Footage; Cottage
 

There is a local photo lab where I live that does this, and I'll bet any good local photo lab (not the one's in drug stores or [shudder!] Walmarts [/shudder!]) that advertises digital will have the equipment. At our place, they ask that you leave it for a couple hours, so I drop things before lunch and go back after lunch.

The alternative is that you get Avid's software, install a firewire and a DVD recorder (not inexpensive) and then...

The Day the Wiggling Died?
 

Have the Wiggles called it quits?

No, not really... But this fake news story is really funny.

Footage; Cottage
 

First off, it matters wheter you're using MiniDV, which is digital and easily transferred, or 8mm (or something else), which is not digital, and is a little more complicated to transfer.

Second, you might look in your yellow pages under video, or audio-video. tHere are usually a number of places that offer video transfer services. You'll probably get better results (albeit at a higher price) than trusting it to high-scholl student at walmart.

or just buy a player for the tapes and plug it into your tv, and avoid the middle man.

Footage; Cottage
 

Yep. Won't take long. First time you show up, and she cries "Nooooooooo, I wanna keep playing!!!!", you'll feel better. And worse.

Footage; Cottage
 

Drop off used to be traumatic with the crying and the 'pweeze stay'. Day care lady (the nice one) said it was an act and that Native Son was fine and playful as soon as I left. Having had the experience of bad daycare lady being friendly to me and mean to my kid I wanted to check this out.

One day I did the usual drop off routine and went out the door. Walked to my car, counted to 50, went back and peaked in the window. Native Son already had a toy out of the bin and was happily playing.

Viet-babe may have a longer transition time since she's been home with you v. Native Son started day care pretty young. But, even very young children can be quite the actors when it earns parental attention and cuddles.

One thing I did that was helpful was to have a specific good-bye hug and phrase at drop off. This was just for daycare. We'd go in, take off coat etc., and do whatever needed doing. But, when I started the good-bye hug he knew that even if he cried and carried on it was not going to earn additional cuddles. I think this helped lessen the days that we had the traumatic drop-off mentioned above.

Footage; Cottage
 

Sidd Jr. is on-again, off-again about the day care drop-off. Early on, when it was pretty consistently bad, Mrs. Finch would leave one of her hair-scrunch-things with him; that was the teacher's suggestion and it seemed to help, I guess by reassuring him that she would come back for him, or giving him some identifiable way to keep her in mind.

Once he got old enough to tell us about what he did during the day, any bad feelings about leaving him there disappeared.

Footage; Cottage
 

We used a different day care for a week not too long ago. The first day, drop off was basically OK. Tuesday, protests at the door as we go in. Wednesday, protests as we pull up at the curb. Thursday, protests as we take a left turn at the stoplight onto the daycare's street, three blocks away. Friday, protests as we get into the car. I was so happy we didn't have to see where this was going to lead the following Monday.

Sleepers
 

At 3mos, the Lexling is almost grown out if his 6-9mo clothes and will fit into his 9mo clothes probably by next week. I have been looking for 9-12 and 12 mo sleepers (ie one piece footie pjs) to no avail. Seems that clothing stores figure by that age they don't need sleepers. Anyone know of any company who sells bigger sleepers? He is too young to have to wear big-boy clothes!

The Lexling - as of yesterday - is 17lbs5oz - which is slightly off the chart. Thankfully, his height is proportionate. Unfortunately, he is sick and miserable and full of snot. Rite of passage for both of us, I suppose.

-TL

Sleepers
 

Good Lord, he's huge! Anyhow, I can't name a company but I assure you they're out there. Secret_Agent_Baby is much older, and larger, and still wears sleepers.

Sleepers
 

Walmart sell them up to 12 months, in 3 packs for like $9. Also The Children's Place (which I think is www.thechildrensplace.com) and Old Navy.

He is almost as big as the Brazenette, who turns 11 months today!

And....(drumroll) I've quit my job. I'll be a full time, stay at home mom, starting Monday. I am scared shitless.

Sleepers
 

Yes - he's really a big boy. He's 25.5" long. The weight is over 97% and height is about 95%. I'm tall, and Mr. Lex is pretty big, but we're not hulks, although we apparently breed them. ;)
Congratulations on the jump!!! Taking care of a kid is a full time job (of course the only salary involved is sloppy little kisses and the benefits package includes little more than leftover cheerios and trips to the park) but I'm sure you'll be happier than you were before - I know leaving the Brazenette was very upsetting to you. One word of caution - stay really busy, over the first month or so or you may start to feel like, hmm...lonely isn't quite the word...out-of-the-loop isn't quite right either, but whatever it is, it passes. I can't imaging leaving the Lexling right now and wish I didn't have to do any legal work (unfortunately people keep sending us bills, so I gotta do something to pay them). Email me if you like.

