Kicks and Giggles

Yesterday, I ordered a starter set of these:

Yep, that’s right.  I am going to give cloth diapering a try.  We did the math and it is way cheaper to go this route (even with choosing one of the more expensive styles), not to mention better for the environment, and hopefully Chloe’s bum (She is very prone to diaper rash and can only use one type of disposable.  Even then she gets diaper rash quite regularly).  It will also create less garbage for the stupid cats to get into (a gripe for another day).

I am excited, although at the same time, a little nervous.  If I like them, I will have to order more when the new baby is old enough.  I have decided that he will wear disposables at first, as I do not want to spend the money for an entire set of diapers that he will use for only a few months, during which he will need to be changed every half an hour.  Once he is older, both the kids will use the same set.  I will just have to order some more.  According to all the research I did, (which was tonnes) the diapers that I ordered are supposed to fit from about 4-6 months until potty training. 

I am really hoping that I like it (or at least don’t mind it) and that it goes well.  I should get my diapers in a couple weeks.  Wish me luck!

A while ago, I was reading in one of my numerous baby books, trying to figure out a way to childproof our CD/DVD shelf and our sound system, VCR, and VCR player, when I came across something interesting.  There was a chunk written about chemicals in our house.  Many of these chemicals can cause all sorts of problems, especially respiratory ones, and they are found in almost everything in most houses.  I went and researched it on the internet, as I do with almost everything and found out that the three big ones are Benzene, Formaldehyde, and Trichloroethylene.

“Benzene is a commonly used solvent in such items as gasoline, inks, oils, paint, plastic and rubber. Furthermore, it is used in the manufacture of detergents, explosives, pharmaceuticals and dyes.

Formaldehyde is found in virtually all indoor environments. Its major sources include urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, particle board or pressed-wood products. Consumer paper products, including grocery bags, waxed paper, facial tissue and paper towels, are treated with urea formaldehyde resins. Many household cleaning agents contain formaldehyde.

Trichloroethylene is a commercial product that has a wide variety of industrial uses. It is used in some printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes and adhesives”  http://www.humeseeds.com/purify.htm

The solution to this problem, besides spending billions of dollars rebuying everything in your house organic was to buy some houseplants.  A study done by NASA determined that about one plant for every 100 sq. feet in your house should effectively purify the air.  There is also a list, from that same study that states which plants are the most effective.  The above link has some, or a simple search for houseplants air purification on google will pop up lots of results.

So what did I do after reading all this?  Naturally I went out and bought a bunch of plants.  Not only was it much cheaper than redoing my entire house or even an air purifier (which would have an annoying hum and a filter that needed to regularly be replaced) but it adds quite nicely to the decor of my house.  I do have to remember to water them, which was a problem when I had one or two plants, but now that I have 11 and see them almost every time I turn around, I am hoping that I can remember so they don’t die.

Pothos

Peace Lily (should flower and is poisonous, so keep away from little hands)

a potted palm

Ivy (also poisonous)

I don’t know what this one is called, but just thought it was pretty.

(All the quilts and partylite?  My Mother-in-law makes beautiful quilts and I have them all over my house and my sister-in-law sells partylite so my house resembles a partylite catalogue).

“Gerbera daisy, Dracaena Marginata, Peace lily (Spathiphyllum), Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’ and Bamboo palm in order were the five most effective plants in removing Trichloroethylene concentrations from the air.

Gerbera Daisy, pot Mum, Peace lily, Bamboo palm, Dracaena Warneckei, English ivy and Mother-in-law’s tongue are the seven top houseplants for removing Benzene concentrations in the air.

Bamboo palm, Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’, Mother-in-law’s tongue, Dracaena Marginata, Peace lily, green Spider plant, and golden pathos are seven of the top plants for removing concentrations of Formaldehyde in the air.

It is estimated, as a result of this research, that 15 to 20 of these test houseplants can purify the interior of a typical house of 1,800 square feet. ” http://www.humeseeds.com/purify.htm

While all plants will help purify the air, the above list are the best ones.  You can also search the internet for some other options, but remember that some can be poisonous and to be careful where you put those ones.

Added note:  If anyone has any ideas for the earlier mentioned CD/DVD or electronics problems, feel free to mention them.  Neither our entertainment unit nor our shelves have doors, and a baby gate won’t work.

Here are some pictures of Chloe, just because.

and a picture of me, a little older, for comparison purposes.  I am guessing I am about 18 months here.

Well, my kitchen has been in now for almost a week and I finally have it organized enough to take and post pictures, so here you go!

I have no before pictures, so all you get is after.  (I do have some in progress ones, but no time to post them right now)

This side still needs countertops, the over the range microwave installed, and we are getting new flooring as well which should be in within the next 6 weeks, so I will post pics again, once it is done!  (They also sent the wrong door for the cupboard over the fridge, so we are waiting for a new one.)  Meanwhile, I am throughly enjoying my new kitchen!

