Keeping a Wooden Train Track in Place

For Christmas our 11 month old received a Melissa and Doug Train Set and the accompanying train table to put it on.

It was obvious before it was even put together that it would be an issue to keep the train track together.

I looked at the set and came up with the fix of using 3M Command Strips to temporarily fix it in place.

I purchased a 48 pack of Small 3M Command Strips and got to work.

At each section of track I placed a Command Strip with the wall side on the table and tab facing inward in order to discourage tugging on them by the kids.
I placed the strip at the join between the two tracks so that both pieces of track are on the adhesive.

On the raised section of track I put a strip both below and on top of the pillars.

The results have been excellent.  The kids have played with the trains and tried to pull up the tracks to no avail.  Bonus to not have pieces of track distributed around the playroom.

So if you have a Melissa and Doug, Brio, or some other brand of wooden train set and want to keep it in place temporarily I recommend the 3M Command Strip solution!

Before

After

The Rash - Update

A follow up on Baby Nar Nar's rash.

The rash lasted in some form or another for another few months before fading away.

It never seemed to cause her any discomfort so we did not make a big deal about it.

We kept her lubricated with Aquaphor/Eucerin, Vaseline, and other infant skin-care products.

I will say that I felt that the Aveeno products we were using did not help the situation and actually in my opinion slightly aggravated the rash.

This issue with the Aveeno only lasted as long as the rash though, we have used the shampoo and body wash since then without incident.

What we primarily used to wash in lieu of the Aveeno were the Mustela products which I was happy with.

Our son is now 7 months old and has been using Aveeno pretty much the whole time and has not experienced any rash like his sister's to date.

Underground Yellow Jackets

The other day I was weed-whacking the yard perimeter when I exposed a small hole about the size of a racquetball. Typically in my yard these holes belong to chipmunks.

However this time as I looked at the hole I saw a yellow jacket crawl out.
Instinct took hold and I turned and ran at top speed to the front of the house.

I went inside to observe dozens of yellow jacket wasps swarming around the hole.
This lasted a good four hours or more.

The next day I observed the hole and there was a ton of activity with dozens of wasps going in and out of the hole every minute flying every which direction across my yard on their foraging missions.

Considering this hole was about 15 feet from my children's play-set I knew I had to take action.

This isn't my first time with underground wasps and I learned previously that running a hose for an extended period or spraying cans of insecticide inside were useless to fight this pest.
The first time around I resorted to pouring a little gasoline in the hole and it did the trick.

But that was a different time in a different place, not my own property where I am living.

So how to get rid of the wasps?
I researched the net and decided on a two pronged approach.

I would use a rodent smoke bomb coupled with a bug zapper right above the hole.

So the next clear night I suited up in my ski gear 100% protected as my wife amusedly stood around for support.  I took a flashlight and made a red filter from a translucent red plastic cup.

I went out and placed the bug zapper above the hole (unplugged at the house).

I then lit and inserted a Revenge rodent smoke bomb covering it up with a damp shop towel.

I ran back to the house and went to bed confident I got the job done.

The next morning I woke up and pulled out the binoculars to take a look.
The shop towel was completely gone and the smoke bomb was on the ground just outside of the hole!

Had these super-wasps really carried away a towel and moved a smoke bomb?

As the sun came up and the wasps starting flying I thought I began thinking maybe gasoline was my only choice.

Over the course of the day I observed that I had at least a partial success. Instead of dozens of wasps per minute of activity the nest was down to single digits of wasps per minute of activity.

Still not enough to make it safe for my kids though.

I waited another day and again observed my enemy from the safe distance of binoculars.
Hmm no wasp activity, occasionally I could see one fly in the general vicinity but none heading to and from the familiar hole. I noticed later in the day that the dirt around the hole which had been wet in the morning still looked wet and decided to go take a closer look.

It was a shock to see two sizable holes dug nearby to the wasp's hole and no wasps or nest to be found whatsoever.

I took a few pictures, picked up the bug zapper, and returned to the house to research animals that eat wasps nests.

I found a bunch of information on the net which pointed to three main potential predators and one anecdotally referenced predator.
It could be a. . .
Bear - Doubtful, they are occasionally around but i think highly unlikely
Skunk - Possible, but there has been no skunk odor in the neighborhood for a long time
Raccoon - Likely, haven't seen any for a year or two but they are definitely around
Opossum - Likely, these guys are always hiding out in New England
or maybe
Fox - Possible, used to be several in neighborhood but booming rabbit and chipmunk populations indicate they've probably moved on

My theory is that a raccoon or possum happened on my white shop towel which was under the bug zapper.
The bug zapper black light lit up the shop towel attracting insects all over it.
The critter found the towel and carried it away for a snack, maybe pulling out the smoke bomb to investigate further.
The next night the critter came back for a wasp buffet and dug up the nests finishing the job.

