I have a 10 month old, and I just can't stand to think about this. He co-sleeps, but I've been obsessively checking on my older boys at night. Ugh. I, too, am praying so hard she's being taken care of, if she was taken, but I'm beginning to wonder. :( On a lighter note, I'm only 5'3" but my husband is over six feet. All our boys are tall. I can't remember the exact stats on the older two, but they've all followed generally the same pattern, and my current little one was 30.75" at nine months (but only 22-23lbs). Yikes! I'm going to be passed by all of them well before their teenage years, I suspect.

The Nook Color does support Flash, but I'm not sure what kind of apps they have for files. It isn't 3G, however, so you would will need a wifi connection of some sort.

I would think you could use the "deceptively delicious" method and add the baby food to any recipe like you would any puree. Chili, soups, sauces, macaroni and cheese (squash or sweet potato- yum!), pancakes, breads, etc.

This is what we do as well but add a fifth gift for St. Nicholas Day (each child's ornament for the year and some fruit or other food treat in his stocking). I've also heard "Something from Santa" tacked on at the end for those who do Santa on the 25th.

:iagree: I was a public school teacher not so long ago (~5 years) in Central NY, and both my mother and sister are PS teachers in the same area. It was not and is not the job you describe.

I think this is an overstatement unless the boy in question is seriously resistant. My 5 yo has been doing cutting and pasting, play dough, tracing, mazes, etc. since he was two. He does as much or as little as he likes whenever the mood strikes. Lately, he's been interested in learning how to sew and weave, woodwork, and model with clay. As a result, he enjoys handwriting (I try and limit him to 5 minutes) and "writes" books in his spare time. My three year old son has been following in Brother's footsteps as far as cutting, pasting, etc. I certainly wouldn't force it so young, but to say that all boys have (did you mean fine?) motor skills far behind girls is a bit of an exaggeration. I agree that a whiteboard, sand tray, chalkboard, chunky crayons or colored pencils, etc. are all better first steps than pencil and paper. To the OP, what about the Waldorf technique of form drawing? I've been considering it as a way to try and pace my son so he doesn't burn out but still satisfy his desire to "do school."

I have this in black: http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/book-jacket-cl57935 I found it at Best Buy and it's pretty sturdy. My DH recommended skipping the smart cover since it doesn't protect the back. YMMV, of course. :)

We do one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cO3Ukx-XWEA/SyefXMLhQrI/AAAAAAAABns/Uf7e4sHQDrg/s1600-h/jessetree1.JPG The ornaments are from this kit: http://www.leafletonline.com/Jesse-Tree-Banner-Kit/productinfo/12782/ My tree is based on this, however: http://festalcelebrations.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/jesse-tree-project-2008/ I thought it was a better representation. I discovered last week that the ornaments got misplaced in our move, so I'm going to have to start over this year. :(

I love the Pioneer Woman's recipe. It has ground thyme, turmeric, and apple cider. Pushes one of my favorite dinners into an out-of-this-world dinner. :D http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/chicken-and-dumplings/

Oh, right. I forgot that you were using the highchair during school time. All my kids are so young, our formal time is still so short (though of course, the baby still hates it). Creating some kind of indoor, safe, obstacle course might be the best bet! :grouphug: Oh, what about a small trampoline? I can't remember exactly how old she is, but the ones with the handles might work.

You've described life with my 10 month old. :glare: He's a joy, but always two steps ahead of me. We've mostly created a safe environment so he can climb risk-free. (Including replacing walk-over baby gates with extra-tall walk-throughs.) I don't mind that he's on the table, I just don't want him to fall. :lol: Fortunately, he's mostly figured out how to get down safely, or at the very least, to yell until I come get him down. One solution has been a parent-child toddler class at the Y that gives him an outlet for those large motor activities. Also a baby pool filled with balls for a makeshift ball pit ($20 for 250 at TRU) has helped. A tunnel like a PP mentioned too! We've also done indoor climbers as well as lots of ride-on toys. Good luck! I feel your pain! ETA: Can you babywear at all still? Throwing my guy on my back while I'm cooking or cleaning still works (though he's less tolerant of long stretches). The way he throws himself around back there, however, I'm not counting on it for much longer. :sad:

This was my suggestion too. :)

Bob's Red Mill has arrowroot in 20 oz bags, but I'm not sure of the price. :)

My boys have an assortment of rain suits, pants, and jackets from L.L. Bean, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and Abeko. All are great! My favorite is the suit from MEC, but last I checked they will no longer ship them to the U.S. My gear is from REI, IIRC. I wear the rain pants to play in the snow too with woolies underneath. :D ETA: My second choice is the bib from Abeko or similar. That way, if their jackets ride up, their midsections don't get soaked like they can with just jacket and pants. We are serious about our outdoor play, lol.

We also like the Parable Series: http://www.amazon.com/Parable-Pine-Tree/dp/0849914809 There's one for each season.

That sounds like my boys. They didn't babble much as babies, knew sign language, and had very high receptive language skills (years above their ages). They just weren't ready to talk for whatever reason. The youngest babbles much more, so I'm interested to see how his language progresses. The bolded is interesting to me. Our evaluators and therapists have never indicated that, and it certainly wasn't reflected in scores when the boys were evaluated.

I've done some by hand. Some of my patterns say to sew or glue, so you could definitely try it. I've always sewed just because I was sure how glue would last.

The OP didn't specify, but generally these things are covered by Early Intervention through the county/state. Sometimes the evaluator is also the person providing services, sometimes not. So that doesn't sem odd to me. What does seem odd is the diagnosis that an 18-20 month old is socially delayed because he doesn't play much with others. Parallel play IS developmentally appropriate until sometime between 2-3. Depending on the kid, I'd say even longer. My boys play together, but faced with a group, my 3 yo still generally prefers to play alone or with his brothers. As for the effectiveness of speech, I'm on the fence myself. I think some children are just slower to develop speech, especially boys, and speech is playtime, but not really speeding anything along. I say this as a mother with two children who have qualified for EI speech services, and have still developed at their own pace, and were caught up by three (although the 3 yo is still working on articulation, but he's also THREE, so some sounds are still primitive).

It is possible to change that. When I first joined Pinterest, it ws linked to my Facebook account. I've changed it to be my first name only, general location, and linked to my blog. I had the same concern.

Here's mine: http://pinterest.com/ordinarytime/

No problem! The catalog came last week, so it happened to be in my mind. :)

Probably this: http://www.chasing-fireflies.com/

We love felt food! I made some for my niece a while back, and I've been working on new selections for my boys: http://thisordinarytime.blogspot.com/search/label/Handmade That hasn't been our experience at all. We thrive on natural and handmade toys. Although, I think Magic Cabin is selling out. It's not much like it was even 2-3 years ago.

Thanks, ladies! Great suggestions! I LOVE these!

My youngest is 9 months and walking. We're coming into a chilly and rainy fall (then a long, snowy winter) and we play outside in all weather. What can I put on his feet? We typically wear Robeez or similar at this age, but I'm not sure their boots are waterproof enough. He's wearing 12-18 month Robeez, if that helps. Thank you for any help!