munchmom's Profile

We share a lot of those staples listed above, except my son won't eat beans just plain- they have to be well mixed into a dish. Whole wheat tortillas are an absolute essential around our place!

Quesadillas are a favourite food with fillings of beans, leftover chicken, leftover shredded port, apple and cheddar, or anything we have kicking around that needs to be eaten.Tortiallas can also be cut and baked and used as chips for quacamole. Or smeared with cream cheese and cut in strips to eat as a quick snack, or used to make roll-up sandwiches. I posted my son's current favorite roll-up here: http://munchkinfood.blogspot.com/2012/02/turkey-harvarti-pinwheels-with-basil.html

I buy a pakage of tortillas literally EVERY week.

I haven't tried them yet, but will be trying them for my son's second birthday, so I can't tell you how well they work but India Tree's nature's colors see promising. Best of luck!

If you really want to buy something like this, get something that you can later re-purpose as part of a reading nook when she's older.

However, as far as climbing, she will likely grow bored of the tuffet as she becomes adept at climbing on it and move on to the next more challenging obstacle. Hate to tell you, but if she's a climber, she's going to be dancing on the table before you know it and moving things around to act as stepping stones to get up on things. For now, you can just take obvious hazards away and keep an eye on her. For this age, a pile of sofa cushions on the floor is lots of fun.

My son is super active and a climber and the only way to keep him somewhat under control is to get lots of active play outdoors, active toys indoors (i.e. ride-ons, slide etc), programs, and I try to have lots of activities planned for at home. Other than keeping her engaged and giving her outlets to practice her new motor skills, the best thing you can do is to teach her how to get down safely.

Best of luck!

I have this Bonjour press and have had it for 7 years. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/bonjour-maximus-8-cup-french-press/?pkey=e|french%2Bpress|5|best|0|1|24||4&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

It's handwash only but I don't mind, most days we just rinse it and then handwash it once every few days --but it is not a big deal to wash.

This is my absolute favorite all-purpose homemade cleaner. I used to use Method all-purpose cleaner...this works just as well and costs pennies per batch.

http://munchkinfood.blogspot.com/2010/12/diy-non-toxic-all-purpose-antiseptic.html

My favorite combo is to mix half baking soda, half borax (which also prevents mildew), a squirt of dish soap (grease cutting) and then enough water to make it into a frosting-like past. Spread it all over, let it sit 15 minutes and then scrub. You can also add a couple tablespoons of cream of tartar to the mix which whitens if you have stains. It's still labour-intensive, but it works. I would love to try a steam cleaner too.

What a beautiful little boy! Happy Birthday

AmberM, the rail protectors at IKEA are really reasonable and you only need 3 to cover the whole thing, you can just cut one in half for the sides.

ellsie22, they are discontinued in Canada, they aren't on the website and when I asked at the store that's what they told me. It looks like they are still available in the US, which is great, but maybe not for long? They are inexpensive and we tried a few others and these ones worked the best and were less obvious so it's too bad that they don't have them here anymore.

Bleach? Around your kids? Personally, we haven't had any in the house for years and wouldn't dream of bringing it back now that we're parents...but to each their own.

We also have the IKEA patrull aligator (which is also PVC free). We hang it up to dry on a hook every time which helps prevent it from getting gross.

Also, once a week, when cleaning everything else, I mix in a small bowl some borax, baking soda (1/4 cup-ish each), a squirt of dish soap and enough water to make it frosting-like. Smear it on all over with it in the tub. Let it sit 10 minutes, then give it a scrub with a brush or scrubby sponge (and do the rest of the tub at the same time) Then rinse and hang back up. It will get it and your tub sparkling clean and prevent mildew as Borax kills and prevents it.

With hanging it up you'd probably only have to do this every two weeks, but we have a damp bathroom despite efforts to fix it.

I want one of these for me!