Hmmm, so we bought a stroller tonight.

A “Zooper Boogie 2005”. It’s a little distressing that strollers have model years. Of course, buying “last year’s” model means that it was a bit cheaper, but “cheap” is not exactly the right word to use. It’s a mid-range stroller, not a “cheap” one, but certainly not one of the stupid-expensive $1000 strollers either.

It’s a “jogger”. I’m not convinced we need a “jogger” since neither of us “jog”, but with the 12″ pneumatic tires, curbs, tree roots, gravel, and other bumps and obstructions become less of an issue, and so we can go for walks in places like the UEL, or the Richmond dikes, or any of the provincial parks too. So that’s good. Of course, the jogger has less storage than the Evenflo, plus no “parental console”, and neither a “child console” so I’m not sure where things are going to go exactly (back packs for mommy, I guess) and I’m not sure how we’re going to feed him snacks on the go … but I’m sure it’ll work out. Other “cons” are that it doesn’t fold very small, and it’s a bit heavy. Pros: It comes with a very versatile canopy, a rain cover, a “sun”/UV cover, a pump, the air-filled tires, hand brake, “remote” lockable front wheel, height-adjustable push-bar, easy adjustable child seat, reversible (!) child seat, and it drives like a dream.

We’ll try it out tomorrow on a hike on Bowen Island and see how it fares.

The sales lady at TJ’s (where we bought the stroller) was warning another customer about Evenflo’s as being unreliable and prone to failure, and then hard to find replacement parts for, so our experience may not have been unusual. Of course, the old stroller as effectively been used every day for 15 months, so it had a good run.

Anyhow, we’ll try this one out and see how it goes. They have a 10 day return policy — hopefully we won’t need to use it.

Snips, snails, and puppy dog snails? I don’t think so. Sand seems to be a pretty major ingredient…

Last night as I was taking the stroller out of the trunk and I unfolded it I noticed that something was wrong. The stroller just didn’t seem right and it was very wobbly from side to side. I looked at the wheels and that is when I noticed what had happened. The stabilizer bar at the back of the stroller had sheared off and was now only attached to one side of the stroller. Needless to say I was very dissappointed. That stroller is a lifeline, how can you live with a kid and no stroller?

So we are now in the process of looking for a new stroller. I am borrowing one from a friend while we look. It is is now making the decision, do we want to get another city stroller or do we get a modified jogger? How much do we spend? Do we get a modofied jogger that can be converted to a two child stroller just in case? Oh well, such is life I guess. Wish us luck in the ever seductive world of stroller buying.

Pictures of the broken Stabilizer bar.

Our boy was well rested for music class today. Aidan woke up at 4:00 am and I was able to get him back to sleep about 4:30 am. He then slept ’till 9:00. (It was a bit of a hurry to get him dressed and fed and down to music, but we made it.) As a result Aidan was happy and well rested and a little less frantic than usual in class.

There were only 6 babies there today with Aidan and Tristan being the oldest. Aidan was very interested in the other babies and went to see each of them in turn. He was so gentle and let the other babies touch him. The look on his face was sooo sweet and gentle. I guess that letting him touch other babies and making sure each time to demonstrate what is “gentle” has worked. Even the moms with the three month olds were not at all worried about Aidan being near their babies. In fact he was so gentle and patient that all the babies smiled and tried to touch him.

I am constantly amazed at our boy and I am so proud to be him mom. (I just wish I had my camera there to capture his gentleness.)