Is your child a car seat talker or sleeper? - Radian RXT Car Seat Review and Giveaway

My Mom tells me stories of when I was a little girl. Apparently I talked her--and anyone else who came near's--ears off.

It's not too hard to believe. To this day I'll strike up conversations with complete strangers, and my poor husband constantly hears my most frequent question: "Are you listening to me?"

Of course this answer is always yes, and I always proceed to have him prove it by reciting the last thing I said. Most of the time is close enough.

My daughter is no different. Even in her near 19 months of age, she's always babbling and telling us what she thinks. She's not much of a loner. At all. She likes being around other people, and us, and getting out of the house.

When we walk into stores she'll wave to passerbys and give a resounding "HI!" People smile and say hi back.

A lesson of "stranger danger" will have to come much earlier than normal with my friendly child.

In some ways I wonder if she is going to love talking even more than I do.

My mom tells me when I was young, and wouldn't go to sleep, she'd put me in my car seat and drive around town until I did. To this day, I can still barely stay awake in a car. If Lil' J is quiet in the back (and I'm not driving) I'm out.

My daughter on the other hand, is not this way. She rarely falls asleep in the car unless it's really late, or she is just extra pooped from a really long day. Otherwise, she's up talking my ear off and begging for entertainment.

I don't know if this is normal for kids her age, but she can't just sit and ride in silence. I mean, she did have a few months in there somewhere where she seemed to, but now she either needs to have a snack, a toy, or me singing her favorite songs.

Depending how far our trip is, the snacks usually run out, the toys fall, and I'm belting "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" as we are pulling into our neighborhood while I watch her do the hand motions from my rear-view mirror.

The funny thing is, no matter how much she seems to be ticked at me for making her ride strapped down in coach, she never wants to get out right away when we get home.

"Come on baby, let's go inside"
"No," This is her new favorite word. Though I don't totally hate it yet because the way she says it with her country twang accent and drawn out "O" it sounds more like a question. "No?"

I unsnap her buckle and try again.

"Don't you want to go see Daddy and Snoop? They are inside." She shakes her head and tells (or asks?) me again...
"No?!" And she buckles herself back into her seat. Yes... She knows how to do this, but thankfully can't undo it.

She has a love/ hate relationship when riding in the car.
The throne she sits in while we cruise around has varied since the day she was born. Being as tall as she is, she outgrew her infant seat fairly quickly, and the next seat up we had, didn't face backwards, so we got another. And finally, we have one more convertible seat for our second car. While a second seat isn't crucial, it's been a huge help to save us from days where one of us forgets to leave the seat for the other. And let me tell you, that's happened and it's not fun.

"Hey honey, how did picking her up from school go?"
"Well, I got there and realized I forget the car seat."

GAH!

What seat are we using now? Which is our favorite? Well, we have three Gracos, one that isn't convertible so she hasn't tried it yet, and a RadianRXT Shadow. That last one sounds like a car right? Compared to the rest of them, it weighs about as much as one. And since we're on the topic of cars, I'm going to use this analogy to compare them.

I got one from Diono to review and was totally excited to get it in the car and see what she thinks of a fancy seat. If all of our car seats were cars, our Gracos would be like Toyotas. Not very expensive, but reliable. And our new RadianRXT Shadow would be like a Lexus or a Mercedes. It has the reliability plus all the bells and whistles, but it's going to cost you quite a bit more.

As I assembled it (which didn't take very long at all, but there were a few belts I had to move around and adjust) I geeked out and used the QR reader codes with my phone to watch video demonstrations to make sure I was doing it right. And they have helpful people manning their twitter and facebook pages too.

There's extra padding, a steel alloy frame, it's the highest rear facing car seat, NCAP tested, and they can ride in it starting at 5 pounds. It seems humongous to me and hard to picture my tiny infant in it, but there is an additional infant support attachment that came with it, that we can add. Kids can ride backwards in it up to 45 pounds, and it's narrow enough to fit three across. Based on reviews I've read with parents who have three kids and a sedan, this is a huge deal.

I'm pretty sure her favorite feature is the cup holder she can fit even her really wide sippy cups into. You can attach up to four(not sure why we'd need four but maybe one day I'll learn and buy more). That thing has come in handy when I've forgotten her cup and we go through a drive through to get an ice water. She kicks her feet with excitement and puts her drink in that thing. It's just a cup. Seriously. But it helps!

