New Year's Progress

It's time for an update on some past projects and past milestones for Alex.

First to the projects:

Some detectors! I finally had a chance to wire in the new AC smoke detectors. These were not originally part of the remodeling project upstairs, but since the building code required them, I thought I'd better add them. Now that they're in, I'm very pleased, and they're not hard at all to install, at least if you have ready access to the attic.

Which brings up one of the little "gold plating" parts of the project, which I also hadn't originally planned for, but I am tickled pink that I did anyway.

When I redesigned the front bedroom, I obliterated the old attic scuttle (a.k.a. "corpse hatch") that had been in the old bathroom linen closet, so needed some new way to get to the attic. I could have just built in a new scuttle somewhere out of the way, but with one fewer closet, that was becoming quite tricky. Instead I opted for a very classy set of attic stairs accessible from the upstairs hallway.



This is the unobtrusive access door, closed. It blends in pretty seamlessly with the hallway ceiling, if I do say so myself. I chose a special aluminum scissors stair that folds up very compactly, thus allowing for a considerably smaller opening than a comparable set of traditional folding wooden stairs. They are made in Hungary, in case you're curious.

Here I am opening the hatch. The stairs are spring-loaded so they won't accidentally unfold on an unsuspecting visitor. They roll out about 6 inches when you open the door, then stop. But it's still enough to give guests a real scare when they pull the door down. :-)


































These last two show the attic itself; Since I now have this easy access to the attic, I figured I'd better make use of that space. So I've been slowly installing plywood decking over the new bedroom to provide some additional storage space (for lighter items -- no old law books!)

I've also been busy filling, sanding, and staining the woodwork in the new closet. It's now ready for a coat of polyurethane. Unfortunately the can I had in the garage apparently "went bad" - not sure if it's not supposed to freeze, or what, but it looked like cottage cheese and snot mixed together, and it was solid. So I'm off to Home Depot to get a new can.

Before I forget, a few updates on Alex:



Alex is not willing to show us his new teeth, but trust me, they're there! He's now working on some up top. Someday I'll get a picture - maybe by the time he's 15 or so.

In other news, Dana and I realized this weekend that he no longer has a stuffy nose all the time. Up until about 9 months, he always had a sniffly nose, especially at night when sleeping. His breathing would be somewhat troubled. Now, assuming he has no cold, he is breathing normally.

Also for a long time one or both of his eyes were goopey, particularly in the mornings. His doctors said it was just a clogged tear duct and would go away. Sure enough, we haven't noticed any eye goop in several weeks.

Finally, I'm reluctant to report it, lest I jinx it, but he has been sleeping soundly through the night for the last couple of weeks, give or take a night. We are hoping this is a new trend!!


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