How much does your toddler really understand?

Now that the nibble is 20 months old, the hubby and I are beginning to realize that we have to censor ourselves a bit more. And not just in the obvious we-don't-want-him-repeating-the-f-word sort of way either.

What I wouldn't give to find out exactly how much of our daily conversations he actually understands. He's extremely social and has always attempted to participate in our discussions - laughing when we laugh, making the same facial expressions and hand gestures, and chiming in with a few strings of babble. I remember when the hubby left the house headed over to Chap's at 8 a.m. for his free growlers on April Fool's Day (yes, that was a joke) and I couldn't stop laughing from the second he locked the door until he called me realizing it was a joke. The nibble couldn't have possibly known what was going on, but he laughed the entire time too. And that just made me laugh harder.

How to Land Your Kid in Therapy

My dad saved me this article ("How to Land Your Kid in Therapy") from the July/August issue of The Atlantic. A lot of food for thought, especially for someone who's only been doing the mom thing for 18 months and just now really getting into actual child rearing, as opposed to infant parenting, which is comprised primarily of diaper, safety, playtime and feeding duties.

Basic premise: Many parents today are so focused on "making their kids happy" that the children grow up without knowing how to deal with disappointment, defeat or life in general, and therefore, find themselves to be unhappy adults. She discusses a wide range of contributing factors, from the increasingly popular unscored soccer and pee week basketball games to running over to pick up and coddle your toddler the second he falls down.

Happy Half-Birthday to the Nibble

The other day, I went into the nibble's room to re-cover him before going to bed and I stopped for a moment to just look at him. When did he get so big? The crib that once engulfed him now looked crowded with him and his three stuffed animals (or his "beebies" as he would call them).

Everyone tells you that kids grow up before you know it, but I really can't believe he is 18 months today. Not that I'm mourning the loss of his babyhood. Sure, dealing with full-on tantrums and actual discipline is a bit more challenging than the feed, cuddle, change diaper routine, but it's also much more rewarding. He's a like a little person, with his own ideas, mannerisms and dance moves. One of his big belly laughs is all I need to put a smile on my face. And sometimes, the highlight of my entire day is watching him clap when we get out of the car and he sees we're at the playground ... even though we've been there a million times before.

Tale of 3 Pies: The Little Treehouse, Fox & Hound, and Domino's

As a true pizza fanatic, I'm not ashamed to say that I ate pizza three times last Friday and was totally in the mood for it again by the time Saturday rolled around.

To quickly recap my three pies of the day:

Lunch
The nibble and I met a friend and her two girls at The Little Treehouse for some playtime and a bite. It's an indoor play space with a small jungle gym, make-believe play stations and several toys and books, as well as a small cafe with tables and chairs. Cool concept (and certainly lucrative at $8.50 per child), but I'm not sure it's a place we would frequent. Perhaps it's just that I don't have many mommy friends and I certainly cannot see myself going there to meet/talk to randoms. Or it might that most of the children over two were girls, which tipped me off to the fact that loud, energetic boy play probably isn't the thing to do there. Or maybe it's just that I don't like taking off my shoes in strange places.

Nightmare at Chili's: Two-hour dinner with a toddler in tow

In the nearly 17 months that we've been accompanied by a third person (a very tiny person) when going out to eat, we've found it amazing how quickly you can actually get in and out of a restaurant. Hosts are anxious to get you seated so your child isn't wreaking havoc in their lobby. Servers cannot wait to get your order in, delivered and cleared to minimize the mess that is quickly accumulating under the high chair.

Unfortunately, that was not the case tonight. After a bit of shopping at the King of Prussia mall, we decided to head over to Chili's for dinner. We should have known it was not going to be smooth sailing as soon as the waitress took 15 minutes to bring us our drinks and take our order. But having been in the biz myself during my college years, I always like to give servers the benefit of the doubt. Even when we have to repeat our order three times: Fried mozzarella, cup of chili, chicken fajitas, margarita chicken. Mmmhmmm. Not exactly that complicated.

The Freezer Case: Wegmans Thin Crust Specialty Plain Pizza

Okay, technically not a freezer case review, but close enough. You can find this "Thin Crust Specialty Plain Pizza" in Wegmans' prepared food section in a refrigerator case.

We were late eating dinner (which makes for a crabby nibble) and trying to get a few groceries when I decided to pick up a pie that I could pop in the oven as soon as we got home. We've had their regular (not labeled as specialty, whatever that means) pepperoni pizza in the past and always been pleased. However, it was a Friday, which means no meat, and you know I like a thin crust, so we decided to give this a try.

The Freezer Case: Freschetta Simply Inspired Rustic Pepperoni Pomodoro

Spicy here, checking in from a rough few weeks. I've got strep throat and the nibble's had back-to-back illnesses: first an upper respiratory infection, now an ear infection and two pink eyes. In 15 months, he's barely been sick at all (outside of minor colds), so I guess we're getting it all at once. When things get hectic around here (or I just can't make it to the grocery store), I'll occasionally use Genuardi's grocery delivery service, which is precisely how we ended up with the Freschetta Simply Inspired Rustic Pepperoni Pomodoro.

For the most part, the delivery service is great: you get the same sale prices available at the store and you can also get free delivery as long as you order five things from their list of hot items that week (which is quite a long and varied list, so it's pretty easy to do). However, there are two major drawbacks. First, items you have ordered may be out of stock, but you don't find that out until the groceries are delivered. Second, unless you have a few hours to spend reading the fine print online for each item ordered, you may end up with enough flank steak to feed the neighborhood or a pizza with mushrooms.

Banishment of the Binky: Day Four

A fellow binky lover

Last week, I saw a disturbing image online. And no, I'm not talking about the Japan quake and Pacific tsunami (although my heart goes out to the victims and I encourage anyone who is able to donate to disaster relief efforts). What I'm referring to in this post is a photo of nearly-five-year-old Suri Cruise with a pacifier in her mouth.

The nibble loves his bink, as we call it in our house. Shortly before he turned one, I thought I would gradually wean him from it by hiding it during the day. I also thought that he would ultimately leave it behind himself when he was ready. As he will be 15 months this week, and has not left it behind on his own (and has also figured out all of my hiding spots so he can stand there and point and say "bi" until I give in), I apparently was wrong on both counts.