Cookin

Vacuuming

Holiday Knitting

This guy is a little handwarmer. A little microwaveable pouch filled with rice can be inserted right into his belly!

He has a little heart button to show he loves you!

Evan brushing his teeth

Dale Fair Isle Steeked Cardigan - done!

Just in time for Winter! And it fits Evan perfectly. If I'd waited any longer to finish it, then the past 3 years' work would have been in vain :).

I love Dale of Norway patterns. They're so "finished". I just wish every time I knit something from them, it would take less than 2 years. This sweater has beautiful picot finishing, and even the inside is gorgeous - with little stockinette covers over seams.

Also - steeking was easy! There really was nothing to be afraid of. And Baby Ull doesn't unravel easily at all. But I'll let you know if it holds up to some wear.

My husband also pointed out to me that white is not the smartest color for a toddler. Oops. But, it's so pretty, I don't regret it - yet :).

Sitting in Papa's chair

Sick baby

The only thing that makes sick baby bearable ... is all the extra cuddle time!!

PEPS

 Evan and lil-A playing nicely

 Little O-man is tired!

 Owen can sit on his chair at his table!

 Er ... Evan being a bit of a bully and hogging the toy box :(.  Be nice to Samara, please!

 Abigail is too cute!

I love sunny autumn mornings!

Evan and I got going a bit early today so we could take a short walk (here he's running) outside. I love it!

Suzanne Collins Book Signing

Even though I didn't have the patience to get Suzanne Collins' signature, Evan and I got to hear her read from close up (pure luck!) and Evan tore up the store, making many new friends along the way - old and young! He even got a kiss from a little girl sitting in a stroller - now isn't that the sweetest?

Here's how we babysit in this house.

Vader

Socks

I wish I had more time to knit for babies! Here's a pair of socks for a new baby in Germany - I make special effort for newborns - but I'd also like to make first birthday hats for the PEPS babies, a thanks for all the toys on loan hat or vest for our neighbor baby, Kenny, a little shrug for my dear PJ darlingest, something for coworkers kids Ellie, Isaac, Jaeden, Becca even the ones I don't know well like Logan, Zandria, Simon, and Sophia. Not to mention former coworkers like Lindsey and Ian and Kevin. Or my adorable cousins, the newest of which are Jack and Ty, among about 12 total, all sweet and adorable, and in my mind, in need of new winter hats with embroidered names. There are also coming babies, like the Soper twins and the Drake baby. Or just arrived, like the Larsen baby and Claire. But I have to focus on the sweater I'm making for Evan before he outgrows the size I'm knitting, and I have to rip it out and start over - Again. I need a little sweat shop of volunteer skilled knitters!

Mommy, what would you do if I were to, say, Lick this?

This is about as clear of a picture of E as I can take lately.

Evan looks like a little boy already!

I'm helping put stuff away

This stuff in here all belongs on the floor, right?

Chillin on an upholstered chair on a shelf at Target

I so want to get this for Evan! And it is so excessive, I just can't justify it!

Look, a Train!

Poor baby ...

Evan's been so sick this week!  He has had fevers (105!), and boogies, and possessed screaming fits, and has been lethargic, and has slept a lot, and has not slept a lot.  He just wants to hug all the time, and he doesn't want to eat.  We feel so helpless and panicky!

On the bright side, he's doing SO much better now ... and we made it through!  Battle scars for the new parents.

Evan laughing like crazy

And this was after he'd already been laughing for a while!  My loft has never sounded like such a happy place.

Knitting

I've been knitting again! With a little crochet thrown in. It is 10x as hard to make time, and as a result I feel 10x as proud of myself for finishing!

I made a newborn baby hat (made up the pattern myself), socks for the E-Dog, and coasters for a friend moving into a new place.

Apparently Evan can climb the stairs

Desperately need to Babyproof AND Watch Baby Better

Evan stood up at the toilet today, peered over the edge, reached in ... and touched the water. Mommy flipped out.

Why are babies always attracted to the most dangerous and dirty objects in the room? And how do so many people survive infancy and toddlerhood?I swear if I wasn't watching him every second ... the many ways my "beautiful lemming" (as I read in The Girl Who Stopped Swimming this week - good book) could come to an extremely untimely demise!!

Of course I am exaggerating and overreacting; I'm a first time mom! It's part of the JD!

