not so nappy, second edition

Back here I wrote about my experience involving Oliver, nap time, diaper removal, and poop.  You know you want to read it again.

I was at work this afternoon and it was Jim's day off, so he was in charge.  Jim is very anti baby monitor.  He says "Oliver is a big boy and he doesn't need us spying on him."  So here is what happened while Jim wasn't "spying" on Oliver during "nap time"

-Removal of all clothing including the diaper
-Poop on the potty, good job
-Poop on the floor, it happens
-Poop on top of his dresser, what? 

Not it, perfect! 

manners, and such

Please came a long time ago, please came because when you say please it usually gets you what you want.  Please might as well mean, mama give me that!  Thanks mama took a little longer.  How can you talk once your mouth is full of cookie, milk, yogurt, avocado, etc.  Plus what's the motivation to preform once you have received what you wanted.  However, I think we have made it.

Setting- Kitchen.  I'm cleaning the counters and Oliver is vacuuming the floor.  For real, not with toy vacuum.  Hardcore.

Oliver spies a forlorn chocolate chip on the floor.  He quickly pulls his vacuum nozzle away knowing that this is not dirt.  Picks it up, pops it in his mouth, and says "thanks mama."  Like I placed it on the floor for him to discover and enjoy.

"Thanks mama" is always followed by me saying "You're welcome Oliver, I love you"  I add the I love you because I think there is a quota of I love yous that need to be met each day.  You know, ten servings of broccoli a day to fight this cancer, 88 glasses of water to keep your skin looking awesome, 12 hugs a day to keep you cheery, or something like that.  I just can't seem to remember the number of I love yous that are required, so I just add them at every "you're welcome" to make sure I meet the quota.

Other things that have recently impressed me...
- "I be right back" followed by closing the bathroom door and then saying "dark, dark"
- No poop diapers in days!  Let's hear it for poop on the potty.
- Brought home some work he did at Sunday school.  I hung it on the fridge and he said "made it, made it"  Yeah you totally made that, awesome.
-Recognizes between 10-12 letters.  Likes to practice singing the alphabet, but will only sing "w, x, y, z," then some version of "now I know my abc song, next time sing with me"  It's pretty much hilarious. 

Not impressive
-Calling some regular looking guy at Target creepy.  Going to have to star phasing creepy out. 

stripping...diapers

Way back here, scroll down a bit on that post, I wrote a little about cloth diapering.  At this point, even months ago it stopped feeling like something different and more like something regular.  Pee, pee, pee, pee, poop, pee, pee, pee, wash, rinse, rinse, hang to dry, repeat.  However, after a few months of the above cycle a little build up starts happening.  No nothing you can see, but you can smell it a little.  Diapers start coming out of the wash a bit less crisp and clean and a bit more smelly.
I previously wrote that I wouldn't blog about cloth diapering, but I have to write this so I remember it next time I need to do it.  Anyway, when that smelly gets noticeable (took us 7 months) or diapers start getting less absorbent it's time to strip them (so I hear from the cloth diaper world).  I read a bunch of different ideas on how to do this, combined a few, and did a test run.

One tip I read a lot of places was to use hot water.  Our hot water heater isn't set very high, and I wasn't going to go hang out in the basement with bugs to change it.  Instead I heated up some pots of water and the tea kettle on the stove.  Note, the front right pot is not involved in diaper cleaning it's chicken poaching to make chicken salad for dinner.

I also hear that the diapers should all be clean before doing this, as adding extra hot water will set stains into the diapers.  No one wants that.  So I washed all the dirty diapers, then put in anything that was clean and in his dresser, minus two diapers he would need for the rest of the evening. 

Filled the washer all the way up with hot water and added an extra kick of hot water from the stove.  Then before adding anything else I let the washer chug along for a bit.  I noticed no soap bubbles, sometimes too much soap can be the issue for the build up, guess mine is just stink for stinks sake.

The usual suspects, bac-out, vinegar, diaper soap, baking soda

Noticing no soap bubbles I decided to add about a 1/2 cup or Bac-Out.  I spray it on all poop diapers, which at this point is few!  It says it gets the stink out.  It is also good for carpet stains and regular laundry stains.  Bonus, it smells amazing.  Then I added about two cups of vinegar.  What can't vinegar do?  I let the washed chug away for an extra long time, meaning when it got close to draining I would set it back at the beginning.