Now how much will this luxury car seat cost ya? About $339.99. Now some of you may be thinking "Oh that's nothing," and other like me are probably spitting out their morning energy drinks. But before you waste any more of that drink, I'll tell you that I just looked it up and they're only $289 at Walmart.

Still a bit more than the average car seat price, but so is a Mercedes compared to other cars. You can keep them rear-facing longer, which ultimately is declared safer. I'll let you decide if it's worth it and give you a chance to win one (below).

I suppose in a few years I'll be glad I have all of these car seats (which luckily don't expire for 5-10 years). I'll have enough thrones, for all my little talkative (and hopefully some sleepy) rug rats.

How do your kids roll in the car? Talk your ear off? Sleep? Comment and you'll be entered to win. Read the rest of the rules below for more entries.



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Which is scarier: Flying or flying with a toddler?

The flight home was significantly more difficult than the ride there. Not because there was more turbulence or anything like that, but because my daughter was wired.

It's one thing when you're flying with an infant. It's actually pretty easy compared to flying with a mobile toddler. I'm sure it only gets worse before it gets better.

On the flight to Utah I held her the entire way while my husband tried his best to keep from passing out. --Ok so he's afraid of flying but seriously?--It's not that scary. What's more scary is having our daughter scream her head off the entire time, trying to pull the hair of the woman in front of us, or crawl down the only walking space on the entire aircraft.

Luckily she wasn't that dramatic, and I tried not to pick on my husband too much. I guess that would be like telling me to calm down in a room full of spiders. Ain't gonna happen. So I let him go to his happy place listening to his sports podcasts in the darkness behind his eyelids. I had this. I'd flown with her several times by myself and this was flight number 11 for her. We were pros. But things did get a little humorous when he tried to step in after only seeing a portion of the situation.

Just listen to this... The flight attendant pushes her cart to our row of seats and asks for our drink requests. He wants nothing, but of course I want a cranberry apple juice with no ice. And of course our daughter would like some water with a bit of ice to suck on.

I down my drink as fast as I can and help her drink hers. I hand her some ice piece by piece and she's quiet and content to suck on them until eventually she's swallowed or dropped them all and all that's left is the water. She does a good job of letting me tip the cup of water into her mouth so she can sip a little at a time. We do this a couple of times and get into our groove.

At this point anything that will keep her still and quiet for 10 minutes at a time is awesome. We had already rotated playing with the window shade, tray table, and ripping up the SkyMall  magazine. Water was our current distraction. Just as she's getting her last sip she sneezes the cutest sneeze into her cup of water and tries to grab the cup.

I guess the sudden movement startled my husband because she snapped out of his happy place and opened his eyes to notice Lil' J grabbing the cup of water. To him it may have looked as if I was struggling with her but I really had it all under control. He silently pried her hands from the cup in a furry and downed the water in a split second. All with Lil' J and I staring wide-eyed wondering what just happened, and before I could warn him she had just let a big sneeze into that little cup of water.
It was so sudden, fast and hilarious to me that it took me a good five minutes to stop laughing and tell him how funny that looked to me. Oh, my silly husband.

Of course, we arrived safely. She eventually fell asleep and I got to catch a few Zzzz's myself. We made it home from our trip to find Snoop alive, thanks to a sweet young man from our church. And I had a day off to recoup from my vacation before going back to work.

EVO Conference was great, best blog conference yet! We also went to Lagoon, and Lil' J went on her first rides. Oh it was so cute, and sad. I'll tell you all about it this week.

Wordless Wednesday: Are You Kidding Me TSA?

Our sixth flight in seven weeks and they made us do this as we went through security...

So what exactly are babies hiding in their shoes these days?

At least they let her keep her diaper on.

M.I.A.

No, I didn't die/get killed/lost forever in NYC. We had a blast! So much so that I'm still recuperating! So much so that I've had my longest no-blogging streak. I envy people who manage to have time and energy to whip those recap posts up right away... Granted I'm pretty sure I had the youngest baby there, so I have a good excuse. Lil' J was a GREAT Piggies and Paws model (and happy to be one), and we are SO glad they sent us! Check them out for affordable custom artwork using your kiddos hand and foot prints! They have great videos of examples on their Facebook Page. She's wearing an example of their new line soon to be announced!

I have LOTS to say about BlogHer, and other big big big BIG rants regarding controversial issues I'm already witnessing and experiencing in motherhood (yes, already!). But you know how you can't write about something until you write about the other stuff that happened first? I'm having that dilemma. I can't write about the other stuff until I recap BlogHer. As soon as I can get my thoughts together and put down I'll share it all.

