Today we went to Baby on Grand (a great store with staff people that are so knowledgable and understanding that not everyone is an expert on strollers) and picked up our stroller! We have probably logged about 10 hours of internet research on strollers, so by the time we went to the store today, we knew exactly what we wanted. It was a present from my mom, so we wanted to make sure that we were getting something perfect!
We started our stroller search with an intense discussion of our stroller needs. Yes, when you are having a baby, these are the kind of sexy conversations that you have on a regular basis with your partner. We decided that our stroller needs were:
1. All-in-one. We didn't want to have to buy a stroller for when he is a newborn, for when it is a toddler, for when we are at the park, etc. You'd be surprised how many frigging strollers some people have.
2. No Winnie the Pooh. In fact, no licensed characters is kind of a theme for us.
3. Comes with a "boot." Now, you people who don't live in the frozen tundra with children may not know what this is. It is a little foot cover that you can latch onto the stroller's belly bar to keep baby feet and legs warm.
4. Folds up small. It has to fit in the "trunk" of the Scion, which is not really a trunk at all, but more of an oversized shoebox.
We began our research on a fabulous website, BabyGizmo. In fact, I should just go ahead and set Baby Gizmo as my home page, that's how often I look at it. And I actually get irritated if they haven't reviewed a product. I know, right! The best feature about BabyGizmo are their YouTube videos, and they had one for the stroller we had our eye on. May I present to you, the Inglesina Zippy!
She had us from the "one-handed fold" and the fact that it can stand up on end after it is folded up. We also love the light-weight factor and the super small fold is a breeze to fit into the Scion. We even fit it into the regular sized trunk of our other car today with 4 bags of groceries! I know, it's the little things that get me excited.
Here are some photos of us with the stroller in our living room. Although it was very tempting, we didn't put Sully in it.
The head-on view.
We call this the "no paparazzi please" setup with the winter boot and the large canopy.
Liz making some tight turns around the living room!
Close up view!
I am not sure if we'll be this happy when we are pushing a baby around in it and it's -15 degrees outside...