Getting clean and fresh

When it all drained out I put it back on hot wash, because my washer does not offer a warm or hot rinse cycle, and I read that was recommended.  I let is chug along for a while rinsing everything out and then let is spin.  When it finished I crossed my fingers and started pulling the diapers out.
So Much Better!  The stink has been vanished from 15 of the 16 diapers I washed, one managed to hold oh to it...random.  In a perfect cloth diapering world today would have been a sunny day and I could have put them all out on the deck to bleach themselves even cleaner, but it was pouring rain when I did this (saturday).
Other methods I heard about and didn't follow
-boiling, no way I'm putting diapers in my pots
-the dishwasher, thought it might melt the plastic snaps and it just sounds strange
-using dawn dish soap, too much rinsing involved (nancy said so)

Did you just read a whole post about diapers?  Sorry. 

felt board

Felt board, you know how your Sunday school teacher always taught bible stories.  While scanning through a friend's facebook photos (hey Sara) I saw a picture of a felt board with a face and all the necessary part that could be added.  I decided, I could totally do that. 

 

Supplies
-a board, we got ours at Lowe's because we didn't have anything hanging around the house.  It's 2'X2' costing us $5
-one large piece of felt, we picked black $3
-some small felt, we got 15 because they were 5 for $1
-staple gun, already owned

Also picked up this crazy loud cement mixer for Oliver to play with wile I staple gunned.  This cost us .o8 cents and Kohl's.
Total cost of our project $11.08

Opened up the large piece of felt and put the board on it.  Cut out the extra felt from the corners.

Wrapped and used way more staples then necessary to secure the felt to the board.  Always pulling to keep it tight. 

Attempted to make a felty Oliver.

Caterpillar to practice colors

Best part, when he saw those Jack-O-Lantern eyes he said "A, ah"  That's my boy!

creepy

A while back Oliver and I were picking up some paint at Lowe's.  While the paint was mixing we walked out to the garden center because Oliver LOVES looking at the water fountains.   Actually, he hates looking at them and LOVES trying to climb out of the cart so he can get in them.  Anyway, we walk back into the store to go get our paint.  To get back to the paint department we have to walk past some Halloween displays.  Not displays like harmless little smiley face pumpkins or little paper bats flying overhead.  No, Lowe's has a giant, creepy, raised from the dead, light up, scary voiced, head moving, arms going, weird guy that starts doing its thing when we walk past.  Oliver is scared.  Not crying scared.  More scared.  So scared he can't cry and is just shaking trying to get out of the cart an into my arms.  Its not like I stopped in front of the creepy.  At this point we are yards away.  He finally gets a screaming cry out as he strangles my neck.  I say "wow, that's creepy, but it's okay."  He stops crying and shaking, gets back in his cart and says "creepy" as he points back at creepy raised from the dead man. 
Previous to this episode we had very little run ins with things being scary.  There was a time in Moscow when Oliver discovered shadows in the kitchen and was totally afraid to go in there.  He overcame it because his love of food was greater.  But now he knows the word creepy and loves to talk about everything that he finds creepy.
Tonight, like most, I'm laying next to him in his bed chatting about the day.  It's dark in his room, he doesn't have a nightlight.  Nightlights actually scare me.  I hate light in the night and have no idea how any one could sleep under those conditions.  Then, there is always that glow from the smoke detector.  When I see it on in the night I think space aliens are coming for me.  I don't need the light on to let me know it's working, just have it make some sort of indication when it's not.  I cover that light with tape.  Wow, that was a tangent.  So tonight I'm laying with Oliver and he keeps saying "creepy, creepy, creepy."  I ask him what he thinks is creepy, he points, I reach and feel that his finger is pointing at his smoke detector.  I knew I couldn't be the only one!  I told him, "yeah, a little bit creepy...I'll fix that for you in the morning"  Then he says "little bit...creepy"

visit to the pediatrician

I'm not a doctor or a nurse.  I don't pretend to have any superior medical knowledge.  However, I'm positive it's impossible for my child to have grown four inches over night!  Yesterday we were at the IA doctor.  It's the same every time.  The nurse check his vitals and weight and height.  To check his weight he sits in the baby scale because for some reason he thinks the grown up scale is some torture device.  I guess he is right, I know many adults that think that's true.  Then to check his height he lays down on a a similar contraption.  I hold his head touching the top and the nurse reads the number at the bottom of his barefoot.  Yesterday that number was two feet ten inches or 34 inches tall, which is around the 25th percentile. 

