Are You Prepared? Keep Your Family Safe!

This past Saturday night at about midnight, the file alarm went off in our apartment building. Being a fairly new building, the alarm system here is top notch. We instantly knew it was a fire alarm, but living in houses our whole life, we both had the feeling that the whole thing was false. Why is this? In an apartment fire, chances are you can't see fire or smoke immediately. This is different from a house fire where you know instantly. So, we did some things wrong! (e.g. no coats or shoes)

On a side note, after the fire department cleared the building, Kacey worked to get Nolan back to sleep. Unfortunately, about 60 seconds after he fell asleep, the alarm went off again!

So the next morning, I realized we definitely failed the fire alarm. It was time for a plan and here is what I did. I started a small list of things we should and can easily grab. I realized that most of the things are in the diaper bag (basically provisions for the baby). Then the standard things for leaving- keys, wallet, phone. Additionally, while we have a fire extinguisher in our apartment, I didn't grab it during the alarm; in the future I will always carry it out with us. Lastly, Kacey and I discussed what we do with the cats. While we figured out a plan that varies based on who is home and where the fire is, I won't go in to details here. Email me for our decisions.

The next thing I did was talk to my bro-in-law Eric, a fireman, (thanks Eric!) about his experiences with apartment fires. After describing our building to him he confirmed that we are pretty good here. He mentioned that it is ok to lock your door behind you if you are unsure if there is really a fire. He also mentioned that our fire extinguisher should not be stored in the kitchen if it is our only one. So until we get a second one for the bedroom (so we can fight our way out if needed), it is moved out of the kitchen. He reiterated keys, wallet, phone, and provisions for a baby for 3-12 hours.

We now have a sign posted by our door with these items written down in marker:
- Keys, wallet, phone
- Diaper bag
- Shoes & coats
- Extinguisher

While readers may find this list very obvious, if you are in a new house or apartment, or have never thought about your fire escape plan, and have 30 seconds to react in the middle of the night, this quick exercise may prove to be extremely helpful in the future.

Some other things for you all to think about. Did you know that most smoke detectors only last 7-10 years? Consumer Reports just did an article about choosing good replacements if you think yours are too old (date should be stamped in to each one). Also, carbon monoxide detectors help you where you can't help yourself by detecting deadly odorless fumes. How many fire extinguishers do you have? If you say none, please go buy one today. If you say 1, think about where it is and where you may be during a fire. Lastly, get a fire safe! After years of putting it off, we finally bought one in March. It was less than $100 and holds passports, titles, SS cards, birth certificates, and backup DVDs I make every month or two from the computer. It is an easy thing to put off, so please consider getting one soon!

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask a fire fighter. They love to help, that is why they do it!

Tumble Gym and other Goings On

Today I took Nolan to the tumble gym, Together in Motion. He of course loved it. He ran around for about 90 minutes non stop, kicked balls, and climbed on equipment. And, it was only $5. I will definitely be taking him every week now. Here are a couple pictures and a video.

I climbed up!

In the tunnel!

Nolan has also been doing some other fun things. He can now give me 5! Kinda fun. He also has two molars in and probably another one or two on the way. His hand was the only thing that could reach his gums that far back, so his hands spent a few days in the back of his mouth. He understands many words and can point out many things. I am currently working on pointing out shapes with him. He can moo like a cow and roar like a lion. We are now on a new nap schedule; he goes down around 1:30-2pm and sleeps for 2 hours or so. I think he understands yes and no better, but he still doesn't always listen to no.

I try to get him to a park once or twice a week, at least while the weather still permits. A couple of times now we have stopped at the Royal Pastry Shop before the park to pick up a snack for after play time. Nolan loves the fig bars (easy to eat, not too messy, only $1)!

Nolan The Goof

Nolan is being quite silly lately! Here are some pics and a short video of what he has been doing the past couple weeks. There is also another climbing video.

His "No No No" dance


Climbing in his high chair


Playing peek-a-boo




New method for eating cheerios


Just give me my pizza already!


Nolan brushing up on his o-chem

Million Dollar Ideas

For years, I have had what I call million dollar ideas. I have no idea if they are actually worth that, I am just putting the idea in context to others. These ideas usually come from frustration of no easier way to do things and I come up with an idea of how to do something better.

Sadly for years, I have also never written any of these down. I also have not tried to build anything in years. Not due to the fact that I can't as I am quite handy, I just loose interest after the idea. I even recall telling friends these ideas occasionally and saying to them "you can have that idea". I realized the other day that something needs to change.

I have now started a method of capturing these ideas. This will prevent me from forgetting as my memory is bad. This also lets me quickly view all ideas in the future to see if any more thoughts come to mind. I may also come up with a method to prototype something.

I have one idea I may try to make in the apartment as it should be easy and not require much building; I don't think this one is worth a million. I have another idea from last year that I still think every working, nursing mom would want to buy. I never prototyped but still want to do so!