Car Seats

We made the switch a few weeks ago - no more baby bucket car seats.  Wyatt was over the height limit and with their winter coats, the straps were getting too tight.  The seats were also getting very heavy, especially carrying both at the same time. 

But I could manage both seats and the diaper bag if necessary.  I could park next to the cart return, get the cart first and then load their seats in the cart.  If they fell asleep in the car there was no need to wake them up when we reached our destination - just carry the seats in the house and let them keep sleeping.

Last week I took them out for the first time alone since we switched car seats.  They had their ear check from our month of ear infections.  I picked them up from daycare and:

1 - Get coats on both babies
2 - Carry Wyatt to the van, buckle into car seat.  Lock van.
3 - Walk back into entrance where someone was waiting with Ruslan
4 - Buckle Ruslan into car seat
5 - Ruslan hadn't napped and immediately falls asleep
6 - Arrive at Drs office and unfold stroller
7 - Buckle Wyatt into stroller
8 - Get sleeping Ruslan out of carseat
9 - Buckle him into stroller while he cries
10 - Open building door and wrangle double-stroller through entrance, repeat with Drs office door as people in the waiting room just watch (answer questions in waiting room including are they twins?)
11 - Remove coats and leave them in stroller, try to keep them buckled and entertained while we wait and wait and wait
12 - Finally get back into room and they are both out of patience
13 - Hold both babies on my lap until Dr comes in the room and continue to hold them both while he checks their ears
14 - Put coats back on unhappy boys and buckle them in stroller
15 - Push screaming babies through the Drs office and again not one person in the waiting room gets up to help with the door
16 - Put Wyatt in car seat, walk around van and put Ruslan in car seat
17 - Unpack diaper bag, fold stroller and load in van
18 - Realize that their appt was so late that it is already time to pick up Juliana; call my mom to get her
19 - Both boys fall asleep and as much as I would have liked to leave the van out front with them sleeping, our road was so narrow from the snow that it wasn't safe (plus the whole leaving the babies alone in the van thing)
20 - Carry one sleeping baby in the house at a time and leave them both in the house crying while I park the van in the driveway
21 - Soothe babies and start the evening routine

Imagine if Juliana had been with us...