Date: 2009-07-09 20:37 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

One nice thing about the Jack bedtime is that after he goes to bed, it is official relax and do fun things time. Having that definite time period is nice. Although I miss Jack when he goes to bed. That is probably weird, I know, but I do.

( Baby, exercise, and garden ramblings... )

Date: 2009-07-03 15:32 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Jack did very well on his first vacation. We drove up to Dillon Beach for a Wilson family reunion. He had some trouble with bedtimes, but we attribute that to the fact that it was rather hot and bright in the room we tried to get him to sleep in. When we went back to our own cabin, he fell right asleep. It was nice to have a bunch of relatives to help keep him entertained. Also, it's nice when other people like your baby.

I keep being surprised at how good a baby he is. Jack is not a spit-upper. He has only vomited when we've fed him too much. Our laundry machines are grateful.

Today he did very well on our walk to the YMCA and grocery store. I knew he must have been really hungry by the end, but he didn't make a peep. Just stared at everything wide-eyed, and then quietly but eagerly nursed when we got home.

He took three real naps today (all by himself, in the bassinet), but each only lasted half an hour. He also napped in the stroller on our errands. But all together they didn't add up to that much, which may be why he went directly to sleep at bedtime. But the nap schedule is still a work in progress. I am thinking of keeping a sleep log for a while to see what his preferred schedule is. I keep being surprised by his morning nap need, since it seems he wants to go back to bed right as I am dressed, fed, and ready to start the day. Of course by then he's been awake for a couple of hours, which I forget.

I have determined that my sense of style when dressing Jack is somewhere between preppy and lil' surfer dude. For which Michael accused me of trying to turn our son into a "bro". Today he had a sleeveless onesie with surfboards and a crab on it that said "Little Dude". Paired with his orange bucket hat he was adorable, if proto-broish. But since the other options that seem to exist in boy infant clothing are "precious powder-blue princeling", "world's tiniest sports fan" and "lil' thug", I think "bro" is ok.

---
Michael has been hired back to his old firm as a contractor. Which means I'm now home alone with Jack during the day. I sat down to write out a weekly schedule for myself, as I found that when Jack went down for a nap, I did a bit of mental running around like a headless chicken thinking, "What should I get done now?" Truth is, almost anything I need to do I can also get done while he's awake except maybe major yardwork, but still, uninterrupted time is precious. I finally cleaned and swept the last of the Hedge of Doom detritus from the front yard during one half hour nap, and adjusted the sprinkler heads in the backyard for another. I have also figured out that dinner is a lot easier to make if I prep all the ingredients in the few minutes I have while Jack plays happily during the day. Then I can cook it all in about 15 minutes when Michael gets home.

I still feel like I should Have a Plan for every minute, and this Plan should include infant-enriching activities. What are those activities? I have no idea. Currently he likes to sleep, eat, "chat" (the smile and gurgle face-to-face exchanges), and wriggle on his playmat. He doesn't really interact with much yet, so it's not like I can have craft time or something.

I still have to figure out how to get a workout in now that I don't have Michael to watch Jack during the morning. Maybe I have to get up early. I maybe could do it after Jack goes to bed, but I have less energy at night. I signed up for the post-natal program at the Y, but I suspect both the Stroller Aerobics and regular aerobics may be a bit wimpy. Besides, running/cycling is enough for my cardio, I need someone to give me weights! But the Y does not offer any weights classes to non-members, and membership is pricey.

In other news, I scored a bunch of decent patio chairs at Big Lots for $15 each on sale! Woot! I am thinking they will come in handy for large gatherings such as Orichalcon, or if we ever get our act together enough to host a bbq or something.

Date: 2009-06-22 11:58 Subject: Test-driving a life Security: Public

Yesterday Anise and Adam had their baby! Congrats!

As a result of this, we babysat McLevy during the day and early evening.

At one point, we were walking back from the playground, Michael was pushing the empty stroller, I was walking with Jack strapped to my front and holding Mac's hand. I realized that we were now "those people". I said to Michael, "Wow, this is our life now." Michael replied, "No, actually, not yet. This is Anise and Adam's life." We were just test-driving.

