Dexter had his 8 week checkup yesterday. He's up to 12 lbs 8 oz and measures 24.5 inches. Those stats officially make him a big baby, which you can tell just by looking at him. He's kind of all torso at the moment, with stubby legs and arms.Beyond that, he's smiley and mellow and generally delightful. It's funny--I have this list detailing all the minutia of Henry's early weeks, with dates he reached little developmental milestones duly recorded. But beyond noting his first smile, I'm not doing that with Dexter. I know he'll get there with all those things. I'm just enjoying his babyness as a whole and marveling at how special it is to cuddle a little newborn. I know it goes by fast.
A few hours after I got home from the doctor with Dexter, Tom was off to the CHEO emergency room with Henry, who split open the back of his head falling off a kitchen chair. He was perched on it, rocking back and forth while playing on the computer, when it slipped out from under him. Sigh. I'VE TOLD HIM A MILLION TIMES NOT TO STAND ON THE CHAIR!!! Getting a 3 year-old to listen is a tall order, let me tell you. He's totally fine--there wasn't too much blood, but it was obvious the wound would have to be stitched or glued back together (it was glued). I wonder how many times we can take our child to the hospital with a minor head injury before the authorities start to ask questions? Or do they just understand that rambunctious children take their knocks?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
An unusual visitor
Yesterday I was in the front yard getting the stroller packed up for our afternoon activities when a man and woman approached the house with a camera. They introduced themselves, and the man told me he had grown up in our house during the 1960s. The house had been in his family since 1904. He's lived in Chicago since 1971, and was in town to visit his old haunts. Since we have lots of questions about our old house, we invited him in to have a look. Unfortunately, the place is a chaotic mess because of the renovation going on, but he still got the tour. We were surprised by a few of the things he told us:
*The addition on the back of the main floor was there when he lived here. We had assumed it was more recent. My big complaint about this room is that there are no windows looking out onto the back yard. But when the addition was built, that space wasn't being used as a yard. There was a warehouse next door housing the family plumbing business (this we knew about), and our current yard wasn't all fenced off from it or anything. So the lack of windows makes sense now. I still don't like it, but it makes sense.
*The bathroom we are currently renovating was a bedroom when he lived here. So we couldn't hold him responsible for the incredibly shoddy work that was performed in converting it to a bathroom.
*The addition on the back of the second floor was his bedroom. And the little bathroom off that room was the house's original bathroom. Very interesting. Again, we had assumed the addition was a more recent vintage.
*The floors were already sloping in the 1960s.
*The closet and storage spaces under the stairs were there when he lived here. It's clear that the original entrance to the basement was under the main floor staircase, but it must have been changed a long time ago.
*The kitchen sink was where our fridge is now. That explains the tap coming out of the wall.
It was a short but interesting visit (I was gone for most of it--I'm just reporting what Tom told me later). The great thing about old houses is the layers of history you uncover. The bad thing, of course, is the decay and the layers of shoddy renovation you uncover when you're fixing them up!
(The bathroom is coming along. I think there's at least a week's worth of work left.)
*The addition on the back of the main floor was there when he lived here. We had assumed it was more recent. My big complaint about this room is that there are no windows looking out onto the back yard. But when the addition was built, that space wasn't being used as a yard. There was a warehouse next door housing the family plumbing business (this we knew about), and our current yard wasn't all fenced off from it or anything. So the lack of windows makes sense now. I still don't like it, but it makes sense.
*The bathroom we are currently renovating was a bedroom when he lived here. So we couldn't hold him responsible for the incredibly shoddy work that was performed in converting it to a bathroom.
*The addition on the back of the second floor was his bedroom. And the little bathroom off that room was the house's original bathroom. Very interesting. Again, we had assumed the addition was a more recent vintage.
*The floors were already sloping in the 1960s.
*The closet and storage spaces under the stairs were there when he lived here. It's clear that the original entrance to the basement was under the main floor staircase, but it must have been changed a long time ago.
*The kitchen sink was where our fridge is now. That explains the tap coming out of the wall.
It was a short but interesting visit (I was gone for most of it--I'm just reporting what Tom told me later). The great thing about old houses is the layers of history you uncover. The bad thing, of course, is the decay and the layers of shoddy renovation you uncover when you're fixing them up!
