I use the Q and E keys when taking pictures of the infants on the ground with the tripod. It lets the angle go up and down to get some better pictures, don't know if that helps. Here are some I've taken doing that.
Still can't log in and it's after 2am here so I'm off to bed, will see if it works in the morning. Good luck to everyone else who are still trying to get theirs working.
I tried to recreate what you were doing and managed to get rid of that part by moving the floor inwards toward the stairs. Not sure if that helps at all :)
It's not mean. My sims have five young adult kids and Connor is a year away from becoming an elder, their kids are constantly getting calls from their parents saying that they are thinking about trying for a baby. If I didn't start saying no they'd probably be at baby ten by now :D
I think this might be the icon that was mentioned above. I'd also suggest making a backup copy of your saves, just in case you delete the wrong ones :)