Today we went to the pediatrician.  Same drill.  Vitals, weight, height.  However, the nurse that checked his height did it in a way I would teach kindergarteners to measure.  She had him lay down on the exam table.  She marked the crunched up paper at his head and at his shoe covered foot, then she straightened the paper out and measured it with her tape measure.  With this extremely accurate system of measuring he is now 38 inches tall, which is the 90th percentile.  For a top dollar amount I'll tell you what I fed him for dinner last night!  Ha!  Since I like comedy I didn't explain to the doctor how the nurse measured him and that he is really 34 inches tall.  I just hope that at our next visit they discover he has shrunk 3 or 4 inches, and become panic stricken.

After that fiasco the doctor came in to chat.  She was impressed with Oliver's language, mostly his three word phrase; "shut the door" which he said while closing himself into a little corner cupboard.  She asked us why we adopted, how things are going, does he sleep, does he eat, etc. She reviewed his confusing and haphazard shot record.  I'm already convinced that proving he is fit for school, in terms of vaccinations, is going to be complicated.  No record of Hep B vaccination, but his blood test show he has had it...and that's just the beginning.  Oliver got his first four shots and is due for his next round in three months.  I had to hold down his little arms while another person held his legs so the nurse could administer them.  This was my first time.  I was teary and he was screaming.  When the nurse was done she said all done, Oliver sat up, stopped crying, and said all done.  Guess it wasn't that big of a deal. 

After the doctor we stopped at the garden store for some yellow mums to brighten up our front yard and a stop at the ice cream shop to brighten our spirits.  Both worked as intended.  

few of oliver's favorite things

Favorite once every now and then activity -the circus 
The circus was in town and they used Jim's railroad to get to town, meaning some of the employees were able to score tickets to the show.  I knew eventually there would be some perk to working on the railroad.  Oliver's favorite were the motorcycles and the elephants.  I think I look like a 12 year old in the picture below, and pretty sure I'm okay with that. 

Favorite every couple months activity - the zoo
Finally the weather was cooler, we had a weekday off, and school was back in session.  All these stars aligning means the zoo will be quiet, and it was.  Since Oliver is under three the zoo is free and I get a special ticket that lets us ride all the fun stuff including the new ski lift type ride over "Africa."  This ticket usually costs $16.  For some reason we were only charged $9, lovely!

I love that he is pointing to the bird in the cage, what about the one in front of you!

Waiting for the train

Rode the carousel four times

Still in the parking lot

Favorite daily activity -reading our new books from grammy and papa

Favorite and most random activity - playing with little pom-poms
Not sure why he is wearing a onsie and underwear.  Pretty sure if you need to pee a onsie isn't the right choice for getting the job done fast, Jim picked out this outfit. 

 

A few other things
-Bug bites all over Oliver's arms and legs.  Doctor said they looked like flea bites, no way I have fleas in my house!  We found a huge mosquito in the house the other day, so my guess it was its doing.
-No we didn't go to the doctor for bug bites it was time for his every-two-month-appointment with the adoption specialist.  Oliver gained another pound and inch.  Two foot ten and 27 pounds.  If I remember correctly that's 5 inches and 6 pounds since busting out of the orphanage seven months ago.  Grow baby Grow!
-The doctor said he should get a flu mist, so he did.  I think it made him a little extra sleepy today, hopefully there will not be too many side effects. 
-Tomorrow after work we see the pediatrician. 
 

DIY, toy storage

I'll admit it, I like craigslist.  I like recycling, I like making old stuff usable, I like not adding to landfills and I love having a project to do. 

