My Toddler Rides Rear Facing

Bennett is 13 months old, 33 inches tall and 24 pounds. He has upgraded to a "big boy" car seat but continues to ride facing the back of our car.

I want to say upfront that I have zero intention of chastising anyone or criticizing anyone's parenting decisions. I simply want to present some of the information I have come across that led to my decision to keep my son's car seat rear facing even after he passed the "one year and 20 lbs" law.

All the parents I know desire to do what is best for their children so I'd like to put this information out there for your consideration. Please read with an open mind, consider your options and make the decision that is best for your family.

* Why Rear Facing?
From CPSafety

* Lots of FAQs Answered
This site has wonderful information but you have to keep reading (click "next" at the bottom of the page).

* Info About Children's Spinal Development as it Relates to Car Seat Safety
From the Kyle David Miller Foundation

* Video Including Crash Test Results

So what do you think?

Am I being overprotective? My laid-back side (which usually wins out...I mean, I haven't gotten around to putting locks on our cabinets and let my kid eat off the floor) says that we all survived childhood without such measures. And I know I can't protect him from EVERY eventuality he could encounter in this lifetime.

Have I gone nuts with internet research? I pretty sure if I look into any subject enough I can find plenty of online junk to scare me out of my mind and make me question every step I take as a parent. (Watch out for carrots - they are dangerous! The water is tainted with drugs! The sippy cup for the water is even MORE toxic! Etc., etc.)

Well, all I can say is that for some reason this has really stuck with me. We all spend so much time in our cars it is easy to feel like we will always be safe on the road. But car accidents are the leading cause of death for toddlers (or so says the National Center for Health Statistics here). I feel strongly about forgoing the convenience of being able to hand Bennett a snack or easily see his sweet face in order to better protect him.

If this information impacts you at all, please pass it on to other families you know and love. And also, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Cute Even When Teething

Those molars sure are rough on a baby boy! Bennett does great toughing it out most days but sometimes those tender gums just get the best of him.

B Boy's First "Drawing"

Can you see it? We just might have the next Picasso living under our roof!

Ok, maybe not. The coloring entertained him for about 32 seconds. Throwing the crayons around the room however, was fun for at least five whole minutes.

Wonderful Weekends!

Our little family has really been enjoying our weekends this spring. Bennett is obviously excited to get to spend all day with his daddy on Saturdays and Sundays. It is so cute! The last couple of weekends we have been free to relax around the house, do some minor home improvement, revel in the beautiful weather and enjoy time with friends. We are so blessed!

We've spent a good bit of time lately working at my newest obsession: pulling weeds. Boy, have we had plenty to pull! I've become quite knowledgeable about the many varieties I've found on our small property and what techniques are best suited to remove each type at its root. I've given them technical names like "tall skinny ones", "lacy yellow flower" and "yucky spiky guy". I feel a swell of pride and accomplishment with each small patch of grass cleared.

This is Bennett sitting behind the pile of weeds pulled from our backyard over the course of a couple of days last weekend.

Jeff and I felt inspired on Saturday and decided to use some leftover brick that has been sitting in our garage to line our front yard flowerbeds. It was fun! And I think it turned out all right, especially considering we were just making it up as we went.

Before:

Working:



Bennett helping:




After:




After a hard day's work in the sun, we tried out a new recipe. Beef enpanadas. Yummy!


This weekend we finally got around to installing the swing Bennett got for his birthday. Jeff put hooks in on the front and back porch so we can move the swing to wherever we happen to be hanging out.



The swing is quite a hit. Bennett loves it (even while wearing only one shoe)!

Baby's First Duck and Cover

This is where we hung out from about 4:00 - 4:30 this morning. Turns out the hall closet is a great little storm shelter.

Jeff and I woke up a little before four am when a raging storm rolled in and cut off our electricity. I love spring storms and usually when I'm awoken by thunder and lightening I'll listen to the rain for a minute, roll over and go back to sleep. But this time the sky appeared to have an eerie greenish hue and the wind was really rockin' so I got up to check things out.