All in all, it wasn't too difficult at any given moment, especially since there were two adults so we could switch Jack-watching and Mac-watching. And Mac-watching is kinda fun, since he's at the age that I most looked forward to when thinking about having kids. But at the end of it, we were very tired. Infant's needs are more urgent than toddlers', but much easier to fulfill. And Mac's life has a lot more structure to it than Jack's, so it always seemed like it was Time For Something: lunch, nap, park, snack, dinner. There is no "oh, that's done now, time to kick back for a while". When one thing is done, it's time to start getting ready for another. I have new respect for parents of multiple children. Stay at home or single parents, I don't know how you do it alone.



Amusing things we learned about Mac:
Mac's movie-watching is not your typical passive-kid-zombie. He vigorously acts out the scenes as they play on the TV, and dances to the musical numbers. It doesn't seem that lack of physical activity is going to be his problem in life.

He eats the middles of sandwiches first. When given a grilled cheese, he pulled apart the first half and somehow ate it inside out. The next half had congealed, so the process created more of a mangled bread thing, but it all got eaten. Also, when given peanut butter on banana pieces, he figured the way to eat it was to pick off the peanut butter gobs with his fingers, leaving all banana behind. An hour later, he went back for the banana. If I have to feed him again, I might consider giving him food components separately, since that's how he eats it anyway. :)

Given his exploits with tools and taking-apart of things early in life, I had high hopes for him as an engineer. Now after playing some blocks with him, I realize he's destined to be a demolition expert. The only way I could get him to pick up the blocks before dinner was to show him that you could build little 3-block buildings and then CRASH! them into the block bucket. CRASH CRASH CRASH!

Date: 2009-06-19 16:23 Subject: Sleepy Jack Security: Public

Jack has been so good about bedtimes, we consider ourselves lucky. He has slept 7:30-12:30 for a few nights in a row now. I am not a fan of the 6am wakeup time, which he seems to prefer occasionally. This morning though he slept until 8 and then was Mr. Happyface. Much better than the 6am Mr. Kickypants. We did finally figure out that when he wakes up and kicks furiously, it makes him happy to be supported so he can stand on the bed. I think he just has baby restless legs and feels they need working out. I had no idea babies could support their own weight on their legs so early. He has a particular "I'm standing!!!" expression which I find very cute.

Daytime napping on the other hand, has not been so good. He sleeps great in the wrap or in someone's arms, but there is only so much internet to surf and infinite things that need to be done that aren't easy to do while babywearing. And he is HOT, and yesterday was pretty warm and I got all overheated and cranky and practically tossed him to Michael so I could shower.

Finally today we hit some kind of magical combination of swaddler, bassinet, and readiness on his part. He had an hour-long morning nap, and then a TWO hour midday nap. We were kind of scared whether he was ok, since he has never done that before. No dice on an afternoon nap, but he did go to bed on time again.

I've managed to feel very productive during these sleepytimes. I discovered that the people that take the lawn clippings will take extra debris if you call them ahead of time. I wonder what the limit is, as I'm barely halfway done with the Hedge That Tried To Eat Mountain View and I'm pretty sure you could fill a truck with what I've already cut off. I suppose once it's all chipped up it will be much smaller, but I don't know if that's how those trucks work.

Hedge massacre is nasty dirty prickly work. They are under pine trees, so the branches are full of mats of old dried pine needles which fall on my head. There is much sneezing.

I've started up a workout regimen again. I think I'm going to aim for alternating bike/run/weights each morning. The weights are an issue since I don't like doing them without someone telling me what to do, and our internet connection foiled me in using the free YouTube workout videos I found. The local Y has stroller aerobics and other stuff, but that's only once a week which is pretty damn useless. I need to go over all the classes they offer and sign up for stuff.

