The first bite

Well, E finally tried to bite me a few times a couple of days ago and I think he was sufficiently impressed by my response. He hasn't tried it again...yet.

Ugh, these cargo pants are being super tough on my fingers. The legs worked up really quick and easy, but joining the two (with gusset in between) and trying to work the first few rows on a circular needle, ... just not working all that great. I know it will relax up and get easier. Hope it happens quickly. I figured how I'm going to do the gusset. I cast on 10 stitches between each leg (instead of 5) using a crochet provisional cast on. Then I decreased 2 stitches on each side for the next 2 rows (leaving 6 instead of the called for 5). This gives me 2 extra stitches, and my gauge is going to be a bit bigger because I'm double stranding the yarn in the soaker part of the longies. I'm thinking that if it's too big, he'll either grow into it, or I can dip that part in boiling hot water :o) I'll figure it out. I'll add a few more rows to the crotch to match up both sides.

Apple Season

Some friends of ours, who live just down the road, brought us a 1/2 bushel (or so) of lovely upstate New York apples yesterday. They are absolutely lovely. This came on the heels of G1 (5) attempting to shoplift an apple from the grocery store the day before because we didn't have any money to buy food (we were there for WIC) and he really wanted apples. I had a heart-to-heart talk with him about how that's not ok, we can't take things that don't belong to us... yada yada. I think God's grace poured out on us via our friends and their apples. I really hope thru this that DS learns that God cares for us and provided us more apples than we'd maybe have been able to afford, but in His time. Here's a card that the kids and I made to give our friends at church tomorrow:

It says: "You two are sweet as pie..." I cut out the holes of the pie so that the apples that the kids drew would show thru.

Here's the inside of the card with all of their apples. I hope they like it!

Me and my forgetfulness...

I was going to make bread last night so DH could have some to take to work with him this morning. I got as far as mixing the ingredients together, then forgot about it. Ugh. At least I hadn't added the yeast (I don't proof). So I went ahead and warmed it up this morning, added the yeast and finished making it. If I had added the yeast yesterday, it would have been a lost cause. As it is, the bread has little blobs of dried pre-dough here and there throughout, but most of it is edible. Just glad I didn't waste a whole batch, that's always painful.

E is definitely teething. He's getting much more animated in his movements, jerks around, he doens't stay content as long as he used to. I wish there was something I could do for him other than let him knaw on my fingers/shoulders, his sling, or his little chewy toys (or whatever else makes it in his mouth), but not sure what would help. I think they are almost thru so hopefully he'll feel better soon. I'm very pleased that he so far hasn't bit me while nursing. If/when he does, he'll just lose his oxygen supply for a startling second or two while his face gets smooshed into his food supply. Worked like a charm with G2, but I can hope that it won't come to that! :)

I've started the cargo pants from Knitty in black wool. I have one leg finished, now I have to see what I need to do next. I think I'm supposed to work the next leg (maybe put the stitches on holders or something unless I have the same size needles). The legs go so quickly which is nice. Hope to be ready for the body part of the longies this weekend. I'm using size 4 needles instead of 7s called for because my yarn is either DK weight or light worsted and I wanted the stitches to be nicely snug. I'm making the largest size, but it's coming out like the 2nd smallest size which should be just a smidge bigger than E which should hopefully tide him over till spring.

I'm so impressed

We were at church yesterday from about 9:30 am till 6:00 pm (Sabbath School, church, potluck, children's choir practice, Adventurers (G1 is an Eager Beaver & Gigi is a Little Lamb) and E didn't poop anything significant the whole time we were there. He just held it. I did take him to the potty during church, but the potties were too busy for him and strange looking and the folding potty seat that I had brought just wasn't working. So he finally did pee and pooped a tiny bit, but that was it. Of course I put him on is potty as soon as we got home and he very gladly went. Poor kid. He could have gone in his diaper, it would have been completely understandable, but I'm just so impressed that he chose to, and was able to, hold it. If we have any more days like that, I'm trying to figure out how to take our potty seat to church. There's an old house near the church which is used for the pastor's office... so maybe I could take my potty seat over there. It would be a lot quieter and I'd have a private bathroom to clean out the potty seat in.

Church pants

There are 3 pairs of longies that I really want to make for E this winter. Two in Knitty's Cargo pants in khaki color thread and black (minus pockets for Church), and the other is Knitty's Blu jeans in denim colored thread. I still have to get the khaki and denim thread, but I was able to find a sweater yesterday that will work nicely for the black pants. I can't wait to start them!

