When The Bean was born over 3 years ago, we opted not to get a high chair.  We just didn’t see the point.  Plus, we really had no good place to put it.  Instead we got the Fisher Price Healthy Steps Booster Seat.  It’s adjustable and straps directly onto your dining set chairs. 

Now, I should clarify that we fed her in her bouncy seat until she was sitting up well enough to use the booster.  But it didn’t take too long for her to get there, and we haven’t looked back since.  She sits in the booster seat every day.  I love it so much that it’s become my standard baby shower gift.  I mean, how many of your baby shower gifts are you still using over 3 years down the line. 

Click here if you’d like to see the booster.  I’d show you a picture of The Bean’s, but trust me when I say it’s in desperate need of a power washer.  I really should take it outside and hose it off…which if you think about it, the ability to be hosed off is another, highly-desireable characteristic of a kid product. 

So there you have it.  The Fisher Price Healthy Steps Booster Seat work for me.

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

…Do The Bean and I favor slightly?

Me: age 4.                                         The Bean, this past weekend: age 3 years & 4 months.

I have always liked doing hair for little girls.  My younger sister always had very long hair, and I used to fix it for her sometimes.  Granted, since I’m not that much older than her, it didn’t always work out, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

One of my many part-time jobs during college was the afternoon teacher for the 4-year-old class at a local daycare.  I got there as they were waking up from their naps for the day.  After they had a snack and were playing, I’d call the girls over one by one to comb out their hair, and often ended up putting a braid or something in it while I was at it. 

The Bean has just recently gotten to the point that she will leave a pony tail in her hair if we pull it back.  Her hair is long and gorgeous with some curl to it.  So, I’m starting to experiment with different hair-do’s for her other than a basic pony or just leaving it down. 

Here’s what I did with it yesterday for the birthday party she went to.

Here’s today’s do.  I did also take a side shot of this.  But, in all honesty, I was too embarassed to post it when I saw how much earwax you could see inside a certain Beanish ear.  Clearly, I need to re-aquaint myself with a Q-tip.

It came out pretty well considering it was my first attempt.  I think I’ll get better and more adventurous with her hair.  As she becomes more accustomed to me doing it, she’ll be less wiggly as well. 

I’ve stumbled across several blogs where moms are showing off and giving tutorials for the beautiful hair-do’s they create for their little girls.  First, is Girly-Do’s.  Then She Does Hair.  Piper’s Hair-do’s is also great.  All three of these blogs are great.  I’m sure I’ll be attempting some of the gorgeous do’s from their blogs as time goes by!

The Bean came home with a bubble blowing contraption as her party favor from the birthday party. 

My O My!  It is a huge hit! 

See for yourself.

Yesterday afternoon, The Bean and I headed out for a birthday party for some of her friends.  It was in one of those indoor bouncing playgrounds. 

The lighting in there was not very conducive to photos, so there weren’t very many too choose from.  But here’s a few of The Bean enjoying herself at the party.

Yes, it really was that tall, and she made it all the way up on her own on the first try!

She slid down on her stomach instead of sitting for the ride down. 

She REALLY had fun bouncing!

As always, she enjoyed the balloon she got to take home.

As I posted a few weeks ago, The Bean has transitioned to a toddler bed.  Although it was never a problem when she was in her crib, now we keep her bedroom door propped open while she drifts off.  For some reason, now she won’t stop crying if we close it before she goes to sleep.  Granted, she still isn’t able to open it by herself, but that was also the case when she was in her crib.  It’s just a mystery. 

Anyway, now that The Bean is not in her crib, we’re working on the whole “stay in your bed” routine.  She’s gotten to where she does pretty well most nights, but it never fails that she gets up at least 1- 3 times asking to go to the potty.  At first, we just took her and sent her right back to bed, because she always actually went once she got there. 

Lately, it’s started to look like she’s just asking in order to stall her bedtime.  For example, she goes to the potty right before going to her room.  T rocks her for about 10 minutes and puts her to bed.  Within 2 minutes of him heading out, she’s up and back in the living room asking me to go to the potty.  Last night, I just sent her straight back to bed, and she went.

Tonight, we had a repeat of last night.  Only she asked again for the potty 15 minutes later.  This time, I took her figuring that maybe she really did have to go since she asked again.  Sure enough, she had pooped in her pull-up. 

How do you know when it’s just a stall and when it’s not?  Just when I think she’s stalling, she’s really not.  I don’t want to reward her behavior if it’s not a real need.  But I don’t want her doing the pee dance if she really needs to go. 

Sigh.

I’m accepting any and all answers to this one, Folks.  Fire away!

The Bean has always been a fairly laid back child.  When I say that, I by no means am implying that she has never had meltdowns or pitched fits.  We see our share of those around our house.  In fact, I have noticed that the frequency of fits and whining and lying down on the floor in public places has dramatically increased in the past couple of months. 

My theory is that The Bean has just hit the terrible two phase in her own timing.  We already know she marches to her own timetable.  Why should this be any different? 

So far, she seems to respond best when I don’t get excited about her fits or lying down in the middle of the floor wherever we are.  Luckily, she usually just lies down and doesn’t scream or flail while she’s on the floor.  Still, it’s not my idea of fun. 

Hopefully, this will soon pass.  Let me know if you have any tips to send my way!

This past weekend, The Bean and I headed to the mall to see if they had anything worthwhile at the outlet shops. 

As I turned onto the access ramp for the freeway and accelerated to merge with traffic, I hear a very enthusiastic “Ya-Hooo!” from the back seat. 

The Bean may have NASCAR in her future!

Shannon asked for 5 ingredient or less recipes for this week’s Works For Me Wednesday.  Although, I’ve posted this recipe before, I thought it deserved a re-run!  Enjoy!

Egg and Sausage Muffins

1 pound cooked, drained sausage

12 eggs

1/4 cup cream

A dash each of salt and pepper

Optional ingredients according to your personal taste: shredded cheese, salsa, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.  Spoon browned sausage into each tin filling halfway.  Mix eggs, cream, and other ingredients.  Spoon on top of sausage filling the tin nearly to the top.  Bake for 20 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes.  Use a spoon or knife to gently remove from the tin.  Serve warm.  This recipe makes a dozen muffins.

These muffins can also be frozen to thaw for a later date, or pop one out of the freezer each night to thaw in the fridge for the next day’s breakfast.  Yummy!

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday recipes!

Unfortunately, T did not escape the virus unscathed.  His go-round with this lovely germ started Friday night.  Luckily, with the meds from my ER visit on Tuesday, we were able to get in a pre-emptive strike that seemed to decrease the severity of it for him.  He said he feels like he’s turned the corner on it and is just really weak. 

Hopefully, we are done with this. 

Hopefully….