One Year

To go from this...



To this. You've come a long way, baby girl!

Birth story here; I've been thinking about the whole process in the last day or so, reliving the experience. Last night, while enduring coughing spasms (it's just a lingering cold/cough, nothing more, thankfully), I was reflecting that I was glad I wasn't in labor, as I was a year ago - at least I knew I'd sleep as soon as the cough syrup kicked in! As much as I am looking forward to my next pregnancy and birth, I still savor the memories of my first.. and enjoy every day I get to watch the Infanta grow and develop. Parenting is work, but it's a privilege, too!

Things you think about

...when it's 4:30 AM and your coughing is keeping you awake after a nursing session.

Like: which of these is inherently sillier?

This first is the song only. I heard it first on an acquaintance's blog (which I would link to, but it appears she's gone private) a few weeks ago, and then again while I was sitting at Jamba Juice yesterday. This whole thing came up because I woke up with it stuck in my head.



And I can't find the second video I wanted! I direct your attention, gentles all, to the scene in Muppet Treasure Island where the native pigs dance around the stake to which our heroes are tied, singing an eerie chant which eventually resolves into "Boom Shaka Laka Laka".

As I was contemplating the contrast, a third example occurred to me; again, I couldn't find a video clip. On an episode of Babylon 5, Commander Ivanova is told to show a random ambassador around the station and generally be a good host. It eventually turns out that part of what this ambassador considers good hospitality includes participating in a mating ritual. Naturally taken aback by this request, the Commander thinks quickly and does a cheerleader-like dance while chanting Boom Shaka Laka Laka, culminating in orgasmic sighs. The ambassador, not impressed, accepts the dance, but says that when she visits his world, they'll do it "his way". Forgive me if I have details off; I saw the episode fifteen or so years ago, and a quick scan of the episode summaries on Wikipedia showed no obvious candidates.

Anyway. Back to bed.

Not the workout I was looking for.

Tomorrow it will be a week that I'd had this ruddy cold. It began with a cough and a sore throat in the night, and those two symptoms haven't budged. Today I've been coughing so much that this evening, coughing leaves me in real pain from my poor, abused abs. I mean, I know I'm not in great shape, but really! And the coughing hasn't eased a bit. Today's addition to the whole mess is a nose that runs worse than a toddler's; it's so sore at this point that I'm beginning to expect to see blood whenever I apply tissue (which is frequently). I'm sick enough that I even cancelled The Infanta's birthday party this weekend! Fear not, it has merely been rescheduled, and I will be handing Josh the camera, for plenty of good pictures of the event.

The Infanta is also afflicted with it, at least to some degree. She coughs a little, her nose is runny (although less so than mine), and her voice is a bit hoarse. Otherwise, she's fine so far. This is probably a good thing, as she has her one year checkup tomorrow. I expect the doctor to offer sage advice about infant cold care, the which I will likely nod and smile at. But maybe there will be something in what she says that will be useful, so I won't ignore it completely. This visit, as far as I'm concerned, is almost purely about finding out those important statistics of height and weight. I do hope that my cough calms down overnight; I hate it when I'm in with a healthy baby and the nurses all offer me help!

Will Ceases Never Wonder

Just a short post, it's time and past to get the Infanta to bed. But she's making astonishing strides - leaps and bounds, even! - towards walking unassisted. She's standing spontaneously, unsupported, and unassisted, and not simply toppling when she can't maintain the pose. She will often put a hand out and lean on a nearby object, or if none is handy, sit in stages rather than just falling on her butt. Just a few minutes ago, excited to share a toy with me, she even took an unsupported step between the nearest piece of furniture and the couch where I was sitting!

I keep saying this, but it hasn't stopped being true. We're doomed!

Sick and Tired

So over the weekend, that cough and sore throat turned into a cough and laryngitis. I had a lovely time knitting with the ladies on Sunday anyway... all the chatting did not help my voice, though, and yesterday I was left nearly speechless. I was also a bit feverish towards evening; not fun. Today my voice is a bit better, but I have a lot of phlegm, and am still coughing and feverish. Not much fun, but at least half doses of cold medicine are helping me sleep better at night!

I got out this morning and worked in my new garden beds. Many thanks to my friends KC and Heather who trucked their rototiller up from an hour away just to till a section of my front lawn! This morning I mounded earth to form beds, and then worked some old horse manure into them. I planted one bed - pumpkins and two kinds of beans - but realized that I have too many ideas and not enough definite decisions about the other beds to plant them yet. I have starts for tomatoes and two kinds of peppers, and also want to plant more of both kinds of beans, leeks, and zucchini.

