New Car Seat

Have I mentioned that I LOVE getting pictures at work? After sifting through emails,it's nice to get a surprise peek at my family. Matt took this pic with his phone this morning.

It all started a few months back when Cassidy started giving me grief getting in and out of her car seat. It was so frustrating and sometimes painful when she would squirm and kick! I had broached the topic of getting a different seat to make this an easier task and Matt at first did not believe it was in our budget. So our compromise was that he would always be the one to put her in the seat and we would rearrange our schedules as need be to minimize the number of encounters I had. I was good with taking her out of the seat though. This system was working well.

Over the last couple of weeks Cass has experienced a serious growth spurt. She was between a 3T and 4T, then jumped to a 5T. My poor baby was not sleeping well and her eating was off. It was a rough one! But quick. Fast forward to last week...

I noticed the straps on her seat were not coming down over her shoulder, but starting below her shoulder blade and coming over her shoulder. No wonder she was uncomfortable! She has been growing out of this seat for the past few months. We did not realize it, so stuck we were on the seat description stating that we should be able to use it for at least another year. Well, not all seats fit all toddlers!

And there began the request for seat recommendations. I fell in love with one seat recommended by a friend until I saw the price tag. The seat is amazing because it turns into a backpack! However this was the cadillac of seats. I was looking for a honda. The search continued.

After shopping around several stores and online we landed at Target last night. Matt's one condition was that the seat be a neutral color. He has high hopes whenever we have our next baby it will be a boy and would like to reuse it :-) We settled on the Maestro by Evenflo. It was on sale for $60 and was reduced by another 30% in an effort to get rid of stock, so we only paid $46! Score. (For those nearby who are interested, it was the Target on Manheim/Roosevelt right off of 290 and they still had two more left)

Matt put Cassidy in it this morning to adjust the straps, which now fit her perfectly, and the moment she sat down she said, "I look beautiful!"

So the lesson I took away after I stopped feeling like a horrible mom for not noticing the real reason she was so upset a few months ago is though Cassidy may talk and behave in a manner befitting an older child, she is still only 2 and can't communicate all her wants and needs. And I need to pay attention!