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skating

So now that he's got a nice warm hat, we figured it was time to go out into the cold, cold winter and do some fun stuff. After some weirdly warm weather (+4 anyone?) it has snapped back to proper cold winter time, with some good solid -10 to -18. 

So on Sunday we headed off to GranGran and Grandpapa's nicely frozen pond. The idea was that we'd do a little skating. Of course, by 'we' I mean 'The Little Dude and Grandpapa". I haven't owned skates since the early 90's. The Little Dude seemed interested in the idea... until we got there, and then he was characteristically apprehensive about the whole deal. "I don't wanna go skating anymore", he informed me as we piled out of the car in all our snow-suited preparedness. I know by now, that the best way to deal with apprehension is to apply no pressure at all. So I said "no problem, let's just got for a walk on the ice." 

We'd brought the little red sled along, and bundled the Baby into that, and Grandpapa got ahold of the reins and took him for little ride. He swooped him around in gentle arcs from one side of the pond to the other. And this is how the baby felt about that: Completely unimpressed. I thought he'd be a little bit excited, but upon reflection, its not unusual in a baby's life to get trussed up in some sort of contraption and transported from one place to another. So as far as he's concerned sled, car seat, who cares? What's the difference?

By this time our cheeks were all rosy, so we headed down to the end of the pond where my Dad had set up this handy little situation: The Cozy Shack! Its a little tarp-covered hut with a radiant propane heater in it. Plus also, thanks to my Dad's clever foresight, it also comes with a box of cookies. This did much for our three year olds spirits, and it was not long before the sugar and the warmth started to make skating look like a much better idea.

Its funny, to say that we are not exactly a sports-y family would be the understatement of the century, and yet I still feel like this was a sort of Canadian rite-of-passage kind of moment. Ah, the first time your Dad helps you put on skates and a helmet. Yep, he's officially Canadian now. 

And with shuffling and scraping they were off.

And can you see? There's a smile on his face! I was so relieved that it was a good experience for him. Those 'firsts' can really make or break it for you sometimes. And there's quite a discomfort hump to get over with skating especially. Its cold, its awkward, there is the constant threat of falling down. Yeah, I just reminded myself of why I don't skate. 

And much as a parent likes their child to share their interests, there are a few ways that I would like my kids to be different from me. I hope they never develop at taste for chocolate or fast food. I hope they aren't procrastinators. And I hope they are less sedentary than I am. And so it was with a warm heart (and very cold hands and feet) that I heard his clear little voice pipe up "I'm skating, I'm skating!"

And with the Grandpapa they have, this sure won't be the last time. 

(Special thanks to my sister who got us the good little two blade skates for L.D. that made this all possible. You rock, Auntie!)

down time

And unexpected bonus of my four days commuting into Toronto was... the commute!
Who knew how much I was going to enjoy getting on a train in the dark and riding for an hour or so. I'd be sitting there, all excited to be heading out into the early morning once again, and look around me to deduce that a) I was the only one who appeared to be excited, and b) I had a WHOLE HOUR to knit. Or read. Or write. Or just sit still and look out the window.  It is only when you have two small children under the age of four that you can finally realize how awesome that is. I also noted that c) I was the only one knitting. Which did kind of surprise me. And that just goes to show what sort of a fibre arts/crafting bubble I live in. It really, actually made me wonder that no one else had any other kind of handwork going on. No crochet, no needlepoint, nuthin'. Go figure.

Anyhow, with four morning rides and four evening rides, I was just about able to finish up a nice little project. And by 'just about', I mean this is what happened: 
I believe the technical knitting term for this is "a pisser". For those of you who don't know what you're looking at, this is an almost finished project, except with 18 stitches left to cast off I've run out of yarn. argh. Anyhow, I had to wait until I got home, and then dig around in my stash to find another close enough colour-wise bit of yarn so that I could finish it off. 

And here it is. Ah, my enthusiastic little knitwear model! Actually, contrary to what his face is saying, he genuinely likes his new hat. Its the same one I made for him when he was but a wee little boy, which he has outgrown and passed on to his little brother (though not without some reluctance:  "That's MY hat!") When it was half way done I tried it on his head for size and he said, "Is dat for ME?" and when I said, sure it could be for him if he wanted it, he quite sweetly declared, "I want a lovely purple hat like dat one! Will you make it for me?" But of course, my love, but of course. 

hats!

