I-K-E-A

We’re going through a rather expensive phase where we’re trying to fix, upgrade and replace as many things as possible before April and we ended up spending far too much time shopping this past week.

We managed to survive a trip to the big I Thursday. Dan’s parents kindly sent us some gift certificates and we had some serious upgrading to do in our apartment. We caught the bus (and it actually went fairly well considering how crappy the west island bus service is), got off at the right stop, and got there only 30 minutes after it opened. We spent a fair amount of time there since we both knew it would probably be our only visit for the next few years. We ended up getting a dresser for the bedroom (actually it’s the first real dresser we have ever owned, the first one was from when I was a baby and then we bought a cheap vinyl thing from Ikea for like $10 a few years back), a “record shelf” for Dan (pics later once his room is organized), a little stand for the Commodore 64 monitor (i.e. the “TV” although the last time we watched live TV on it was a month ago) and other electronic bits, a rail for hanging things in the kitchen, two shelves and some boxes. I think our apartment is starting to look more “grown up” now, which is really good.

I think we also inadvertently solved our changing table (or lack thereof) problem. The day before we went to Sears and among other things found a “Sleep rite” thingy which is two blocks of foamy material attached together by a strip of cloth. The blocks go on either side of a baby and keep it sleeping on its back. But it also works to stop a baby from rolling off a surface, so now I can use any surface as a changing table. So I think I can use our old dresser – I will just put a changing pad on top and use the foam blocks. Not only that, but most of the changing tables don’t have drawers and we were not sure how to handle that, so I can use the drawers in the dresser to store her clothing and the diapers. Perfect!

Yesterday we went to a children’s furniture shop in the creepy mall by my work (in the vain hope they might sell cosleepers) and ended up buying a nursing pillow. I wasn’t sure how useful these would be but it turns out they are quite handy. So anyway we saw one we liked and there was no price. We asked the owner had he said the price, which was higher than I had seen it in other places. He then proceeded to barter with us, saying there was no tax and that he would give it to us for $5 less if we paid cash. So I guess we bought a black market nursing pillow!?? There is also a store there entirely dedicated to child safety and I think we might be going back there in a few years for a stove guard. The owner was really nice and also gave me info on child safety / choking / CPR courses so I should try to sign up for one.

We also made a grudging trip to Wally World to look for replacement filters for our air purifier. Of course they didn’t have them. This store is so frelling useless I really wish I wouldn’t waste my time trying to find anything there. I usually reach the point where I can’t find something anywhere else and go there as a last resort but I am always dissappointed (and grouchy).

I also bought a new pair of glasses yesterday. It has been in the back of my mind that I needed to get a second pair since my other pair are at least 4 years old and if anything should happen to them I would be in real trouble. Also one of my eyes improved a bit so it was a good excuse to get new lenses. The optometrist by our place had really expensive frames (I think I saw only 1 pair for less than $300) so I went to another store where I always checked out the frames from the display. It was a much better deal and I even got a 30% discount on the price of the frames. And oh my are they ever stylish.

I can’t find anything locally for co-sleeping so I think we will have to put an online order through soon. Also I wish I could find something like this crib attachment which I used to play with. The ball turns and I would use my massive feet to spin it around for hours at a time (yes I really do remember playing with it, in fact I have quite a collection of memories from very early childhood including drinking the bathwater and ripping out the shag carpeting in my room with my amazingly strong grip, but not so much from the ages of 4-6 – I’m funny that way). Unfortunately all the crib attachments today have lights and music which are not only annoying but I think miss the point a bit. A spinning thing for of coloured plastic balls is just as entertaining as a light up singing star and it doesn’t require batteries. And turning a spinning ball thing is a good way to learn how to use one’s hands / feet! Oh well.