New Reality

Pumpkin was sitting happily in a swing - for the first time. Peanut was working on version 42 of mega-lego parking garage and miscellaneous cars. I was hand sewing an inside seam on a zipper bag.

Then Pumpkin started to cry. Cue Peanut, "Mama, I have to pee. I have to poop." Luckily, he can manage himself. I tell him to run over to the bathroom (which is about 10 feet away) while I pack up sewing project. Before that's done, Peanut reappears holding up his finger - which now has poop on it. I send him back to the bathroom and tell him not to touch anything and then follow him in to clean up. Some thoughtful mama has put wipes in the drawer with Peanut undies, so we use one of those to clean his hand after we sit him down on the pot. Pumpkin's still crying, so I go get her out of the swing and work on maneuvering her into the wrap to nurse. Before I can finish, Peanut reappears. He's done. I ask him to go back to wait for me. The phone rings. While we're trying to sort out what time "before six" actually means, Peanut comes back out of the bathroom holding up a finger - poop on it again. I hang up the phone. We clean another finger. I clean his behind, noting that there is poop on the seat of the blasted training potty (these things should not require aim) and the edge of his shirt. Wipe toilet. Shirt off.

Now I've got a naked toddler standing in the bathroom, wet wipes in the sink, a poopy shirt on the floor, an infant nursing precariously in a wrap, and a step that's too short for said toddler to reach the sink. Sigh. The shower curtain can push far enough away for us to use the bath tap to wash hands. We wash. We dry. We put on clean underwear, pajama pants, and Peanut runs to his room to get a shirt. Running, always running, never walking. We put on a clean shirt. Peanut done, he returns to garage (re)construction. Wipes go in the wash. Shirt goes in the wash. I breathe.

The next moment, it's quiet enough to write. I might even go empty that potty. Then what?

Not Forgetting

With all the new baby excitement around here, everyone has been adjusting. Perhaps no one more than our faithful Peanut. His affection for his little sister overwhelms me at times. He always knows where she is, wants to hold and cuddle and kiss all the time, and expects perfection when we put her blanket down on the floor. Lay down a blanket with a folded corner or a careless wrinkle and he'll require it be fixed - usually fixing itself - before precious baby sister lays down on it. And somewhere in the middle of all this, he's still changing and learning and amusing at an amazing rate. At this very moment, he's sitting next to me at the dining room table, playing with play dough and making up fantastic stories. He is truly lovable.

Our art mornings have gone the way of the dodo bird, but there are still art moments. Lesson for mamas with two babies - moments count! We have recently discovered markers. They a change from pencils and Peanut enjoyed the bright colors and big fat lines. Unfortunately, they were not particularly washable.

And instead of taking pictures of art, we took pictures of faces. This is "mad."

Still cute, eh?

Slinging good times

With Peanut, baby carrying seemed like a bit of an exotic thing to try. With Pumpkin on the way - it feels more like a necessity, a common sense way to deal with baby needs and adult needs at the same time. I went ahead and made a sling for myself using two different on-line tutorials. Pictures of that will wait until there's an appropriate model, though. I wanted to make one for Peanut as well and lucky for me, Danielle did it first and kindly let me know what size to cut for Peanut. It's a nice, quick project and Peanut enjoys wearing it with "mouse." Yes, he has no idea who Mickey is and is certainly in for a surprise. What I love about him and the sling, though, is that he seems to get it. He puts it on, carries mouse, and just does what he wants to do.

He's also found that the sling itself can be quite useful - for, say, transporting cars. It's going to be fun if we get to go out with our matching slings one day. It's going to be a hoot!

Puzzling

First of all, I love the fly away hair on that head. It's usually standing up or otherwise looking fairly untended, making it perfect for a toddler!

It turns out that we are parenting a puzzle monster. We brought two nine-piece puzzles with us when we moved and I naively thought they would suffice. A couple months ago, though, he sat down at the table for an hour or so and figured them out. They're now out of their bags and assembled in moments. Even trying to prolong the joy by mixing the pieces together doesn't slow him down much. So, we've invested in a couple of more challenging puzzles for him to work on. The first has proven to be a big success.

In my on-line shopping, I've stuck to Ravensburger just because it's a brand I'm familiar with and I like that the images are more graphic than realistic. But it turns out that finding good quality, aesthetically appealing puzzles that aren't based on cartoon characters is a bit of a challenge. Any tips?

Sitting Pretty

Here's another little finished project and a funny picture to go with it. The picture shows the men in our family doing what they do best - building with Legos and generally acting silly. Peanut, despite any evidence you might have seen here to the contrary, rarely looks at the camera for a picture. He also rarely sits still. Capturing as something other than a blur is always a bit of a triumph. Building Lego constructions is probably Peanut and Papa activity number one. There have been quite a few Sears Towers (the real name)constructed after dinner. They tend to come complete with several helicopter pads (of course) and parking garages far above street level (double of course). These constructions must remain in place for at least 24 hours in order to permit proper appreciation by the whole family.

