Can someone please inform my son that a 2 week old should NOT have the strength or coordination to roll himself from back to belly?!?!
This was just a one-time thing until he gets much bigger, right? But still...I think we're in trouble with this one!
Friday, May 08, 2009
Thursday, May 07, 2009
A little bragging...
...about Heather.
The girl loves her ABCDs. I don't think we've tested every letter, but she knows most of them. She definitely knows her H, Stewart's S, Todd's T, Nana's N, Bapa's B, Mommy's M, Daddy's D and Karla's K. She likes P and Z, too.
She also loves singing. She knows almost all of the songs that Daddy has on his iPod and others, too, that they sing in music class.
She's regularly saying 'thank you' and saying 'please' pretty often.
Heather loves her duplo blocks. She got another bin last weekend when she and daddy were running errands, and now we have enough blocks for all three of us to be building at the same time. :-)
She's doing a good job of being gentle with Todd, and she refers to him as 'her baby', 'baby brother' and occassionally 'Todd'.
Heather looks really big now, compared to Todd. She's still a peanut for her age, but to us she looks so much bigger than she did two weeks ago.
I'm sure there are more cute stories, but I need to decompress my brain so I can fall asleep after Todd's next feeding.
The girl loves her ABCDs. I don't think we've tested every letter, but she knows most of them. She definitely knows her H, Stewart's S, Todd's T, Nana's N, Bapa's B, Mommy's M, Daddy's D and Karla's K. She likes P and Z, too.
She also loves singing. She knows almost all of the songs that Daddy has on his iPod and others, too, that they sing in music class.
She's regularly saying 'thank you' and saying 'please' pretty often.
Heather loves her duplo blocks. She got another bin last weekend when she and daddy were running errands, and now we have enough blocks for all three of us to be building at the same time. :-)
She's doing a good job of being gentle with Todd, and she refers to him as 'her baby', 'baby brother' and occassionally 'Todd'.
Heather looks really big now, compared to Todd. She's still a peanut for her age, but to us she looks so much bigger than she did two weeks ago.
I'm sure there are more cute stories, but I need to decompress my brain so I can fall asleep after Todd's next feeding.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Thoughts and Observations from week 1
Todd, R and I came home from the hospital a week ago. We are slowly moving into our new life as a family of four. We are learning about Todd, watching Heather's responses to the changes and trying to sleep whenever we can. I'm healing well and Todd's weight check yesterday was a success, so forward we go.
Todd is definitely a more laid back baby than Heather was. (And I highly recommend having your higher maintenance baby first. If we had a newborn like Heather along with a 2 year old I don't think we'd be surviving nearly as well as we are.) He still sleeps quite a bit (and doesn't fight sleep?!?!) but he's starting to have a couple of alert periods each day. Otherwise, the day is about eating, pooping and napping. Classic newborn.
Unlike Heather, Todd is not content to sit in a dirty diaper. He's even been known to refuse to eat until he gets changed. Figuring that out was a big help. As was figuring out that he throws a fit when you change his diaper, so its a good way to wake him up when he needs to be eating instead of sleeping. :-)
Heather seems to be taking well to her little brother. She is of course finding some frustration when she can't get the attention she wants from one of us or in the fact that I can't pick her up and carry her around. But overall, I think she's been very patient and loving toward Todd. We've been sending her to daycare, and I think keeping that little bit of consistency in her life and sending her to a place without Todd has been good to keep her at an even keel. The only two changes we've noticed are a renewed interest in using her pacifier outside of her crib and some separation anxiety overnight. She also seems to be interested in giving Todd a pacifier and we now know that all four of us can sleep in our queen sized bed. (Six if you count the two cats, although they don't stick around when Todd wakes up crying to eat.) This isn't an ideal long-term sleep solution, but it is working for us during this transition period and allowing R & I to get some rest. I'm sure by next week we'll be doing something different again!
Oh, and if you ever need to lose 18 pounds in one week, just have a baby and breastfeed. ;-)
Todd is definitely a more laid back baby than Heather was. (And I highly recommend having your higher maintenance baby first. If we had a newborn like Heather along with a 2 year old I don't think we'd be surviving nearly as well as we are.) He still sleeps quite a bit (and doesn't fight sleep?!?!) but he's starting to have a couple of alert periods each day. Otherwise, the day is about eating, pooping and napping. Classic newborn.
Unlike Heather, Todd is not content to sit in a dirty diaper. He's even been known to refuse to eat until he gets changed. Figuring that out was a big help. As was figuring out that he throws a fit when you change his diaper, so its a good way to wake him up when he needs to be eating instead of sleeping. :-)
Heather seems to be taking well to her little brother. She is of course finding some frustration when she can't get the attention she wants from one of us or in the fact that I can't pick her up and carry her around. But overall, I think she's been very patient and loving toward Todd. We've been sending her to daycare, and I think keeping that little bit of consistency in her life and sending her to a place without Todd has been good to keep her at an even keel. The only two changes we've noticed are a renewed interest in using her pacifier outside of her crib and some separation anxiety overnight. She also seems to be interested in giving Todd a pacifier and we now know that all four of us can sleep in our queen sized bed. (Six if you count the two cats, although they don't stick around when Todd wakes up crying to eat.) This isn't an ideal long-term sleep solution, but it is working for us during this transition period and allowing R & I to get some rest. I'm sure by next week we'll be doing something different again!
Oh, and if you ever need to lose 18 pounds in one week, just have a baby and breastfeed. ;-)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
An important quickie!
Lots to tell you, but I'm low on energy and I don't know when I'll have much time or energy in the near future. If any of you haven't heard yet - we have two kids now. ;-)
Some photos of the little guy are here.
