A tough decision, sort of.

This post is, partially, a eulogy for the Orbit stroller. Yes, Orbit, your top-shelf industrial design was beguiling; your three hundred and sixty degrees of child rotation left us imagining children happily askew during walks to the library; your startlingly simple seat attachment and detachment made our fingers positively tingle with anticipation.

Nonetheless, your astronomical price tag stands in our way. Calling yourself a System, but including none of the additional parts in the already hefty initial purchase, means that we cannot partake of your wonders.

The first tough decision in the planning of the sprout's arrival, then, is this: certain sprout accessories will be superior, but simply will not be worth the cost. Even when the thing manages to be both well-designed and free of excessive branding, the business of Baby is still a lucrative one, one that drives prices very high indeed, and sometimes we're going to have to forgo The Thing in favor of The Thing That Makes Sense.

So instead, BOB Revolution Stroller, we come to you. You, too, have a fine frame and easy maneuvering. You, too, can accommodate both tiny sprout and toddler sprout. You are less expensive, to be sure, but you have some comparative drawbacks. You are not, for example, a System unto yourself. But though you do not rotate, and necessitate an infant seat that will be slightly more difficult to insert into and remove from our cars, we love you all the same.

Plus, you come in a pretty brown/sky blue combination that Beth thinks is suh-weet.