Gotta run Mr. Snotty is paging me. -TL

Sleepers
 

Carters blanket sleepers are the classic ones you and I wore when we were babies/toddlers. They're available at Mervyn's and Costco, among other places, and definitely run small.

Gap profleece sleepers are okay, but thinner than the Carters ones, and start to look ratty sooner.

Lands End has very nice quality sleepers. See here

tm

Sleepers
 

Thanks to all. I'm looking for the lighter weight sleepers - like terrycloth or knit. It's too warm here for fleece. I will check out everyone's suggestions.

And for those with babies of normal proportions, I found some adorable Carters sleepers this week at Costco for only $5.49 which would have been awesome, had they been large enough. I bought some as gifts, though. Sure beats BRU prices.

New topic. Who has kids close in age? Pros? Cons? My bro and I were 3.5yrs apart, which I think was slightly more than ideal. Mr. Lex and his sis are 11mos apart, which I think is damn near suicidal. Thoughts?

-TL

Sleepers
 

I think Baby Gap has footie pjs up to age 5 (but I could be wrong).

My husband and his brother are 10 months apart (4 days shy of being born in the same calendar year).

As to kid-spacing, the adage I've heard is either less than 2 years apart or more than 3, but it's hardest for the older one between 2 and 3 years. But it's all a bunch of crap -- it depends on the kids and who they are and their relationship with their parents, etc.

Sleepers
 

Believe we got some from LL Bean. They may be too warm for Texas, though.

Sleepers
 

Congratulations!

Sleepers
 

What's so bad about the 2-3 range?

As for me, sister younger by 1 3/4 year. Probably not ideal, but would have been easier had the school-timing been such that we would be two grades apart rather than 1. OR if she had been born first.

Sleepers
 

I know this can be a problem if you are potty-training #1 and baby comes along, but of course they will get over it eventually.

Not so worried about effect on kids - they adapt. What about effect on parents with two in diapers?

-TL

Sleepers
 

The relationship between diapers and age is a bit like the relationship between wars and civilization. As a civilization progresses, its wars become more monumental and appalling, but substantially less frequent.

Having a late-stage toddler in diapers is not nearly so time-consuming an aspect of parenting as you might be led to believe by a three month old.

Sleepers
 

My parents had four under the age of 5 and a half at one point, and they said it wasn't a big deal. My guess is that they probably had two in diapers at a time, and there are pictures of me changing my baby sister's diapers, so apparently my dad's child labor dreams were put into fruition quite early.

Edited to add: Of course the four kids in five and a half years thing came back to bite my dad in the ass when we were all in various stages of college at the same time. Something you don't really consider when you're talking about itty bitty ones.

Sleepers
 

Couldn't you end up with a North Korea, though--pay me some attention dammit, because you know what i can do?

Sleepers
 

If only Hank read this board. We'd have a Hoo Flung Poo joke by now.

Sleepers
 

What do ya know....I am actually in a position to GIVE advice for once. I love those one piece sleepers too. I have them for Vietbabe (almost 18 months) from the Children's Place in both cotton for summer and fleece for winter. What's fab is that they come in "zip ups" (Vietbabe squirms with snaps) and also the footies have those no-slip things on the bottom (so they can run around in them). The sizes go up to 3T!!!

http://www.childrensplace.com/www/b/...s/113811_m.jpg http://www.childrensplace.com/www/b/...s/113423_m.jpg

Sleepers
 

I tried to tell my wife that having kids too close together would be tough, but she insisted on having baltspawn 2 about four minutes after baltspawn 1.

It is survivable to have two at a very close age. I have to admit I do not understand how the folks who have multiple young ones (like RT's parents) do it.

One thing to consider in tightly spaced kids is daycare costs. Going from 1 to 2 doubles your costs if both parents work. 2 to 3, not so much, because you suddenly get into stay at home / get a nanny range very quickly. If they are spaced further apart, the older kid is in cheaper/free childcare/school.

Sleepers
 

I have one outfit from TCP - it (yay!) ran much larger than all his other 3-6mo clothes. Is this typical with clothes from there or just a fluke?

-T(zippers rule!)L

Sleepers and baby spacing
 

I do really like the Gap cotton sleepers--Magnus has had several. They tend to have really cute prints and wear really well.

Hanna Andersson has cute jammies (including one-piece), but I don't think they have any with feet. Magnus has a few sets of the striped long johns now, and I love them. They wear like iron.

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago about some long-term longitudinal study that found that the ideal spacing for children (in terms of maternal and fetal health, and--I believe--development of both children) is between 2 years 3 months and 2 years 8 months. Basically, it means you start trying to get pregnant when number 1 is 18 months old.

