Some days, I make lunch.

So the burrito started kindergarten last month. It's a full day, 9-3, at a local place (read: I'm able to walk there, so if you see me driving him to school and it's not raining/snowing, yell at me), and he loves it so far. There are so many different things they do; I'm kind of scared to send him to the regular public school next year, ha.

So a friend of mine was showing off her Yumbox (lol, cute name, guys) and I decided that would be a whole lot easier than messing with cheap plastic or glass. It's usually sammiches for lunch, but sometimes I get a little more creative. I'm no pinterest queen though, so don't be expecting meals looking like pumpkin patches or spider webs or shit. You want fun baked goods, sure. I'm not out to impress my five-year-old with everyday lunchscapes.

Here are some so far, with the four- and six-compartment boxes:

Grapes, cucumber and carrot sticks, cheddar crackers, cucumber and tomato salad, "lunchables" days,

 PB&J, apple slices, hummus he picked out himself, sliced pickles, cheese sticks, yogurt, chicken cubes, and some gummy alligators

Makes for a happy lunch. So far. I'm going to try to branch out more, I promise. Probably when I run out of bread.

OH MAH GAH

It has been entirely too long, blogger. I see you over there, blowing the dust off your server. I mean, in my defense, #kids.

But, I do enjoy writing, and cooking, and eating, so maybe I will return. Until I post something of Great Political and Social Importance, I give you a Monday List.

Things I have been doing when not writing in my blog:

• getting a divorce
• going to counseling
• finding a job
• raising two kids
• trying to walk the dog
• training for a 5k
• injuring myself at taekwondo class
• waiting for Ben Affleck to call

SO, there you have it, interwebz. Hopefully this will become a place where I am comfortable to talk about all of the above, because I'm certain I'm not the only doing all or most of these. (Ok maybe I am the only one injuring myself doing TKD while training for a 5K, I can see that one.)

In the meantime, catch me on Pinterest if you need me. 

The Return of the King - and my Advent "Wreath"

Hi everyone! I'm back!

::looks around at empty room::

That's ok, I expected that. After all, I'm really just talking to myself, like always, with this blog. I haven't been rememberwriting as much as I really should though - especially if I want to actually preserve any memories. And there's always my daily phone pictures.

But I digress.

I've been pinning shit like maaaaaad lately, and finding I can actually accomplish things whilst ignoring dishes and laundry. Oops. Well, at least I have fun stuff to show for it!
The onset of colder weather has been harsh, with colds (me) and croup (B) and ear infections (S), oh my. We've also been staying inside while having our bedroom and bathroom ceilings fixed and painted, and it's just about on the level with waterboarding for two small excitable children.
So, crafting.

I didn't get to church to make my annual Advent wreath this year, so I wanted to try something a little different. I found this on Pinterest: click me, I'm a link to an awesome bread pan Advent "wreath" from Homespun Living!

And it was my inspiration - er, pinspiration (which always makes me think of perspiration) for my very own:

(Please excuse my semi-used candles...)

Some of the ladies on my crafty group were talking about something called chalk paint, and I just happened to run into some at the Crafty Store #3 the other day, so I decided to take one of our old bread pans and give it a whirl.

Bread pan, halfway through:

And then I glued some taper holders into the pan, added some pine snippings from the branches we cut off of our spider-less tree:

Et voila. We lit the first one today - I let B practice. He blew it out mid-prayer. Ah well.

Wait for it...

So, I've been a little busy. I swear I'm coming back. Hopefully with an updated camera lens, and more pictures of good things, like these two (who are the reason I have no time recently, natch)

And Leroy ate the little girl's cheerios, so I have to go now. Hashtagmotherhood.

Baby's first cold

So The Pecan woke up with a stuffy nose and sneezing this morning. Baby's first cold! Poor kid. At least nursing helped her breathe a little better, and she was happy when I pulled out the booger sucker. 

