Last Wednesday we were informed that Keegan has graduated. Yes, Keegan is now officially (at least according to daycare) a toddler. He was slated to start going to Toddler on June 2nd. Of course, they wanted to give him a trial run on Wednesday.
Like normal, daycare did this kind of out of the blue. Also, like normal, they didn't give me any information. I mean important information like where the toddler room was, if he still gets breakfast, will his stuff be moved over, etc.
Him moving to toddler is good. It means that he gets to go and play outside on the toddler equipment instead of languishing in the stupid baby buggy (which he thinks is boring). It also means we pay $10 less a week. Of course there is a catch; we only get the decrease in tuition once all his paper work is done. Like when he started, I now have to refill out all the paperwork on his vaccinations, his background, and his sleeping/eating patterns. They want to know his favorite toys, if he uses silverware, his favorite foods, etc. etc. As if this isn't all annoying enough I need to have his doctor fill out another health update sheet.
So basically this ends up being a lot of work for me. I have to fill out all of this stuff and then go and drop the health info form off at the doctor's office for them to fill out. Daycare gave us a week to get this stuff all filled out and back to them. If we don't get it back to them by the 2nd then they get to move Keegan to toddler without giving us a tuition decrease; I guess it's nice to be them.
Overall though I think the move is a good thing. When I picked up Keegan on Wednesday no less than 5 people stopped me to tell me how much fun Keegan had outside with the other toddlers. They sleep on cots in toddler instead of in cribs. To my surprise Keegan's teacher said he snuggled up on the cot and went right to sleep. He took a nice, long 2 hour nap. This was great to hear!
Now picking him up on Monday was a completely new experience. He spent the whole day in Toddler again. When I got there they told me he was in toddler. I was like, well, where is toddler? They pointed me towards the right room and when I went in it was empty. So I went back up front and was like "umm...it's empty". Oh, they realized he was actually outside. So I went through toddler and outside to the play area. It was a bit confusing because Keegan started the morning in infant, so I didn't know where his jacket, etc. was. Ends up everything was moved over to toddler, or so I thought.
So I walk outside and every single little kid (there were around 30 of them) stops to silently stare at me. It felt really odd. I didn't see Keegan but I saw his teacher and she said he had just gone into a tunnel. So Keegan comes out of the tunnel and sees me. Usually he smiles, runs towards me with arms outstretched, and gives me a big hug. Well, this time he didn't. He ran the opposite direction. When I went over to pick him up he pouted and threw a mini-fit. He was genuinly angry at me for taking him out of the playground.
I talked to the teacher for a second and she wanted to know if he had a blankie to bring in. I said he had one in infant (actually he had three in his infant drawer). She said that he didn't have one in infant and I needed to bring one in. She also said he slept great but didn't eat much of his lunch. Then Keegan and I went inside and out the front. Still not a single smile from the boy.
We stopped by the wind chimes, Keegan wanted nothing to do with them. He stomped over to the car and pouted. The whole car ride home he didn't smile or look at me. Finally I started asking him "what does a cow do?" He finally cracked a grin and said "moooo". Then I asked "what does a sheep do?" He smiled and said "baaa". So at least his anger at me was short-lived!
I am glad that he is having so much fun in Toddler, although I miss the enthusiastic greeting when I go to pick him up!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
You chewed on a what??!!
Keegan is getting in a lot of teeth. I remember being worried when he didn't have any teeth at 9 months or so. I guess that was the greater-power-that-be's blessing on him. If he had gotten teeth earlier I think he would have knocked them all out between 9-12 months during his adventures in walking, running, scaling bookcases, and surmounting coffee tables.
So now Keegan is getting a lot of teeth, and he is getting them all at once. Truth be told it kind of sucks. He will get crabby for "no good reason" and we can't figure out what to do with him. He knows (and frequently employs) sign language for "eat", "milk", "sleepy", "all done", and "more". Surprisingly these signs actually cover a lot of ground. Unsurprisingly he has a bit of trouble conveying "darnit Mom my teeth really hurt and it totally sucks and I want some Tylenol and something to chew on". So it is kind of left up to us to figure it out.
He makes it pretty easy to figure out though. Sometimes he fingers his mouth and whines (similar to when he tried hot sauce) or he chews on things. By things I mean everything. Nothing is safe from this kid's teeth. Some notable things he has chewed on are: chairs, kitty scratching post, mom, dad, kitty, doggy, dog bone, dog bowl, rocks, his own fingers (followed by crying), and, well, the list could go on and on.
Unfortunately he took teething on foreign objects to new and embarrassing heights when I picked him up from daycare on Wednesday last week. Keegan walks out of daycare on his own. We have a ritual. He has to stop and make the water fountain work, then we wave at the front desk ladies, then Keegan pushes on the door and opens it (with a bit of invisible mommy help), next we stop to watch the wind chimes, finally we get to the car. When we get to the car Keegan likes to pet the hub caps (yes, I know this is odd but he *really* enjoys it) while I throw my purse in the front seat and then in the car he goes.
