Parenthood? Oh now I get it....

I think I may have figured out this whole parenting thing. Basically, as parents, we are in charge of our kids heads and brains from being damaged. Let me break it down for you....
When they are still in the womb, we worry about their head facing in the right direction when they are ready to be born.
When they are newborns until 3 months, we make sure their heads don't flop around when they can't hold them up themselves.
When they are old enough to crawl, we try to keep them from bumping their heads into walls, furniture, the coffee table.
And then, of course, when they started to stand and walk, we need to keep them from head-butting things, falling down the stairs, falling head-first off the couch....

I need a nap just thinking about this....

It's Fun To Say Rear

So as many of you may know, I have been trying to figure out what car seat to get my darling, ever-growing, child. I didn't really expect that I would spend so much goddamn time researching this. I should have done this last year when I registered but I spent so much time reading up on natural childbirthing that I really didn't have time for much else! (Thank goodness for downtime at work). So lately I have been looking at ratings and reviews like mad, trying to pick one that fits our needs. It's one of those things that I figured were all the same, but little did I know how many features and standards I would be running into.

I figured that I would just buy whatever, but then I have that paranoia that we are going to get into an accident. So I start thinking that I should get a good one... just in case.

Everyone that had a Britax seat couldn't stop raving about them. All the ratings were great, but I kept looking at others. In the meantime until I buy my favorite, I purchased an Alpha-Omega from BJs. John and I spent some time wrestling with it. I can't get it to be stable in my car without removing the base. This is NOT good. So finally John got it somewhat stable using the LATCHes in a rear-facing set-up. She's still under a year, so we are keeping her rear-facing. Plus it's fun to say rear.

I drove to my parents' house on Sunday, with her in the new seat. It was actually surprisingly easy to belt her in BUT.... both ways all she did was the "whine cry." I figured that maybe on the way there she was just cranky but she did it ALL the way back too. So, really, what was I going to do? I couldn't take her out of it, and I tried adjusting it. No dice. Whhhhhhine.

My conclusion was that she really doesn't feel comfortable in it. So this will not work for me because I can't have her miserable in the car all the time.

But the big FAIL of this seat is that it rattles ALL THE EFFING TIME. Right next to my ear. Rattle. Clank. Rattle. Clank. I even tried turning up the radio. That didn't really work. Soooo I am fairly certain that this is either going back or being used as a backup for when she is over my in-laws and she's old enough to put it front-facing. They have a Volvo which, like my Jetta, doesn't offer much in the way of backseat space, but I think it will be fine as a front-facer.

After much research I think I have decided to try out a Sunshine Kids Radian car seat. This, for all you TLC nerds, is the carseat of the Gosselins. Not that that fact alone swayed me, but at least I know that it won't be overwhelming in a small car. They are only 17 inches in width! They are heavy but sturdy and they fold up! So I am pretty excited to try one out. I will be heading to Impish in Northampton to check them out in person. If I decide to get it, I'll definitely give an update. At this point if it's quiet, I'm sold. Oh, and it's really safe too. Yah, and hopefully quiet.

Fall Update 2009

As of the third of this month, our dear child is a whole ten months old. How the hell did THAT happen. She is successfully standing everywhere and a master of the crawling arts! A few weeks ago her bottom two teeth started to make their way out. She was off her usual schedule, and had two white bumps on her gums. We were wondering when those beauties were going to come out! They are still not all the way out, but getting there. Just as a warning, don't let her chew on your fingers because those puppies are SHARP.
Now that fall is upon us, I'm wondering how much will actually get done on my bigass-will-probably-take-forever-to-do-list. I would absolutely love to take down the panelling in our third bedroom. Of course, I have no idea what the walls look like underneath!
John and I went to the Ben Folds show on Saturday which was AWESOME. I have been a huge fan for a while and I finally got to see him live. It was really refreshing to see a performer so pure. All he had onstage with him was a piano, no other artists, no light show, no backup singers! And he was great. Not many singers can do that and get away with it! He sang a couple songs from when he was Ben Folds Five; one of them was Alice Childress. Fantastic. And while they were fixing the grand piano pedal that broke, he busted out an a capella version of Bitches Aint Shit, with some audience participation of course. He played for a couple hours and then we went to pick up Mary and be told that we have the best baby EVER. But I already knew that! It's nice to hear, though!
This holiday weekend should be fantastic! I have my cousin's shower to go to; she is pregnant with twins, which so exciting! And then later on, we are going to a Maken brothers' concert at the Wherehouse in Holyoke. I wish that Mary were old enough to go, but maybe next year she will be able to stay awake through some of it. Our friends from NJ will be coming up too with their baby. We haven't seen them since August, so I can't wait to see them!
Cheers!!!