I should go to bed, but I am clinging to the hope that Jasper will call me...Jasper, who said that he wants to pick up our entertainment center ASAP off of Craigslist. I always cling to these hopes that those who respond to my ads will actually call, but they never do. Oh well, at least it gives me time to baby-blog.

I have a couple product reviews that I wanted to share. First and foremost, car seats. Now, I love the Evenflo Triumph Advance and still hold strongly behind it for my car. However, we're not all blessed enough to have two cars that have the LATCH system in place. So for the Andy's car, the Britax is completely worth the $200 extra you spend on it, all for the one feature that probably costs about $5 to include: seat belt locking clips. Seriously. My sister-in-law actually told me this while I was pregnant with Liam (after we had already obtained the Roundabout). Now I see exactly what she was saying.

See, you have to put the little metal locking clip that comes with any car seat on the seat belt so that the seat is actually secured in place. It's impossible because once you have tightened the seat belt appropriately, you can't get the clip on. The $17 Mighty Tite helps with that, but I have already posted my thoughts on that.

So, if we had thought it through a little better, we would have spent the extra money above the Britax Roundabout and gotten the Marathon, which would have lasted Liam much longer in the Passat. He still has a good year on the Roundabout, but it is annoying to know that it's not the final stop. Anyways, either one has a little clip built into the seat where you tighten the seat belt to where you want it and then just flip the little clip. It's great - in fact, whenever I would put it in my car to take Ethan anywhere, I would always use the regular seat belt before I would use the LATCH. It takes about 30 seconds to get it in there to the point where you can't budge it.

It's so simple that I just don't understand why the only other car seat I can find out there that has it is the Graco Toddler Safe-Seat.

The other thing is the Chicco Capri stroller. As far as umbrella strollers go, it's just awesome. I know you can get a MacLaren that is cute as cute can be, with retro polka-dots and stuff, but I would love to know what spending at least $100 more could possibly get you that the Chicco (at about $70, I think) doesn't have. It's comfy on Liam, it's comfy on me, it maneuvers wonderfully, it's compact. I put it on my registry on a whim, got it, and have never regretted it one bit.

I guess I need to start shopping for and planning his first birthday party. The Evite has gone out, but that is about it. I need to arrange for food, get party ware, buy him some gifts (I suppose I should do that, huh? I mean, really, he doesn't need a whole lot more, but I can't show up to my own son's birthday party without a gift). I guess I am just still a bit in denial that he is about to turn 1.

Right now, his thing is pointing. As soon as you pick him up, he starts pointing this way and that, wanting you to take him over so he can see things. His favorite thing is the Tide container in the laundry room. Even when the door is closed, he will point to the laundry room, make you open the doors, and then proceed to point to the Tide. We showed him the same container in my parents' laundry room, and he does the same thing. He has started waving a little bit when we wave to him, and he'll pat his mouth and make noise (like an Indian, but that is not politically correct, huh?) when we do the same. This is a fun age. It's fun to start seeing him connect the dots that when we do something, he can do it himself.

He totally knows when he is doing something wrong. He'll go over to the fireplace, look at me, scrunch his face up into a little smirky smile, and start playing with the metal curtain. I'll say no, and he'll smile even more. Same thing with the baby monitor thing. He is not allowed to play with that, and when he does, I put him in his crib, go sit in the glider, and count to "15." I know he understands what he is not supposed to do, but I have no idea to what extent he understands the punishment. I guess it's better to start now than to blindside him with discipline later.

Anyways, it's my turn to stay in bed in the morning, so I am off to enjoy some sleep!!