Birthdays and Valentines

Today is a special birthday....Joey is 8 years old today!   That is just so hard to believe.  He's still got the playfulness of a puppy, with how he can run around, and jump the chain-link fence in my parents yard!  Happy Birthday to the greatest dog ever!  Will wants to celebrate his birthday with cake, singing and a birthday present.  Maybe there's a can of tuna in Joey's future (his favorite) and MAYBE I'll get some cupcakes for us while at the grocery store this morning.


I also got supplies to make valentines with Will this year.  I think we'll put those together tomorrow night.  Looking forward to making them!

Fun with Friends

Will and I set out yesterday for some "Mommy and Will Time."  I had signed us up for a playdate at the Build-A-Bear about 25 miles from here.  It ended up being just me and my friend Nicole and her daughter Sydney, but really, it was fun and less stressful than running around with a big group of kids there.   Sydney was very excited to see Will and they spent most of the day giggling, chasing each other and just being kids.  They really had a lot of fun together!

Will holding hands with his friend Sydney

Giving their bears a bath

Meet Fireman Sam!

 

Will had never been to Build-A-Bear, and thought it was AWESOME!  (Really--what kid doesn't??)  He surprised me by picking out a teddy bear instead of a dog, and really, really wanted to dress him up in a mermaid costume complete with a red wig a la Ariel (Little Mermaid.)  He settled on a fireman costume and promptly named him Fireman Sam.  Which is good, because he typically names all of his stuffed animals either Biscuit or Martha.  (from Martha Speaks on PBS, I have no idea where "Biscuit" comes from.)  Then we had a grilled cheese lunch at Friendly's and did some window shopping.    On the way out, he ran up to a guy playing with his little boy and introduced himself.  After chatting with "Ryan and Colin's Dad" he took off again and started up a conversation with two young ladies on the next bench, excitedly telling them that "he watches the Disney channel!"  Really, there isn't a shy bone in this kid's body!

Later on our friends Joyelle and Keith came over to meet Sean.  They brought their daughter Ella, and they enjoyed snuggling Sean and giving him a bottle.  After they left Will just kept saying over and over, "Ella and Sydney....Ella and Sydney."  Silly.

Joyelle, Keith and Ella giving Sean a cuddle

Today I'm meeting up with my Mom and sister-in-law for some yarn shopping.  I know, I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head, but we're checking out a little yarn shop that I've never been to before, plus a Joann Fabrics Superstore!  It's not about "need" here, it's about obsession!  Will is going to stay home for some Daddy time, and Sean's coming with me.   And tonight.....Sean's first bath! 

Sean dozing in Daddy's lap after a bottle.

That's a lot to squeeze into a weekend.   They really never seem long enough, do they?

The Latest Obsession May Be My Undoing...

TEAM UMIZOOMI!!!  I didn't mind when he went gaga over Disney"s Cars."  And this show on Nickelodeon isn't horrible.  Will just wants to watch it again and again aaaaannnndddd AGAIN!  It's stuck in my head all day long.  There's no desire to watch anything else, ever.  Let's stage an intervention, shall we?  We could even pitch it a reality show, getting hooked toddlers off shows like The Wiggles and Barney.  Hell, I'd tune in!

Missing Loveys

My thoughtful husband sent me the following article about children and their missing loveys.  What's a lovey?  You know, an object that your child has attached themselves to.  Typically, it's a blankie or a stuffed animal, but I've heard of plastic dolls, books, even a measuring cup.   I totally related to this article, but I don't think I'd go to the extremes that these parents did.  I've blogged about Will's Brown Doggie before, and some of the close calls we've come to losing him somewhere, driving back to somewhere Will has left him, even calling the daycare after hours to see if they have it.  I'll even cop to purchasing a "second" Brown Doggie on Ebay who turned out to look nothing like him.  (He gets attached to every little stuffed dog we've brought home, and totes "Brown Doggie and His Friends" around the house.  Like an entourage!)  But  shelling out hundreds of dollars as a reward for his safe return?  Searching for an animal that you lost in the early nineties and your child is grown?  If your child hasn't moved on by the time he's a teenager, then you have a more serious problem.  And you?  Should move on too! 