I am the oldest of 6, and my next sibling is 17 months younger (1 year difference in school). After having two in diapers, my mom swore off that, and the rest are between 2y8m and 3y4m apart (all 3 yrs apart in school). I missed a lot of my youngest siblings' growing up years (I left for college when the youngest was 5), but everyone's grown up and married now, and we all get along great.

tm

Sleepers
 

My kids potty trained late- we had to listen to the parents with "more ass gifted kids" brag about early PT, but those same kids had accidents frequently, and guess what- an expected dirtydiaper is way better than the unexpected.

You also hope for a kid who'll make it easier; like Atticus' regularity would be a godsend. Twice a day, at particular times. Factor in the days when mommy locked him in the closet with a slop bucket, and he wouldn't have been a burden at all.

Sleepers
 

Who knows? Come to think of it, I believe I misstated the adage -- it's less than 2 or more than 4. I couldn't tell you exactly why, other than it's difficult for a 2 year old to express the intense feelings s/he is having, but s/he is having them, and it comes out in other ways, whereas a kid who is 4 or more will have those feelings, but will be able to express them verbally.

Under 2 and they don't notice as much, I guess.

But as I said before, it's probably all a bunch of hooey anyway -- it depends upon the kids' personalities more than anything.

Sleepers
 

My second-favorite story about kid spacing (after my husband/b-i-l) is that of a college boyfriend's family. He was one of four boys, all born one year apart. Except for the last two -- who were twins. So his mother (who was an alcoholic -- understandably...) had (1) no help and (2) a 2-year-old, a 1-year-old and 2 newborns. It's a wonder she's only an alcoholic.

Sleepers
 

Through the local parents of multiples organization, we know a similar family. The mother had a plan for her perfect family: three kids, each spaced a year apart. The last kid was triplets. Yes, that's right, five kids under the age of 3 1/2 (now they range from 2-5). Just the logistics of childseats alone is mind boggling (Most minivans won't hold three carseats across in their back seat, and big SUVs don't work either because the middle seats have to flip up to get to the back. They have an Econoline.).

She is one of the most put together people I've ever met. Some people just seem to be able to handle it. A Saturday alone with my two, and I can barely move by the end of the day.

Sleepers
 

I've had the same experience. That cmpany's clothes seem to run big. In fact, Viebabe just this month got out of their 0-3 month size yet she is almost 18 months. O.k., obviously the clothes don't run THAT big and Viebabe is a mighty small peanut of a thing, but still...in other clothing brands, she graduated from the 0-3 month size last month and is just doing so now for clothes by The Children Place.

Sounds like you have a chunker on your hands. (NTTAWWT) If so, I'm guessing you find the 12 month one piece sleepers fit him in all places except his feet and that the footsy part is too big and floppy (in my experience, no matter how big or small the babe is, the feet tend to stay at the size corresponding to the baby's "real" age). I have the same issue (but on the other end) and tend to put my 18 month old in 3-6 month old one piece outfits but because her feet are those of a normal 18 month old, they are all crammed into the tiny footsies attached to the sleepers. I keep scissors in the nursery and am always cutting off the footsies, and do so unevenly so she looks like a vagabond running around. *sigh*

BTW - I went to a consignment store the other day and found clothes that clearly had never been worn (maybe the kids outgrew them before they wore them). I purchased the most exquisite things for like $2 a piece. Unusual stuff too, so your kid doesn't look like everyone else. (NTTAWWT). You wash them in Dreft and....wallah.

Spacing of Ages
 

That is too damn funny. Wow. She must not have had a problem with lack of sleep after Number One. Or, in the alternative, she was walking around in such an exhausted state she wasn't thinking clearly.

As to spacing of ages, here's my input from the Vietfamily:

My mom says having Sis and Me only 13 months apart was a nightmare at first but when I was about 1, Sis and I started playing together and she found life as a Mom got really really easy. She basically plopped us in the living room and we played and never bothered her. I remember she even took up pastel painting and Mah Jong (remember that?) Caveat: for some strange reason, we never bickered -- not as toddlers or teens or whatever. To the extent the close-in-age kids bicker, this would clearly be a problem.

My sister recommends having the second kid when the older one is 3. Because the older kid can help do stuff like bring diapers to Mom and pick up after herself, is hopefully potty-trained, and there is less fighting than if the older one is 2.

Me: I think the age spread between children should be 40 years. Seriously, if Vietbabe begs for a sibling....I am not going to do the infant thing anymore so will only adopt a 3-8 year old. Because the current sociological thinking is against "adopting out of birth order" (i.e., you only adopt a child younger than your existing kid) that would mean I'd have to wait for Vietbabe to be at least 4-9 years old. Though I'm tempted these days to adopt a 16 year old who really likes taking care of babies. (:

Spacing of Ages
 

Just out of curiosity, why? Is it an alpha-dog thing, and an older kid upsets the pecking order?