Todd Eldon was born on 04/27/09 at 2:08pm.
Todd, Heather, Daddy and I are doing well, and as long as Todd passes the car seat test tonight we'll both be headed home tomorrow. :-)
He decided to follow in baby Jude's footsteps and come before 36 weeks, which caused a bunch of extra tests due to his prematurity, but so far he's passed them all with flying colors. Good temp, good weight, good glucose levels, etc. Mommy just wishes he would eat a little more, but he has a good sucking reflex and the pedi says he'll eat more in a few days when he's hungry. He's pretty laid back right now - hopefully he'll stay that way, but I'm prepared for a lot more fussiness when we get closer to his due date. 
Friday, April 17, 2009
I've got nothing
Sorry if you're checking in for interesting blog content, I'm going to disappoint you today.
I'm tired. I've got lots of work to do. There is a lot to do at home, and I'm not going to get any of it done this weekend.
But I've been reminded recently of how lovely and supportive my friends are. The girls weekend I went on last month was a great respite, and I've since been reminded in a number of ways how lucky I am to be a part of the give and take from a lovely group of women. And even friends who I don't talk to or communicate with as much as I would like to (or should) have been reminding me a lot lately how much they mean to me - whether it is sharing a story, gushing over the same TV show or just letting me know that they are thinking of me. And, of course, the time to spend with family and longtime friends over Easter gave me the usual warm and fuzzy feeling.
Consider this a blanket reminder that I am thinking of all of you and I promise that when things get less insane I will find more tangible ways of reminding you.
I'm tired. I've got lots of work to do. There is a lot to do at home, and I'm not going to get any of it done this weekend.
But I've been reminded recently of how lovely and supportive my friends are. The girls weekend I went on last month was a great respite, and I've since been reminded in a number of ways how lucky I am to be a part of the give and take from a lovely group of women. And even friends who I don't talk to or communicate with as much as I would like to (or should) have been reminding me a lot lately how much they mean to me - whether it is sharing a story, gushing over the same TV show or just letting me know that they are thinking of me. And, of course, the time to spend with family and longtime friends over Easter gave me the usual warm and fuzzy feeling.
Consider this a blanket reminder that I am thinking of all of you and I promise that when things get less insane I will find more tangible ways of reminding you.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Easter!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
Possible stash solution
I tossed the stash last night. It was in need of a tossing because it's been at least a year, there are multiple new yarn purchases that had either not been properly stored or not stored with similar weight yarn, and I was pretty sure a reorganization would result in a few less containers by making better use of my bigger ones. There were lots of project leftovers that needed to find a home, too. I'm also a little paranoid about the m-word* and wanted to head off any problems before they become big ones. (There are three bags ready to go in the freezer due to signs of problems, but luckily nothing flew out of any container I opened...)
*for the uninitiated, I'm talking about m-o-t-h issues. I find I don't even want to use the word, like the superstition of not mentioning "the scottish play" at the theater.
I was also keeping an eye out for potential baby yarns and possible yarns to help with my vest issues. I need to do a little swatching, but I may have found an alpaca solution for the vest. I've got 200 yards of a 100% alpaca purchased at The Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, Ohio in fall 2006. The big pro is that it is a from-the-farm yarn like the ones I have, which will keep the whole vest "sustainable" without needing to add a factory yarn to the mix. The caveat is that it is hand-painted, so I need to see how it works up in a fair isle pattern. I'm also a little concerned that the lighter portions of the hand-dyed will be too similar to the oatmeal yarn and no provide enough contrast. But if it does work, it would be really beautiful.
Hopefully we'll get the nice weather we've been promised this weekend so I can take some progress photos to document this little journey.
*for the uninitiated, I'm talking about m-o-t-h issues. I find I don't even want to use the word, like the superstition of not mentioning "the scottish play" at the theater.
I was also keeping an eye out for potential baby yarns and possible yarns to help with my vest issues. I need to do a little swatching, but I may have found an alpaca solution for the vest. I've got 200 yards of a 100% alpaca purchased at The Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, Ohio in fall 2006. The big pro is that it is a from-the-farm yarn like the ones I have, which will keep the whole vest "sustainable" without needing to add a factory yarn to the mix. The caveat is that it is hand-painted, so I need to see how it works up in a fair isle pattern. I'm also a little concerned that the lighter portions of the hand-dyed will be too similar to the oatmeal yarn and no provide enough contrast. But if it does work, it would be really beautiful.
Hopefully we'll get the nice weather we've been promised this weekend so I can take some progress photos to document this little journey.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Vest woes
Let me start by saying that I would probably be better off right now working on things like shawls, blankets, hats, mittens...you know things that are actually compatible with the body of a woman who is 7 months pregnant. I do have the advantage that I've made/I own several sweaters that fit my not-pregnant body well, but there are times that it would be simpler if I could just put what I'm making ON. The prime example being the nearly finished but zipperless Samus cardigan that I have no use for until at least October.
But my current yarny fever seems to be all about sweaters and vests, with only a mild interest in crocheted blankets, so I just seem to keep going with the things I can't wear.
I've got two things on the needles right now. I'm working on Bristow in my solo silk from Brooks Farm and so far it is turning out spectacularly. I can't know for sure since I can't put it on, but it looks comparable in size to things in my closet.
