Co-sleeping
 

My 14-month-old tries to get into the dishwasher at every opportunity. Climbers are a pain in the ass. Cute, but a pain in the ass.

Co-sleeping
 

Sorry I'm a little slow on the uptake here.

We have an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, the full-size one (they didn't have the mini one when we bought it for Magnus). Magnus was a bad sleeper, and for his first couple of months he wouldn't sleep in the co-sleeper at all. The only way I could get any sleep was by having him right next to me, face up against my breast (but not necessarily latched on). Then for a couple of months he would sleep in it, but only until one of us made some miniscule little noise, and then he would wake up and have to be nursed back to sleep. We moved him into his own room at 4 months so we could at least get some rest between his every-three-hours wakings to nurse.

Thor is a very different baby. He sleeps well in the co-sleeper (a bad night is when he wakes up twice, 3-ish and 6-ish), and he's still in it at 4 months plus a little (because he's a refluxer, we have a couple bricks under the head end to elevate it, and he sleeps on his tummy). I like how I don't have to get out of bed to get him to feed him, and if I fall asleep while nursing I don't get that evil crick in my neck like I do when I'm sitting up in the rocking chair. It's also nice not to have to worry about him falling out of bed--we can sleep really close to the edge (we're in a queen) and if he rolls a little, he'll just fall 2 inches into the co-sleeper.

So I guess if you like the idea, you should go ahead and get it, knowing that you can't be 100% certain it will work well for you. How the baby will sleep is just one of those things you can't know ahead of time.

Good luck!

tm

Co-sleeping
 

I'm quickly learning that there are a lot of things that I can't know ahead of time, which sucks when my OCD kicks in...

Co-sleeping
 

Don't worry. You'll either get used to it or you'll go insane once the baby arrives. Fortunately, for the first several months you'll be far too tired to know which you are.

Co-sleeping
 

Take a picture. Take two.

My daughter, about 18-22 months would contort herself into the oven of her little play kitchen- legs bent just so and wrapped around- she could close the door. We watched her do it twice figuring we'll film it the third time.

Once she got a sense of her ehrtiage she stopped with the climbing into ovens so we have no record.

Co-sleeping
 

Clever girl, to deny you the proof once she realized she's descended from Holocaust deniers.

Cheap Entertainment
 

My kid played with an empty oat canister today for over an hour. I'm thinking of returning his Xmas gifts and investing in a few new ones from Quaker. If I also make white cocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies for Hubby's staff for Xmas, it kills 2 birds.

Cheap Entertainment
 

and, oats are very good for you, so you are keeping your dead birds alive as well.

Cheap Entertainment
 

Save the bucks while you can-they won't know any different. Instead of pricey presents, I'm fancy wrapping low cost items she'll love like Dora Bubbles, chocolates in different shapes, bubble bath, and books. What are the chances I am "staff" at your Hubby's office? Mmmmmn.

PS- I just watched the short film, "The Snowman" (Raymond Briggs) which was incredible - the music was haunting. See

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...v=glance&n=130

Any recs on other great holiday films?

Cheap Entertainment
 

I bought The Snowman before we had kids - I love it....I had the book ages ago, but the video is wonderful. Check out Father Christmas by Briggs (Book, might be video, but I haven't seen it). One of my favs is Christmas Eve on Sesame Street circa late 70s. I love it and I'd suppose most kids would too.

Are you an underpaid government worker? I thought not. I'd offer to mail some, but USPS seems to be moving fairly slowly these days, so you'd likely end up with a box of stale oaty crumbs.

Totally gratuitous avatar-testing post
 

I am now leaving the house ... four hours after I decided to run this errand.

Totally gratuitous avatar-testing post
 

Is that your kid? Sweet!

Totally gratuitous avatar-testing post
 

When they aren't busy eating, pregnant women are constantly crying or going to the bathroom. They'll swear up and down that these are more of those famous pregnancy symptoms, but I watch television and I know that unstable women who constantly need to run to the bathroom are drug addicts. Perhaps you remember a certain episode of Saved by the Bell, when Jessie Spano got addicted to caffeine pills and Zack Morris had to stage an intervention to get her to stop the madness? Well, every time one of these pill-addled fatties waddles down the hall toward the loo, I wish I had Zack's courage.

Big deal.

Totally gratuitous avatar-testing post
 

You quoted the wrong paragraph, wuss.

And the worst part is that the endless complaining doesn't end after the baby is born. Rather than appreciating the fact that they had a normal child in spite of the drugs and the reckless overeating, new parents go on and on about how hard child care is. Everyone knows that kids love television and candy. Yet I've met parents who refuse to give a baby candy or let it watch TV, and then complain when it cries. Wouldn't you cry if someone took away your bourbon and cut your cable line just as Desperate Housewives was about to commence? What if Eva Longoria said something especially sassy and you missed it?

Totally gratuitous avatar-testing post
 

Atticus' wife didn't take any drugs when she had her baby. He's really proud- you should ask him about it.