Well, Wednesday started out like any other day. Keegan went to touch the hub caps on the car and I threw my purse in the car. I looked away maybe 1/60th of a second and when I looked back he was chewing on the tire of the car. I mean talk about something that's been places. He is gnawing on the tire like it is the best thing in the world. Of course he is gnawing on the front tire and we are parked in front the big picture window in front of daycare, so everyone can see him eating our tire. I am torn between the horror of what he is doing and the humor behind it. I am like "Keegan, yucky, yucky, chewing on tires is yucky." So, Keegan, if you ever read this know that you learned one important life lesson from your mother "Chewing on tires is yucky!"
So you are probably wondering if this boy has any teethers. Of course, he has many, but other things are way more interesting to chew on. Today (when I was pulling stuff out of the freezer for dinner) he ran over and pulled a frozen chicken taquito out of the box. After checking to see that taquitos are precooked, I let him go at it. I guess frozen taquitos make awesome teethers. Keegan has 3-4 molars coming in and these seem to be the pain culprits. Hopefully we will get through this without Keegan finding something else that is horribly wrong to chew on.
So now Keegan is getting a lot of teeth, and he is getting them all at once. Truth be told it kind of sucks. He will get crabby for "no good reason" and we can't figure out what to do with him. He knows (and frequently employs) sign language for "eat", "milk", "sleepy", "all done", and "more". Surprisingly these signs actually cover a lot of ground. Unsurprisingly he has a bit of trouble conveying "darnit Mom my teeth really hurt and it totally sucks and I want some Tylenol and something to chew on". So it is kind of left up to us to figure it out.
He makes it pretty easy to figure out though. Sometimes he fingers his mouth and whines (similar to when he tried hot sauce) or he chews on things. By things I mean everything. Nothing is safe from this kid's teeth. Some notable things he has chewed on are: chairs, kitty scratching post, mom, dad, kitty, doggy, dog bone, dog bowl, rocks, his own fingers (followed by crying), and, well, the list could go on and on.
Unfortunately he took teething on foreign objects to new and embarrassing heights when I picked him up from daycare on Wednesday last week. Keegan walks out of daycare on his own. We have a ritual. He has to stop and make the water fountain work, then we wave at the front desk ladies, then Keegan pushes on the door and opens it (with a bit of invisible mommy help), next we stop to watch the wind chimes, finally we get to the car. When we get to the car Keegan likes to pet the hub caps (yes, I know this is odd but he *really* enjoys it) while I throw my purse in the front seat and then in the car he goes.
Well, Wednesday started out like any other day. Keegan went to touch the hub caps on the car and I threw my purse in the car. I looked away maybe 1/60th of a second and when I looked back he was chewing on the tire of the car. I mean talk about something that's been places. He is gnawing on the tire like it is the best thing in the world. Of course he is gnawing on the front tire and we are parked in front the big picture window in front of daycare, so everyone can see him eating our tire. I am torn between the horror of what he is doing and the humor behind it. I am like "Keegan, yucky, yucky, chewing on tires is yucky." So, Keegan, if you ever read this know that you learned one important life lesson from your mother "Chewing on tires is yucky!"
So you are probably wondering if this boy has any teethers. Of course, he has many, but other things are way more interesting to chew on. Today (when I was pulling stuff out of the freezer for dinner) he ran over and pulled a frozen chicken taquito out of the box. After checking to see that taquitos are precooked, I let him go at it. I guess frozen taquitos make awesome teethers. Keegan has 3-4 molars coming in and these seem to be the pain culprits. Hopefully we will get through this without Keegan finding something else that is horribly wrong to chew on.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Could I be any more of a geek?
I think not..... I spent some time creating a google theme for Keegan. Maybe you will enjoy it, but probably not. Anyway it was just something fun for me to do one day when I had a little time. So here are the two google themes for Keegan.
Acropolis -- yes the Acropolis in Athens
Keegan -- due to popular demand....
Sadly it tells me that I need more to do with my time sometimes...
Acropolis -- yes the Acropolis in Athens
Keegan -- due to popular demand....
Sadly it tells me that I need more to do with my time sometimes...
What is that smell?
So first off from the title... Karissa mentioned that she bought some bamboo towels at the Living Green Expo a couple weeks back. Well we have used them for a little while and I can give you an update on what I think of them. First off they are pretty soft which is nice. The towels are super absorbent, as a matter of fact the first thing that happened to one is that it fell in Karissa's bath. I hung it out in the shower and it stayed wet for about a day and a half. It does make drying off fast as they seem to absorb water really well. The only "problem" that I have had with the towels is that the smell like bamboo every time I dry off. I haven't noticed the smell staying with me, which is good, but it does make the bathroom smell a little like wet bamboo for a little bit. It really isn't a problem per se, just kind of weird really.
