Mum Mum

We've been trying to get Mason to eat a variety of foods.  A lot of times after he takes one bite, he shuts his mouth and refuses to eat more.  So we're trying a different approach.

First is the Baby Mum Mums.  These are rice crackers that are made for babies.  It dissolves quickly so that he doesn't have to spend much time chewing.



Next, we had Wendy hold him while he tried boiled carrots and tofu.

May Day is Lei Day

Mason likes peas but does not like carrots.

A week before our little open house, I convinced Wendy to let me change the horrible wood-finished 5 globe bath bar vanity lights in our bathrooms.  I figured it would be a one day job; remove the old lights, paint the bare spots, install the new ones.  We went to Home Depot and picked out a pair of vanity lights we both liked.  (Actually, the ones Wendy really wanted I had to veto.  Although they looked great, they used weird sized halogen bulbs that didn't come in an energy efficient version.)

We got home and I immediately removed the bath bar lights.

Great.  Of course nothing in this house goes as planned.  Since the bath bar does not mount to a box but to the wall, the builders decided to just forgo installing a box.  They ran the cables down the WRONG side of the stud, poked it through the drywall, then notched out the drywall to make a channel to run the cable to the right location.  That staple you see in the picture?  It totally missed the stud and was holding on to nothing.  It fell out as soon as I moved the cable.  The other, adjacent bathroom was exactly the same situation.

Here's what I had to do to:
1.  Cut out an 8X20 inch horizontal section of drywall in both bathrooms.
2.  Drill a 3/4 inch hold through the middle of the stud.
3.  Run both bathrooms' cables through the hole to get it on the correct side of the stud.
4.  Install electrical boxes in both bathrooms.
5.  Cut green board patches to the right side.
6.  Have Wendy help me mark the outlines of the boxes on the green board.
7.  Cut out holes for the boxes.
8.  Screwed the patches to the studs.
9.  Taped with fiberglass tape.
10.  Two coats of 90 minute joint compound.
11.  Light sanding.
12.  Sprayed on texture.
13.  Primed then painted.
14.  Installed new fixtures.

This was done during the week between 4 and 6 PM daily.

Finished all the work by Saturday the 19th.  The open house was the 20th.  About 12 people showed up.  We had way too much food, which was unfortunate for us, but good for my students because they got lots of goodies.

Speaking of students, one student gave me a yarn lei.  I remembered that I did not get the directions for Wendy's mom, so I asked the girl to teach me.  Here's a video how-to.  It was done on our field trip, so it's noisy and there's lots of wind, but I think you can make out the directions.



Speaking of videos, here's Mason!


Carrots suck!


We don't let Mason drink sugary drinks.  We give him aspartame instead.



Mason kept taking the camera.


Mason learning to use a cellphone.


Mason feeds himself... sort of.

Celebrity Lookalikes

BTW, we got our $50 back from Home Depot and we spent it on a laser level.  Wendy used it to put up some vinyl stickers and a name sign in Mason's room.

While we were watching a movie last night, Wendy spotted Mason's celebrity lookalike.

Here's Mason:

Here's the celebrity:

You decide.

April Updates

Well, we got our electric bill for March.  In November, we paid $240.  December, we weren't here for half the month.  Both January and February cost us $187.  So what was March?  $127.  The new water heater cut $60 off our bill.  At that rate, it will pay for itself in about 2 years.

When we got our tax returns, we planned on getting the Elspeth Suite carpeted.  We went to Home Depot, and after what seemed like hours, we decided on a carpet.  We paid a $50 deposit, and were told we would be contacted the following Monday by a flooring guy to measure our room.  Monday came and went.  Wendy had to call HD on Wednesday for them to arrange for someone to come out on Thursday.  Then about 2 weeks after we had picked out our carpet, HD called to let us know they lost the order.  Wendy, though furious, went back in to try and fix their mistake.  Wouldn't you know it?  They discontinued the carpet we wanted, and they dumped all the samples so we couldn't find the one we chose.  So we went to a local company instead.

We went to a place called Harvey's Flooring.  It's a local business that's been around for over 35 years.  We chose a really nice carpet and a couple of days later the boss came to measure the room.  A few weeks after that, and voila, carpet installed.

 

Anyway, Mason is now eating baby cereal.  He can't crawl yet, but he's getting there.  Here's some videos:

Mason Videos

Laundry Room Done!

After installing the new water heater, the plan was to redo most of the laundry room.  We figured since the laundry room would serve as the main bathroom for the Elspeth Suite, we wanted it to look good.  Luckily I started on the reno before Spring Break since, like every other project on this house, there were some surprises I had to deal with.