Sadly I'm going back to work in less than six weeks. I cry every time I think about it, so I'm going to try not to dwell on that right now. Whoever said I'd be begging to go back to work once I spent some time at home was LYING!... Or just didn't know me. But it's ok, I didn't know me either. And I didn't know I'd be loving this so much.

Anyhoo... I'm trying to keep the computer out of reach, and my daughter in my arms as long as possible. So SORRY if you have sent me an email, or something and I haven't responded. I'll catch up soon! I'm NOT ignoring you. Even if you emailed me two months ago--I'm that far behind!!

I haven't uploaded my pictures from BlogHer yet so for now I'll leave you with this picture my friend from Grand Felicity Photography took during our mother-daughter shoot in Utah right before our trip to NYC. (Photography session giveaway coming soon!)

I'm Bringing My Baby to Blogher

I'm taking my baby, who just turned a month old to NYC Thursday [insert gasps]. Visiting NYC was on my baby bucket list, and I was a little sad when I realized I wasn't going to be able to cross it off. But crossing it off with my month-old baby while meeting friends I've been connecting with online seems even better, and like a great way to hit several birds with one stone.

Meanwhile, it's finally hitting my husband that I'm leaving, with our child, and flying to a big city with no real plan. He's starting to freak out a little--As usual, so I'm trying to calm him down, and calm myself down at the same time.

My ONE Blogher '10 Sponsor--Piggies and Paws is awesome. I'm actually having breakfast with the owner today! Luckily it won't be like last year where I'm trying to unload pounds and pounds of swag from several different sponsors, while also collecting some of my own to bring home. I'll still have some goodies to hand out, but it won't be a stress this year.

Having Little J with me, who will be wearing an ADORABLE new line from Piggies and Paws will be an easy conversation starter, and will make it a natural way to spread the word about their artwork, and bring up my blog at the same time. I can focus more on making real connections versus exchanging swag.

Last year was overwhelming at times, and this year will be just as overwhelming I'm sure, but in a different way.

At first I was thinking I'd just wing it, and meet who I meet and stumble into classes, but the more I think about it the more I'm realizing I need to have a loose plan, and I'll make what I can make, and if I have to miss something I wanted to hit up, that's ok too.

I just got back in town Monday after visiting some family, and need to unpack and re-pack my bags. It's quite a turnaround for a trip, but I can do this!! We now have two flights with a baby down and she did wonderfully. I can take the training wheels off and fly alone with her now right? My knees are shaking.

I didn't even have a stroller after I got screwed by a woman who owes me one. But luckily, Kolcraft stepped in and it shipping me an umbrella stroller that works for newborns on up to my hotel! How freaking sweet is that?

My friend Baby Dickey is a self-proclaimed organizational freak, and while I am at times too I've kinda let that go in my first few weeks of motherhood. She wrote a post a week or so ago about getting ready for Blogher and it made my armpits sweat--Yea, I got pretty anxious. She made her own itinerary according to the Blogher program. Program? What program? Heck, I don't even know what time my flight leaves! It's time I pull myself together a little bit, and get a tad bit organized about this trip.

So thanks for the push Emily, here's my loose plan:

THURSDAY

2:50: Fly first class to NYC. (I had to throw that in there cause I've never flown first class before)
8pm: Arrive in an airport I had never heard of until today and hopefully get my shuttle plans figured out so I can safely get to my hotel. While carrying my baby, her carseat, are bags, and no stroller. Suggestions?
9-10pm: The People's Party (maybe, probably not).

FRIDAY

The butt crack of dawn: Pack up our things and walk with our bags, carseat, and selves a block down to the Hilton and ask if they can hold our bags and/or if our room is ready.
8-9am: Newbie breakfast
9-9:30am: BlogHer Welcome
10-10:30am: If I haven't already, check into my hotel room, feed Little J (probably for the 5th time), and get ready to go to our first workshop.
10:30-11:45am: Workshop it was hard to decide but I want to go to:

	Passions: ROYO - Gen Y Passionistas: Making Your Passion “Work” For You

11:45-1:15pm: LUNCH!
1:15-2:30pm: Probably: Geek Lab: Fight Spam and Hackers! Plugging Security Holes in Your Social Media Life
or
Change Agents: Creating Tangible Social Change: How to Move People to Action
2:45-4pm: I've always wanted to take a photography class so this may be fun: Geek Lab: ROYO - How to Take Great Pictures, Whether You Have a DSLR or Point-and-Shoot
4-4:45: Afternoon break aka NAP TIME!
4:45-6pm: Keynote address (or keep napping)
6-7pm: Reception aka DINNER!
7-9pm: Babble Project Party [invite only] (if I can sneak Lil' J in).

