Princess Raelynn's New Carriage

A little over a year ago, when Raelynn was about 2 weeks old, my in-laws decided to buy us a stroller for her. Which was very kind indeed. Only they didn't consult us about this stroller or consider our needs with it. No, no, no. That would have been the sensible and logical thing to do. Instead, they bought what they thought would be seen by everyone, imagining that as we would push Raelynn down the street in it, people would stop us to ask us about our massive carriage and then my husband would brag about how his parents spent a fortune on it for us. Or more likely, MIL imagined HERSELF getting the opportunity to push Raelynn around and brag about the baby AND the stroller.

Unfortunately for us (and them), since they didn't think about anything except overpaying for something unnecessary, we wound up with a stroller that was insanely heavy, extremely difficult to open and close, and ugly on top of it all. The ugly bit I could deal with, but the fact that I couldn't possibly lug that thing up and down the 6 flights of stairs in our building (remember, no elevator in this stupid place) AND carry the baby AND a diaper bag, plus any other items I may have purchased while out and about. So I have always used the baby carrier, which Raelynn loves as she gets to be snuggled up next to me (or her daddy if he's willing to give my poor back a break). We have taken the gargantuan stroller for a ride only a few times. Once to Raelynn's 100 Day Celebration, and the other few times just to my in-laws' home nearby.

But over the holiday (I got a 5-day weekend, bitches! Haha! Thanks Qingming, whoever you are!), we met one of our friends for lunch. She had her son 1 month after Raelynn was born. Incidentally, he is enormous too. Not in a fat and gross way. I mean that he is just going to be a very big and strong boy. He's already walking! Anyway, Anto had this great little stroller for Antonio. She said she paid less than 300 rmb for it and it folded up very easily. She'd complained that she'd had a bigger one that was just so difficult to use and her life was so much easier now that she'd gotten her new buggy.

Jeremy and I looked at each other and grinned. Our prayers had been answered! Finally, we found a stroller that wasn't overpriced that would actually fit our needs. So we ran out and got one. Check it out!

 It's stylish in red and black, no?

More importantly though, it takes only a few seconds to fold this right up. There's a handy strap so you can sling it right over your shoulder. It's very light-weight and it fits easily into the trunk of any taxi. Score!

For comparison, here is the old one:

Here it is folded up in our kitchen, where it currently resides and collects dust because it is inherently useless.

  

And here it is in use during Raelynn's 100 Day Celebration party. Obviously that was a while ago since she looks so small in this photo, but you can plainly see the ugliness of this thing and the massive size of it too. This thing would indeed be fun to ram into the ankles of passersby with my dear friend Aaron Gordon as we once suspected those maneuvering strollers many years ago of doing it intentionally. Likely before he ever makes it out here for a visit, we will wind up selling this monstrosity to someone who can actually get some use out of it.

Unfortunately, there is one more hitch in our plan. When we first put Raelynn into the new carriage, she had an absolute fit. Come to think of it, she's never been too happy in the big ugly one from her grandparents either. We tried several times while we were out shopping in Taidong to get her to sit in it, but each time, she burst into torrential tears and screamed "MAMA!" She even tried to climb out of it! When I picked her back up, I was astonished with how tightly she gripped me. Poor Raelynn! And poor Jeremy, who was now pushing an empty stroller about.

We decided that we should practice with her at home. Perhaps she would feel more comfortable about the stroller if she got properly acquainted with it in the comforts of our home. After all, she used to love when her daddy pushed her around the house in the clunky one (in the days before that wonderful Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance chair that is). But this too went over like a lead balloon. Now we're not quite sure how to get her to ride in it. Whoever said, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," probably had a diva of a daughter who needed to be coaxed into riding in a baby carriage.

On a more serious note though, to any and all parents out there! Please leave me a comment or if you know me personally, email me or comment/message me on Facebook if you have any suggestions on how to get our soon-to-be-one-year-old drama queen to let us push her around like the princess she is.