The other is this vest (pictured above) from Vogue Knitting Fall 2005. Consider the pattern really as a jumping off point. 1 - I'm not doing the body in ribbing because I'm using 100% alpaca, which doesn't hold ribbing well. 2 - I'm going to put an i-cord under the fair isle to emphasize the smallest part of my waist. 3 - I'm going to knit the whole thing in one piece and steek the openings. 4 - I was hoping to do the fair isle in just two colors (chocolate and oatmeal). 5 - I'm using a 100% alpaca in DK weight while the pattern calls for a heavier yarn in a wool blend.
My primary concern is that I just finished the first hank of chocolate brown yarn. I have 8" of body done, and I need to do 11" to get to the fair isle section. I was going to do the ribbed edging in the chocolate, too. I can do some math and weighing, but I'm just really not sure that it will be enough. And if I steek, there is no going back.
I'm considering:
- washing the body of the vest that is done so far to see if it grows in length (I did wash my swatch, but I didn't measure it before I washed it. Although I guess I could compare the row gauge of the washed swatch to the row gauge of the unwashed knitting...)
- working the fair isle back and forth so it would be possible to rip back if I run out of chocolate yarn.
- calling the alpaca farm to see about getting more chocolate yarn. (I was just being too thrifty while I was shopping)
- adding a third color to the fair isle pattern in order to need less chocolate yarn. (Pro - add more color to the sweater and I have a lovely pink angora blend that could work well, Con - vest is less neutral and might go with fewer shirts)
- weighing the knitting, weighing the skeins and counting the stitches I've knit so far to do some more advanced knitting math and see what's really possible. I enjoy being a "figure it out as I go" knitter most of the time, but I don't think that's a wise path this time.
When I'm not obsessed with things for me, I'm on the lookout for a good spring/summer hat pattern for baby-yet-to-be-named and I'm pondering a crocheted blanket for him made with these squares in either a sock yarn or Cotton Fine.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Hmmmm...
I keep thinking of snippets of things that I could post, but nothing really seems to be worthy of a whole post. I need to get over that and write what I'm thinking, even if it is only a few sentences. (I should probably realize that being brief isn't a problem...)
Highlights from the last 10 days:
1 - Heather's favorite phrase is absolutely "by myself". She would do EVERYTHING by herself if she could and we usually give her a chance to try whenever time allows. She can (generally) put on her coat, put on her shoes, get out a bib and put it on, eat a banana or orange and climb onto the coffee table. 8-|
Most of these efforts usually involve a little assistance (starting the banana peel, starting the zipper, etc) and some are not ideal activities, but life with a two-year old seems to involve finding the right balance between letting her have some freedom (walking on the inside of the sidewalk without holding our hand) and providing boundaries (not letting her walk on the curb along the street). No doubt it is entertaining and exhausting, especially when you're 7 months pregnant.
2 - Some actual, visible progress has been achieved on my office. The closet is as empty as its going to get, some shelves are empty, one doll house has vacated the room and there is less stuff. A whole trash bag has been filled, as well as a number of recycling bags and a box for donation. The beginning of Saturday was spent cleaning our room and dressing room, since I knew some of my stuff was headed for those rooms and they both really needed a good cleaning. My office/the baby's room will need a really good cleaning when the organizing process is done, but for now I'm just cleaning things as I encounter them or remove them to other parts of the house. I don't see much point in trying to dust and mop the whole room when there is still "stuff" sitting all over.
If anyone has any great tips for storing a fabric stash, displaying old toys, washing musty doll clothes or otherwise dealing with "stuff" from the past I'm all ears. I think I'm doing well at letting go of a lot and "giving up" on projects that haven't gotten done in 5 years of having the materials, but I'm too sentimental to chuck it all. :-)
3 - Knitting update:
Heather's sweater is done. I found great buttons and it washed beautifully. I think it could have been a little longer, considering how much extra width there is, but it definitely has a lot of room to grow for the fall. She wore it all day Saturday without complaint and remembered that mommy made it all but one time. (I admit, it can be hard to remember which sweater's were made by mommy and which ones were made by nana...even daddy forgets. ;-)
On a whim, I made a granny square on Wednesday night. A ravelry friend had a few really pretty crocheted squares in her favorites, and the patterns were free, and I have leftover yarn from Samus. So I made one while we watched LOST and some other TV. I'm pondering a baby blanket, although the wool for Samus isn't machine washable and the one I made is probably too "open" for a baby blanket. The idea of using the pattern with sock yarn and a smaller hook is stewing in my head. But I really should make my future son a coming home hat first since Heather had one of those. It's only fair!
The cardigan and vest I mentioned in my last post are both progressing. I've finished the back of the cardigan and 2/3rds of the left front. I have to wind more yarn before I can continue. I've started the waist decreases on the vest. It is 200ish stitches around, so I only get about an inch or so knit in a day of bus commuting. Even though it will require more finishing later, the cardigan feels faster since I can finish whole pieces in a few days.
4 - I'll be 32 weeks pregnant on Wednesday.
Seriously?!?! I guess we're in okay shape. There are some things that we still need, but if push came to shove buying some diapers and setting up the bassinet, pack'n'play and infant car seat are the only things that *have* to be done before baby comes home. The rest are things that we could improvise around or get before too long. Food, diapers, clothes, a car seat and a place to sleep are really the basic necessities.
We did meet with a doula this weekend, and I have vague notions of what I'd like to purchase before the furniture is delivered, but we are so incredibly laid back this time it is a little scary. :-) Oh, and choosing a name would probably be a good idea, too...
5 - Congrats to blogless Jen on the birth of her son William this morning! I suppose his arrival just pushes the rest of us closer to our turn in the queue!
