Around the Internet

New fad in baked treats: Cake Balls

New fad in healthy eating: The Nordic Diet

New explanations for old conundrums: Why Does Time Fly By As You Get Older?

New (to me) kitchen toys that I want: Amish Double Pie Carrier Basket With Tray And Lid

And finally...
A good reason to avoid quizzes and such on Facebook: Is Your Facebook Profile As Private As You Think?

Around the Internet

Are We Farmers Market Failures - Hey, out there! Vote for your favorite farmers' market here. Show how much you love your farmers. And if you live in the Los Angeles area, definitely do this. We're not in the top 20, but we have some spectacular markets! The Santa Monica market on Wednesdays, anyone? Perhaps we're taking for granted how our wonderful weather allows us to have strawberries, tomatoes, avocados, and so many other foods for so many months of the year. But think about how lucky we are, and vote! Now, I'm off to slice up some sweet, juicy watermelon and tuck into some green, yellow, and red tomatoes...mmm...

Starbucks tests new names for stores - A sign of the times: Starbucks is experimenting with avoiding the use of their name in new stores. I never thought I'd see the day...

How to Take Better Baby Photos - Tips on taking better pictures of babies and kids. Some of this is over my head, but I think I still learned something.

Coolio: The Next Julia Child? - LOL...no. Do you even remember Coolio? Well, back when, he got all into food and starred in an online cooking show on My Damn Channel.

Risk of mad cow disease from farmed fish? - There is now concern that eating farmed fish who are fed byproducts rendered from cows might be at risk. So now, who's going to be protecting consumers from this? Because the USDA and the FDA can't handle what they have on their plates so far. And I think we all know how unlikely it is that any corporation or industry will self-regulate.

Social Security Numbers Easily Guessed

An interesting new report shows how easy recent Social Security numbers have become to guess.

"It was far easier to predict SSNs for people born after 1988, when the Social Security Administration began an effort to ensure that U.S. newborns obtained their SSNs shortly after birth."

Yikes! This new study has me rethinking the safety of providing information on blogs. I intentionally don't provide any real names for such reasons. But it sounds like all thieves really need is a name, date of birth, and home town to come to a close approximation of a Social Security number.

So if you or your kids were born after 1988, it's that much more important that you safeguard such basic information.

Here's how the system works:

"The Social Security number's first three digits -- called the "area number" -- is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form. The fourth and fifth digits -- known as the "group number" -- transition slowly, and often remain constant over several years for a given region. The last four digits are assigned sequentially.

As a result, SSNs assigned in the same state to applicants born on consecutive days are likely to contain the same first four or five digits, particularly in states with smaller populations and rates of birth.

As it happens, the researchers said, if you're trying to discover a living person's SSN, the best place to start is with a list of dead people -- particularly deceased people who were born around the time and place of your subject. The so-called "Death Master File," is a publicly available file which lists SSNs, names, dates of birth and death, and the states of all individuals who have applied for a number and whose deaths have been reported to the Social Security Administration."

While the study says that if you were born in a big state on a busy day you're probably still safe, I figure it's worth being cautious. Even if the Social Security Administration begins randomly assigning SSNs, that will only benefit future applicants. And as I understand it, even if your identity has been stolen, it's still incredibly hard (if possible) to get a new SSN.

Source: Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed

Around the Internet

Independent Fix-it Shops Offer Nearly 50 Percent Savings for L.A. Drivers - Wow...I had no idea that dealers charge that much more for service. Getting new brakes? Transmission? Big bucks!!

"Los Angeles motorists can save nearly 50 percent on car repairs by patronizing an independent repair shop rather than a dealership, says a first-ever study of the issue."

Experts Don't Expect the Rush Retailers Would Like - Expect sales tax in LA County to go up to 9.25% on April 1st, no foolin'. The legislature approved the sales tax rate increase in February, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law Feb. 20. The income is meant to help alleviate a $42 billion budget deficit. Oh, and as of July 1, "most county residents will see an additional half-percent hike - to 9.75 percent - to fund transportation projects authorized when local voters approved Measure R last November." So we're going to see sales tax go from 8.25% to 9.75% within a few months. Yikes!!