Here's what the laundry room looked like when we moved in:





Some paint, a new laundry tub, a new toilet, a cabinet and laminate counter top, and some new vinyl tiles.









We got the cabinet at Home Depot for 20% off.  When we bought the toilet, there was a sign saying it was on sale for $198.  They charged us the regular price of $258.  I went back the next day to get it corrected and they said that that particular toilet was not the one on sale.  After I complained, they gave me the sale price.  So our new toilet was $60 off.

While I was at it, I finally changed the laminate wood paneling off the kitchen peninsula.  I had to remove the paneling to get at some wiring.  I suspected that the builders left holes in the wall where they had run cables to the range and peninsula, and that was the entry point for the centipedes and roaches we kept getting.  Sure enough, there were 3 cables and 3 holes.  I patched them up and replaced the old panel...



with beadboard like Wendy wanted.



In other news, here's one of Mason's onesies:



Cowboys don't need no spellin.

And Mason likes to talk:

Weird Noisy Things

Remember the weird thing in this picture?


We bought one of the water heaters next to it after we got an electric bill for $240.  Since we're using more electricity at home due to Mason, we figure it would save us money in the long run.  It works like a fridge in reverse.  Instead of cooling the insides, it heats it.  It uses 65% less electricity than a regular electric heater.  While it is running, it sounds like a loud microwave since it has fans to move air through the heat pump.  (The pipes go straight up to clear the air filter access.)


The heater cost $1500, but we should be able to get a $300 rebate from the power company.  Luckily I had a bunch of savings bonds from the 90s.  We cashed those in and bought the heater.  The leftovers are going to other improvements around the house.


Like these $20 light fixtures Wendy got me to replace the totally 80s brass fixtures that were in our hallway.



We also got a new TV stand.  We wanted one with doors that we can put a child-lock on to keep Mason from breaking stuff.  The LED TV is now mounted to the wall on a full motion mount.


Jess and Aaron also spent several nights in the Elspeth Suite.  Looked like they really enjoyed their visit to Kauai.  They both claimed that the Elspeth Suite was really comfortable, and they left us a Home Depot gift card.  Guess they were hinting that I need to fix it up?  Heh.  Just kidding.  I was working on the laundry room while they were here, so they knew what I wanted.

We'll be using some tax return money to finish up the Suite before our next guests arrive in October.  I need to patch up a little bit of drywall, paint, then carpet the floor.


Mason had a doctor's appointment.  He's still above average in length and weight.  He's 26 inches long (75-90 percentile) and 15 lbs 8.9 oz. (50-75 percentile).  He might have a future in Sumo.  He's been rolling on his side from his back a lot, but hasn't quite made it all the way over.  I think his big, heavy head acts like an anchor.  He's become way more vocal too.  He baby-talks sentences... even while mommy and daddy are talking.

2012 A Mason Odyssey

Mason rolls over from his tummy to his back for the first time ever!  (I credit his really big head.  Lots of leverage.  Like a potato on a toothpick.)

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

Saint Nick


So a quick update while Wendy is giving Mason a bath.

Home Depot finally restocked the GU10 LED bulbs; a week after I bought a more expensive brand from Lowes.

Mason seems to be doing well at the daycare.  Wendy is back at work.

We're seriously entertaining the idea of getting the GE Geospring Hybrid Water Heater.  Our last full month's electric bill was over $240.

Jess is coming back to Kauai for a visit.  She'll be our first real house guest.  Elspeth doesn't count because she was an indentured servant.

And now some pics and videos:

Before:


After:


That's going from 250 watts to 27.5.

Here's the one day of snow while we were in Indiana:


Ada hiding from the camera:


Ada and Gideon on Quaaludes:


Gideon, Lord of the Prance:




Grandma playing with Mason:


Nick making Mason cry:

Candid Camera

If you want to see this video in a higher resolution or HD, go here:
Mason video 1

(The best part comes at 0:50)

Rotten to the Core and the Endless Pit

Finally changed the entry door to the laundry room.  Fourth door change on this house.

When we bought this house, we knew that the door jamb for the laundry room was rotting and would need replacing.  I wasn't excited about doing the job, especially since any prehung door would suffer the same fate.  However, since we had the roof redone, and we let the roofers use that door to access a bathroom, the rate of decay significantly increased.  It got to the point where enough of the jamb disintegrated to reveal the jackstuds of the door frame.  I didn't want the actual framing stuff to be exposed to the elements, so it was time to get a move on.





Oh yeah, the door was ugly too.



Compounding the problem was the original door was a custom height.  Standard doors are 80 inches tall.  Our door was 75.  That's another reason not to go with a prehung door.