Fortunately the electricity came back quickly and I was able to listen to the weather reports on the radio. (Note to self: buy batteries for the radio.) We were under a tornado warning and were being encouraged to stay in a small, interior room on the first floor of the house.

I've never been terribly afraid of tornadoes. Living in this area I've probably been through hundreds of tornado watches and warnings in my life and never actually experienced one. But there is something different about having a baby in the house and hearing that urgent call to take cover. I was suddenly pretty nervous.

Jeff brought the babe downstairs and we hunkered down in the closet. As the reporter was talking about "cloud rotation" appearing over our area I wasn't thinking to pray eloquently, so my heart was just pleading with God, "Please protect my family." It wasn't too long until good ol' WBAP gave us the all-clear.

Sweet Bennett hardly noticed the commotion. He stirred a little when we got him up, slept soundly on the closet floor while Jeff and I listened to the radio and prayed and then he went right back to bed. Now that's my boy!

After we put Bennett down we peered out windows and stepped outside to see if there was any damage from the 60 - 70 mph winds. It seemed that everything was intact. A second investigation in the morning light confirmed that our neighborhood didn't sustain any significant damage.

As the storm moved away we settled back in bed. I enjoyed thanking God for his power and provision and watching a fantastic lightening show before drifting off to sleep.

7 Random Things (Part 2)

Alright, I'm ready to move on to my own seven random things. Don't forget, Haley P, Shelton Family and Allan - you have all been tagged. So there!

#1

Hello, my name is Stacey and I'm a closet tree hugger.

I'm not sporting dreads and I don't value the lives of grubs over those of human beings but I really enjoy finding ways to use fewer toxic chemicals and create less waste. I can clean most of my house with a little water, baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. I take my own bags to the grocery store, live with the house a little warmer or colder than I would prefer, try not to waste water and diligently clean and reuse or recycle everything I can.

I would love to buy most of my food locally grown and/or organic. But, well, that's just too expensive. So I do my best.

Where "green" meets frugal...that's right where I want to live.


#2
Growing up my family did A LOT of camping. We didn't just camp out to experience nature and bond while roasting s'mores. We camped as a means to go on trips that we otherwise couldn't have afforded. We took our tent, sleeping bags and camp stove to typical roughing-it locations such as Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon but also camped out on trips to Washington DC, Disney World and San Fransisco. And we loved it!

I was fully 13 or 14 years old before I realized that most people in the world stay in these fancy places with showers and air conditioning called HOTELS while on vacation. I knew what hotels were I just never spent much time thinking about who stayed in them and why.


#3
About four years ago I was struck with sudden-onset arthritis that was excruciatingly painful and affected everything from my shoulders, wrists and hands to my hips, knees and feet. For six weeks I hobbled around like a 97 year old and had numerous doctor appointments but the pain disappeared almost as suddenly as it came on. Weird.


#4
Ok, that's not exactly true. I don't heart math. Jeff is the numbers guy at our house. I'm awful at basic arithmetic and it takes me forever to add up my score when I do poorly at dominoes. Despite the fact that I was a passionate reader as a child and dreamed of writing a book (ha!), I ended up at math camp.

Oh yes. Math camp.

You may claim nerdiness and we could banter back and forth about who had shinier braces, larger glasses or worse fashion sense (I could give you a run for your money, I'm sure) but I hold the trump card in that I spent two weeks of each summer between 5th and 8th grade at math camp. When I was 12 I somehow earned a scholarship to an out of state program and I was shipped off to live in a dorm room in Louisiana and study geometry eight hours a day. Good times my friends. Good times.


#5
I love pickles! When I was pregnant and constantly queasy ("morning" sickness, my foot!) sometimes the only thing that would quench my thirst without making me puke was pickle juice.

My favorite snacks is crackers with pickles and cheese. It is best with Club crackers and really sour pickles. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Yum!