On that note, on May 19, the vehicle licensing fee will nearly double, from .65 to 1.15 percent, part of the deal to resolve the state's budget crisis.

Eau de Boy: There's such a thing as too much Axe - This was a funny article about what to expect from your boy after age 10.

Redondo Beach bystanders hurt when driver, 88, plows into restaurant - It's always disturbing to hear stories stories like these. And when I heard that a toddler was involved, it was just infuriating.

"The 88-year-old man, whom police did not immediately identify, apparently hit the car's accelerator instead of the brake pedal, sending the car hurtling through the store's glass facade, police said. "

Britax Frontier Booster Car Seat

When MetaGirl was on the way, we decided to reserve MetaBoy's car seat for her and upgrade him to a new one. After much research and help from a little birdie with much experience on the topic, we chose the Britax Frontier Booster Car Seat.

• Britax is a great brand that seems to consistently work on improving the safety of their car seats. We trust the brand.
  
  
• The seat has a five-point harness seat and can be used until he's 80 pounds, or up to 100 pounds as a booster seat.
  
  
• MetaBoy can easily climb into and out of the chair, which was impossible in his old car seat (Britax Decathlon Convertible Car Seat).
  
  
• It's so much easier to buckle than the Decathlon. I wish we had gotten it so much sooner.
  
  
• It has cup holders, though he doesn't use them. They seem to be a bit awkward at his age, though he might appreciate them when he's older.
  
  
• On the down side, I've read some people's comments that the seat is quite hard to install. MetaDaddy installed it and said it wasn't too hard at all. Maybe he just knew the trick, engineer that he is. Me? Well, there's a reason I didn't install it. And there's a reason that when the printer stops working, my reaction is "help, help, help!!"

Overall, we're quite happy with the seat. We currently have both seats in my car, which means that if we're each taking a kid, only MetaDaddy or I can go out. We've decided to get a second seat for MetaBoy to put in MetaDaddy's car. It's important to me because if he and MetaBoy go out, for example, I'd like to know that MetaGirl and I can go out too in the event of an emergency (e.g., we're out of chocolate). Besides, some day she can move into that seat, so it's a preemptive purchase.

On that note, I saw that BabyCenter has a sale on Britax car seats. I was going to buy it there, but at MetaDaddy's suggestion I decided to check Amazon's prices. It turns out that they have the same discount. And while my experience in purchasing and returning items with BabyCenter has been pleasant, as Amazon Prime members, we get free two-day shipping via UPS. BabyCenter ships via FedEx Ground, which is terrible when it comes to home deliveries and customer service (not to mention this). I avoid them at all costs.

If I had the wherewithal, I'd consider buying from Hip Monkey. They have a price match guarantee (they say to email them a link to the lower price and they'll match it), free shipping, no sales tax, and 100% of the net proceeds go to The Kyle David Miller Foundation to help purchase car seats for children in need.

LA's Earthquake

Did you hear? There was an earthquake in the Los Angeles area yesterday. It was initially reported to be 5.8 in magnitude, but has since been downgraded to 5.4.

Of all places, we were in a shopping center in the Valley, very near the dreaded Northridge of the 1994 Northridge Quake fame. Worse still, the car was in a parking structure, the last place you want to be in the event of an earthquake.

When the shaking started, I was walking around with MetaToddler. I wasn't sure if the rumbling was normal (e.g., truck driving by), but a sales associate gasped "it's an earthquake. Everyone to the counter." I looked around and decided she was right. There were a lot of wonky racks and shelves, but there were no fixed structures other than the counter. I calmly picked him up and walked over there, so he remained pretty calm, in turn. When it was over, I saw a lot of people rushing to the exit, but our choices were essentially:

(1) stay in the department store next to the glass doors,
(2) go outside the building and stand in the parking structure,
(3) go down to the first floor and stand outside the building, or
(4) go to your car and leave.

