Good Bye "Cow Spots": 07/25/06
Sean continues to grow up. We had planned to wait until his well child appointment in two weeks before buying a booster seat but Sean has out grown his car seat. This weekend it was clear that his old seat was no longer safe for him to sit in. He was too tall for it and the five point restraints no longer fit correctly. We went to Target and let Sean help us pick out a new seat. We decided on the Graco No Back Turbo Booster Seat.

The most important thing to keep in mind with booster seats is that all modern ones are designed to work with a shoulder and lap strap combination. According to the CHP FAQ page, put the booster seat in the front seat if there are no lap belts in the backseat.

Sean was worried at first because it doesn't have "seat belts". He's so used to the five point system that it didn't seem right that he could sit in my car with a grown up seat belt. Ultimately we were able to explain how the booster seat works with the car's seat belt but the cup holders were the deal maker.

Last night Ian and I took out the old seat which now needs to be taken apart, cleaned and reconfigured for Harriet. We have to move the straps up and put it back in the car facing backwards. Then we put in the booster seat. It was so easy compared to the car seats we have. Car seats for new borns take the most fiddling, having dozens of steps that have to be done just so for the safety of the child. The forward facing seat has about half of the newborn seat. The booster seat has only four steps: put on arm rests, tie on belt guide to back of booster seat, put red adjustment piece on car's shoulder strap, put seat in car. It felt so odd to be done in less than five minutes on the first try.

Sean had his first ride in the new seat last night. Again he asked about the "missing" restrain system and we showed him how to use the shoulder strap. It only took him once to show him and then he was getting in and out of his seat like a pro. We still help him adjust the shoulder strap but the whole process is much easier. My only worry now: how will I find my car in a parking lot before I put the cow spotted car seat back in for Harriet? My back seat looks naked without the old car seat!

Entrances:
I have been having fun sorting out my digital art by theme. The next one I've chosen to cover is "Entrances" which includes doors and other ways into buildings. I am not including interiors in this theme (those would be ways out). Given my fascination with architecture, I was expecting more than the twenty-one I have finished as of July 2006.

Most of the images cover close-ups of doors from mundane settings though there are a few castles thrown in too. The oddest entry is probably Broken Window which I did for an artistic challenge back in 2001. My favorite of the set is The Gateway a piece I did last year built almost entirely from Bryce terrains. My most popular from the set based on my logs is Red Door; it brings in about a dozen guests a day.

 

Steps: 5000