Bye, Bye, Baby

Two weeks ago the tot turned 2. I consider that the official end to babyhood and it is soooo clear that he has in fact made the transition from baby to boy. And I have to say...I love it! As much as I love babies and as much as I long for a little girl, I love this little boy running around.

As for the celebration, we had the festivities at my parents' house again. It was a fish theme. Yes, his name is Finn and the theme was fish. The cake, which looks sooo amateurish to me in pics right now, was a goldfish bowl.



Whatever...I blame the icing, but it was cute nonetheless. A marble pound cake for stability, chocolate rocks on the bottom, green fruit roll-ups made into seaweed, a couple gummy sea creatures not quite visible here, and of course goldfish (and starfish) crackers. I've decided that for future birthdays, the cake will be made the night before and decorated the morning of. Need more time to perfect it and to actually SEE it before the party starts. He tried to blow out the candle, but couldn't quite get it.



I know, it looks like I am pushing him down while I steal the show here, but I assure you I was just keeping him from landing face first in the fish bowl. Although, now that I think about it, I didn't get to blow out any candles on my birthday this year - probably the first time in my whole life - I was owed one (or thirty one).

You may recall the lovely birthday garland that I made for his first birthday. Well, I updated it with fish to replace the birds and then left it on my dining room table as I left town. :( I was sooo sad about this, but there wasn't much I could do but get over it.

We also had swedish fish to snack on and I made this fishing game for the little ones to play and take home as a favor. The game was a HUGE hit with the 4 year old in attendance. The tot wasn't really into it, but his 2.25yo cousin did enjoy cheating at it. I will say though that the magnets in this project were a total failure - not strong enough and couldn't be drilled through, even with a drill press, so I ended up using velcro with the addition of a large button on the end of the fishing line as a weight and surface for the velcro - worked like a charm.

One of his gifts was this apron and oven mitts that I made for him along with a chef's hat that was purchased.



I love them (the boy and the accessories) and I think he does too.



So, that's the birthday wrap-up and now we're less than two weeks from Christmas. We've got stockings, berry garland, and the advent calendar. Cards arriving from printer sometime next week. Tree arriving....?

Me too, me too!

Well, it would seem there is a post explosion amidst some of my blogging friends today, so I feel obligated to say something. Not to mention it's been for-ev-er.

The tot and I are sick and it sucks, but at least it's happening now rather than next week during Thanksgiving and the tot's 2nd birthday. He was sick for his first. I am rather unprepared for the event. Well, I am mentally prepared, just not physically prepared, so I guess I'm half way there.

Here are some tot tidbits:

- He says "yarn" and "knitting" and likes to select knitting needles from my case to use as drumsticks. He's most fond of the long, metal, pointy ones - good 'cause I rarely use those inherited suckers and bad 'cause they're long, metal, and pointy. Despite his interest in yarn while I'm knitting, if he sees a piece of yarn or thread or anything similar on the floor or couch...he says "Eeew!" and has even resorted to getting a tissue to pick it up and dispose of it. Must work on fiber friendliness.

- I think one of his favorite words is "nice". It's really nice when he says it when we are snuggled up on the couch or in bed.

- He is in LOVE with Olivia...as in the porcine heroine in Ian Falconer's children's books. He cannot get enough. He can even say "Olivia". We only have two Olivia books, so I'm pretty sure that he will be getting more for his birthday and/or Christmas so that we don't go too insane with Olivia and her band which seems to be his favorite.

- This is more about me, but I've come to the conclusion that his haircut is really bad. I've been cutting it myself and I think it gets worse with each cut. Part of me thinks I should just take him to a pro so he doesn't look like a dork and part of me is reluctant 'cause I'm just a DIY kind of gal/mom. Hmmm...where would I even take him? Thoughts? I don't know if I can do it. Maybe I'll just get some real haircutting tools and keep at it.

That's all she wrote. Taking the rest of the night offline for once. Sorry, no pics - it feels wrong, but I think we'll all get over it. :)

Don't miss it!