SATURDAY

8-9am: BREAKFAST!
9-9:30am: Nap?
9:30am-10:30am: Keynote, which looks WAY GOOD! Hopefully I won't let my nap go through it.
10:45-12pm: Session. Either: Geek Lab: ROYO - How to Edit Your Pictures and Make Them 10x Better
or
Writing Lab: How to Use Your Blogging to Make You a Better Writer
I'm not a photographer but I'd like to get better where as I've been writing so long. I may see which one is less crowded and go to that one.
12-1:20pm: LUNCH
1:30-2:45: Skip session: NAP TIME! (pick up a swag bag I RSVPd for)
3pm-4:15: Session. Writing Lab: Humor Writing
4:20-5pm: Break... Meet up with people or nap if I missed it earlier. Or hunt for swag (though I'm forbidden to bring home too much junk).
5-6pm: Closing Keynote
6pm-midnight: PARTIES: I'm registered for two parties (that came with my ticket) but I REALLY just want to visit the Blogalicious party and maybe get a cheeseburger from the CheeseburgHer party.

If I'm not feeling up to the parties there's always the BlogHer Chill Space we can hang out in that night.

SUNDAY

BEFORE the but crack of dawn: Get my booty to the airport by 7am so we can get on our first class flight home!
1pm: Church--Yes, I'm going to try to make it. How's that for dedication?

Last year I didn't go to any parties and I still had a blast. I'm not a party-goer anyway, and I really enjoyed hanging out in friend's hotel rooms more, so I'm hoping I'll make friends and we can do that. I'm not sure I'll even bring fancy party clothing since the lighter I pack the better. Plus I don't really want to bring Lil' J to the parties... Although we'd be the life of it (of course).

The meals are in all caps cause I can't miss them... Like a college student, I'm all about free food, and have a phobia of overpriced food.

It may seem like I'm planning to sleep the whole time but really... With this little one sucking the life out of me (literally, is it just me or does breastfeeding make me sleepy?) I am looking forward to squeezing in a few naps... Yes, even in NYC. But if we're up to it, maybe we'll stroll around the Hilton and just see who we meet. Want to meet? Fill this out!

I'm more excited now that I've thought about this a little. I even ordered more business cards with a new picture from our mother daughter shoot!

Last year I didn't plan this much, I just followed The Blogrollers around, met new friends, and really just made it up as I went. I think with a baby this year I need a loose plan so I can pick it up and see what's going on while I'm there, but I'm also not expecting to make everything.

Any tips for a mom traveling alone for the first time with a one month old? Any tips about being in NYC? Tips about conferences? I'm all ears!

Babymoon... To Take or Not to Take?

I'm trying spend time with my hubbs today since we've taken some time off together, but our plans to go out of town have been botched. We forgot we have a Lamaze class tonight! I'm debating if we should still try to do a one-day getaway or some kind of weekend away another time.

So my post today is over here, on my blog for Parenting Magazine's Project Pregnancy. I'm really hoping they'll keep me on after Spawnie is born so I'd LOVE it if you could leave a comment over there with your thoughts! Please and thank you!

Here's an excerpt:

59 days. That’s how much longer I have until my baby girl’s due date. Less than two months. In less than two months I will have the responsibility of taking care of a person for the rest of my life.

Last January we went on a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean. We went thinking that very well could be our last big trip before having out first child—Turns out that’s the case. We aren’t big travelers, and quite honestly, we’re pretty big homebodies. We’d much rather a night inside with pizza and movies than a night out on the town. Every now and then we try to force ourselves out because we know those outings will be sparse once we have a new baby around but we really just prefer each other’s company snuggling at home.

In preparing for welcoming a new person to our lives we’ve thought a little about a “last trip” before she arrives. A “Babymoon” if you will. We both requested three of the same days off this week so we could take a little trip to a nearby city. We—or rather I—had a few places in mind that we could tour, visit and dine at. But now that our three-day weekend together has come, we’re both finding ourselves rather comfortable with just having the quite time alone together..."

You can read the rest of the post here.

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Lucky duck and winner of Trading Phrases Wall Decal: Random.org says #11. Congrats Tara, email your info to babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com.