8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home cop-out

Hey all,

So for those of you who were (either anxiously or dreadingly) following my decluttering, I've officially decided I'm finished.  I'm not finished decluttering, but I'm finished blogging about it.  I have a few "days" that I never did and am dreading and a few "days" that I did and never posted about... And the idea of finishing the project on the blog has been keeping me from posting!  I think of something fun to post about and then think, "ugh, but I can't until I'm done with the decluttering posts!"  So, I'm done.  I'm just not gonna finish the post series and that's gonna be okay.

Right?  Right.

:-)

Now you can all look forward to the post tomorrow about Baby O turning 5 months!  Wowie Wowie!

Hugs from Boston...

Feeding Baby Green by Dr. Alan Greene

Today I finished Feeding Baby Green by Alan Greene, MD.  I REALLY enjoyed this book.  I checked it out from the library (yay!  Free is within my budget!) and I'll be honest, I only skimmed the last couple chapters, which are more about older toddlers and kids.  I figure I'll check it out again in the future if I want more advice at that point in time.

But the first few chapters are great for new moms!  You might even want to read it if your trying to conceive or still pregnant, as it's got whole sections dedicated to what you should eat when pregnant, decision making about breast feeding, etc.  Here are, in my own words, a few take away points that were most relevant to my life given my personal background knowledge...

1) When a baby is breast fed exclusively (or fed pumped bottles), they will have exposure to a wide variety of tastes and flavors, even before they're eating solids.  Thus, for breast fed babies, Dr. Greene recommends starting solid foods at 6 months.  However, with formula fed babies, who typically are only exposed to one flavor for the first several months (e.g., whatever brand of formula you choose), it is more reasonable to start small tastes/flavors of pureed solids earlier (as early as 4 months) so as not to miss out on the window of opportunity for exploring new flavors.  I guess I found this especially relevant because as a feeding therapist, I've worked with so many kids who are failure to thrive and we want them on solids ASAP (e.g., 4 months), but there's a decent argument for waiting until 6 months in this that I hadn't thought of.  (Note: for all you medical folks out there, there are millions of other decent arguments for waiting until 6 months that I know, but I'm just not going to address them all here.)

2) Just as toddlers reach a developmentally appropriate "stranger danger" stage where they don't want to go with new people (this is biologically an AWESOME safety method!), they reach the same phase (around the same time) with flavors... at that point, new flavors will be registered by their brain as unfamiliar, unsafe, essentially poison!  So while you can teach an older toddler or child (or adult) to eat new foods, life is a lot easier if the foods are exposed to the infant/toddler early... BEFORE the food-stranger-danger hits!  Brilliant!

3) Especially if you're starting flavor tasting/solid foods on the early side (but even if you're not), it's a good idea to focus on feeding baby flavors that you don't particularly like.  Think about it.  Throughout their infant, toddler, and childhood stages, they'll have TONS of experience watching you eat your favorite fruit, bananas.  But if you don't particularly like beets, if you don't go out of your way to expose kiddo to them early, then you'll miss them all together... (see #2 for what happens then)!

Finally, I really liked that Dr. Greene included a biodiversity checklist in the back to encourage you to provide varied-enough foods in the early stages. I'd never seen such a complete list. I really liked it, so I copied it here for you (and for my reference after I return the book to the library!):

1. Mushrooms: crimini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms
2. Amaranths: beet, buckwheat, quinoa, spinach, swiss chard
3. Umbrellifers: anise, arracha, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, cilantro, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, parsley, parsnip
4. Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, collard greens, cress, horseradish, mustard, mustard greens, radish, rapeseed, turnip, turnip greens, watercress
5. Bromeliad: pineapple
6. Composites: artichoke, chicory, edible flowers, jerusalem artichoke, lettuces, safflower, sunflower seeds, yacon
7. Bindweeds: sweet potato, water spinach
8. Gourds: cantaloupe, casaba, crenshaw, cucumber, honeydew, muskmelon, pumpkin, watermelon, zucchini
9. Heath: blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry
10. Legumes: azuki, beans, black beans, carob, chickpeas, dried peas, green peas, kidney beans, lentils, lupins, navy beans, peanuts, pinto beans, snap peas, snow peas, soybeans, tamarind
11. Lilies: asparagus, chive, garlic, leeks, onion, shallots
12. Woody: bananas, plantains
13. Sesames: benne, black sesame, gomashio, sesame oil, sesame potherb, sesame seeds, tahini
14. True grasses: barley, brown rice, corn, millet, oats, rye, spelt, wheat
15. Rosy plants: almond, apple, apricot, blackberry, cherry, loquat, medlar, peach, pear, plum, quince, raspberry, strawberry
16. Citrus: grapefruit, lemon, orange, kumquat, kim, mandarin orange, tangerine
17. Nightshades: chili powder, chipotle, fingerling potato, green bell pepper, jalapeno, paprika, red bell pepper, red potato, russet otato, tomatillo, tomatoes, uchuva, yellow bell pepper, yukon gold potato
18. Grapes: currants, grapes, raisins
19. Laurels: avocados, cinnamon, bay leaves, cassia, sassafras
20. Myrtles: allspice, cloves, guava, feijoa
21. Loosestifes: pomegranate

