So every morning now for the past 2 weeks, my daughter has taken to telling me that she needs to go pee pee on the potty when I am getting her dressed in the morning to go to daycare. So we go into the bathroom and I sit her down on the potty, and she goes. Every mornng without fluke.

She's has her little potty since she was a year old, and sometimes sits on and sometimes not. I've been meaning to start potty training, but keep pushing it back, and pushing it back, and some days she wants to and other days she doesn't....up until now. At daycare, her teacher allows her to sit ont he potty whenever she wants to...somedays she goes other days not.

Now, I can tell she is "senseing" when she needs to go (as evidenced by her standing up in the bathtub the other night during our bath and saying Mommy I need go pee pe" and then doing it right there and by the first morning two weeks ago when she told me she had to go pee pee when I was getting her dressed......

So Christmas break is coming upon us and I have time......what next steps would you take?

Oh a few notes....
-- We are travelling to my in-laws and will be there ALL of next week. I can take her potty or potty seat that goes on the regular toilet.
-- I *would* do the bare bottom thng, but, as I said, we will be at my in-laws and I don;t think they would *get it* about her running around bare-bottomed.
-- we do have PLENTY of "big girl" panties, but right now she is in Pull-Ups/diapers as I figure out what to do........

How do you decide when your kid can sit in the restaurant high chair (those wooden ones that seem to be standard issue)? Obviously size and a certain amount of sitting unassisted play into it...but *what* size and how full of win do they need to be at sitting?



I thought of just using duct tape on a regular chair, but I'm a sensitive soul and cannot handle the glares of people who don't know that it's perfectly ok.

Inspired by a couple of threads/comments on earlier posts.

Do you think there is a "perfect" age to become a parent? One that is neither too young or too old? Would you rather have been older or younger when you had your own children? Why?

( My Sitch )

I know most of you are at least 10 years younger than me, so I'm interested to hear your experiences/thoughts.

So, I've googled my little heart out and still can't find exactly what I need. My grandmother always made home-made fruitcake for my mom. She's gone now, and my grandfather just died a few months ago. I thought it would be a really great Christmas gift to make one for her like my grandmother did. The problem here is, she never wrote down recipes. I was able to get from my mom that it was "the dark kind" of fruitcake. It wasn't dried fruit, but all candied. All of the recipes I've found are either all dried, not candied, or just maybe 2 types of candied.

I need a recipe for a darker fruitcake with a variety of candied fruits. Also, how can I candy the fruits myself? And after candying, do I dehydrate them before using or just throw them in freshly candied? I do have a fairly simple dehydrator to use.


Next question:
I want to make a recipe jar for my brother. The recipe I found is blueberry scones. It needs dehydrated blueberries, dehydrated lemon peel, and vanilla sugar. Can I just buy frozen blueberries, thaw and dehydrate? Would those taste good, or really off? I'm planning on just dehydrating my own lemon peel, because I can't find it anywhere. Lastly, for the vanilla sugar. I can't find vanilla beans! :( Where would I be more likely to find them? (I have a Stracks, Wiseway, Meijer, and Walmart by me, I've checked Walmart and Meijer already). If I can't find them, could I just use a substantial amount of pure vanilla and let it blend that way?

Thank you for reading this as well. You guys always have amazing advice.

For those of you with kids in a daycare of some sort - are you giving your provider a gift?

My son has the BEST family daycare he attends. It's a husband & wife and her mother - and they are the best, best, best. They love the kids like their own - they are smart, organized, active, friendly, warm, down to earth - it goes on and on. I would like to get them something nice...in brainstorming mode. I do a lot of shopping on Etsy, but I don't think anything etsy works here...

Does anyone have this rocker... http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product&pid=48213 ?

Ellie is 5 months old and it's already turning into a piece of junk. I called fisher price and they're going to give me my money back, but I wondered if anyone else was having problems with it.

Also, does anyone use the playtex ventaire bottles? All of the writing came off of mine and they started to leak out the bottom. We only used them for 2 months. Ugh... What bottles don't suck?

Does anyone know where I can purchase the MMR vaccine separately? Merck says they only make the combo shot these days.

TIA!

This weekend, my roommates and I are throwing a "Home Alone" themed Christmas party. We have a "Home Alone" drinking game (ex. "Take a drink every time Catherine O'Hara makes it seem like it's someone elses problem that she left her kid at home alone." or "Take a drink every time Ol' Man Marley is creepin'." etc.) and are making little gift bags with army men, tic tacs, toothbrushes and Micro Machines (if I can find these in a large pack somewhere cheap.) And obvs, Pepsi products as mixers for drinks.

For food, we'll be serving plain cheese pizza (easy) and we were thinking a couple different kinds of mac and cheese. Does anyone have a favorite mac and cheese recipie? Or ideas for different mix ins?

Also, anyone have any ideas for different food in general? So far, since we're trying to stick to the theme and foods that Kevin eats in the movie, everything is very... cheesy. Easy is always better, since one of the reasons we're doing this theme (aside from pure love of the movie) is that it would be pretty simple food-wise.

Also, any other "Home Alone" theme suggestions would be great!

edit We are also doing make your own sundae (I thought I included that in the post, but I think I accidently deleted it.)

I have a 27.5 month old who is starting to try climbing out of her crib. Can anyone shed some light on how to handle converting her to her big girl bed? We live in an apartment right now but will be moving into a house at the end of January. Should we wait until we move to convert her crib to the toddler bed? How do you handle kids getting up and playing with their toys, or wondering around the house while you are asleep?

