Two Year Stats

String Bean had her 2 year well check today with none other than my cousin (by marriage), Cindy!

For those of you who do not know, we've battled a weight problem since shortly after birth with String Bean. So, we are always eager to see if she's improved. Today she tipped the scales at 21 1/2 pounds! This is in the 1.6% for her age which is an improvement over 6 months ago when she was in the 0.5% for weight.

While this is great news, we are still forced to keep her rear-facing in her car seat due to the weight requirement of her car seat which is 24 pounds. If she continues to gain 1/2 a pound each month as she did the last 6 months, we are looking at having the option of turning her around in April 2010. Of course, extended rear facing is safer, so we aren't complaining. The only time it bugs us is on long road trips. She doesn't know the difference!

Other stats:
Height- 32 inches (10%)
Head Circumference- 18 1/4 inches (21%)

We Survived

I recently had a conversation with Amy and Filbert about things our kids have that we didn't...and we survived! The conversation mostly revolved around seat belts and car seats neither of which were required when we were young. Although I do not advocate letting your kids do without seat belts and car seats just because we survived without them, there are certainly things that fall into that category.

Wipe Warmers. Sure it makes the experience more pleasant, but is it necessary? I think not.

Remote Controlled Mobiles. Really? My daughter never had a mobile, so maybe I've just missed the whole boat. I guess parents who are too lazy to get up and go across the room/house to start the mobile or change the speed/sound need a remote. Speaking of remotes, where is my TV remote...?

Mini Washing Machine for Cloth Diapers. If you don't believe me, check it out. Although this link does not advertise to use this gadget for cloth diapers, other places it is advertised as a solution for keeping pees and poops away from the rest of your laundry with this new machine. If you have expendable income, go for it. And it fits on your counter top! That's where I like to clean my poops and pees!

Crying Analyzer. Maybe I'm the odd mom out, but isn't it easier just to check the diaper, offer food, and look for something uncomfortable than to pull out a machine, have your baby cry into it and hope that this is right, as it is 87% of the time, about your baby's cries?

Shopping Cart Covers. *Dodging tomatoes* I know many of you out there think this is a necessity for your precious little one. I'm told that 95% of first time moms will take precautions for their firstborn and then just find that to be a hassle and unnecessary with their second. (You caught me, I made up that statistic, but you second and third and fourth time moms know there is truth to that.) Our grocery store has disinfectant wipes at the door next to the carts. I just use those and try to keep my life simple and my diaper bag light. (Similarly, there are these same covers for restaurant high chairs.)

Lead Testing Kits. Somewhere the Consumer Product Safety Commission has just started a file on me. When I was a kid, we ate lead for fun! My elementary school had a back alley where not only my sister was caught kissing a boy behind the shed, but the lead dealers (who were all in 4th and 5th grade) would go to sell their product and get us all our fix before the dreaded afternoon dolldrums. The trace amounts found in toys just are not worth the hysteria the CPSC has thrust upon us. Unless your kid is eating paint, the lead threat just isn't that great. And you have a bigger problem. YOUR KID IS EATING PAINT. Besides, I saw an exposé on the news that showed these tests often give false positives and fail to detect lead in some cases.

What would you add to this list?

Rear-Facing Car Seat

String Bean had her 15 month check up at the pediatrician's office today. It is always an adventure since she has had a weight problem for most of her life. The moment of truth came and String Bean weighted in at a whopping 17 pounds 7 ounces. For those of you wondering what percentile that is, it is the 0.42 percentile. At her 12 month appointment, she weighed about a pound less. In 3 months, she put on about a pound.

The law in Illinois is your child must be 20 pounds and 12 months old to turn the car seat from rear-facing to front-facing. Of course, String Bean grew out of her infant car seat because she surpassed the recommended length for that seat. Since she was still under the magic 20 pounds, we had to get a convertible car seat (it "grows" with your child; a newborn can be put into a convertible seat). The specifications for this seat say your child has to be 24 pounds before you can convert it to front-facing.

24 - 17.5 = 5.5 pounds. If it takes String Bean 3 months to gain 1 pound, we are looking at 16 or 17 months until she weighs the magic 24 pounds. That puts us to just after her third birthday. Unreal.

Does anyone know if there is a maximum length/height for rear-facing?! If there is, we are likely to hit that milestone first!