So, I think most of you know I'm now responsible for two blogs. And since the "other" blog allows me to post pics bigger and better than this one...you'll have to go take a look to see what the Tot and the Boss have been up to. I think Ms. Spice Rack and I both about peed our pants when we saw this development. I'm told there was also some hugging going on between the two this week and I think we know what's next.

Finn does chalk

Still here...

still driving cars...



and learning how to get dressed...

Summer Sweetie

Today most of the local kidlets are off to start the new school year and it has me thinking about summer coming to an end. I'm completely looking forward to Autumn, but trying to savor the remains of summer for the next month or so. I shared some shots of this little girlie on the photo blog, but thought I'd share more here. They make me completely jealous of those of you with little girls and I hope you had the chance to let yours run around barefoot in the grass in light summer dresses.








I love this shot with the bubble perfectly poised above her head.



She looks sad, but I think she's just plotting to catch the next bubble because this next shot was seconds later.



The dress in these last shots is a continuation of my vintage children's clothing obsession. My 18 years older sister had some really darling dresses when she was little and now about 50 years later my niece can wear them. You have to check out the full size photo for the detail, but it is a light pink sheer cotton dress with embroidered tulips on it. More little girl jealousy from me right there! At least I get to photograph her prancing around in them.

Baby gifties

My latest knitting endeavor involved making my very first pair of baby booties. I am not exactly a fan of dpns (although I have a feeling I'd like bamboo better than my slippery, little, metal skewers) and that is part of the reason I shy away from tiny little knits. The Saartje bootees, however...totally addicting. After running out of the leftover yarn I was using on the initial pair, I started this second pair.



These went to my friend's new baby along with this receiving blanket that I made.



I know one other person expecting a baby this year (a boy), so I think I'll be adapting the pattern to make some boy friendly booties (have you browsed through these things on ravelry?!). And I have no doubt that any future babe of mine will be lucky enough to wear handknit booties. Sorry, Tot - I hope your baby feet weren't chilly in their store bought, ill-fitting socks.

I miss you!

I'm talking to you, blog. I have good intentions, I even take photos of things to decorate your pages and hopefully make you enticing to our readers, yet I haven't taken the time to put it all together. And I miss that. Sooo...here I am and I pulled out one photo of one project to try to get back into the swing of things.



I made these coasters to warm a friend's new home... about a year ago. (The stitching doesn't really contrast with the fabric quite as much as it seems to in the photo.) These are from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted gifts. I've since made one other set for myself, yet un-photographed, but being well-used in the next room. I also have at least three more pieces of fabric intended for coasters that haven't met with the sewing machine. Actually, I blame this all on my ancient machine and lack of a walking foot which is the suggested method for quilting these babies. The first set I used the standard presser foot and it, well, pressed them and made things a little difficult in a bunching up sort of way. For the second set, I tried a darning foot that I found on ebay. This method probably yielded worse results as it didn't hold the fabric AT ALL. Not to mention I did them with the Tot grabbing my arm every so often, thereby yanking the fabric off course. Sooo....if you come across a walking foot for an old Elna sewing machine....I will love you! I'll even make you some coasters!

A few of my favorite things

I've been tagged by...well, Amanda and Cara. 5 things I cannot live without.

"Name five things that you can't live without. It can't be a person, it has to be something material that actually makes your life easier. It can't be something in general, it must be exact. Also, it can't be the obvious like a cell phone or computer."

1. Chapstick. If I leave the house without it, especially if I'm going to be eating while I'm out, I would go mad without Chapstick. If I ever think about participating in something like Survivor where you can't take anything with you...I know that I just wouldn't be able to do it because I don't think I could survive without it.

2. Dairy. It plays such a crucial role in so many wonderful things that I love to eat... I just can't imagine going without.

3. Fabric. And if I had to choose a single fiber, I think it would be cotton. I love fabric and I use it every day, all day, in so many different ways.

4. My glasses or contact lenses. Seriously blind without them and I occasionally wonder what life would be like if I weren't able to see clearly. (This is assuming that laser surgery to correct my vision were not an option. Boy we have it good in 2008.)

