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February 27, 2009
Houston, we have a toddler!
For posterity's sake:
Cruising by the couch, she turned toward the ottoman and took off! Hands in the air! One step! Two steps!
Then she did it again. Three steps this time. Man, she was so so proud.
My baby girl. My BIG girl!
Posted by Cara at 10:12 PM | Comments (34)
February 20, 2009
Eye Candy Baby! v.4
I thought it was time for another installment of MELI: Cutest Baby In The World.
In this video, Meli's back at the window where she likes to pretend she's a cat (or a pug) and yell at all the trains, planes and automobiles that pass by.
Window Talking from January One on Vimeo.
Oh and just so you don't think I'm crazy, clicking her tongue is her new trick. She does it all the time - except, of course, when I'm filming her.
And this video is future ammunition for when she's about five, and refuses to eat everything. I'm going to pull it out and say, "See! You did so EAT BROCCOLI and you might have even LIKED it!"
B Is For Broccoli from January One on Vimeo.
Have a great weekend!
L, C & M
Posted by Cara at 10:23 PM | Comments (10)
February 19, 2009
Things I'm Loving Right Now
Here's some stuff I'm absolutely loving right now:
1. WALKS. I love walks. We went for a walk today and I feel SO GOOD. Meli slept pretty much the whole walk, which kind of sucks because she woke up as soon as we got home so I didn't get to work or anything, but still the walking and being outside felt so good! I had a nice chat with Margene (because I also LOVE my bluetooth headpiece) and got to walk pretty fast and even though it was a tad cold and a bit windy it was GREAT. SPRING IS COMING!
2. Music Choice Party Favorites. I love this music channel. I've taken to putting on the music channel on the tv while Meli and I play (or Meli plays and I get five minutes here and there to, say, blog.) It's always songs I know and they're usually upbeat (it's the PARTY channel) and there's a great diversification. For instance, in the past half hour we've heard The Brothers Johnson, KISS, Right Said Fred, Blondie, The Beach Boys and Gloria Gaynor. Nice mix, no? And when a really good song comes on I scoop up DJ MeliMel and we dance dance dance! The best though is when she's playing by herself and all of a sudden a new song comes on and she starts bopping her head and shaking her little tush and she's just so cute!
3. Pyrex Glass Storage Containers. One day I was in the supermarket and passed these storage containers. On a whim I bought a bunch of them in all different sizes. I'm so tired of using plastic storage containers and having them get gross after you put one leftover spaghetti dinner in them and with all the news these days about how bad plastics are I thought this might be a really nice alternative. I love them for heating up stuff for the baby. They're glass. I don't have to worry! And they get clean. Really clean. No matter what you put in them.
4. Corolle Dolls. For the holidays, Meli received two dolls. Both Corolle. One Babipouce, and one Sorbet Melodie. While the Babipouce is very nice and we've been playing with it a lot more lately (she has a plastic face and Meli likes to point to her nose and mouth and smells like vanilla), I just adore the Sorbet Melodie doll. It's so soft and so well made and it comes in this great box and it's colorful and bright and really I can't say enough good things about this doll. In fact, I love it so much I bought the other Melodie doll - Pink Melodie. I resisted it at first because I thought Sorbet Melodie was less girlie and it assuaged my feminist guilt at buying my daughter a doll (and not, say, a dump truck) but I saw Pink Melodie in the store and thought it was so beautiful that I gave in. (Sorbet on the left, Pink on the right.)
The pictures do NOT do these dolls justice. They are perfectly floppy with limbs Meli can grab and go. Unfortunately, as much as I'd love it to be the case, my daughter is not a lovey type. So far anyway. I, on the other hand, still sleep with my blankie. Every night. I even found the same blanket I have and bought her a bunch but I haven't been diligent about making her love them and honestly all she wants is the boob. But maybe one day she'll love one of these dolls, and if not, I can love them. Which brings me to
5. Nursing. I've been loving nursing lately more than ever. Maybe because she's getting so old so fast but when we nurse she's still my baby. It's so freaking easy now too, she practically nurses herself. Yes, it's annoying sometimes to still wake up a bunch of times at night but I don't care. I know that at some point it will all end and even if we both agree that it's the right time, I will still be very very sad.
