I was so excited when I found out I was going to be a dad. Fast forward to the day my wife, Katie, and I got to bring our son, Wells, home and it seemed like the car seat was going to swallow him. He was so tiny. Driving home reminded me of the end of the movie Knocked Up, when Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl are driving home from the hospital going 20 miles per hour, not caring about anyone else but their little family. My little family was the only thought on my mind.

Before all this happened, my wife made sure to meet with REMSA to make sure that our car seat base was properly installed in the back of her car. That thing was in there tight. Once home from the hospital, we probably waited 2-3 weeks before we ventured out of the house a new family all together. At first, Katie was the pro at getting Wells all secure in his seat, but I was the one that clicked him into the base.

Since then, I’ve become a pro like my wife and I have taken advantage of that this summer. I am a third-grade teacher, which gave me the freedom to hang out with my son every day for seven weeks during summer break. Due to the hot temperatures and occasional smoky air, we didn’t get out of the house as much as we would have liked to. When we did, though, we were “going on a mission.” I have become well versed in Disney Jr. cartoons and one of our favorites is Puppy Dog Pals. The two dogs, Rollie and Bingo, are always going on missions, so Wells and I transform into those characters when we leave the house. I always sing him the little jingle from the show as I am getting him secure in his car seat. We have gone many places – my school, the store, visits to the grandparents, lunch with friends, and the coolest mission yet, we went to the outlet mall and I took Wells into Lids, where I purchased him his first San Francisco Giants pro fit. On the weekends, we get to include Mom in our missions. That is so much fun. We recently went to Virginia City and took an old-timey photo. Wells was such a good sport.

These missions are fun, but one thing I noticed is that when I take the car seat in and out of the car, is the base starts to loosen up. It is always good to make sure you check the base every so often to make sure that it is secure, and if you are uncertain, get ahold of REMSA to see if they can check it for you. I also took my car in to REMSA to have them put our second car seat base in securely. It is worth it.

Summer is coming to an end and I have to go back to school. The cool thing is that I will be taking Wells on a new mission starting next week: daycare.