The Infanta is becoming more and more difficult to get to sleep. I think what's happening is that she's becoming less flexible about bedtime, and what she thinks is the routine (and it is what usually happens) runs about two hours later than what we actually want to be happening. This means that she doesn't want to sleep until about eleven at night, and then doesn't want to wake up until eleven in the morning. Needless to say, this doesn't work in the real world. So I get her up earlier in the morning - nine-ish, maybe - and then she's cranky all day. In the evening, I've been trying to get her to bed by her sleepy cues, but she doesn't want to be in bed then, she wants to nurse and play more. If I stay in bed after she goes to sleep, she will stay asleep, but if I get up to attempt a little me time (for example, to write a blog post), she will wake up crying fairly quickly. She woke in the middle of writing this paragraph! I think the key will be being consistent with a bedtime, and probably establishing a more elaborate bedtime routine than we've had before now. I'm just not ready to give up my evening activities like knitting! Time for more Mama sacrifices. Can you believe I want more babies?!

I'm pretty sure the physical end of the miscarriage is complete. The last several days (TMI warning!) I had discharge similar to the very end of lochia - which it was, really - but saw none today, so I think my body may have cleared everything out finally, and may be ready to begin cycling afresh. That would be nice.

Linky!

Karen over at the Hissy Stitch has some great photos of the surprise baby shower our Ravelry group threw yesterday. Included in the set are some great ones of the Infanta; go check them out! Random bit of trivia: the cow blanket was part of my gift, which was supposed to be a certain handmade item, but since I ran into technical difficulties, I subbed in the gift I'd intended for the "official" shower. Here's hoping for some sewing time this week!

I did get about 5 hours of more or less solid sleep after my post earlier this morning. Not enough in the grand scheme of things, but enough for bare functioning today.

Things I Need Today

- For the Infanta to sleep somewhere other than on me or my boob. I don't mind nursing to sleep, but every 45 minutes gets me no sleep at all. See the time I'm posting.

- Sleep! See above.

- Time alone with my husband, with no baby in the house, preferably for several hours, so I can stop being on duty long enough for a solid cry and nap. See above. The Infanta napping solidly while away from me would be frosting.

- To not be sick. I don't know where this combination of heartburn, nasty sore throat, and cough came from, but it needs to go back. Haven't I had enough crap this month?

Frankly, I need item 3 the most. All else would be much more tolerable after few hours' uninterrupted sleep and that cry I keep having to put off.

Good Reads

One of the many blogs I read is Whatever, the personal blog of sf author John Scalzi. He writes anything from updates on what his cats are doing, to political diatribes, to ramblings about what he's up to with his writing, be it being offline because of a deadline, or the schedule of a convention he's attending or speaking at. He's an excellent writer, and well worth reading; even if you disagree with him politically, he makes his arguments clearly and cogently, and is always thought-provoking. Well, maybe not the butter-eating. Josh would probably argue that the bacon thing is, though.

Anyway, one of Scalzi's pet projects is something he calls The Big Idea. The feature combines pimping other authors' works with insights into how they come up with their ideas. Today he posted this. Go read, and then follow the links to the pdf of The Patriot Witch. I'm 129 pages in, impatient to finish, and planning to acquire the books as soon as I reasonably can.

I got nothin'

So here's a lolcat that illustrates much of my current life:


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We could have had kittens well fed all the way home from the park this morning.

What a relief!

Apparently, Mercury is in retrograde. So this whole recent horrible chain of events isn't our fault!!

My miscarriage, Josh's chronic infected/ingrown toenail that he had operated on today, even the Infanta turning up with pinkeye today: all completely out of our control!

Well. Not entirely true. Probably. But it's nice to lay blame somewhere, if only for a few seconds.

Life goes on... soon.

And now I get to start integrating our loss into living life.

After a morning spent wrangling with advice nurses (I swear one was trying to convince me that nothing was wrong), I got an appointment for this afternoon with an OB. He read my charts, listened to my story, took a look, and yup, no question about what, was going on. He was wonderful, actually. Listening to my story, he asked questions at the right points and showed supportive reactions to others. He was also very compassionate and very sympathetic, using lots of eye contact and making sure I understood what was going on and what we need to do from here.

