So I thought I should post something

I'm wondering how our mothers/grandmothers/great-(and so forth)grandmothers survived before such modern conveniences:

For the record, I have decided I absolutely *hate* those infant car seats that you click into the base and carry around. The kid ends up getting trapped in them the whole time, and by the time they're a couple months old, that thing is way too heavy to be useful anymore. So now we just leave our infant car seat in the car, and soon TheFry will be too big for it, and we'll have to get rid of it.

So now I'm thinking of getting a convertible booster seat. The first benefit of the one (seen above) is that it can support children from 5 to 40 pounds, and can be either rear- or forward-facing. It also has a base. The second benefit of the one above is that it's only fifty bucks.

Our current infant car seat, combined with the "travel system" (also known as Gargantuan Stroller of Death which barely fits into the car) was about $140. Ouch. We thought we were getting a good deal, and compared to all the other travel systems and just regular car seats (not to mention convertibles, which ran around $200+ at the time we were looking - almost exactly one year ago) in the Target store where we were shopping. I think it's safe to say that I'll be heading off to the Burlington Coat Factory for this amazing deal of a convertible car seat this weekend.

The third benefit of the car seat pictured above is the other gear you can combine it with to make traveling a heck of a lot easier:

Yes, folks - that's a harness you use to strap the kid's booster seat to your roller luggage. So not only do you not have to put up with the crappy, heavy infant car seat, you don't have to deal with the gi-normous, bulky "travel system" (gag me) ever. again.

Can we say FREEDOM? I love the modern age!

Another great thing for travel is this:

Man, my Pack N Play is the best thing ever. I bought it for $70 about a year and a half ago from Target.com. It looks just like the one in the picture: it has a bassinet attachment (you can put the mattress in the bottom part when the baby is too big for the bassinet), a changing table attachment (complete with caddy for changing accessories), and a little mobile with three bears! Plus, it folds up quite compact. It is, like I said before: the best. thing. ever.

Too bad Dexter hates it. He screams like a banchee whenever I set him in there, even if it's with his favorite toys, and even if I'm in the same room putting away laundry or making the bed. Even if I'm talking to him, singing to him, or yelling and crying right along with him (a tactic that works pretty well for PapaFish, but not so much for myself).

In other news, Summer has finally arrived in our neck of the North! Lilacs are in full bloom (and have been for a couple of weeks now), and since they are one of my favorite flowers, I enjoy my walks with TheFry all the more. He has started being more chatty on our walks, laughing at the birds and "talking" to passersby. When we get to see dogs, he is especially happy. And he is especially especially happy if the dog is barking at us like it wants to viciously run us down and maul us. MamaFish is kind of nervous at these latter kinds of dog encounters, but TheFry just smiles and laughs.

So Grandma wins - TheFry is a lover of dogs, even though MamaFish and PapaFish both much prefer cats.

There's not any more pictures, I'm afraid, because of the fact that nothing new has really happened, and also because we have all been really busy with PapaFish's new job. He has been asked to take the Manager Assessment test at his work, and he is also still trying to pass the math placement test for the Computer Support and Networking Administration program at the college in town. But we are thinking of all of you, and love you very much.

Also, as many of you know, we are traveling to Colorado in three weeks, and I will have more info on the above gear and how well it all went, complete with great pictures, once I return!

So now the list:

1. Convertible car seat

2. Car Seat luggage strap

3. Swim Diapers

4. Swimsuit for (chubby) MamaFish. Ug.