Baby Hands To The Face!

I’d like to share with you a move I like to call the ‘get that out of my face’ or ‘wax-on wax-off’ type of blocking that Alejandra has been doing to let us know when she’s done eating / drinking / or has decided that she doesn’t want us to wipe her nose.I heard from a friend that this is a ‘day care’ learned behavior. I’m not sure she’s totally correct. It reminded of this little film I watched before I became a dad and which I now I think I should revisit just to see how much more I’ll enjoy it:

This behavior showed up a few months ago, and although it’s a seldom act, it nonetheless surprises us and leaves us somewhat in shock when it happens. Alejandra is normally a calm and relaxed kid. Her disposition is mellow and pretty ‘go with the flow’; however, when she sets her mind to something she can be very animated and passionate about what she wants. Interestingly enough, her slapping the hands to the face is much more common towards her mom than me. I’m not sure why that is, yet if I were to guess, it may be because of the difference in how we react when she does it. I tend to be more firm with Alejandra, whereas my wife is more understanding.

Do You Need a Second Base for Your Baby Car Seat?

I hate to be anti-climatic, but the simple answer is no.  In fact, to my surprise (seriously) you don't even need one base for your car seat.  Clark is my first and only child, before him I had no experience at all with small children.  His was the first car seat I ever handled.  I thought a base was required to install a car seat.  When my wife needed to take the baby somewhere, I removed the base from my car and put it in hers.  Then vice-versa later in the day.

All your base are belong to us!

One day I was looking at the stickers on my son's car seat and I realized the installation instructions on that sticker were different from the instructions on the sticker located on the base.  Then it hit me! You can install a car seat with nothing more than a seat belt (lap or shoulder).  No base required.

The car seat base and definitely a second base are just conveniences.  Convenient, but not necessary.  Loading a car seat into a car with a base probably takes less than two seconds (click-click).  Loading a car seat without a base will take 5 second for a speedster, but probably closer to 15-30 seconds for the average person (pulling the belt, buckling it and locking it into proper position).  Same for removing the car seat.  However, many people leave their car seat in the car permanently, once the baby is too heavy for them to carry around in his carrier, so differences in loading time becomes negligible. With a base the seat belt is threaded through the base.  This keeps the seat belt away from curious little hands and baby bodily fluids.