Dude, y'all are all so right....this picking a convertible car seat business is a pain! And like Amanda, we plan on getting 2 because we use both of our cars almost equally (60% mine, 40% his). But here's what we've decided to do....we have bought the Evenflo Triumph first. Of course, to save 10-20 extra bucks we got it in the poop brown color but I guess that can be good if Molly has any blow outs while in the car! Anyway, it was ranked highest on Consumer Reports when we checked and it was the cheapest by like 70 bucks. We only got one for now because technically Molly can still fit in her infant seat. So the new car seat will go in my car and the infant one will be used with Todd's car. Once we find out whether we like it or want to try a different one we'll order a second. But I think this one should work just find.
So it actually came in the mail yesterday, and I haven't taken a picture of the box yet but we are sending it back and making them ship us a new one. The box looks like it just stepped out of a cage fight with a sumo wrestler! And I'm sure the seat inside is probably fine but I don't know. I'd rather them ship me an intact box just to ease my worries. So once I get that and actually open it, I'll post a picture of teeny Molly sitting in her big girl car seat!
-Emily
Saturday, January 22, 2011
ONE!!!!!
"Yay, I'm ONE!!!!"
"What up, yo?"
You'd think she's never seen that bunny before!
It took some coaxing but we got a face dive into the cake!
Precious cake my mom made for Molly.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Convertible Car Seat Confusion
Hadley hasn't quite outgrown her infant car seat yet, but we started looking at convertible car seats yesterday because I don't want to be rushed into buying anything. From what I have seen, Britax and Evenflo appear to be the best as far as brands go. We narrowed it down to 4 models, but choosing between those is difficult. Below are my pros and cons. Let me know if any of you have bought or looked at any of these models and what you think about them.
Evenflo Triumph Advance Deluxe LX: In the most recent Consumer Reports report on car seats that we can find, this one was rated the best. However, after looking at one in the store yesterday, I'm wondering about that rating. I'm not sure about the side impact protection, as the seat is very wide and it seems like there is a lot of room for sideway head movement in it. We are very concerned about this because we don't have LATCH in the middle seats on our cars so she is on the side behind the driver's seat. We tried putting her seat in the middle and fastening it with the seat belt, but it was a lot looser than on the side with LATCH so we left her on the side. I'm also concerned about the front harness adjustment on this seat, as it does not seem to lock into place. After putting her in it and tightening the harness, it seems like it would only move about a notch or two up or down and would not really affect her positioning, but I wondered what other people thought about this. Also, there is a knob on this one that you have to turn to tighten the harness. I already have tendonitis in my wrist from picking her up all the time (along with back problems, but that is a subject for another post), and having to turn that knob all the time is not going to help that problem--the knob is actually rather hard to turn too. Also, the buckle on this seat was cutting into Hadley's belly quite a bit because it was so big--bad enough that it looked like it might be really uncomfortable.
Evenflo Symphony 65: This seat is newer than the Triumph and is intended as an All-in-One seat, so it is in a different category from the Triumph. However, I like that this seat does not have the knob to tighten the harness--it is the regular pull-to-tighten kind. It also has an extra head restraint so that there is not as much space on the side of her head between her head and the side of the carseat. It still has the same harness height adjustment as the Triumph, and although the store sample had the old smaller buckle, the newer ones online appear to have the bigger buckle.
Britax Marathon: This one appears to have gone down in ratings recently, although it was #1 a few years ago. When we tried her in it, it was easy to use and seemed very comfortable, but it does not have the head restraint and I am a little concerned about the recent ratings.
Britax Boulevard: This one is similar to the Evenflo Symphony. It has the head restraint and pull-to-tighten harness. The harness height adjustment is in the back and locks into notches on the back of the car seat. This one was rated second under the Evenflo Triumph on the Consumer Reports ratings.