A scouting mission to Home Depot proved fruitful as I located a custom jamb kit made out of pvc instead of wood.  It has a no-rot guarantee.  We also found a solid wood ventlite door slab.  This would let us keep a window open without the neighbors being able to see us pee.

So between Mason's meals, I got to work.  Removing the old stuff was easy.  Putting in the new stuff was a little more work, mostly because I had to trim stuff.  While they were both considered 36 inch doors, the old one measured 35.5.  Got the door hung before the sun went down (had to wait a few hours for Mason to sleep before Wendy could help me carry the new door.)

The next day was spent finishing the trim.  This took longer than expected since it was raining in the morning.  I couldn't caulk and paint until the exterior was dry.





What about Mason?  He wasn't eating well for a few days, so the doctor had us supplement his diet with some formula.  It wasn't ideal, but we really needed him to get food in his belly.  So Wendy breastfeeds him for a while, then I take over with a bottle.  Now he's gaining weight really fast and eating a ton, but his poop smells bad.  He also farts a lot.

Teenage Preview

Mason is getting over his baby acne.  I warned the poor kid that since mommy and daddy had acne, his teenage years will be full of angst.  However, I told him the upside will be that it will build character.


This was before removing a 3 lbs diaper.


This is after. 


On a different note, since I'm on leave, I had sufficient time to be totally annoyed at our kitchen light fixture.  It was a square fluorescent fixture that looked like a wooden box.  Straight out of the 80s.  Whenever it would get cold or rainy, you would have to flip the switch many, many times to get it to turn on.  This is even with new bulbs.  And Lawai gets rainy and cold a lot.

So when I went into town to get my Hep B shot, I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a track light fixture.  I was telling Wendy that it would be no problem to change, and she said I just jinxed myself.  Sure enough, since the fluorescent fixture had all the connections inside itself, there was no junction box in the ceiling.  I had to install one.  Not a tough job, but messy.

So now we have lights with one flick.

He's Here

Mason Nobuaki
7lbs 12.8 oz, 21.25 inches

When Babies Shower

On Saturday, August 6, Aunty Lucy Kawate and Jackie Jenkins held a baby shower for me and baby Kishida.  About 17 people showed up for the big event.  We had a luxurious brunch catered by Grinds Cafe.  It included fruit plates, a vegetable tray, baskets of yummy pastries, and trays of breakfast sandwiches and wraps.  All of the food was great!  We played a couple very tame games.  The first game was to get to know everyone.  We each got a piece of paper with the alphabet written on it.  Then, we had to go around and meet each person at the shower and write their name next to the letter in the alphabet that their name started with.  If you met someone who's name started with a letter that you already had, then, they had to give you a boys name that started with that letter.  In the end, whoever had the most alphabet letters covered, was the winner.  Edith Sakai came in first place because she was creative enough to use people's first and last names.  The rest of use were just using first names.  The second game involved splitting up into two groups.  Each group had to sing a baby song to the other group.  Which ever group had the best performance was the winner.  My group sang "Rock a Bye Baby."  We lost.  The other group sang "The ABC's."  They added in some swinging side-to-side movements.  Who can compete with choreography?  All in all, it was a great time.  I got lots of useful gifts.  Most of it was baby stuff, but I got a few mommy gifts too:  some chocolates from a couple thoughtful people and a gift certificate for a massage!  I have eaten all of the chocolate already and I didn't share a single piece with Ryan.  Of course, he doesn't like nuts and most of it had nuts in it, so he didn't really try to eat any.  Can't wait to have that massage!

What Ryan Did During the Summer Other Than Fix Things

Yes, that was an elephant's butt in the other video.  That was our rendezvous point. 

Kilroy was a thing soldiers did during WWII.  They would try to be the first to put that graffiti tag where ever the army went.  It was engraved on the monument.

No one sang at JFK's grave since you're supposed to be quiet. 

Thor is out.  Too passe.  Now that the movie came out, everyone will be naming their kid that. We're thinking He-Man now.

What Ryan Did on His Summer Vacation

This was a busy summer for Ryan.  He started it off by travelling to Washington DC with 13 seventh and eighth graders and one other teacher.  Before he left, he was getting frustrated with the paper work and vowed to never do this again.  After the trip, he was talking about doing it every year.  Yes, it was that good!  He said it was much more education-oriented than he thought it would be.  Not your typical sight-seeing tour.  The thing that topped it off for him was that on a trip to Senator Inouye’s office, one of his students wanted to know how she could get a job working there.  That made it all worth it for him.  Of course, the all-you-can-eat bacon in the complimentary breakfast buffet didn’t hurt either.  

