Strange Machines

After a long day of cleaning, cooking, and rearranging furniture which pleases everyone, I finally put Wolf down for a nap and still feeling buzzed came online.

I’ve been briskly removing plastics from our home and after reading this post Caution: These seven household items may feminize baby boys, I am grateful that I have been keeping Wolf away from these phthalate-full items.

This means:

1. No more nail polish

I had to remind my mom, who loves getting her pedicure done. I’ve never enjoyed it, nor having a layer of smelling paint on my fingers and toes so it never has been a problem. These days I keep my nails very short so smell doesn’t accumulate there (I change my cat poo pans, cook, etc) and it helps me type faster on my phone.

2. Kitchen plastics

We have switched to stainless steel and cast iron for a while now and I daresay the food tastes better. Plus there is the 5 minute massage I give my cast iron pan after every meal which seems to soothe the both of us. The microwave may need a new home now. It hasn’t been used in months.

3. Vinyl (PVC) toys

We don’t have that many soft plastic toys anymore and Wolf never was much a fan of putting them in his mouth. I do worry about the paint on his die cast cars though, which he carries around all the time.

4. Paints

We’re not doing any painting in the near future so we’re okay. There are non-VOC options now though, as well as this neat thing called SoyCrete if we ever want to stain our concrete floor.

Meanwhile, that means no more oil painting for now. Not that I have the time to do that anyway.

5. Fragrance

Since I have never worn perfume, I don’t worry too much about this. I do have to look for fragrance in our every day items though. But since we switched to organic skincare and soap, careful reading of the label has helped us stay clear of it as far as possible.

6. Vinyl

Since we moved to this place, we haven’t had to use a shower curtain because the shower stall is glass. A ton of other things are made of vinyl, aka PVC, so I have stopped buying cheap shoes, cheap bags, and anything labelled PVC.

Come to think of it, I have stopped buying, period.

7. Air fresheners

Yup, even the fragrance-free ones have fragrance, to mask the chemicals that make the stuff. I’ve taken to airing the house or buying house plants to make the place smell better.

So far so good. But there’s always room for improvement. I really would like grandchildren.

There’s nothing like plants that pretty up the home and lift even the dourest spirits (okay, maybe all but the dourest). Today my godma’s eyes lit up when I mentioned the word “nursery” and off we went with my godpa and Wolf to the nearest nursery to check out some plants.

Since I have cats in the house, I need to ensure:

1. The plants I buy are cat-safe.
2. If they’re not, that they are hung high up securely and do not drop leaves.

After an hour, I took home 2 small cacti, 1 pot of mint (to ward away cockroaches, or so the green guides say), basil, and a lovely African Violet (which as pretty as it is, is cat-safe)!

Wolf was thrilled to be running around among plants and even enjoyed riding on my plant trolley. He did however, join his grand-godpa to check out a “naughty BMW” he called it, which he glimpsed, waited for it for 10 minutes but didn’t return. We spotted it darting off stealthily later on the way out.

Later when we got home, I hung all of them up in the conservatory (yup, the new name for the pond area) and the herbs outside the cat home. Tux and Buffy sniffed them a little but decided the cat food tasted much better.

After an exciting day, Wolf slept in an instant. It was a really fun day for him.

News that BPA is harmful has finally reached our shores, but the AVA has announced that amounts are too minute to harm adults, children, and infants based on their study.

There was no mention about its cumulative effects in our bodies and that it passes on to generation after generation.

Kudos to Toys R Us for pulling the bottles here.

It is mine! On Wednesday night, I decided that it made perfect sense to buy a phone that was also a fabulous camera and so after a night of research and many questions and answers later, on Thursday I bought the Nokia N82. Just snapping a pic of Wolf and I in the car and seeing it turn out perfect cheered me so.

I know that it is a nay in the spirit of non-consumerism, which I am striving for, but I have abstained for a long time till the price fell within a reasonable range and I cut coupons and accumulated points for it. Plus it helps me document my son’s and my cats’ lives and those are important to me. Plus my last cams were 3.2MPs so you can figure out how old they are.

I always regretted not buying a good camera phone when Wolf was born and so early pics and videos of him are grainy and not very many. So this time, there are no regrets buying the best I can afford. Now I might actually catch that elusive Wolf smiling in his sleep shot. Hopefully without waking him!

Here are my reviews of it on TechBot:

10 Thing I Love About the Nokia N82
Tips for Uploading to Flickr on the Nokia N82
Why Nokia N82 Beats N95 8GB Hands Down

Wolf’s been progressing by leaps and bounds. His fave book is a stunning pictorial journey from Earth to the edge of the Cosmos called Universe which I’d bought in Kinokuniya (yes, I finally joined them as a member when I bought the Anazi Anazo books. He impressed my godparents two weeks ago by correctly identifying Earth, Sun, Mars, Io, Europa, Pluto, Charon, and Dark Matter (his faves).

To date, he can correctly and consistently identify Earth, Sun, Mercury, Mars, Europa, Io, Pluto, Charon, Dark Matter, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune. He must “read” (he says) the book every night before bed and loves pointing out the objects he knows and is keen to learn the nebulas. Tonight he enunciated Retina Nebula, Helix Nebula, Hourglass Nebula, Eta Carinae, Andromeda, and a few more I can’t remember now because it is past 4am – he remembers better than me.

He can id the letters U, N, I, V, E, R, S, and E on the cover. If he forgets, he’ll guess and flash me a huge grin. We laugh and clap enthusiastically whether or not it is correct. Although I’m sure he can see the pride and joy in my eyes when he does get it correct.

Aside from the Universe, he loves his cars. My Dad bought him all the Ferraris from Shell and the revving sound enthralled him for hours on end. I even managed to doze. He can id without fail Minis, Porsches, Mitsubishis, and BMWs. He can id a car (live or on a pic) from miles away. I am amazed sometimes. There’s a live-sized version of his fave black Porsche Cayman S parked at my sister’s house and we always pay it a visit to say hello.

He’s always buoyant and happy even when sick and has quickly learnt never to admit that he’s got a runny nose or else Dad and Mom will make him take medicine. When he doesn’t know something, he’ll take a guess. That might be because we always laugh together whether or not it is correct so he never fears being wrong.

People around me comment how happy he is, how wonderful it is that he sits with us through dinner, and how polite and friendly he is, saying hello, bye, kissing, hugging, and blowing kisses. Yet they also like to comment how clingy he is to me. That’s all part of the process of the peaceful positive attachment parenting philosophy I adopt.

In the wild, it is normal for children to stay close to their mothers, never to follow strangers as it would mean certain death. We and all other living species now have survived because we follow this code. When the children are taught by their mothers, held and feel secure, they are better equipped emotionally and mentally to cope and thrive and coexist with others in the outside world.

I’ve never regretted giving up my career for my son. Although one of the attachment parenting experts say that the rewards will be reaped when your child grows into a healthy, happy, well-adjusted and responsible adult, I think I am seeing the rewards every day I spend with Wolf.