Which is some more waiting. I fed the vampires* so they could check my hCG count again; if that's clearly going down, then we can pretty much just sit back. If not, then we get to talk D&C. I'm rooting for option A, myself.

But I think I'm just about done lingering, except for that last bit of waiting. It's done, anything more will be cleanup. I'm not trying to push my grief away, the more because I'm not good at mourning, but I'm trying to learn how to integrate it with my joy in and love for the Infanta. Mama and Daddy are having a rough time (his is a whole nother story), but she's also having her own stuff, with learning to walk and an apparent growth spurt... and a birthday just around the corner! Also, I have four good friends expecting babies this summer and fall, one of whom I'm going to be doula for again; I've been joyful for them until now, and I want neither to stop being happy for them, nor to let my grief and envy sour our friendships.

I believe every pregnancy happens for a reason. I wish this one had not ended this way, but it did. I also believe that, although the soul that was attached to this baby couldn't stay, she or he will find the parents he or she is meant to be with. If that's with us, fantastic. If not... some other soul will come to bless us, and I hope it's sooner rather than later!

eta - this doesn't mean I won't gratefully accept hugs!!!


* old family term for getting blood drawn for testing, invented when I was a kid and had six months of strep throat - I had so many blood tests done then that I practically had track marks!

Sunny Sunday?

I took these pictures a few days ago; they seem very representative of the Infanta right now. Asleep, or in denial about waking up, she's all in a (very cute) heap; awake, she's on the verge of running off somewhere, and waiting with bare patience for me to finish whatever puttering in order to accompany her.

Today's a very beautiful day; sunny and warm with a breeze that's cool enough still to keep the heat tolerable. I'm happy that it's so gorgeous out, because it balances how cruddy I'm feeling physically. I'm probably going to call the clinic tomorrow morning about a D&C, because I've been bleeding again since last night, with lots of cramping and feeling sick - not nausea, just ucky in that raging-hormones way. Plus, the longer it hangs on, the more likely it is to cause complications, the which I really don't want. I'm sleepy all the time right now, and I'm convinced it's because of this whole thing, and that it's probably a sign that things aren't going well. I just want this miscarriage over and done with, so I can heal and move on.

Plus, you know, I want to be able to chase the puppy when it comes home to us.

It's a zoo out there!

And now for the promised zoo post. But first: thank you all so very, very much for all your expressions of sympathy. It's been a rough week, and you guys have helped immensely!

Zoo trip May 2009

Above is the entire set of pictures I took on the trip. I heartily recommend clicking on the link, and then viewing them as a slideshow (button in the upper left corner when you get there). I think I've used up my wittiness in the captions; I hope you enjoy! We had an amazing day, and were very glad that we braved the threatening rain - which to be honest did materialize at points, but never more than lightly or briefly.

And Baby Makes... Three. (TMI warning)

We spent the day at the Portland Zoo, which was much fun, and I have pictures to post, but I'll probably do that tomorrow. Tonight I need to write about something else.

Last month we got our "babydancing" timing right. I had two glorious weeks of pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, nausea (but not too bad), full breasts, the whole nine yards - even my pelvis went "sproing"! And then I had a period - or what I thought might have been a period. At the time it started, I was hoping it might be implantation bleeding... The flow was very rich, and had a bunch of little clots, and even something that might had been a teeny lump of tissue. Sad, but early miscarriages or "chemical pregnancies" happen all the time; supposedly most women who have them don't even notice anything other than maybe a heavy period. I knew what was happening, and it made me sad not only because I want another baby, but also because I knew what I was going to be missing. But it was done, nothing to do but start trying again.

Fast forward to last Friday. Late morning I was in pretty significant pain which felt like it was probably a UTI (and it was, see my posts the last few days...). Making things more complicated was that I was having bloody discharge - not bloody urine - which confused the heck out of me and the nurse who initially saw me. The nurse decided that my case was beyond her, and referred me to a clinician. Almost the first thing the clinician did was apply a pregnancy test to my urine sample - which came up positive! Yay! But. There was still the issue of my bleeding. So, she decided to run blood tests for a 48-hour comparison of hCG levels. The first draw was Friday, the second Sunday, hence my reason to leave the Mother's Day celebration a bit early. And then I had to wait.

The bleeding resolved by Sunday evening, which I thought was a hopeful sign. Monday the clinician wasn't on duty; she said her partner might call with the results. I was tempted to call the clinic, or simply show up in person... but I didn't. I received no call from them, either, and I chose to interpret that as not negative news, and cautiously told a few friends last night.

