Call It What You Want...

As we approach the need to have a second car seat in the minivan, I'm looking for opinion/advice from people who might have experience in this: Where do I put the baby?

Imagine this nice minivan (it's even the right color). Both side doors (driver and passenger sides) open automatically with the push of a button. Since we got the van, Mark's seat has been located on the driver's side. That way, I don't have to load him into the van and then walk all the way around.

Now, with the impending arrival of Esmeralda or Edgar (made up names, not the ones we've picked, as if we'd picked names out yet...), I must decide. Do I move Mark's seat to the other side of the van and put the baby seat on the driver's side? Or do I leave Mark where he is and put the baby on the passenger side? Does it even matter? I will have to be on both sides of the car anyway.

We have a carrier-style seat for the baby, so it will easily "drop" into the base. Mark does not yet climb into the car or his seat, and does still have to be strapped in. Friend Linda uses the rear seats and one of the first-row seats, but she has three the same size that need dropped in at once, and she has the other first-row seat "stowed" into the floor so that she can get to the rear seats to put babies away.  

Our van potentially looks like this:

(Well, less leather, and without the console by the driver's seat. And there's a car seat in the first-row seat behind the driver.) Any of the first-row or rear seats can fold into the floor with the clever stow-and-go system so beloved in Chrysler vehicles.

So, does it matter? Where do I put the baby? Weigh in with your opinion, even if you think it doesn't matter. This would be a nice time for all my friends who I don't already know or who wander by and haven't commented to put in your two cents' worth -- or two pounds, if you're in Britain, which makes your opinion count for more.