During our Albertville excursion on Saturday, Keegan walked almost the whole time. We didn't bring the stroller because he has been really good with walking everywhere. Sadly it was raining so we had to try and stay under the awnings that were on the buildings, which Keegan didn't really seem to understand. Every time he saw a puddle he had to try and get to it to splash around in it. I did let him do some puddle hopping while Karissa went ahead to another store from time to time. He really did seem to enjoy himself. The other thing that was really funny is that I gave him some ice, which he really seemed to have fun with. He liked putting it in his mouth, much like the frozen teethers we have been giving him lately because of all the teeth that are starting to apper in his mouth. He does have one molar coming in which I think has been kind of a pain for him. The last thing from Saturday is that we found out that Keegan can be good if kept up too late! Keegan didn't get home and to bed till 9, which is about 2 hours past his normal bedtime. He was actually a pretty good boy through dinner (about 7:15 - 8). Then the car ride home, he didn't fall asleep, and was good. Of course on Sunday morning he didn't want to get up at 6:45 when we were trying to wake him. He seemed kind of annoyed that we woke him up early on Sunday actually.
Swimming lessons were different this week too. We had a different instructor that tried to get the kids to do things they didn't like more often to get them more accustom to swimming. She was trying to get us to keep their ears in the water when the back floated, and was trying to make sure the kids were kicking and moving around on their own accord. This was different from the last instructor who kind of just let the kids get away with anything. They are still too young to really understand how any of this will make a difference later, but I appreciate it more. Keegan was actually kind of a crab during swimming, but he did good considering that he really hadn't had a good nap at all in the morning. The back float was actually really easy for me because I didn't have to force his ears in the water, he just kind of limply floated in the water with me holding his back. He actually got this spaced out look on his face like he could have just gone to sleep right there in the water. The other kid that showed up was fighting her mother with all her might to keep her head above the water. Usually Keegan would do the same thing :).
Karissa also got a present from Daycare yesterday that was a little ..... well..... interesting. Basically it was a picture of Keegan next to some flowers. Which of course is fine. The weird part about it was that in the picture it doesn't look like he is wearing anything. Of course there are no naughty bits showing, much to Keegan's happiness later when he is an adult I am sure. But it just seemed a little funny to me, because I wouldn't feel comfortable taking that into work or something like that. Maybe I am just being a prude, but you know I am getting old ;).
During our Albertville excursion on Saturday, Keegan walked almost the whole time. We didn't bring the stroller because he has been really good with walking everywhere. Sadly it was raining so we had to try and stay under the awnings that were on the buildings, which Keegan didn't really seem to understand. Every time he saw a puddle he had to try and get to it to splash around in it. I did let him do some puddle hopping while Karissa went ahead to another store from time to time. He really did seem to enjoy himself. The other thing that was really funny is that I gave him some ice, which he really seemed to have fun with. He liked putting it in his mouth, much like the frozen teethers we have been giving him lately because of all the teeth that are starting to apper in his mouth. He does have one molar coming in which I think has been kind of a pain for him. The last thing from Saturday is that we found out that Keegan can be good if kept up too late! Keegan didn't get home and to bed till 9, which is about 2 hours past his normal bedtime. He was actually a pretty good boy through dinner (about 7:15 - 8). Then the car ride home, he didn't fall asleep, and was good. Of course on Sunday morning he didn't want to get up at 6:45 when we were trying to wake him. He seemed kind of annoyed that we woke him up early on Sunday actually.
Swimming lessons were different this week too. We had a different instructor that tried to get the kids to do things they didn't like more often to get them more accustom to swimming. She was trying to get us to keep their ears in the water when the back floated, and was trying to make sure the kids were kicking and moving around on their own accord. This was different from the last instructor who kind of just let the kids get away with anything. They are still too young to really understand how any of this will make a difference later, but I appreciate it more. Keegan was actually kind of a crab during swimming, but he did good considering that he really hadn't had a good nap at all in the morning. The back float was actually really easy for me because I didn't have to force his ears in the water, he just kind of limply floated in the water with me holding his back. He actually got this spaced out look on his face like he could have just gone to sleep right there in the water. The other kid that showed up was fighting her mother with all her might to keep her head above the water. Usually Keegan would do the same thing :).
Karissa also got a present from Daycare yesterday that was a little ..... well..... interesting. Basically it was a picture of Keegan next to some flowers. Which of course is fine. The weird part about it was that in the picture it doesn't look like he is wearing anything. Of course there are no naughty bits showing, much to Keegan's happiness later when he is an adult I am sure. But it just seemed a little funny to me, because I wouldn't feel comfortable taking that into work or something like that. Maybe I am just being a prude, but you know I am getting old ;).
Coming out of the closet of his own volition...
