I am glad to know that folks like my cat butt mugs as much as we do! They are French, and the art is from the well-known French cartoonist, Albert Dubout. I love his cat art, but the one with the butt is my favorite. We also have a set of four dessert plates with the same art. Yes, I do have a bizarre sense of humor.

DeAnne–nice to meet you! Yeah, I am all about improvising–which I agree is the way most parents really do it. You don’t need the latest gadget (we don’t have any baby monitors in this house–ugh–nor do we have a stroller–they are just not necessary for us) to raise a happy, healthy kid.

Mary Ann–Kat loves to smell produce and spices at Whole Foods, too! And I cannot wait to introduce her to kimchi, though that will be a while. Mine is really chili hot!

Maureen–some days it is impossible, and some stuff never seems to get done. Like laundry. It is always dirty. Of course, Kat makes for extra special dirty laundry, but still….

It is all worth it.

Diane–same goes for me. I never ate curry as a kid, or dal, or even refried beans. But, I see no reason to deprive Kat of these things, since she wants them, and they can do no harm, and in fact, are quite healthy. Besides, she really doesn’t like tasteless food. She will eat it, but she gets this accusing look in her eyes, like, “What the hell are you feeding me, Mom–Dad–what is this stuff?”

So why go there?

Her diet sounds yummy…I didn’t eat half of those things until I was an adult. Lucky, lucky KAT.

This morning at Whole Foods, my two-year-old son Chun Woo took great pleasure in sniffing and consulting on spices. He alutes Kat from afar. (And he loves kim chee.)