Date: 2009-06-13 22:09 Subject: Bedtime and gardening Security: Public

So far Jack has been a very accommodating baby at night. The first day he went to bed after some nursing and singing at 7:45/8, and the next three days between 7 and 7:30. As long as he is full and fairly drowsy, I can put him down with eyes open and he will drift off to sleep in his bassinet by himself. I am very proud.

Now if only he would nap during the day with such ease. No, he needs to be in deep, deep sleep before he can be put in his crib for a nap during the day. Maybe we should first try getting him to nap in his bassinet, which is a less visually interesting environment than the nursery.

With the new bedtime, I get an hour or so of outdoor work time before sunset given the long summer hours. This has meant that I finally dug out the sod for the last section of veggie garden, worked in some organic soil from the container garden from last year, mulched and planted. I added some more peppers and herbs to the existing section and filled in the rest with carnations and nasturtiums (edible flowers, easy to grow from seed). The new section has been dedicated to melons and pumpkins which tend to sprawl. The newly mulched garden looks so nice with the bright green plants and reddish brown new mulch. It makes me very happy.

I've also started to attack the Hedges Of Doom in the front of our house, as they have started to make carnivorous grabs at us as we exit the front yard. They are now easily 8 feet tall and still spreading. To properly prune them back to a respectable size at this point means basically reducing them to bare sticks and having to deal with immense amounts of debris. I barely scratched the surface yesterday and already have about 6 bins' worth of stuff, and they only pick yard waste up every other week. I think I'll take the stuff with the smaller branches and make the lawnmower chew it up for mulch/compost/more compact for the bin.

Can I just say how much being at home with a baby is far superior to working? I may not get as many personal projects done, but the fulfillment from staring all day at a cute baby, trying to get him to smile and say "ah-goooo!" is surprisingly satisfying.

Finally, what is up with the SF bay weather recently? Overcast in June?!? RAIN IN JUNE!?! Unheard of! Not that I'm complaining, really, as we are in a drought and the cool weather is nice to run in, and the smells of moist summer remind me of my times working a summer camp in Illinois which still rank pretty high in my favorite places/times in my life. But still. It's supposed to rain tonight! Weird!

I just realized...I planted pumpkins so that Jack can have a Jack'o'lantern for Halloween. He will be 6 months old, and probably not very interested in pumpkins. But if we do manage to grow any, by gum I'm going to carve one for him.

Date: 2009-06-09 21:12 Subject: Family and stuff Security: Public

My sister visited this weekend. With all our visitors lately, I am going to be lonely the next few weeks. Michael has talked about going to the library to get in some "office hours" during the day, which means I will be alone at home with only two non-speaking dependents to keep me company. Now this was going to be the case already before Michael got laid off, but I've gotten used to us both being home.

My sister, like my mom and dad, is not satisfied unless there is something productive to do. So she cooked a big dinner for us and Maureen on Sunday, having been inspired by the farmer's market. It involved mussels, roasted chicken, asparagus, salad, and bread with herb butter. Monday she made up some chorizo and potato tacos. She also scrubbed my kitchen from top to bottom, including cabinet fronts and hands-and-knees floor scrubbing. Monday we used the morning to get some gardening supplies and mulch to finish off the garden that my parents started for me. She put in the edging and we mulched with redwood bark, which looks great now. Then we sat around and drank champagne and ate strawberries, tart crust, and orange curd.

(The tart crust came from a failed attempt at a previous successful recipe of roasted orange tart. Something about the oranges off our tree this time came out way too bitter, even after roasting and then simmering in sugar syrup. So I scraped the oranges off the crust and we ate it like cookies.)

On the Jack front, he has been a very good baby lately. He hasn't had any crazy fussing sessions, and he's started to extend his sleeping time during the night to 3 hour increments instead of 2. We've also started a "bedtime" for him. This worked wonderfully today--I started to feed and soothe him at 7:30, and by 7:45 he was in his bassinet and we haven't heard hardly a peep from him. I was able to put in a solid hour of gardening time in the twilight. I can't wait until he does the same for daytime naps.