Ebony and (fake plastic) Ivory

G1 is always amazing me on the piano. Yesterday or the day before he wowed me by playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in 6 flats! He's also trying to harmonize with the left hand and comes up with legit harmonies which is pretty cool! I think we're going to try to start formalizing his piano learning a little, get him a book or start teaching him the notes (flashcards), something like that.

ECing

It's going so well. Eli didn't do much this morning but pee in the potty. Then we were out all morning till 1:30-ish. When we got home I took off his wet diaper, put him on the potty and waited. He didn't do anything at first, probably because I was bustling about trying to make sandwiches for the older two, but when I came over, sat down beside him and gave him my attention, he performed. I praised him when I heard the first "ppptptpt" and he gave me such a big grin and even threw in a giggle for effect. He acted so pleased with himself. I love EC :o)

Teething?

I think Eli is starting to teethe. He's been waking up at 7 - 7:30 every morning when he had been sleeping in till 8 or 8:30 (boo hoo!). He goes potty, he nurses, and then proceeds to get a little crazy. Babbling away, grabbing for my fingers to gnaw on, twisting his body, arching his back, just can't sit still. He's also much more vocal and fussy at night when he wakes up to eat. I always change him real quick (something he doesn't much care for) so I can put him back down as soon as he's done nursing. At least he goes back to sleep nicely as soon as he's done. My last two started teething around 4 1/2 months so he'd be right on track if this is the case. He hasn't bit me yet, but he does this crazy thing when he's almost done nursing where he turns his head, but doesn't exactly let go until I get yanked out of his mouth (um, ouch?). He'll do this several times before I decide he's done. I need to decide he's done a bit sooner, huh? lol

Next project

Now I am on the increase section of the Warm Heart Woolies Plain Wrap using the recycled yarn from the DKNY sweater. The last soaker I made out of it turned out nice, sturdy, slightly stretchy/springy. I think it will work well for the wrap. I hope I'm not making it too small. E is actually more of a medium in most sizes, but for this one I'm doing newborn size because I've heard it runs large, and I want to be able to pull it nice and snug, maybe use snappis... I tried it with some acrylic back in the days before I had any wool, size medium, and it was looking so gigantic.

Doodlepants are Done

I finally finished the Doodlepants this last Saturday evening. I think they turned out quite nice. I wasn't sure how the acrylic would function, but I guess it did ok. I wouldn't use it for night, but for daytime, it was ok and they will be fine as pants with another cover underneath. Just need something to keep bub's little legs warm during the winter. I still need to add a drawstring. I think for the next ones I'll use smaller needles for the waist, then increase a few stitches for the hips. Also, I might make a taller waistband. I think I'm going to add some seed stitch at the bottoms since he's going to grow out of them pretty quickly if I don't. I smile at the short rows because they make me think of a sock puppet. I probably should have spread them out a little more (ya think?), but I kinda like 'em too :) I widened the crotch so that it would be more roomy.

Latest soaker

I really like how this one turned out. I made it from the WoollyBabies shorts/longies pattern that is no longer hosted online. It might just be that the site is temporarily down. I was thinking I might have to frog some of it because I went totally overboard on the short rows (or so I thought). But it actually seems to be just roomy enough and it looks really cute on E. One thing I would do differently next time would be to cast on looser or on larger needles. This was my first attempt at a gansey gusset and I think it turned out nicely. I will probably be adding more of these to soakers I make in the future. I still need to make a cord for the drawstring, but E isn't mobile yet so I have a little time. The wool is from the rescued sweater I snagged awhile back. I haven't even lanolized it yet and it's working great so I know with a proper lanolizing, it should be awesome!































My next project is to start on some Aubrey Doodlepants out of some acrylic yarn that I have (don't have enough wool, boo hoo). I kinda missed out on the WSG knit-along, and would still like to do it. If I run into any glitches, I can always check the messages from the KAL and get help :).

