Triumph of the Will (and the wallet)

Moving has enabled us to cobble together an actual nursery for Katie. I'm strangely proud of this, as when we first had her, the idea of her having her own room was a little far fetched. So, wanting to share, I set up the tripod and my little Canon Powershot A75. It's my old camera, relegated now to being the diaper bag camera, it doesn't get used much as even my phone comes close enough to it in quality and tops it convenience. Still, what it does that my new Kodak Z712is doesn't is it lets you take as many photos as you want in the panorama assist mode. So I believe this is about 17 or 18 photos stitched together into a 360º panorama of Katie's room. It was actually about 375 degrees as I started and ended with the door, but it looked funny having the door in there twice, so I cropped it off the right side.
Anyway, the last piece was the book shelf that sits on her dresser. I built that a couple of nights ago.

Oh, and I really don't care for The Wiggles.

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And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

Getting Things Done

We had a big adventure recently. We had to go pick up some prescriptions at Kaiser and then went shopping at a book store because Dad got a gift card for his birthday.
For the most part it went really well, but, I have a couple of complaints. Now I realize I live in the greatest time ever to be an American parent as far as convenience goes, still... Most of these complaints revolve around the car seat. I'm all in favor of rear facing car seats. Anything to keep my baby safe(er). And I love the convenience of the modular car seat/base/stroller system, but...

1) Getting a baby in and out of these seats is so complicated as to be stressful for parent and baby alike. At least mine is. 2 buckels and a clasp, not easily navigated around said baby, and a head rest pillow that moves around freely. A handle and hood that must be moved out of the way before this can even begin. And getting her back out again feels like I am folding her in half.

2) The stroller. Sure it folds up, but into what? Something too big to easily fit in the back seat or passenger seat. Or in the rather generous trunk of my Pontiac Grand Am. Not ever one can or will drive a suburban. Just 2 or 3 inches less of height and width would make this a perfect object. Designers, release the hounds.

3) For some reason I live in the desert. The government mandates that Katie must be facing the rear of the back seat for a long time to come. For some reason, the government does not madate that an Air Conditioning vent be placed in the back seat.
When it goes north of 100 degrees, I open at least 2 doors, start the car, fire up the A/C, and wait to hear the compressor kick in before I even START to put her in the car.

4) I know 3 or 4 resturaunts that have slings or bases for above said infant car seat. I love them. Not having them is almost a deal killer. Get with the program folks. It's a small investment for a happy customer.

5) The stroller wheels. They slide all over the place they are most likely to be, which is the linoleum floor of a store. This keeps the rotating wheels from rotating properly. A little more traction would be great.

No complaints about the girl? Yeah. She was quite at the pharmacy filled with screaming, unsupervised children, and got fussy in the quiet, peaceful bookstore.
Figures, don't it?

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And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com