You guys give the best advice. Someone suggested a booster seat to curb my little dinnertime-escapee and you were right! This booster seat is just the thing. She loves it. (It’s green.) I love it! It’s rubber and broad so it sticks to the chair and doesn’t tip. It’s just high enough that she stays put and doesn’t jump up to run around at every whim but just low enough that she can climb up and down herself.

I think that might be the only draw back, actually. She likes it so much, she climbs up into it all day long of her own accord. I’ll often walk into the room and find her sitting quietly at the table just doing her thing. Who knew! I’d rather she didn’t scale large dining room chairs while I’m not around but some things a mother can’t control. I can only hover so much.

I did try pushing the chair all the way up to the table to stop these impromptu sitting sessions but that did not go over well at all. I guess a “big girl” needs to be able to sit when she wants to. Pity the mother who comes between a big girl and her big girl chair.

I swear I do not get a kick back from writing a review about all these things. It is purely a coincidence that this post is filled with several raving reviews. A reader (Hi Caroline!) sent us a package full of fun little things and I have to say these Gel Gems window cling thingies were quite a hit.

They are definitely not meant for two-year-olds because they are practically begging to be eaten because they look like delicious little bits of Jello but they are loads of fun. I’m only letting Baby Bug play with them when I am right there with her because I know she will try to eat them like she eats every thing else she isn’t supposed to …plant leaves and cat food. When will she ever grow out of that!!

So anyway, these are super fun. You can even play with them online and save yourself a trip to the store and from choking!

Which one is the real one?

Check it out!!! Is my friend Anna from borderline bonkers the most amazing artist or WHAT?!!! She blows me away. Look at that detail in the hair. Ever since I saw this painting on her art blog I knew she was going to make it big someday. So if you want to collect art from a budding artist, I suggest you head on over to her etsy shop and request a custom painting before it blows up. She’s amazing, not to mention she has two kids! How does she do it? I do not know.

I am so honored to have this painting. Thank you, Anna.

Here’s something that is not a review: Check out my new bang-up hack-job hair-do! (those hyphens are for Bethany Actually, my personal editor, who LOVES hyphens.) I like them! (My bangs, not the hyphens though hyphens are fun too.) This picture is not the best but I’ve been sporting these new bangs for two days now and they make me very very happy.

You know how rare it is for me to catch myself in a random reflection of a mirror or window and actually like what I see looking back at me? Rare. Lately, it’s been NEVER. But with these bangs? Not rare at all! I’ve been surprising myself all day long. Who is that pretty girl with the bangs? Oh! It’s me!

I’m so happy! They’ve been putting a spring in my step all day long. I may not even have to go get them professionally corrected which was my evil plan all along.

Which leads me to that party-planning post idea. It is still perking. Groan! I STILL have not found the perfect name or figured out the best way to make it happen but it’s going to happen. I didn’t realize there would be so much interest. I’m really going to have to call on reader’s suggestions too because frankly, the demand for great party ideas kind of intimidates me! So put your party hats on folks! We’re gonna have some fun!

I ran out of pre-wash stain spray today and had to buy it on my way to the laundromat. No big deal except my laundry days are planned out to the minute. I can’t sort and spray my dirty clothes when I’m at the laundromat because keeping a toddler occupied in a dirty room full of strangers and open exits that she can just run out into traffic from is just a nightmare. It’s bad enough that she refuses to sit in the stroller any more and likes to run around licking things.

I was a little bit worried that today was going to be a disaster since I didn’t get to do my sorting and spraying in the comfort of my home. How could I occupy Baby Bug while I tended to the tedious?

We had an old balloon in the car that I had forgotten about. We got it for free at the bank. Well, Baby Bug brought that balloon into the laundromat and that was the best toy ever. It kept her occupied the entire time and the peels of laughter rang all over the laundromat. I think I did the world of service because you should have seen how she cheered up that dingy crowd. Even the most curmudgeon old man washing his scary looking yellow briefs had to crack a smile. It was great.

Then a man came in with no shirt. I guess Baby Bug hasn’t seen very many men without shirts on because his shirtless-ness immediately absorbed all of her attention.

“Look Mommy,” she says. “There is a naked man in the laundromat!” Thankfully she says this just loud enough that I can hear but nobody else can.

“Yes,” I answer trying to make an awkward situation seem like the most natural thing in the world. “It’s okay for boys not to wear their shirts. That’s what they do.”

Apparently, my explanation was not satisfactory because she repeats her statement again but this time louder. A woman next to us starts cracking up. Now I’m starting to worry because the man probably has heard her and I have no idea what he is going to say.

It kind of reminds me of the time my cousin called an African American man “Blackie” to his face in the grocery store. It was a perfectly innocent thing to say since that was the name of her cat at the time and this man was quite dark like her cat but… you know how these situations are. They can go bad really quickly depending on how the adults react to them.

So I explain to Baby Bug again that sometimes boys don’t wear shirts. By this time she’s running around saying “Naked Man! Naked Man!” and I want to crawl under the nearest bolted-down industrial front loader. Thankfully, the man turns out to be a funny guy and he explains carefully to her that he usually does wear a shirt but it’s laundry day and all his shirts are dirty. Now why didn’t I think of that explanation?

Phew! I think I’m done.