To Jog, or not to Jog....

So for better or for worse, I have another stroller. It's not that any of my other ones weren't adequate... it's not that my child uses one more than any other time in her life, probably less as she's 3 now. However, I just couldn't bring myself to say no to the pink and chocolate BOB Revolution... and you know how I love pink and chocolate...

We actually use it a ton because it's super easy for her to get in and out of, and it's amazing on any terrain. Unlike my Bugaboo, it is fantastic on the sand, on cobbles, on a hill, on gravel... and of course, it's a JOGGING stroller. No, I don't run on pavement. I feel like an idiot if I'm actually running publicly, and actually fear for my own incarceration from the insult it would cause to those exposed.

I love the cup holders, I love the fact that the foot 'hump' is strategically set so that when Lillian has one of her little buddies along, she can sit on the hump and it's practically a double stroller that is still easy to navigate - and we're talking two 35 pound kids. It is way more stable on its wheels than any of my other strollers, which of course I love now that my kid is in and out of it constantly and I still shop as much as I did 3 years ago....

These things being said, I'm pretty disappointed by the storage basket now that it's winter and her coat hardly fits down there, let alone hers and mine. While it is easy to swing open and fold up, it doesn't lock closed, which means you are forced to take an awkward stance to pick it up and hoist its 27 pound frame into the car to keep it from flying open and killing you. If I had two, I thought that the double BOB would be awesome, until I read that one was 48 pounds.... I'm a strong chick but that just sounds exhausting and excessive to me...

Either way, love this one, and it's all we've touched in the 5 months we've had it -don't think it's going to convince me to start running, though...

Some of my necessities (ok, stroller addiction)

Since I'm starting this blog so late into my mom shopping experience, I have to throw out a few things that have been life saving pieces of my world over the past two years.

I will just state now that I am a stroller whore, and I have purchased..... 8 different ones over the past 2 years for my one child (thank you world of resale). My first was the practical and most popular Graco Quattro with the SnugRide car seat. I HATED it. Everything about it. It was huge, cumbersome, and had no bells and whistles that in my opinion called for it to be either of those things. I never once used the actual stroller, as when I was about 7 months pregnant, Bob let me buy the almighty Bugaboo Frog.

Aaaahhhhhhh. Now THAT was what I was looking for. Stylish, easy to use, a bit on the large side, but hey - It was a stroller and bassinet all in one, and it allowed for easy use of my Graco SnugRide car seat with an attachment. It was just fabulous. It went everywhere with me. Shopping, the zoo, on airplanes, served as my main floor bassinet in the living room.... It had a $749 pricetag, but again we love resale. I got mine used for $550 and it was used DAILY.

When my daughter was a bit bigger, I wanted to invest in a lightweight stroller. Something that was NOT two pieces that my husband could handle opening/closing/using, etc... So away I went to consumerreports.com in search of the best and most recommended umbrella stroller. I came up with the Silver Cross Micro strolleras it had bigger wheels and bigger storage than the more popular Maclaren Volo plus it came PINK. Sold. And while I liked the stroller, I just loved my Frog so much that I tended to leave the $130 umbrella stroller in my husband's car for rare use. I had intended for it to be used when traveling, etc but realized that even though my growing girl was becoming a toddler, she still needed to be able to sleep in her stroller sometimes, and this didn't lay down.

Skip ahead a few months, and the new Bugaboo BEE was released on the market. It was everything the Frog was not - ONE PIECE, easy for my newly 1 year old to get in and out of, narrow enough to get through small spaces. So I begged for, and was granted permission to bring the new stroller into our lives. And it was great. I was very enthusiastic about it, but certain aspects of it kept me going back to my Frog. The hood was huge (and while great for protection) AWFUL for lillian who has to see EVERYTHING that is going on around her. My non-bugaboo but vital to my life attachments for the stroller bar and handle didn't fit. No snacks for her, no snacks or bevvies for me -BAD. And while this was almost half the weight and bulk of the frog, it still folded to fit exactly in the same travel bag as the Frog, so it was still obnoxious for me to fly with size-wise.

So it was a resale destiny for the Bee - it was a GOOD stroller and had some awesome features. It just wasn't for me. So having tried everything on the market I was interested in, I decided that I had proved myself worthy of an UPGRADE... ;) And sold the Frog to buy the Cameleon. Still with me here?

So WHY ON EARTH you ask me did you basically buy the same stroller OVER again but pay another $200??? Here again, I praise the resale Gods.... I got it on Craigs List for $650 and resold my Frog (plus a few cheap, easy upgrades) on eBay for a bit more than I actually spent on it. So it was almost a wash. The differences might seem small to some, but they were NOT for me, who used it daily. First off, the whole seat is 2 inches longer giving you 2 more inches of space in the bassinet for an infant (which of course I was past, but hey - maybe SOMEDAY I'll have another one, maybe) thus making the toddler seat more accomodating also. The underseat storage basket is 25% larger, and now USEABLE (love that, huh?), the handlebar extends to fit to your height, and most importantly (to me) was that these strollers work with interchangeable fabric covers in a variety of colors (hence the name) that come in super soft microfleece. They have since done them in canvas as well, but we stick to the fleece as I'm a sensory snob, and I want my baby on soft everything. It has served me well, and I don't now how I can ever part with it. I'm sure someday my grandkids will love it....

But I must also fast forward another year, to this past summer where we went on a vacation to see Bob's grandmother in Massachusets, and Bob vowed he'd never help me take the baby AND get the Bugaboo travel bag through airport security again. Plus with all the new luggage fees, etc, it was ridiculous to check it.

So I am on another mission.... my kid will FOR SURE need to nap in the stroller because that's the only place I have a prayer for a week, and I need to get it there and back easily. So we hit Babies R Us again to test drive the latest stuff (and I must say that in 2 years there was some fun and cute stuff out there for someone besides myself) and decided that our next purchase would be the Maclaren Quest Mod.

Had I thought about a reclining umbrella stroller back when I got the Micro, I would have gotten this one to begin with and as a result would never have ended up getting the Bee at all. Retailing at $229-299 (depending on design, etc) it is super lightweight, folds as an umbrella stroller, has 85% recline suitable from 3 months, and holds up to 65 pounds of kid. It also has an extendable leg rest (seat bottom) so it grows with your child. Our experience with this stroller has been awesome. It is super cute, got me in/out of the airport in a breeze, folded up with one hand at the gate, and the greatest part was that the extendable leg rest pulled out so that my very tall almost two year old hardly had to bend her legs to lay completely in the stroller for a nap. We got a good nap out of her in this almost every day and THAT is saying something.

As a whole I loved all of the strollers I have used, and had a great time picking them out and trying them out. I am now down to two (my husband rejoices) and that is where I'll stay. I have my everyday stroller, and my quickie travel stroller. I think we're good. Now if I could just get my kid to sit down......