Pookie’s Peek at Plumbing

Remember last year when I mentioned that full bath we were going to add downstairs? Phase One was to move the laundry room upstairs. That has been done for a long time, and now we’re starting Phase Two, which is to turn the old, downstairs laundry room into that full bath. The project is still in its beginning stages, and Marcus has been working hard. But this time, he has a helper: Pookie! That’s right. With Pookie being a skilled walker, driller, and inspector extraordinaire, he is the perfect helper to his dad. Plus, the kid is almost 21 months old so it’s high time we put him to work!

So a few weeks ago (before his haircut) we took him with us to Home Depot to look at toilets and bathtubs.

Emrick is excited to get to work.

We're not really considering getting a shower like this, but we insisted that Emrick try it out anyway because what toddler doesn't look totally adorable trapped inside a glass booth?

Emrick says, "Yeah, uh, that was a blast. I can get out now, right?"

A few days later (and post-haircut), Emrick inspects Daddy’s plumbing adjustments in the space that is to be the new bathroom. Is it all up to code, Pookie?

Daddy also put in some new lights. That big hole is where we're going to install the spy cam* (Pookie's idea).

After his inspection, Emrick picked up a broom and gave the room a thorough sweeping.

 After that, Emrick left the room, but he let us know that an unannounced inspection could happen at any time. He can do it, too… especially since he can now open doors on his own:

Pookie helps himself to the in-progress bathroom.

I guess this is where Emrick’s short stature has been an advantage for us. If he were more average in height, he would probably have managed to do this at least three months ago. Marcus and I now rue the day that we asked the builder to install lever door handles! They are much easier for a kid to figure out, and it’s hard to find child-proofing devices for lever handles. The one I did manage to find didn’t fit! So we have resorted to cruder techniques to keep Pookie out of danger. I’ll photograph some of those for a later post, but for now I will show you what we did with the door to the basement:

Ugly? Or a new trend in home security?

It’s not beautiful, but so far it has kept Emrick from opening the door and tumbling down the stairs to the basement. So that’s where the bathroom and Pookie progress stand…

Oh! Pookie is also building his vocabulary. I will post on that soon. Just know this: If you ask Pookie what a cat says, be prepared to hear the cutest “meow” you have ever heard in your entire life. **

*We’re not really going to install a spy cam in the bathroom… unless we do, but we probably won’t, but it could be fun, but it’s not going to happen, but never say never, but don’t worry about it.

**Emrick’s vocabulary consists of more than animal noises, but the animal noises are the cutest. Moo!