Our little germ incubator

I always knew that people with little kids seemed to catch more colds than I did. I just assumed that this was because they had kids in daycare or in school who were catching and transmitting everything that other kids had.

Olivia and I are in the midst of the third major cold of this year. Before Olivia, I had maybe one or two colds the entire year. This nasty bug is the second one THIS MONTH.

Luckily, Olivia's colds are much less severe than mine. I can cope. I can take all manner of cold medication, decongestants, knock-you-out nighttime kind of things so I can sleep. She can't. As far as I can tell, beyond Baby Vicks and a vaporizer, there's not much you can do for a baby's cold but wait it out. Though snotty and a bit grumpy, Olivia is still sleeping well at night an napping adequately, and for that we are doing a little dance of joy.

Also, we have ANTS. According to our pest control guy, most people are having the same problem. Anyway, he sprayed last week and they disappeared. They are no longer anywhere in the kitchen. This morning, though, they have managed to find something of interest in the dining room. They were climbing all over Olivia's highchair this morning. The highchair is now being quarantined to the screened-in porch until I figure out where the little pests are coming from.

This is so annoying. And I am pretty good at keeping things clean in the kitchen/dining area. It's not like we can keep the place spotless...we have a baby who still spits up a good bit, is eating jar food and manages to be wearing food in some form for most of the day. Not to mention the food she leaves behind in the chair, on the floor, on the counter...

So, we'll be calling the pest guy back to spray some more. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions on some baby-friendly products that will keep ants off of her high chair and away from her food?