Kitchen Haircut

We haven't used Roomba in the kitchen much because our kitchen has several fringed rugs for Roomba to choke on. But then we realized we didn't buy those rugs (they came with the house) and we don't care what they look like. So today, I gave the kitchen carpets a "haircut" and then let Roomba loose. I don't think our kitchen has been this clean since Karston started to try to feed himself, and drop food everywhere!


Plus Roomba is an excellent babysitter. Karston loves to watch Roomba; he always has. Roomba was an excellent baby purchase for us! Daddy got the gift of time since he doesn't have to vacuum as often when Roomba does the basic pickup, Baby loves to watch Roomba, and I love multi-purpose appliances. Our cat Linus is also a good babysitter because Karston and Linus love each other. In the current game, Karston screams and chases, and Linus stays just ahead of him. The adults know exactly where both child and cat are, and can do upright two-handed activities. If Karston gets distracted from this game or if he's sad in general, Linus cries for us to take care of Karston.


Speaking of what Karston likes, he likes the hearth broom from our fireplace tools that is his size. The regular broom frustrates him because he can't carry it easily because it's so long for him, but. And he also likes watching Roomba. Maybe this is a good trend for his future cleanliness? OK folks, don't laugh yourselves silly.


Today I learned that Karston knows more Sherry Bobbins than Mary Poppins. After I cut fringes from carpets, I swept up the fringes with a brush and dustpan. Karston was fascinated with the brush since it's like a small broom, and he likes those. However, he kept sweeping the fringes under the carpet. He did carry some fringes to the trash can cabinet, but he wanted to sweep fringes under the carpet. And that's more Sherry Bobbins than Mary Poppins for cleaning!

Toddler

Growth Charts

Ah ... I should have been looking at these growth charts (also here) last year! Karston isn't falling below the ranges, although he was still on the low side, when I plot his first year data on these charts. So he was a normal breastfed baby, hardly surprising.

Baby

Father's Little Helper

Karston has been Daddy's boy lately. He wants Daddy to carry him everywhere and to play with him. This evening he helped Daddy do laundry. When he saw Daddy put clothes from the closet floor into the laundry basket, he walked over several times, grabbed clothes, and walked back to put them in the basket. (Taller folks, like Daddy, just had to lean, not walk, for this operation.) When all of the clothes were in the basket, Karston started pushing it. Keep in mind, the laundry basket was quite full, and Karston hasn't hit 20 pounds yet! He was at a 45-degree angle to the floor, pushing with all his might, and his feet slipped frequently. (Daddy helped by pulling the basket discretely.) Karston was just determined to help, and he put everything into it. Such a sweet boy!

Toddler

Lunch

Karston has decided that baby food is a lot less interesting than whatever we're eating. So far, he'll eat anything that we eat: nothing is too spicy for him! Today I think he really proved that his taste in food is not that discriminating. Daddy said all he would eat for lunch today is fried okra and raisins. Yeah sure, those go together! He'll eat raisins with anything, just about any time of day. Sometimes he doesn't eat the skins, and he'll spit the raisin skeletons out on you a while later. (He also really goes through yogurt when it comes from my bowl or my mother's.) He wouldn't eat pizza for lunch today though, but he eagerly helped me eat pizza for lunch on Wednesday. I'm still trying to get over fried okra and raisins for lunch ... bleah! (I don't like okra.)

Toddler