a follower, do go to their facebook page using the link below to find out how you can join in and enter the competitions for some great prizes:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/quinny.uk?sk=app_190322544333196

Feeling bare and wondering what to do

Time is marching on and still no news from Quinny as to whether I will be road testing the Moodd or the Yezz. I'm hoping for the Moodd as I'll have a newborn in just over 3 months time so that will be far more use, but will wait and see what I'm allocated.

In preparation for our changing family we've sold on both the Mamas and Papas Luna and the Quinny Buzz. We still have the Baby Jogger City Mini and the only problem is remembering to move it around between cars and the house. :-)

The other debate currently going on in our house is what to do about a double pushchair for use on occassions where I do really need to be able to put both of them in a pushchair as eldest still seems at least 8 months away from being able to go without a pushchair on a permanent basis. Very little options seem to be available following a visit to our local retailer. What did we see that took our fancy to varying degrees:

Baby Jogger City Select - this was our favourite before the visit but following some comments online we wanted to try it again. Stick a toddler in the front seat and it makes it very difficult to get the pushchair up and down curbs. The easiest way to do it was to put a foot against the back axle for leverage. moving it around was also far more tricky with a near on 3 year old at the front. I would have one but it would involve a compromise that I could get fed up with.

Icandy Peach Blossom - fantastic pushchair to move around, even with toddler in it. Downside is the seat size - son was hanging over the ends so really not going to be much good in 6 months time. 2nd seat also doesn't go very upright either which isn't great. I do hear that there's an updated version due late this year or early next which resolves these 2 problems so could be good if it comes out in time.

Icandy Pear - Has bigger seats but the fold isn't so good and going to take up even more room that the large peach blossom on the boot!

Phil and Teds - tried the explorer but did struggle with hitting my knees on the lower seat unless the handlebar was in one specific position and I kept my arms pretty straight. That combined with not being able to do parent facing, not being able to recline the seats when both in use.

2nd P+T option - The promenade is due for release (again later this year or early next according to reports) and that could be better. Main seat can go forward or rear facing and 2nd seat reclines. The handlebar also extends which solve the problem of knee bashing - another one that's a wait and see.

Looks like it's going to be last minute decisions all round and expensive ones at that given that the Baby Jogger is the cheapest of those that are currently on release (bar the P+T Explorer). Still looking forward to my Quinny when I hear more. The only new info from Quinny at the moment is that the RRP will be £599 for the Moodd.