Leaps and bounds

Remember those days when I used to blog at decent length about topics other than Simon's health or my own? Yeah, me too, but just barely. Sorry to disappoint any of you who might be hoping for something different tonight, but I have two important updates:

A) Simon has figured out how to get down from the loft! I don't know when or how he figured this out; he just started doing it last week out of the very blue. His two approaches are 1) a running leap from the mattress onto the sofa and 2) a gentle, easy plop from the top rung of the ladder onto the dresser. The other night he eagerly showed me his new trick over, and over, and over again. Though I didn't get the sleep I needed that night, I'm optimistic about future nights now that I don't have to worry about carrying him downstairs.

B) My apartment smells like the bowels of hell. The odor that permeates the building's entryway, which smells roughly like a cross between garbage, death and more death, has seeped into my own living quarters. I hope whatever it is isn't dangerous, lest we die or something.

Oh, also: This will be my first winter to have a radiator. The heat got turned on a couple of nights ago, and I must say the clanging of pipes startles me and sort of creeps me out. Something just occurred to me: What if the ungodly odor and the recently activated heat are related? And how do I address this issue with my landlord? "Oh, Landlord? Your building -- my tiny apartment that you charge entirely too much for included -- smells like Satan's refuse. Would you please look into this matter? Thank you."