Just the other day I was thinking "how is it we don't have a dress up box?" I'm an ex-theatre major for Pete's Sake! These kids should have been born in a dress up box. But somehow, I've just never gotten around to pulling one together. Sure we have some random pieces of clothes around the house, and myriad bits of fabric and blankets that get pulled into service as gowns delivered by fairy godmothers and capes and magic carpets. Which is awesome, because it really gets the old imagination going. But still, I think we need an actual Tickle Trunk. And if you don't know what I mean by Tickle Trunk, you obviously did not grow up in Canada, and now I'll have to send you to this Mr. Dressup video so that you can get schooled. The box where he kept his costumes was called the Tickle Trunk. And he had EVERYTHING in there. Seriously. Don't make me have to explain the Friendly Giant to you too, or maybe we can't be friends any more (unless you are American, and you have a reasonable excuse for not knowing about Mr. D and the F.G. But don't feel bad, because you had Mr. Rogers, who also is awesome. But did he have a tickle trunk? No, he did not)

Anyhow, on my birthday trip to the V.V. Hubs was the smart guy who found this nice assortment of accessories with which to start our very own Tickle Trunk.  To be fair, we already owned the John Deere cap (natch), but the others round out the collection nicely. 

This one has quickly been adopted as the favourite. And its my favourite too. Its nice to see that we have similar taste. 

Of course, the whole point of these is to aid the imagination, so we are really flexible about the professions that the hat represents. Hubs feels like this is the 'Old Timey Journalist' hat. It just needs a little card in the band that says "PRESS". I suggested that it would also do well for "Out of Work Jazz Musician" but thats a little bleak. We also suggested that he could wear it and be a business man. But of course, he out did us both and in this picture is enacting his role as a "Recycling Guy Tiger". Obviously. The socks on his hands are tiger paws. That, plus the recycling box = clearly.

Another game that is very fun to play with hats is "Caps for Sale".

It helps if you've read this book.

I've probably blogged about it before, but I can't remember for sure. Anyhow, its a well worn family favourite (I just adore the illustrations. The colours! Here's a good link to another blog and some beautiful dresses inspired the palette of this book). about a peddler whose caps get stolen by some naughty monkeys. 

It makes him very angry. But (spoiler alert) he does get the caps back in the end. The Little Dude LOVES playing this game because there is both stamping and hat throwing involved. And I get to be a monkey who says "Tsz, tsz, tsz". Awesome. 

We tried to get the Baby in on this action, but he's much more interested in taking hats off than putting them on. Very hard to get a picture of this kid in a hat.

But still, it was fun trying. 

almost walking

So I mentioned yesterday that the Baby has started to stand on his own a little bit. But he also has another new trick. Which is actually not so new, as he has been doing it for a couple of weeks now, but I just haven't gotten around to posting about it before now. 

You see, I'd bought this cute little vintage kids chair at the local V.V. Its the perfect size for the Little Dude to sit on. And as you probably know by now, I just can't ever leave a little chair behind at the thrift store. Who can have too many little chairs around the house? Not me. 

But the Baby has more exciting plans than sitting!

 

Look at that kid go! He started doing this just before Christmas, when he was 9.5 months. (He's 10 months old now. And yes, I did roll up his slightly-too-long pants cuffs as soon as I was done taking this video, don't worry) He loves to push this little chair around, and has worked up to a pretty good speed. Ah, its only a matter of time until he's fully on the loose.

You should see him climb stairs! Maybe that'll have to be our next video. 

I'm off!

Ok, so I meant to post last night but then it was the season premiere of Downton Abbey, so I HAD to watch that. So, so good. If you don't watch it already, you totally should.

And now tonight I'm running around like a chicken without a head because I'm off on an adventure tomorrow. I'll be commuting into Toronto (sans enfants, yikes!) for the next four days to do a little temporary work that I'll tell you all about when I get the chance. But for now, all I can tell you is that I'll likely be absent from this space for the week.