When I saw that there wasn't a huge exodus in the parking lot, I chose to leave. It seemed the best of the four unpleasant options. I hurried (as much as I can these days) to the car, and we were out of the structure in a few minutes. The ironic thing is I always try to avoid parking structures, but in this case, this was the only parking option. Figures.

The most frustrating part was that I couldn't to make calls on my cell because they kept failing. I heard today that the network was overloaded. This was a big problem all over, apparently.

"Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a spike of 800 percent right after the quake and Verizon Wireless saw the volume jump by 400 percent over that of a typical day. It wasn't clear how long the systems were overloaded but they were back to normal Wednesday."

Overall, nerves were shaken, but very little damage has been reported. Personally, I heard one glass item crash in the department store, but nothing was out of place when we got home. MetaDaddy's dry erase markers fell to the floor. Not bad.

Never Buy from BabyAge.com

So, I'm closing in on 37 weeks. About time to start nesting, n'est pas?

The crib we have for MetaToddler converts into a toddler bed, so he'll be keeping that one. We'll need a new bed for our new Wee one, which we'll call M2 (as in Meta 2) for now. Thought about Wee 2, or W2, but that seemed to close to Wii...which might confuse some people (you know who you are).

Anyway, I order the crib online at www.BabyAge.com. I've heard of the site in a few places, they've been around for a while, and I know they sell through Amazon, so I thought "why not." Free shipping, no tax, and the crib retails for the same price everywhere. Once I placed my order, I saw a strange pop up message that requested more information in order to fulfill my order. I click on it, and it requested the last four digits of my social security number and my year of birth. That screams alarm bells, but I'd already placed my order at that point. I decide to ignore it and see what happens.

The next day, I receive an email message asking that I call Baby Age in order to provide some information before they can complete my order.

Grr.

I call, but I'm already annoyed. Sure enough, they ask me for my social and year of birth. I ask them why they need it, and they say that this is risk management because I'm making a large purchase. *Just the other day I stopped a fraudulent order by doing this* blah, blah. I say "I'm not comfortable providing that information. Are you saying that I can either provide my private information or cancel my order?" He said "yes." So, I canceled my order.

Duh.

I then called American Express, and they said:

1) I was right to not provide the vendor with that information.
2) Vendors can ask for things like the security code on the card or your zip code, but not your SSN or year of birth.
3) BabyAge already put a charge through on my card, so keep an eye on the card to make sure they cancel it immediately.

Unfortunately, when I found out that the charge had been put through, it was too late to call Baby Age again. However, I will follow up with them to assure they have canceled my order and refunded my card. I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that the credit will not be a problem. That said, American Express has been great when dealing with shady vendors and/or charges in the past, so I'm expecting them to be just as great this time :-)

Of course, after the fact I search on Google and find they make a practice of asking for credit card holder's social security number. How is this not phishing? Baby Age didn't have this info to verify it against my answers. How is this managing risk? After providing this info, they would have had my name, address, phone, email, credit card, last four of my SSN, and my year of birth. What else would they need to steal my identity? After all, American Express only asks for the last four of my SSN in order to access my account history.

Hopefully you don't have to deal with any vendors like these, but always be on the lookout for people who ask too much information. Never, ever give out any digits of your social or your year of birth, which is harder to get than the day and month of your birth. And never provide any information to people who call you. I once had Aetna call me to verify who I was. I asked them "I need to verify who you are first!"

Duh.

Showing Your ID When Paying With a Credit Card

The June 2008 issue of Money Magazine brought something to my attention. When I purchase something with a credit card, I thought I was safer when the cashier asked for my ID. Nope. Showing your ID provides strangers (i.e., cashiers) with a lot of information that they don't need. In conjunction with your credit card number, that data can seriously impact the security of my identity. Less serious, it might be used to put my name on a mailing list. All of that sounds terribly unappetizing to me.

The article goes on to say:

"since major card issuers won't hold you liable for fraudelent charges, being forced to show ID doesn't give you any extra protection."