7. Sesame Street. Cliche, I know, but there's this one episode I taped off of On Demand and it's something like Sesame Street Sing-a-long episode and every skit is a song. Meli LOVES it. Loves it! If I put it on when I need to chill for a minute she'll dance along and squeal and we sing all the songs together. If she's being particularly ornery or cranky and nothing I do will calm her down I can put it on and she's quiet in seconds. Maybe not the best parenting, but whatever. It's a miracle. Oh and add to this Thomas the Tank Engine. Specifically the episodes narrated by the late great George Carlin. Seriously. It's like the most perfectly perfect thing ever. (Although, I just read that Ringo Starr narrated them at one point. I would love to hear those! We just watched A Hard Day's Night the other day and Ringo might be my favorite Beatle. At least today.)
6. Knitting. Knitting. Knitting. And Monkey Socks. And Socks That Rock sock yarn. There will be much more coming on this but for now I think that says it all.
What are you loving these days? Share, please!
Posted by Cara at 03:17 PM | Comments (33)
February 14, 2009
KnitLOVE
We're not big valentine's day people around here - we get the love every day so don't really feel the need to single out. I was going to buy a card for Meli to give to her Daddy but I forgot. Oh well.
But I'd thought it would be appropriate to talk about another love - the KNITLOVE! Shall I recap? I started knitting a purple shawl collar cardigan probably about six weeks ago - who knows - I can't keep track of time anymore. Anyway, so I looked and looked for a pattern and settled on the Central Park Hoodie (do I really have to link to it?) It's my favorite sweater to date - I wear it all the time and I love how it fits. No hood though - I'm putting on a shawl collar.
I knit the back and fronts all in one piece up to the armholes, just the way I did with my original CPH and got there really fast. Before I knew it the back was done (other mods - short row shoulders for a three needle bind off.) Now to start the fronts. I had a pattern from Vogue in mind for the shawl collar and completely freaked out when I looked at it to determine the neck decreases for the front and realized that they started their decreases like three inches BELOW the armholes. DAMN! I was not going to rip out all that good knitting. So I called Ann, of course. "Do I really need to RIIIIIP!" (Ripping, of course, meaning the entire back and then three inches more.) She said, "Let's ask Shiri!" Who's Shiri? Shiri is Shiri Mor. She teaches classes at the knit shop where Ann works and she's got like a bajillion designs in Vogue Knitting and other publications. (See her ravelry page here.)
Shiri was nice enough to talk me down from the RIP and informed me that I could start my v-neck decreases wherever I wanted, thank you very much. Her suggestion was to figure out how many stitches I need to lose in the bind off for the armholes and the shoulders and subtract that from the total number of stitches for the front. Then, count the number of rows I needed to finish to match the back. So I had the number of stitches to decrease for the fronts and the number of rows I needed to do it in and voila! A little bit of math and I was on my way. It worked out perfectly! Thank you so much Shiri!!
Of course, now that the fronts and backs are done - I even seamed them together! - I'm going to need to figure out the collar. The secret of the shawl is short rows, and there are plenty of patterns out there with shawl collars, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out, right? I think I'm going to need some more brain power though so I'm going to do the sleeves. Soon. When I'm not so tired. The sweater, so far, is turning out exactly how I planned. I might even be able to wear it before the weather warms up for good!
So there's my knitlove, and here's my babylove modeling the knitlove!
Have a great day everybody!!
L, C
Posted by Cara at 08:20 AM | Comments (12)
February 12, 2009
Random Ramblings
-- Before I get started, I want to point you all in the direction of Jacqueline's blog. Jacqueline lives in Victoria, which you no doubt have heard has been ravaged by deadly brush fires. Jacqueline has many lovely, lovely prizes to give away as incentive for giving to the Australian Red Cross, but honestly, we should all just give. Ten Dollars Australia gets you into the dance as far as prizes are concerned - and there are many prizes to win. I know that times are tough for many of us, but even if we can spare a couple of dollars I'm sure it can help those left homeless and grieving by this disaster. Thank you.