5. At first it took me a while to think of a fifth necessity, and now I have two similar items: stroller and shopping cart. I think both are invaluable in managing to be out and about with a baby, yet both have their own limitations, so I couldn't decide between the two.

I'm gonna tag DrDrama.

Unfaithful

So....despite my recent post about not being able to have much time to blog, I've committed some time to writing a new blog. I've started a photo blog for Seedlings Photography to share the latest in my photo world. Please visit me there and feel free to comment... I could really use some blog love to get things going!

fever sleep

Well, it turns out my big boy wanted to show me just how much he still needs me. We've begun day three of a fever here, day three of me basically holding the tot all day long. Tuesday night his fever spiked to 104 and after getting it down, we were able to put him to bed. But, I first had to take the opportunity for a photo session that otherwise would have never occurred. When Finn was a newborn, I never quite got the wonderful photos of him that I had hoped for. So, this sort of makes up for it. It was of course unplanned, so the shots are not perfect and it was at 10:00 at night, but I'm sure I will treasure them for a long time. Here's one of my sweet baby.




I hope this ends soon and he's back to running and laughing. It's so sad to not hear him talk for such a long period of time. I did actually witness a laugh and smile in his dreams on Tuesday night which was such a nice relief. Hope all your babes stay well.

Big boy - 18 months

Not too long ago, this baby of mine turned 18 months old. Sigh... I love the little boy he's becoming, but I'm gonna miss the little baby he's leaving behind.
The stats:
24 pounds and 33 1/4" tall - sooo tall, and handsome, too!

He walks up and down the steps like a big boy. He's adding new words all the time...sticky, dirty, juice (which he doesn't even drink), bib, bowl, book, duckling, quack, night-night (LOVE it), car, go, no. And that last one... for now he is using it completely appropriately when I ask him a question, but hasn't started using it to rebel - I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts.

Our only hurdle in making this progression into boyhood is that we CANNOT get the child to drink milk, unless it's coming directly from me or sometimes a sip from one of our glasses. We've tried chocolate milk, soy milk, various milk concoctions. Reminds me of this post, oh so long ago when we were trying to get little Finn to take a bottle, which never happened. This makes the whole weaning thing a bit of a difficulty. I may have to just feed him cheese, yogurt and ice cream at every meal.

The Overdue Update or: What We Did on Our Memorial Day Vacation

We made our regular trip to the Lehigh Valley to visit Jen's family for Memorial Day. We set out on Saturday, and Finn slept for most of the first half of the drive, but woke up around lunchtime. We thought that he might be close to a Cranky Freak-out, so we pulled off at the nearest rest stop to eat. Unfortunately, it happened to be a supremely weak rest stop, with only a Sbarro and a Nathan's Hot Dogs. (And probably a Starbucks; they all have a Starbucks, right?) This has caused me to take a vow to Never Eat at Sbarro Again, Unless Snowbound and Out of All Other Possible Options (and I'm keeping this vow too, unlike my I Will Never Watch Forrest Gump vow which I broke and now regret). It's fairly crappy pizza and certainly not worth the jacked-up Turnpike prices. Basically I dropped my iPhone fund on four cheese slices and a root beer.

The rest of the trip out was pretty uneventful, and we arrived to some really beautiful weather. I think that this was Finn's first warm weather visit since achieving bipedalism, and he appreciated having a large, honest-to-goodness country yard to run around in:

Actually, he looks like he's power walking. He'll be doing 20 laps around the mall in no time.


Meanwhile, Jen made an interesting discovery in the upstairs bathroom:




Some of the family was gathered for a strudel dinner (referred to as Strudel Fest '08 or Strudelpalooza). The main course menu included chicken & spinach with cheese, onion, and cabbage, which is better than you might think. For dessert there was apple, cherry, cheese, and apple & sour cream. Jen went up to change Finn and when she came down, she announced that there was a bat in the bathroom. I went up with her to investigate and sure enough there he was, roosting in window. He had apparently squeezed in through a slit in the screen. I thought that he looked a bit dry and said that he might be dead, but Jen wasn't so sure. That made Jen's youngest brother Jon, and Nate, one of the nephews, go check it out as well. They agreed with my assessment. However nobody was willing to open the window until Jen's father went up. He opened the window and the bat fell to the sill, confirming that he was either dead or at the very least, really tired.

