This carseat brought to you by the letter I, the number 80, and the sound of your mother's screaming.

A week or so ago the Schmoopse and I took the kids up the canyon to get out of the smog and hit up the outlets for a couple of hours. We marveled at the realities of a blue sky (curse you, inversion!) and picked up a few new dress shirts for Paddy for a screaming deal. By the time we headed home, the sky was dark and the traffic on the highway had picked up. Suddenly, without any warning at all, the lights inside the car flashed on and the sound of rushing air came from the back seat.

Oh yeah, no big deal, my three year old had just OPENED THE DOOR while we flew along I-80 at 60 miles per hour.

It's sort of an anti-climactic story after that because after I soiled myself from shock, we managed to pull over without incident. Thankfully, the door didn't swing all the way open and drag viciously along the cement barrier spilling my children out all over the road the way it did in my mind during the seconds before we could get the car stopped. After an extremely, uh, stern talking to from both parents, our repentant toddler promised never to touch the door handle again, and Paddy and I recommitted ourselves to locking the doors at every. single. time. we get in the car. 

All of this to say: When Mister Baggins outgrew his infant carrier a few weeks ago, we abandoned the idea of moving Bug to a booster seat and elected to leave her in her 5 point harness seat for a while longer. Clearly, a child who OPENS THE DOOR ON THE FREEWAY cannot be trusted to leave her seat belt alone. We hit up the Costco and scored Baggins a seat that matches Bug's almost exactly, and now the two of them have space seats they can use until they're ready for regular old seat belts (which, these days, is like age 14 or something.)

Isn't he sweet in his new giant seat?

Flashback: Bug, when her seat was brand-spanking-new, before there were goldfish crumbs in every possible crevice:

And now, because I have nothing else to say, a bonus feature. A picture strip fittingly titled, "Baby Enjoys Empty Car Seat Box More Than Any Actual Toy He Has".

That is all.