I'm looking for ideas to try, what has worked and what hasn't, when we should start (before or after the move), etc. Thanks in advance!

Is there some secret to cleaning those mesh feeder things? Cuz... ew.

I found a great recipe site (from the USDA) that allows you to search by ingredients, special dietary needs, and cost per serving/recipe, which is especially helpful in these tight times. Go to:

http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/

Just wanted to share, because it's given me a lot of good money-stretching ideas!

Cheer me up. This is relevant because I have kids, and they tire me, make me poor, and keep me from being a drunken slut like any other self respecting 24 year old would be!

For those of you following an alternate vaccine schedule...do you constantly get lectured by your child's pediatrician?
I'm thinking of changing doctors because of this! My 2 yr old son is only missing 3 shots from the AAP guidelines, and she is acting like it's a huge deal.
/rant

Hello!

For Christmas, my mother is thinking about buying my younger brother a new cell phone off Overstock.Com.
Now, she's found a few phones on the site that all say they are unlocked - so does that mean they are specifically unlocked for all major networks (meaning, we can use it with Tmobile)? Or would she have to do something else to make it work, like call customer care and pay an extra fee, etc?

If it matters, the phones she has looked at are a Samsung B3310 and I believe a Blackberry Curve.

Thanks for any help! I've never bought a cell phone from anywhere except the company store, so I couldn't help her much.

I'm sure there's a very simple answer to this question, and I'm equally sure I'm about to be disappointed, but...

I am wanting to make some apple butter in my Crock Pot and then store it in jars. I have found instructions for sterilizing the jars and everything, that's not my question.

My question is, can I re-use glass jars from store-bought jam and the like if I still have the metal lids, or do I need to buy the proper canning jars with the rings and lids? I have a few of the proper canning jars, I just want to know if I need more or if I can also sterilize the other jars I have (I've been washing and keeping them for a while now) and use them.

Anyone?

(No idea what to tag this, so went with kitchen.)

Do any of you have kids that don't seem to really respond to Tylenol? My niece, 21 months, is sick again with a fever. Last night it was 104 axillary (so really 105) and they gave her a tepid bath to bring it down to 102 and then gave fever reducers. With K, though, the Tylenol NEVER touches it. When I was on the phone with my sister this afternoon, her fever was creeping back up. K had gotten her Tylenol at 130pm. My sister called me around 2ish and by 215, her fever was raging again and it was still 45 minutes before she was due for the Motrin. Normally, it's not a huge deal, but this time around her fever keeps creeping back to 104-105. They were at the doctor this morning and her ears are clear, her lungs are clear, the rapid strep came back negative, and she's not exhibiting any other signs of a possible UTI, but they sent off a urine anyway.

If your kid has been like this, what did you do in that interim? Like I said, usually it's not a big deal and she can hang out at 101-102 until it's time for Motrin, but 104-105 is getting into seizure territory so they don't want her to be at that temp for very long. Any suggestions?

Times are tough this holiday season, and as a result I will be baking cookies and breads to hand out as gifts. When can I start baking, and still have fresh tasting cookies for Christmas Eve and Day? I've also heard of freezing cookies... does this alter the taste once thawed?

I'm also interested in hearing any of your favorite cookie recipes. Currently on my list are the standards: chocolate chip, peanut butter, gooey butter, sugar, butter, and rolo pretzels.

Because I know this community LOVES follow-ups :)

http://community.livejournal.com/parenting101/5228311.html

We have the start of teeth now! Not-so-good picture and not-so-good picture with the areas circled. They're much easier to see in person.

So she went from the first onset of swollen gums to them barely poking through in about 2 1/2 weeks. Now what? How long did it take for your kids teeth to actually come out the rest of the way and look like teeth?

I think my son is running a slight fever, but I can't really check. He HATES having his temperature taken. I try to take an underarm temerature, but he starts screaming and wailing and gets really squirmy (and now he can just RUN AWAY!). I think he thinks it will hurt, even though I tried to show him on myself that it's OK.

We only have the one thermometer, which Hubby and I use the regular way (oral), so a rectal temp is out of the question (and if he objects so strongly to underarm, I think taking a rectal temp will just about kill him). He's too small to take an oral temp (21 months). Trying to take his temp when he's sleeping just wakes him up.

How good are those ear thermometers? Are they pretty fast? Would they "hurt" him, or scare him somehow? I know they aren't as accurate as an underarm or oral temperature, but are there brands that are more reliable than others?

My 3 year old has outgrown the sleeves on his 4T long-sleeved shirts. His 5T shirts are all huge in the neck and body. What's your favorite brand for a kid who appears to be following in his dad's 37" sleeve armholes? (Try finding medium extra-tall anywhere. They don't even carry it in stock at the Big & Tall stores.)

I've had decent luck with Macy's Greendog brand in the past, but their selection isn't great. Target seems to be really hit or miss. Hanna Andersson and Old Navy are very "generous" in the body. Gymboree seems particularly short in the sleeve.

As you can see above, I'm not brand-loyal and don't care whether the brand is high-end or low-end, as long as it fits.

Please help! He's power-eating for another spurt of growth spurts! In the spring he had 3 growth spurts in 8 weeks, and grew two inches over the course of 8 weeks. Seriously. We measured.

ETA: Pants are not an issue as the kid still wears diapers and I've been able to find pants that have elastic waists. So the 5T pants aren't falling off his waist.