Car Seat Safety 101

My topic this evening is something that I have really been thinking about a lot lately because people on Facebook and Instagram like myself have nothing better to do than to post pictures of their babies (I'm definitely not complaining!) but I keep noticing something...and that's car seat safety.

Guys, car seat safety is seriously not something that I take lightly. I mean...it's your child, who can't fix the car seat themselves, so YOU need to be their advocate, do the research, get it installed properly and hook them up correctly.

Now, I know that I am no expert on this, and I haven't done hours and hours of research on this topic, but I did read our car seat manual, our birthing class did a whole section on this topic, and we've done additional research online about this as well.

What am I talking about, you ask?

This.

Both of the harnesses in these car seats are too low on the baby. According to Safecar.gov as well as the manuals that come with your car seat, the chest clip on the harness should be placed even with the baby's armpits, which protects the baby's sternum.

Nathan after having a nurse inspect proper car seat harnessing, etc, the day we left the hospital.
(Mom and Dad got an A+!)

Also, the harness should be snug against the baby as well. I regularly see people posting pictures of their baby in their car seat with pictures like the ones above where you can see that the chest clip is too low. I've even seen pictures where the shoulder straps are so loose that it's not over the baby's shoulder, but has drooped down to the baby's arm.

Choosing not to strap your baby into their car seat correctly isn't like choosing to forgo strapping the baby into a high chair or grocery cart. Please, please reread your manual and make sure that you're strapping your children into their car seat correctly. Also, your local police department and fire department have training on the proper way to install a car seat and base if you have one. They will be happy to inspect yours to make sure that your child is as safe as possible. It only takes a few minutes to do, and I feel like that's a few minutes worth spending.

I know this seems off the wall, but I'm hoping that this post may have some people give this topic a second thought and make sure they're doing the safest thing possible for the precious baby! :)

Long time, no post.

It has been forever since I last posted and I can honestly say that I've missed blogging. I just get really busy and finding time to update the blog is hard to find when in my free time (haha!) I just want to take a nap or catch up on my DVR.

I'm sure that all of you are well aware that I am loving every second of being a mother. If you're my friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know that I take lots and lots of pictures of Nathan, and while to some it's annoying, I know that some people enjoy it, including myself, so I don't care. :)

Nathan is 9 months old now, and as of yesterday he weighs 17.9lbs and is 26 1/4" long, right on track with his growth curve. He is small for his age (>10th percentile)  but the doctor is very happy with his development. He has 7 teeth, is crawling, babbling, learning the meaning of the word 'no' and his favorite foods include carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, spinach and his oatmeal with bananas.

I have decided to make his food, as I find it is simple and affordable and I know exactly what he's eating. I buy organics as much as possible and since I make it, there are no preservatives, dyes, etc in his foods. I have many friends that are about to have babies or have babies that will be eating solids soon and I just want to encourage those friends to look into making their own food for their baby. I hope to do a how-to type blog about it soon, because, you know, that'd be impossible to find on Google. ;)

Enough about Nathan (for now), and just a little update on my [boring] life outside of being a parent.

Summer has officially started and I really don't know that I could be any happier about it. This year was definitely a difficult year. I mean, in the beginning it wasn't since I wasn't working, I was at home enjoying my maternity leave, but I will say that taking 3 months off in the very beginning made it difficult to come back. Not only did I not want to go back because I was enjoying being at home, but I came back in December to kids I really didn't know that well, and they're already going at 100% and I was just thinking, "Seriously? It's 10am? I'm usually taking a nap by now."

Another downside was that in the fall, my technical theatre class is more of a practicum-style environment because my students are incredibly helpful (sometimes) with building the set. Since I couldn't leave that kind of a task with my sub, I had to give my students assignments that I typically do in the second semester when we aren't building any sets---so I was basically screwed for the entire second semester. Between that and the kids being strange, it was a very LONG semester that I was thankful to see come to a close.

We celebrated my birthday last month, and I cannot believe that I am 28 now...does anyone realize how close this is to being 30?! Does anyone realize that 30 is my scary-age? I think when I'm due to turn 30 I'm just going to celebrate my 29th birthday: The Encore. This year, my birthday was a lot of fun. I called my friends Sonia and Kim and told them I wanted to do something different this year for my birthday---beyond just going to dinner. Nothing crazy, but just different. Maybe because we usually just go to dinner, which there's nothing wrong with that, but I appreciate a little variety every now and then.

We coordinated to get together and go to one of my favorite restaurants, The Grotto out by the Galleria and it was really fun. My friend from college, Kenneth was even able to attend. After dinner, we went to Sonia's apartment which was nearby and we just hung out and played a couple of games. The next day, I was fortunate enough to get some of my favorite ladies together and go to Painting With a Twist, which was something I had been really wanting to do. It was so much fun! I'm so thankful for good friends that were able to celebrate another year with me. :)

I am officially deeming this as one of the most boring posts in history, but lately I feel like I'm pretty boring. I don't go do anything fun, but this summer, I'm  hoping to do a few projects around the house and maybe something I do will be worthy of posting.

'til next time! (no telling when that will be!)