edw's Profile

I was so excited to try these. Unfortunately they were terrible. I followed the recipe and they weren't necessarily too salty as PP have said, but just bland. No flavor. I couldn't taste the goat cheese or the sun-dried tomatoes. I tried to eat a couple of them but ended up throwing the batch away.

I wish this was posted two weeks ago! I tried making nacho cheese sauce and it was a disaster.

I really wanted to avoid the bright plastic toys but it just didn't work out that way. We bought the bjorn bouncer with the toy bar and everything. My daughter hated it. She loved the vibrating, bouncy, ligh-up, music-playing plastic rainforest bouncer we borrowed from a friend though. Anything to keep her quiet for a few moments. We also borrowed a swing from a friend (some come in calmer colors so that's nice). There is just no avoiding how much space a swing takes up. But both were lifesavers, even if they were ugly. Eventually we got a bright and music playing jumperoo as well (when the swing was retired) and that was great to allow me to leave the room for a second. So even though the modern ones look nicer, if they don't work for your kid then there really isn't an option.

My sister and I would spread saran wrap over a bowl and put shredded cheese on top and melt it in the microwave. Then we would just eat the melted cheese with our fingers. It was quite good.

I did a kitchen remodel in our San Francisco flat a few years ago. We got a bid for just refacing the cabinets and that came to $15,000. We also got a bid for replacing the cabinets at about $24,000. We ended up keeping the cabinets and just replacing the counters and sink and faucet. That cost about $6000 including materials and labor. Our kitchen is not very big. San Francisco is expensive I guess.

I found the Playtex Lil Gripper straw cup difficult to suck out of, but the biggest problem with that one is that the straw is way too short. It wastes about an ounce of milk at the bottom. I am still in search of the perfect straw sippy that is fairly easy to sip out of, doesn't leak too much, doesn't draw liquid up into the straw when standing and create a huge mess, etc.

Like baumgak, I ask my nanny to fill it out while I am at work. Since I am not there 5 days a week, I like to be able to look over it to see trends or changes, and to get a sense of my daughter's days. I also want to keep the journal portion as a keepsake.

As I have not yet found anything on the market, I designed my own and put it in a cute binder. But if there is a great one out there I'd love to know.

-Elana

I don't criticize people who choose AP methods as I think that each baby is different and what works for one might not work for another. I find it so annoying that opponents of CIO think they can judge others and the methods they choose. Come live in my house for a month before you judge the decisions I make. Of course Dr. Sears says CIO is harmful. We're talking about Dr. Sears. So thanks for the link, but it is not persuasive.

My instincts and experience tells me that my baby is happier sleeping through the night. She greets me with a big smile every morning and is less cranky all day long compared to when she didn't sleep well and I rocked her to sleep. Yours might not react the same way and therefore might require a different method.

The suggestion that CIO is selfish is uninformed and exaggerated. I make plenty of sacrifices for my baby.