Brown Doggie has been getting more on my nerves lately.  That's probably because I've spent a lot of time looking for him.  Will has a tendency to lose him somewhere in the house almost nightly, which starts a search that could last hours.  He always turns up, usually in an obscure place like the dogfood bin.  (Which I suppose makes more sense than I thought!)    Just recently we've told him that he needs to be responsible for knowing where Brown Doggie is, and if he isn't found by bedtime then he goes to bed without him.  Surprisingly, he has agreed to go to bed without him and didn't wail all night like expected. I'm usually pretty irritated in looking for him, especially if the process takes more than ten minutes.  But I always experience that wave of relief his safe return brings.

I am hoping, however, that Sean doesn't attach to a lovey.  Hunting for TWO loveys every night might put me in the nuthouse!

Wordless Wednesday: Bread and Butter

Lifting Fog

Wow!  Is this what it's like on the other side?

I woke up this morning to a surprise:  the first morning since Sean's been born that I didn't have a sleep-deprivation headache!  You know, the kind that is a constant dull ache right above your eyes that occasionally sharpens like someone poking you with a pencil? Caffeine eases it a little, but the only thing that makes it go away is some sort of continuous sleep.  Either that or you get used to it.  Sean is three weeks old and his sleeping pattern is starting to become somewhat of a pattern instead of spotty "I'll sleep when I feel like it."  Though he does have an uncanny knack for waking up crying just as dinner is going on the table.  The adage is true, Moms never get a hot meal!  (Thank goodness for microwaves!)  Seriously, I just feel GOOD today!  :)

Chilly Monday

Why is it that even though I am on maternity leave, I dislike Mondays just about as much as when I had been working??   I love the weekends, when Brian and I are both home with the boys and sometimes we even get stuff done around the house.

Chilly out there today.  Actually, it was chilly all weekend!  I ventured out with Will to Walmart on Saturday, and pretty much the rest of the weekend we stayed inside.  My parents came over yesterday for a little while.  They recently put their house on the market and there was an Open House, so they had to escape with their two dogs for a couple of hours.  (Someday we want to sell this house and move to a bigger one, and very idea of of having to keep the house show-worthy with two kids AND having to pack them and the dog up for showings is intimidating at the least!!)

Oh, and I got some knitting in. I have a few project going on, because I like to have different things to work on at the same time.   Here is what I am currently working on:

This is going to be a baby blanket for an old work friend of Brian's and his wife, who is due in February with a little girl.  The squares have been knitted for a while, I just need to take the time to sit down and sew them together.

 

Another baby blanket.  2010 is a very big year for having new babies to knit for!  This is going to be another one of those "carseat" baby blankies, the one with a hole in the middle for a seatbelt buckle.  I originally bought this yarn for a shawl, but didn't like how it was turning out.  So I've re-purposed it for a baby blanket.  Grape-colored yarn for a little girl, I figure she's already going to get a lot of pink!

 

This is a keyhole scarf, made from Noro Kureyon yarn that I got at Web's in October.  I hadn't planned on working on this ribbed scarf yet, but while Mom was here yesterday she showed me how to do a 2x2 rib.  I've been having a hard time with this on my own.  Once she showed me what I was doing wrong, I was unstoppable.   Another inch of knitting and I'll be ready to make the keyhole.

And of course, I still have charity knitting.  I always have a hat in progress on another set of needles.   So far, in between projects, I have made seven hats!  And all of them are from yarn that I already had kicking around in my stash.

I am having so much fun, and I'm becoming knitting-obsessed.  People often wonder how one finds the time to knit.  Well, first of all, you make time!  But one of the things I love about knitting is that it's portable and doesn't require a lot of set-up.  Throw your project in a bag, and do a couple of rows at a time.  Two rows at the doctor's office.  Several more at the hairdresser's.  One or two in between baby changings and feedings.  I seriously think a couple of rows at a time is what keeps me sane. And all those rows add up and I'll have created something beautiful in the little bits of time that have been given to me.