A weekly note

Things I didn’t know about radiators until a plumber fixed a leak in our radiator this week.

You need to bleed them! Once a year. Likely when you fire up the boiler for the season. And it’s really easy—loosen a small valve until water streams out on each radiator in the house.

This is the most likely culprit for the year after year decrease in heating efficiency we’ve noticed.

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One of my chaoses is how I switched to BitWarden for password management on my computer, but then got distracted and left LastPass on my phone.

Somehow I’ve managed for a long time, likely because I don’t need too many passwords on my phone.

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Developments. A is now hitting blocks together and enjoys offering them to you as a treat. It’s great. He also turned every single page of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? on his own, with almost perfect timing.

Swimming round two was different than last week. His nap and feeding schedule was off just a bit, and his kicks in the water were not as forthcoming. He did good (considering) with his first dunk under water, but he wasn’t happy about it.

Oh, also! First dentist visit. He got to see the various tools, meet the dentist, and hear about how he can’t have juice until he’s 37.

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I put up new house numbers and a new mailbox on the front of the house. This meant learning the difference between a rotary drill and a hammer drill. One of these things drills into brick like butter, the other doesn’t, even with the right bit.

Of all the things not to google ahead of time.

I ran to the hardware store 15 minutes before close on Friday to buy the last sub-$200 hammer drill off the shelf. Thankfully it was a Dewalt just like the rotary drill Michelle bought a couple years ago, so the tool bench is growing with matching yellow. Power tools!

Of course, the window for actually doing the work passed. Drilling into brick is super loud and high pitched and we have a baby who wasn’t really a fan.

Fast forward two days (today). Michelle took A for a nice long walk and I was able to pop the ear muffs on and drill with abandon.

Things look okay. I’d do a better job the next time around, but it’s passable from the sidewalk. It’s nice to have fresh fixtures and a readable house number!

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Last week I listed a dough scraper as a “very successful parent hack” for cleaning food up from a high chair mat.

A more successful parent hack is to just take the mat outside and shake it. Thanks, Michelle.

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But! Tonight it was raining in a stormy downpour way that doesn’t happen often in Pullman, so I used the dough scraper and that’s still a good hack.

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The weekend went quick, but it was full. We had a couple very nice sits with friends in the driveway, did quite a bit around the house, and generally made good use of the days.

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