Here's what they suggest:

• MasterCard, Visa and Discover forbid stores from requiring ID with a signed card, so refuse the request. Amex discourages the practice.
• Print this clause and carry it in your wallet to back up your refusal to the cashier.
• If they still give you a hard time, call your CC company for assistance. The rep will either convince the cashier, or issue a complaint, which can lead to a fine or suspension for the merchant. 800) MC-ASSIST; (800) VISA-911; (800) DISCOVER.
  
• There's always cash.

Irish (and other European) credit cards require a PIN for all transactions, which is entered like an ATM PIN. It seems to be a much more reliable method of assuring security than signing the back of the card and crossing your fingers. I never understood the point of that, really.

We really don't get asked for our ID often these days, although IKEA did ask just last weekend. That said, having worked in retail back when, I would assume that most cashiers who ask for an ID do so with nothing but good intentions. So if you refuse, be nice :-)

Cell Phone Camera's "Ah-Ha" Uses

Having a good camera on your cell phone is a great way to take an impromptu, if mediocre, shot of a moment. After all, we don't always have our cameras. But there are some other camera uses that are handy. A friend and I were hashing out some these. I think he was inspired by Japanese technology.

Here's what we came up with.

• Take a picture of an item in a store, which includes the price. Go home, research the item and price. Is there a better item on the market? Is that Costco price better than Amazon? Easier and quicker than writing everything down.
  
  
• Take a photo of a specific item you need to get at the store. For example, that bottle of wine you really liked, or that ice cream that you'd better get right this time, or else!!
  
  
• Similarly, if you remember something after your S.O. left for the store, take a picture and send it.
  
  
• If you're going to a busy place with your child, take a picture of him/her before you set out. That way if the unimaginable happens, you not only have a recent picture, but you have a description of what s/he is wearing.
  
  
• Take pictures of your family members (or pets, toys, trains, planes, etc.) so you can show your kid when he's bored. If you're in a line (or on a plane) with your antsy little one, this might really, really, really come in handy. It might also help him get to know family members s/he doesn't get to see often.
  
  
• Take a picture of your rental car so you remember which one is yours.
  
  
• Take a picture of where you parked your car, which includes the floor and/or area number, so you can find it again. For that matter, take a shot of your hotel room number. Though avoid carrying anything that identifies your hotel just in case you lose your card key & phone.
  
  
• Maybe you're out and you want to see if you have spinach in your teeth, or check your hair, but there's no mirror around. Take a picture of yourself and check that gleeming smile beaming back at you.
  
  
• Take a photo of notes (e.g., chalkboard or whiteboard). Great for instant recall on meetings.
  
  
• Similarly, I've taken a picture of a flier on a bulletin board. Easier than any alternatives when toting a toddler.

Internet Dangers for Kids

Frontline, on PBS, will be researching the impact of the Internet on adolescence focusing on kids who are harassed or bullied and those who gain attention on You Tube. A review in the NY Times says the program examines a variety of issues worrying parents, like sexual predators, the ease of plagiarism, and a change in the nature of friendships. Think your kid's too young to participate in social networking sites? Consider Club Penguin, which is designed for kids 6-14.

Tuesday, January 22, 9:00pm on PBS (channel 28)

On a similar note, the so-called "Google Generation" (those born after 1993) isn't very good at...well, Googling.

The information literacy of young people, has not improved with the widening access to technology: in fact, their apparent facility with computers disguises some worrying problems. Internet research shows that the speed of young people’s web searching means that little time is spent in evaluating information, either for relevance, accuracy or authority."

On average, they're not very good at analyzing key words for effective searches, and they don't review search results carefully enough to verify its usefulness.

This all makes me think that if we, as parents, want to include our kids in the computer age, we really need to lay down a good foundation in reality. What does it mean to read a book or conduct research in a library? How do we decipher a good source from a bad one? We can't monitor our kids 100%, but the better the foundation we provide, the more likely our kids will be able to guide themselves safely and successfully past the dangers and pitfalls of the Net.