His hair on the top of his head is growing in with a vengeance, and appears that he might be slightly strawberry blonde. He is also frequently smiley and vocal now, which I LOVE. We even get in some more tummy time without the torture screams, and he can hold his head up when upright in a slightly wobbly fashion. His baby acne is basically gone.

I scanned through the past 6 weeks of photos the other day, and it is crazy how much he's grown already. He's a big kid--his length is well in the top percentiles, and he's got to be over 12 pounds already if not more.

Date: 2009-06-04 23:28 Subject: 6 weeks Security: Public

Jack is growing a thick crop of baby fuzz on the top of his head. He came out with quite a lot of longish dark blonde hair, but all on the sides and back, giving him a monkish/old man look. But his new hair is kind of like a baby crew cut, and at the perfect length to rub my face on. And by the looks of it he got Michael's hair as far as color and thickness goes. He has full eyebrows now, too. The first few weeks I remember seeing his eyelashes grow day by day. Now they seem to be at full length. With all that going on plus his chubbiness, ( he is full on Baby, no longer Newborn. )

Date: 2009-05-29 21:17 Subject: Adventures in baby soothing Security: Public

So far Jack has been an exceptionally easy baby. He didn't cry much, was easy to soothe when he did. But as our pediatrician warned, infants get increasingly fussy around the 6 week mark, after which they turn into happy babies again.

So Jack has been having increasing fussy episodes. Sometimes full-blown screaming. We go through the checklist: hungry? wet? burped? wants to be held close? wants to be put down? wants to be jiggled? etc.

The nuclear option is to put him in the wrap and walk around for a while. This is obviously tiring for me, although I do get a lot of housework done. Today he was inconsolable, even in the wrap. Until I turned the vacuum cleaner on. Instant silence. I turned off the vacuum after a couple of minutes, and crying again. So I vacuumed for a while until he went to sleep and I had a clean carpet.

He tends to have a fussy period starting around 6:30 for a half hour to an hour or so, after which he usually goes to sleep and then turns into "sleepy nighttime baby". Tonight I could NOT get him to go to sleep. Finally I just put him down in his crib, which worked for a short period and then he started to fuss again. The fussing escalated, and since I'd already tried everything I didn't know what to do. Then I had a brilliant idea.

I put the vacuum outside his door and turned it on. Worked like a charm.

Since this wasn't exactly a sustainable solution (either for the environment, the vacuum's motor, or our sanity) We tried tuning the radio to a dead FM station, except there is no such thing in this area. So instead I found a free white noise mp3 for the ipod speakers.

Date: 2009-05-24 11:40 Subject: 1 month! Security: Public

Yesterday was Jack's 1 month birthday. Michael sang him a birthday song and as a present, Jack got to do his favorite thing almost all day, which is be held by Mama (who caught up on House episodes on Hulu). He slept amazing amount, uninterrupted by us trying to put him in his crib. I don't get why he finds contorted sweaty positions in my arms more comfortable than a crib, but he does.

He also went to the pediatrician for his 1 month checkup a few days ago, and is now over 10 lbs. He has shoulder dimples, which our pediatrician found mildly interesting.

His smiles are increasing in frequency, and occasionally seem to be in response to faces, but it's not reliably reproducible. He also is starting to show interest in objects like his mobiles.

I am itching to exercise again, but have been told to hold off until the 6 wk OB appointment. I still walk 2-3 miles a day with Jack and Finn. But since the initial quick drop of 25 lbs, my weight is holding steady at 150, and those last 15 lbs will need exercise to get rid of. Luckily the Y is only down the street, and they have a master's swim program.

Today I'm going to try to get some more garden stuff done, then we go up to see Nana and to go to a cookout.

Date: 2009-05-17 08:45 Subject: Baby stuff, duh. Security: Public

We went to Babies'R'Us to use the registry coupon as well as a bunch of other coupons they sent us in the mail. We didn't need much, really, but baby stuff is surprisingly expensive. I searched the clothing section for a sleep sack (the footed jammies we have are cute but way too complicated for wee-hour diaper changes), but all they had were the gowns with elastic on the bottom. I got a couple of those, and then found the sleep sacks in the bedding section. $20 each. Crazy. I guess they can get away with it because they are a "safety" item. I bought one and intend to copy it using fleece and old tshirts I have at home.

