The Carseat Shuffle

Well, the time has come for another carseat shuffle. As proud as I am of my boys and their superhuman size, one drawback is the constant shuffling of carseats. I suppose I could have bought Cole one of the super-dee-duper expensive ones to start with and could be saving myself the trouble, but I can't fight the frugal bug I have in me. I still think the way I'm doing it is the most economical, but involves said shuffling.

So, my wee Parker isn't so wee, and is soon going to outgrow the infant bucket. Fact is, I had already moved Cole from his by this point, simply because lugging the 20lb infant AND the bucket becomes a little backbreaking. For the moment though, I feel it's more convenient to keep Parker in the bucket. With Cole being so random, it's nice to be able to set the whole thing down safely in order to chase him, rather than clutch a still wobbly baby while herding a toddler.

I have decided to give Cole's current "up to 40lbs in child restraint" seat to Parker, and picked up an Apex 65 for Cole this weekend. This way I can keep him in the 5 point restraint until he's 65lbs, then the booster until 100lbs. Cole is starting to push that 40lb mark, and he is nowhere near ready for a booster, in my opinion. I will most likely do the same for Parker in a couple year's time.

So here I am, with not one, but TWO babies who are growing too fast and in need of a new way to keep them safe in my car. I, of course, have photo documented every carseat change so far, and while looking back in my archives, shed a couple of tears over how small Cole has looked in each of his new options. Even in this new one, he looks like a tiny little man.

Tonight, I don't know whether to sniffle over how big they look in their current carseats, or how small they'll look in their new ones. I suppose I'll have lots of experiences over time to ponder this conundrum of parenthood.