Legend of the Fall

Note: I thrive on puns.

It's hard running after a toddler. The jumping, the bouncing, the peeking, the arching...and the screaming from MetaMommy every time there's a near-miss.

There's a loud thump in the living room...wait for it...wait for it...no crying. We're safe.

Climbing the stairs, he sits to read a book. Don't worry, I caught him.

Walking across the clutter-free living room...stress-free...THUMP...wait for it....wait for it...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

How is it that of all the things that I've worried about since he's started walking, it's the simple act of carefree walking that resulted in his first bloody fall? His little teeth cut his lip. After a few cuddles and some cleaning, he was fine. He was sucking on his lip a bit, but he was smiling and playing again.

When he woke up this morning, he was fine. Well, except for the swollen purple lip and the traces of blood on his sheet. Let me tell you, every time I see that little lip, I have to give him a ridiculous hug. I'm sure he's wondering what's wrong with "mamamamamamama," but he's sweet enough to let me keep hugging him.

Now that that's out of the way, no more fall, right? Right!?!

Around the Internet

Winds of Change Blow into Roscoe, Texas - A small town gets a new lease on life with wind farms.

Google Goes Green - They're trying to make up for all of the electricity they use by masterminding some innovative power generating methods. A google of them, if you will.

Finally, a proposal to get seat belts in school buses. Yay!

Whimsy Cards - Mmm...greeting cards.

NBC Turns to Tivo Data - Finally, maybe Tivo will make a dollar. Though it sounds like viewer's preferences will be part of that new revenue source. Doh!

Babyproofing Away from Home

When you visit someone's home with your infant or toddler, it can be a bit of a challenge to keep your little one safe, especially if you're staying overnight. For example, visiting his grandparent's home is a wonderful opportunity to share some quality time and create that family bonding that kids need. However, grandparents who don't have kids over often might unknowingly have some dangers in the home. It's not necessarily cheap or easy to babyproof a home, and if you're going for a short stay, it's probably not worth the time and expense. I found this list at EHow on how to quickly babyproof your home. There are some pretty good ideas here that are just common sense. For example, move plants, medications, vitamins, and delicate/breakable things out of reach. Also, close the front door and doors throughout the house (especially the bathroom door -- and lower the toilet lid). I might add that if there are breakable things, secure them with museum putty; it'll save breakables in the event of earthquakes, toddlers, and naturally clumsy people. You might also consider masking or invisible tape to cover outlets and tie up curtain cords. And from personal experience, keep floor lamps (and all other tall, lightweight items) out of reach so your walking wonder doesn't try to pull himself up with it.

Whatever you do, don't get carried away. All the safety measures in the world don't compare to a set of watchful eyes. And if you're visiting family, odds are everyone is going to be doting after your little one, which limits the amount of trouble s/he can get into.

Car Seat Safety

In the state of California, kids have to be in a car seat until age 6 and 60 pounds. Here's a chart to check out your state's seatbelt laws by age and weight. I don't remember ever having been in a car/booster seat as a child because it wasn't the law back then. In fact, I remember being allowed to sit in the bed of our pickup truck. It's amazing how things have changed. By all accounts, if I was a kid today, I'd be 12 before allowed out of my booster seat. I'm crossing my fingers for our wee little MetaBaby.

When we were debating car seats before MetaBaby was born, we did all sorts of research and just got more and more frustrated and confused. By all accounts, despite the huge range in prices, there was little that made us think more money meant more safety. More important, cheaper seats are not more dangerous. However, at some point we took a step back from the infant seats and began to research convertible seats. We knew the convenience factor of infant car seats was undeniable, since no one wants to wake a sleeping baby.

Here was our reasoning:

• The more you move a car seat, the more opportunities there are to bump, bruise, or otherwise damage it. This might interfere with the ultimate goal of the car seat as a safety device.
  
  
• Because the convertible seat is one unit, as opposed to two like the infant car seat, it seemed safer. Less parts to click together when securing, or break in a collision.
  
