Knitting Zeal

Friday wrap-up

Another week has flown by in a blink.  The election was amazing and I just am so surprised by how many people voted and were excited by the results.  People were celebrating in the streets of Philadelphia--over the election! 

I do find it extremely amusing yet disturbing that gun sales have increased this week since the election.  Apparently due to fears that the Obama administration will make tougher gun laws regarding purchasing guns.  Or there is going to be a domestic coup.  Because there aren't enough guns floating around out there...

I've been working on making some needle felted acorns to decorate for Thanksgiving.  The "corn" parts are larger than the caps I found and for the past few days it has been too wet outside to find some more caps. I forgot how much fun needle felting was and want to continue exploring different projects.  I also have been working on making a series of knitted hats for presents for all the kids in our life.  So far I finished one for Andrew and started a second. 

Putting a crimp on my crafting this week was the recommendation that I get surgery to release my right carpal tunnel.  I went for a nerve study that involved electric shocks and needles.  Apparently the nerves in my right wrist did not react to being shocked or probed, so now I go back to the hand specialist to see what he thinks.  I don't know anyone who has ever had the surgery, but I know many people who also have carpal tunnel issues.  So many people tell me to avoid surgery, to try chiropractic care, etc.  I'm not sure what to do yet.  It sounds like a relatively simple procedure, except my dominant hand is my right one and I don't know how I could take care of the toddler without it.  Changing diapers and strapping him into his seats, let alone holding him, would be difficult for a week or two. 

Andrew has decided that sleeping in his crib is not for him and has started throwing extreme screaming fits when I put him to bed.  We haven't changed his routine, so I am wondering if he is going through some kind of internal adjustment.  Sometimes it takes just a couple of minutes for him to settle down, and other times it takes ten or more minutes of screaming.  It is frustrating because he can't tell me what it is and I have no clue.  He also has begun to throw the occasional temper tantrum.  Isn't he too young for this?  Oy, we are in for it if this keeps up!  Thankfully, he is good when we go out places and still enjoys playing with his toys and books.  He is still enjoying music class each week and I enrolled him for a holiday version as well as the winter session.  When we drive in the car and I play the music from class, he sort of sings along in his own way.  It is very cute.  The music school is offering a sign language class for parents and babies/toddlers.  I went to HS with the teacher and contacted her via facebook to get more info.  She mentioned that it helped with her kids' language development.  I am wondering if it would help us with understanding Andrew to help prevent some of his frustration.  He has become good at pointing to what he wants, so maybe he'll pick up signing easily. 

Happy weekend!

well loved book and Go out to VOTE!

 

This is Andrew's favorite book--can you tell?  We read it daily and he sleeps with it and reads it when he wakes up or before he falls asleep for naps.  The other day I found it in two pieces in his crib.  Some mornings, prior to it's loss of cover, I would find chewed up bits of the binding.  Apparently it is as tasty as it is good reading.  We have read it so much that I no longer need to actually look at the book and often tell him the story in the dark to calm him down.  It is cute that he has favorites already.  Lucky for him, Santa is planning to bring him a new copy.

Andrew did not really get the concept of trick or treating/begging for treats.  We went to one neighbor's house and he got a bit freaked out by this older man trying to give him bags of treats.  There were not many kids in our neighborhood on Friday--it doesn't help that we live on a dark street with no sidewalks and we are on a steep hill.  Next year I hope to take him to his cousins' house on Wisteria Lane because they get the good loot there!

   

Tomorrow is election day.  Finally those commercials will stop...at least for a few months.  While I really really really hope the democratic ticket wins, I also really hope that everyone who can vote, does so, regardless of your choice.  I still can't believe that with all the information available in the media, internet, etc that there are undecided voters.  How can one be undecided now?  I tend to think it is more likely apathy and not indecision for those who aren't sure yet.  Having a child makes me even more concerned about who is running the government.  So VOTE!!

Monkeys, baseball, and pumpkin bread

  Happy Halloween from the monkey!

