My first baby-related project!

We were at a friend's 1st birthday for their son Zachary and I was surprised to realize that his mom Melissa was willing to offload a bunch of baby toys, clothes, a baby seat, to name a few for us to use.  Among them was a changing table that their neighbor was trying to donate.

Being that our boy will not only be the first boy in the family, but the first grandchild too.  Add on that the first BOY grandchild, and we have a formula for a spoiled kid!  While we fully plan to shower him with love and affection, we were weary of all the supplies we would have to get to equip us with his care, warmth, and safety.  That is, weary of the waste we would generate in buying new things that get used only briefly before they are outgrown and set aside.  Clothes, cribs, strollers, toys, etc. 

Though we are fascinated by baby supplies and tempted to buy new stuff for our child, we would much prefer to spend our money on more enduring things rather than all the transitional supplies.  So we've opted to try to reuse as much as we can and only buy new if we have no other choice. 

We've purchased a quality used crib online for a small fraction of a new crib.  Also a stroller--Craigslist rocks!  We have plans to take a used dresser from a friend and perhaps refinish it.  And our latest addition is a white changing table that was cluttering up someone's home unused.  Granted, when we take hand-me-downs, the pieces do not likely match, in color or style.  This particular changing table was scuffed and stained in some places, making it look a bit worn and weathered.  Since our crib is medium wood toned, it is quite easy to paint the table to match.  This will beautify and make it look more consistent with the other furniture in the room.

Below is the changing table, in pieces just prior to painting.  Surface preparation included light sanding to rough up the surface, and a thorough wipe down and air dried, all to help with paint adhesion.



After a coat of brown paint, I added a couple of coats of water-based polyurethane clear-coat to turn it a semi-gloss and to add durability to the finish. (Paint alone gets scratched easily especially on high-traffic surfaces.)  The semi-gloss finish also makes it easier to clean, which is particularly important for this item!

And within one afternoon, it was back together, like new and ready to use! 

Cost of this project:  $16 for paint and clear coat.



We like the open shelves in this changing table because of easy access to diapers and clothes during changing (good advice from our friend Mommy Melissa.)

So it seems that having a baby means more home projects.  I'm game!

On Sunday, I spent a good chunk of my time with Juan, my Little Brother.  My once a month get together with him.  He is 16 now and I am challenged to find more age-appropriate things to do together.

Recently he started suggesting projects he found on the web that we can do together, and sent me some links.  One of them was a fume extractor project based on this link.  It is a fan that is used to suck fumes away from the user during soldering.  And it fits inside an Altoids can...at least he thought.  What makes this different than an ordinary fan is that it has a carbon filter to neutralize the fumes, so the air that comes out on the other end is clean.

We spent the first 1.5 hrs shopping for components, so we stopped by Radio Shack and Fry's Electronics for various components. After lunch, we headed into my office to put them all together.

The video link above makes it look quite easy, and it is.  Except that we decided on a fan that was too big to fit into the Altoids can.  I did this on purpose because I wanted to show him what I did for work.  Being a mechanical design engineer, I use a program called Pro/Engineer to create designs.  This situation segways nicely into a discussion for the design of a 'custom' box.  This design can then be *printed* out on a prototype building machine called a SLA printer that we have in-house at work. 

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon designing the box with a slide on lid, and I showed him the basics on how to use the program.  Due to our limited time together, I had to do the 2nd half of the design.  You can see the results below.



And while the parts are being prepared for printing, we drew up a diagram on how the components needed to be soldered together as we wind down the day.  By the end of our meeting, we completed the circuitry and were able to get the fan to work (outside of the box) by flipping ON the built-in switch.  But final assembly had to wait until the box is printed.

I don't really know what Juan likes to do as he becomes an adult, because he doesn't even know yet.  But all I can do now is to take any signs of interest that he has, and show him what could potentially become of it should he decide to pursue it.  It just so happens that what he seems to be interested in right now has some overlap with what I do.  Any exposure to what work life could be like is good exposure at this point!

As most of you know already, Sabrina and I are expecting our first child in February.

Back in July, around the 12 week mark, we went in for an ultrasound.  Below is a minute long video of our very active Little Lam, who we've referred to as Ziggie (the Zygote) up to now.


Tomorrow, we go in to find out our baby's gender. 

As any parent, all we wish for is that we have a healthy child, boy or a girl.  But for fun, we've been discussing the benefits of having a girl first vs. having a boy first.  My preference is for girl, because I think a little brother can learn a lot about being a man by learning how to treat a woman from his big sister. 

Given that I think growing up being a boy is less fraught with peril from society at large, I give Kudos to the women of the world in learning all the complex rules and subtleties of being a woman, and still struggle to be treated equally as a man, even in today's "modern day".  And understanding the value of a woman's role in a man's life is essential to a boy's upbringing, I think.  So given that women are the superior sex, I think the boy needs all the help he can get!  His mom, AND his big sister.

For kicks, we are taking a poll on whether it will be a boy or a girl.  So far, we have 11 to 8 for a Girl.

What's your vote?