Saturday, April 27, 2013

Scourge of the Sea Monster!

I'm currently giving Joey a bath. Right now, "giving Joey a bath" typically means "fill the tub with water and let Joey burn off energy by playing" and if I'm lucky I can hit him with some shampoo and soap when he's too busy to notice. The difference in baths between the two boys is amusing. I love it for both though. Joey at Noah's age was content to sit there and either suck on a washcloth or fall asleep, but Noah absolutely LOVES kicking all the water out of the baby tub! He's not still a minute when it's his turn for a bath! I've abandoned the froggy bath buddy because he doesn't need it to keep warm anymore, he's constantly kicking warm water up onto himself!

Joey likes splashing too, but much differently. He also loves screaming, that's not limited to baths though, he screams/yells all the time. I think it's a toddler thing, but it could just be a Joey thing.

Noah is now 5 months old and I'm still trying to figure out how these months have flown by so quickly! He is rolling all over the place, and prefers to sleep on his side or tummy because that's how I typically find him sleeping now! He can push himself up 90 degrees (a milestone we check off at pedi appointments) and Dan even caught him up on hands and knees once so far! He fell right down but at least Dan saw him do it! The two bottom teeth have poked through and the drooling has started back up again so I've got my eye on his top gums. I am counting my blessings that teething has not changed his sleep patterns/habits like it did with Joey. Noah is definitely more in line with other babies when it comes to teething symptoms, he's a little extra fussy sometimes, drooling a lot, and chewing on everything. Joey just chewed on everything and his sleep was disrupted (not to mention he wanted to nurse all. night. long.). Of my two, Noah is the better sleeper so far *knock on wood*. He is approaching the age where Joey stopped sleeping well, so we'll see what happens over the next few weeks. 5 months is an age where they start building "sleep associations" that can take a long time to change if you fall into habits that you aren't always going to want to maintain. I don't want to say "bad habits" because nursing to sleep is a nice way to unwind and reconnect and I don't mind nursing either of them to sleep, but if you want to be able to rock them and just put them down and you're not there yet, around 5 months is the time you want to start moving.

Joey's sleep associations are better than they used to be for sure. We're still co-sleeping (which I don't mind so much since I'm working full time, I get all my snuggles in while I can) and there are nights where Joey wakes up while I'm nursing Noah and has to wait. Sometimes he just lies back down and that's it, other times he fusses, still other times he fusses and gets himself really worked up to the point where Dan has to take him out before he wakes up Noah. There used to be nights where if he didn't nurse the he didn't go back down (and there was almost always a meltdown), so forward progress has definitely been made. We're using our upcoming trip to Georgia to see how well he does in his own bed. I'm not sure how well this will work since his routines will be thrown completely off in addition to already being in a not normal place. I'm thinking if he does well, then great! If not, then I won't completely blame being in his own bed since there are plenty of other factors that could contribute to a wakeful night.

Joey says so many words now! He's in a "parrot" phase where he will repeat things we say but he will also initiate words as well. About 90% of his words we only know what he means because of context because he doesn't say them very clearly but I know that will come with time and practice. Still no real sentences (besides things like "bye daddy") and he has yet to call me anything specifically. He says "Daddy" to Dan and in reference to Dan all the time, but he hasn't said "Mama" or "Mom" or "Mommy" or anything for me. Nada. We have no idea if it's on purpose because I'm at work all day or what. The "M" sound isn't one of his more frequent sounds, but I know he CAN do it (he points to my boobs and sometimes will say "oms" because we call them "nom-noms", he will also say "me" when he wants something). My favorite things he says are things we've been coaching him on and he FINALLY will say now! He does a lot of the typical "what does a cow say?"/"moo!" stuff, so for months I've been saying, "What does a zombie say?" and trying to get him to say "Brains!" in response. He only recently actually started responding to that one, he used to just smile when we said "brains" because he thought it was funny. I will also ask "What does a pirate say?" and he'll say, "Arrr!" because there was an episode of the Backyardigans about pirates and they literally spent the whole episode singing "A pirate says 'arrr'" so Joey learned that one pretty quick.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

WIPW: As The Heel Turns...Again!

Yes, another post like Tami's about WIPs, I promise I'll do a family update soon!

After finishing my Classy Cardi, I once again turned my attention back to my lovely socks. While I've already knit two Christmas stockings, which are basically really big socks, this pattern was my first adventure into heel flaps, turning the heel, and knitting to "two inches shorter than desired length". I'm exceedingly happy with how quick, fun, and easy this pattern is and how my socks are coming out. I'm so happy that I'm already planning my next pair and hope to knit them two-at-a-time.

I'm currently just past the gusset after turning the heel, I finished the decreases yesterday and I'm now "knitting all the stitches as they appear" until it's time to start the toe decreases. This part went quickly with the first sock and I'm knitting the second one faster than that. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so close to finishing or if I'm just that much quicker this time around.


Also still on the needles, and will undoubtedly be the subject of many more WIPW posts to come, Molly! Progress continues slowly partially due to the fact that each row is 217 stitches and partially due to working full time and having two kids under the age of two. The infrequent moments I steal to knit throughout the week are still so much fun, I love this pattern and this yarn! I'm just about finished the second set of stripes (which is actually the third if you count each panel as a set since they were separated when I first worked them). I don't have the pattern in front of me, but I know that shortly after the next set of stripes I will start dividing for arm holes. It may take me just as long to knit this pattern as I spent oogling it before getting the yarn, but that's ok, everything about it is worth savoring.

Where the panels were joined together, may have to go back and tighten.
Right panel close up.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

WIPW: Hello Molly!

I give you the beginning of the right panel of Molly, my Delancy Cardigan! I'm now on the start of the left panel (they get joined before the next set of stripes) and Righty is hanging out on my extra long cable to keep me motivated! I'm knitting with Tosh DK (in "Cloak" and "Molly Ringwald", thus the name) and it is an absolute dream. I'm totally in love with anything Madelinetosh, so I might be a bit biased, but it's still amazing to knit with. This is my first real DK weight project and I even took the time to swatch! Turns out I needed the recommended size (US 8), in spite of my loose gauge after changing from a thrower to a picker. I'm still glad I swatched, initially I was assuming I'd have to go down a size or two, but since I didn't I shouldn't have to make any mods/adjustments.

I have drooled over this pattern for months. Gone over color combinations using the color picker on Eat.Sleep.Knit.com's site. I've envied every wearer of an FO on the projects page of Ravelry. Finally, finally, thanks to our nice tax return and my comitment to finish my other cardi, last weekend I CO Molly. What little chance I've had to knit has been relaxing and enjoyable (except the part where I wasn't paying attention and only did 2 CC stripes instead of 3 and went like 6 rows back into MC before I'd realized what I'd done, oops). We have a long road trip ahead of us in a month to visit SOMEONE and celebrate her wedding (*cough*Theo*cough*) so I anticipate making loads of progress in the car. I'm doing something new on this project: weaving in ends as I go. It's amazing and feels so much more secure than when I go back and use a tapestry needle. I first looked at directions for this a long time ago while I was knitting my second-ever-project, but the pictures made it look more complicated than I was ready for so I put it out of my mind and didn't ever really think about it again. Until Molly. I should have remembered it sooner. Pretty much if you've done any kind of colorwork, you can weave as you go, that's all there is to it.

That's all for now, I managed to type this whole thing one-handed while holding a baby, go me! Check out Tami's for more WIPs!