Yes, folks Keegan can now open doors all by himself. Granted we have lever handle style doors in our house (as do my parents) but that being said he can open the doors. I usually make sure the doors are locked but that won't stop him for long. At my parents' house he has figured out how to unlock the door and open it. It's great that he is learning but a bit scary as well.
We can also tell that Keegan has a longer memory now. When we drive past Old Navy he yells "ball!". He remembers that there is a vending machine that sells super balls there. If we go into Old Navy he runs up to the door yelling "ball, ball, ball" and then he makes a bee-line to the back of the store where the balls are. This tells you one of two things; either his memory is improving or we go to Old Navy too much ;-) He also remembers where people are. So when we drive up in front of my parents house he starts yelling "gamma, gamma". It is kind of cool that he remembers that stuff.
Next topic... After experiencing a rainy camping trip with a toddler we decided that we would start looking for a pop-up tent trailer. I've learned a lot about tent trailers in the last week. They are called pop-ups, tent trailers, travel trailers, and many other numerous names. They are, in general, about $6000 for your basic bottom-of-the-line trailer, but can go up to $15000. We wanted to spend between $2000-$4000. So we started looking for used trailers. Well we found that trailers don't lose their value all that fast and, while the used tent trailers were larger for the same $6000 price tag, they were also ratty inside and older. We also learned that for some reason there are a lot of nicer tent trailers in the price range we were interested in Milwaukee, WI...why, we will never know. We finally found our "dream" tent trailer on Saturday at North Country RV. They don't sell pop-ups but they had a couple they had obtained for trade-in and they wanted to get rid of them. So for $3500 we got a 12 foot, '95 Jayco J-series 1207. It is in great condition; it's just old. So while the interior decor will make you wince and force you into flashbacks from the 90's...it is very clean and in good condition. No rips, tears, or stains. We pick it up on Thursday. Keegan thought it was super awesome, and there is room for Ruby too. It was kind of a surprise purchase but we were having so much trouble finding something that met our requirements (in condition, size, and price) that we jumped on this deal.
Let's see...of course Mother's Day was Sunday which was hectic but nice. We went to the Breast Cancer Walk at the MOA and then saw my dad's parents. Then Keegan had swimming lessons and we went out to dinner with my parents. It was fun; I got some nice Mother's Day presents. I was happy because on Saturday night we went to the Albertville Outlet Mall and I got to buy a new dress and a couple of shirts. I always have a great time buying clothing :-)
We also took Keegan for a ride in his bike trailer again on Sunday. This time it went a little bit better. He only cried for half of the ride, then he decided he was going to have to live with it and enjoyed the view. I am still a little nervous with the trailer behind me but I think I am getting better with it.
We just have so many fun outside things to do this summer! Camping, boating, and biking...there's just not enough time to get it all in. We've only had the boat out once so far and that also wasn't really popular with Keegan. Hopefully he will get used to it! Anyway, here's hoping to more wonderful weather to come.
We can also tell that Keegan has a longer memory now. When we drive past Old Navy he yells "ball!". He remembers that there is a vending machine that sells super balls there. If we go into Old Navy he runs up to the door yelling "ball, ball, ball" and then he makes a bee-line to the back of the store where the balls are. This tells you one of two things; either his memory is improving or we go to Old Navy too much ;-) He also remembers where people are. So when we drive up in front of my parents house he starts yelling "gamma, gamma". It is kind of cool that he remembers that stuff.
Next topic... After experiencing a rainy camping trip with a toddler we decided that we would start looking for a pop-up tent trailer. I've learned a lot about tent trailers in the last week. They are called pop-ups, tent trailers, travel trailers, and many other numerous names. They are, in general, about $6000 for your basic bottom-of-the-line trailer, but can go up to $15000. We wanted to spend between $2000-$4000. So we started looking for used trailers. Well we found that trailers don't lose their value all that fast and, while the used tent trailers were larger for the same $6000 price tag, they were also ratty inside and older. We also learned that for some reason there are a lot of nicer tent trailers in the price range we were interested in Milwaukee, WI...why, we will never know. We finally found our "dream" tent trailer on Saturday at North Country RV. They don't sell pop-ups but they had a couple they had obtained for trade-in and they wanted to get rid of them. So for $3500 we got a 12 foot, '95 Jayco J-series 1207. It is in great condition; it's just old. So while the interior decor will make you wince and force you into flashbacks from the 90's...it is very clean and in good condition. No rips, tears, or stains. We pick it up on Thursday. Keegan thought it was super awesome, and there is room for Ruby too. It was kind of a surprise purchase but we were having so much trouble finding something that met our requirements (in condition, size, and price) that we jumped on this deal.