#6
I have fabulous posture. I never slouch.

I'd love to say I stand straight and tall because I just have that kind of dignity and self-discipline. But it is mostly because I have a steel rod and twelve metal hooks in my back. The hardware is a sweet souvenir from a surgery I underwent at the age of 13 to correct scoliosis.

Another bonus and interesting(?) tidbit, I grew an inch and a half during the six hour surgery. I started the day shorter than my mom and ended it taller. Cool, huh?


#7
I'm pretty much hopeless when it comes to style and fashion.

I live in jeans and t-shirts for the following reasons:
(a) I'm pretty well stocked with free tees (yea for Student Ministries!)
(b) they're comfy
(c) I'm guaranteed to never be overdressed. I seem to have some strange phobia about being overdressed...like it looks like I tried too hard or something (as though looking like I didn't put forth any effort is better??). I admit it, I have issues.
(d) I'm lazy
(e) I think I look like a moron pretty much any time I try to be the least bit trendy. Either I look like I'm trying to be too young or too flashy or the color is wrong or I bought something that I thought I liked but it was just because it was one clearance and it turns out it looks awful on me or something! I just can't get it right.

I need help. Accepting all offers.

Just Like Daddy

Since I've started blogging (and blog-stalking) I've come to learn that I am already a slacker mom. There are many examples of this, but I'll focus on one. So many wonderful mommies take pictures of their little ones with the same chair/pillow/stuffed animal every month to show how they are growing. I intended to do something like that. I think I might have three pictures of Bennett with his bear Big Roscoe. Sad.

Somewhere my mom picked up the idea of taking yearly pictures of kiddos in their parents clothing. Mom apparently saw photos taken of a little boy on his birthday each year wearing his dad's dress shirt and tie and it was so cute she just couldn't stand it. She's absolutely emphatic that I should do the same.

Mom visited on Friday and with her help I finally got around to granting her wish. We decided that since Jeff only wears a shirt and tie if we are attending a wedding or funeral that it would make sense to put Bennett in something that is more typical of his daddy. We chose a T-shirt emblazoned with "Igniter Media", which is where Jeff works, and a baseball cap. The spoons have nothing to do with Jeff. Bennett just wanted to play with them and we wanted him to smile...so there you go. I took the pictures outside thinking that it will also be fun to see how our new little tree grows and how our house changes as the years pass.

Here are a few other pics from our little photo shoot.

Mmm...Peanut Butter!

Bennett had his first taste of peanut butter the other day. He absolutely loved it!

Despite my aversion to the stuff and all the horror stories that have conditioned me to think of peanuts as little poison pills just waiting to make my child swell up and stop breathing, I introduced the potential toxin at the tender age of 12 months. And, believe it or not, the child will live to tell the tale of his mother's bravery.

7 Random Things (Part 1)

Well, we were "tagged" by Tricia to post seven random things about us. Blogging etiquette apparently dictates that one absolutely cannot NOT do what one has been "tagged" to do.

Oh, and I have to tag others. So...Haley P, Shelton Family and Allan (my dad), you now are obligated to share random facts about yourselves with the masses. You can thank me later.

(By the way I've shamelessly stolen my "random things" post layout from Tricia because hers was so cute.) Here goes!

Jeff

#1
During a trip to Brazil at the age of 10 Jeff fell through a plate glass shower door and had to be rushed to the ER of a small local hospital. His mother nearly had a heart attack and threw herself in front of a non-English speaking hospital worker who was attempting to inject her son with a used needle. I might be making this part up - but at least in my mind I picture Jeff's parents waving US dollars around and people rushing about to provide sterile medical equipment. He survived the ordeal. As did his mother.


#2

Jeff has an uncanny memory for numbers. Especially numbers associated with sports trivia. I'm pretty sure his knowledge of stats, scores, trades, player bios, rivalries and the like requires more brain space than everything I've ever learned in my life.