Andrew donned his costume this afternoon for his visit with his grandmom and pop.  He is walking very well now and liked stomping and crinkling the leaves in the driveway while we waited for our visitors.  The squirrels ate half of his baby pumpkin and a good portion of our homer pumpkin.  I have one more left to carve if the monkey ever takes an afternoon nap, although the later it gets, it may not happen.  He is playing in his crib at the moment instead of sleeping.  It may be one of those days! 

So if you live in the Philadelphia region, I suppose you are aware that the Phillies won the world series.  Back before I knew my husband I used to go fairly regularly to the baseball games with some friends who were big fans.  I actually understand baseball, some of the rules, and used to know the team players (in 1993.)  Now, I have little clue of who is who, but baseball always made more sense to me than football, so I don't mind watching a game.  Andrew did not stay up for the final three innings of the last game, which was played separate from the first 6 innings because of rain, then snow that delayed the game.  It was a bizarre game, but in the end the Phillies won.  So today was the day for the "celebration parade" if that is what chaos is.  My husband works in center city in the tallest building in the city, and being on the 30 something floor gets him a nice view of the parade route, albeit from distance.  He reported to me earlier that it was wall to wall people in town and that there was no way anyone on the ground would be able to see anything unless they were near the front because there were so many people.  I watched a few minutes of the parade on tv, but it was rather dull and it is too nice of a day to sit around watching tv.  While I had the tv on, it was reported that the regional rail lines--the trains--were being shut down due to being overloaded.  They were not taking people into the city anymore.  (Ironically in days past the news media and the mayor were stressing not driving into the city and taking the trains or buses.)  So now my dh is trying to get home early for halloween and to see his monkey in person, and he can't. He has called me twice so far from the train station, which sounds like he is at the parade with so many people screaming (many intoxicated, according to him,) and there are so many people that he can't figure out where to go to get home.  He heard from a police officer that there is a three hour wait for a train out of the city.  He thought about taking a cab, but there are so many street closures, he doesn't know if that would work.  I can't get into the city by car to get him, so I'm not sure what will happen.  Philadelphia is crazy.  It's a shame for the people like him who were actually working today and not playing hooky from work or school. 

So on to pumpkin bread.  I love Trader Joe's and enjoy trying all the different things they sell there.  Every fall they sell a pumpkin bread mix that is incredible.  I know it is easy to make it from scratch, but this mix is really great and fast to make.  So, I made a loaf this afternoon and the house smells great.  Even Andrew enjoyed eating some.  I added half a banana and some ground flax meal to the batter, along with some cinnamon, because I thought it might increase the nutritional value of the bread.  The flax meal gives it just a little bit of texture and does not affect the taste.  My friend stocks up on the mix to give out baked bread as gifts.  Good idea!!

digital birthday scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My baby is one.

It's true.  My little boy is officially a toddler.  To prove it he walked three steps by himself yesterday in front of us.  Where did that baby go so fast?  It really is amazing how much he has grown in one year.  He started at 8 lbs, 5 oz and almost 20 inches long.   

At his one year check up on Monday he weighed in at 23 lbs and 29 inches.  That's a lot of growing in a year.  Now he looks like this:  

We had a fun party for his birthday on Sunday.  He caught his first cold for his first birthday, so he was not feeling the greatest, but he enjoyed playing with all of the kids just the same.  Because of rain, we were stuck indoors, so I'm really glad we hadn't been planning a barbeque or picnic.  The hit of the party was the "ball pit" which was Andrew's baby pool filled with about 100 little balls.  The kids loved diving in or just sitting in it and throwing the balls around.  Even the babies had fun with it.  Who would have expected something so simple would bring so much pleasure.  We left it out for now and Andrew has played in it ever day.  He taught himself to climb in and out of it and has even started picking up the stray balls and putting them back in.  It is really cute!

  Birthday wake up!  Despite his cold, he had a smile.  Monkey birthday cake for our silly monkey.

 Playing with his cousin.  I made his tee shirt.

     Birthday boy with mommy!  