-- Reading Margene this morning, I came across this fun link: The Knitting Blog Class of 2005. I started this blog in 2004, so I made the cut. It's an interesting look at how knitting blogs have grown and contracted over the years. Congratulations, I guess, to all of us on the list! I can't believe how long we've kept this thing going.
-- Yesterday's walk was AWESOME! We were outside for almost two hours and Meli went on the swings again. She's always so quiet at first - especially when she's doing something new. It's not that she doesn't like it, it's just that she has to feel it out and make up her mind. There were lots of kids at the playground and that's one thing she doesn't need time with - she LOVES kids! She will initiate with kids too - she waves to them first. It's the cutest thing ever.
-- Also the cutest thing ever was this morning when I was waking her up (I'm trying to get her up earlier in the hopes that she'll go to bed earlier). I was whispering her name and kissing her and she wasn't having any of it - tossing over solidly asleep. So I kept saying her name and started rubbing her belly and suddenly she got the biggest smile on her face - but her eyes were still closed! She was either playing possum or she was smiling in her sleep - either way it was the cutest thing ever.
-- One more really cute thing. And this might be a bit TMI (Ann look away.) Meli loves to lift my shirt these days looking for some boob. When she finds it she laughs and gets all excited and dive bombs onto me. It's super cute - especially when I'm laying down on the sofa and she's standing next to me. For some reason I think it's ridiculously adorable when she nurses standing up. And no, she can't ask for it by name yet.
-- Okay. I lied. Last cute thing. When I tell her I love her - especially when we're quiet and nursing - she'll stop and say something back to me. It's not really a word or anything, but she's totally mimicking my tone of voice and all.
-- The last word - to all of you who read and especially those of you who left comments on Tuesday's post: Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much it helped to know that you feel similar things and that it doesn't mean that you love your kids any less or enjoy your time at home with them any less. It encouraged me to keep blogging our life. From the start of this blog I've let it all hang out - warts and all - and I try not to shy away from the issues that are important to me. That I've been able to put into words what many of you are feeling comforts me and lets me know that we're all okay. Naysayers be damned!
I'm going to finish with some pictures of my daughter. Because it's my blog and I can.
Look Ma! No Hands!
She loves to stand by the window and watch the trains go by. There's also a big flag out there she loves to watch. Oh and of course her own reflection.
I love that she looks like a dirty little boy in these pictures in her white t-shirt and jeans. Usually she's dressed in a some crazy shade of pink.
Please, please! Don't forget to head over to Jacqueline's and find out about giving to the Australian Red Cross and winning prizes. PLEASE!
Sneak peek for tomorrow!
Posted by Cara at 02:57 PM | Comments (23)
February 10, 2009
Rejuvenation
Meli and I were out for an hour and a half today - on a WALK! I can't tell you the last time we took a walk - something we were doing just about every day for the first six months or so of her life. And here she is FOUR WEEKS from her FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!! (Sorry for the caps - but MAN! MY BABY is going to be ONE!)
It was overcast and probably not as warm as I pretended it was but we were outside and I feel like a new person! In the past, when she was a wee one, I sometimes had trouble on walks because she couldn't fall asleep and was cranky and crying and there were many times I carried her home in one hand while pushing the stroller in the other. Today was like the total opposite. She was riveted! SQUIRRELS?! Who knew? And WATER! And CARS! It was absolutely amazing to see her little face peering out behind the canopy excited by everything and anything. Made the walk super fun and we even stopped off at the playground for her first swing! She protested a bit when I first fit her in, but when I pushed it she was like WHOA! What's this? I can get on board with this! She didn't laugh but she had a big smile on her face.
This past month - actually six weeks - has been really hard. We've been sick - all three of us - more than we've been well and that's trying in the best of times. I knew my baby girl flipped my world but now I find myself hating winter. Longing for summer. Never in a million years would I think that would be the case but it's true. Being cooped up in the house with a baby in freezing temps is not a lot of fun. Maybe even crazy inducing. At least for me. Your mileage may vary.
I think I've been feeling really isolated this winter. I don't have any friends who have small children or even friends that are close by and my parenting forays haven't yielded play dates - for adults or kids. I think we're still a bit young for that right now. It's okay. I'm getting through and being outside helped SO MUCH today. And every day we'll get closer to SPRING! when we can be outside all the time.
