I hate bugs. Well, I should say that I hate bugs in my house. I have no problem with bugs outside the house. Unless it is a mosquito, I don't care where those little blood sucking creatures are, they all deserve to die. What really drives me nuts are baby spiders. (Yes, I do know that a spider is an arachnid and not an insect. But to me they go in the same category of creepy crawly's, aka, bugs.) Inevitably we put the air conditioners in and the spiders flock to the inside of my house. I go to great lengths to block off any possible point of entry, but they still find a way in. Then of course it has to be a mama spider. I think I could deal with the baby spiders if they came all at once. But they seem to come in waves. To top it off, they love me. They keep landing on me, which generally results in a lot of shrieking on my part. Rob has the audacity to just laugh at me. He blames me for the large influx of spiders. He seems to think that the house was spider free before I moved in. I just think he wasn't paying attention.
To make things more interesting, small sugar ants have started a conga line in front of the front door. I have no idea why they are congregating there, but they seem to think it's a great spot. I have found that the easiest way to dispose of all bugs inside the house is by sucking them up with the vacuum. Pookie likes to make sure to point out any bug inside the house. He will even open the closet door up and pull out the vacuum. Pookie has an interesting love affair with the vacuum. He knows how to turn it on and off, and he's not too bad at pushing it around. He hasn't yet figured out how to plug it in, but I'm sure that's coming soon. I have tried several non-toxic methods of getting rid of the ants. Too bad none of them worked. I finally pulled out my trusty can of Raid and attacked the front door with it. That seems to have done the trick.
This past Friday, we had the perfect day weather wise. It was low humidity and in the 70's. I don't think it could get any better than that. I decided to open up all the windows and let in the fresh air. I think the windows are original to the house. The house was built in the 50's. The windows leave quite a lot to be desired. Some are easier to open than others, but they all tend to stick. This generally results in a lot of banging to get the window to un-stick. On the front of the house we have a very lovely brick chimney and a small window on either side. Well, on the right side in-between the chimney and the window, there is a very lovely wasps nest. They seem to be quite happy there and the wasps haven't bothered anyone yet. (aka, Rob hasn't gotten around to spraying the nest and killing them all yet.) So I'm inside banging on the window, trying to get it to un-stick and all of a sudden, out side the window, I see a swarm of pissed off wasps. Oops. They were not happy campers. All I could think of was that our newspaper hadn't been delivered yet and I really hoped that our delivery lady didn't get stung. Luckily, the wasps calmed down very quickly and our newspaper was safely delivered.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Drains, part 2
Bath time has gotten a little bit easier around here. Pookie still has an intense dislike of drains. I think that is something that will take a while to completely dissipate. Things finally came to a screeching halt a couple of weeks ago during one of Pookie's tubbies. It resulted in me stripping down to my skivvies and getting into the tub with Pookie. I have come to the realization that as long as my feet are in the tub, Pookie does okay with his baths.
Pookie has taken to hording all of his bath toys and attempt to sit on them. That way the toys won't float away and accidentally get too close to the drain end of the tub. Let me tell you, that process is rather entertaining to watch. Nothing like trying to sink float-able objects. Also, all of the bath toys have to be out of the tub before Pookie will get out, and then I need to be the last one out of the tub. Pookie will still get a little freaked out when I take him out of the tub and start to dry him off. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I am still standing in the tub while I'm drying him off. Our bathroom isn't that big and there isn't a lot of room to maneuver. Then once he is all dried off and into a set of PJ's, we watch the water go down the drain.
Another thing that has helped is reading books about bath time. Pookie has really fallen in love with a book called Bernard's Bath. It's about this little elephant that doesn't want to take a bath and his parents and grandma convince him that baths are fun. Pookie also really likes Curious George: Plumber's Helper. George takes a bath and his toys accidentally go down the drain and cause a clog. The plumber needs to be called to fix the problem. I think the Curious George book is great because it shows how pipes work and if something were to go down the drain, it could be retrieved.
In addition to our bath time rituals, we have taken to checking out other drains. Mainly the sewer drains in the street. Pookie likes to check to see if there is water at the bottom of the drain. He also likes to reaffirm the fact that he is indeed too big to fit through the grate and will not get sucked down the drain. After dinner, as long as it's not raining, we set out for a walk around the neighborhood. As we go along Pookie will pick up rocks and sticks, although, he is limited to one of each. Sometimes when we go for a walk, Pookie will want to bring along his egg. This drives me nuts because I have visions of him dropping it down one of the drains and not being able to get it out. Generally I try to dissuade him from bringing anything along for a walk.
I love to hear him chatter as we go along. There is a section where there are a lot of trees and Pookie will call it the spooky forest. I tell him that we have to be quiet and tiptoe through the "forest." Pookie, of course, thinks this is great fun. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts. Really, who cares what the neighbors think, Pookie is having a grand time and that's all that counts!
Pookie has taken to hording all of his bath toys and attempt to sit on them. That way the toys won't float away and accidentally get too close to the drain end of the tub. Let me tell you, that process is rather entertaining to watch. Nothing like trying to sink float-able objects. Also, all of the bath toys have to be out of the tub before Pookie will get out, and then I need to be the last one out of the tub. Pookie will still get a little freaked out when I take him out of the tub and start to dry him off. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I am still standing in the tub while I'm drying him off. Our bathroom isn't that big and there isn't a lot of room to maneuver. Then once he is all dried off and into a set of PJ's, we watch the water go down the drain.
Another thing that has helped is reading books about bath time. Pookie has really fallen in love with a book called Bernard's Bath. It's about this little elephant that doesn't want to take a bath and his parents and grandma convince him that baths are fun. Pookie also really likes Curious George: Plumber's Helper. George takes a bath and his toys accidentally go down the drain and cause a clog. The plumber needs to be called to fix the problem. I think the Curious George book is great because it shows how pipes work and if something were to go down the drain, it could be retrieved.
In addition to our bath time rituals, we have taken to checking out other drains. Mainly the sewer drains in the street. Pookie likes to check to see if there is water at the bottom of the drain. He also likes to reaffirm the fact that he is indeed too big to fit through the grate and will not get sucked down the drain. After dinner, as long as it's not raining, we set out for a walk around the neighborhood. As we go along Pookie will pick up rocks and sticks, although, he is limited to one of each. Sometimes when we go for a walk, Pookie will want to bring along his egg. This drives me nuts because I have visions of him dropping it down one of the drains and not being able to get it out. Generally I try to dissuade him from bringing anything along for a walk.
I love to hear him chatter as we go along. There is a section where there are a lot of trees and Pookie will call it the spooky forest. I tell him that we have to be quiet and tiptoe through the "forest." Pookie, of course, thinks this is great fun. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts. Really, who cares what the neighbors think, Pookie is having a grand time and that's all that counts!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Good job car!
Pookie has been very interested in choosing paths. For example, we go for a walk after dinner to take a look at the sewer drains. (That is a whole other story.) As we walk along, we come to crossroads and we decide which way to go. This path versus that path. We make our choice and continue on our walk.
Earlier today, we were driving along, and Pookie was jabbering on about the paths the car was taking. I talked to him about right turns and left turns. Then proceeded to tell him when we were making a left or right hand turn. Pookie had a lot of fun announcing the direction that we were turning in. Apparently he felt that the car needed a little bit of praise and out of the back seat I heard "Good job car!" Good job, indeed.
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