Let's see...of course Mother's Day was Sunday which was hectic but nice. We went to the Breast Cancer Walk at the MOA and then saw my dad's parents. Then Keegan had swimming lessons and we went out to dinner with my parents. It was fun; I got some nice Mother's Day presents. I was happy because on Saturday night we went to the Albertville Outlet Mall and I got to buy a new dress and a couple of shirts. I always have a great time buying clothing :-)
We also took Keegan for a ride in his bike trailer again on Sunday. This time it went a little bit better. He only cried for half of the ride, then he decided he was going to have to live with it and enjoyed the view. I am still a little nervous with the trailer behind me but I think I am getting better with it.
We just have so many fun outside things to do this summer! Camping, boating, and biking...there's just not enough time to get it all in. We've only had the boat out once so far and that also wasn't really popular with Keegan. Hopefully he will get used to it! Anyway, here's hoping to more wonderful weather to come.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
First Ride in the Bike Trailer
So the bike trailer we purchased for Keegan was delivered on Monday afternoon. We didn't get to try it out on Tuesday because of the rain but we did get out with it on Wednesday.
Let's just say that the bike trailer was *not* popular! First Keegan did not like the bike helmet, he spent most of the ride trying to get it off. Secondly he just didn't want to be in there. Basically he screamed the whole ride. We only rode around the lake so it probably only took 20 minutes or so; but boy was he angry. When we got home he had worked the strap of the bike helmet into his mouth and was chewing on it.
Later when I was putting on Keegan's jammies I saw that he had red lines and bruises on his thighs where the harness went over his legs. Then I felt bad because on top of this he had just received shots in his thighs at the doctors office earlier in the afternoon. So, maybe he was actually upset because the straps were pinching his already sore thighs. If we take him out tonight we will have to check the straps better.
Hopefully Keegan will get used to the trailer and even grow to like it. Right now though it just makes him cry :-( We didn't get any pictures but we will try to take some the next time we go out.
Speaking of which; yesterday was his 15 month well child visit. He was 31" tall (he grew two inches since his 12 month appointment) and was 23 lbs 4 oz (3 months ago he was 22lbs 14 oz). That puts him at 50% for height and 25% for weight (at 12 months he was 25% for height and 50% for weight). The doctor was a bit concerned about his lack of weight gain but after being in the room with him for 5 minutes she understood. In the 5 minutes she was in there he climbed the stool, swung from the sink, ran the walker toy around the room, found the paper unroll under the exam table (and began unrolling it), tried to get the door open, and tried to push the doctors stool around the room. The doctor's response was "My, oh, my aren't you a busy little boy." I said "Yeah, tell me about it." She said that it was normal for him to drop some weight because of his high activity level and she wouldn't be really concerned unless he still hadn't gained much wait by his 18 month. So, well, I guess that it good. Like normal Keegan turned into a mute when the doctor entered the room; so she still thinks he can't talk :-) He finally told her "bye" and "mooed" for her before she left. No ear problems or anything this time around. I am relieved and now we have another 3 months before the next exam.
Let's just say that the bike trailer was *not* popular! First Keegan did not like the bike helmet, he spent most of the ride trying to get it off. Secondly he just didn't want to be in there. Basically he screamed the whole ride. We only rode around the lake so it probably only took 20 minutes or so; but boy was he angry. When we got home he had worked the strap of the bike helmet into his mouth and was chewing on it.
Later when I was putting on Keegan's jammies I saw that he had red lines and bruises on his thighs where the harness went over his legs. Then I felt bad because on top of this he had just received shots in his thighs at the doctors office earlier in the afternoon. So, maybe he was actually upset because the straps were pinching his already sore thighs. If we take him out tonight we will have to check the straps better.
Hopefully Keegan will get used to the trailer and even grow to like it. Right now though it just makes him cry :-( We didn't get any pictures but we will try to take some the next time we go out.
Speaking of which; yesterday was his 15 month well child visit. He was 31" tall (he grew two inches since his 12 month appointment) and was 23 lbs 4 oz (3 months ago he was 22lbs 14 oz). That puts him at 50% for height and 25% for weight (at 12 months he was 25% for height and 50% for weight). The doctor was a bit concerned about his lack of weight gain but after being in the room with him for 5 minutes she understood. In the 5 minutes she was in there he climbed the stool, swung from the sink, ran the walker toy around the room, found the paper unroll under the exam table (and began unrolling it), tried to get the door open, and tried to push the doctors stool around the room. The doctor's response was "My, oh, my aren't you a busy little boy." I said "Yeah, tell me about it." She said that it was normal for him to drop some weight because of his high activity level and she wouldn't be really concerned unless he still hadn't gained much wait by his 18 month. So, well, I guess that it good. Like normal Keegan turned into a mute when the doctor entered the room; so she still thinks he can't talk :-) He finally told her "bye" and "mooed" for her before she left. No ear problems or anything this time around. I am relieved and now we have another 3 months before the next exam.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Camping, Expoing, and Boating...Oh my
Is expoing a word? Probably not. Anyway I am not sure what you call it when you go to an expo.