  
• As a small person, it seemed like carrying around 10-15 lbs, plus the weight of the baby, was enough to do some potential damage to my back. I have enough back problems as it is.
  
  
• Our goal was to wear our baby as much as possible. If we went out with him, we would put him in a sling. Keeping him in a car seat promoted less baby wearing.
  
  
• It's not necessarily good for a baby to be in the same position all day. Having a convertible car seat forced us to move him around more. That is, we were less likely to leave him in the seat just because he fell asleep.

We finally decided on the Britax Decathlon. When we first brought him home at 9 1/2 lbs., it felt like he was swimming in it despite being well secured by the additional cushions included with the Britax to accomodate infants. He soon filled it out perfectly. At no point did we regret our decision for the car seat, and we would definitely make the same decision again. We even saved a bit of money since we did not have to buy a second car seat once he outgrew the infant model.

Personally, the safety of car seats is something I take quite seriously. I've seen baggage handlers at airports toss car seats onto conveyor belts. As a result, I would never consider checking a car seat a safe alternative. As with anything, once it leaves your sight, you can no longer be assured of how it's being protected. My concern with the gruff treatment of car seats stems from the following information from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Q: Can I use a car safety seat that was in a crash?

A: If the car safety seat was in a moderate or severe crash, it needs to be replaced. If the crash was minor, the seat does not automatically need to be replaced. The NHTSA considers a crash minor if all of the following are true:

The vehicle could be driven away from the crash.
The vehicle door closest to the car safety seat was not damaged.
No one in the vehicle was injured. The air bags did not go off.
You can't see any damage to the car safety seat.
If you are unsure, call the manufacturer of the seat. See the resource section at the end of this handout for manufacturer names and phone numbers.

As I consider the safety of car seats, I can't help but wonder about the infant safety on public transportation. I have considered public transportation, but I don't see how I'd feel safe without a car seat for MetaBaby. Per Babycenter, car seats are not yet allowed on public transportation because there is nothing to secure them on, though they are still a relatively safe method of transportation.

Overall, buses and trains are very safe forms of transportation; because of their bulk and weight, they absorb much of the force of a crash. Still, it can be unnerving to think of bringing your child on a moving vehicle without a protective seat.

I confirmed that Los Angeles' MTA and Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus do not have a method of securing a car seat to any of their buses (or trains), nor do they have any plans to accomodate them in the futute.

A Missing Babyproofing Tip

Keeping your home baby-safe is tough. And there are so, so, so many gadgets to help you do it. There are lists all over the internet with tips on how to keep your home safe (e.g., here, here, and here (via CFO)).

I just have one thing to say. In all of my reading and talking and listening and sharing and watching, I have never heard anyone say "close your dishwasher completely." Perhaps everyone does it and I'm the only spaz, but I don't always shut the dishwasher door completely so that it clicks. And when you have a little toddler who's learning to walk by leaning and pulling on anything and everything, guess what! He's going to support himself against it and fall backwards in slow motion, giving both himself and his poor MetaMommy enough time to have an attack at the thought of the soon to form lump on the back of his sweet and precious little head.

So, close your dishwashers completely.

Note: MetaBaby was not harmed in the making of this post. While he did fall, he first fell on his well padded tushie, and then backwards, so he was fine. He got my blood running, though. That's always exciting!

Quakes in LA

Whoa! Time to move?

Los Angeles Enjoying 1,000 Year Seismic Lull

The article says the past 1000 years (yes, thousand) have been pretty quiet, and the Northridge quake of 1994, "the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history at the time, was 'a drop in the bucket' compared to the massive jolts that would strike the basin during a period of high seismic activity."

"By contrast, the Mojave Desert is in a seismically active period. Seismic activity alternates between the two regions, the study suggests."

This is a lull?!? I really don't want to see active. The lead author, James Dolan, says that data indicates that we're not coming out of the lull any time soon. And yet, why am I not relieved?