(The bathroom is coming along. I think there's at least a week's worth of work left.)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Henry's new pastime
The quality on this video isn't great, so it's a little hard to see exactly what Henry is doing here. Basically it shows him in action doing what I described last week--using the computer to entertain himself. He's now quite adept at using the touchpad on the laptop.
By the way, my sources tell me that the Thomas theme song you hear in the video plays as a continuous loop in Hell. Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Quote of the day
"That's the biggest infestation I've ever seen."
-- our contractor, after uncovering the HIDEOUS, DISGUSTING carpenter ant nest in our bathroom wall
-- our contractor, after uncovering the HIDEOUS, DISGUSTING carpenter ant nest in our bathroom wall
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Bathroom: Before & During
Our lovely bathroom pre-reno
The horror show behind the wallDemo work is complete. The joists were not ruined by the rot, so work to fix the water damage won't be too complicated or time-consuming. We hope. Our front yard is piled high with debris. The new tub and vanity sit in our living room. Besides that, the mess is contained to the bathrooms.
There was a page of newspaper from 1919 under the linoleum. The article is about whether or not to disband the army. Soldiers interviewed were opposed.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Our next big project
Now that Dexter has arrived and our family is complete (yes, complete--we won't be "trying for a girl" or otherwise compelling the purchase of a minivan by having a third child), we're moving on to our next big project: bathroom renos!
Our house has 2.5 bathrooms. 1.5 of them are getting redone. The main bathroom upstairs is being gutted and rebuilt. Cosmetically, it was looking very 80s and more than a little grotty, but the big motivation to do this project was the leak in the tub/shower that was causing water stains on the ceiling below. It's obvious the damage was bad enough to merit some serious work. The 0.5 bath downstairs is being fixed up so that it's more of a proper powder room. Right now it's basically a storage closet with sink and toilet. The powder room is a small part of the project overall, but we figure it will be money well spent, and we might as well get it done while we have a contractor here. We'd never be able to get someone in to do it as an individual job--too small.
The crew arrived at 7:45 this morning to start work. They immediately tore out the old jacuzzi tub. Not. Good. Man oh man, the wall is black and crumbling. The wood is rotted, and there's an infestation of carpenter ants. The tub was installed without a tile flange, so it's been leaking into the wall for 20 years or so. Also, the wiring for the tub jets was so poorly done that it is apparently a fire hazard. Awesome! None of this is a surprise. Our house clearly was the victim of extensive "DIY" renovations in the 80s, and it is apparent even to non-experts like us that whoever did the work had no freaking idea what the hell they were doing. We could probably do better work, and we're useless. Heck, HENRY could probably do a better job than the idiots who installed that tub. At least he watches Bob the Builder!
Anyway, the damage is horrible, but the contractor says it hasn't spread as extensively as he'd feared at first. They're sealing off the room to protect us from anything nasty, and tomorrow we're leaving for the day so the place can get fumigated. Needless to say, it's all a little nerve-wracking to have all this going on with a baby around. It's also nerve-wracking to contemplate what else could be wrong with the house. But this is a start. Hopefully the damage will be repaired without too much drama or expense, and I can go back to concentrating on how nice my new bathroom will look.
Our house has 2.5 bathrooms. 1.5 of them are getting redone. The main bathroom upstairs is being gutted and rebuilt. Cosmetically, it was looking very 80s and more than a little grotty, but the big motivation to do this project was the leak in the tub/shower that was causing water stains on the ceiling below. It's obvious the damage was bad enough to merit some serious work. The 0.5 bath downstairs is being fixed up so that it's more of a proper powder room. Right now it's basically a storage closet with sink and toilet. The powder room is a small part of the project overall, but we figure it will be money well spent, and we might as well get it done while we have a contractor here. We'd never be able to get someone in to do it as an individual job--too small.
The crew arrived at 7:45 this morning to start work. They immediately tore out the old jacuzzi tub. Not. Good. Man oh man, the wall is black and crumbling. The wood is rotted, and there's an infestation of carpenter ants. The tub was installed without a tile flange, so it's been leaking into the wall for 20 years or so. Also, the wiring for the tub jets was so poorly done that it is apparently a fire hazard. Awesome! None of this is a surprise. Our house clearly was the victim of extensive "DIY" renovations in the 80s, and it is apparent even to non-experts like us that whoever did the work had no freaking idea what the hell they were doing. We could probably do better work, and we're useless. Heck, HENRY could probably do a better job than the idiots who installed that tub. At least he watches Bob the Builder!
