Carseat Installed!

Yesterday afternoon I did something that really made Otto's arrival seem very imminent: I installed his carseat.  Whoa.  I actually intended to do it about a week ago, but between general busy-ness and going to Pittsburgh for several days, it didn't happen until yesterday.  No worries -- Otto clearly isn't here yet, so I'm not too late. 

TA-DAAAA:

The car seat is the first thing I've officially completed for the baby.  That's because it's the only thing that's absolutely essential.  If the baby is born before my hospital bag is packed, or before our crib arrives, or before I've washed all the baby clothes, we can manage.  But without a properly installed carseat, we can't bring him or her home from the hospital!  So it was definitely the first thing on my absolutely-must-do-in-the-final-stages list.

Next week I will take it to a local police station, where they have certified child seat installation inspectors who can double-check that everything's installed properly.  Although I have to admit, it was very easy to install (one of the reasons this carseat is so highly rated).  There are bubble levels on both sides to ensure the angle is correct, and I put my entire body weight on it when I tightened the straps, so this thing isn't budging.

Once the base was installed, I removed the carseat from the base and put it back in the nursery.  I don't want to drive around with an empty carseat for the next few weeks, because if I get into an accident -- no matter how minor -- we will have to buy a brand-new carseat (that's the recommendation).  And these things aren't cheap!  Whereas if I get into an accident with just the base in my car, we will only have to buy a new base, which is much cheaper.