I'm hoping this is the worst of it, and she doesn't have an experience like The Burrito and end up taking a visit to our friendly local hospital with some bronchialitis. She's still pretty happy, and just laid down for a babynap, so far so good!

Happy Halloween!

There's still a baby in there people.

So I'm reading back over my posts from last time just to see how it went then compared to now. I'm getting all anxious, because I really wanted to deliver with the same dr, and she's going on vacation tomorrow!
C'mon, Pecan!

It looks like it's going about the same, only taking longer. I went in Thursday morning at 845, was 70-80% effaced and "a good two cm" and at -2 station. That was officially 39w. There was some cramping and period-like bleeding after she stripped my membranes (just like last time, lol) and some mild cramping the rest of the day. Some contractions, but since I've been having BH for a month, I'm not counting them if they don't actually do anything (ie, feel like I'm "having a contraction!!!1!1!").

I had what I think was some mucus plug and bloody show this morning at like five am, and some minor contrax, but again, nothing to write home about. Oooookay then, have it your way Pecan.

Cut to napping on the couch: more of those actual painful contrax. Three whole ones so far!
Is this the start of something real?

We shall see. I'm guessing she's just in there going "psych!"

Apple Oatmeal for a "cold" summer morning

In case you don't live around the lovely middle east coast, we had a bit of a heat wave last week. And the week before. My car thermometer broke 100 for the first time in a few years.

So this morning when I woke up and saw this:

I was all, yeeeeaaaaaah, time to make that oatmeal recipe I pinned.

We had the apple all ready for it - the burrito actually picked it out at the orchard market, and it had some nice brown marks from where he repeatedly picked it up and "put it back" in his red basket. Sweet, thanks kid.

This is an Annie recipe, and it's fantastic. I added the parts I changed, either from lack or time or hatred of a certain humiliated fruit.

Steel Cut Oats with Apples
(originally from Annie's Eats)

ingredients: 

3 cups water
1 cup (2% or 1%) milk
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (omitted, as I did not toast the oats beforehand)
1 cup steel-cut oats
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/3 cup raisins (omitted, as I hate them)
¼ cup maple syrup

directions:

Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. I didn't toast the oats because I only had a little time before we had to get to story time.

Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the salt, cinnamon, apple, raisins and maple syrup.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I diced the apple, because I like it with definitive pieces - they cooked very well, not mushy at all, but not too crunchy - just right!

This recipe turned out perfectly, of course, as it's an Annie recipe; I'm just glad my changes didn't screw it up! The taste of the maple syrup adds that special something. I'm so glad I got the chance to try this one. Definitely adding this to our rotation for cold mornings and fall. 

four teapots!

The one where I buy a box of Magnum.

No, not those kind of Magnums. The kind in the frozen section of the store which contain chocolate. Wonderful, wonderful chocolate.

So this morning while I was on the phone with my mom about the stray cat my sister picked up and tried to save which bit her and could possibly have rabies (they sent it to get tested), the Burrito decides to wake up and play in the toilet.

There was pee in the toilet. And tp. Apparently it was his new game.

SO, things I did this morning/afternoon?

• bathed toddler
• wiped every surface in bathroom with bleach
• took sheets off of beds just in case he tried to climb up them
• threw out his paci
• went to Target for new bathroom rug
• bought bag of fun-size Milky Ways and box of Magnum dark chocolate ice cream bars
• craved copious amounts of alcohol
• said "eff this" and went to Wendy's for lunch
• left said toddler in the car with a/c on while I took everything into the house and only thought about someone taking him and car for two seconds before The Ransom of Red Chief popped into my head.

It didn't help that this morning was also hitting day, spill your watermelon on the floor day, throw a ball at the end table which has a lamp and glass of water on it day, and run into every wall you can day.

But we did snag some spectacular finds at tarjay, thanks Leslie for this idea:

I told him to hold the box of choc-pb pop tarts (yes, they exist!!) but apparently what he heard was "clutch them like they will stop the apocalypse"

6:19

6:19. Six. Nineteen. AM.