Ways That I'm Dumber Than You

Of all of the things my son's done to me (given me stretch marks, bite marks, scratch marks, etc.), none come close to the plain old dumb things I've done to myself.

Once, before MetaDaddy (then only known as MetaBoyfriend) went on a trip, I tumbled down a few steps. I put on a brave face and said "no, no...I'm fine. Go on your trip." However, the moans of pain led him to think I was fibbing. The GINORMOUS bruise on my rear proved I was fibbing. But, I insisted that he go on the trip. In the end (ha, ha...end), it was just a bruise. He had those steps painted with a rough finish to make them a bit more skid-resistant.

About a year later, I tumbled a few steps again (different set of steps). He got really paranoid about me on steps when I got pregnant, so I stopped wearing socks at home (the cause, I think) and I haven't had a slip again (knock on wood).

Today, I found a new way to injure myself. I'm short, so I need a step ladder to get anything out of the kitchen cupboards. I was rushing around trying to finish something up before putting MetaBaby down for his nap because the noise of the mixer keeps him up. I climb up the ladder, then I climb down. Well, that's how it should have gone. What actually happened was the two-stepped ladder was backwards, so when I "stepped" down from the top step to the first step, there was nothing there. I fell. It could have been worse. MetaBaby was safe, so I didn't have to worry about him. And there were no obstacles or chairs around, so I could have fallen on various different painful things. So in the end, I'm just a bit bruised, highly annoyed, somewhat embarrassed, and thoroughly exhausted.

I will be needing chocolate cake tonight.

Assembling Your Home's Emergency Kit

Before our little sunshine was born, I assembled an emergency kit for each of our cars, and one for our home. Unfortunately, I've gotten lazy and I haven't updated them, despite the new and different needs of our (almost) toddler. I must get on that.

If you're thinking of assembling or updating your home's emergency kit, a friend recently pointed this fella out to me.

Emergency Food Kit from Costco - $114.99

Basic preparation will impact the probability of your family’s survival in an emergency. Delicious and Easy to Prepare. Each bucket contains 275 servings of Pre-mixed and Pre-seasoned 100 % Vegetarian and Vitamin Fortified food for you and your family. With a 20 year long shelf life, this kit is perfect for the preparation of natural disasters such as hurricane, tornado, earthquakes or even a camping/hunting trip.

Easy to prepare - 275 servings - Sealed in convenient Weather-Proof Bucket for Easy Transport

• 30 Servings - Potato Bakon
  
• 25 Servings - Corn Chowder
  
• 25 Servings - Ala King
  
• 25 Servings - Cacciatore
  
• 25 Servings - Western Stew
  
• 45 Servings - Whey Milk
  
• 25 Servings - Blueberry Pancakes
  
• 25 Servings - Barley Vegetable
  
• Total Weight: 23 lbs.0

Mmm...pancakes. I hope there's syrup in there.

Lead Found in Baby Bibs?

I hadn't heard about this lead scare yet.

"Toys “R” Us halted the sale of vinyl baby bibs at its stores nationwide yesterday and offered customers refunds on perhaps more than a million bibs after tests confirmed that at least some of the Chinese-made items are contaminated with lead."

Per Toys R Us and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the bibs are only a safety concern if they are "so worn out that pieces could break off and be ingested."

The tests were paid for by the Center for Environmental Health (CHECA), which was instrumental in pushing for the voluntary recall. The lead level was apparently not high enough to warrant a federal violation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

I don't see how any level of lead in a baby's bib is tolerable. My son goes soaks several bibs a day with his drool, and don't get me started on the chewing. He chews everything and anything he can find. And with his razor-sharp teeth, he's gnawed through more things than I thought possible; I don't see him stopping at vinyl.

So, if you have any vinyl bibs, check the label for Koala Baby, Especially for Baby and Disney Baby labels.

Earthquakes in LA

I'm sure my husband's pretty happy we weren't in Los Angeles right about now.

A 4.6 magnitude earthquake at 12:58 AM on August 9 magnitude occurred 3 miles NNW of Chatsworth, CA