Mission; find something, made of actual wood, to use either as playroom storage or a hutch for the dining room.

Craigslist add; For sale, wooden hutch, fair condition, $40

Question; Would you take $25

Answer; yes

Verdict; sold

A bit more beat up than I thought

The doors were challenging to open.  The outer layer was starting to peel off the bottom of this door, and it was soon becoming clear that this was turning into open storage, which would not be fitting for dining room dishes.  Playroom it is.

The goal now is to create enough storage to eliminate the vat toy box.

Step 1. Remove all doors, hinges, and hardware 

Step 2. Sand

Using the self timer, and finding a proper place to prop up the camera is not my gift, good enough picture of us hard at work.

Step 3. Drag it back inside and wipe down.  

It was crazy hot out the week that I worked on this project, otherwise I would have did the whole thing outside and not in the kitchen.

Step 4. Pick your paint & supplies

 For us it was a good quality brush, small high density foam roller and Starry Night paint in semi gloss by Valspar.  Also picked up new handles, not pictured. 

After two coats of paint.  Annoyed with the back, but it will be covered up.

Here is the location where the toy storage will live.

Ahh much better

In there we have our legos, cars& trucks, letter blocks, train set, and random toys.  The drawer holds paint, paper, and some other random art supplies.  On the side we have the music set and a basket of dress up clothes.  The toy box is considering a new life as possible a bench, for now it lives in the basement.

As far as this project goes, I have dubbed it a success.  Oliver finds it easy to get his toys in and out and seems to be able to get everything back where it goes, when necessary.  Up next, something to hang on the walls, besides Jim's railroad map.

  

oliver only update

Too many house related posts, with more to come, so here is an Oliver only report.

The stuff he is doing when he isn't saying "no" or "I do it"

A rare nap on the couch

We were invited to a little celebration of Kaz adopted kids.  It was too much fun for Oliver.  The exploring, the eating, the swimming.  He fell asleep moments after getting in the car and was still asleep when I got him out, which never ever happens. 

Thumbing through a novel

Truck on the table

 

 

Oliver's new favorite place to play is at the dining room table, which is usually fine.  He will bring a pile of books over to read or bring some truck and cars to drive around.  However, I draw the line at putting ride on toys on the table and then trying to ride them.  Moments after the photo was taken tears were shed.

Working on pasty creme for some eclairs 

Approving the pastry creme 

Getting ready to call dada 

 

Yogurt face

I was in the middle of painting a piece of furniture, so Oliver fed himself his yogurt, or yoyoyoyo as he calls it. 

Distressed when told it's not time to play with the camera

Medical bits
-Visiting our IA doctor next week.  Only about two and a half more months of TB medication, which will in turn mean a drastic reduction in visits to the doc.  We love him, but his services are not covered by our insurance, since they are not considered "well baby" visits. 
-Finally, we are visiting the pediatrician, also next week, actually the appointments are on back to back days.  I called the pediatrician, or pedia-trisha as I used to call it as a child, back at the beginning of the summer.  My goal was to have an appointment during the summer when I had less working hours.  I called for the appointment but the doc only takes a new patient Wednesdays at 1:30, random, but okay fine. 

Entertainment bits
-Oliver enjoys listening to songs and learning about letters over as starfall.com.  When he wants me to go to that particular site he will start saying "MMMMmmmm"  Guess we practice the letter M often. 
-In the midst of a ragweed sponsored allergy attack (tis the season) I pull up a youtube excavator video on the computer.  Four minutes of digger goodness and a catchy tune about the many qualities of the amazing excavator, Oliver is hooked.  Now when I get my computer out he says "MMMMmmmmm, excavator, MMMmmmmm, excavator...."  Guess there could be worse things.

Gym bits
-Every time we visit MyGym one of the instructors always says Oliver should be in a gymnastics class.  Found a place near our house and it's cheaper than MyGym.  Going for a visit sometime this week. 

The best news
-The upcoming week is filled with sunshine and highs in the 70's, oh the joy!

shrink a table

Mission: little table for reading and drawing

Found: bar height table with two stools, craigslist $40

Armed with a level, measuring tape, and a circular saw I shrunk it to Oliver size