That is what my clock said this morning when hubs came in and plopped a toddler in my bed. He was up getting ready for work (early shift at second job) and apparently thought that the burrito needed to come in bed with me.

Ten minutes later, he starts poking and kicking me, and I realize he has no paci, which helps soothe him back to sleep if he wakes up. So, get up, get paci, give to kid, go downstairs, try not to kill husband, let dog out and feed him (Leroy will start whining the second hubs leaves the house for some reason if he's still in his kennel), and go back up to bed.

I didn't get back to sleep until 7:30, which was superb because the burrito decided to wake for good at 8. Yaaaaay. Ah well. It was a mom's group gtg day anyway, so playplace for breakfast it was!

And of course that brings us to naptime - he's not taking it well these days. This weekend he was gated in his room and played with his books and blocks for an hour before falling asleep. Great, whatever. Past two days? Oh, the screaming. It's what we've always done, pick whatever toy you want to take with you, let's go upstairs. Nope! Not having it today or yesterday. I had to carry him up and put him in his bed, and yesterday it was about 45 minutes of alternating between crying, yelling "let me outta my room mama," and letting out these awesome banshee-type cries, which if he was in danger would come in handy, but in a townhome all they do is alert the neighbours you may be attacking your child and CPS should be on speeddial. ::repeat:: Yaaaay.

So, a new timer or clock is on our list of things to procure, and he can henceforth go to his room for "quiet time" if necessary, if he naps good (he apparently passed out after only 15 minutes of screaming today), if not, fine, but I need a little bit of time alone if we're going to keep up this work schedule that hubs has going.

*sigh* I miss these days

My weekly list that is turning into a once-a-year list, oops.

Total weight gain/loss: ah crap, this had to be the first category didn't it. I'm at a total of 16 lbs gained, and 4 lbs away from my "I don't want to cross this" line. I really need to stop going for bagels.

Maternity clothes? I was in mat clothes by 10 weeks this time. I'd like to rock some more dresses too, but I need bike shorts or spanx to deal with those babies - one word: chafing.

Stretch marks? The ones on my thighs are back, but I haven't seen any on my belly...yet.

Sleep: IT'S TOO DAMN HOT IN PA TO SLEEP. SEND ME A BIGGER A/C UNIT AND THEN WE'LL TALK.

Best moment this week: um...getting ice cream? oh wait, the Burrito started "talking" to the Pecan this week. It's pretty cute. He leans over to my belly and goes "hi baby!" in a high, quiet, squeaky voice.

Movement: so much. hiccups abound, as do the occasional kick to the right side. I'm pretty sure she's punching my left pelvic bone and kicking my right underboob at the same time - is she running out of room or something?! that's impossible, I'm sure, because as I stated above, 4lbs away from my previous-giving-birth weight. And she's not going to top 8lbs. RIGHT, little girl?

Food cravings: chocolate cake. salads with ranch dressing.

Gender: it's a girl!

Labor Signs: lots of fun BH, since about 20-some weeks I've been feeling them I believe.

Belly Button in or out? Shallow, but still in.

What I miss: doing any activity that involves reaching my feet.

What I am looking forward to: floating in a pool, once the damn thing opens. I'm way too big for the baby pool at this point. I'd kick the poor Burrito out just sitting down.

Weekly Wisdom: stop eating, dammit!

Milestones: I will be getting a double stroller this week! yay!

Where are you going?! I was gonna make espresso...

I swear, I'm alive! I'm in here! I was just...busy! Making things! like...more babies! ; )

I'm busy currently trying to clean up my google reader, since it's going the way of the dodo in July (WTF, GOOGLE?!?!?!) and updating my blogs. I have a Twitter account, which I try to update with humorous quips to keep you all entertained (however many of you are left - like, all two?). I'm working on this social media presence thing. Especially since I have now converted to a stay-at-home mom! Yay, no more work! Wait...