Which is too bad because I have so much to tell you. Did some great thrifting on my birthday. And the Baby stood all by himself for about a minute today (not with my prompting, or assistance or anything) He was just standing by the window eating a baby biscuit, and then took his hand off the window to switch hands with the biscuit and in the process was standing all alone without even noticing it. I just happened to look up and see him at the exact moment it happened, which was a lovely coincidence. Oh, and I'm doing more knitting and have a lovely little home decor crafty repurposed thing to show you how to make. But that will all have to wait for next week, because tomorrow there is a train to Union Station with my name on it. 

Now I have to go and pack some snacks and knitting (a whole hour or so to knit on the train. Heaven!) and figure out what to wear. So much to do. So exciting! How will I ever sleep? 

items of note

At the top of our breaking news stories, The Baby pooped on the potty three times today. I know, I know, its kind of a cross between TMI and Who Cares. But DUDE, I care! I had almost given up on EC'ing and all of a sudden its working like a charm. I see him making that face like he's doing long division in his head, and before he starts grunting I pop him onto the potty and voila! No mess to clean up! May not be a big deal to you, but someday you might be a mother or father and then you'll understand how awesome this is. 

Also in the minor miracles category, apparently my three and a half year old not only hears me, but also is capable of processing the information I'm trying to convey to him. The Little Dude was about to dump out his giant box of cars all over the living room floor today (as is his wont) and suddenly stoped, checked himself, turned to me and asked "Is it ok if I dump these out?" I almost started to cry (with relief) because it means that all our repeated conversations are starting to trickle into his brain. I can't tell you how many times I've told him "Please don't dump them all out, only take out the ones you are going to play with. Or if you are going to dump them all out we are going to have to pick them all up again before nap time." And then he decides he wants to dump them all out, but of course, when nap time is nigh he does not want to pick them all up. And I'll say to him "you can keep out the one's you are playing with, but the rest have to go back in the box. " And then, with great deliberation and infuriating slowness he'll pick them up one at a time and say "I'm still playing wif dis one" and set it aside, until we have moved the entire pile ONE AT A TIME to a new location, but have put none away in the box. So frustrating. And so it was very rewarding today that he took a moment and thought about whether or not he should dump them all out again. Perhaps sitting there with me breathing down his neck while he does not put them away is as annoying to him as it is to me. Also, today after dinner when Hubs was tickling him and squeezing him too hard and he was sort of squealing about it he said "Daddy, that noise means I don't like it!". Which was hilarious because that's what I tell him about a hundred times a day as he squeezes his protesting baby brother in some sort of leg lock or bear hug. "Listen to what your brother is telling you. That crying noise means he doesn't like it!" Ah, empathy wasn't learned in a day. 

Another thing: Iits my birthday on Sunday. I swear, I almost forgot. And I know I'm old because I got into my mom's car today and it was on a talk radio station (a.m., yeesh) and I listened to it the whole time I was driving round without even thinking if changing it. Also, my back hurts. Also, I don't really have a birthday wish list. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and all I could think of is 'free time'. Oh, and if they sell bottles of sleep that you could drink and feel instantly refreshed like you'd slept an extra five hours, I'd like some of that too please. Ok, and maybe some new riding boots too. (not for riding, just for lookin' good) 

Lastly, this recipe for Chicken Stew with Garlic Rosemary Dumplings is so good that I made it twice in two weeks. Because, dumplings! Where have you been all my life? How have I never had dumplings before? A note on the recipe though, you DO NOT need 8 chicken breasts. Unless maybe you are feeding 8-10 people. We only have two chicken eaters here in our family, so I used two chicken breasts and that was more than enough, and the ratio of chicken to sauce was just fine. And you can totally add the peas just before you put the dumplings on top, it really doesn't require an extra step. Also, you must have the fresh rosemary. I know that sounds all foodie of me, but it really makes it. Your house will smell insanely good when you are making this. And the leftovers are awesome.

