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.