8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home, Week 6

Chug, chug, chug, chug...

Challenge #26: Bathroom #2 - Today I decided to tackle the dreaded junk cabinet in the bathroom.  This thing is a) HUGE and b) full of stuff that I always say "but I might want to use that some day!" about.  As Ben said, "it had become a real hoarder zone."  So here's the list (most of which will go STRAIGHT in the trash): travel case, old pain meds, pedometer from AARP, eye mask/socks from airline, two old nail polishes, two eyebrow pencil sharpeners (I don't even own an eyebrow pencil anymore), alcohol prep pads, hair combs, tiny lotions... many of them... bronzing pads, Colgate Wisps, ear plugs, hair bands, foot scrubs, mouth wash samples, eye glasses case, sharpie, ace bandage, travel tooth brush, wrist brace, two little containers for holding crap, skin crystals, nail files, razor blades for a razor I don't own, two lip glosses I've hated for years, a scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner, 3 airwick air fresheners, several small jewelry cases, a container of orchid food from 2007... Yeah... this pile is disgusting.  I'm so proud of myself today.  I didn't attack the jewelry pile.  I'll tackle that another day...

Challenge #27- Entry, hall or mudroom closet - red full sized sheets (they started staining everything else in the wash after YEARS of being fine), an old canvas tote bag I don't need, 2+ bags of old tshirts that we're never gonna wear that I was keeping for "an art project" that I will never actually finish, a picture frame, 15 plastic hangers... extras 'just in case,' 2 curtain rods from 3 apartments back, a container of soap making materials... another art project I'll never actually do..., and a box of packing paper from when we got our dishes, 2 wall maps, a fleece jacket, a fleece vest, and a moose hat

Challenge #28 SHOES! - black flip flops (worn out), tennis shoes (I don't think I've worn these for more than 3 years!), and black keens (a hand me down that I never really used).  I confess, I kept my tan TOMS that I got married in.  They're old.  They're worn out.  But I got MARRIED IN THEM.  I can't throw them out, can I???

Challenge #29/30- Basement- Day 1&2. If you don't have a basement, this could be your garage, attic, a storage closet, etc.  Ben and I chose to tackle storage spaces in an order that made sense for us-- we have a couple of them-- basement and "the toolshed," aka, Ben's storage space for work stuff and beer stuff.  Since the toolshed is lived out of more, he tackled it first.  I was STUNNED at the pile of stuff he was able to get rid of.  It included WAY more than 10 items, especially in the category of "work stuff."  I'll be honest that there's no way I can name each of the items, so I'm not going to try.  I wanted to let the pictures speak for themselves.  But now I can only find the picture of the beer stuff, not the work stuff.  I don't know where the other pic went.  But the other pile was HUGE.  I. Mean. HUGE.  I am so proud of my husband.  All those items are now in the trash, recycle bin, or good will.  

4 months old

I can't believe how fast she's growing these days.  Time really has started to feel like it's slipping away. I'm both excited by the changes and sad that I can't get these days back.  I'm trying to move slowly and enjoy every single giggle.  

That's right, I said giggle.  Baby O is officially giggling and doing it frequently.  She does it MOST often when daddy is being silly.  He can make her smile and giggle so much easier than I can!  As we take walks through town, she looks at everything, both near and far.  She loves to look up at tree leaves from the stroller or across the room at the fish when I'm sitting on the couch with her.  The way she looks at strangers is definitely different than when she looks at familiar faces... but not for long, almost everyone earns a smile eventually.

Her fine motor movement is making slow, steady gains as well.  She sees things that are out of reach and really strains to get them.  She's so happy and proud of herself once she's got it in hand.  If you tickle the back of her hand with a toy, she'll open up and grab with it.  Still using both left and right pretty equally, but I'm on the look out for a preference!  