O_O

The genius that is pregnancy brain.

So, I have the big ultrasound (anatomy scan, and also where you can find out the sex of the baby if you would like) in April. April 18th, to be exact (or so I thought on Monday)... I went looking for the card with my appointment info on it, and found it at precisely 10:55 Monday March 11th. The April appointment info was on the back of a card listing my MARCH appointment...

Wait for it...

Which was listed at 10:45 on Monday March 11th. Pure. Genius. They should bottle this so people could prank their friends, like putting ex-lax in brownies: "lol, you just drank that! I put pregnancy brain in it. You'll be confused and forgetful the rest of the day!!!1!1!!"

SO, then we were supposed to go to a mom's group playdate at local restaurant with playplace for the kids. There are several of these around, but I thought when glancing at the website for the mom's group, I had the right location. It's pouring out, natch, and we actually get there FIVE MINUTES EARLY (this never happens), and order some breakfast. I look around - it's now 10:00 - there's no one here that even remotely resembles a mom with or without a child. Hmm...at 10:05, I asked them if they could make my order to go instead, because I have a sinking feeling that I picked the wrong location. Check the website: playplace, across from tarjay. Ok, we're here...WAIT...both of the playplaces in the area are across from tarjay...and the city name is not where I live, it's the nearby city, which means...I HAVE THE WRONG ONE!

I post a comment in the mom's group saying I'm going to be about 15 minutes late and we leave, eating our breakfast in the car on the way. Get to playplace #2. Couple of moms inside, with kids. I ask if they are from the mom's group. Um...no, what mom's group? Fuck. Apparently I was right the first time, it's just that everyone else was late. See? More proof of how the universe wants me to be late. *sigh* I posted again in the group, something about how today just wasn't going the right way, I'll take an actual "rain check" and see them at the next playplace playdate. I just didn't have the heart to go into the story, although I'm sure just writing "pregnancy brain" would suffice.

No we are not watching toy story again.

So, I joined twitter. I know, I know, I'm probably the last person in the world other than my toddler to join (and I'm not so sure he's not already on there...) - be gentle with me. @TBlueTeapot Currently, I am working up the courage to leave the house, with its glorious heater, and get in my car, with its tiny-ass heater, and get groceries. They're calling for snow on Friday, so all the bread, milk, and eggs will be gone tomorrow - ahh, PA. Toddler is asking every half hour to watch Toy Story. (toy sto-yee? toy sto-yee?) Wish me luck.

New Mayan Calendar: I take over the world.

Day One: accomplished. (That would be day one of my new existence as a stay-at-home mom, or SAHM.) However, it wasn't a new routine since we're going on vacation this Friday - it's "let's try to ascertain what exactly we'll need for a week in Disney with three families and taking the train to Florida and getting a rental car." Soooo, my dreams of being a Pinterest-worthy SAHM are squashed, for now. I did fold one load of laundry so far. I also went to Old Navy and Tarjay. Super-mom! Lolz. Bright side? I think I have two Christmas presents left to purchase/make, and I am aiming for cookies sometime this week, which should be interesting. I also have a pinterest craft, but it may fall by the wayside in lieu of packing. Because, really, what do you pack for a totally different climate when it involves a train for part of the time? hmm. Kid survived, all is good.

The Burrito Eats; and other small plates of food

I'm not sure where I was, but I was out at a store (shocker), probably tarjay (another shocker), and saw these awesome plastic partitioned lunch-tray-type plates. So I bought some for the kid. Because, who doesn't like lunchable-style shit?

That's right, no one. I'm pretty sure even that baby who doesn't like Jimmy Fallon free money likes lunchables.

So sometimes for dinner, I make him a little plate of a bunch of different things so he can pick and choose as he likes. Because I know picking and choosing are a toddler's favorite things (and it all belongs to him of course, even if he doesn't choose it).

mamarazzi, I'm eating here.