Highlights from the last 10 days:
1 - Heather's favorite phrase is absolutely "by myself". She would do EVERYTHING by herself if she could and we usually give her a chance to try whenever time allows. She can (generally) put on her coat, put on her shoes, get out a bib and put it on, eat a banana or orange and climb onto the coffee table. 8-|
Most of these efforts usually involve a little assistance (starting the banana peel, starting the zipper, etc) and some are not ideal activities, but life with a two-year old seems to involve finding the right balance between letting her have some freedom (walking on the inside of the sidewalk without holding our hand) and providing boundaries (not letting her walk on the curb along the street). No doubt it is entertaining and exhausting, especially when you're 7 months pregnant.
2 - Some actual, visible progress has been achieved on my office. The closet is as empty as its going to get, some shelves are empty, one doll house has vacated the room and there is less stuff. A whole trash bag has been filled, as well as a number of recycling bags and a box for donation. The beginning of Saturday was spent cleaning our room and dressing room, since I knew some of my stuff was headed for those rooms and they both really needed a good cleaning. My office/the baby's room will need a really good cleaning when the organizing process is done, but for now I'm just cleaning things as I encounter them or remove them to other parts of the house. I don't see much point in trying to dust and mop the whole room when there is still "stuff" sitting all over.
If anyone has any great tips for storing a fabric stash, displaying old toys, washing musty doll clothes or otherwise dealing with "stuff" from the past I'm all ears. I think I'm doing well at letting go of a lot and "giving up" on projects that haven't gotten done in 5 years of having the materials, but I'm too sentimental to chuck it all. :-)
3 - Knitting update:
Heather's sweater is done. I found great buttons and it washed beautifully. I think it could have been a little longer, considering how much extra width there is, but it definitely has a lot of room to grow for the fall. She wore it all day Saturday without complaint and remembered that mommy made it all but one time. (I admit, it can be hard to remember which sweater's were made by mommy and which ones were made by nana...even daddy forgets. ;-)
On a whim, I made a granny square on Wednesday night. A ravelry friend had a few really pretty crocheted squares in her favorites, and the patterns were free, and I have leftover yarn from Samus. So I made one while we watched LOST and some other TV. I'm pondering a baby blanket, although the wool for Samus isn't machine washable and the one I made is probably too "open" for a baby blanket. The idea of using the pattern with sock yarn and a smaller hook is stewing in my head. But I really should make my future son a coming home hat first since Heather had one of those. It's only fair!
The cardigan and vest I mentioned in my last post are both progressing. I've finished the back of the cardigan and 2/3rds of the left front. I have to wind more yarn before I can continue. I've started the waist decreases on the vest. It is 200ish stitches around, so I only get about an inch or so knit in a day of bus commuting. Even though it will require more finishing later, the cardigan feels faster since I can finish whole pieces in a few days.
4 - I'll be 32 weeks pregnant on Wednesday.
Seriously?!?! I guess we're in okay shape. There are some things that we still need, but if push came to shove buying some diapers and setting up the bassinet, pack'n'play and infant car seat are the only things that *have* to be done before baby comes home. The rest are things that we could improvise around or get before too long. Food, diapers, clothes, a car seat and a place to sleep are really the basic necessities.
We did meet with a doula this weekend, and I have vague notions of what I'd like to purchase before the furniture is delivered, but we are so incredibly laid back this time it is a little scary. :-) Oh, and choosing a name would probably be a good idea, too...
5 - Congrats to blogless Jen on the birth of her son William this morning! I suppose his arrival just pushes the rest of us closer to our turn in the queue!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Knitting Update
For those curious, last weekend at the cabin was fabulous. The weather was sunny and mild (not that I left the cabin property all weekend, but I did go outside a few times), the friendship and laughs were wonderful and I look forward to doing the whole thing again. Yes, it was even worth a day of illness after I got home - especially since I got off relatively easy on that front.
Yarn related accomplishments from the weekend:
- I finally mended my winter gloves which had developed two small holes.
- I seamed up Samus and knit an i-cord edge all the way around. It still needs a semi-aggressive blocking and a zipper, but I can't install the zipper until I can put it on my post-partum body. So I will be packing it away until this fall.
- I swatched two of the yarns I bought at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival for future upcoming projects.
- I organized the completed blocks of my Babette blanket and wove in some of the ends.
- I knit the majority of a new sweater for Heather. I had about 3 inches of yoke done when I was picked up Friday morning and when I came home on Sunday I had about 15 rows left to finish the second sleeve. I finished that and the button band this week, so all that remains is to weave in ends, find buttons and block it. Pictures soon.
Given my recent progress, I think I'm doing pretty well on my 2009 NaKnitSweMoDo goals
"1 - I will focus my 2009 knitting energy on 12 sweaters, tops and vests."
I've got 3 items completed or nearly completed - Amelia, Heather's yoke sweater and Samus (ravelry links) - which I think is pretty good for mid-March. I've made some Babette progress, too, which I'm willing to count as one of the 12 if I can reconnect with it and finish.
I realize that my knitting mojo is going to take a nosedive in two months, but I'm trying to take advantage of it while its still going strong!
The two swatches I made over the weekend will inform my next two projects - a cardigan and a vest. I admit to being a little more excited about the cardigan since I'll at least be able to try that on for length. The vest is a little more daunting since the only thing I'll be able to do in the short term is hold it up to other things that fit pre-pregnancy. And also, I can't find a pattern that is quite what I want, so a lot of it is going to have to be worked out as I go along using a published pattern as a (very) rough guide.
Yarn related accomplishments from the weekend:
- I finally mended my winter gloves which had developed two small holes.
- I seamed up Samus and knit an i-cord edge all the way around. It still needs a semi-aggressive blocking and a zipper, but I can't install the zipper until I can put it on my post-partum body. So I will be packing it away until this fall.
