That's funny! Very entertaining. ***"The homeowners association would be knocking at the front gates by noon tomorrow!"*** I kept thinking about you and the homeowners association and my mind kept going to a quote by Groucho Marx. "I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER."

And if you're all still with me...What waffle maker do you like? We have 2 small ones we have to use at once, and then it's still a lot of waiting for us all to get waffles. I was excited to see that Cuisinart has a 6 slice one, but there are very mixed reviews of it. We like traditional waffles, as opposed to Belgian, and it seems that most bakers on the market right now are for Belgian. Other question: Coffee maker? We don't drink it often, but when we do we want it to be good...And we have a dear friend who loves a wonderful, rich, strong cup of coffee, and it's important for me to offer him that. (He installed all our carpet and vinyl for free, as well as being a great friend otherwise) I saw that someone on the Appliance forum highly recommended Technivorm, but not sure I'm ready to spend $250 for a coffee maker. On the other hand, considering our Black and Decker has lasted us 24 years, it's not a purchase we'll be expecting to make again soon, and I want it to be a good decision. Still waffling on mixers. I know the two of you above love your Electroluxes, but in the research I've done over the past few years getting ready for this moment, it just never seemed like the best choice for me. I am thinking the Bosch is probably the way I need to go, but am also tempted by the 7 qt Viking, which Acountryfarm uses and loves for her family of 13. I can see that replacing my KA on the place of honor on my baking counter...The Bosch would live in a drawer. Not only is the Viking more attractive (I know that shouldn't be a big deal), but it's the type of mixer we like to use for baking other than bread, so it'd be nice to have one mixer rather than 2. Hmm. Anyway, since we are like-minded on some things, I thought maybe you'd have some thoughts on these things that would help, too. Thanks.

We adopted a husky while I was pregnant. We had her for 5 months before DS was born, during which time she grew very attached to me. We also have a cat (well, at 25 lbs, he may be a second dog) who can be a little mean. Luckily, so far everything has worked out. We were a bit concerned because she had been abused, but she is absolutely wonderful with him. We did the things you've mentioned -- sent a blanket home, had DH carry DS into the house, etc. She was curious about him the first day home, but she was PISSED at me for having left her for 2 days. Luckily she didn't do anything but give me the cold shoulder for a while. DS is now 19 months old, and our dog is still wonderful with him. She's a little protective, actually -- she'll get between the stroller and someone who approaches us on the street; she gets upset if he cries, or she'll look at me like if it were her kid, she'd get to that crib faster than me! Food may be another big issue, especially if your dog is used to table scraps. Try putting your hand in/around the bowl when the dog's eating to see how she responds. If she's the least bit snappy, you may have to feed her when the baby naps, especially after baby is mobile. One of DS's favorite haunts when he started to crawl was the dog bowls -- to splash or check out the food (we try to empty the dish if she doesn't finish b/c the food can be a choking hazard in addition to being downright gross). And our DS also loves to feed the dog from his chair, so if that's something that's going to annoy you, make sure you don't let the dog or the baby develop that habit after you start on solid foods. For us, the problem began with cheerios at about 8 or 9 months. I've tried to make it a point to integrate the dog and the baby. We have a jogging stroller, and most days I'll take both of them on hour long walks. I think it helps the dog to just see DS as an addition to her life, rather than competition. We practice petting gently. When DS was old enough to sit up & reach for the animals, we would take his hand, help him pet them, and say gentle. Now if he gets a little rough, all we have to do is tell him to be gentle. That's pretty much all I can think of. We've got great pictures of DS crawling all over the animals and giving them hugs. Congrats.

momj47 has a point. We work with our DS and DIL on questions about or GD's diet. And "disgusting packages" wouldn't be a good foot to start the discussion on. And I think that description is a bit strong even though we didn't use packaged baby food other than some baby cereal at the very start. But by 13 months, it is time to be transitioning to real foods and the baby should be ready for it. Once our GD started getting real food at about 10 mo, she lost interest in even the home-made pureed stuff pretty quickly. The parents are in charge - but the day care giver has the choice to say "sorry but if those are the rules I can't do this." Hopefully, the discussion can stay far from that territory. The need to include the parents applies especially strongly to health issues like how cautious to be about introducing the foods that are more allergy producing foods where opinions differ so strongly. And the parent who is taking care of the child in the evening needs to be aware of what has been introduced in case there is a reaction. I also meant to mention that for many toddlers appetite can vary a lot from day to day. Some days our GD is really into eating and others she has what my husband calls "a low calorie day" when she isn't as interested in it. As long as she has normal energy levels and is staying on track for growth, we try not to stress about the ups and downs of toddler appetite.