At this point, I think we are leaning toward the Evenflo Symphony or the Britax Boulevard. Does anyone have any comments on these? It would be particularly helpful if anyone has any comments on the head restraints or on the front harness height adjustment that the Evenflo car seats have. I would probably buy the Britax Boulevard, except that the price is just really outrageous. I find it hard to believe you can't make a safe car seat and sell it for less than $300. And the convertible car seats are so bulky that it will be hard to transfer from car to car, so we will definitely need to have two. Please let me know what you think.
P.S.--Hadley's surgery for her tubes is this week, assuming she gets over the cold she currently has. Trying not to think about it right now...
--Amanda
Evenflo Triumph Advance Deluxe LX: In the most recent Consumer Reports report on car seats that we can find, this one was rated the best. However, after looking at one in the store yesterday, I'm wondering about that rating. I'm not sure about the side impact protection, as the seat is very wide and it seems like there is a lot of room for sideway head movement in it. We are very concerned about this because we don't have LATCH in the middle seats on our cars so she is on the side behind the driver's seat. We tried putting her seat in the middle and fastening it with the seat belt, but it was a lot looser than on the side with LATCH so we left her on the side. I'm also concerned about the front harness adjustment on this seat, as it does not seem to lock into place. After putting her in it and tightening the harness, it seems like it would only move about a notch or two up or down and would not really affect her positioning, but I wondered what other people thought about this. Also, there is a knob on this one that you have to turn to tighten the harness. I already have tendonitis in my wrist from picking her up all the time (along with back problems, but that is a subject for another post), and having to turn that knob all the time is not going to help that problem--the knob is actually rather hard to turn too. Also, the buckle on this seat was cutting into Hadley's belly quite a bit because it was so big--bad enough that it looked like it might be really uncomfortable.
Evenflo Symphony 65: This seat is newer than the Triumph and is intended as an All-in-One seat, so it is in a different category from the Triumph. However, I like that this seat does not have the knob to tighten the harness--it is the regular pull-to-tighten kind. It also has an extra head restraint so that there is not as much space on the side of her head between her head and the side of the carseat. It still has the same harness height adjustment as the Triumph, and although the store sample had the old smaller buckle, the newer ones online appear to have the bigger buckle.
Britax Marathon: This one appears to have gone down in ratings recently, although it was #1 a few years ago. When we tried her in it, it was easy to use and seemed very comfortable, but it does not have the head restraint and I am a little concerned about the recent ratings.
Britax Boulevard: This one is similar to the Evenflo Symphony. It has the head restraint and pull-to-tighten harness. The harness height adjustment is in the back and locks into notches on the back of the car seat. This one was rated second under the Evenflo Triumph on the Consumer Reports ratings.
At this point, I think we are leaning toward the Evenflo Symphony or the Britax Boulevard. Does anyone have any comments on these? It would be particularly helpful if anyone has any comments on the head restraints or on the front harness height adjustment that the Evenflo car seats have. I would probably buy the Britax Boulevard, except that the price is just really outrageous. I find it hard to believe you can't make a safe car seat and sell it for less than $300. And the convertible car seats are so bulky that it will be hard to transfer from car to car, so we will definitely need to have two. Please let me know what you think.
P.S.--Hadley's surgery for her tubes is this week, assuming she gets over the cold she currently has. Trying not to think about it right now...
--Amanda
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Brand new year!
So we have been busy this past few months. We have finally moved into our house!!! Can I just tell you that whole month was a blur, but so worth all the effort. We moved out of our condo at the end of November, and moved in temporally with my mother. Of course my family loved the idea of being able to see Andrew all the time, but we craved the schedule that makes our world flow. But on the flip side we had the ability to have instant babysitters so Joey and I could go out after Andrew went down for the night and shop for carpet, paint, furniture, etc. All in all we moved into our house (sleeping wise) the night before we left for the mountains for Christmas. And there was nothing quite like driving home from the holidays knowing you were going home. And we have even broke in the neighborhood park, which by the way is like a two minute walk from our front door behind the house on the opposite side of the cauldisac. I know you guys are jealous :)
Christmas went really well. We were in the mountains and had about 8 inches of snow before we left to come home. We had to cut our trip short because we ran out of milk and since there was a snow storm and everything was bought up. Andrew of course had a never ending supply of presents to open. This kid is so spoiled by our friends and family. He has seriously been opening presents since his birthday! I am trying to divide up toys around the house so he has something different to play with regardless which room we are in. I also need to take some and leave them at the grandparent's house so we don't have to travel with quite so many things.
