Stroller

It's fortunate that human gestation is as long as it is (although I have learned that it's actually approximately 38 weeks rather than 40 weeks because the 40 weeks would be counting from the end of the woman's last period, not the time of conception, which varies a lot but is usually 2 weeks later). Anyway, I digress. I guess I have a tendency to do that, perhaps for the same reason of why I space out and start caressing the chin instead of the cheek. (see Shuyi's last post) I will have to focus to make sure this habit doesn't result in serious injury to my children in the future :-/

So as I was saying, it's fortunate that pregnancy is that long because it does take quite some time to prepare. First, of course, is to coming to grips with it mentally and emotionally. Having your first child is practically the definition of a life changing event. Many people think that getting married would be another example. However, in my experience, as well as that of my of our friends, after the initial stress, frenzy, and excitement of the planning, wedding, and honeymoon is over, comes the realization that nothing much has changed. We still went to same job, school, hung out with the same friends, and did exactly the same things that we did before getting married. In the old days, at least living together for the first time represented a major life change. These days, most couples move in together long before the wedding.

After coming to grips with the initial worries of "will I be a good parent?", more practical worries surface. How are we gonna fit a crib, dresser, rocker, and all that other baby stuff in our already packed apartment? What are all the random stuff we should get anyways? Since parenting is a near universal experience, lack of information isn't really a problem. The overwhelming amount of advice available is more difficult handle. As we are both scientists, there's a natural tendency to do as much research as possible about any important decision, and parents are faced with many decisions from well before the time the baby is actually born.

The first task we decided to take on was to select a stroller. There's so many options out there it's pretty much like buying a car. In fact, the stroller we ended up getting was almost the same price as the first car that my dad bought 20 years ago. (Granted, the car was about 10 yrs old when he purchased it. As a poor grad student, his options were limited.) For us, price was important but not a huge factor. We've temporarily given up on finding a house to buy in the crazy sf real estate market (it's down maybe 20% from the peak, but it's still ridiculously expensive). Plus, saving a few hundred dollars here or there doesn't matter much if you need well into the six figures just for a down payment on a small condo. I've always been of the philosophy that money isn't worth anything until you spend it. It's the goods and services that are purchased that offer practical benefits. Basically, I see no point in being overly miserly if not necessary. I guess some people derive enjoyment out of penny pinching; I'm certainly not of them. Doh, I went off on a tangent again. Perhaps it's just the "absent-minded professor" syndrome.

Anyway, the first stroller we researched was the ubiquitous bugaboo cameleon.

It's definitely been the luxury stroller du jour the last few years. Basically, it's ultra adjustable and stylish (although I guess that's subjective). The main cons are that 1) it's extremely common and almost more status symbol than stroller 2) it didn't seem that simple or intuitive to fold, and 3) it's $900. Now, I don't think $900 is all that bad given that people often pay more for clothes/shoes/accessories that they rarely wear. The main disadvantage for us was that you have to take the seat off to fold it. With that restriction on our mind, the next stroller we seriously considered was the Quinny Buzz.

It's the only stroller that has hydraulics that allow you to just tap to unfold it. What Shuyi liked the most about it was that she found the stroller (and the compatible maxi-cosi carseat) the cutest of all the ones we looked at. So a few months ago, we went to Giggle, an upscale baby store chain with a location in the Marina, to test it out. Unfortunately, we found that it wasn't quite as easy to fold as you'd think from looking at the promotional videos.

Shuyi also remembered that there was a stroller that someone from her lab had showed her a few months before that had been featured on an episode of The Office, but she didn't remember the name of it. We eventually figured out that it was the Orbit stroller.



We went to see it in person and found it pretty well designed and put together. On the downside, it also does not fold with the seat on, and it was even more expensive than the bugaboo. (It's nominally also $900, but that doesn't include a toddler seat, although it does include a car seat which most other strollers don't include. But if you add what it would cost for everything, it was definitely the most expensive option). Despite all that, we did seriously consider it because of the ability for the seat to face any direction (most face forward only and some backwards too), and for how sturdy the carseat and base seemed to be.

So although we had many options, none really stood out as being perfect. We weren't in a rush or anything, which only made making a decision more difficult. Ultimately, we ended up with the Micralite Toro. It was the #1 rated luxury stroller according to consumer reports and relatively inexpensive at ~$500. However, according to the manufacturer's website, the only place close to us that carried it was a store in Oakland that was open by appointment only. Therefore, we hadn't seriously considered it in the beginning. But, it just so happened that when we went to Lullaby Lanes (in San Bruno) to look at other baby stuff, they had a Toro on display that was given to them at a trade show. It wasn't something that they usually carried. The feature that we liked the most of this stroller was that it folded easily, with the seat still attached, and best of all, stands up on its own when folded. Alright, well Shuyi says this post is getting way too long and boring and no one will probably read it, so I'll just finish it off with a picture instead of another thousand words.