So our daughter, Eva, is going to be 9 months old on Friday and she still sleeps in the spare bedroom on a futon. Has a crib and I have put her in it twice.

The first time she screamed for a good long while and big sister was sitting up in her bed holding her ears when I finally gave up and went in. The second time (some weeks later) she turned herself sideways and spent the better part of a half-hour kicking the moveable side of the crib; a sound that reverbates through the entire neighborhood and jars the collective soul. Three-year-olds may be trying but they don’t deserve that.

So she sleeps in the sparebedroom on a futon. Well, you know you’re a geek when. . .your wee daughter has a mobile strung precariously along a 5-foot ethernet cable purchased for traveling. It was the first thing to hand and I couldn’t rig it any other way. Cribs have sides to hold mobiles and nurserys have pretty kidlet stuff to keep babies entertained.

The spare bedroom has spare parts. Ethernet cables, etc.