Andrew received some wonderful presents and has been enjoying new "bigger boy" toys.  It will forever amaze me how incredibly difficult it is to get toys out of their packaging.  I bought him a few toys from Moolka, mostly German and French imports.  They were packaged in parent friendly containers that did not require special tools to open.  The American company toys (made in China, I'm sure,) were twisty tied and sealed in their boxes and took great strength to unwrap.  

To commemerate Andrew's first birthday we got his photo taken, along with some family shots.

       

knitted toy

Since having a boy and reading about scares regarding mass manufactured toys filled with potential chemical hazards, I have been more interested in knitting toys.  I have lots of patterns for toys and have found lots more on Ravelry.  This swirled ball is one that I first discovered on Flickr, which led me to Ravelry, which led to a free pattern here.  It was one of the more fun patterns to knit and would look great in lots of color combinations.  I used cotton yarn that isn't squeaky, especially when a certain little boy chews on it. 

One of my current favorite toy catalogs is Moolka, which is where wee one's birthday gifts are coming from, as well as last Christmas' presents.  I like how their toys require imagination and not tv screens or batteries. 

Dinner tonight is cooking already in the crock pot.  It is a recipe from a friend for Chicken Cacciatore.  

 

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 six ounce cans tomato paste

8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon basil

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup water

 

Put sliced onion in bottom of crock-pot. Add chicken. Stir together rest of the ingredients. Spread over chicken.  Cook: 7-9 hours low or 3-4 hours high.

I didn't use wine and replaced it with water and a teaspoon of cider vinegar.  I also added some fresh basil leaves from my plants in the yard. It smells great. 

The wee one has awoken from morning nap.  Let the playing begin!

Andrew's Sunday excitement

He may be ten months old and almost walking, but he was the cutest boy baptized at his daddy's church yesterday morning.  Despite the service being during morning nap time, he was a trooper and gleefully shouted out at the appropriate moments, such as at the conclusion of the sermon.

The hat lasted approximately eight minutes. 

After the service while we were waiting to have photos taken, Andrew was fascinated with the water--it was the tiniest bathtub or pool he ever saw. 

Later all of the cousins visited and our house became quite lively.  A prelude to Andrew's birthday party in six weeks, I suppose.  The food was good, the cake was yummy, and despite lack of napping on all our parts, it was a nice day. 

Andrew even got to enjoy some of his own cake. 

Chip smashing

chip smasher from Diane S on Vimeo.

Andrew, or "Baby Destructo" as we've now tagged him, has been busy redecorating the house.  Since he is at perfect eye level for many of the bookshelves, he spends much of his waking hours pulling out all of the psychology and cookbooks that he can find, along with his own shelf in his room.  He pulls them out, and I replace them.  Do I have a librarian in my future?  He enjoys turning book pages now too.  Before long he'll be making reading requests. 

Another favorite activity has been stair climbing.  It wears him out for his naps.  He has become quite agile and gets upstair quickly.  Now we need to work on the down part that isn't head first. 

Twinness

My sister has once again successfully produced human life, this time in the form of surprise twins.  They are super cute and very healthy.  I got to visit them yesterday briefly and hold each of them.  I already forgot how tiny and light a newborn feels, especially after hefting my 21 lb baby around everyday.  This is my favorite photo of them so far.   I can almost hear Lilly thinking, "I am so going to poke you hard Anthony for all those months of squishing me in the corner of the uterus.  I am woman, hear me roar!" Her little smile is adorable and his look is the typical boy look--don't bother me, I'm sleeping.  She was 6 lbs, 10 oz and he was 7 lbs, 12 oz.  Not bad for only 37 weeks.  We grow them big in this family. 

Andrew came to the hospital with me, but they wouldn't let him in to see the babies.  He doesn't know it yet, but next summer will be a lot of fun for him and the twins, since they will be so close in age and able to get into trouble with each other.

I need to get cracking on their baby blankets.  I am halfway through his and maybe a quarter of the way with hers.  I had to replace the size 17 needle I was using for hers because the one I had apparently chipped on the join with the cable and kept snagging the yarn.  I was lucky to find a replacement one at AC Moore.  I so rarely use a US 17 circular that I couldn't justify buying an Addi Turbo this time.  Plus, with my coupon, I paid less than $4! 

