Rear/Front facing
 

True. Once a jet is above a certain height (and it's not that high -- I think the height is reached in the few seconds after takeoff), landing on water is the same as landing on concrete. The water cannot displace fast enough when objects hit it at high speeds.


On a more lawyerly-with-kidsly note: how in the HELL did vietmom get vietbabe potty trained already? My boy has no [zip, zero, effis, nada] interest in going on the potty. I thought he would want to imitate his older brother, and he does -- with the exception of using the potty.

Bad times, bad times.

Rear/Front facing
 

They make little sponges, very flushable, in animal shapes. As any guy will tell you, peeing is a lot more fun if you have something to aim at.

Rear/Front facing
 

Easy - the babe is a girl and they train faster overall WRT potties. Try letting him pee on fruit loops or the biodegradable packing peanuts. My nephew finally trained at 3.5 - he just decided one day to use the potty and that was it, so maybe the same will happen?

Actual post from another board:
 

baby name pole
----------------------------------------
For the girls names I like:

Ember
Bay
Bentlee
Tide

Boys names come harder since I have two boys already but here goes:

Arrington
Salem
Diesal
Jameson

Actual post from another board:
 

I think you'd do yourself a service by reemphasizing that this list has nothing to do with your own name-choosing.

Peeing Advice
 

So -- hypothetically of course, if one were to want to purchase those sponges or what-have-you (I don't think I want him peeing on cheerios, he might try peeing on the breakfast table), where would one find such things?

Also, for all you furniture mavens and maven-os out there, where would someone be likely to find a nice set of bunk beds? I looked at Pottery Barn, but I didn't like anything they had to offer in the way of the bunk bed.

Actual post from another board:
 

Good god, yes....every name on our list has been well established and is at least 100 years old. We're boring that way.

However, in the unlikely event I chose to name my child after a laundry detergent, I'd go with "Gain with Bleach Alternative" over "Tide."

Peeing Advice
 

Try Ethan Allen, Bassett stores, Star Furniture - most furniture stores have kids' sections. I have been told that in Houston that new Dump store has bunk beds too. We are also in the market, though obviously the top bunk wil be empty for a long time.

Actual post from another board:
 

Here is my preliminary list for names. I just don't want anything that sounds like a soap opera character, you know what I mean?

Girl
Burnt Sienna
Hank
Paigow
Garnier Fructis
Splenda
Camilla
Felicitee

Boy
Burnt Umber
Hank
Akura
Sarbanes Oxley
Banana
Merriam Webster
Jamesons

Actual post from another board:
 

(a) I am hurt, (b) be very, very careful about naming a boy "Banana," and (c) "Erisa" is a nice girl's name.

Actual post from another board:
 

Those are lovely! In the same vein as Sarbanes Oxley, there are two ERISA partners in this fair city with daughters named Erica. Which is a fine name, but a little scary-close to Erisa. Sad.

eta it appears that fringey and I are on the same page.

Actual post from another board:
 

I think Sarbanes Oxley is an excellent name. Amtrak would be a good one too.

I know a partner in your fair state (but not city) who had a cat, now deceased, named Erisa.

For those in the market for car seats:
 

An excerpt from this month's Consumer Reports:

[color=dark red]The attachment broke on the Combi Avatar convertible seat, sending it flying off the test rig, at a crash speed lower than that which the government requires car seats to withstand. We rate the Combi Avatar as Not Acceptable, and urge the manufacturer to fix the problem.

The Evenflo PortAbout 5 infant seat flew off its base at a crash speed just above the federal standard, a margin of safety that is too small, in our judgment. We have rated it poor for crash protection.

Two other seats had problems that were less serious. The Britax Marathon convertible seat and the Combi Tyro infant seat tilted back on impact more than the federal standard allows. But those car seats didn’t break loose in our tests.[/color]

I can send the full article to anyone interested and too cheap to buy off the news stand - it's too long to post and the link won't work as you need a paid subscription.

ETA: this is allegedly a free article so try this link:

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...=1114798942242

Peeing Advice
 

Pier One Kids (which used to be Cargo Kids) has some really, really cute bunk beds.

Actual post from another board:
 

Those are a good start, i will say that paigow has always hated her name, and I know she'd recommend you choose one of the others.