And then the clinician called this morning at about three minutes past 9, while I was sitting on my porch waiting for our ride to the zoo, with the news. My hCG levels had dropped markedly between the two samples; I am not successfully pregnant this cycle.

I'm sad. I already mourned this possible pregnancy, then had my hopes raised, and now dashed again. I'm by no means inconsolable - I pretty much forgot the whole thing during the day today! But once again, not only did I want this very much, but I know exactly what I'm missing, that I'll have to wait a while longer to have again. There's not really any way to know at what point I conceived, whether it was in April or since that weird bleed, but I choose to believe that that is the pregnancy I'm not keeping now, and I will probably always now meet that possible due date with a little touch of melancholy.

Now it's time to cry a few tears, mourn this baby-not-to-be, and get myself as healthy as I can manage so that next time this will work.

Chili?!

Because I decided that I didn't want to cook last night, and since leaving Josh in charge of food means that either we eat out, or it comes out of a box or a can, we had chili for dinner. I was all right with this; take a can of chili, add cheese and a couple handfuls of crushed crackers or corn chips, and you have a decent meal. What I didn't expect was a certain little girl giving me huge puppy-dog eyes, and begging her share! So I dipped a little gravy on my spoon, figuring she wouldn't like the spiciness (very mild even by my standards, but more than she'd had before)... and she loved it. Not only did she not spit it out, she begged more! In the end, she probably ate as much as a tablespoonful: gravy, meat, semi-dissolved chips, and all. She's showing no ill effects from her feast so far, and I'm thinking she may be getting closer to turning the corner on eating solids as a larger portion of her nourishment. My poor boobs would really like a break!

Happy Mother's Day!

Gotta love a holiday based on motherly war protest.

We spent a good chunk of the day with Josh's family; his folks gathered the clan for a lovely luncheon. The Infanta was too distracted by everyone (especially her cousins who wanted to play with her!) to nap at all, so I was rather grateful to have an excuse to leave. I had to go get a blood test relating to my UTI... and it had to be today, which meant we had to get to the clinic before it closed.. but I think we might have left about the time we did anyway, just because the little girl needed to sleep so badly that she was passed out before we were three streets away! But it was nice seeing everyone.

Because it's beautiful and true:


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UTI Day Two

So I personally have a had a not-bad day; lots of lying around doing not much. Josh has been chasing the Infanta a lot so I can rest and heal. I did choose not to go to knitting this afternoon... but I wouldn't have been much fun, achy as I am.

The trouble is, the Infanta has been her usual self, but fussy. She clearly wants to be with me, but I'm so achy around the middle that I'm really not comfortable holding her. When I do hold her, she's so wiggly that I can't tolerate it for very long. On top of it all, she had a huge thing in the middle of the night where it took a good hour and a half and the both of our efforts to get her asleep... so Josh and I are both pooped.

But at least I have the sweet sensations of Napoleon Dynamite to comfort me!

Woe is me.

So yesterday was great, right?

Today made up for it. Late morning, and I all of a sudden HURT! All across my abdomen and up my back to my kidney... I knew I should NOT let this go over the weekend, so I called the clinic and got a nurse appointment to check for a UTI. Meanwhile, I'd invited Snarfy (one of my local knit hotties) over because she was in need of a day out of the house with her boys... this was not what either of us had hoped for. I was (and am!) grateful that she cheerfully volunteered to give us a ride down to the clinic and to chase L while I was doing medical things... not quite what we had in mind.

It was even more miserable because after an hour waiting around for this and that, the nurse I saw decided that what all was going on was beyond her, and that I needed to come back in a bit to see the clinician...

Long story short, after wading through assorted chaff and distractions (and a really nice chat with the clinician and her intern), I do in fact have a UTI.

Ugh.

Do I Even Need to Say It?

Posting remains spotty due to a certain fussy, clingy, and frequently over-tired proto-toddler sucking all my energy. Since she is currently passed out on my lap (all I can say is that the $20 Mom spent on my Boppy was some of the best $20 spent on this child...), I figured I'd take the opportunity. Rather than spend the time on, like, surfing Ravelry. I'll do that next; it's easier to juggle with a newly wakened baby (when that happens).