baby's new sweater

Here's what I was hinting about yesterday.  Its feels SO GOOD to do some knitting again. Its really been ages since I've knitted, as I've really had a quilting/sewing focus lately. But a couple of weeks ago I busted out the needles and got down to a project that I've been wanting to work on for awhile now.
The pattern that I used is the Baby Sophisticate. The poor Second Baby does not have as many mama-made knitted items as his big brother did. And he's been needing a really warm sweater to wear in the car when we go out. We often just put him in a hoodie because he has this car seat cover that keeps him cozy, but lately it's been really cold out, and so I wanted him to have something proper an wooly. So I hit the boxing day yarn sales at my local yarn shop, and here you have it.  And doesn't he look handsome in it? This green is so good on him. I'd always imagined doing it in grey, but the green (which was on sale) is just perfect. And it was so fun and quick and satisfying to knit (top down, no seaming up at the end) that I just might make another one. 
Now, to be fair, this was my second attempt at this sweater. This green version is knitted with an aran weight, as the pattern reccomended. But I gave it an initial shot with some worsted weight that I had in my stash, just to see how it turned out. And I'll tell you how, really, really small! Luckily, since it is top down, I just knit the body and part of one sleeve and then slipped it on him to see that yes, it was going to be way to small for him. So I put that one aside (I'll finish it later as a baby gift or something) and went on to this green one with yarn in the recommended guage. 

Just in case you are curious, the yarn I used is Cascade Eco+, which has a guage of 14 stitches to 4 inches and is 100% Peruvian Highland wool. And its not itchy at all.  I know a lot of people are reluctant to knit in wool for babies, but I put a long sleeve t-shirt on him underneath anyways, but it doesn't seem to bother him at the neck or anything. I'll just have to be careful when I wash it. And as you can see in this photo, it pretty much just fits him. The sleeves are just long enough, and same with the body. He'll probably outgrow it in a couple of months, so I vowed that he'd wear it at least once a day till then, just to make the knitting of it worthwhile. Also in this picture you can see the buttons quite nicely. I didn't have four the same that I liked in a nice wood/brown colour, so I mixed it up for fun. You can get away with that on a baby. And furthermore, this is a new face he's been making lately. He wrinkles up his nose, puts his tongue up against his bared teeth and does this funny fast little inhale/exhale though his nose. It makes him seem even more like a puppy than he usually does (which is alot). He seems to do it when he's excited, but also when he's annoyed. Either way, its very cute. 

Here again, with the back view you can see that its just long enough to cover his waistband. I'm tempted to extrapolate from the pattern and try to make it a little bigger even. I made the biggest size, but I'm sure I could figure out the math and go up another size. 

I think my favourite feature about this is the nice little shawl collar. I even learned something new as I made this project; Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn cast off, to make a nice flexible edge that lays very nicely when you're done. 

There's that face again. He's got sort of a Billy Idol/Elvis vibe going on. 

I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to knit for babies. So quick! And there's nothing better than finally putting that little sweater on your little one and seeing how nice and cute and warm they are. 

 

unleashed

This is what happens when you unleash a three year old on your button collection: Sigh. I should have known. I just really needed a little time to look through my rather large button collection and find the perfect four buttons for a little project I'm working on. And the Baby was (blessedly) asleep, so I just needed for the Little Dude to be occupied for a few minutes while I rummaged. 
It did not even occur to me that the buttons themselves would be the perfect thing to occupy him until he started hovering over me and using his excited/curious tone of voice as he asked the million questions. "What's in that box? What are those jars for? What are you looking for? Can I look in there? Where are these from? How? Is that one a BUNNY!?" Yes, there was one little bunny shaped button that he managed to find, and then we were off to the races. 

Though of course, I'm not a madwoman. I didn't just hand him a box containing approximately 17 pounds of buttons and say "have at it kid!" Much as he would have liked that. No, as you can see from the above photo, I have most of the 'good' buttons organized by colour and material (dork!) in those plastic compartment boxes, and then the rest of the general/not so special buttons are in a bunch of glass jars. So I gave him a jar full to play with. And then he appropriated a second jar. And, well...

...he had an awesome, awesome time. I'm telling you, he was happily occupied for nearly two hours. He scooped and poured, he spread them out and collected them up again.

And he picked out his favourites and "favourite favourite"s to lay out as a beautiful flower garden on the table top. Every now and then, he'd have to come and show me a prize, so that I could marvel at how "this one is so really special mom. Its just beautiful. We should put it on the Christmas tree!"