Headbanging

Evan keeps banging his head on my head (which is cute, but HURTS), chest, our legs, etc!  I'm not sure if it's because he's tired, or because we kiss him so much and it's his way of kissing us?  He usually has his tongue out when he's doing this.  Also, he sticks his tongue out when we kiss him, which we're going to have to teach him not to do, because that's going to get creepy at some point.  :)

Let's Go!

Fun!

Killer Attack Baby!

Evan had a fun time attacking Aunty, then moved on to attack mommy! Of course both silly old ladies were too busy taking pictures to be proper scared.

Happy Germany fan!

Wedding Socks

I'm knitting these black socks for Evan to wear to my sister's wedding
- which was on May 29. It's taking a bit longer than I anticipated.
One is done (and already being used as a toy for Evan on th living
room floor somewhere - I'd never have guessed he'd like playing with a
sock so much). I think I figured out why these socks are taking so
long. I'm using yarn that I thought was fingering weight with size 1
needles (I lost the label - I just know it's Rowan) and I'm suspecting
now that it's more like Sport. This makes the sock extremely thick
and cushy, but the knitting of the sock is torture on my hands, arms,
and back. That may sound funny, but if you try knitting a sport
weight wool on 4" DPNs in size 1, you'll see what I mean within 5
minutes. My coworker (and fellow knitter), David, said I need to give
up - but my perfectionist nature will not allow me to knit just one
perfectly good black sock for Evan, and not finish the other one. I
don't know why I ever thought knitting was relaxing. I'd say my next
project will be simple, except that I have to finish the sleeves of a
Norweigan cardi and then steek and sew the damn thing before Evan gets
too big to ever wear it. I think I started it in '07 or '08.

Hat

Here's a hat I knit Evan in some hand painted fingering weight yarn
before he was born. I put it in the hospital bag for him to wear home,
but it was too big, and in the ensuing madness I completely forgot
about it. I was cleaning out the bag (yes i'm ashamed to say I was 8
months delinquent) when I found it. Of course now Evan is too smart
and knows how to pull off hats! Too bad ... at least it's not cold out
anymore. And it's kind of funny to watch him wrestle with the hat.

Play area at Borders

Kiss me and I become a Prince!

Crawling!

Is my mom trying to lint roll the baby?

How many grown ups does it take to feed me?

Little Gentleman!

Evan and Grandpa

Wild Baby

My parents are here, visiting (for my sister's wedding this Friday), so Evan's been skipping some naps and he's been handed around quite a bit.  That was all fine until Sunday, when we went to the Seattle Premium Outlet, which was LOUD-LOUD-LOUD.  Especially in the CK store, Evan had a little "this is too loud, mommy!" yelling fit.  Afterwards, we headed to my sister's fiance's parents' house for her fiance's birthday dinner - where Evan got handed around, missed more naps, and it was really loud.

By the time we got home, Evan was overtired and WILD!  He bit me so hard on the shoulder that I still have a pea-sized purple mark.  He started biting my clothes and shaking his head.  Or just shaking his head.  And always reaching, and yelling, and crying.  Jerking his head from side to side.  Getting him to sleep was hard.  He was just turning, and crying, and flailing his arms and legs until I put an arm and a leg over him to keep him still while he nursed and he finally stopped hyperventilating and fell asleep around 11:30 pm.

Monday was more of the same.  I have never seen him so wild and difficult!  He kept leaning out over my arms when I carried him, bit my clothes, cried if I put him down, whined if I carried him, and so on.  Last night he woke up every 2 hours (this is normal) and cried and cried and would not be comforted (this is not normal).  He didn't want to nurse when he woke up (also not normal) and if I tried, he BIT me.  He did nurse a couple times, after biting me a few times, but ... GAH!!  This is very frustrating!  I really get peeved when he bites me, but I'm not going to scold an already miserable baby.

Anyway, today he woke up crying as I was about to leave for the bus ... so I nursed him down and now he's sleeping peacefully - past 7 am for once (I want to get some heavy curtains - he was sleeping until 9 or 10 am during the winter) - so I missed my bus and am waiting for him to wake up so Chris can drive me to the park and ride.  I'm going to go read about SCRUM now, and hopefully little fussy, tired man will sleep long and well.  But not too too too long, because I have a meeting at 11.

How did you get that stuck there?

Hey, Kewpie never rocked the Hurleys!

OMG I'm That Parent!

The overprotective one with the shopping cart insert! LOL!

But it was only $4 :).

Good Morning!

Oh please mummy, may I??