- I swatched two of the yarns I bought at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival for future upcoming projects.
- I organized the completed blocks of my Babette blanket and wove in some of the ends.
- I knit the majority of a new sweater for Heather. I had about 3 inches of yoke done when I was picked up Friday morning and when I came home on Sunday I had about 15 rows left to finish the second sleeve. I finished that and the button band this week, so all that remains is to weave in ends, find buttons and block it. Pictures soon.
Given my recent progress, I think I'm doing pretty well on my 2009 NaKnitSweMoDo goals
"1 - I will focus my 2009 knitting energy on 12 sweaters, tops and vests."
I've got 3 items completed or nearly completed - Amelia, Heather's yoke sweater and Samus (ravelry links) - which I think is pretty good for mid-March. I've made some Babette progress, too, which I'm willing to count as one of the 12 if I can reconnect with it and finish.
I realize that my knitting mojo is going to take a nosedive in two months, but I'm trying to take advantage of it while its still going strong!
The two swatches I made over the weekend will inform my next two projects - a cardigan and a vest. I admit to being a little more excited about the cardigan since I'll at least be able to try that on for length. The vest is a little more daunting since the only thing I'll be able to do in the short term is hold it up to other things that fit pre-pregnancy. And also, I can't find a pattern that is quite what I want, so a lot of it is going to have to be worked out as I go along using a published pattern as a (very) rough guide.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Dreams
As a parent of a baby and later a toddler, you spend a lot of time wondering what is going on in their heads. Do they dream? Do they understand the question? What train of thought led them to remember someone they saw a few weeks ago? What is the obsession with ravioli? :-)
Well, I think one question has been answered for us. There is no doubt in my mind as of this morning that Heather dreams.
Last night about 1am she started whining and calling out for "mommy". We waited, and after about 60 seconds she was quiet again. It is moments like those that you wonder if she was awake and upset, and managed to settle herself down again or if it was just a dream.
At 6:40am, while I was between alarm snoozes and trying to wake myself up, she began calling for "my kangaroo, my kangaroo, my kangaroo"... Considering that she doesn't have a kangaroo in her crib or any toy kangaroo anywhere in the house, I'm pretty confident that she was dreaming. :-)
Well, I think one question has been answered for us. There is no doubt in my mind as of this morning that Heather dreams.
Last night about 1am she started whining and calling out for "mommy". We waited, and after about 60 seconds she was quiet again. It is moments like those that you wonder if she was awake and upset, and managed to settle herself down again or if it was just a dream.
At 6:40am, while I was between alarm snoozes and trying to wake myself up, she began calling for "my kangaroo, my kangaroo, my kangaroo"... Considering that she doesn't have a kangaroo in her crib or any toy kangaroo anywhere in the house, I'm pretty confident that she was dreaming. :-)
Monday, March 02, 2009
Pronouns
Heather seems to have figured them out this week. Certainly, as a 2 year old, her sentence structure isn't perfect (and it's pretty cute when its not!), but we noticed this week that she's starting to replace names with pronouns. Many uses of Heather have been replaced with me, my and I. And many uses of mommy and daddy have been replaced with you and your. It's pretty amazing how suddenly it has "clicked".
As I think I've mentioned, she's been speaking in longer sentences for a few months now. We've loved listening to her progress and she really is communicating well. But a few weeks ago R and I realized that we were spending a lot of time artificially speaking in the third person. I would say "Mommy is getting milk for Heather" instead of "I am getting milk for you", etc. I think we were initially doing it to make sure that she knew her name and our names, as well as a way of making ourselves very clear. When there are multiple people in the room, pronouns can be confusing, even for adults. :-)
So we've gradually been changing the way we speak. I don't know if her speech change is a result or a coincidence, but either way it is very cute.
Overall, except for occassional bouts of toddler stubborn-ness, she's not making me feel *too* worried about having 2 kids under 3. I know that its going to be exhausting no matter what, but she's not giving me that "I can barely handle one, what are we going to do with TWO" kind of feeling that I had back when we first talked about having another. I'm sure in two weeks she'll go through a phase that makes me want to pull out my hair. But at the moment *knock on wood* she's an extremely pleasant child who's only tiring request is the need to be rocked before bed.
More later about Franklin and fun with my friends!
As I think I've mentioned, she's been speaking in longer sentences for a few months now. We've loved listening to her progress and she really is communicating well. But a few weeks ago R and I realized that we were spending a lot of time artificially speaking in the third person. I would say "Mommy is getting milk for Heather" instead of "I am getting milk for you", etc. I think we were initially doing it to make sure that she knew her name and our names, as well as a way of making ourselves very clear. When there are multiple people in the room, pronouns can be confusing, even for adults. :-)
So we've gradually been changing the way we speak. I don't know if her speech change is a result or a coincidence, but either way it is very cute.
Overall, except for occassional bouts of toddler stubborn-ness, she's not making me feel *too* worried about having 2 kids under 3. I know that its going to be exhausting no matter what, but she's not giving me that "I can barely handle one, what are we going to do with TWO" kind of feeling that I had back when we first talked about having another. I'm sure in two weeks she'll go through a phase that makes me want to pull out my hair. But at the moment *knock on wood* she's an extremely pleasant child who's only tiring request is the need to be rocked before bed.
More later about Franklin and fun with my friends!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Various
I feel like I've been thinking about blogging for the past week, but I haven't sat down to actually do it. I was barely on my computer all weekend and there hasn't been a good combination of mild temperatures + partial sun + free time for photography of yarn or projects. I also still haven't gotten back to the birthday party pictures. (I had a bunch open in Photoshop ready for editing when my computer froze up and had to be rebooted. :-( I haven't found the energy to go through the pictures again and most need some editing before uploading.)
