Gracie took her first steps all on her own tonight! And my friend J was here to witness, so it wasn't all in my head either!!!

Go Gracie!! :o)

When I was pregnant, I read the statistic that 80% of all car seats for kids were installed improperly, thereby putting the kids at a high risk of injury were there an accident. Once Grace was born, I stressed a tad about how her car seat was installed, worrying slightly that the base for her infant seat was not level enough (there's a little level indicator on it), that the seatbelt wasn't tight enough, etc. Now that she's in her big-girl infant seat, I make sure that the level indicator is as level as I can get it and that it's as tight into the seat as I can make it.

It was never a full-on worry; just a little something to niggle in my mind a bit.

I guess I really have nothing to worry about because apparently I am one of the few that actually uses car seats the way they're meant to be used!!!!

Of course, Caroline does too, which is why we're such good friends. ;o)

I can't understand this laissez-faire attitude with car seats! If you get into a crash, it's the only thing protecting your kid! Don't you WANT your kid to grow up and go to prom and maybe get married and have kids of their own??

I went out for a walk with Gracie one day last week and met another mother in the neighborhood. She had her 5-year-old son in a booster seat in the back, as he should be. However, she had her 1-year-old son in an infant carrier, which he was way too big for (Grace outgrew hers at 7 months), IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT.

It's plastered all over car seat boxes and the car seats themselves that they should NEVER be used in the front seat due to the air bag deploying and causing damage to the car seat.

Another friend of mine still had her 1-year-old daughter in her infant carrier even though she was too long for it. At one year, you can turn the car seat around so that the kid faces forward. I guess she was excited that her daughter would finally be able to see where she was going because she turned her daughter's infant carrier base towards the front, even though they should never be used forward facing. The car seat doesn't have the strength to withstand a crash if it's not rear-facing.

Still another friend lets her daughter ride in the front seat of her car, even though she's only five.

And here I was stressing about turning Grace forwards at 11 months instead of waiting for one year!! I think it will work better in my mother-in-law's SUV to have Grace facing forwards because she has leather seats, and rear facing car seats slide around a LOT on leather. I think it will be better for Grace to face forwards and be in a secure seat than to face backwards and have her seat slide around.

I just don't understand why people don't use their car seats properly, and I really don't get why people have their 1-year-old kids in an infant carrier! I know car seats are expensive, but it should be your #1 priority to get a new car seat when your kid outgrows his old one! My friend HC doesn't have a whole lot of money to spare, yet she got both her kids (ages 6 and 3) new boosters at the expense of $50 a piece because they needed high-back ones to protect their heads in a crash. With his old booster, her son's head was raised above the back seat and his neck would snap in a crash.

Caroline, bless her mothering heart, also has had times at which she hasn't had two pennies to rub together, yet her daughters have always been well-protected with the proper car seats. When her youngest daughter outgrew her infant carrier (and she's not even seven months yet!!), Caroline made it a priority to get a convertible car seat so that her baby would be safe. Gee, that makes a ton of sense to me!

So if you don't have your kids in the proper car seat or *gasp* don't require your kids to wear your seatbelt, please don't tell me. I don't want to stress about the loss of your kid when you get into an accident.