As Lyle mentioned camping was an experience this weekend. It was cold and windy and rainy, but Keegan didn't seem to mind. He wasn't too big on playing in the camper. There just wasn't much space for him to run around with me, Lyle, my parents, and 4 greyhounds occupying floor space. It gets crowded with us all squeezed in there. I am hoping later this summer we can use our tent again. It would be nice to get some use out of the tent!
On Sunday we went to the Living Green Expo which was, as always, interesting. I have been wanting to get granite countertops put in; while we were there I saw something more interesting than granite. They can do recycled glass countertops. Check it out here: http://www.vetrazzo.com/products_palette.html Very pretty countertops and very unique looking. So, while Lyle is interested in geothermal heating for the house, I am more interested in new countertops :-)
The other thing I spent some time looking at there are cloth diapers. Most of the cloth diapers now have inserts that you wash instead of the whole diaper. After talking to the lady and reading about "How to wash all of these diapers", I decided I would probably spend as much energy washing diapers as I was saving by not using disposables. So I started looking into an alternative. G diapers have a flushable, biodegradable lining that goes into a cloth outer diaper. I ordered a starter pack; so we will see how that goes... See here for how they work: http://www.gdiapers.com/
As always there were coupons for $$ off organic foods. That is always awesome because it is so hard to get money off all of the organic food we buy. Also interesting information on biking, neat displays of locally made kids toys, oh and of course bamboo clothing. I bought some bamboo towels to give them a try. I'll let ya'll know how that goes :-)
While we are talking green here's an update on the stuff I started using a couple months ago. So far I've really liked the Korres line of face/body care stuff. The Giovanni organic hair care has also been really nice. The Seventh Generation stuff has been kind of hit and miss. Their surface and glass cleaners work really well and don't make my eyes sting. Their fabric softener and toilet cleaner are also awesome. The dishwasher detergent is horrible and leaves awful residue on the dishes. The toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues feel like the cheap stuff you get in a public bathroom. The diapers work really well but, they smell like...welll...pee after Keegan pees in them (not perfumed). We also got a bad case of diapers where none of the tabs were glued to the diapers so I had to send that case back to Amazon. Which really pissed me off.
We've been trying to bring reusable grocery bags to Target when we go. But I have this problem with remembering to put them back into the car. Either that or I get in the store and leave them in the car; hopefully I'll get better at this as I do it more. And the latest green step we are trying to take is to replace the plastic bottles in the house with aluminum or other bisphenol free bottles. We have a Foogo sippy cup for Keegan and I ordered a Sigg cup for him and myself. We'll see how these work. They are a bit pricey but maybe since they are metal I won't accidentally melt them on the heating element of the dishwasher. A number of our plastic cups have lost their lives in this way :-(
Okay onto the boat outing. I am not sure that it was the life jacket that had Keegan all bent out of sorts. That was part of it, but he also didn't like the boat moving back and forth under his feet. Between the boat movement and that huge back flap on the infant life jacket, he was having a lot of trouble falling over and then not being able to get back up. That boy signed "all done" over and over as fast as I have ever seen him do it. I felt kind of bad for him; trying to explain that when you take the boat out on the lake you can't just be all done that fast.
Last night I finally broke down all of the cardboard in the garage for recycling. I am getting antsy to get some more landscaping done this year. Most of the bushes are bought we are just waiting for our "Architectural Change Form" to be approved by the association. It's ridiculous; we want to plant some trees and add some bushes so we need to fill out all these forms. What a joke. Although, we do it because we didn't do it last time and it was quite a hassle to fix. Hopefully the nice weather will continue and we can get out there to enjoy it! Oh, and Keegan's bike trailer is supposed to be getting here any day now! I am excited to try that out.
As Lyle mentioned camping was an experience this weekend. It was cold and windy and rainy, but Keegan didn't seem to mind. He wasn't too big on playing in the camper. There just wasn't much space for him to run around with me, Lyle, my parents, and 4 greyhounds occupying floor space. It gets crowded with us all squeezed in there. I am hoping later this summer we can use our tent again. It would be nice to get some use out of the tent!
