Child Transport

Finally, I think we have it figured out.  All of it!  No, really, we don't have much figured out at all, who am I kidding.  I do think we hav the solution to transporting the kids though.  Particularly for me when I'm alone with them.

When you only have one baby to take care of,  pretty much anything will work.  But two is a completely different story.

Little R and CleverDog used to do pretty well with the Graco stroller.

Of course, we also tried out the various carrying/baby wearing mechanisms out there.  The Baby Bjorn made our necks incredibly sore after just a few hours and Little R didn't look terribly comfortable either.

Little R is giving the camera the thumbs up because she thinks Big R and her are about to do a "buddy jump" 

into the canyon.

When Sweet Z was born I was afraid he was going to be as fussy a baby as Little R was so I tried to investigate baby wearing more thoroughly.  As it turned out he was perfectly content to lay wherever I put him so I never had to resort to wearing him around the house.  I did discover that the ring sling I had purchased actually is a lot more comfortable than the Baby Bjorn and I've used it on trips and for running through airports many times now.

Added bonus that I get to hug him all day long in this.  It also kept both of us warm in England when it was chilly.

Knowing we were going to have two kids under the age of 3 we also bought a double stroller.  I knew they were often problematic in their bulkiness but it seemed like I just had to deal with that since I was asking for something that would push two kids.  We ended up with the Graco Ready to Grow stroller.  It was a huge mistake.  It is so long and heavy that I never had any idea what I was running in to in the mall.  And if Little R was riding up front I couldn't see her at all.  

Don't be fooled by Little R's smile.  The seat barely fit even her little butt.

It wasn't until we were in England that we found there was a solution.  Lots of rain and bumpy sidewalks made us realize just what a pain it is to push our umbrella stroller and when we got stuck in a rainstorm we borrowed my sister-in-law's City Mini so we could use the rain shield.  Oh my gosh.  Once you push a stroller like that you can't go back.

I'm trying to sleep here, mom.  Do you think you could make the ride a little smoother?

Which is how we discovered the beauty of the jogging stroller.  Well, what I always called a jogging stroller.  I had always dismissed them since, well, I don't jog.  The last time I was running it was either between terminals at O'Hare or away from a wasp.  When we realized that there was a solution to our double problem as well with the Phil & Ted's we were smitten.

Testing out the Phil & Ted's last weekend.  Now I'm looking for excuses to bring the kids out and walk around.  Anyone want me to run errands for them?