It was a difficult outing for Jack, since it lasted a bit long and on the car ride home, he was starving and letting us know about it loudly. He even figured out that my finger did not deliver milk and let me know he knew the difference. Poor guy.

So I'm all paranoid about SIDS as I'm sure most new parents are. So far Jack is not great about sleeping on his back in the bassinet. Given that all the literature says adult beds ARE NOT SAFE OMG (plus I don't trust my 4am groggy self), we've been looking for a way to get Jack to sleep in his bassinet next to the bed at night instead of on top of or next to me. The problem is that even if he's sound asleep, setting him down on his back makes him flail his arms and he wakes up. So we've developed a multi-part solution:

1. Bolsters. He sleeps great in his carseat and chair, so I figured he needed some "snuggling". I rolled up some fabric and put hairbands around it to make two cylinders to hold him in place.

2. His flailing arms. Swaddling his feet is useless since he kicks off anything he has on them, so now we just wind a blanket or velcro swaddle around his arms to pin them down. He eventually works anything off, but if we do it right the arms stay down long enough for him to get a nap.

3.I had been ambivalent about pacifier use. I wasn't sure it was "ok", but on the other hand, I didn't have a pacifier and still ended up with a nighttime finger-sucking habit that lasted until I was probably 7. So if a kid's going to suck on something, they will take what's handy, I suppose. Turns out the pacifier is awesome. Sometimes he gets into a state where he wants to suck himself to sleep, but he's not hungry, so breastfeeding makes him upset. We get into this feed/cry cycle and nobody is happy. I tried the pacifier during one of these cycles last night and immediately he was happy and went to sleep. Also, the pacifier makes him look like Maggie Simpson.

The combination of these three things means he now will sleep in his crib during the day, and will put up with the bassinet for some part of the night.

Now if only I could work out a good solution for the nighttime milk leakage, we'd be set.

Date: 2009-05-12 16:56 Subject: First Mother's Day Security: Public

This week my parents visited from Illinois. They decided to dig me a vegetable garden as a baby gift (in addition to the pile of clothes and a million pairs of handmade booties). They didn't understand that the California clay and dry weather would make that a harder task than they had planned for, but they did it anyway and now I have some tomatoes, herbs, peppers, etc in the ground.

It was also nice having an extra pair of arms around to hold Jack, and grandparents are always good for admiring one's progeny which is a surprisingly nice feeling.

( More baby musings )

Date: 2009-05-01 16:52 Subject: good day Security: Public

Things are starting to settle in. Jack likes being in the wrap carrier for around an hour at a time, and doesn't stir even when I vacuum. He's awake for more time now, which took me a bit to get used to. Sometimes he just has extra energy for flailing around, and it doesn't mean he's not happy. I just need to set him down and let him vogue for a while. I'd prefer him to do it in the afternoon, not say at 5am, but what can you do?

The wrap let me take care of most of the chores I had in the hopper, and this morning I was a bit at loose ends. We had planned to go out on our first walk but the weather isn't cooperating. It's ok, there is always a baby to stare at. And naps to take, although I really hate the way daytime naps make me feel.

Finn has been really good about Jack after some initial alarm. He's mildly interested in sniffing him, but that's all. Now that we've had a few days of normal routine he seems to be feeling content.

Date: 2009-04-30 17:17 Subject: 1 week of Jack Security: Public

Michael told me today that Jack is 1 week old. I had a hard time believing that--where did all the time go?

The sleep thing has not been nearly as bad as I'd been led to expect so far. At night we sleep for a REM cycle, nurse/change, sleep again, repeat. He did have a wriggle fit around 5 am last night--not crying, just flailing and wriggling around wide awake for an hour, keeping me awake. I also get in a long nap at some point during the day. I think I can physically handle that kind of schedule better than some, which may be part of it. Maybe Jack is an easy baby? Maybe it gets worse? He rarely cries unless we are obviously doing something unpleasant to him (like the heel-stick blood draw, or failing to get a boob in his mouth fast enough).

