now that d-man is older and in need of (slightly) less equipment when out-and-about, we decided it was time for a lightweight stroller. we also realized we needed one because we are going to be traveling more in the next few months, and some of these trips will involve an airplane … a smaller stroller is definitely in order.

as with ALL baby/infant/toddler equipment, there are myriad choices in lightweight strollers … researching the selection is mind-numbing. the differences between brands and then between models within brands are difficult to discern; the price ranges, however, are NOT difficult to see.

i knew i wanted a five-point harness: d-man is a stretcher and a reacher. this criterion immediately eliminated all choices under $60. BUT i was also hoping beyond hope i would find a stroller that folded up to the size of a wallet. i wanted something that would take up little room in our tiny prius trunk and that we could check just like a regular bag at the airport. i feared such a stroller did not exist, and i super-feared if it did, it would cost $900.

well, it is true: all we have to fear is fear itself. i found EXACTLY what i was looking for … behold the mia moda cielo!

holy cow! is this stroller awesome! AND it only costs around $109!!! of course, we could NOT find it at a store anywhere around us, and we need it for an upcoming trip (next week), so i had to find a place to buy it online. i went to all of the usual suspects (amazon, babies-r-us, target), but shipping was going to take waaayyyy too long. i finally found a place in manhattan. (i found it on the mia moda site.)

little folks is an awesome store! all i had to do was call them, and they totally set up expedited shipping for $15. (amazon’s expedited shipping was almost $60!) of course, it helps that we are so close to the city, but still, it was great to have peeps on it. (they totally could have taken advantage of the desperation in my voice and charged a lot more than $15.) i ordered the stroller on tuesday. it came yesterday: wednesday!

and lordy, do we love it!

(all that said, for our trip to vermont, we took a $20 umbrella stroller, which worked really well … even off-roading on farms … but without the five-point harness to restrict excited hands, it does have its drawbacks.)