So here are some random notes to try to free up my mind a little...
1 - Tomorrow is the beginning of the third trimester. Realizing that it was getting close, we bought baby furniture over the weekend. A crib and a double dresser. This makes it even more critical that I clean up my room so we actually have a place for these items.
I think we've realized that the dollhouses in my office need to go into storage for the forseeable future. At some point when we've finished the work on the 3rd floor and basement I can probably have a room that is all my own again...but until that happens or until Heather is old enough to play with the smaller dollhouse, there just isn't a good place for the dollhouses to live in "public".
2 - I'm trying to finish something at work that I really want to get off my plate and that is really mentally taxing to work on. I'm also pretty tired this week. This is not a great combination. I'm trying to use my iPod to help me through. As well as chocolate and coffee.
3 - I'm making good progress on Samus - a few more days and I should have the main body knitting finished. I'm also trying make myself put it down often enough that I can finish the baby knitting I need to do for next month.
4 - I had a great time at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. I took a crochet class from Robyn Chachula that was great. There were a few times that I felt a little slow since my crochet skills aren't awesome, but she was a great teacher and never made me feel like a slow student. I hope she'll be back in Pittsburgh again soon! Before her class I did my shopping at the Brooks Farm Yarn booth. I knew that I wanted to spend some of my shopping budget there and it seemed easier to do it before I had seen anything else in the market. I bought 3 skeins of Four Play (50% wool, 50% silk) in variegated medium blues. When planning my shopping I realized how little blue there is in my stash other than aqua, so I set out for a sweater's worth of blue.
Sunday, I took a great color class (color wheel, how to group colors, colors in different fibers) from Kate Lemmers. She could not have been more enthusiastic and it was a really fun class. I'm familiar with the color wheel, but she built on the knowledge I already had and expanded beyond the basics in a way that was really helpful. I think some of what I learned will even be useful when I get back to painting someday.
After class I had a lovely brunch with Anna and Lisa. They showed me their lovely purchases and talked about the vendors I had to visit after we ate. After lunch I browsed the rest of the market. I didn't have a ton of time, but I managed to take a look at each booth (I just skimmed the store booths unless they had something unique) and go back to the ones that really spoke to me. I bought yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarn, Highland Alpaca, Shadyside Farm Studio, Puckerbrush Farm and Star Weaver Farm. I was specifically looking for naturally colored alpaca and wool yarns, but I admit I was drawn in by some hand-dyed specimens as well. I also spent quite a bit of time looking at the yarn at Knitting Notions, but I needed to show some restraint somewhere and their website will be the first place I go when I have a little fun money to spend on yarn...whenever that might be.
My final class wasn't really what I expected. It should have been divided by experience level and it wasn't very well planned or organized. I'm not going to go into more detail publicly, but let's just say that I got a lot of knitting done during the 2 hour class... It raises my esteem even higher for some of the other teachers I've taken classes from.
5 - Saturday night I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" with Topol. I forgot how much I really love that show. I got chills during "Tradition" and I just really like the whole thing from beginning to end - the story, the songs, the characters. I laughed. I cried. I added the DVD and CD to my wish list last night!
And also, Topol was amazing. Not only did I think he was even better on stage than in the movie, but reading that he's now 73 just makes his performance that much more impressive. He did the movie in 1971...
6 - In my previous Heather updates I don't think I've talked about her favorite songs. There are lots of them! Sometimes she sings herself, sometimes she *requests* that we sing to her, sometimes she wants us all to sing together and sometimes she wants to see the YouTube videos of her favorite songs and we are instructed *not* to sing along. :-)
"Happy Birthday to You" has been a favorite for a few months now. We are instructed to sing to her, or a stuffed friend, or a person we recently sang to (Angelina, Andy, mommy, etc). Other current songs:
- The Wheels on the Bus
- The alphabet song (aka "ABCD's")
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Jumpin' Josie
- If You're Happy and You Know It
- Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Uh-huh
- Go Away
- And she still sometimes requests Jingle Bells... :-)
So here are some random notes to try to free up my mind a little...
1 - Tomorrow is the beginning of the third trimester. Realizing that it was getting close, we bought baby furniture over the weekend. A crib and a double dresser. This makes it even more critical that I clean up my room so we actually have a place for these items.
I think we've realized that the dollhouses in my office need to go into storage for the forseeable future. At some point when we've finished the work on the 3rd floor and basement I can probably have a room that is all my own again...but until that happens or until Heather is old enough to play with the smaller dollhouse, there just isn't a good place for the dollhouses to live in "public".
2 - I'm trying to finish something at work that I really want to get off my plate and that is really mentally taxing to work on. I'm also pretty tired this week. This is not a great combination. I'm trying to use my iPod to help me through. As well as chocolate and coffee.
3 - I'm making good progress on Samus - a few more days and I should have the main body knitting finished. I'm also trying make myself put it down often enough that I can finish the baby knitting I need to do for next month.
4 - I had a great time at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. I took a crochet class from Robyn Chachula that was great. There were a few times that I felt a little slow since my crochet skills aren't awesome, but she was a great teacher and never made me feel like a slow student. I hope she'll be back in Pittsburgh again soon! Before her class I did my shopping at the Brooks Farm Yarn booth. I knew that I wanted to spend some of my shopping budget there and it seemed easier to do it before I had seen anything else in the market. I bought 3 skeins of Four Play (50% wool, 50% silk) in variegated medium blues. When planning my shopping I realized how little blue there is in my stash other than aqua, so I set out for a sweater's worth of blue.