The gross motor movement is growing much more rapidly.  During this 4th month of live, Baby O has really shown us what rolling over can be all about.  She rolls over multiple times a day at this point-- back to front and front to back.  She isn't scared when she flips over onto her tummy... she loves it.  She grasps her hands together and just looks around like she's thinking, "okay, World, whatcha got for me now?!?!?"  Only in the last couple days is she able to hold her head and trunk up well enough on one hand to use the other hand to reach for something... and her aim while on her belly isn't great.  But it's a step in the right direction!  The day care teachers think she's going to crawl any day now.  When on her belly, if you give her something to push off against, she'll scoot across the whole floor!

We finally got over the cold that started around the 3 month mark.  First the all day coughing turned to meal time coughing only.  Then it was night time nursing coughing only... I was really beginning to think something was wrong with Baby O... and when you tell a Feeding Therapist mother that her coughing after breast feeding is "fine and normal" when she's sleep deprived, you should see how loud we yell!!!  Poor Ben got an ear full a few nights in a row.  But about a month after the illness started, the night coughing has finally subsided.  We're all sleeping much better, thank-you-very-much!

Okay, let's see if I can get pics and a video in this time...

Love from Boston!

p.s., at the 4 month visit, which occurred a few days later, Ms. O was clocked in at 14 lbs - 12 oz and 25 inches long!  That puts her in the 70th and 90th percentiles respectively.  :-)

8 Weeks to a Decluttered Home, week 5

I'm picking up speed here... trying to complete the entire 8 week challenge while it still counts as "summer" (aka, before Labor Day, I guess).  I wouldn't be able to do it without the help of Hubby.  He takes all my piles to Good Will when I don't have the energy to try to sell them or give them away to someone more specific.  I really only worry about the breakable stuff... I've seen what the back of our Goodwill looks like.  And I'm not convinced anything breakable actually makes it out of there.

Here's the next 5 challenges (technically):

Challenge #21- Clothing- Kids closet(s)- Day 1 - See #19 about why I get today off!  Woohoo!

Challenge #22- Clothing- Kids closet(s)- Day 2 - See #19 about why I get today off!  Woohoo!

Challenge #23- Clothing- Master bedroom closet - I cheated a bit with this one... I actually did most of this work a few weeks back when I was weeding through maternity clothes.  Some got re-sold, some got given back to the person from whom I borrowed them, and some are in a box for the next "maybe baby."  I definitely pitched 10 items or more from the closet at that time.  But this time around, I pitch out a few button down shirts with stained pits, a few scarves that I'll never wear (not the warm ones, the decorative ones), and a couple dressier tank tops.  On Ben's side, we pitched out several button downs that don't fit well.  Forgot to take a picture of the pile before Ben took it down the street to the Clothing drop box.  Ah well.

Challenge #24- Clothing- Master bedroom dresser(s) - again, maternity clean out happened a few weeks back.  But many of the items in the drawers stayed, actually.  I'm still wearing maternity tshirts, especially on lazy days/days off.  But this time around, I had a couple pairs of undies that should be tossed (don't worry, I won't show you any pics of my holey old underwear).  And Ben's drawers dropped several pairs of boxers (replaced with new) and a couple pairs of shorts.

Challenge #25- Bathroom #1. - a turquoise towel set that I owned YEARS ago (2 bath towels, a hand towel, a washcloth), 2 green towels that were hand-me-downs from somewhere, a pink bath towel, a striped beach towel, 3 christmas hand towels, a stack of 10 little tea-towel things that we got when we got married and have decided not to use, a bottle of gel from 2006 (probably not gonna use that any more).

8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home, Week 4

I guess that just reading my lists of crud I'm throwing out is probably getting boring for some of you.  But I hope that it can be an inspiration, instead, about being minimalist.  Remember, if I expect to keep Baby O's life minimal, consisting only of the few things I think she needs, then I need to model that for her.  In addition, as she begins to be more mobile, I'll really appreciate knowing that the only things I have in the house are things that I really intentionally kept.  That way when I grouse about not being totally baby-proofed, it's my own darn fault... and my recent fault too!

Here's the next 5 challenges:

Challenge #16: Magazines and newspapers - This is another area where Ben and I don't really need decluttering too much.  We do get a few magazine subscriptions, but I tend to read and then recycle within the week that it arrives at the house.  We don't get any newspapers.  We do get a TON (at least in my opinion) of other media mail items like catalogs.  But similar to the magazines, we don't keep a huge stack of them... we tend to read/review, save one if necessary, but pitch most within the week.