Also on my list of fun small bites: a fun appetizer I first had at my friend's house, made by her momma, when I was like 13. And now I'm old and shit. But don't think I'm old. Which is made even more clear by the interns from local colleges at work *sniff*.

It's really simple: slice baguette in rounds about 3/4 inch thick, add mayonnaise (the real stuff, we like fat), a cucumber slice, and some Krazy Salt. It's real, I promise:







Also fun to snack on? Cookies. I had some extra time and almost a full bag of chocolate chips one day, so I decided to grab the bull by the horns and make some cookies.

mmm, cookies

 All of these are fast and pretty easy, which are good for nights when I don't feel like cooking or cleaning, but want something familiar. I mean, if we're talking comfort food, you know it's going to take me forever. I can't even nuke a can of soup in under a minute.

Mmm...bacon

So with this whole new Paleo thing I am actually trying to eat more bacon. I almost never ate bacon before, but since meats are our friends, I bought a package.

As anyone who has been in my house when there is food being prepared can attest to - I am a wuss. A big wuss. Giant one. I don't like doing anything where there is a chance of something blowing up or catching on fire. Hence, I have only cooked bacon once before in my life.

I made bacon my bitch this week when one of the girls from BotB said how she had cooked it in the oven. I thought to myself, there is no chance of anything catching on fire if everything is lined properly and the toddler stays out of the kitchen...let's give this thing a go!

Well my friends, it was awesome.

Ingredients:
Bacon

Directions:
Lay bacon gently on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Stick it in the cold oven and turn the oven to 400. Let the bacon alternately chill and sizzle for 17-20 minutes, however done you like it. Put it on a paper towel-lined plate after you take it out, because it will keep cooking on the sheet. Oh, and you can save the bacon fat for later too if you want - mmm, bacon fat potatoes. Not as good as duck fat potatoes, but it's not like I've had either so far (fear of things that may cause fires and all).

Le Bacon:

Le Bacon in use - my Paleo lunch:

I cut up cucumber slices, tomato slices, and avocado, and stuck everything between two cuke slices and ate them like sammiches. It was a fab bite-size lunch.

The One Where I Start to Meal-Plan

Soooooooo...I'm plotting. Lots of things, actually. But one of these plots involves planning. That sounds bad, in a funeral-home way - I'm not dying, nor is anyone else (hopefully) promise! I need to start getting more organized about life, especially with my new-found ADD-ness, and that means planning. Household cleaning planning, meal planning, five calendars-type planning.

My new meal planning will involve some aspects of the new Paleo craze that's going around. I think it's awesome, because it allows you to have ATB for every meal (avocado, tomato, bacon). Of course, no more grains (wah wah wahhhhhh). But I won't be doing the Whole30 completely, just modifying our meal planning to include more of the things in the hunter-gatherer menu and less of the refined/processed stuff, white flour and sugar and all that.

So, what I'm thinking on the dinner front is one whole-grain meal per week (I usually plan for dinner 5 nights a week and then wing it on the weekends - leftovers will suffice too), and the rest will be fruit-veg-meat. It will require actually learning how to cook beef that is not ground. But you know, if I can make my own taco salad, I'm pretty sure I'll be awesome at the rest. ::puts on charlie sheen winning button::

I will not stop baking though, don't you worry your pretty little heads about that. I use whole wheat flour now and I will continue that but also will start adding in some Paleo-inspired goods also - almond flour, coconut oil, etc. So, here begins my push to start eating whole...er... yeah.

Look, I made stuff!

I made taco salad! I feel so accomplished. Dinner, 0. Cat, 1. I mean, really, all I did was throw shit together.
But it was semi-healthy and cheap-ish. And I made it. Did I mention that?...  