One thing I hadn't been prepared for is the sheer physicality of motherhood. First of all there is the whole postpartum body thing. Pregnancy is gradual. Postpartum is not. I stood in front of the mirror trying to figure out whose body that was, as it was utterly unfamiliar. I actually have breasts, my stomach is a weird shape, and my butt fat that I didn't really notice during pregnancy now has nothing to hide behind. My stomach seems to become 1 month less pregnant each day as stuff inside shrinks and fluids are lost, which is weird. My belly button went back to about month 4 yesterday. I won't say much about the stitches and other stuff, except to mention that it all heals very fast when you think about it objectively, but not fast enough when you are experiencing it.

I knew to expect the whole physical symbiosis thing for pregnancy, but I thought once he came out we would be separate beings. But our bodies are still linked. Breastfeeding makes me cramp like crazy (thank goodness for Motrin!) and also to feel incredibly blissful and relaxed. I can tell that he associates my smell with food, as he can be happily wriggling on his stomach on a blanket, but placed in the same position on my chest goes frantically climbing around for a nipple. I didn't think I'd be a mother that held her baby 99% of the time, but here we are. I can't wait to see him grow and develop, and at the same time I can feel time going by very fast, and I'll miss the tiny soft newborn with his confused expressions and flailing arms and little squeaky breathing. His rooting reflex is hilarious. He raises his eyebrows in this hopeful, wistful expression and stretches his neck out with his mouth open, head bobbing around on his little weak neck muscles. This often means he goes looking for a nipple on my bicep. He hasn't found one yet, but he keeps trying.

I've never sat on my butt for such long periods before. I've been ok with it up to now because I was pretty anemic from blood loss for a while, and you can spend infinite amounts of time staring at a baby, at the baby chick head fuzz, the teensy fingernails, every little crease and fold. But life keeps nagging at the edges. Plants need watering. The lawn is a jungle. Michael has been doing everything non-boob-related up to now, but he's only off a few weeks. I'm not sure how life transitions from here, but I guess I'll find out.

Other fun things:
His stump fell off yesterday, and his belly button looks like a little smile.
He poops more than something so small and good-smelling should be able to. A reliable way to get him to poop? Put a clean diaper on him. He then tries to fill the void in the noisiest way possible. He seems to have two sizesbased on his mood: tiny, limp, and frogged, like when he's in the wrap carrier, and long and octopus-like, which is when he's squirming like mad with a gas bubble while still trying to nurse. He can be very strong.
He's getting over a case of newborn jaundice that was strong enough to require a couple of blood tests, but mild enough to not do anything about other than keep feeding and put him in indirect sunlight as much as possible. It does make him look a bit like a celebrity who has abused the tanning cream, though.

Oh, and baby head? Best smell ever.

Date: 2009-04-23 19:22 Subject: Jack is here! Security: Public

Jack Michael Davis-Wilson
born 8:15 am April 23
7lb 8oz, 22 in

More details when I'm not using one arm to hold cute sleepy baby.

Date: 2009-04-21 10:27 Subject: 40 weeks. Come on now... Security: Public

( Long rambling post by a bored pregnant lady with little to do other than wait for labor. )

Date: 2009-04-18 18:54 Subject: "Funny thing about weekends when you're unemployed... Security: Public

they don't mean quite so much. Except you get to hang out with your workin' friends." ( Or workin' husband, as it were.  )

Date: 2009-04-17 18:03 Subject: Bird habits Security: Public

I like having the bird feeders right outside the window so that I can watch the comings and goings. Here's some observations:

- The boy hummingbird makes a different zoom noise than the girl. He also appears to be smaller, but they move fast so its hard to say.

- Finches are neat eaters. The sit on the feeder, pick out a seed and eat it, dropping the hull to the ground. Sparrows are messy eaters, if they are eating at all. They just seem to enjoy spilling the seeds everywhere. This annoys me, but is probably good for the ground feeders.