The next time I run into this problem I'll try another solution that I came across which is pouring honey into the hole to begin with and attract a critter to take care of the business for me.

In conclusion my yard is now safe and I think the best way to get rid of ground dwelling wasps is to encourage a local critter to do it for you.

I can say that the bug zapper method was pretty unsuccessful. It got a handful of wasps but not a huge amount and by no means did it anger them to the point where they all attacked it until they were wiped out.

iPad/iPhone Wont Connect to WiFi

Auntie gave baby her old iPad 2 for her birthday.

Mom couldn't get it connected to the WiFi in the house.

Dad couldn't get it connected to WiFi in the house.

I didn't find a quick easy solution that worked when searching the internet.

Problem is that our network is dual band 2Ghz/5Ghz with the same network name.
Most devices have no problem with this configuration.
Some iDevices apparently can't figure out how to connect.
My solution - Create a 3rd network with a different SSID.  Most routers these days can support multiple networks or a main network and guest network.
Solution 2 - Separate both the 2Ghz and 5Ghz networks with their own SSID.
Solution 3 - Disable either the 2Ghz or 5Ghz network

Of course you need to know what you are doing with your router settings.
If you don't, just show this post to someone who does!

The Rash

The baby has had a rash for several months now. It's awful and the doctors can't seem to figure it out.

• The rash was full body except for the diaper area and scalp.
• Her legs were uniformly covered in rough bumps but did not have much color
• Her back was covered in similar bumps but often took on a pink or reddish color.
• The front of her torso had more irregular further spaced red spots.
• Her neck was the worst, raw red and painful to look at.
• Her face varied depending on the day from looking like her back, to bumps like her legs, and bright red cheeks that looked a lot like fifth disease.

At one point her back
Sometimes the rash would intensify and her cheeks and throat would get very red when feeding.
For the most part the rash didn't seem to bother her in the least for the first couple months. Afterwards as most of her body improved her neck became extremely itchy and she would claw at it from time to time and often after eating.


Dermatologist - It's a virus and will work its way out of the system.
1st Doctor - It's a fungus, use clotrimazole cream on it.
2nd Doctor - It's a virus and will work its way out of the system.
Dermatologist (second evaluation) - It's eczema, cover with Aquaphor 
Grandpa - Use Cortizone-10 on it.
1st Doctor - New opinion, it's a yeast infection. Prescribed Nystatin cream.

We didn't go to an allergist (yet) which I think is a good thing. Baby Nar Nar is still getting exposed to all kinds of foods through Mama Moo's milk.

Alleged allergy triggers could have been Lactation Cookies and Peanut Butter, although we haven't really confirmed either at this point. Lactation cookies started about 3 weeks before the rash and peanut butter in Mama Moo's diet has been consistent throughout.
Another suspect is that this came on after her first set of shots, although a two month gap seems to be unlikely.

So far what we know is that Cortizone-10 starts to make a big difference after a couple days use twice a day.  Side affect of the Cortizone-10 is that the main rash goes away but she gets a lot red marks many which are pus filled, they look like zits.  Bacitracin starts to make those better, but then the original rash begins to return (we don't use both, it's one or the other).

We were using Oatmeal and Lavender bath bags to wash her, those caused a massive reaction with the rash turning into massive hives.
We also feel that Tide Free & Clear which was used since Day 1 aggravates the rash.  Since switching to Dreft the rash has stabilized or improved. Put on a Tide Free & Clear shirt and it gets redder and angrier.


Initial back rash with hives caused by Oatmeal/Lavendar bath satchets:

 Rash on cheek, chin, and trunk.

Rash on chin, cheeks, and chest:

Rash on chin, cheeks, chest, and arm. See raised area approximately size of a quarter in diameter.
This went away almost as fast as the surrounding rash with Cortizone-10:

Rash on the back:

Rash on the chin and cheeks:

Blessed with a little girl! Baby Nar Nar is Here!

Just over 6 months ago we were blessed with a perfect little baby girl.

She is a honeymoon baby, conceived in French Polynesia.  The best souvenir we could have possible asked for.

I realize that I should have begun chronicling my experiences 15 months ago, but it's never too late to start.

For the purposes of this blog I will refer to the little angel as Baby Nar Nar and her mother as Mama Moo.
Baby Nar Nar comes from the noise that she made when she was a newborn a cute monster like nar-nar-nar.


This blog is to share my experiences in fatherhood.  Milestones, questions, sleepless nights, and the onslaught of consumer items in the baby world.