Taco Salad
Ingredients: 
3/4 lb ground beef (I used organic 90% lean) 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp garlic salt 
1 tsp chili powder 
1 tsp cumin 
1/4 tsp oregano (these measurements are probably off, I just shake stuff in the pan) 
1/2 beefsteak tomato, chopped 
1/2 avocado, diced 
1/2 can niblet corn 
1/2 c black beans, rinsed 
salsa 

 Directions: I browned and chopped the beef (hellooooo pampered chef most useful tool evah), then added the spices and a couple spoonfuls of water. I added the black beans and corn while the stove was still on to warm them up, then mixed in the tomato and avocado after I took the pan off of the heat. 

Served on top of lettuce with ranch dressing and Newman's Own Mild salsa. So. Freaking. Awesome.

You're going to have to deal with the picture, because I ate it before I could photograph it. So you get leftovers, enjoy internets!

Verdict:

Making a comeback

at least, that's what I hope to be doing. We have a plan: for me to morph into a stay-at-home mom (SAHM for those of you not hip to the mommy-blogger lingo) by October of this year, at the latest. nervous{squee} We're working on ways to save money and cut down on spending, including saving energy, less eating out, and family cloth. Totally kidding about that last one, guys. I don't mess around with the miracles of modern indoor plumbing and its accoutrements. Anywho, I hope to come back here more frequently, with more updates about life with toddler, both while working and while working my arse off at home. To remind myself, here are some of the things I had planned to write about, but didn't get to yet: - the burrito's feeding habits - recycling toddler toys - trying to get him to sit on his potty - buying him a baby doll - his love of babyfirst tv - his budding vocabulary, including his immense use of the Klingon language (entitled "From dog to doch") - climbing everything and using the windowsill as his own personal gymnastic beam In closing, here is a picture of the kid to keep you coming back for more:

Home Safety - "childproofing"

What, I haven't been here for months, you say? Pssh. I'll just ignore that for now and come back to it in another post... ::distracts you with glow sticks::

I pull out pages and dog-ear magazines to be saved for later - things I want, rooms and colors and fabrics I like, crafts to be made, recipes to test. Pinterest has been great for this, as now I can recycle those magazines and pages and my husband will not have to burn the house down (oh wait, it was me who threatened that...). I'm totally kidding - we will NOT burn the house down, lurking insurance people.

So I ran across one that I just had to write down, as i can't really pin an article, and secondly - I have no idea from what magazine it came. Oops.

Home Safety - here are the suggestions it makes:

ENTIRE HOUSE
Safety locks on windows
Outlet covers
Smoke & Carbon Monoxide detectors
Corner protectors & edge cushions
Cord Shorteners
TV/DVD guard
Safety gates
Tips - keep batteries and purses out of reach. Keep space heaters away from baby.

We don't have extra safety locks on the windows currently because it's winter and they're ALL locked regularly. The only ones he can get to would be our bedroom windows, and I won't leave him in there unsupervised unless they are locked.
Outlet covers, smoke & CO detectors - CHECK. And Hubs changed the batts a few weeks ago.
Corner protectors, edge cushions - the only thing I can see him running into that has a sharp corner is the TV stand, and there is currently a bag of clothes from Hubs' SIL living there. I can't really think of any other sharp edges in our house. We don't have a fireplace, so I don't need to block it off with 18 baby gates (you know I would).
Cord shorteners - the only place he is left unsupervised where there are cords is the living room, where we have a lamp on the end table, our computer chargers, and the phone plugged in. Since we're geniuses, we put a baby gate in front of the whole thing, lol. And, I remixed it with the help of some velcro straps to make NOTHING stick out.
TV/DVD guard - you're looking at her. Er, listening...reading...her?
Safety gate - (see cord shorteners.) We have one at the basement steps, because right now the heat is on and that door is open. We have one at the end table, and one at the top of the stairs which can be used either in the hall to keep him away from the bathroom, for when we have the space heater on there before we give him a bath (it gets shut off if he is in there), or can be used at the top of the stairs with a little finagling - has to be VERY tight.