Today has been a perfect example of a Willamette Valley spring day. It has been gorgeous and sunny and pouring rain by turns. This morning we ditched the babywearing meeting, and ended up meeting some friends at the Riverfront Park to watch the toddlers (and proto-toddler) run. While we were at the playground, another mom told us that they were having a story time over at the Carousel. So, we packed the kiddos up (cleverly exchanging which girl rode in which stroller so that Hurricane Tavy would cooperate) and headed over. A nice, grandmotherly woman read stories, played music, guided a coloring activity, and let us all on the carousel for free... and while we were at this, the sky opened up! Since I was walking, my friends started brainstorming ways to get us home (due to two carseats among three babies)... but I figured that the rain would at the very least lighten up enough to allow me to make it to the bus stop. Happily, it stopped entirely, and got positively bright out. My friends and I packed the babies up again, and they wandered with me up the sidewalks to the new pedestrian bridge across the River (I still get flashes of Lord Ken raining Greek fire over the Protectorate turtle boats when I cross it, but I think I always will). And so home, pausing at the local Jamba Juice to wait out the next shower. And now happily posting, with the front door open for the fresh air, a shawl over us to cut the slight chill, and a sweetly napping child in my arms. Does life get better than this?

Walkin' on, Walkin' on~

Eleven months, four days. That's how long she's been wanting to do this. Well, only better.

eta: I realize that she doesn't look very coordinated in this video - but that's because she's tuckered out after standing on her own for 10-20 seconds at a time and occasionally taking off, just as she does above.

Thank you.

Everyone's comments and words of support mean a great deal to me, and I'm feeling much better. The strain's telling on me overall, though; I've had a lot of people in the last couple of days asking me if I'm ok and telling me I look tired. Well, I am tired! I'm mother to an eleven-month-old! And I'm fighting off a cold on top of it.

Happily, said baby is asleep - I left her in the now-properly-side-carred crib before 8:15! We'll see if she's actually down for the night, but it would be so nice if she were... Now to wade through all this laundry, and see if I can crash early, myself.

Mom, the hero.

I always feel like a hero when I get the Infanta to sleep with some time left in the evening to not be a mom for a bit. It's totally dorky, but I often come prancing out of the bedroom flexing my biceps victoriously: I am Super Mom! I got the baby to sleep before we all went to bed! I suppose I react this way because it's a relatively rare event; although I usually try to get Herself to sleep earlier in the evening, I don't generally manage it. Well, I managed it tonight! Got some good reading in while I was at it, too.

I needed a parenting win tonight, too. I went off to knitting today feeling like a totally bad mom - not because of the Infanta's pretty purple bruise, either. No, I don't feel bad because my rubber baby bounced off a corner; babies are made of rubber (within reason), and this isn't her first bruise, and will by no means be her last. The issue rather is that I feel like I've been completely withdrawing from "being a Mom"; I sit and knit and tell the Infanta not to pull all of Daddy's game collection off the shelf, rather than get down and play with her or teach her things. Some of that feeling is residual from low brain med levels, but it's also genuinely what happens. I'll sit down with my email and blogroll or my knitting; the Infanta will wander off to do whatever strikes her fancy with what's available (and she has no paucity of toys), and ten minutes later she's pawing at the lappy or happily unshelving games, or something else we really don't want her to do. And I'm really, really bad at getting down on the floor and playing with her. I knew I would be, but... I didn't understand how exactly that would play out in reality. Also, I feel like I should be teaching her things (and I don't just mean modeling daily life), and I'm not. At least, I don't think I am... But I don't want to turn into a "flash card mom", either, just... I don't know.

What's really getting me down is that I'm a "bad" mom, and I want another baby?! I'm totally insane.

With the weather getting so nice, we need to get out and spend more time with other moms and babies. Maybe that will help me realize that all the other moms are totally flying by the seats of their pants, too.

Owie!!!

This is not the Infanta's first bruise, but it will probably be her biggest so far. She was toppling off my lap - completely self-propelled - and slammed her cheekbone into the corner of the lappy. Oh, the howling! She tolerated an ice pack on the bruise for a couple of minutes, but then, once she was past the initial insult, started munching on it. I dabbed a little Burt's Bees Res-Q ointment on it (the shiny you see in the picture), but it's sure to develop into a real shiner.

Mama's back on meds

As many of you know, I take an antidepressant. Because of trying to conceive, I decided to at least try weaning off it. Well, after two weeks at a half dose, I went without for two whole days... and had a huge anxiety attack today, complete with yelling at my dear, darling (fussy, clingy) daughter. This was not ok, so I'm going back on a half dose until further notice.

