It's cold in Chicago!

After making a pair of finger-less mittens for Jules, I had some remaining yarn and a coworker moving to Chicago who also has a January birthday. What a great excuse to make another pair. Of course, it did require more yarn, but now I'll have to make a third pair and then determine who gets to wear them.

Fortunately for me, the above-mentioned co-worker loves the camera and documenting things. I took advantage of this and asked her to get some shots for me. Below is what she came up with - perfect!

A different baby, a different blanket

Thanks to Jessica, here are a few pictures of little Henry with the blanket I made for him. Way before H was born, I asked Jessica about colors. She, being the artsy and crafty person that she is, sent me a link to some really cool color combos that she'd been thinking about for her little guy on the way. It became clear that orange was in and I just happened to have this fabulous, super soft orange that I had been saving for the perfect project. This was it! Now it became a matter of finding some equally soft yarns in the color ranges that Jessica had in mind. The pictures below show the result.

I'm so glad I asked Jessica's opinion. I'm sure I would not have put the grey in of my own accord, but it's fabulous and necessary! Making cozy little treats like this one is so much fun for me: (1) I get to keep my hands and brain busy during the "create" process (I rarely use a pattern and often only have a mental sketch of what I'd like the results to be) and (2) I get to give them special homes with the wee little ones of my dear friends! The blanket doesn't look nearly so good with Henry wrapped up in it....

Lots of reading

We are very happy that Saul continues to love to read books. Maybe this has to do with the number of books we were reading when he was tiny, and the fact that we have them all over the house and encourage it. Regardless of the reason, it's an activity that we all enjoy. And, who can pass up sitting on the floor when Saul requests, "Read it, mamma." Or, "Couch, mamma. Read it, book." You can replace out "mamma" with "dadda" or "Susie" or "Ya-yelle" (Michelle) or whomever else happens to be close by. As you'll see in one of the pictures below, he did also get some reading time with my dad. They read the farm book, which I thought was rather appropriate.

A little blurry, but fun action shot of Saul getting settled to read with Aaron.

Saul's baby blanket.

The blog name was originally intended to serve two purposes: (1) share stories for family and friends about our life with our new little critter and (2) share my crocheting projects. Objective #1 has been met, I think, though with big pockets of silence as I am reminded of by one grandma, in particular. Objective #2....not so much. Though I continue to crochet and have made a number of things since Saul was born, I haven't remembered to take pictures.

Below is a picture taken back in March 2009 of Saul with the blanket I made for him. It's using a technique called Tunisian (or afghan) crochet. Many of the stitches look alot like knitting stitches, but it's using just one long hook. As you go in one direction, you pick up all a loop with each stitch and then you take them all off going in the other direction so that you end every set of rows with just one loop. There are a number of other blankets I've made using this style. More pictures to come....hopefully.

A night out to see the zoo lights

Barbara gave us a family membership to the zoo in time for us to also enjoy zoo lights this year. We waited until nearly the last opportunity to go. This was the result of schedules and just trying to find a good time for all but ultimately the result was being able to avoid the super cold weather and the heavy rains. We had a very nice evening with just light sprinkles and a lot of fun.

We made it a family trip and used public transit. Grammie Barbara and Poppa Tom joined us on the field trip. We walked to the MAX station by our house and then rode all the way to the zoo. It was Saul's second time on MAX and definitely the most impressionable. We let him stand up on the seat and he insisted that it be Barbara's hand on his back, not mine, as we rode. We prepared to ride on the train at the zoo, but between the long wait and Saul's clear nervousness about the train and how loud it was, we passed. Considering that we still didn't get home until around 8, this was the right decision.

Saul continues to talk about the zoo...and Poppa...and the train...and "pick up, Barbara." We saw otters sleeping - they float on their backs in the water. And, we saw the new baby elephant with it's mother. These things were also quite impressionable, particularly the "otter...night night....wawa." But, more significant to little Saul was the time with his Grammy and Poppa.

Fascinated by the view out the window.

This hippo is even bigger than the one at Grammy Barbara's house!

But still quickly on to other things.

Photo opportunity with the chipmunk friend.

Tired boy on the way home.

Saul's Second Christmas (2009)

We had a very quiet Christmas and New Year's this year at least in terms of travel and activities. Things within the house were much more active than last year now that we have a busy toddler!

Despite how much we missed the Tillamook family, we've had so much going on recently that we decided to stay very close to home. Part of this involves a tradition I hope we can keep going. Saul got a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve and then we all wore our pajamas all Christmas Day. He insisted that Auntie Alexandra (Auntie Di) put his pajamas and slippers on him. Then, throughout Christmas Day he would point at his pajamas and be sure that we knew that Auntie Di put them on him. We started this last year and in both cases made it for the full length of time diaper leakage free!

We had lots of fun with all of the grandmas and grandpas - a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner at Barbara's and Christmas morning right here with grandparents coming to us for Swedish pancakes made by my mom.

Pictures of the fun are below:

Saul riding his rocking dog.

Notice baby on the floor in the bottom left corner.

Santa had baby sitting on the dog, but baby was quickly thrown aside in favor of rocking.

Pushing his new popcorn popper.

Santa knew he'd like it but must be losing his hearing, as he didn't think about how loud it would be!

Saul using his tunnel in a new way, at Auntie Michelle's suggestion.

Claire's trying to figure out what all the fun is about.

Using the mallots that came with the xylophone.

Fortunately, they haven't tried them on heads yet!

18 mth stats and stories of ouchees

Saul has unfortunately begun to associate the doctor's office with shots, which he has been speaking about for weeks. First, the 18 month appointment stats.

Weight: 28 lbs.
Height: at least 32.5 inches

He really, really does not like laying flat on the paper to get measured. So, we think he's actually a little longer than the measurement. Either way, he's grown at least two inches since September. Crazy! And, we will be changing up the scene the next time we go. Saul will get to stand on the adult scale and we will use the height measurement from the big scale, too. The goal is to go back to happy Saul in the doctor's office.

So, here's how Saul's story of the doctor visit goes, not always in this order: "Fishy.... doctor.... water.... bandaid.... shots... ouchee.... ladies.... ouchee.... doctor..... fishy..... bandaid.... mama... off... bubbles... ouchee... ladies.... shots...." You get the idea.

The doctor's office has a really big fish tank with big gold fish and blue fish, etc. These are a hit and get talked about a lot. Then, the ladies are obviously the poor nurses who gave him his shots this last visit - one in each leg. And, there were bandaids, which I took off for him during a bath.

The story is told most frequently while sitting on his potty chair, as it's when he sees his thighs and is reminded that there were bandaids. This, of course, results in the story being told in a different order, starting with the bandaids. Recent pictures to come soon.