My mom spent more than a few nights sleeping IN the car with my brother because of the wake up issue. M

Plei, try the vacuum thing Trudy suggested. If she's a white noise lover, you'll find out. A friend of mine used to tune the TV to snow when hers wouldn't sleep, and once stood up the vacuum and let it run right outside the baby's door.

• g* At 7 months, we've pretty much got that part figured out.

The vacuum trick kind of worked when she was a neonate, but as a settled baby, the vacuum is now a Thing Doing Stuff, and is therefore to be paid attention to, just in case.

The usual sure-fire way for her to nap is for me to curl up with her, one of the side lights on, and start getting sleepy, myself. Sadly, it appears that a Sawzall in the other room is also a Thing Doing Stuff, and trumps cuddling with a parent. However, cuddling with a parent appears to have taken the edge off, and now she's sitting in her high chair, playing with her sippy cup and looking for Kitties Running By.

(I am abusing the fuck out of Pooh Case tonight.)

In non-baby news, I have this in-a-hurry bad eating habit I like to call Stuff-on-Spoon. Where, in a pinch with no time to prepare a meal (or, in this case, a kitchen filled with construction gear as a result of an emergency repipe), you just grab a large spoon, and a jar of something foodlike. Today's lesson: SoS works so much better when a body's eating peanut butter and/or has more than just the dregs left in the Nutella jar. Soynut butter just doesn't cut it. I suspect sunflower seed butter is the same.

Time to raid the fridge and see if we have anything solid in there I can wolf down.

Aww. She's looking around, trying to identify the noise coming from under the sink. Damn, she's cute.

Cashew butter is good too, especially with a handful of wheatstone srackers (from my nanny days.)

Also, I think you are raising a renovator.

MG, what's your paper's subject? I'll generate 25 words of general edumacational sounding crap you can sneak in there someplace ifn you want.

Do I remember correctly that Ms. Tickybox likes Spoon, no Stuff?

She is coming around to Stuff.

I'm not retrying bananas for a while, though. That rejection was pretty brutal.

Hmm. Maybe I should boil some water and have instant oatmeal.

This pipe thing is taking forever.

The vacuum trick kind of worked when she was a neonate

Jake was never one of those kids, but Ben was. He had his first cast on at two weeks (modified club foot) and I'll never forget the awful nurse telling me how much he would scream when they used the saw to take it off. I was appalled and terrified, but when the doctor turned it on he was mesmerized. Absolutely silent, staring at the thing in fascination. If I hadn't been so relieved, I would have given that nurse the biggest Fuck You evah.

He was a weird baby -- even running water calmed him down. He could be screaming and if I walked up to the kitchen tap and turned it on, sudden quiet.

I had one kid in my care who was only calmed in her parents absence by running warm water over her feet. She cooed and grasped happily at my hair.

Sorry, I have no advice on the sleeping, Plei. We can get Isaac to nap for only short bursts. I am willing to try switching him to disposables for a few days to see if he's just really averse to wetness.

Today's lesson: SoS works so much better when a body's eating peanut butter and/or has more than just the dregs left in the Nutella jar. Soynut butter just doesn't cut it. I suspect sunflower seed butter is the same.

The no peanut butter thing sucks. My favorites substitutes are almond butter and cashew butter, or--if your Trader Joes stocks it--cashew/macadamia nut butter.

My favorites substitutes are almond butter and cashew butter, or--if your Trader Joes stocks it--cashew/macadamia nut butter.

On sandwiches, I actually like the soy and sunflower ones.

But plain--ugh.

She's crashed out now. I'd love to stand up, but I don't want to disturb the sleeping baby, because that never ends well. She's got her left arm thrown over my right wrist. It's making typing amusing. I will say I'm very glad that I touch type, or I'd never be able to get any typing done at all--the laptop is an arm's length away from me, and I can't even see the keyboard.

My future goal: to have enough money that, when something breaks, we can just call someone in to fix it.

Current spin on the house: it's a learning experience and next home, we'll know what to look for.

Burrell, have you tried the flushable woven diaper liners with Isaac? They do seem to wick the moisture away from the skin pretty well, and would work with a diaper service diaper.