carriejeaux's Profile

Probably the best ~$50 we ever spent was on the SweetPea3, an MP3 player for the toddler (and beyond) set. It will hold up to 32 hours of music on 3 different playlists, and while your child can start, pause, and go forward and back (button fun!), she can't access the control menu with volume, auto shutoff, etc. We purchased it for our daughter's first birthday, and she's used it nearly every day since (and she's coming up on three now). I think the ability to control and hold her music appeals to her in a way that a cd in the car stereo can't quite match, you know? And we originally wanted it to replace a horribly annoying, repetitive "toy" MP3 player that was foisted on us by another desperate-to-be-rid-of-the-thing parent--just like you! It has continued to be a prized and most worthwhile purchase.

philippat, your thorough response has made my day! That was exactly the information I needed--what I might be able to do to mitigate the effects of aging while saving up the funds to hire a professional for a full-on conservation effort. I will try to be the best custodian possible until then. Thanks!

@jonnifer: Here in Asheville, I had a completely legal and lovely home birth with a certified nurse-midwife and a licensed practical midwife (and my visits were covered by insurance, though not the birth itself--it would have been covered, though, if I did have to transition to a hospital).

Though I'm not familiar with Charlotte's midwifery groups, it sure seems like there must be some that both do home births and have hospital privileges. If I should have needed a hospital birth, my midwife would have been there for the whole thing, and even would have scrubbed up alongside a doc for a C-section. All that said, we are super-lucky here to have a supportive hospital, supportive nurses, and supportive ob-gyns who give the midwives the back-up they need for the whole system to perform at its best. I do hope NYC can have this again soon! And good luck finding a midwife, jonnifer!

The two differences between the moveable alphabet and traditional magnet alphabets are that most magnetic alphabets are uppercase and not "true" in proportion and shape. Here's a good comparison:

http://www.ssww.com/product/image.php?sku=LR745&idx=1

When introducing very young children to the alphabet, it's nice to do it with one wherein the letters are very distinct from one another. Lowercase is introduced first as most of the written language we encounter is lowercase. I am a former Montessori teacher, and I did buy the magnetic set for my fridge for my toddler. I put up a few letters at a time, we explore them, and then I switch them out. For me, this is just a bit of environmental language, not actual alphabet-teaching.

We love the leggy modernity and easy clean-up of our Kuster K-2 highchair. It's the best of form and function.