veganmomma's Profile

I have nothing to say about the vodka solution for gun in the carpet, but it warms my little heart to see that K&B vodka bottle. K&B was local chain of drugstores here in New Orleans for ages til bought out by RiteAid. We New Orleanians loved our "personally yours" (their slogan) purple K&B so much that RiteAid agreed to keep the purple signs up for quite a while after they'd officially taken over! Now old K&B stuff is quite the collectible but, I thought, really only for us NOLA folks, so it was an odd treat to see it up on Ohdeedoh.

We follow the Jewish observance of not cutting a child's hair until the third birthday (the custom is not followed by all communities--generally only some sects of chassidim and traditionally applies only to boys; we will be following the tradition for our daughter just as we did for our son). This can make for some interesting hair throughout the first three years of life and definitely requires some creative styling to avoid the mullet look. Also, we live in New Orleans and try to avoid "sweat drenched hair stuck all over face" look as much as the mullet.

If you can pull her hair into pigtails with the suggested elastics, I'd say go that route. At her age, it's unlikely she could pull them out without out a lot of effort and that if she did, even less likely that she'd be able to get the tiny band to her mouth without dropping it and without any one noticing, etc. I'd just keep a closer eye on her for the first few times. Another pro in favor of this course of action is that she'll get used to wearing them and be less likely to bother her pigtails later.

However, for a change of pace or if her hair is just thick and not quite long enough for piglets, I'd suggest looking online or at a high-end children's boutique for little bows on spring clips (I think they are also called alligator clips, but they don't have teeth). My daughter has been wearing these to pin back her bangs since she was about 5 months old. The plain grosgain ribbon ones cost about $2.50-$3.50 here, but they are cute and don't come out unless you take them out. I also can't imagine a baby with any reasonable amount of supervision swallowing one (they come in a variety of sizes but even the smallest ones, which we used because I think tiny babies look silly in colossal hair accessories, would take up a baby's entire mouth). I also second the idea that a little bit of proper teaching goes a long way here. At a certain point, my daughter could take them out herself and would frustrate me to no end by losing them around the house. She quickly learned to give me her bow if she didn't want to wear it, and now the novelty of removing it is gone and she just leaves it alone.

(BTW I have tried to buy cheap-o versions of these bows at Target and Wal-Mart but these had the clip part also covered by ribbon. Not a good idea. This does look nicer when the clip is not...a good thing since they don't stay in; The ribbon covered clip causes them to slid all over the place.)

Finally, I think the idea of the headband is cute. Maybe a soft, stretchy one?

Is there a snack, inexpensive toy, or accessory that your child is rarely seen without or is known to love?

Before my daughter's hair was quite long enough for pigtails (and even now that it is), she almost always wore a small grosgrain ribbon bow clipped in her hair. For her first birthday, we gave one to each of her friends in their favorite color (their parents' favorite color for them). Obviously, it helped that they all happened to be girls and there weren't so many that this was cost prohibitive (bows =$2-3 each). We clipped them in the "hair" of a hand-drawn image of my daughter, with a speech bubble that said, "Thanks for coming to my party!"

I can imagine doing something similar with a bag of favorite snacks, wrist rattles or socks, a favorite board book, etc. (I would have given all the other babies a copy of Risom/Scarry's _I am a Bunny_, my daughter's favorite book but I knew they all already had it and all the mommas could recite by heart!). I think choosing one nice, non-disposable object that has a personal significance for your child or their friends is much better than giving a bag of sweets or bunch of "junk" to clutter some other parent's (at this age likely *your* friend's) house and can be done at a range of price points.

Oh, and you can never go wrong with bubbles.

My two and half year old nephew thought the rotary phone was a clock, but recognizes all the cell phone kiosks in the mall and shouts "iPhone!" At 20 months, my daughter will hold a calculator or remote control to ear and say, "Hello." But pushes her vintage Fisher Price Chatter Telephone (rotary phone with face, pullstring, and wheels) and says "Car!"

Another strong endorsement for Iggy Peck, a family fave since my youngest kiddo was 3...and another strong objection to pigeonholing books as "for boys" or "for girls."

While I think I understand the author's intention in this post (though I would disagree about there being a dirth of picture books/elementary-pitched novels that feature boy characters), I think it reinforces the idea of there being certain books more suitable for one or the other gender.

My son loves it when I read Iggy Peck AND Charlie and Lola to him and his sister (probably because he inherited his parents' sense of humor rather than anything having to do with gender) as much as he enjoys--now that he's becoming an independent reader--reading Junie B. Jones (his first chapter book) and Nate the Great to himself.

Anyone know of a vegan alternative to the gelatin in this recipe? I've had some vegan strawbelly jell-o hanging around my pantry for ages...think that would work?

So exciting to see the mobile of one of my favorite babies (the sweet girl who is daughter of my good friend and good friend of my sweet daughter) on my favorite website! She has a super-talented auntie Meg!

Though it has evolved a lot over the years (what started out as a huge homemade event with lots of family, extended family and friends--many of whom traveled from out of state--when I was a kid has, through divorces, moves, and growings-up morphed into a more intimate, half-homemade/half-wholefoods affair), Thanksgiving has always been my mother's holiday. Since my oldest younger sister and I have become adults and had our own children, it's been the one time I was guaranteed to see all my sibs together and when we really reverted into our roles from when we all lived together. I really love this time.

Sadly, now that kiddos #2 have come along for both of us and with the economy not so great, it looks like it's not going to happen this year. It just won't feel like Thanksgiving...

Only Chanukah in my house, though most of my family is Christian or athiest. We have sometimes traveled to see family in other parts of the country just because we've had off from work or school, but usually spend the day traditionally--at the movies and eating Chinese.

My mother loved the book. I grew up loving the book. My kiddos love the book (or my six year old does and my 1 year old must when she's a little older or she'll be sent to bed without eating anything). My son had a wild things party for his third birthday (complete with make your own wild things masks followed by rumpus).

Part of the genius of the book, for me, is the brevity of Sendak's narrative and everything it leaves out, the way he tells the story the way a child would with only the "important" (from their perspective) parts thrown in--all the blanks that that Jonze and Eggers must, because of the difference in media and the demands of an audience that wants a linear and complete narrative, fill in. I knew, from the beginning, that no major motion picture, no matter how "indie", could match, let alone improve upon, the book in that way.

I accepted it, and just decided to see the book and the movie as entirely separate entities with the same character and basic "plot." This allowed me not to hate the movie. I even enjoyed it (especially the soundtrack which is something else my kids and I can share)...but not as much as the book :)

My six year old, by the way, LOVED the film and even tricked his dad into taking him to see it a second time, so it's not too dark for every child.

then again, if you can use them safely...i'm all for anything that gets folks to c.d.