Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

I could not wait to get home from the hospital to see Nate and Nile. I missed them so much! And I wanted to sleep in my own bed...but most of all I just wanted to take Novak home.

Tough dreams

I know I posted a picture of Nate sleeping in the car recently. But
this one is pretty funny. I wonder if he's dreaming of being a
Transformer?

Tired boy

A three hour drive home from Adventureland last week, after riding
rides for 4 hours? Nate hardly slept.

Three hours fishing with Daddy? Nate is sound asleep on a 20 minute
drive to Gramma's house.

car seat, part 2

Today in the car with my mom, apparently Nate figured out how to unlatch his seat belt while the car was in motion.

I told him that if he does that again we're going back to the "baby" seat...grrr.

Riding in Style

From day one as a parent, you're continually told how vitally important it is to have your children securely fastened in a car seat. They won't let you leave the hospital without showing you can secure your child in a car seat. The pediatrician asks at every appointment what type of seat the child is in, whether it's rear or front facing. Fire stations have checkpoints to make sure you are strapping your kids in correctly. Heck, they even have five point harnesses in baby swings and highchairs.

Then there's the LATCH system. Who knows how many countless hours we've spent trying to get the car seats so tightly installed that they can't move at all. No matter what the book says, an inch of motion seems like a lot...when it's your baby that will be riding there. And I've struggled many times with why they use just a single strap to secure the car seat. I mean, aren't there better ways? But I digress.

By the time the child is four, you've pretty much been brainwashed to think that there is absolutely no safe alternative to the five-point harness and the LATCH carseat (which is virtually bolted to the frame of the car).

Then, the child gets big enough for a booster. And suddenly, you're faced with two straps of fabric. Two. That's all that holds your child in the car. No straps to secure the booster to the seat, no harness, nothing. Just two straps of fabric and one latch. Now, I know it's "federally approved." I know that millions of people wear just those two straps every day. But for my baby? It just doesn't feel right.

And let's not get started on what we were strapped in with as babies. I've heard those stories. But like I said, I've been brainwashed. I'm surprised we survived a trip to the grocery store.
I'm sure you can tell where this is all going. Nate has "graduated" to a high back booster. He had totally outgrown it, we were having trouble getting him in and out of his old seat. I want to be excited, we'll be able to move him between cars more easily, and he loves it. But inside, I'm freaking out just a little. Not enough to put the "baby seat" back in, but enough that I will be nervous for about a week driving him around.

Here's a picture of Nate in his new booster seat. And for kicks, one of the old seat. Doesn't it look lonely sitting there???