- Little dark birds (juncos maybe?) and mourning doves like to eat off the ground. At least they are cleaning up the mess the sparrows make, assuming it's not so windy that it all blows into my doormats.

- Finches make nice melodic chirpy noises. Sparrows make brassy harsh noises. Hummingbirds sound like gas stove igniters.

-The chickadees don't come to the feeder now that I use hull-less sunflower seeds. Instead, they hang out at the "squirrel" feeder further away from the house where the regular seeds are.

I also must managed to fool myself--I had some pages with birdsongs open and loading for a while until I forgot about them. When they finally started to play, I thought they were real birds and couldn't figure out why I couldn't see the bird since the song was so loud.

Date: 2009-04-16 22:35 Subject: Crafty Security: Public

Things I've made this week:

- 2 fleece changing pad covers, plus put extra buttonholes in the cover that I got as a gift so that it fits on the Pack'n'play changing pad as well.

- One flannel blankie/sheet saver from a remnant--ok, this didn't take much doing other than ironing over the hems and adding some decorative stitching to the edges.

- Nursing pillow (Boppy-ripoff)

- Two nursing pillow covers with zippers, one fleece, one cotton

- A stuffed owl made from various fleecy scraps, stuffed with fabric trimmings and plastic bags and cellophane for the crinkly sound

- A hanging clothespin bag made from fused plastic bags

- A thick sheet of fused bags that I decided I didn't want to use, but now that I made it I don't want to just throw it away. I'm not sure that fusing bags saves energy over recycling them, as it takes a LOT of ironing and way too much time.

- A hanging diaper organizer for the Pack'n'Play. Made from fabric-covered cardboard, all stuff I had on hand and thus FREE. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, although I did use up a ton of hot glue in its construction.

- Thank you cards decorated with stampings and ribbon from the "guess the belly" shower game. This was part of the JoAnn's trip folly--I could have bought any kind of stationery at Target, but noooooo, they had CRAFT SUPPLIES that I can use to decorate my own for much more money and time! (I can see how scrapbookers get into it--rubber stamps are nifty and I want more.) I now need to actually write and send them.

- Various broken items fixed, or at least attempted to fix.

I have some leftover aqua, brown and orange fleece fabric, which I should probably make into blankies by cutting the edges into scallops or something. Or maybe I'll just make more stuffed toys, which are fun and easy. I could make a few small ones and fill them with the lentils that we never seem to cook.

Date: 2009-04-16 10:32 Subject: Tea Parties Security: Public

I'm pretty sure that this 6-yr-old's thought process is similar to that of the actual tea party protesters. Except for the throwing poop, but then again, that was the 3-yr-old's idea.

http://www.electricboogaloo.net/wordpress/archives/2009/04/16/portrait-of-an-antiestablishment-rabble-rouser-as-a-young-man/

Date: 2009-04-14 16:24 Subject: Windy! Security: Public

It is BLOWING.

I've spent most of the day in the craft room, sewing changing table covers. There are alarming noises with the big wind gusts. I don't know what they are. Pine cones? Branches?

I can see the poor hummingbird mama from inside. She picked her nest well for shelter, closeness to food (feeder and fruit flies from the worm bin), and general protectedness. However, a nest in the crook of an askew ivy vine on a hanging plant is not the best in the wind. During a brief lull I noticed that her nest was lower and a bit crooked. The vine she was on was slipping. I got a twist tie and secured it back to its original spot. She didn't notice me at first and stuck to her nest--I could have picked her up in my hand. But then she suddenly realized that I was not the wind and said, "HEY! WTF! Get out get out get out!" Buzzing around me chk-chk-ing up a storm. That's gratitude for you.

While doing this I discovered the source of the alarming noise. The greenhouse panels on our breezeway were lifting in the strongest winds. I went out to the shop and grabbed some clamps and a ladder. By the time I got back, of course, two of them had already blown over, out of reach of a pregnant lady who is unwilling to go climbing around on roofs in windy weather. I clamped down what I could reach. I hope that the loose ones don't blow into the neighbor's yard.