On Sunday we went to the Living Green Expo which was, as always, interesting. I have been wanting to get granite countertops put in; while we were there I saw something more interesting than granite. They can do recycled glass countertops. Check it out here: http://www.vetrazzo.com/products_palette.html Very pretty countertops and very unique looking. So, while Lyle is interested in geothermal heating for the house, I am more interested in new countertops :-)
The other thing I spent some time looking at there are cloth diapers. Most of the cloth diapers now have inserts that you wash instead of the whole diaper. After talking to the lady and reading about "How to wash all of these diapers", I decided I would probably spend as much energy washing diapers as I was saving by not using disposables. So I started looking into an alternative. G diapers have a flushable, biodegradable lining that goes into a cloth outer diaper. I ordered a starter pack; so we will see how that goes... See here for how they work: http://www.gdiapers.com/
As always there were coupons for $$ off organic foods. That is always awesome because it is so hard to get money off all of the organic food we buy. Also interesting information on biking, neat displays of locally made kids toys, oh and of course bamboo clothing. I bought some bamboo towels to give them a try. I'll let ya'll know how that goes :-)
While we are talking green here's an update on the stuff I started using a couple months ago. So far I've really liked the Korres line of face/body care stuff. The Giovanni organic hair care has also been really nice. The Seventh Generation stuff has been kind of hit and miss. Their surface and glass cleaners work really well and don't make my eyes sting. Their fabric softener and toilet cleaner are also awesome. The dishwasher detergent is horrible and leaves awful residue on the dishes. The toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues feel like the cheap stuff you get in a public bathroom. The diapers work really well but, they smell like...welll...pee after Keegan pees in them (not perfumed). We also got a bad case of diapers where none of the tabs were glued to the diapers so I had to send that case back to Amazon. Which really pissed me off.
We've been trying to bring reusable grocery bags to Target when we go. But I have this problem with remembering to put them back into the car. Either that or I get in the store and leave them in the car; hopefully I'll get better at this as I do it more. And the latest green step we are trying to take is to replace the plastic bottles in the house with aluminum or other bisphenol free bottles. We have a Foogo sippy cup for Keegan and I ordered a Sigg cup for him and myself. We'll see how these work. They are a bit pricey but maybe since they are metal I won't accidentally melt them on the heating element of the dishwasher. A number of our plastic cups have lost their lives in this way :-(
Okay onto the boat outing. I am not sure that it was the life jacket that had Keegan all bent out of sorts. That was part of it, but he also didn't like the boat moving back and forth under his feet. Between the boat movement and that huge back flap on the infant life jacket, he was having a lot of trouble falling over and then not being able to get back up. That boy signed "all done" over and over as fast as I have ever seen him do it. I felt kind of bad for him; trying to explain that when you take the boat out on the lake you can't just be all done that fast.
Last night I finally broke down all of the cardboard in the garage for recycling. I am getting antsy to get some more landscaping done this year. Most of the bushes are bought we are just waiting for our "Architectural Change Form" to be approved by the association. It's ridiculous; we want to plant some trees and add some bushes so we need to fill out all these forms. What a joke. Although, we do it because we didn't do it last time and it was quite a hassle to fix. Hopefully the nice weather will continue and we can get out there to enjoy it! Oh, and Keegan's bike trailer is supposed to be getting here any day now! I am excited to try that out.
The bitter cold, geothermal, and a monkey on his back
So we went camping this past weekend at Myre state park. We left later than we wanted on Friday due to Keegan taking a nap. We got there around 5 or so on Friday, and the ride down was ok until about a half-hour out, then it started raining so hard that we couldn't see. So we finally get to the campsite, and it is cold and wet and raining. Karissa's parents have an RV, and that is what we were staying in, so we pulled everything out of the car and loaded up in the RV. We hung out for a while, and had dinner. Usually we would cook over the campfire, but that was not happening with all the rain we were getting. Finally it stopped raining, and Keegan, Karissa and I went out to strech our legs. Keegan had a fabulous time in the mud and playing in the puddles! Boy does he love playing in the puddles.....
At one point we found some worms that we tried to get Keegan to play with, but he was not really interested in the worms because there were puddles around that would probably go up to his waist. Anyway we let him play in some of them, and after a little while he was wet up to his knees, and having a grand time just smiling and laughing while splashing around. At this point we decided that he should probably use his rain boots, so we switch his socks and put on his rain boots, which are still way to large for him. Well lets just say it didn't really do much good since Keegan still can't walk really well in those boots. So he kept falling over here and there and getting more of himself wet. At this point a fire was started, and we tried to get him to stay around that. All in all he was having a great time out in the mud, puddles, and cold.
Keegan has learned that he can climb on almost anything as well. He was having a great time climbing from our bed over the back of the table bench and playing there. He was actually being really good in the RV, and we were able to get him to sit down and play at the table with us. Grandma, Karissa and I were rolling a ball over to him, and he was just throwing it back for us to roll back over to him. We were showing him how to roll the ball, and though he did it a couple times, he didn't seem to see why he should roll a ball when he can throw it much better. Either way it was nice to see that he could sit down and play for more than a minute at a time.
Other than that we came back on Saturday night because Friday night didn't work out great for us when it came to sleeping since it rained all night, and it was very windy. Saturday it was really windy all day, and it wasn't fun to hike in really windy conditions with half of the trails either so muddy you would slip or so filled with water there was no way to get across without getting your feet wet. Such is the way of things. Keegan didn't seem to mind being in his backpack carrier, and he did a walk later in the day where we let him walk the whole way and he did quite well.
