I'm in Lurve with my Verve!

[joolsplus3]

My Christmas present to myself got here in time, and I'm totally loving it!
It's the Britax Verve 3-wheel stroller...it pushes one handed like a dream (even with my 45 pound 7 yo sitting in it), it turns on a dime, it has all-wheel suspension, slight recline (you really want to follow that 6 months and up age limit), and while the basket is barely big enough for a diapees and wipees, i can hang a skip hop duo on it and it does NOT cause it to tip! The safeseat 1 props perfectly in there, so it has what I like to call 'airportability', lol... I'd probably bungee the handles together. The handle is TALL and STURDY, like I can't even wrap my fingers all the way around it, but the padding is a sturdy foam and I expect it will hold up well. It stands alone when folded. I still haven't tried to stick it in my car between the seatback and the rf carseat, but I *think* it'll fit, and that'd be so perfect for popping leah right into for quick errands (I hate walking to the trunk to get a stroller out... so lazy...)

http://picasaweb.google.com/joolstag/Strollers

[lovinwaves]

COngrats Julie!! Merry Christmas to YOU!! LOL

It looks awesome!!! I like how you can install the infant carrier forward facing. It looks super compact. How does it handle bumps? What is the weight limit also? It would be nice if they made a double :(

[skipspin]

How does Bitsy look in it? It looks like it's on the short side, but maybe L's just tall and makes it look short.

[mom2acrew]

I was thinking the same thing

[yoshiandluke]

Oooh! It looks perfect! Too bad they didn't have the Verve 3 yrs ago- I would have bought one. Your daughter is beautiful! Enjoy the stroller!

[Patriot201]

Oh cool!!!

I have been DYING to see the Verve and the Vigour in person!!!! I am drooling over the new Britax strollers. Keep us updated on how you like it.

Congrats!

[tchrgrrl]

I have been hankering for a new stroller since I sold my e3, you are not helping LOL! Looks awesome!

[joolsplus3]

So we took it on our mini vacation to DC this week, and it was *wonderful*. The wheels and suspension are just right to handle sidwalk bumps and gravelly (but not loose gravel) walkways, and it's just the right shape to balance the push bar against your chest, grab it down on the sides, and lift it up stairs. It's super compact when cramming into elevators and the subway. And the coolest of all is a mom pushing an E3 with a doubles kit and 2 cute babies stopped and said, WOW, cool stroller! (I had to explain to dh for like 10 minutes that she had a single jogger with 2 kids...my mom noticed immediately and thought HER stroller was the coolest thing around, lol). Yeah, it's definitely smallish... better as a trunk stroller for littler kiddos, and the Volo is better for bigger kiddos who can get up and walk up the stairs themselves. Leah sat next to the breakfast table in it and wasn't 'too low' below us, it folded super fast and fit in the footwell of the Ford, and my diaper bag never tipped it once (dh loved the strollr swivlr I had stuck on the back, too, lol). Oh, we found a way to strap the shoulder straps around the handle of the carseat so that it was sturdily in there for a big trip to Ikea on the way home. Just never let the kiddo sit in there without the harness being buckled, cuz when you unstrap the seat from the stroller, she's likely to take a dive (I looked down and she was under her carseat on the ground...oooooops... the safeseat is sturdy and deep and she was unharmed, but boy do I feel bad...d'oh!).
It says 40 pound weight limit... that seems about right, though as I said, it propped 45 lb Bitsy in there for a push around the house just fine, pushed great (no legrest for her, though). I'd say a stocky 40 pound 3 yo would still fit ok in it (the seatback is higher than it looks when you take the hood off, so the hood can be pushed fairly high up, compared to, say, a graco or evenflo stroller with those looooowww seatbacks).
Anyway, so far, so good :).

I had a bit of a sour grapes moment when I saw how much lint and hair the fleece on a bugaboo cameleon can attract (You know, 'wow, I'm glad I don't have THAT stroller!, it's so linty! lol), plus the tiny wheels are definitely what I wanted on the verve, so it works great. But if i need a stroller with bigger wheels, I don't think I'd hesitate to try the Vigour... the quality of the verve is really awesome)

:)