Assembly Required

With just a few short weeks left until the new baby arrives, our first "two child" item arrived at the house earlier this week - our double stroller. How exciting! Ben kept looking at the unopened box and saying "baby" with a very serious face on. He must have remembered how we talked about getting a new stroller before the baby comes while we were test driving them at Babies R Us!

I have been sick with the flu all week so I have not had much inclination to open up the package earlier, but today I am starting to feel better so Ben and I took it out of the box and assembled it this morning. What a big helper he was. He immediately took Andrew's screwdriver and made sure to check all of the visible screws on the entire stroller and to also provide a full QC (quality control) check on all of the factory-assembled pieces as well!

Hmmm...do I need to use a phillips head or a flat screwdriver for this?

Now that the screwdriver is all set up, Ben gets right to work. Just like his dad, he loves tools and has known what to do with his own toy tools and the few real tools he has been allowed to handle without us ever telling him how to use them. He toddled around the stroller "assembling" it and kept muttering "tools" under his breath as he worked. He also would let out an exasperated "uh oh" whenever he would get to a part that I had not yet attached. I suppose my needing to read the instruction manual was holding up his work!

Stopping to pose for a quick photo...

...or two...

And voila, the finished product! Ben loves his new big boy front seat. He has two cupholders for his cup and snack, a sunshade that he can easily adjust himself and his very own basket under the seat that he is able to access where he can store his toys and other things when we go out. He really liked this feature and immediately filled it with his Matchbox cars.

We took the new stroller for a few strolls around the house and Ben certainly enjoyed the ride while I practiced maneuvering a stroller that is so much longer and bigger than what I am currently used to. I'm sure with a little practice I will get the hang of it!

Finally, a short clip of Ben helping with the assembly. As I mentioned, I have been sick all week so I sound a bit more, eh, masculine, than usual thanks to my cough and scratchy throat.