Little throne, little prince

So E's Baby Bjorn Little Potty arrived earlier this week and I've been trying him on it as I think of it and usually inbetween each change just to get him used to it. Yesterday and today he pooped in the potty and not his diapers so I'm pretty stoked! I think he likes it or at least he really doesn't seem to mind it. For the winter, I'm thinking of making some fleece turtlenecks

for his potty so it won't be so !shocking! to his little behind. :)

Love it

I finally finished my pumpkin soaker and I love how it turned out. E wore it to church last week and got tons of compliments. Here are the pics. The color isn't quite as strong/redish as it appears here, at least on my monitor. If I had it to do over again, tho, I would make the rise a bit higher.

Soaker update

I didn't join in on the WSG doodlepants knit-along because I couldn't think of what yarn to use. Most of the yarn I have is KnitPicks Wool of the Andes and I just have enough of each color to make soakers, not longies. So, I've started a WoollyBabies soaker with some yarn I got from a dismantled thrift store sweater. It might turn out big, if it's too big, I think I'd like to shrink it down a bit. It will probably make an awesome night-time soaker. I'm went a little crazy with short rows so we'll see how that turns out. I wanted short row practice and since the yarn I'm using is varigated weight, it really won't show if I don't do it right. I supposed it really ought to do a practice short row swatch and get it right before I do many more :o)

Germies be gone!

Well, after a very long phase of all of us being nice and healthy, G1 has broken the cycle. He was not feeling great yesterday morning, then when I came back from my sewing class in the afternoon, I found him on the floor, cuddled up under a blanket. DH said he had a fever. Poor guy, didn't feel like eating much, was rather listless and was ready for bed with no complaints at 7:00 (SO not like him!!). He woke up several times last night and wet the bed pretty good. Tonight during supper he couldn't get warm enough (this was after a nice warm bath) so he took another hot bath before going to bed. He couldn't get warm so I put about 3 blankets on him and told him he'd get warm and would probably get hot coz that's what fevers do. Well, the next time I went in to put DD to bed, he was out from under the covers and was hot. I told him not to throw the covers too far because he'd likely need them again as he'd probably feel cold again before too long. He didn't believe me, but I'm sure I'm probably right. He complained of a sore throat this evening, but so far no coughing or runny nose (I'm praying it doesn't go any further than this). Also, G2, E and I seem to be ok for the most part (meaning E seems to be a bit snuffy, but not too serious; I think he'll be saved by breastmilk).

Beautiful laughter

I was holding Eli on my lap, helping him stand on my legs and holding on to his chubby arms while I gently rocked him back and forth in a glider at Church a couple of days ago when I bumped him in the face with my nose and he let out a rather uncoordinated laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. It's amazing how something that I've been thru 2 times before is still magical and exciting. Eli is also really trying to sit up. If we prop him in a sitting position, he fights to stay like that as long as he can before becoming the leaning tower of baby. He's now 17.5 pounds (yikes!). He weighs the same as my friend's baby who is about 8 months old. I don't think my last two were this weight till they were 8-10 months old either. This baby is just my super-chunk.

Milestones / Braggy Mommy

Gigi (3 yo) has just started saying her Ls and I'm almost positive I heard some correct Rs come from her mouth. She also pretty much has the concept of rhyming. She sometimes mixes up rhyming with matching (as in she thinks that matching colors rhyme), and sometimes says things like "ice cream rhymes with 'i'" when she really means ice cream starts with 'I'. But she was coming up with rhyming words the other day and really grasped it I think.

A couple weeks ago G1 (5 yo) was complaining about the gums beyond his last left lower molar (say that 3x fast) so I took a look and discovered that his 6 year molar was peeking through. G1 is really doing great with his reading, surprises me a little more every day. We just got a freecycle piano the other day (I will never accept a full upright piano again, it about killed the guys who agreed to help move it, poor poor guys, "I'm SO sorry!!!") and G1 played a song on it today that he had never played before. He seems to be really good about picking up tunes by ear. I think he definitely has a talent for piano.

Eli is really in loooooove with Mommy and I'm in love with that! The other day I was peeling potatoes in the kitchen and DH asked me if I was looking at Eli. I said "no" then glanced up and saw Eli just looking at me and grinning at me over Daddy's shoulder. He's always ready with a quick and dimply smile and he's such a good baby. I can put him in his swing and he very aggreably lets me run a quick run of laundry or empty the dishwasher before picking him up again. He also goes to sleep without a fuss and doesn't nurse exorbitantly (not so that I get to feeling used up), yet he's quite the chunky little Budda, definitely thriving. He could quite possibly be the perfect baby. :o) Eli is quite the talker too, he's so funny when he's talking, gets very animated.