The 2.2

For the past two months with rare exceptions, every night CRB and I have taken a 2.2 mile walk to the front of our neighborhood and back. The lengthy walk calms CRB down and then he is almost always receptive to bath and bedtime.

Back in the spring our nanny was saying that her doctor wanted her to walk more. To encourage this I purchased a cheap but adequate pseudo-jogging stroller. While I was shopping ToolMan explained that the "real" and "nicer" joggers had a fixed front wheel which meant that to turn a corner one would have to lift the front stroller wheel off the ground. That did not seem like the best for our nanny so I got the cheaper, bare bones swivel wheel model.

The stroller has exceeded my expectations after ToolMan fixed the "nose gear" shimmy problem that the stroller had out of the box. The air filled tires cushion the ride for CRB. I took the snack tray off and now he has an unobstructed view. The large seating area lets him move around and check out what he sees on the walk. To keep CRB cool in our Deep South heat, I rely on frozen teething rings, or CRB's favorite, crushed ice in a Munchkin mesh sucker bag. Some nights I have to stop 5 times to fill the mesh bag with ice. The stroller came with a stroller leash (for runaway strollers I guess) which works perfectly to attach the mesh bag so that it is not dropped or thrown.

With our nightly walks we have gotten to know a larger subset of our neighbors and their pets. CRB squeals with delight, and never cries or fusses about anything on our walks. It's a time of peace that I am thrilled to get to have with my boy. CRB has even tolerated some rain, which I find a bit unbelievable so you may too, but it is true.

About 2 weeks ago, CRB realized that I was listening to music and he was not and that was an unacceptable state of affairs. For the last week or so I tried bringing ToolMan's iPod for CRB and using my own iPod myself. That did not work great or easily so I quit having the music much to my disappointment. Tonight ToolMan surprised me by pimping CRB's ride with some speakers. CRB ga-ga-ed to the music (in the right places even) and had a great time.

I enjoy spending this time with my son even though it is outrageously hot. Lately I have been considering getting a bike trailer so that we could change up the routine a bit for me. ToolMan is concerned that the trailer would make the bike feel like I was constantly going up hill. That would be a big negative from my standpoint, plus I am not sure how I can man the ice bag if I am on the bike. Finally, would I not be a bit psycho to mess with the routine that works?