Let me think of some relateble things...Andrew is still having a really hard time eating, but I think he is getting better. He now eats tator tots. I never thought I would be excited about my kid eating that, but I am thrilled. He has forgotten the bottle and loves his sippy cups. I told you guys we use the cheap toss away kinds. I tried about a week ago to reintroduce the nuby ones, but he just didn't get it. I just wished the ones he liked didn't leak so bad, but whatever my kid is off of bottles and we all survived. We are back on his reflux meds and what a difference it has made. All you mommys with reflux kids, even though the get better potentially around 8 months or so, when you introduce milk it starts up all over again. But the meds have helped big time with the vomit smelling vomit and with his eating. He absolutely hates getting his meds, but I don't know if it is because it smells like peppermint so strongly or because he just hates the idea of getting meds. Which leads me to the last thing that is more challenging...getting into the car seat. We would really like to keep him rear facing until he is two since the research is now showing safety benefits, but this kid is all about tantrums getting into the car. I don't know if it is because he he rear facing and it bothering him or because he doesn't want to be restrained. Anybody else facing this issue? He locks his legs and stands up. Reaches for the mirror and practically rolls out of his seat the majority of times I try to get him in there. Half the time he is doing this before he is even in the car and he ends up hitting his head on the way in.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you guys, Andrew's eye are fine. They want to see him again every six months until he is two and then we will probably come back around 4 to see how he is doing. That last visit is because Joey and I are basically blind and we want to make sure he can see well before he starts school.
I hope everybody else is doing well. Cannot wait to hear about the trails of all the moms handling one year olds!!!
mel
Christmas went really well. We were in the mountains and had about 8 inches of snow before we left to come home. We had to cut our trip short because we ran out of milk and since there was a snow storm and everything was bought up. Andrew of course had a never ending supply of presents to open. This kid is so spoiled by our friends and family. He has seriously been opening presents since his birthday! I am trying to divide up toys around the house so he has something different to play with regardless which room we are in. I also need to take some and leave them at the grandparent's house so we don't have to travel with quite so many things.
Let me think of some relateble things...Andrew is still having a really hard time eating, but I think he is getting better. He now eats tator tots. I never thought I would be excited about my kid eating that, but I am thrilled. He has forgotten the bottle and loves his sippy cups. I told you guys we use the cheap toss away kinds. I tried about a week ago to reintroduce the nuby ones, but he just didn't get it. I just wished the ones he liked didn't leak so bad, but whatever my kid is off of bottles and we all survived. We are back on his reflux meds and what a difference it has made. All you mommys with reflux kids, even though the get better potentially around 8 months or so, when you introduce milk it starts up all over again. But the meds have helped big time with the vomit smelling vomit and with his eating. He absolutely hates getting his meds, but I don't know if it is because it smells like peppermint so strongly or because he just hates the idea of getting meds. Which leads me to the last thing that is more challenging...getting into the car seat. We would really like to keep him rear facing until he is two since the research is now showing safety benefits, but this kid is all about tantrums getting into the car. I don't know if it is because he he rear facing and it bothering him or because he doesn't want to be restrained. Anybody else facing this issue? He locks his legs and stands up. Reaches for the mirror and practically rolls out of his seat the majority of times I try to get him in there. Half the time he is doing this before he is even in the car and he ends up hitting his head on the way in.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you guys, Andrew's eye are fine. They want to see him again every six months until he is two and then we will probably come back around 4 to see how he is doing. That last visit is because Joey and I are basically blind and we want to make sure he can see well before he starts school.