As for the project, you may notice a little rabbit in the Lego chair. We call her Nijntje. Her English name is Miffy. I knew nothing about her before living in the Netherlands, but Peanut has prompted quite the education. The books are lovely with bold illustrations and rhyming, rhythmic text. Our doll version is based on this pattern, using appropriately colored yarn we were gifted upon our departure from the Netherlands. She's my first stuffed knit object and I'm sort of satisfied how she came out. I'd probably use smaller needles next time just to get a more solid surface. This one shows all the loose stitches between needles. Otherwise, a success.

Art Morning: Beans + Glue = Drawing

Based on the success of our cut and paste adventure, I thought it would be interesting to encourage a bit more glue play with a different project. We did alright, but it turns out that beans are more fun to throw on the ground by the handful (after dipping them in glue) than paste on paper. OK, there's no huge surprise there.



The big surprise came later, when he wanted to draw. Peanut has been drawing closed shapes lately. This is usually done with much concentration and tongue stuck out when possible. It also comes with a lot of (promptly denied) requests for me or anyone sitting nearby to do the drawing for him. It was a real treat when he started drawing his own shapes - and drew himself a car. If you tilt your head a bit to the right and imagine there's light, you can see it. I'm mama-wowed.

Ukulele Red Raglan

Peanut totally understood when Mama put him in his sweater and asked him to stand still for a picture. Then he decided that he wanted a picture with the ukulele and took the whole photo session to a new level.



This sweater was made using Knitpicks City Tweed DK in Romance. The color is lovely (papa picked it!) and it was nice to knit up. It looks like it may be starting to pill under the arms a bit, which is a disappointment. A wash and block to set the yarn a bit better might help stop the piling, though. Update will follow. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Raglan pattern in Knitting Without Tears with very few modifications. Her neckline is for adults and Peanut's not quite there yet. I took the measurements not from Peanut, but from a long sleeved shirt he has that fits particularly well. Details on Ravelry.

And another picture just for fun.



It's a wonderful feeling to make clothes for Peanut and watch him wear them and enjoy them. Every successful project makes me more excited and anxious to start the next! Have two more projects on the needles now. Sneak peeks coming soon!

Toddler with Scissors

A couple of weeks ago, I got to stop in at the art supply store, where I bought Peanut's first pair of scissors. Whether providing a two-and-a-bit-year-old with scissors was wise or just nuts was unclear at the time. Luckily, it was not an ill-fated decision. Last week, we got out scissors, some old magazine pages, and the glue and had a grand old time.

Teaching him how to cut was easier than I expected. We put fingers and thumb in place, put paper into the other hand and did one cut together. He needs two hands to open the scissors again and tends to cut holding them upside down, but he had no problem working it out on his own. He spent about half an hour quietly and seriously cutting into the edges of paper. I gave him some thin strips to cut into pieces, but that was less interesting. It looked like cutting at all was plenty of fun to start with.



Glue was the second part of our adventure. I provided some Elmer's glue mixed with water in a shallow dish as well as glue stick. It turns out that Peanut does not like getting his fingers sticky, so liquid glue was not as much of a hit as the glue stick. Also, the concept of glue to stick something on paper didn't quite take either. Maybe next time we will try something more interesting for gluing on.

Inspired by all the kiddy craftiness I see at Soulamama and The Artful Parent, I'm trying to do an art morning once a week now. This was our second go. The first week, we painted, which is always fun. Next week, we'll go to the Art Institute to take advantage of free weekdays in January. We'll pack along colored pencils and a notebook and do some drawing there, too. I'm thinking about picking up Mary Ann Kohl's First Art for more ideas. Do you have any suggestions for more art mornings or resources?

Rather busy

We've been keeping busy around here - both Mama and Peanut. There has been some painting.

This project was made possible by a very thoughtful gift from an artist friend. These Melissa and Doug Spill-Proof Paint Containers are fantastic. Peanut can pick them up, put his brush in, and pull it out on his own. It's got a funnel shaped opening that makes it easy to put a brush in and out, but nearly impossible to spill.

We're also learning to do more cooking tasks together.

Someone once suggested letting kids use an egg slicer to cut mushrooms. They were so right. This task was a huge hit. Peanut went through nearly a pound of mushrooms cutting them all on his own. He was completely consumed by this project and so proud of himself, too. This little find may be a major factor in our determining our menu for the coming months.

I'm also getting back to knitting.

This project was inspired by the Rib-A-Roni a hat I saw on Ravelry. It might have been better if I had actually followed the pattern, but I didn't. Saw the picture and then kind of went for it. It turned out ok except for having a bit of an unexpected peak. He likes it and wears it. That's plenty for me.

And just for the record - I'm not much of a photographer and Peanut does smile, just not for pictures!

What have you been doing?