Blogiversary and the kids

4 years ago...it began.

I'm not posting on my actual blogiversary, but given the relative silliness of the event I'm sure that you all won't mind me being a few days late. I'm sure you're just happy to see anything here at all, given how quiet I've been.

I've enjoyed blogging and I plan to keep going. I'm sure my focus will continue to shift as it has over the last four years, but I'm also pretty positive that knitting, Heather and Todd will stay the most often discussed topics for the foreseeable future.

Given all of the things I'd like to cover today, I'm actually going to break my thoughts up into a few posts, instead of forcing you to deal with a big jumble like I usually do. :-)

I suppose that most of all, reaching my blogiversary is a reminder of all that has happened in the last four years. When I started this in July 2005, I knew that we wanted to have kids, but it still felt like that would be far in the future. Even though I knew we planned to start trying in less than a year it seemed like such a big deal that I wasn't even really letting my mind focus on it yet. Serious denial. Despite knowing I wanted to be a mom, it was still a big step to be willing to give up our comfortable DINK lifestyle and the ability to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I remember one night that R and I were eating some sort of random dinner on the couch because back then I only cooked a real meal sporadically, and I realized that once we had kids I was going to have to cook every night. And the thought just made me feel suffocated.

I'm not telling you this to make you think that I have any regrets about becoming a mom, because I don't. I guess I'm just trying to express that even though I'm not always a big fan of making dinner every night or having to do chores every evening, it's a worthwhile trade-off for my two adorable, charming and lovely children. And I suppose I think this is worth saying because back in 2005 I wasn't sure if I would feel that way. What I mean, is that back then I was much more looking forward to parenting older kids (say 5 or 6 years old) who could fully communicate and be somewhat independent. I didn't know that I was going to enjoy the young stages quite so much (other than the sleep deprivation, of course) or that a 2 1/2 year old could communicate so fluently.

I say this in part because I know that the transition back to work in two weeks isn't going to be easy (let's not even talk about how early I'm going to have to get up!). But I know that with time we'll find our groove and that everything with kids is a constant state of flux - when one thing gets easy something else takes its place and gets hard. So just when we get our routine figured out Todd will start crawling and mess it all up again. ;-)

But the jist of this long stream of consciousness is that in the end I know it is all worth it. The challenges make the fun times that much sweeter.

Consonant Clusters

My favorite words in Heather's vocabulary right now are the ones with consonant clusters...

"grape" is "gape"
"blueberries" are "booberries"
"playground" is "pay-gound"

You get the idea. There are more examples, but my mind is turning to mush.

I'm also a big fan of "shovel" (suh-bul) and "yellow" (yeh-woh).

She's really speaking well. I think these words are especially cute because they are among the few that aren't quite right and because they are contained in long sentences and intricate stories. She is even learning harder concepts like "because" - "Todd doesn't need his pacifier because he is nursing". Although sometimes it isn't really needed in the sentence, it is just used to amplify her point - "I need to eat some grapes because I need to eat them".

I know it will be a while, but I can't wait until Todd starts talking, too. ;-)

Next time, I owe you a post about Todd's stats (he's growing great!), but the numbers are in my purse ALL the way downstairs...

Three weeks in a hurry

I just really can't do justice to the past three weeks in a long, picture-heavy post...especially because Todd has been sleeping while I ate lunch and moved laundry around and he could wake up every minute. So you'll have to settle for relatively recent pictures of each kid and let me try to sum it up...

The past few weeks have mostly been really nice with the occassional hint of miserably tired and overwhelmed with housework. The nice weather has afforded two trips to the zoo (one with Nana & Bapa and one as a family of four), many trips to the playground, the neighborhood yard sale (see bike above, walks around the neighborhood, a couple of trips to the neighborhood city pool, dinners on the porch, planting of flowers and playing in the backyard. We've also had some rain and one really impressive storm. (We are fortunate to live at a higher elevation, but some residents of our area were really hit hard and lost significant property - our thoughts are with them.)

We've spent time with the grandparents and we're trying to navigate life with two kids. A life where one of these kids wants to nurse often and the other can be sweet as pie one minute & defiantly saying "no" the next. I think we're doing well, but I'm trying to examine our house, our habits and our lifestyle to find anything that could make things easier when I return to work. I'm trying to clean up and clean out (see hint of overwhelmed by housework above), and my mom is going to come for a week to take care of Todd whenever he isn't nursing so that I can get as much done as possible. I've also been stealing moments here and there to put his room together, since his furniture finally came during the past two weeks. The room needs some plaster patching and could use some paint, but its mostly occupiable now...by both of us.

The current balancing act also invoves trying to get enough sleep to function well, to get out to enjoy the nice weather, to have a few more playdates and to have fun with Heather when she's home. Oh, and one day this week I'm going to keep her home and test out a full day alone with two kids. I'm assuming I'm not going to get any chores done that day. ;-)

Yesterday (I think) we had a nice Father's Day. The four of us took the Father's Day brunch cruise on the Gateway Clipper. For those of you not in Pittsburgh, the ship cruises the three rivers of Pittsburgh in and around the area where they meet. It's a great view of downtown, the stadiums, the bridges and of Pittsburgh in general. Heather had been asking to take a boat ride, and the weather was great. She wasn't thrilled about posing for pictures, but overall she seemed to like it. Todd was less obvious in his feelings about the trip. Just like our zoo visits, he spent the whole time sleeping or nursing, so it is hard to judge his thoughts.

Todd's beginning to stir, so just a few short words on the knit/crochet front and I'm out of here. First, Todd's blanket is done - yay! I blocked and washed it this weekend, so now it just needs a photo shoot. It's done just in time for the hot weather so he can still be swaddled without sweltering in a blanket. Second, I've started a baby gift for a friend. I've gotten the blanket done and this gift started by finding time when I can let Todd sleep on my chest while I work. Add this in to the balance equation.