The next day was very busy for Finn. In addition to running around all over the yard, he checked out his cousins' sliding board:


and went for a tractor ride with PopPop:



and Daddy, too:


and, um... danced?


I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure that he's doing a move from the video for "The Right Stuff" by New Kids on the Block:




Check out the dude on the left (Joey?); replace him with Finn and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

We also had our picnic that day, with tons of great food, more desserts than you could hope to eat (I thought I was finished when I realized that I hadn't had any spice cake; with Finn's assistance I muscled through a large piece), and a growler of Guinness from Jen's brother Russ, a fellow beer lover. Russ has a kegerator, so he always has a growler of something yummy.

Finally, on Monday Jen had a shoot with niece Annie:

On our way back, we again stopped at a rest stop to eat, but this time it was the rebuilt stop at Sidling Hill. It was pretty swanky. Jen had a headache, so I went over to the convenience store area to get one of those single-dose packets of some sort of pain killer. Well, right next to that stuff was a surprisingly impressive selection of condoms. There were probably twice as many kinds of condoms as there were pain killers. I found this a bit odd; is there that much Turnpike lovin' going on out there? Am I missing out on something?

That's all for now. I didn't even get to everything, like Jen's dad switching to a Mac at nearly 70 years old, but I don't want to over do it on my first post (if I haven't already).

Who's that blogger?

Things in these parts have been a little bit hectic. Busy with work, I struggle to get to bed before 1am, the tot keeps waking up earlier (5:15 this am) and then he's so tired during the day (not to mention Mama and Dada). He's already back in bed at 9:00 this morning. This too shall pass, right? In the meantime, I'm not sure how to get out in the world without having Major Crankypants as my companion and the 12:30 playdate is not very popular - thank goodness the weather is finally decent.

Needless to say, posting here has gotten pushed to the back burner despite all the things I have to share. In an effort to prevent this seedling of knowledge from whithering away, I will be employing a guest blogger, none other than the aforementioned sleepy Dada. So, please welcome him - this will be his blogland premiere!

Children at Play

A little peek:

a little bit serious.


a little bit silly.

I'm back and miserable.

We spent several days in the Phoenix area where I attended a photography workshop and got to photograph lots of cuties such as this little lady (yay!)...



We went to the Wildlife World Zoo where we got to feed a giraffe (YAY!!!).





The tot tripped and slammed his face into the coffee table in the hotel room, cutting his lip in two places, his chin in two places (requiring his first ever band-aid aside from immunizations), and getting a small bruise on his forehead (boo!).



We drove to Sedona...lovely!



This is my lame tourist snapshot...


Then the day we flew home... the tot woke up with a fever. Boo! for him, Yay! for me and everyone else on the plane since it meant he slept the entire long flight home without a peep.



Now, the whole family is miserably sick (boo!).

And back to work (that's actually a yay! for me since I had a cool maternity session this weekend that I was glad I did even though I still had a slight fever. My client wasn't scared off by my illness). No photos to share from this one just yet - remember...miserably sick.

Happy Earth Day!

Want to do something for the environment and look stylish doing it? Check out the just launched Gracen Designer reusable shopping bags. They're durable canvas, washable, collapsible...and eco-chic. I just may reduce the mountain of plastic baggage that continues to build in my kitchen. Good luck limiting your use of these to just groceries!

The latest in knitting...

is this set of toys for Baby Andrew.


A little rattle and ball. Both quick knits, luckily for me since it seems I have noooo time for this activity lately. The ball pattern is something free I found online - a simple pattern but I had to improvise to do the three colors since their instructions didn't make sense to me. I found the rattle pattern on ravelry...you can get it here. I thought I made the large size, but it doesn't seem as large as the one shown in the author's photo. Both ball and rattle were done in KnitPicks Shine. I personally adore the rattle, though if I don't have much time for knitting, I guess I don't have time to sit around shaking a rattle either.

