Visiting Nana & Lito

My boys decided it was time for another trip, so off we went. 
What a happy reunion!  Nana & Lito last saw Sol at 4 months. He's bigger and stronger and certainly more vocal than he was then. 
While the weather wasn't great 3/5 of the time, it wasn't terrible. We took advantage of getting in fresh Florida air. 
While Sol wasn't sure what to make of his new surroundings, and no ZaZa, he settled in as soon as he saw boxes available!  Who woulda thunk?!  Boxes in FL and AL, I wonder if they have them in MD and NY?? ;)
He wasn't hurting for attention on this turf. 
Had to show off one of his Halloween costumes to his Nana and Lito, especially since they're always offering him chocolate!
Daddy introduced us to his childhood friends Marcello and Telma (and their families). 
Before leaving yesterday, we had a chance to get in our 10k for Daniel!  It was beautiful, warm weather and perfect time for a nap. 
A quick Alevy selfie and back home we go. 
Until next time...

On a side note, Sol was pretty amazing on these flights. I made sure to have my cover handy, solid food prepared, and a few toys. However, it's more interesting finding what the plane had to offer: safety pamphlet, lights, strangers, and views. On the flight down, we stayed on the same plane when we had our "layover" in Tampa. We moved to the very front. Absolutely loved the space for Sol to play and a chance for David to stretch his legs. While in past flights we've sat toward the back, I requested we move up closer so we can deplane sooner. It's been better that way and since they were full flights, there was no chance of us spreading out. 
We continue to enjoy SouthWest and look forward to out next adventure!
Ciao!

Off Facebook again?!

Yes yes yes, I removed my Facebook account AGAIN. Look, I'm in grad school AND I have a young child. And honestly, I wish I had more time for my massage clients, too!!!!  I just don't have time to check Facebook.  Unfortunately for me, if it's there, I want to check it daily!

A friend asked me recently how she could find out when I update the blog since she had visited it before when I posted it to FB. Good question!

On the left of your computer screen, there is an option to submit your email address to receive updates!  It's quick and easy and you don't have to worry that you may miss a Sollie update!!  So for all my lovely family and friends, I hope you'll sign up to keep up with our adventures!!

Speaking of adventures...we may go camping this weekend. That's an update you don't want to miss!!!

And some safety proofing tips..

So far, so good with my hearth design-although Sol hasn't been around it a lot yet. Only time will tell!!

We still have some items exposed that I see us saying "no!" to Sol as he messes with them. After speaking with a friend, and mother of two, I am going with my gut that it's just better to cover everything we are concerned about, so that Sol can explore without my watching his every move. 

For now, I have a few items I picked up at target and a couple more that were handed down from friends, thank you!!
I thought I was going to like the option on the left and purchased several of them. I hate them!  They are frustrating to get on and off a most of the cabinets because the space is either to wide or too narrow. The option on the right has been great. Easy to set up and easy for ME to open for access.
A similar hand me down item is working great, too!
I asked David to begin installing other locks last week. He had to drill into the cabinet door and on his second door, two nails broke!  It was late that night and I wasn't having it. I wish I had realized how awesome these other locks are because we could have used them on this door arrangement, since there are two side by side.
We still have 4 cabinets we will need to drill in for kitchen safety, but then we can breathe a sigh of relief, I hope. Still may need to think through oven, dishwasher, and freezer locks.
This $9.99 gate I picked up at Burlington suits the front entryway, and we have a door in the kitchen to close--so the back part of the house is my biggest focus.
I have put outlet plugs in that part of the house and will be continuing in other rooms soon. While I do not plan for Sol to spend time in the front part of the house, I never know why he may end up out there...I may accidentally leave the door open, we may have him out there when entertaining company, or perhaps a sitter wouldn't realize we don't frequent that area.  I'm going to continue on with the plug covers, for sure, and will think of how to secure those cabinets as well. 

For now, I'm left struggling with how to proof this:
Eeek, look closely and you can see the back of a remote on the floor right below the stand. While brushing my teeth, Sol already tackled this area with extreme interest and excitement for his balancing/standing. Oy vey!
I found these do it yourself suggestions on Pinterest for the bottom of the stairs:
&
Not sure if I'll have time to do either, but I especially love the second option--so cute!
I'm especially struggling because this area belongs to our one and only furry girl--I hate to take it away from her!!


We've brought in some gates for stairs, but realized that the side hand rail interferes with the gate meeting the wall. We also tried fitting it to the other wall, but the gate wasn't long enough.

Well, that's enough for now. Off to studying!  Need to knock some research out so I can enjoy the beautiful Fall weather with my family!



Safety proofing time!

It's official, Sol is crawling!!
Even worse, he loves to pull up on anything and everything so he can try standing!
Since his play area is next to the fireplace, I've been searching high and low for a safety solution. Thanks to Pinterest, I'm hoping my hard work today pays off. 
I purchased this mat at Burlington for $24.99. I also picked up 2 roles of tape at Home Depot, each $6.99
Since our fireplace is lower, I used an Exacto knife to cut down the mats on the sides. I wasn't sure exactly how to take the mats down, so first go around I started putting tape on the mat. 
And I ended up separating the blocks and laying them individually. 
I realized it was better to put the tape on the brick instead. 
I went back and used a glue gun to try and connect the mat better---but didn't love the results. 
So on the second side I cut the mats a bit shorter and connected all of them together. Then, I used the hot glue gun to reinforce the mat. 
I then put larger pieces of tape down on the bricks 
This time I put down the whole mat at once. I added tape in spots I noticed were weak, but I think this side looks better. 
I have heavy objects on the mats in hopes they will help them stick. They won't stay there. Sol already loves Azaria's bowls and tub of toys. Of course her toys are cooler because they aren't allowed for Sol!
I'm pleased with how it looks so far. And we have matting leftover!  Not sure yet where it will go. 
The real test will be when Sol tries getting up on the fireplace again. 
By the way, I am, by no means, encouraging him to get on the fireplace-but I want to supervise and discourage activity and hopefully not have to spend $150+ to get a gate around the entire fireplace. We will see!
In the meantime, David is working on the staircase....safety proof safety proof!
Happy 8 Months, my love!!!