A Window Looking into Another World
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey...
As I mentioned earlier, I got sick last week. We thought it was food poisoning, but it wasn't. This horrible bug sets both ends on fire, exploding towards dehydration at an alarming speed. Then you remain wiped out and horribly dehydrated for much too long. It is like playing chicken with your stomach, trying to figure out when it is safe to drink again.
Katy (a roommate) got the same thing two days later. Then Tim got it. Then panic set in. What if Attison gets it? What about the other two roommates? I feel bad that the last two roommates not only had to watch us be sick, but that they are still being psychologically tortured, wondering if they will get it.
But this post isn't about sick, it is about milk. After I got sick, my milk started coming in less. I've been pumping so that someday, when I'm mentally prepared, I can leave Attison for more than an hour. After getting sick I was only able to pump 1 oz a day. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was though because it took 4 days until I was getting 3-4 oz again. Now our freezer is filling up, fast.
I seem to have a pretty healthy milk supply, so I've been thinking about donating to a milk bank. Unfortunately, not all women are able to produce enough milk for their babies. To some extent, you can do things like eat healthy and drink lots of water to increase your supply, but it isn't a one-size-meets-all solution. (We're not talking wet nurse here, I'll be shipping off bags of pumped milk)
A friend of ours pumps an extra 6 oz a day (which is a lot for those who don't know!) and donates to twins whose mother can't produce enough for her babies. She does it though a national bank that connects donors to local recipients via facebook.
Why all this fuss about breast milk you might ask? Why not just use formula? Well, breast milk is better for everybody. It is healthier for babies because it combines not only nutrients but antibodies from mom to protect from disease. Babies also benefit from skin-to-skin contact (also called Kangaroo care) that comes naturally with breastfeeding. They have even started putting on formula containers "G***** recommends breastmilk as the best start for babies." I feel kind of conflicted about that though, because although it is true and many people don't realize or care, there are plenty of mothers who know and understand, but just aren't able to breastfeed.
Well enough of that... If you are interested, here are a few links about the benefits of breastfeeding and Kangaroo care, plus the website about breastmilk donation.
This is Attison, the breast pump base (with the scary attachments removed so you don't have to make the mental picture of how it works) and a puddle of "mom didn't change my diaper first thing this morning so I peed in her bed."
Katy (a roommate) got the same thing two days later. Then Tim got it. Then panic set in. What if Attison gets it? What about the other two roommates? I feel bad that the last two roommates not only had to watch us be sick, but that they are still being psychologically tortured, wondering if they will get it.
I seem to have a pretty healthy milk supply, so I've been thinking about donating to a milk bank. Unfortunately, not all women are able to produce enough milk for their babies. To some extent, you can do things like eat healthy and drink lots of water to increase your supply, but it isn't a one-size-meets-all solution. (We're not talking wet nurse here, I'll be shipping off bags of pumped milk)
A friend of ours pumps an extra 6 oz a day (which is a lot for those who don't know!) and donates to twins whose mother can't produce enough for her babies. She does it though a national bank that connects donors to local recipients via facebook.
Well enough of that... If you are interested, here are a few links about the benefits of breastfeeding and Kangaroo care, plus the website about breastmilk donation.
http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/why-breastfeeding-is-important/
http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/
http://www.eatsonfeets.org/#about
http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/
http://www.eatsonfeets.org/#about
And as a final thought - although the milk flows around here, the honey doesn't. It's too cold and it crystallizes. The honey probably needs a blanket.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Theres too many blankets!!
In college, Tim lived in a big house on Andover Terrace with a bunch of crazies friends. We loved that so much that instead of buying a regular, old, single family house, we bought a big, old, single family house and have shared it with friends (and a few strangers) over these few years.
Please excuse the informality, I'm about to sum up 8 years and our chosen lifestyle and living arrangement in two paragraphs:
Some of our friends played instruments and started a band named it after the street - Andover Terrace. They had house parties and that the band played, which caused the setting you see below - the furniture was all removed from one of the living rooms so the band could have plenty of room to rock. There were blankets - many, many blankets, because it was pretty much always cold (no one wanted to/could afford to pay a high gas bill). Then there was this song:
A few things made it from Andover Terrace to S Saint Clair. Obviously, our sentiment for living in community with friends. Most of the furniture you see - the picture behind Patrick, the book cases, the foot rest. That blanket Miranda dances with, it's around here somewhere. The heat, well, we also keep it to a range of 64-67 degrees F. We also have too many blankets.
So our darling little infant child wears at least two layers all the time, not to mention his giant bowling ball of a diaper. He also gets covered in blankets when he sleeps alone, but usually feels the heat radiating off of one of the 5 people who take turns holding him. He, like us, is pretty comfortable with this temperature, as he has spent all but 9 of his days here in this house.
When we visit other people's houses, they usually keep their heat a bit higher, like at 70 or 72. So he probably doesn't need any blankets in those places. If he is napping, alone, on an inanimate object, sure, blanket him up. If his little fingers are cold, blanket him. If you are going to leave the front door open because you may or may not have been raised in a barn, blanket!! But other than that, discretion is advised. I can't tell you how many times I've agreed to let someone hold this boy and before they even touch him they say "do you have a blanket?"
Well, yes I have a blanket, what'sit to ya?
This little baby says "give me a friggin blanket!"
This little baby says "nah, I'm fine."
And this little baby says "ZzzzZzzzZzzzzzzzz...that feels just right."
Please excuse the informality, I'm about to sum up 8 years and our chosen lifestyle and living arrangement in two paragraphs:
Some of our friends played instruments and started a band named it after the street - Andover Terrace. They had house parties and that the band played, which caused the setting you see below - the furniture was all removed from one of the living rooms so the band could have plenty of room to rock. There were blankets - many, many blankets, because it was pretty much always cold (no one wanted to/could afford to pay a high gas bill). Then there was this song:
A few things made it from Andover Terrace to S Saint Clair. Obviously, our sentiment for living in community with friends. Most of the furniture you see - the picture behind Patrick, the book cases, the foot rest. That blanket Miranda dances with, it's around here somewhere. The heat, well, we also keep it to a range of 64-67 degrees F. We also have too many blankets.
So our darling little infant child wears at least two layers all the time, not to mention his giant bowling ball of a diaper. He also gets covered in blankets when he sleeps alone, but usually feels the heat radiating off of one of the 5 people who take turns holding him. He, like us, is pretty comfortable with this temperature, as he has spent all but 9 of his days here in this house.
When we visit other people's houses, they usually keep their heat a bit higher, like at 70 or 72. So he probably doesn't need any blankets in those places. If he is napping, alone, on an inanimate object, sure, blanket him up. If his little fingers are cold, blanket him. If you are going to leave the front door open because you may or may not have been raised in a barn, blanket!! But other than that, discretion is advised. I can't tell you how many times I've agreed to let someone hold this boy and before they even touch him they say "do you have a blanket?"
Well, yes I have a blanket, what'sit to ya?
This little baby says "give me a friggin blanket!"
This little baby says "nah, I'm fine."
And this little baby says "ZzzzZzzzZzzzzzzzz...that feels just right."
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Mobile Mobile part 2!
Monday, December 17, 2012
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!!)
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."
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!!)
Sunday, December 16, 2012
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.
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.
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