Anyway, the damage is horrible, but the contractor says it hasn't spread as extensively as he'd feared at first. They're sealing off the room to protect us from anything nasty, and tomorrow we're leaving for the day so the place can get fumigated. Needless to say, it's all a little nerve-wracking to have all this going on with a baby around. It's also nerve-wracking to contemplate what else could be wrong with the house. But this is a start. Hopefully the damage will be repaired without too much drama or expense, and I can go back to concentrating on how nice my new bathroom will look.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
6 weeks!
Dexter is 6 weeks old today! The experts say this is the point where babies start to move beyond the early newborn state, settle in a bit and develop some personality. And it's true. Dexter now loves looking at faces, flashes his cute smile more and more, and has added sweet coos and goos to his existing repertoire of snorts, grunts and cries. Nighttime sleep is still hit-and-miss. Some nights he is very restless and doesn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time; other nights (like last night), he's calm and sleeps in nice 3-4 hour chunks. It's amazing what a difference it makes to my mental state the next day. As long as I get one of those "long" sleep blocks, I'm fine. And when I don't get a long sleep block, Tom lets me sleep it off in the morning. So for a new mom, I feel pretty good.
As I predicted, his fluffy newborn hair is falling out. All that's left is a thick fringe around the back of his head. Hopefully that will go soon--it's not the best look for him. Completely bald will be better. Since Tom and I are both on leave right now, family life has been fun and mellow (in between bouts of exhausting childcare, of course). We've been taking the boys to the park or the athletic field down the street on sunny days so we can run around like maniacs and kick a ball while Dexter sleeps in his stroller. Henry is in a phase right now where he declares every possible forward movement a race, so these park visits can be a real workout for me. Speaking of workouts, I started going for short runs on my own about two weeks ago. I'm jonesing to get back in shape, but it's going to be a slow process. Most days simple exhaustion from lack of sleep is the biggest hurdle to overcome, but my leaden legs don't make things easy, either.
Finally, I decided to push my parenting boundaries last weekend by taking both boys to the dinosaur museum BY MYSELF! The trip was Henry's reward for staying in his own bed until 7 a.m. that morning (he'd been getting up at 3 and climbing into our bed on a regular basis). That kid will do anything for a trip to the dinosaur museum. I can't believe he's not bored with the place, since we've been there dozens of times. Anyway, the trip went smoothly. Dexter travels very well (i.e. sleeps), and Henry knows the museum well enough to need very little guidance. I managed just fine, and Tom got a few hours to himself. Horray--progress!
Here are the boys at the museum.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
My 21st Century Digital Boy
In an earlier post I mentioned that Henry has been using our computers to play games online and practice spelling with the word processor. Well, things have progressed. The other day I had my laptop open on the kitchen table with the browser open to Google. I left the room briefly, and when I returned, Henry was perched on a chair, happily playing one of the Flash games on the Thomas & Friends website. As far as I can tell, this is what he managed to do with no assistance:
1. Typed "Thomas" into the search engine (he can spell some of his favorite words)
2. Clicked on the correct link on the search results page
3. Used the laptop's mouse pad to point at the Games link
4. Clicked on the Games link and then selected the game he wanted to play
6. Used the mouse pad and a couple keys to successfully play the game
Damn. I guess it's only a matter of time before he figures out the Tivo.
The downside to this is that I can no longer leave my laptop open on the kitchen table during the day, unless I'm willing to let him play the Thomas games. So my email, blogging and web surfing time is now limited to mornings (when he's at preschool) and evenings. Not a bad thing, I guess, but I do like to keep tabs on things online during the day. Oh well.
1. Typed "Thomas" into the search engine (he can spell some of his favorite words)
2. Clicked on the correct link on the search results page
3. Used the laptop's mouse pad to point at the Games link
4. Clicked on the Games link and then selected the game he wanted to play
6. Used the mouse pad and a couple keys to successfully play the game
Damn. I guess it's only a matter of time before he figures out the Tivo.
The downside to this is that I can no longer leave my laptop open on the kitchen table during the day, unless I'm willing to let him play the Thomas games. So my email, blogging and web surfing time is now limited to mornings (when he's at preschool) and evenings. Not a bad thing, I guess, but I do like to keep tabs on things online during the day. Oh well.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
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