Don’t worry.   He did get to see the sights, too.  They went to the Smithsonian, the Holocaust Museum, The Library of Congress,  Union Station, The White House (at least the outside of it), all of the war memorials, The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, The Changing of the Guards, Washington Monument, and several malls.  This was a trip of firsts for a lot of his students.  Some of them had never been to the mainland before.  For most of them, it was the first trip without their parents.  For some it was the first time they got to use an escalator.  Many of them got to ride on a subway for the first time.  They got to meet kids from Texas, Chicago, New York, Ohio, and California.  Ryan learned that kids from New York walk really fast.  Kids from California walk really slowly.  Hawaii kids were in the middle of the pack with the mid-west kids.

Here are a few pictures.  Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t get any pictures with him in them.  You know that he was behind the camera, though, because of the bacon picture above.  Who else would take a picture of a huge pan of bacon?  We are also a little limited in what I can post because I don’t want to post pictures of his students on our blog.  So here are some beautiful and anonymous pictures of what Ryan saw on his trip.

The Smithsonian:

The National Archives:

Capitol Hill:

The White House:

Vietnam War Memorial:

Iwo Jima Memorial (US Marine Corps Memorial):

Arlington Cemetery:

Washington Monument:

A Big Mall:

But the fun did not stop there.  When he got home he delved into a number of home improvement projects.   Get, ready!  It is a long list.  He installed a recessed light in the shower stall of the laundry room shower.  It really lights up the space well. 

He repaired the table leg that was missing when we bought the table second-hand.  It came with the leg, but we needed to reattach it. 

He installed the baseboard trim and door trim in the hallway. 

We painted the baby’s room Celestial Blue. 

He replaced the missing screen clips in the clearstory and put weather stripping around those screens.  No more bugs or geckos can get in through those!  In case they don’t look high in the picture, the ceiling in the clearstory is 16 ft tall.  Ryan doesn’t like climbing the ladder that high, but he was a trooper. 

We potted some flowers in ornamental urns for our front entry way. 

He put weed cloth and mulch around all of the plants in our front flower bed and mowed our expansive lawn about a million times.

He re-potted our ever-growing Rosemary plant. 

He removed a lot of rubbish and took it to the dump.  We had two big rotting greenhouse tables in the corner of our backyard.  He dismantled them and took them to the dump.  In their place, he set up a composting bin system.  It is made up of three trash cans with holes drilled in the sides, and top.  We’re excited to see how it works.  Hopefully the neighbor’s wall won’t destroy it before we get some results.  No “black gold” yet. 

He added more gravel to the walkway of the side of the house.  While Elspeth was here helping us, we got gravel down most of that side of the house, but we ran out of steam and money part of the way down.  Ryan extended our efforts to go all the way down the side of the house and he added more gravel to what we had done to make it thicker.  It might still need a little bit of gravel, but it looks really nice. 

He finally got rid of the rolls of carpet and huge buckets of paint that were left at our house by the previous owner.  We had been talking about donating it to Habitat for Humanity from the day we moved in.  Now, one year later, it is finally gone.  Of course, it wasn't as easy as you might think.  Ryan called Habitat and was told that they would love the carpet and paint.  They would call him the next week when they were in the area.  No phone call.  So Ryan called them again.  They would pick it up that Friday between the hours of 10am and 2pm.  No one came.  Saturday morning at 7:15am, Ryan posted an add on Craig's list for free carpet and paint.  By 9am we had gotten rid of it and had three other callers.  If we had known it would be that easy, we might have started with Craig's list.

His last project of the summer was to replace the garage entry door frame.  We used the old door, but the frame was rotting, so he replaced that part.  It turned out to be much more difficult than expected.  None of the doors in our house were framed straight evidently.  That makes replacing them a big pain!  So far, no more rain has been sneaking in through that door since he fixed it! 

In his spare time, Ryan played his favorite video game, Dark Age of Camelot.  His highest level character is a druid named Eansainne.  His next favorite character is a champ named Hobble.  I’m sure the realm of Hibernia is missing his presence since he has reluctantly started back to school.  He wasn’t ready for the summer to end.  This week was the first week with kids.  So far, they are all on their best behavior.  He said that usually wears off by the second week. 

So, you may be thinking, what has Wendy been doing this summer?  Well, working is the short answer.  Last week was my last week of field work until after my maternity leave.  I will be stuck in the office for the next two months.  And, of course, I have been busy making a baby.  This is hard work in case you don’t already know that.  I am now looking very pregnant, but most people still think I am small for being seven months along.  It’s ok with me.  I can still see my toes.  Technically, I can still reach my toes, but that is very uncomfortable.  

Of course, I can’t forget to introduce the newest members of our family…the house plants!  They were my project this summer.  They add a feel of completion and warmness to the house.  At least, I think so.