Sunday, I took a great color class (color wheel, how to group colors, colors in different fibers) from Kate Lemmers. She could not have been more enthusiastic and it was a really fun class. I'm familiar with the color wheel, but she built on the knowledge I already had and expanded beyond the basics in a way that was really helpful. I think some of what I learned will even be useful when I get back to painting someday.
After class I had a lovely brunch with Anna and Lisa. They showed me their lovely purchases and talked about the vendors I had to visit after we ate. After lunch I browsed the rest of the market. I didn't have a ton of time, but I managed to take a look at each booth (I just skimmed the store booths unless they had something unique) and go back to the ones that really spoke to me. I bought yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarn, Highland Alpaca, Shadyside Farm Studio, Puckerbrush Farm and Star Weaver Farm. I was specifically looking for naturally colored alpaca and wool yarns, but I admit I was drawn in by some hand-dyed specimens as well. I also spent quite a bit of time looking at the yarn at Knitting Notions, but I needed to show some restraint somewhere and their website will be the first place I go when I have a little fun money to spend on yarn...whenever that might be.
My final class wasn't really what I expected. It should have been divided by experience level and it wasn't very well planned or organized. I'm not going to go into more detail publicly, but let's just say that I got a lot of knitting done during the 2 hour class... It raises my esteem even higher for some of the other teachers I've taken classes from.
5 - Saturday night I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" with Topol. I forgot how much I really love that show. I got chills during "Tradition" and I just really like the whole thing from beginning to end - the story, the songs, the characters. I laughed. I cried. I added the DVD and CD to my wish list last night!
And also, Topol was amazing. Not only did I think he was even better on stage than in the movie, but reading that he's now 73 just makes his performance that much more impressive. He did the movie in 1971...
6 - In my previous Heather updates I don't think I've talked about her favorite songs. There are lots of them! Sometimes she sings herself, sometimes she *requests* that we sing to her, sometimes she wants us all to sing together and sometimes she wants to see the YouTube videos of her favorite songs and we are instructed *not* to sing along. :-)
"Happy Birthday to You" has been a favorite for a few months now. We are instructed to sing to her, or a stuffed friend, or a person we recently sang to (Angelina, Andy, mommy, etc). Other current songs:
- The Wheels on the Bus
- The alphabet song (aka "ABCD's")
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Jumpin' Josie
- If You're Happy and You Know It
- Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Uh-huh
- Go Away
- And she still sometimes requests Jingle Bells... :-)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
From our day off
This is a direct quote from the little munchkin. :-) We went to get a bagel and chai before her nap. She walked all the way there and halfway home! We practiced holding hands and stopping to look for traffic before crossing at intersections and the long walk seemed to help tire her out for naptime. Regular occurrences of temperatures above freezing and a little sun can't come back soon enough in our book!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday
Daycare is closed on Monday and I'm taking the day off. We've been so busy recently that I really don't want to leave the neighborhood and it will probably be too chilly to spend much time outside. I'm just throwing this out there in case anyone is looking for something to do on Monday and wants to come over for a visit. Heather and I are happy to receive guests and share her toys if anyone is dying to get out of their house. :-)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Two past two
I got distracted by processing pictures and never made it back to write about Heather at two. And now there are more pictures to process from today's toddlermania, so I'll just stick to text today and come back with pictures later.
So here we are, two days after Heather's second birthday.
Heather is a delightful, chatty and charming toddler. But she has her cautious side with new people as well. Lately, she's been talking and singing almost non-stop in the car, and then once we arrive at our destination she keeps quiet and takes in the people and activities in her surroundings. The change is less pronounced at places where she is most comfortable (daycare and the neighborhood coffee shop are the most obvious examples). That doesn't mean that she's painfully shy whenever she's out of the house, she just seems to have the need for a buffer of time to get comfortable in her surroundings. Even when she's in a quiet phase, she still seems to be able to charm the heck out of anyone who crosses her path.
She also seems to like to have some independent playtime. I haven't talked with her daycare teachers about this, but I've observed that she seems to have regular periods when she just wants to play quietly and be alone. I can totally see where she gets this. :-)
The theme for Heather's birthday dinner was Thomas the Tank Engine. For the past few weeks, the first comment upon entering the living room is usually "Where is Thomas?". She has taken him to restaurants, for trips in the car and at some naptimes we've barely managed to keep him out of the crib.
Other favorite pasttimes include playing with play-doh (we got her some accessories for her birthday - big hit), playing with her kitchen, her trains, little people, doing puzzles, building duplos and reading books. I also think we're going to have a LOT of fun when the weather gets mild and we can spend more time outside. We were out briefly today, and I forgot how nice it is to be able to walk casually instead of walking from the car to the house as quickly as possible. I also think she'll be more coordinated for outdoor activities, which should be very entertaining.
On the food front I'd say that I trust Heather to eat just about anything and we've had a few new additions recently, oranges and orange juice being the most notable that she used to totally reject. On the other hand, previous favorites are sometimes rejected and other regular staples (mashed potatoes, peas) haven't been touched in a few weeks. She eats enough good things that I'm not worried for her nutritional intake, but I do look forward to a day when she's willing to accept a slightly more varied palette of foods.