NURSERY
Screw-in door stoppers to keep doors from closing and locking
Finger pinch guard on doors and toy boxes
Crib rail teether
Baby monitor

Since our house was built in 1925 (yes we've had his bloodwork done, no signs of lead), most of our doors don't actually close. Getting the dingy, dust-hoarding carpet out and Killz-ing the bathroom was a priority when we bought it, lol. I have a planer, but didn't get there yet. So, the screw-in door stoppers to keep them from locking? Not necessary; we don't have any doors that lock other than the front and back. And the story of the front door locking is for ANOTHER POST ENTIRELY.
As for finger-pinch guards? he's learning now to close doors, and how they work, and I am of the school that he should learn what happens and not have to keep a contraption on the door until all of our (present and future) kids are in college.
Our toy box is actually a Longaberger laundry basket which we re-purposed for that, so no shutting of any lids there!
Crib rail teether - He hasn't chewed on his crib yet, hopefully he won't! But if he does, I will revisit this topic then, because our crib has a ledge for a rail.
Baby monitor - check. Got that one before he was born. Still use it if he's playing in his room or taking a nap somewhere throughout the house.

KITCHEN
Cabinet locks & drawer latches
Appliance knob covers & latches
Stove & burner guards
Tips: Keep cleaning products and sharp objects out of reach. Keep a list of important and emergency numbers handy. Never seat baby on the counter. Turn pot handles to the back of the stove.

The only cabinet in our kitchen which is currently latched is the under-sink one which has the cleaning products, trash bags, and vases. All of the other cabinets (two total) either have tupperware, which I let him play in, much to my husband's chagrin - I think it's totally cute when he sits in the cabinet and bangs plastic lids on things and sees how many ice cube trays he can fit in my iced tea pitcher. he's a toddler. it makes him happy. Or, they contain his food, bibs, and cups, which is semi-impossible for him to open currently due to the construction of the cabinet (1925, remember?) and the type of handle - cup drawer pull. There are only two more drawers within his reach, the muffin tin/cookie sheet/cake pan drawer, which I'm *pretty sure* I'll hear the second he pulls something out, and the pot holders and bread drawer. No harm there unless he tries to smother himself in pot holders. Or pretzels and graham crackers, which are currently the only things in my bread drawer, because I'm THAT person who keeps her bread in the frig. And spells refrigerator frig for short.
But I digress. Appliance knob covers - all of my appliances have no knobs within his reach - controls are on the back of the stove, and it's a glass-top; dishwasher buttons are on the top of the door, and there's a lock.
Stove & burner guards - I will have to look into something like this for when he gets a little taller, because we do have a glass-top and if he goes to put his hands up there it may hurt him. Obviously I've been teaching him "HOT" and not to touch, but y'know...toddlers.
Emergency numbers - on the frig, and I have a "babysitters' info sheet" with a dry-erase marker too.

BATHROOM
Toilet latch
Bathtub soft spout cover
Nonskid tub mat
Cabinet locks
Childproof containers
Tip: Keep all medications securely out of baby's reach.

I'm going to check on toilet latches this week, and am getting a whale-y cover at tarjay as well. We don't need a nonskid tub mat yet, because I'm still using his tub - it's ginormous, but uses less water than filling the whole tub, and has an incline so I can rinse his head w/o getting water in his toddler eyeballs.
Cabinet locks - we only have one cabinet in our bathroom, and it is currently held closed with a jack-o'lantern hair tie. SOOOO, yes I need to put latches on that one.
We have all of our medications in the kitchen in our medicine box in the cabinet above the sink, so he won't be able to get to them for another year, and hopefully in that time I will have taught him that climbing on the counters is NOT GOOD and will get you a seat on the TIME-OUT BENCH and possibly NO DESSERT. Or something.

Well, hopefully you have enjoyed that foray into my shopping list for this week, heh heh.