How are you caring for it? If he's predisposed to curls, the right hair care routine can make a big difference. You need a shampoo formulated for curly hair, without all the sulfates, silicones, parabens, etc. - just a little on the scalp - and then plenty of conditioner. Detangle in the bath using fingers, not a comb, and sort of scrunch them up and let them air dry. My youngest has natural curls and they do turn wavy/frizzy when she gets a hold of the hairbrush.

Not sure if popularity is an issue for you - if so, a pediatrician friend was just saying she's seen an uptick in "Adele" variants recently, including Adalia, Adella, and just plain Dell. So you might get that association. I think it's pretty, though!

That makes sense. Thanks, everyone. We haven't had to put a school name on anything yet, so it seemed like a silly requirement. Clearly I'm not thinking ahead.

We're filing our letter of intent with the school board and have to think of a name. Was anyone else tempted to use a funny/sarcastic one? "Lastname Academy" or anything similarly serious doesn't really fit our personality.

What do they mean by "fireworks are illegal"? Where we live, consumer fireworks are fine, although you must be 18 to buy and there are ordinances for when they can be shot off. Display fireworks cannot be sold in-state, but there's no law against possessing and using them. Hence folks driving to the next state. The police even issued a statement in the paper last year to clarify. They do not care if you have them. You just can't buy them here.

They do it because the entire U.S. airline industry operates within such tight margins that it's nearly impossible for them to keep their heads above water without overbooking. It's a classic example used in business classes. Google "Porter's five forces airline industry" if you want to see how it works. (Not saying what United did was right, though)

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the joys of small-town newspapers. Ours comes once a week, in the afternoon with the mail. Typical headlines include whose kid got his first deer recently, who went on vacation and to where, etc. I especially enjoy the crime section. "So-and-so was fined $12 for disrupting a squirrel's nest." "Two juveniles were caught spray-painting a goat in the county park." One year there was a rash of garden gnome thefts that made the front page. I never understood why people hated the DMV until I moved for college. Ours has two chairs. I've never had to wait. And the post office at Christmastime. I went in to buy stamps and the postmaster stood there and helped me address my Christmas cards.

Following a conversation last night about the line of presidential succession that I wasn't aware he was listening to, DS 2.5 at lunch today arranged his grapes from largest to smallest, gave them all titles (Grape President, Grape VP, Speaker of the Grape House, etc.), then proceeded to eat them in order and "inaugurate" new grapes.

I don't know about calf circumference, but I highly recommend Ariats if you can find a pair that suits you. My current pair is just now wearing out after a decade of almost daily use. I have the paddock boots, which are waterproof and come to just above the ankle. As a farm person, they're the only brand I've tried that I can wear all day and be comfortable in. They're available on Amazon.

Easiest tortilla soup that my kids love: Box of chicken stock Jar of chunky salsa Diced chicken Can of black beans Can of corn Heat together; top with crumbled tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

I'm back after a hectic couple of weeks. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to everyone's thoughts and suggestions. I really appreciate the advice. She's reading at about a second grade level. That's why it seems off to me...it may be normal for age three, but most of her language abilities are beyond what you'd expect for her age. This is great advice. Thank you. My older son has always done this naturally - will stop a conversation multiple times to ask the meaning of a word. My daughter doesn't seem to care about precision as long as I get the gist of what she's saying. Definitely something to work on! She doesn't usually describe what she wants; she just says the closest word that kind of makes sense and expects me to figure out what she means. Thanks for the suggestions. I think improving organization is the way to go, along with helping her be more mindful of word choice. And no, no other indication of a problem. She was an early speaker, loved rhyming and word games, and is now an early reader.

I love the words kids invent. Usually they're perfectly descriptive. DD has invented her share of terminology, and to be honest I rarely correct it because I think it's cute. No dyslexia here, though. And she is definitely ahead of her peers in language, just not in this one area.

That makes sense, thank you. We occasionally get opposite confusion, less often as she's gotten older. But mostly it's right category/wrong word. And yeah, it doesn't seem to bother her at all. She's more annoyed that I stopped to correct her. Unless I bring her the wrong kind of juice; then it's the end of the world.

Yeah, it's a red flag to me partially because her brother who is two years younger has no problem whatsoever with the same skills. I know all kids are different, and I realize it may be within the range of normal development, but for my kids, they've all three been pretty uniformly advanced, so this stands out.

Something is a little…off…with my daughter. I think. I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what it is. Background: She’s going on four, a bright child, hit all her milestones early, seems especially good at pattern recognition and seeing the big picture. For example, at 15 months she would sing, “An animal, an animal, EIEIO!†As in “I get the pattern, Mama, can we just be done with it instead of naming them all?†We knew then she was not going to be a detail person. She’s been totally scatterbrained from the beginning. Here’s the odd thing: If I ask my kids what kind of cereal they want, both of my boys will name their favorite. My daughter will insist on going to the pantry and looking. Same with juice, same with anything. If I ask her to just name the kind she wants, half the time she says the wrong thing and then has a meltdown when I bring it. She DOES know what things are called. If I supply the name - “where is x?†- she does just fine. But it seems like she has problems retrieving the word she wants sometimes. She’ll call it something similar, something in the same category but not quite right. The other day she caught a cricket and called it a ladybug. I stopped her - that’s not a ladybug; what is it really? She thought for a second and got it right. But for the most part, she doesn’t concern herself with the thinking part unless I stop her and make her think; she just says something close and that’s good enough for her. Anyone know what this is? Should I be concerned? Or is it just her personality, thinking in broad categories and not concerning herself with the particulars?