Who Knew? Gingerbread House Challenges

By Jennifer
BabyBlogAddict.com

Who Knew that assembling and decorating a gingerbread house (one that's pre-baked and in a box) would be so challenging. I thought it would be a fun project for me and my three year old. The directions say to read through all the directions first, so I skimmed. My eyes focused on, "then wait 1 hour until it dries...then wait 2-3 more hours until it dries." What?? Don't they know that I have an impatient three year old who is ready to decorate it, so he can eat it in like five MINUTES, not five HOURS!

The directions say to make sure all the gingerbread pieces fit together perfectly. If not, you can cut the pieces so they square off perfectly when assembling. I figured I'd just skip this step. I mean how bad could it really be?

Finally, I actually followed the directions. I mixed the icing mix with the appropriate amount of water only to come up with icing that was too thick and burned the motor on my mixer. Oops. Then I added more water to help the consistency of the icing, but it never came out right. In the end, I think it was too watery and that's why Jack's name made with candy on the side of the roof, started sliding down the roof within minutes.

I'm not saying it's a project you shouldn't take on, you should just know what you are getting into before you decide to tackle this project. It's going to be messy. It's going to take five hours to complete. But, it will be fun for your little one to decorate. And it could become a holiday family tradition.

Who Knew that it would be so difficult and time consuming to build a gingerbread house? Well, now you know, so you can be prepared...unlike me.


Previous Posts:

:: Who Knew? Shock and Awe Threes
:: Who Knew? Guck in Bath Toys
:: Who Knew? Toddlers Can Tell Time
:: Who Knew? Vertically Challenged Moms
:: Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

Who Knew? Shock and Awe Threes

By Jennifer
BabyBlogAddict.com

Who Knew that the terrible threes could be worse than the terrible twos. Our son just turned three last month and something happened. We felt pretty lucky to never really experience the "terrible twos." He had melt downs, but no real tantrums where he would throw himself on the floor and kick and scream.

Well that all changed in the past month. No one warned us before hand about the upcoming "Terrible Threes" or as one friend put it, "The Shock and Awe Threes."

Who Knew that this was coming? Well, now you know, so you can be prepared...unlike us.

Previous Posts:
:: Who Knew? Guck in Bath Toys
:: Who Knew? Toddlers Can Tell Time
:: Who Knew? Vertically Challenged Moms
:: Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

Who Knew? Guck in Tub Toys

By Jennifer
BabyBlogAddict.com

Who Knew that tub toys would harbor guck (defined as "oozy sloppy dirt or debris" by Merriam-Webster). I guess I didn't realize that the rubber ducky and little rubber fish that my son played with in the bathtub were collecting water through little tiny holes and growing guck inside.

I thought that if I just squirted out the excess water after bathtime, it would be ok. But it's not! My son freaked out when he saw the little flecks of guck that flew out of the rubber ducky's mouth when all I was trying to do was make him giggle. Needless to say, that was a very quick bath and the poor rubber ducky went to rubber ducky heaven that night.

I thought I was the only neglectful parent until I read about the exact same thing on another blog. It's good to know I'm not alone in the guck department.

Who knew that you had to clean those little suckers out? Now, you know. Please feel free to share your own tips about how you clean your baby's bath toys to keep them guck-free.

Previous Posts:
:: Who Knew? Toddlers Can Tell Time
:: Who Knew? Vertically Challenged Moms
:: Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

Who Knew? Toddlers Can Tell Time

By Jennifer
BabyBlogAddict.com

Who Knew that toddlers can tell time and adding a clock to their bedroom can actually make them sleep later?

Our almost three-year-old son would sleep until a decent hour every morning. That was until he gave up his pacifier a couple of months ago. It was then that he had to keep the lamp on every night, which made it more difficult for him to tell if it was light outside in the morning. (My rule was that it had to be light outside before he could get up.) So when he was waking up before 6:00 a.m. because of the lamp and no paci, I knew something had to be done.

A friend of mine asked if Jack recognized his numbers and when I said he did, she suggested that I get a digital clock for his room. She has one for her daughter who is almost four and swore that it worked. My husband kind of laughed at the idea, thinking it would never work, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I had nothing to lose and only sleep to gain!