I also think my experiment last month blogging on a daily-ish basis was a bust. It felt a bit forced to me - although the fact that I was sick a lot of the time may have contributed to that - and it wasn't easy the way it's been in the past. I'm sure it wasn't that successful for you as well - in fact one of you so generously let me know that they were giving up on my whiny foul-mouthed self. Apparently I suck as a mother - compared to their successes, whine free, of course - and should just keep my complaining mouth shut. Yeah. I pretty much stopped blogging when that little beauty came in.
I know that I shouldn't take these things seriously. It's not like I haven't had bad comments before - that's the nature of the internet and blogging. But why do the bad ones always hurt so much more than the good comments feel good? Maybe I do whine too much. Maybe I complain all the time. Maybe I do suck as a mom.
Now, before you flood my inbox, I know that's not true. My daughter is beautiful and happy and healthy and curious and I love her more than I could have ever imagined. I'd like to think that some of that is a directly affected by my parenting. We choose to have me stay home with our girl. It's hard a lot of the time. Parenthood is hard a lot of the time whether you work outside the home or not. Whether you're a single parent or not. Whether whatever. Just because I come here and talk about not feeling well and lash out a bit doesn't mean I'm miserable. It means I have a blog and I get personal sometimes - a lot of times - and well, you can take it or leave it.
The day to day tediousness of parenting an almost toddler (my eyes need to be ON HER EVERY SECOND!) are supposed to make you a bit batty. Not to long ago I said to my guru in all things that I didn't understand why I felt like bursting into tears when I'm the happiest I've ever been. She said you're stuck home with a baby. You're supposed to feel like crying. That and the fact that I'm exhausted. Exhaustion really fucks with your mind.
There are so many things to look forward to and I do spend a lot of my time looking forward. Every day we practice "Happy Birthday To You!" (replete with the hooray at the end and trying to blow out candles - pfew, pfew!) We sing songs and take classes and practice pushing the stroller. We kiss and hug and play and cry and our lives are perfectly imperfectly perfect. If I ever gave you the impression that all I do is complain, well, then I'm sorry. I've left out all the best parts.
Surprisingly, even with all the sickness, I've actually managed to knit the entire body of my new shawl collar sweater - back, fronts, and I even seamed the shoulders together (three needle bind off to be honest.) I've also started two new pairs of socks (because, you know, I don't have seven others on the needles already.) I will get to knitting again soon - before I finish the sweater - I promise.
In the meantime, I'm going to go back to snuggling my daughter. I started this entry hours ago, when she was napping after our walk and now it's late and my eyes are struggling to stay open. She's breathing deeply by my side, smelling a little sleep sweaty, her hand buried deep under my back - always touching, never not touching - and I just want to kiss her until she wakes up. I pray for her to sleep and inevitably I miss her when she does.
I'm going to dream about our walk tomorrow. Maybe we'll see some ducks.
Thanks for reading. I always appreciate the audience.
Posted by Cara at 11:39 PM | Comments (72)
February 02, 2009
Poem for the Fourth Annual Brigid Poetry Reading
Thanks to Deb for the reminder.
After Making Love We Hear Footsteps
For I can snore like a bullhorn
or play loud music
or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman
and Fergus will only sink deeper
into his dreamless sleep, which goes by all in one flash,
but let there be that heavy breathing
or a stifled come-cry anywhere in the house
and he will wrench himself awake
and make for it on the run -- as now, we lie together,
after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bodies,
familiar touch of the long-married,
and he appears -- in his baseball pajamas, it happens,
the neck opening so small he has to screw them on --
and flops down between us and hugs us and snuggles himself to sleep,
his face gleaming with satisfaction at being this very child.
In the half darkness we look at each other
and smile
and touch arms across this little, startlingly muscled body --
this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making,
sleeper only the mortal sounds can sing awake,
this blessing love gives again into our arms.
Galway Kinnell
1980, 1993
For more information about the Annual Brigid Poetry Reading, go here.
Posted by Cara at 01:31 PM | Comments (12)