Stroller-Mania

OK, I like the stroller. I am much more excited about walking again now that it is not inevitably accompanied by intense shoulder pain in the short-term and a sore back all the time. We went for a long walk by the Seine yesterday, and discovered that we can take the footpath by the river all the way up the Foret and the pond there. It'd take about an hour and a half, and it'd be gorgeous. And more fun than the bus.

Apparently we bought the most popular stroller in France. Now that I have it, I'm seeing it everywhere. We even saw it in exactly the same colors three times yesterday. I am also realizing why those baby bags are so popular--he gets a lot colder than we do since he's not walking, he's up off the ground with cold air all around him, and when he's not strapped to my body he doesn't have my heat to warm him. But still, I think the French are a little crazy when it comes to baby warmth. They flip out if it's 70 degrees and your baby doesn't have on a wool hat and socks, and their babies have been bundled up in snowsuits AND sleeping bags since early October. Maybe their babies are more fragile, though--they are certainly smaller. Tristram is the size of kid at least a year and a half old by French standards.

Really, since he is our idea of normal babydom, we have tended to worry about other people's babies ever since he was born. We're always whispering to each other, "It's so small...Do you think it's okay? Is it a premie? What's wrong with it? It's so passive!"

I want to stay because we are so close to infinitely more gorgeous walking than we could possibly do in a day.

I want to leave because I am sick of getting weird looks from parents who think my child is not bundled up enough when he's perfectly comfortable. The French are much more inclined to interfere with other people's babies than Californians are. Less of an expectation of privacy, I suppose. Or just less respect for personal space?