Andrew and I went to the local store that sells big giant sizes of everything to stock up on more formula and to get gas.  How sad is it that I was excited to only pay $3.93 today for a gallon of gas?  The last time I was there it was five cents more a gallon.  I have no idea what kind of gas it is, but it is the cheapest in the area, so it works for my honda just fine.  Andrew's latest accomplishment today is roaring and screaming for kicks.  He sits in his car seat and just screams repeately with a smile on his face.  I think he is either testing his vocal cords or my patience.  I ignore it as best I can, but sometimes he just makes me laugh.  As we walked around the nice cold store (it is freaking hot outside here, so a place with icy cold AC was great) he roared.  He doesn't watch TV shows or videos to pick up weird sounds, so this must just be an innate boy sound.  At one point an elderly man turned to him and asked him if he was roaring at him.  Andrew then pulled the bashful act and tried to hide.  It was amusing.  His little personality is really showing now.  He is very adventurous and tries to climb and move in ways his body isn't capable of yet, but his mind wants to try.  Bumps and little bruises do not seem to hinder his attempts.  I can't wait until he walks.  We thought life was over once he learned to crawl, but I see much running in my future.

An afternoon swim, with an unexpected visitor

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful outside.  Hot but not humid.  After Andrew's very long nap, he was rewarded with a dip in his baby pool.  Chris captured it on video, and I managed to snap this cute photo of him chewing on a mini shovel.  It was a nice and quiet afternoon.  We have a fairly private yard and can sometimes hear our neighbors, but not see them.  I suddenly heard a man talking in our next door neighbor's yard.  I thought it was maybe the guy who lives across the street, for his accent was definitely Philly style and not our neighbor, who speaks with a heavy European accent (maybe Russian, not sure.)  Suddenly there is a huge German Shepherd in our yard on a long leash.  (There is a break in our fence where a panel was broken in a storm and we have yet to replace it since it means replacing the entire fence.)  Attached to the other end of the leash was a local police officer, who was talking into his shoulder.  He did not see us, even though we were sitting on our patio and quite obvious.  I startled him by saying hello.  Apparently I watch too much crime investigation tv, for if we were criminals or dangerous in any way, he would have been done for, in my opinion.  Aren't police officers supposed to always be aware of their surroundings?  Even the dog didn't notice us.  Turns out he was searching for a man and woman who were seen running up our street (we live on a very steep hilly street) who had been involved in a stabbing in a nearby park.  He was trying to get the dog to pick up their scent, but I am sure they didn't enter our yard, since access from the street is limited.  (Although apparently access from the neighbor's yard is easy!  We better look into that fence soon.)  Nothing ever happens in our little suburb of Philadelphia.  The biggest crime is usually DUIs, shoplifting, or zoning violations.  I guess the UM police department were in full action yesterday.  I didn't see the crime mentioned on last night's news, and I hope who ever was the victim is ok.  It certainly made Andrew's first dip in the pool a memorable event!

I posted seedlings a while ago that I was trying to grow indoors.  Let's just say most of them did not make it.  I'm not sure why, but this sunflower is the only one that survived. Two zinnias also made it, but haven't bloomed yet, and I think I still have some small rosemary plants that are growing.  I ended up purchasing basil and a grape tomato plant, all which are doing well.  I have to pick up pesto ingredients today so that I can use the basil that needs harvesting. 

Brangelina apparently gave birth to her twins last night.  My sister is still holding out, despite wishing that her babies would evacuate thier current location immediately.  She sent them an eviction notice, but they can't read yet, so they haven't responded.  Let's hope they arrive soon!!

I joined two online social/networking groups recently, mostly out of boredom and curiosity.  Facebook is not as interesting as I expected, but there certainly are a lot of people using it.  There are some fun applications to use and I have connected with a handful of people (mostly knitters!!)  Goodreads has turned out to be very useful.  I received an invite from someone I don't know, but I think is friends with someone I do, to join.  It is a great way to keep track of books and find new titles to read.  I keep discovering books I read a while ago and forgot about. 

Happy Sunday!