And I found what I was looking for too. Here's a sneak peek at what they were used for.  They don't match, but I kind of like that look. They're all going to the same party if you know what I mean. You'll have to wait till tomorrow for the rest of the picture. Suffice it to say, these buttons aren't even the cutest thing about the finished project. 

stacks of wood

stacks, piles, cords, whatever you call them, they have one thing in common. They are a lot. of. work.

Hubs and my Dad have spent the better part of at least three Saturdays getting this to happen. And this wall of wood is just the tip of the iceberg (or should I say woodberg?)

This is the other wall o' wood (and Hubs, being uncharacteristically hammy. I'll bet he's not a fan of this photo, but he should know, if I take a picture, I'm probably going to blog it. Fair warning) and this is when it was only part ways done. Its stacked in our garage, and reaches almost to two thirds of the way to the top of the garage door opening. 

All this has come to pass because its gotten colder, and our home, though well heated, gets a little cold in the upstairs living room/my sewing area/my studio/the computer room. Basically, where the kids and I spend the bulk of our days, and I spend all of my evenings. So its nice to have a little fire goin' on up there, but of course, a fire requires wood, and lots of it. 

So Hubs has been out with the chainsaw, and then, for a couple of weekends now my Dad has been bringing over his log splitter (hooked up the the tractor of course) and they've been splitting and hauling and stacking. The Little Dude and I even took a turn at the sitting in the tractor during The Baby's nap time the other day, pulling the levers that make the log splitter go into action (don't ask me how it works, I just pull the lever and Hubs puts a log on the splitter and voila, log is split into manageable pieces) which was fun while it lasted, and makes us feel like we've all contributed to that wood pile, at least in some small way.  L.D. even chipped in and helped stack a few logs. 

One of my favourite things about this wood pile in the garage (besides not having to go outside to get firewood) is the amazing smell. Wood smells SO GOOD. I kind of love having to walk out into the garage these days. This time of year is all about smells. That woody smell in the garage, and then, when you open the door to the kitchen, the warm whoosh of whatever you've been cooking most recently (last night, boerenkool met worst, {recipe here if you are interested, though it not quite the same as my family recipe, but you get the gist} the ultimate smell of winter food in my mind). And then as you walk up to the fireplace with your arms full of wood, the soft smokey smell of the fire itself. 

It was a lot of work, all this wood cutting/chopping/hauling/piling, but well worth it in the early morning.... ...when this little Baby and I rake up the coals left over from the night before and stoke up a nice warm fire that crackles and blazes and creates the cozy glow that makes 6:45 am not feel quite as bad as it could. 

p.s. just for all you worriers out there, we have a protective fence that goes around the hearth so that the Baby normally can't get up on the edge of it like this. I'd just removed it to put a bunch of logs on the fire in this instance. And I was only inches away from him when I took this picture and he was perfectly safe. I'm very, VERY careful with the Baby around the fire. Safety first! So no need to be concerned.

happy new year!

I just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a happy New Year. And also, I want to thank you. Thanks for dropping by from time to time and reading this blog. It really does mean a lot to me that these little messages in a bottle that float out into the ether get opened up and read. I know some of you who come here to read on a regular basis, and there are others of you that are strangers to me, but either way, I really appreciate that you take the time to look into the little slice of our lives that I can share with you here. 

I spent New Years Eve with some good friends, one of whom is thinking about starting to write a blog himself. And as I talked with him about my experience as a blogger, I started to realize what a valuable part of my life this is. How taking an hour each night to choose some photos, and write about some small aspect of my day, is something that I really enjoy, and something that has enriched my life. As a teenager, I used to be an avid journal-er, but somehow along my road to busy, busy adulthood, I started to forget to write things down. But having this blog, this reason to write every day, has jump-started that for me again. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for you, my readers, who give my brain the little external nudge it needs every evening to turn off the TV and ignore the dishes and just write down a memory, before it flitters away from me and disappears under all the to-do lists of my life. Life moves so fast when you are a parent, and is measured out in units both mundane (loads of laundry) and sublime (new words and first steps) and it has been such a blessing for me to have this small space where I can file away a few thoughts and pictures before they slip through my fingers. 

And your presence here as readers keeps reminding me that I am not the only one having these experiences, that there is somebody listening, and relating to what I have to say, and laughing at what I find funny, and sharing what I find beautiful, and wondering what went on today. And I appreciate that. So thank you.

See you again tomorrow.