I hope everybody else is doing well. Cannot wait to hear about the trails of all the moms handling one year olds!!!
mel
Monday, December 27, 2010
11 months! (late as always!)
This is the mood we started out with taking 'our' 11-monthary pictures. In the bustle of the day, I, of course, forgot to take pictures first thing in the morning. So this is later in the morning, I believe after her first nap. She did not wake up as happy as she normally does!
Day 2 of introducing cow's milk. We are using the Horizon Organic Vitamin D Milk that costs an arm and a leg! We have good days and bad days when it comes to liking and drinking the milk.
I normally feel that this is cheating (which it is) but I really wanted to get a good 11 month picture for the monthly progression picture frame. First picture of 11 month, 1 day was a success!
And here is the second picture. Seems we were one and done!
Emily <3
Day 2 of introducing cow's milk. We are using the Horizon Organic Vitamin D Milk that costs an arm and a leg! We have good days and bad days when it comes to liking and drinking the milk.
I normally feel that this is cheating (which it is) but I really wanted to get a good 11 month picture for the monthly progression picture frame. First picture of 11 month, 1 day was a success!
And here is the second picture. Seems we were one and done!
Emily <3
Sunday, December 26, 2010
HADLEY IS 1!
I absolutely cannot believe that the last year has gone by so fast. Last Christmas, Hadley was a tiny, tiny little thing who only cried and slept. This year she is into everything! Attached are pictures from her first birthday party, and the cake that I made for her. Hadley just gets more and more fun as she gets older, and she is talking! Yes, I said she is talking!!! So far, her vocabulary includes Mama, Dada, bye-bye, hey, gobble (she loves to eat, and she likes to say "gobble, gobble" while gobbling up her food), ow, papa, no (she pronounces it "na na na"), Deacon (our dog's name, which she pronounces "De Da"), and the newest word is pretty--everything is "pretty" right now.
I never updated everyone on the ear infection issue. We went to the ENT and they recommended tubes, but I didn't want to do it unless we had tried all other options first-- especially since it does not seem to be affecting her hearing that much since she is saying so many words. For a few weeks, we thought she might be growing out of it because she went for about 6 weeks without an ear infection (that's the longest she's been without one since she was 6 months old). I took her to her follow up ENT appointment on a Friday and she was all clear--no infection, very little fluid, and perfect hearing test. But, alas, by that Monday, she had her fifth ear infection in 6 months. Which also means she has been on a relatively constant stream of antibiotics for the last six months--and has been enduring the whole host of other side effects they cause. So, she is scheduled to have tubes inserted in January. Say a prayer for us because that is going to be really hard for us to go through. I have heard that it is a simple procedure and hopefully will improve her hearing and balance. She is not walking yet, but I have heard that some kids start walking almost as soon as they get tubes because it clears the fluid out of their ears and helps them balance themselves.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and hope you all have a Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Good thing she wasn't born a monkey...
So it turns out that Molly has a sensitivity to bananas.....BANANAS.....bananas! Really, who can't eat bananas?!?! They are a staple in our household and Molly loved them. Hence the reason her rash was staying around so long and I couldn't get rid of it. She was eating mostly bananas while I worked to figure out what the sensitivity was. Silly mommy! Anyway, once we got rid of bananas her face cleared right up. I am still in the process of reintroducing everything back into her diet though. A couple of days ago I gave her black beans and then 2 days later she broke out into a rash. I don't think it was the black beans though....that night I rubbed her face with olive oil, a suggestion from the pediatrician for her eczema....the next morning her face looked like a strawberry! So my kid might have a sensitivity to olive oil too, at least topically......well, with all the skin problems and allergies I have none of this is too much of a stretch for my daughter.
I'm sad about the bananas, mainly cause they're so easy, but that's not to say that she might outgrow the sensitivity. I'll try them again after she turns one (which is not that far away!!!)
I'm sad about the bananas, mainly cause they're so easy, but that's not to say that she might outgrow the sensitivity. I'll try them again after she turns one (which is not that far away!!!)
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