On the teeth/sleep front there continue to be signs that I see that makes me think she's getting her 2 year molars, but we still can't see anything. So either I'm crazy or it's just the pre-eruption pain/movement that has caused all of this excitement. Her sleep hasn't really been that bad lately. We've had some nights of long rocking sessions and maybe once or twice a week she's been waking up overnight and sleeping with us until morning. Some nights we all sleep well together and others we don't. But I think the most frustrating thing that we have to try to let go of is that it is hard to equate the chatty toddler that comments on everything going on around her with the 4am toddler that just cries and can't tell us why she can't sleep or what she needs/wants. Sometimes when she's sad (even during the day) she just doesn't seem able to stop crying and tell us what is wrong. It is a reminder that she really is just two and still very little, despite her grasp of the alphabet, big vocabulary and ability to count to 14 (when she wants to).
Heather still loves her babies. Robbie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Elmo, Glow Worm and various doggies, bunnies & bears are all still favorite cuddly friends. Someone cuddly usually travels with us in the car. Oh, and she still sleeps with her favorite pink blanket.
Did I mention that she's charming, adorable, chatty and loves to sing? :-)
Party pictures soon...
So here we are, two days after Heather's second birthday.
Heather is a delightful, chatty and charming toddler. But she has her cautious side with new people as well. Lately, she's been talking and singing almost non-stop in the car, and then once we arrive at our destination she keeps quiet and takes in the people and activities in her surroundings. The change is less pronounced at places where she is most comfortable (daycare and the neighborhood coffee shop are the most obvious examples). That doesn't mean that she's painfully shy whenever she's out of the house, she just seems to have the need for a buffer of time to get comfortable in her surroundings. Even when she's in a quiet phase, she still seems to be able to charm the heck out of anyone who crosses her path.
She also seems to like to have some independent playtime. I haven't talked with her daycare teachers about this, but I've observed that she seems to have regular periods when she just wants to play quietly and be alone. I can totally see where she gets this. :-)
The theme for Heather's birthday dinner was Thomas the Tank Engine. For the past few weeks, the first comment upon entering the living room is usually "Where is Thomas?". She has taken him to restaurants, for trips in the car and at some naptimes we've barely managed to keep him out of the crib.
Other favorite pasttimes include playing with play-doh (we got her some accessories for her birthday - big hit), playing with her kitchen, her trains, little people, doing puzzles, building duplos and reading books. I also think we're going to have a LOT of fun when the weather gets mild and we can spend more time outside. We were out briefly today, and I forgot how nice it is to be able to walk casually instead of walking from the car to the house as quickly as possible. I also think she'll be more coordinated for outdoor activities, which should be very entertaining.
On the food front I'd say that I trust Heather to eat just about anything and we've had a few new additions recently, oranges and orange juice being the most notable that she used to totally reject. On the other hand, previous favorites are sometimes rejected and other regular staples (mashed potatoes, peas) haven't been touched in a few weeks. She eats enough good things that I'm not worried for her nutritional intake, but I do look forward to a day when she's willing to accept a slightly more varied palette of foods.
On the teeth/sleep front there continue to be signs that I see that makes me think she's getting her 2 year molars, but we still can't see anything. So either I'm crazy or it's just the pre-eruption pain/movement that has caused all of this excitement. Her sleep hasn't really been that bad lately. We've had some nights of long rocking sessions and maybe once or twice a week she's been waking up overnight and sleeping with us until morning. Some nights we all sleep well together and others we don't. But I think the most frustrating thing that we have to try to let go of is that it is hard to equate the chatty toddler that comments on everything going on around her with the 4am toddler that just cries and can't tell us why she can't sleep or what she needs/wants. Sometimes when she's sad (even during the day) she just doesn't seem able to stop crying and tell us what is wrong. It is a reminder that she really is just two and still very little, despite her grasp of the alphabet, big vocabulary and ability to count to 14 (when she wants to).
Heather still loves her babies. Robbie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Elmo, Glow Worm and various doggies, bunnies & bears are all still favorite cuddly friends. Someone cuddly usually travels with us in the car. Oh, and she still sleeps with her favorite pink blanket.
Did I mention that she's charming, adorable, chatty and loves to sing? :-)
Party pictures soon...
Monday, February 09, 2009
The Value of a Designer
I'll be back later today with a post about my beautiful daughter who turns two today(!), but in the meantime I'm posting a link to the blog of a designer for whom I have great respect.
http://www.modeknit.com/2009/02/valuing-our-work.html
As an architect and a scenic designer I know how important it is to value the work of a designer/artist in every field and how easy it is for that value to be lost in today's society. No one questions how much a lawyer or an accountant charges them per hour, but many people think they can buy some software and design the house of their dreams better than a pricey architect. Many people feel no remorse if they purchase pirated movies or burn copies of their friends cds or illegally download other copyrighted material from the internet.
I'm not here to argue about what the right way is to distribute copyrighted content or to try to inspire guilt in anyone. I'm just hoping that my readers will think about how their actions affect those who try to make a living with any sort of creative pursuit. And to let you all know that if you ever ask me again to make you a copy of a knit or crochet pattern that I paid for, it isn't personal when I tell you "No". :-)
http://www.modeknit.com/2009/02/valuing-our-work.html
As an architect and a scenic designer I know how important it is to value the work of a designer/artist in every field and how easy it is for that value to be lost in today's society. No one questions how much a lawyer or an accountant charges them per hour, but many people think they can buy some software and design the house of their dreams better than a pricey architect. Many people feel no remorse if they purchase pirated movies or burn copies of their friends cds or illegally download other copyrighted material from the internet.
I'm not here to argue about what the right way is to distribute copyrighted content or to try to inspire guilt in anyone. I'm just hoping that my readers will think about how their actions affect those who try to make a living with any sort of creative pursuit. And to let you all know that if you ever ask me again to make you a copy of a knit or crochet pattern that I paid for, it isn't personal when I tell you "No". :-)
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