Challenge #17: Decorative items in living areas - Ben says "if anything, we're too sparsely decorated."  I'd agree on our walls.  We painted last year and then didn't ever really decorate much outside of the kitchen.  But I did find 3 things to get rid of... two little boxes that were sitting on my dresser that I don't need any more.  And a framed photo from our bathroom that I'm bored with.  Three is better than nothing, right?

Challenge #18- Furniture - This is PERFECT timing for us!  We've been talking (and this project encouraged a bit more conversation) and are making several furniture changes.  When I saw "furniture" on the challenge list, I never thought I'd have a lot.  But I do!  They include:

- We have 2 full sized box springs to throw out... mattress will be close behind. (This will be the subject of a future post, once done)

- Ben fixed the broken kitchen chair.  

- We're looking for a new, smaller kitchen table.  But won't throw our current one until we replace it.  But we're close!!!

- I have an extra exersaucer type furniture item that I JUST posted on craigslist and I think a woman is gonna come get it from me later this week! 

- We're officially getting rid of the crib!  We've been cosleeping and love it.  We have a small bassinet that we use occasionally.  And when Baby O outgrows the bassinet as a part time sleeping space, Ben agrees with me that we can do a Montessori nursery!!!  (That means crib mattress directly on the floor.  This will be the subject of a future post, once we have it done)

- We trashed the icky metal rack that's been in the Bathroom since we moved in and we both hate.

Challenge #19- Clothing- Kids dresser(s)- Day 1 - Due to how fast Baby O is growing right now, this is actually a near constant project for me these days.  I always keep a brown paper grocery bag in her room which has clothes that she's grown out of.  Once the bag is full, I post it on craigslist and another local JP site to try to sell it.  I currently have a full bag of about 30 items that are in the 3 month size that I'm trying to get rid of.  But I don't think anyone is doing online shopping a ton right now, 'cause it's August and everyone's on vacation.  I promised Ben that if I can't sell this bag's worth by 9/15, I'll donate it somewhere instead.

Challenge #20- Clothing- Kids dresser(s)- Day 2 OR organize/clean your freezer - I used this as freezer time.  Mostly I needed to organize how I'm storing my breast milk in the long-term storage freezer.  I have it all in a bag, but over time it's gotten a little sloppy.  So it was nice to spend a few minutes straightening up.  I also keep a list on my fridge in the kitchen about what is stored in the deep freeze, so that I know what I've got when I'm trying to decide what to eat for dinner.  So I updated that.

8 weeks to a less cluttered home, week 3

Here we go again!!!

Challenge #11: Children's books- Day 2. - See my comment in the last post about why I'm not doing kids books decluttering right now. But the originator of this challenge suggested that if I don't need to do kids books, I use this day to clean out your purse or diaper bag. - a heart key chain, 4 cloth nursing pads, and several business cards and receipts. I don't really count those paper items as stuff gotten rid of... and this is no where near 10 items. But hey, every little bit counts, right?

Challenge #12: Adult Books, day 1 - 4 motherhood books, 3 coffee table books, 2 other random books, and 7 text books from my days as a pediatric SLP which are far too outdated to do anything with.

Challenge #13: Adult Books day 2 OR Fridge cleaning or organization - I used this time to focus on my fridge, threw out a few bad veggies and double checked the expiration dates on all of my fridge door items like dressing and sauces. Not exciting. Nothing worth taking a picture of...

Challenge #14: Medicine Cabinet - oy! This has been on my to-do list for quite some time. My sweep included: 3 colognes, 2 containers of mini hair spray, a couple of pony tail holders, a couple of free sample tubes of random stuff we don't use, a lip gloss, some expired no-doze (where did we get that?!?!?), 2 tweezers, and a roll of skin tape.

Challenge #15: Children's art work, certificates, special notes or cards, etc - woohoo!  Day off!  Not applicable for me yet!!!  But it does remind me that I need to start working on my Baby O scrap book.  Maybe I'll make that the next project after I finish this declutter...

Okay... some my piles for this week are depressingly small.  But as I walked past my desk area (see week 2) while doing Adult books, I found a set of decorative shelves that I bought with wedding money and never put anywhere.  Guess I didn't really want them after all. :-)

Which brings the grand total for week three to be::::::: -->