Other than that, my three sweaters in progress are calling to me. I can try Samus on my post-partum body to measure for the zipper. The pieces of Bristow are ready to be blocked so it can be sewn together. And I want to put the alpaca vest on waste yarn so I can try it on and make sure my gauge and measurements will actually fit me. There are also lots of squares for Babette that need to have their ends woven in before I do more crocheting. Hopefully my tension hasn't changed too much since I started the think last year.

ETA: Oh, and I've watched the second season of Family Ties on DVD and I'm on the 3rd season of The West Wing (I have the 1st season and borrowed the rest from my parents. It's interesting to watch it back from the beginning). I'm watching whenever Todd nurses and I'm feeling less lazy & gluttonous when I don't just have random TV shows on in the background all day long...

10 years...

...ago today was my first day at my job.

Even though I'm not in the office today to celebrate, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have found a firm right out of school that was such a good match to my abilities and interests. In talking with other people in my field, I feel grateful to have found a place that is supportive of my as a mom and a set designer and a person, as well as being a place that has supported my growth as an architect.

I'm thrilled that I've gotten to work on theaters and I never realized the satisfaction I would get from working in higher education. We all have our ups and downs, and days that we just want to stay in bed, but at this point in my life I have trouble imagining a job I would enjoy more. (Especially since no one is going to pay me to go to work and knit what I want!)

A few Observations

Ignorance is Bliss
The other day I read about a baby born at 35 weeks, 1 day who was 3 1/2 pounds and 15.5 inches at birth. Todd was born at 35 weeks, 5 days. I was worried enough about going into pre-term labor. I'm really happy that I didn't know how scary it could have been.

Timing is Everything
Last night I was reading about a developmental spurt at 2 1/2 years old. It may or may not affect Heather's sleep, but one of the main emotional and cognitive developments is the ability to feel jealous. This will be about the same time that Todd turns 4 months old. *Awesome*

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I started this last week thinking I would add things as I think of them and post every few days. Ummm...apparently not. So here is a quick little update and maybe I'll get a few pictures posted this weekend.

Todd is acting less like a premie and more like a baby. He's still a pretty good sleeper, but he's having more awake time during the day and today he seems to need a little more encouragement to fall and stay asleep. I think we'll be seeing more of his personality emerge soon. Although I won't be surprised if the "laid back" impression that we've gotten so far sticks. He's been pretty pleasant today even though he's gone a few hours without a real nap.

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend as a family. There were a number of trips to the playground, a trip to Target & Supercuts, a trip to the zoo, a birthday party to attend, and Heather and I finished planting the flowers. Also, R and Heather went swimming and Todd & I went out to dinner with some of my friends. It was BUSY three days.

We've got another three day weekend coming up since daycare is closed on Friday, and I'm hoping that this one will be similarly fun but less busy. I could use a little time to catch up around the house while Heather is sleeping and Todd is being entertained by daddy. :-)

Heather is still doing well. She has her 'rough' moments, but they could just as easily be attributed to her age and development as they could to her new status as big sister. She's not always careful, but so far she's been kind and gentle to Todd, so I think we're doing well.

I might have both kids at bedtime by myself tonight for the first time, so fingers crossed that they are both cooperative...

Oh, and Todd is still regularly rolling to his side and to his tummy. He doesn't seem to believe me when I say that he shouldn't be doing that yet!

Unexpected

A few short months ago, this was not how I expected to be celebrating Mother's Day in 2009.

Physically, I'm feeling almost totally back to normal (I accept that my body won't be totally "mine" again until Todd is done breastfeeding, but otherwise its pretty close to what it was last summer.) But emotionally and mentally, I'm a bit all over the place. I'm sleep deprived, so everything I'm feeling seems to be magnified about twenty times...

Thankful for my beautiful children.
Anxiously wanting to make sure that Todd eats enough but tired of waking him to eat.
Happy to be spending the weekend with my mom.
Mourning the loss of my grandmother a few weeks ago but not wanting to mourn on such a happy weekend.
Loving my time with Heather while she is learning and being so engaging.
Simultaneously missing Heather and Todd while they're napping, and later looking at the clock to calculate bedtime so I can rest myself.
Still in shock that I'm the mother of TWO children.
Incredibly impressed by all of the SAH moms who take care of a newborn and don't send their older kid(s) to daycare Monday through Friday - hats off to you!

I'm happy, healthy and very lucky. I can't really ask for more...except maybe for a little more sleep. ;-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Uh-oh

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!

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.

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. ;-)

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. DH and I were just happy to get sleep and keep him in the room with us last night, unlike our experience with Heather.

For those interested in the birth, I was able to do a VBAC and even though she wasn't able to get there right away because I went early, my doula was a big help. My water broke just before midnight and I was 1 cm when we got to the hospital. I was doing well but progressing VERY slowly and getting tired for potentially a long labor ahead. So I decided to get the epidural around 10am. It actually helped my body relax and progress really well - I was fully dialated and ready to push before 2pm! My anesthesialogist did an awesome job, the epi was just strong enough to help me relax and rest, and strong enough that I could still move and feel the pressure of the contractions. 10 minutes of pushing (I have no idea how anyone pushes for two hours!) and Todd was welcomed into the world.

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.

Happy Easter!

Heather enjoyed seeing her family this weekend and loved when the weather was nice enough to take the ball outside. This was a camera phone pose to send home to daddy.

Waiting

Heather asked about the garbage truck as soon as she woke up this morning.

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.

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.

Letting out my inner geek

LOL!

Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale

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!

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.

The View

We were here. :-)

No cell service at the cabin.

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. :-)