Regarding spacing, my nearest sibling and I are about 21 months apart. We had (and have) deeply incompatible personalities, and fought and tormented each other from the first week the sibling came home (when I decided to wake the baby up every hour all night long in an attempt to get my parents to return it) until I turned 18 (and moved across the country for college). We get along much better now that we live 3000 miles apart. But, as a general matter, my guess is that all the spacing advice has more to do with parental convenience and piece of mind. I'd wager that it is easier for parents to deal with multiple kids that are at roughly similar stages at the same time, or otherwise to have the older kids old enough to be more self sufficient (or actually helpful). In terms of benefit to the kids themselves, I'd wager having less pissed off, cranky, distracted and hassled parents is better for them. But the idea of having one kid needing night feedings or having diapers changed 5x per day while at the same time dealing with a toddler saying "why? why? But, but, I wanna ... NO!" all the time would drive me to heroin.

Lead
 

[rant]
So I'm driving home last night listening to NPR, and I hear the following conversation, which bothered me a lot (quotes aren't exact, but close enough):

Q: So what has gotten you so involved [in lobbying to have the DC government clean up DC's water supply, portions of which are apparently contaminated with deadly amounts of lead]?

A: I have a 16 month old son that I've been trying to have for very long time.


This answer just bothers me. Not that she wants to protect her kid. I'm all about that. But that she feels that its important to add the fact that it took her a lot of effort to have the child, and that therefore gives here even added reason for wanting to clean up the lead. Like if she had gotten knocked up on the first try, she wouldn't care so much if she lost him, because she could probably just have another, no problem. Somehow, this turned what looked to be a statement about selfless concern for another into something completely selffish. Wouldn't it have been enough to say "I have a 16 month old son whom I love very much," realizing that the second part of that sentence is probably redundant and is inserted only to underscore the obvious.
[/rant]

All that being said, the lead thing in DC really sucks. I get the feeling that the impact is going to be disproportionately felt by the poorer areas. I've always thought of DC as America's own little banana republic: controlled by an oligarchy unelected by the public that ensconces itself in an enclave while denying basic services to the public, horrible roads, sweltering heat, and you can't drink the water.

Lead
 

Another thought. Contaminated water has been linked to infertility and repeated miscarriages. Perhaps she was aluding to the fact that the water may have had something to do with either of those problems and that she would like to try to prevent it for others/herself in the future.

-TL

Lead
 

Once my wife got pregnant and daughter popped out, we lost 2 couple good friends who were less fertile. If you can make kids like ordering Domino's be thankful, and understanding with people who work in the "trying for months" shit into talk about Sonny-Jim. This I command you.

Lead
 

Well, I get that pretty well. Actually, as the parent of twins with a growing set of friends who are also parents of twins, I probably have a disproportionate number of acquaintances who had trouble conceiving (most multiples these days are the result of some form of fertility treatment). Plus, every time I mention to someone that I have twins, I get asked if they were the result of fertility treatment*, and then I get to hear all about the various stages the person (or her sister, or cousin, or best friend) has gone through.

So I get that. But what bothered me was the idea in this woman's head that she has a special reason to be concerned, because her child would be harder to replace. I mean, damn that's cold. It's one step away from explicitly saying Bilmore shouldn't be upset if his oldest shows signs of lead poisoning, 'cause there's plenty more where s/he came from.

I guess I'm saying that once the kid is out, any issue that is a threat to the kid is about the kid, and not about the parent.


*Note that this question is extremely rude. But to preempt, the answer is no. And to run through the other rude questions: No, I'm not disappointed that they're not a boy and a girl. No, we're not trying to have a boy, so actually we are done. Their mother is running some other errands.**

** I reserve the substitute the answer "their mother passed away" if you are particularly condescending in the manner of asking me why two small children are out with just their father instead of with their mother where they belong.

Lead
 

SYMPTOMS OF LEAD POISONING
Mood swings, irritability, headaches, and loss of motor coordination.

I hope bilmore's kids take after mommy, but I'm always surprised to see parents who wonder how their kids developed negative personality traits, shared by the parent.

Subway Seats
 

So, someone offered me a seat for the first time on the subway this morning.

She wasn't sitting in it at the time, she just pointed out an empty one about 15 feet away, but still...

I'm 7 1/2 months preggers, and this is a first.

New Yorkers are savages. Just for the record.

Subway Seats
 

When I used to commute by public transportation (back in law school), I noticed that only women gave up their seats for pregnant women.