Tot update

I've had so many blog entries in my head which I haven't had the chance to create and now they seem to be either forgotten or irreleveant. But I have a moment so I'll try to remember some content and do a Finn update at the very least. In list form, the latest changes in the tot's life:

- Just one nap a day. Every day. Finally.

- Boy that he is, he's totally into boobs and trucks. Boobs for the milk, all...the...time...and trucks everywhere we go. All of you mothers of girls will have to let me know if they have a crazy obsession with vehicles at 16mos.

- His first molar. That was fun. How many more do we have to go through?

- His first words. He had already covered Mama, Dada, and uh-oh (not in my Webster's but whatever). Now he has added tickle (usually said at least 3 times in succession), ball, and kaboom (as in our tower of blocks went kaboom or, just as often, Finn went kaboom)

- His first haircut. For whatever reason, I was hesitant to go ahead with this, but he was looking shaggy more often than not and so one day I just did it. I'll share some pics. He could actually use more of a trim already, because I was fearful of cutting away too much of my baby.

This is him just before the big event.


The cut was the day before Easter, so since I slacked on Easter blogging, here he is with the new do in his fancy pants on Easter Sunday.


And because I think he's stinkin' cute, some more photos for your enjoyment.



The darling outfit is actually parts of two outfits. The sailor suit was made by my mom for my older brother and has matching blue shorts. However, the suit was too small for him, so I pulled out these lovely white shorts that happen to match in style and function. These too large vintage shorts were my father's and I'm told there is a matching white jacket somewhere. Really, we're not so poor that we can't buy him new clothes (or in this case, clothes that really fit). I just have a fascination with putting him in my dad's vintage duds and lovely little things that my mom made years ago. (Plus, it helps validate the pack rat nature that I share with Mom.)



He's very interested in reading up on The Beatles.



And because I can, here is what he looked like last year at Easter in another outfit made by mom for my brother, sitting in the same chair as above.

The Guatemalan Irish Twins Session

Yep. And cute too. My last photo session was with Annie's boys who are about 8 months apart. So I had a two energetic toddlers on my hands, although each with his own unique personality. Oh, and a nice doggy, too. Seriously, these boys were a lot of fun (and I think they liked me too). Although, I did a little too much yelling with them and lost my voice for the next 24 hours. All part of the biz.

Hello, Neighbor!

Finn in his cardigan in honor of Mister Rogers' birthday.



All of his new sweaters are pullovers, so we went vintage with this little cardigan. I love when he sports vintage clothes...it somehow makes me feel like we're suddenly transported into a more carefree time, if only for a moment.

(Don't mind his hair - he awoke from his nap with a bit of side flip. Also, I can't quite bring myself to cut his hair just yet.)

a day at the museum

I took this family photo at the Children's Museum, where we recently spent an afternoon with some visiting out of town family. Things started off nice and easy. Among other things, Finn enjoyed the bubble-making see saw with some of his cousins.


But things got really interesting once we made our way up to the third floor water play area. He had no notion of the joy he was about to experience.


Fish anyone?

Finn loves to splash in the tub, so I knew he would delight in this "exhibit". He splished...



and splashed...



and even dunked his face in a few times. He was thoroughly soaked to his toes.



I knew in advance that I should have a change of clothes if we planned on letting him play in the water, but I wasn't thinking about the shoes. He should have been wearing the provided sandals like his cousin Annie.


She wore the shoes, but refused to put on a raincoat.

Once he was done splashing in the pool, he went on to do some hydro engineering with the big kids.




By this point I think his hands were probably numb, but he did not want to leave the free flowing water.

However, the place was closing so we had to do our best to wring him out. He even got his first blowdry.



Our party included 7 kids ages ranging in age from 14 months to 13 years and I think all of them had fun. Actually, we didn't even get to enter the hands on art area on the first floor (which I love). It closed earlier than the rest of the museum, so I'd plan on going there first if you're interested.