The first night, I told Jack that the first number had to be a "7" before he could get out of bed the next morning. He called me in at 6:30 and I had to explain the "7" rule again. He wasn't too happy, but settled down. At 6:37, he called me in again saying that there was a "7" on the clock. I reminded him that it had to be the first number. So at 7:00 on the dot, I hear in the most excited voice, "Mama, there's a 7! The first number is a 7!"

Scott was floored that it worked, and I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that it worked so quickly and consistently. Since we got the clock, I've heard him wake up before 7:00 a few times, but he'll just read in his bed and sing his ABC's or other tunes until it hits 7:00 on the dot.

Who knew that a clock could work that kind of magic? Now, you know.

Previous Posts:
:: Who Knew? Vertically Challenged Moms
:: Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

Who Knew? Vertically Challenged Moms

By Robin England
BBA Contributor and Stay-at-home Mom
Plano, TX

Who knew that short (or should I say “vertically challenged”) moms needed to have drop down rails on their baby’s cribs? I am 5 feet, 1 ½ inches tall. I was the shortest kid in school my whole life and I’ve gotten used to being one of the shortest adults around as well. No big deal – it’s just who I am.

When we were looking for a crib during our first pregnancy, we fell in love with a beautiful crib that converted to a double bed. We thought this was a great idea and we pictured our son in this crib/bed through his 18th year. What we didn’t realize was that such beds did not have a drop down side because the front and back of the crib converts to a footboard and headboard for the double bed. But I didn’t care because it was pretty and we would be getting our money’s worth after those eighteen years, right?!

It wasn’t a problem when our son was small. We had the mattress up pretty high and I could get him in there fairly easily. But as he grew, and as we lowered the mattress to keep him from pulling up and out of the crib, I realized that I was dropping him into the crib more often than placing him in it. This situation created a host of issues. Our son would invariably wake up during mid-drop and start screaming – so goodbye nap time and rest time for Mommy! I tried standing on a stool to place him in the crib but that just made me feel like I was going to lose my balance and drop both of us. I ended up settling with straddling the crib rail in my middle (talk about uncomfortable) and rocking over the crib to place him – this worked about 50 percent of the time. The rest of the time, he woke up, fussed, screamed…you get the idea.

Now, three years later, that same crib is a very nice double bed. But if we had it to do over again, we would get a drop down rail and not worry about converting to a double bed. After all, his room is small and that big bed takes up a lot of space – especially in a room where Thomas the tank engine reigns supreme and requires quite a bit of floor space for his ‘friends’ and track.

Actually, we did “have it to do all over again” about six months ago when our daughter was born. What kind of crib did we get? A very nice little drop down rail number that converts to a small toddler bed. It’s perfect. She stays asleep as I easily place her in the crib and she takes good naps. Who knew???

Thanks to Robin for contributing this post. You can also submit your own "Who knew?" stories to be published on BBA. We're looking for the stories about pregnancy and parenting that you don't always find in the books, but you probably should. I've often thought, "How am I supposed to just know that?" That's how this column,"Who knew?" came to be.

Related Post:
:: Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

Who Knew? Different Size Nipples

By Jennifer
BabyBlogAddict.com

"Who Knew?" is a new Baby Blog Addict column that will mostly be based on my own crazy experiences and discoveries during pregnancy and motherhood. It'll touch on the things you don't always find in the books, but you probably should. I've often thought, "How am I supposed to just know that?" That's how this column,"Who Knew?" came to be.

Along with my own experiences, I'll also share stories that I hear from my mommy friends or that I find while blog hopping. You can participate too. Feel free to submit your own "Who Knew?" experiences to share with the Baby Blog Addict community.

My first experience was with different size bottle nipples. Who knew there were different size nipples for baby bottles?

I don't even remember how old my son was when I was walking through Babies 'R Us and came across different Dr. Brown's nipple sizes. I got this nervous feeling in my stomach, because I had no clue that there were different levels. Who Knew?

For all of you who are preggo and doing your baby registry or a new mom using Dr. Browns bottles, here's what's available:

Level 1 Nipple - for feeding newborns; comes with the bottle
Level 2 - three months +
Level 3 - six months +
Level 4 - also six months +
Y-cut - Faster flow for thicker liquids
Preemie Nipple - for feeding preemies

So, now you know.