Today, while I was in the grocery store, I picked up some honey. As I was grabbing it, an elderly gentleman near me in the aisle commented on the price of honey. I looked at the price and kinda shrugged. I replied that it was about the same as it had always been. The man looked at me and said that “No, His GRANDPA had sold it for 10 cents a pound.” I thought this was fairly humorous, as this man had to be at least 70, maybe 80, so his grandfather was selling honey somewhere around the turn of the century or shortly thereafter. So when I am 80, how much will a thing of honey cost? Right now it is 5.25ish. In 55 years, will it be 45 dollars? 90 dollars? or will it rise so much that is is into 4 figures?? Who knows?

A while ago, I was out shopping and somebody was talking about Barney.  I mentioned that I was glad we didn’t get TV (we only get CBC on occasion) because then maybe my child would not learn who he was.  In another instance a person mentioned Dora and I said the same thing.  I have no idea why, but I don’t really like either of them.  In both cases, the person responded with “but he/she teached them so much,” and I wondered, why do we need TV to teach our children?  I have nothing against TV and we watch movies on a regular basis.  My  child may not know Dora or Barney, but she recognizes Bob and Larry quite easily.  I also use TV if I need to distract her for a while (in fact it is necessary if I want to clip her nails), but I don’t think it should be our chosen method of teaching our children. 

What about books?  I had a child in daycare who was ripping and throwing our books.  I asked him if he treated his books at home like that and he responded with”I don’t have any books.”  I was in complete shock and didn’t know what to say to that.  He was about 4 and has seen Ghost Rider, The Hulk, all the Spidermans and various other movies of that sort and it just shocked me that he had no books at all.  My 11 month old doesn’t even treat books like that.  She looks at them and turns pages.  She will actually sit and look at books for a good 20 minutes! 

I also think we can teach our children things by playing with them and doing things with them.  I understand that sometimes you just don’t have the time.  People have to eat, other children have to be looked after, laundry has to be done, etc, but some things can wait.  Is it really necessary to have an immaculate house that you would feel comfortable putting on display to the world?  In my opinion, your child is not going to remember that your house was always spotless(mine sure isn’t) or that you always had a 5 course meal for supper (sometimes pasta and salad is fine or in my case, the majority of the time), but they will remember playing with you and spending time with you. 

Children can also learn through playing with their toys, whether by themselves or with a sibling, parent or friend.  There is such a wide variety of toys out there, and many of them are teaching toys, or if your child is like mine, an empty formula container makes a great drum and a bowl/cup and spoon can entertain them for hours.  If you don’t want to spend lots of money on “teaching” toys, you can but them used at garage sales or thrift/consignment stores or you make your own that are almost as good (this is also recycling)!  The internet has tonnes of ideas for homemade toys.   Just do a search for homemade toys and you will get over 200,000 hits!

I am not against TV and do use it and watch it.  I just think that it is not necessary in the high quantities that we as a society indulge in it.  I think it needs to be used in moderation, and is not the only way or the best way to teach our children.  If you want ideas for things to do with them, such as crafts, music or making toys, just search the internet.  It has lots of great ideas!

I would just like to start by saying that I wore my flip flops today and yesterday when I went out.  I will also wear them tomorrow and Thursday when I go out!  The weather here is great!  I can actually see grass already.

Chloe took her first steps on Friday!  It was exciting.  She is going to be walking so soon!

I still don’t have a kitchen and it is driving me insane.  Soon enough I am going to gather everyone I know and go on a crusade to Home Depot to get these stupid things installed.  We are done our part.  We are just waiting on Home Depot, who I have called numerous times.

Chloe had an ear infection this weekend.  She spent much of the day crying on Friday and would only nap in my arms, so we went to the walk-in clinic where the doctor told me that her ears were quite red and inflamed.  She is now on antibiotics, it has cleared up and she is pretty much back to normal.

Chloe has given up the bottle.  She has decided no more bottles for her.  Now the hard part is getting her to drink enough liquid.  For a few days she was refusing everything and I was giving her Pedialyte with a medicine syringe.  Fortunately she has started drinking some water and milk (still no juice no matter what kind I try).

Our little boy is growing well.  I am gaining at a decent rate and while I have gained more than I did with Chloe, it is still not excessive.  He is becoming more active, and I think we have narrowed our choices down to two names.

I am eating a lot of pre-frozen chicken and fries lately, as well as a lot of takeout.  While it is easy to cook, it is getting expensive and I miss normal food like pastas, rice, potatoes, casseroles and glorious things made in my slow cooker (which I love by the way).