And it's not like he spends all day every day watching sports! I swear the man can skim ESPN's website once a day and watch 15 minutes of Sports Center and know EVERYTHING about what has occurred in the world of sports in the last week.

Try him out sometime. He's not exactly a computer...he can't spout out the perfect answer to EVERY obscure sport-related question. But he's right more often than not and if he doesn't know the answer he sure can make an educated guess.


#3
On a related note, Jeff has a bizarre habit of associating every milestone memory with a sporting event. A few quick examples:
- Our wedding: "Nothing much happened the 26th but the night of our rehearsal dinner the Mavs rolled in game 3 of the playoff series against the Portland Trailblazers."
- Bennett's birth: "Mavs beat the Cavs."
- The night his parents separated when he was 13 : "I remember the Rangers had started to season undefeated. They got down to the Mariners but came back to win it in the 8th." For those who might be wondering, his parents reunited and are still married.


#4
Jeff is also ridiculously good at Boggle. You know the game where you shake up the letters and try to connect them to make words? Most normal people find words like "cat", "eat" and "stop". We (the normal people) get excited when we find a four letter word like "boat" AND its plural "boats". Jeff finds words like "associate" and "caucus". Then he'll pull out some crazy combo like "fear, fears, fearer, fearful, fearfully". Sometimes if we gang up on him three or four to one it is almost fair.

I love the man, but he's pretty much a freak of nature.


#5
It is no surprise to people that know us that Jeff is fairly frugal. He takes it to the extreme in certain situations. For example, my dear husband absolutely HATES to pay for parking.

We have a "special" spot on the street that allows for free parking somewhat near the Ballpark for Ranger games. We've taken a five-mile hike across Irving for a Cowboys game (ok...five miles might be a slight exaggeration but it felt even longer as we schlepped our way past car dealerships and across 121 in the muggy heat). He used to park way away from his office and walk through a seedy area of downtown in order to use the 50 cent lot. He won't even use a FREE valet unless I insist with a threat of violence. Why? Because he would have to tip the valet guy who brings our car back! I have more examples, but I think you get the picture.


#6
Like many people Jeff likes to pump his gas to the exact dollar. After much practice that became too easy so he began attempting to get the gallons to end on a whole number. This is slightly more challenging because gallons are measured with three decimal places instead of two.

One day Jeff came home, grinning from ear to ear and waving a receipt. He was absolutely glowing because, as he showed me, at this particular fill-up the prices were right and the stars were aligned and he got whole numbers for BOTH dollars and gallons. He was so proud. Isn't that cute?

We still have the receipt. Maybe I'll frame it some day.


#7
Finally, another injury story. When Jeff was five he survived a head-on collision with a garbage truck while he was sitting unrestrained in the middle front seat of a car. In this day and age that's just about enough to have your child taken away from you by the state.

I think that looking back on the 70s and 80s with the perspective of all the rules we have today for babies and kids (They must sleep on their backs! No bumper pad or toys in the bed EVER! Pad every sharp corner and lock every cabinet and drawer! Helmets and elbow guards while they practice riding bikes on training wheels! Car seats until the age of 10!) it's a wonder that any of us survived childhood.

Okay, this has gotten crazy long so I will return later with Part 2 - 7 Random Things about Stacey.

Flower Boys

Last week Tricia and I enjoyed a gorgeous day by taking our boys to the Arboretum for Dallas Blooms. We arrived with strollers laden with blankets, snacks and toys and hearts filled with aspirations of getting exceptional spring photos of our darling babies.

Neither of our wee ones were having their best day because Elliott was running a slight fever due to teething and Bennett had refused an afternoon nap. Although they took turns being grumpy and fussy we were able to capture a few sweet moments. Sadly, despite our best efforts we were not successful in getting an all-smiles picture of the four of us. I guess we'll just have to try again!

I greatly enjoyed getting to spend the day with one of my favorite people. I look forward to attempting our photo shoot again sometime soon. Here are a few of my favorites takes from our outing.