Jenny, revisited

Jenny the dog seems to be in a new stage of blatant disinterest in the boy.  I think it might have started the day I accidentally told Attison we were "going for a car ride" which is a phrase Jenny takes to mean she is - well, going on a car ride.  After being terribly disappointed that we walked out without her (she refused the treat I offered her in exchange), she looked out the window and was led to believe that we were taking the falcon on a car ride too.  Yep, there was a falcon on our porch.  (Or a hawk/falcon/owl, I don't know what the heck it was, but now that it is gone I don't care.)  My main concern was not to let the bird thing eat the baby thing and hope Jenny doesn't actually come crashing through the window, snag the bird and eat it in my car while I drive her around.

Tim keeps trying to get Jenny interested in the baby again.  There was awhile when Attison would cry and she would run frantically around trying to get everyone's attention in order to calm him.  Now when he cries, she looks up from her place of rest as if to say "um, hello? The noise? Make it stop now."

She also has lost interest in his smells.  For awhile I could count on Jenny to help me determine if the cloth diapers were actually wet or not, based on her level of interest.  Now she will walk past a wet diaper and if caught sniffing it she quickly turns away and says "What?  I don't even care about that, I can smell my own poop any time I want."

Next week we will be traveling for Christmas and I can only hope that the car ride and subsequent adventures in woods and back yards of relatives will remind her that we love her dearly, even though she has moved to #2 in our hearts.  (#1dog though! #1 dog!!)

Attison's first Blower Door Test.

The first time I read an article in a magazine about the up-and-coming field of energy audits, I was working for Glenn, and was a few months into my home inspection apprenticeship.

I remember thinking, "This is all the stuff that Glenn talks about that I can't find in traditional textbooks!"

And so began a slow and steady descent into the murky, uncharted waters of the home energy evaluation fields. I say uncharted because energy audits didn't exist 50 years ago, or 30 years ago. Or depending where in the world you found yourself, maybe as recently as 10 - 20 years ago.

And the last 5 - 10 years have seen this field ballooning. Blower door tests. Thermal Imaging. Infrared cameras. Weatherization. Air Sealing. PassivHaus. RESNet. BPI. They're still writing the book(s).

So, as I have watched this field unfold and spill over into my areas of interest (home inspections, remodeling, fancy tools, etc), I have begun to chart my own path to participation. It may not be long in the future that I decide to add Home Energy Audits to the repertoire of our inspection company. (It would be very similar to some of the consulting we now do, but with fancier tools, and more quantitative suggestions.)

I don't know when I heard about the Building Performance Institute (BPI), but around 2 years ago I decided that they are the real deal when it comes to credentialing. This was a conclusion I reached mostly by interacting with people who were BPI certified, and by obtaining a copy of the text used in their courses (Residential Energy by John Krigger and Chris Dorsi). A book that quickly earned a permanent spot on the night stand.

So maybe someday we won't remember a time when houses were drafty and uncomfortable and expensive to heat and cool, and sometimes even prone to making us ill.
Well, maybe Attison won't remember those things because before he even knew it, he was at an energy audit.

This picture was taken Saturday evening. I was fortunate to get to drop in on an energy audit for a woman I met through mutual friends in the neighborhood. The woman performing the audit was coincidentally a past client of Glenn's, and has been encouraging to me over the course of several interactions in the past few years.
The house being audited was a property I had inspected 2 years ago when a local developer snatched it off the auction block. The renovations to said property, for said friend, were performed by a guy named Mike. I met Mike in college, when he was doing campus ministry. He got me connected to several local contractors and to Habitat for Humanity. In the summer of 2005, I helped him frame the house he and his family now live in. He taught me a lot about being funny.

We told Attison to monitor the pressure reading, while we walked around looking for air leaks, and scanning the walls with an infrared camera.

"OK, Dad."

So it looks like the second week of 2013 I will drop the dime and sit for the 6 day BPI certification class. I am excited, but I know the class will demand more of my time and attention than I have had to give to anything recently, since Attison was born. A flexible work schedule is the biggest blessing I've known. That, and the great gift of being able to do work that I enjoy. I hope Attison finds the same.

Mr. baby smiles :)

It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

It is 3:30am.  I'm feeding the boy.  He woke up around 3, ate and "fell asleep at the wheel" so I put him back to bed.   He then grunted, groaned, cooed, spit up and basically made funny sounds until about 5 minutes ago when he turned his noises into little cries.  I guess he couldn't sleep, so now he has decided he is hungry again.
He isn't actually eating though.  He is now making slurping and other weird noises, wiggling out of his swaddle and being generally cute.  All are endearing baby traits, except it is 3:35 am, not the time for the cuteness.
This is only the 2nd time awake tonight, so we are making progress.  We brought Attison home from a friend's, we had a little dinner party tonight.   Kara, Dan, Tim, Attison and I went to dinner at Zach, Melissa and Brynn's house.  Brynn was born November 12 so she and Attison got to stay up late tonight and have a squock off. (Is squock a word? Autocorrect says no, but who can spell at this hour?)
So anyway, he fell asleep in his car seat around 9:00 and I let him sleep in it until midnight when woke up in a panic from a dream where he wiggled himself out of his car seat in a shopping mall.  So he ate at midnight.  If I'm lucky he will sleep until 7:30, but that is optimistic. 
He us back in bed and grunting again.  I am getting used to being up multiple times per night, but always prefer the cry, eat, back to sleep in 15 minutes feedings, not these hour long squock fests.  Especially now that I am awake enough to seek an alternate task (like writing a blog post) rather than close my eyes and wish for a fast flowing tranquilizer-like milk.
And now he is asleep.  Tim, Attison and Jenny are all breathing softly and rhythmically, the perfect time for me to pray thankfully for each of them and drift happily back to sleep. Goodnight sweet blogosphere.  Thanks for tuning in, go have a margarita, or some warm milk.

Eyes Part 2!

I'm looking at stuff!

A bottle!

Yesterday, thanks to a lovely bout of food poisoning, Attison and Tim made some progress in their father son relationship.  Tim fed Attison his first (and second) bottle!  

My eyes!

This might just look like a baby in a swing, but you might notice how he is looking at me, taking a picture. Moments before he was laughing at those absurd rhinoceroses giving piggy back rides.  Attison is looking at more than lights these days!
I did get some photos of him looking at the rhinos, but they are on the camera.  Stay tuned for more!