Actual post from another board:
 

I was gonna say...

You didn't seem like the sort of gal who would go for a name like "Tide", but I guess you never know.

Actual post from another board:
 

Garnier Fructis? That's BA-YOOOOOTAFUL!

Actual post from another board:
 

Shouldn't the last "e" be capitalized, and have a star after it?

Actual post from another board:
 

That's what I meant to do for Sarbanes OxleE*

Actual post from another board:
 

Amtrak is what you rename your freeloading teenager, if you're really put out.

Peeing Advice
 

I think Mrs. Wonk just got them at the grocery store in the baby aisle, but I'll ask her.

Actual post from another board:
 

I sort of liked Ember. Except for the image of a child on fire, that is.

Actual post from another board:
 

For a boy, right? I wouldn't want to expose my darling daughter to "train" jokes.

Actual post from another board:
 

I always thought Erisa would be a lovely name for a girl. Fringey, Gwink, LFM? Any thoughts?

ETA yeah, yeah, yeah. Scroll then post. I've told you a thousand times, I don't do that.

Actual post from another board:
 

Not with the way your wife always reacts to them, you don't.

Actual post from another board:
 

Whatever happened to the classics, like Semaj?

Rear/Front facing
 

True. RT's sister is on the all-time Top 10.

Actual post from another board:
 

Nosemaj, Snosemaj.

Rear/Front facing
 

http://www.kindercare.com/images/kinderlc_logo.gif

Separation agitation
 

So Mrs. Panda, who's been working from home from the birth of the Littlest Panda (hereinafter "LP"), has had it with the boredom and her current employer in general, and is looking to reenter the work force outside the home. However, LP, who is about 15 mos., is just hitting her stride in exhibiting separation anxiety. If Mommy leaves the room, she's after her like they're linked with a rubber band. Babysitters have allowed Mommy to get things done during the week, but Mommy's never really been too far or too long out of sight. Going back into the workforce means daycare/nannyshare, either way Mommy's gonna be gone for most of the day. So we'll have to transition LP somehow so that she doesn't spend most of the day sitting on the floor at the local daycare bawling her adorable eyes out (oh, it hurts just to type that). Anybody done this? Probably we should have placed her in daycare earlier but we didn't...any ideas?

Separation agitation
 

Uh, how long does the bawling the adorable eyes out last after Mommy's definitively gone? Possibly Mommy's reappearance at the onset of bawling just reinforces/extends the bawling . . .

In my extensive babysitting experience, the bawling rarely lasted more than 15 minutes after the parents left. But DO NOT come back shortly after you leave. It restarts the process.

Of course, for all I know, the bawling is a signal that the kid really needs the parent(s) there at that developmental stage for optimal psychological health.

Separation agitation
 

I honestly don't know. Our house is, as the real estate agents say, cozy, and she knows where Mommy is hiding. Perhaps if Mommy went out for a walk or run or shopping trip. On the plus side, on those occasions when Mommy has been out of the house for an extended period, she's been just fine with me, but really clingy the next day.

Great.

Separation agitation
 

Recall that I not-so-secretly despise breeders. I was just fucking with you.

Separation agitation
 

I gotta pay better attention.

Separation agitation
 

It could be true, though.

Separation agitation
 

Too late. I'm wise to you now.

Separation agitation
 

Hag.

Separation agitation
 

Even considering the proviso that you were just fucking with Panda, this is true in the sense that separation anxiety comes about at the same time that the kid gains confidence to control his/her distance from Mommy. It's fun to crawl around the corner, then peek back around. If Mommy's not there, HOLY SHIT IS THERE A PROBLEM. So in a sense being there bolsters confidence to take risks. Panda's seen this in the clinginess the day after a separation --- less assurance that Mommy is "always" there = less confidence and willingness to explore.

Still, there is such a thing as worrying too much about this. My parents didn't obsess about omnipresence or using babysitters, and I'm normal, except for the pretend Internet personality I use to work out my latent coprophobia issues.

Separation agitation
 

for a classicist, I would have expected greater familiarity with the -phobia/-philia distinction.

Separation agitation
 

Oh, this was funny. My, how I laughed and laughed.