So Sunday we met some friends and went to the living green expo at the state fair grounds. We walked around and looked at a bunch of stuff. I am not saying we will ever be totally green as a family since we own a big SUV for hauling the dog and kid around at the same time, hauling our pontoon, and doing work around the house. After finishing two basements, I don't think I could have done that with a second small car. Anyway I have been talking about setting up geothermal heating/cooling in our house, and will probably have someone out to do an estimate soon. I would like it if we could reduce our depenance on fossil fuels some, and this is one way we could start. I am hoping that we could start with this and in a few years (or more) put in solar panels. I know a wind turbine would probably work better, but I don't think the Association would agree with us putting up a 50-100 foot tower and hooking up a turbine.
Keegan had a good time going to the expo, we hooked him up to his monkey backpack/harness, and he walked really well to the expo with that on. We also brought the stroller because we knew he wouldn't last the whole time. He ran around a bunch, and was really tired by the time we left an hour later or so. One funny point was that someone asked if they could take his picture with the monkey harness on because they thought it was really cute. After that we did lunch and took Keegan home for a nap, then it was up and doing a walk, and taking the boat out for a spin. Keegan didn't like having his life jacket on, so we had a short spin in the boat because he kept crying and trying to get the vest off. We then went and played with his water and sand table. He kept throwing the sand out, but he had some fun with it I think. After that we did dinner and let him run around like a crazy boy the rest of the night before a bath. When he finally went down, he was so tired he didn't really make a peep.
It was a really busy weekend! I have a feeling that next weekend will probably be very busy as well. Karissa and I were talking about going to the zoo with the friends we met on Sunday. Then of course it is mothers day on Sunday next weekend, so it will be busy! We will have to get the pictures up from the camping trip, we got a few good ones I think.
At one point we found some worms that we tried to get Keegan to play with, but he was not really interested in the worms because there were puddles around that would probably go up to his waist. Anyway we let him play in some of them, and after a little while he was wet up to his knees, and having a grand time just smiling and laughing while splashing around. At this point we decided that he should probably use his rain boots, so we switch his socks and put on his rain boots, which are still way to large for him. Well lets just say it didn't really do much good since Keegan still can't walk really well in those boots. So he kept falling over here and there and getting more of himself wet. At this point a fire was started, and we tried to get him to stay around that. All in all he was having a great time out in the mud, puddles, and cold.
Keegan has learned that he can climb on almost anything as well. He was having a great time climbing from our bed over the back of the table bench and playing there. He was actually being really good in the RV, and we were able to get him to sit down and play at the table with us. Grandma, Karissa and I were rolling a ball over to him, and he was just throwing it back for us to roll back over to him. We were showing him how to roll the ball, and though he did it a couple times, he didn't seem to see why he should roll a ball when he can throw it much better. Either way it was nice to see that he could sit down and play for more than a minute at a time.
Other than that we came back on Saturday night because Friday night didn't work out great for us when it came to sleeping since it rained all night, and it was very windy. Saturday it was really windy all day, and it wasn't fun to hike in really windy conditions with half of the trails either so muddy you would slip or so filled with water there was no way to get across without getting your feet wet. Such is the way of things. Keegan didn't seem to mind being in his backpack carrier, and he did a walk later in the day where we let him walk the whole way and he did quite well.
So Sunday we met some friends and went to the living green expo at the state fair grounds. We walked around and looked at a bunch of stuff. I am not saying we will ever be totally green as a family since we own a big SUV for hauling the dog and kid around at the same time, hauling our pontoon, and doing work around the house. After finishing two basements, I don't think I could have done that with a second small car. Anyway I have been talking about setting up geothermal heating/cooling in our house, and will probably have someone out to do an estimate soon. I would like it if we could reduce our depenance on fossil fuels some, and this is one way we could start. I am hoping that we could start with this and in a few years (or more) put in solar panels. I know a wind turbine would probably work better, but I don't think the Association would agree with us putting up a 50-100 foot tower and hooking up a turbine.
Keegan had a good time going to the expo, we hooked him up to his monkey backpack/harness, and he walked really well to the expo with that on. We also brought the stroller because we knew he wouldn't last the whole time. He ran around a bunch, and was really tired by the time we left an hour later or so. One funny point was that someone asked if they could take his picture with the monkey harness on because they thought it was really cute. After that we did lunch and took Keegan home for a nap, then it was up and doing a walk, and taking the boat out for a spin. Keegan didn't like having his life jacket on, so we had a short spin in the boat because he kept crying and trying to get the vest off. We then went and played with his water and sand table. He kept throwing the sand out, but he had some fun with it I think. After that we did dinner and let him run around like a crazy boy the rest of the night before a bath. When he finally went down, he was so tired he didn't really make a peep.
It was a really busy weekend! I have a feeling that next weekend will probably be very busy as well. Karissa and I were talking about going to the zoo with the friends we met on Sunday. Then of course it is mothers day on Sunday next weekend, so it will be busy! We will have to get the pictures up from the camping trip, we got a few good ones I think.
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