I call this blog "The Great Double Stroller Dilemma of 2010," as I still can't figure out how to add a title to each individual blog post. Google was no help. Nor are my readers, as I have solicited an answer to this question many times in the past :) My settings show where the title would go within the layout of my post, but when I write one, there is no place to include a title.

Liam will not sit in a stroller right now. The only time he will is when we stroll around the neighborhood. I am all about allowing him to throw his tantrums at home on the journey to get him to understand what we expect of him, but I'm not going to be the mom who allows her toddler to go through the course of a tantrum in public. I'm not really sure how to go about getting him to sit in a stroller when we go to the store. My current M.O. is agoraphobia. Avoid the outside world with him at all costs.

As far as stroller-buying goes, my main questions before we proceed are: 1) Will he sit in a stroller by the time the baby comes? 2)Is it worth the gamble to spend a lot of money on a double stroller, only to have him reject it? 3) If he does get through this phase and back into a stroller, how long do kids typically stay in one before they're too old?

I'm inclined to just go for a twin umbrella stroller over the big old Sit and Stand or Quattro Tour Duo (by "twin," I mean side-by-side, as opposed to "tandem," which is where one baby is in front and the other in back). My ideal situation would be a nice twin stroller that can accommodate a Graco SnugRide. I went to Babies R Us the other day to see if I could fit one in any of them, and that turned into an epic fail. There's a (cute) Combi stroller that can accommodate a Combi bucket, but the SnugRide is way too large in every direction.

I suppose that, worst-case scenario, we could always get the twin stroller and have both of them sit upright, ditching the bucket. We were able to get Liam into the Chicco umbrella stroller when he was less than 3 months old, so I know it would work. Really, though - I LOVE waking up a sleeping baby to make the transfer from a bucket to a stroller.

As for the tandem options, they are just so huge and bulky. I don't want to get one if it's only going to last us 6 months (if at all). We use the Chicco stroller a lot more than even our Graco MetroLite (which is a more compact stroller with all the amenities of a full-sized stroller), as it's just so much simpler to use.

I don't know! I guess the answer will come...whether it comes before or after the baby is yet to be seen.

I did start a registry at Babies R Us for fun...I have about 5 items on it. I can't think of anything we need. When I went to BRU to test out that stroller, I went around looking for things to get for 2G, but there was NOTHING! I suppose there are a few things, like a bath seat that can go in the big bathtub with Liam, but not much beyond that. There's also nothing relevant to Liam anymore, either. So sad! I LOVE Babies R Us, and I will be sad when it is no longer our mecca.

Liam's daycare has video cameras in each of the classrooms, and parents can access it from a website and watch throughout the day. I really enjoy watching him and what he does, and I am forever amazed by the routines they have and the kids' adherence to them. Example: They eat lunch at 10:30, but right before they go to eat, they set the room up for nap time. The teachers put their mats down (each child sleeps in the same place each day), and then from across the room, they give each child a blanket. I watch Liam walk over to his mat, put the blanket on top, and then walk over to the door and get in line to leave for lunch. When they come back in after lunch, they kids walk straight over to their respective mats, lie down, and wait for their teachers to come cover them up.

I might have blogged about it before, but it just amazes me how 1 or 2 adults can maintain such order and structure in a room full of 2-year-olds. Do you think I could get Liam to lie down on a mat in the middle of the floor in our house? Yeah, right! I mean, he's pretty good at following instructions at home for the most part, but it's just impossible to structure our days at home to the extent that they are structured at school. Really, though, I would never want to structure our days at home to point where we work on a strict schedule, as is necessary in the daycare setting.

It's been great for him. He's a really good boy - he really is. We have our days (like last night - no more restaurants with him, like, ever - I don't like spending the evening in the parking lot), and he certainly exhibits his normal toddler behavior that would be worrisome if not present. For the most part, we are very fortunate. Lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, so I can only imagine what 2G has in store for us!

I have finished my ScreamFree Parenting book, and all the things that I questioned about midway through did, in fact, begin to make sense later. The author had to set the stage for the 3rd section, which gets into placing limitations and consequences on your child. I had been thinking that the approach was extremely permissive, but I can see that he couldn't have written about discipline without having first written about respecting your child's space. Sure, there are parts that I disagree with. I also don't know how the method purports to deal with the toddler tantrum. It's so non-age-specific that they can't get into that, but, while the principles laid out make perfect sense for older children and most situations involving a toddler, they run counter to everything you know about tantrum intervention (or, maybe more appropriately, the avoidance of intervention).

Who knows? This, too, shall pass. Indoors. Away from the public.

I can't remember how active Liam was at this point in my pregnancy last time. I seem to remember him being extremely active. I know that he was later on, but I just can't remember the course of the ramp-up. I feel like he was a lot more active than this baby is. I've been able to feel it both inside and out, but there are still days when I don't feel it at all. Normally I feel it about twice a day. I'm not worried - I'm sure all is fine, but you do like that constant reassurance that it's still alive in there. If the level of activity inside the womb is related to the level of hyperactivity outside, I'd be super psyched! I know that's not the case.

Speaking of lack of activity - that's exactly what I want for myself now! Good-bye!