Mama Randa

My son is almost 3 months old, and cries/screams through nearly every car ride no matter how short or long the drive is. Maybe he's bored, I thought, so I sew a tapestry with simple designs and pin it to the seat. Doesn't help. I hang toys. Doesn't help. He needs to see me, I think, so I find a baby mirror. No good either.

As I was lamenting about his disliek for the car, a friend suggested that he could be getting carsick. I have read alot of about carsick babies before, but I always associated carsickness with vomitng. He has never spit up in the car. Could there be other inner ear issues that might be causing him pain while driving? His cry is definately more of an "I'm in pain" cry than an "I'm bored" cry.

I'm not asking what to do to make the car rides easier, I just want to know if anyone knows about ear problems and if they could cause pain during drives. Thanks for any info you may have!

My son and I tried making candied violets (it's our first attempt). About 35 hours have gone by and they did not dry and harden. The flowers are now wilted in a puddle.

We brushed each with lightly beaten egg white and then coated them with fructose. Could the fructose be the problem? It is finer than the evaporated cane juice we usually keep around the house so I thought it would work better. Or maybe we 'painted' too much egg white? It didn't seem like much when we were doing it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Our young cat had a littler of kittens in the Spring. In early September the last one finally found a home. The same day the last kitten left, mama cat (barely a year old now) went into heat. We had planned on getting her spayed, but she wasn't caught up on rabies shots yet so had to wait 3 weeks before having the operation.

Anyway, once we heard that yowling characteristic of a female cat in heat, we were diligent about keeping the doors shut and not letting her outside. But then suddenly, after about 4 days, it just stopped and she went back to normal. Usually heat lasts a few weeks right? It certainly did the first time before she got out and had her fling with the neighborhood cat suitor. Is it normal for heat to be so short in duration? Or could she have gotten pregnant in the days just before heat therefor causing it to last only a few days? (I am sure she didn't get out while in heat)

I am 20 weeks pregnant and found out just this morning that the baby is a boy. My first child is also male and 5 years old. He is circumcised.

Now that I am older and more knowledgeable, I am aware of how unnecessary circumcision is. I would like to leave baby #2's penis intact, but my only concern is the difference it will create between my 2 sons. When they are older, will the first son feel envious? Will he feel as if something has been taken away from him?

I know that leaving the baby uncircumcised will lead to the question "Why does mine look different?" and then I'll have to explain about the procedure which he then ask "but why?" and I will have no real answer. There is no real why behind circumcision unless you are of the Jewish faith, which I am not.

What do you think? Has anyone had this experience, with one child circumcised and the other not?

Most children have one topic that they are supremely interested in-- for some it's bugs, trains, dinosaurs, etc. What is your child's passion, and what things are you doing to support that interest and further their growth in their area of 'study'?

For my son, age 5, it is reptiles and here are some things we are doing to support him;

put up snake and salamander posters

bought reptile identification books

take him on trips to search for reptiles

let him check out whatever reptile books from the library he wants with his own library card

rent snake videos

I am 19 weeks pregnant, and when I sneeze, I get an intensely sharp pain in my lower abdominal/uteran area. It's only when sneezing, I never have this pain any other time. Anyone else had this experience?

I'm looking for a good critical-thinking adventure game for my son, age 5 to mess around with. I've specifically thinking about Myst since he could pall around with the puzzles even if he couldn't necessarily solve them.

Also I remember playing Sam and Max Hit the Road and Day of the Tentacle when I was younger and LOVED them, however I remember there being alot of adult humor and silly violence in both.

So my question is, can you suggest a great adventure game that would be fun for a 5 year old to just explore the worlds?