I wish my brain chemistry didn't need help this way, but it does. *sigh*

This just in!

Rixa's birth story. Gorgeous. Makes my uterus spasm. Well, more than it was anyway. *grin*

Eleven Months

The Infanta is eleven months old tomorrow. She is babbling up a storm, getting into EVERYTHING, and sooo close to walking. When she "plays" on the keyboard, she "sings" along, and if she happens to hit the drum machine button, she full on RAWKS OUT!!! Today, she started pushing off whatever she was propping herself against, and standing on her own for 5 or so seconds at a time. She grabs our hands to go walking often, and if she's on my lap with a pile of goldfish in front of us, she will reach out for the crackers, asking for some. She's happy and inquisitive, and definitely has as strong a will as either of her parents.

You will no doubt have noticed that my posting has been somewhat sporadic recently. This is because the Infanta's rapidly developing self is demanding more and more of my time and energy, and taking care of myself and my baby is more important than my blog. Besides, half the time, about all I have to say is, "I'm exhausted", which has got to be as boring to read as it is to post. ;P

Spring Yarn Crawl

I cannot describe it better than Karen, so I refer you to her post.

Now for my loot (all Ravelry links here). I came away with one skein Malabrigo sock yarn, two skeins Malabrigo worsted (for soakers!), one ball Schoppel Wolle Zauberball (that's the really luminous stuff I'm holding in Karen's picture), one ball Crystal Palace Maizy, one silver and amber stitch marker, and a really gorgeous carved wood button. One button, you say?! I'm figuring for, like, a February Lady sweater, or something similar. Besides, I couldn't afford more!



Our portion of the group did split off to Pix, which is a totally amazing place, and then hit Yarn Garden before heading back south. All in all, a fantastic day, even if I did manage to lose my phone right at the beginning!

Even more exciting? I finished Mom's socks with all the car knitting time! Mom, keep an eye out for a Mother's Day package.

Because I'm gravelled tonight.

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I love...

teething tablets. I may get some sleep tonight after all.

Because, now that those upper incisors are more or less through, the Infanta is starting on her lower canines.

How many of them can we make die?

I recently introduced one of my knitting friends to S.M. Stirling's Change novels, which she of course thinks are amazing (because they are), and this evening, while we were talking about them, I also decided to tell her about how Juniper, one of the major political leaders in the novels, is based significantly on the folk musician Heather Alexander. Once I had done that, I had to (and if you know anything about this woman, you will know why) find a way to play March of the Cambreadth for my friend; I did a quick google search, and found this video. It's pure icing on the cake that it's also a very nice Final Fantasy AMV.



I remember going and seeing Heather in concert at this little coffee house somewhere in San Francisco; when she started playing this, we naturally all sang along. We got the windows of the place rattling, and were totally ready to go KILL!!!!!

So I finally watched the pilot miniseries for Battlestar Galactica today, and I have one question for you all. Why in the name of Asimov hadn't one of you tied me to a chair and made me watch this YEARS ago?!

Oh, yes, Jamie Bamber is even cuter than when I first saw him back on Hornblower. Weird hearing him with an American accent, though, let alone trying to wrap my mind around him as the son of Edward James Olmos...

Do I even need to make remarks about the hotness of Starbuck? I didn't think so.

To complete my geekery, I'm going to have to find the pennies to acquire the Viper Pilots sock pattern (Ravelry link), and make them forthwith. Life is hard when you're a geek knitter.

If you're happy and you know it..

The Infanta has now discovered how to clap her hands. Happily, she doesn't yet know how to do it effectively enough to actually make a big noise, so her doing it for minutes on end is just cute, not irritating.

On another note, one of my fellow doulas made a suggestion this evening about a simple knitted product that would probably sell like hotcakes to a certain population. This bears thought...

Chez Geek

In this case, I'm not referring to the card game, but our occupation this afternoon. We took an absolutely lovely spring afternoon, and spent it playing board games in good company. Lots of fun, but I'm totally pooped now.

Hand in hand

I didn't get my pics uploaded at knitting like I hoped, but when I came home, I decided this needed to be recorded.

Yup.

Yup, I did consciously skip posting last night.

We went over to my IL's place on the spur of the moment last night, to hang out with my BIL and play Agricola with him (he's in town this week for his daughter's birthday). Alas, we arrived at the time we're usually departing, and so the Infanta spent pretty much the entire time screaming unless she was attached to boob (I think it's a growth spurt, combined with separation anxiety). Combined with my FIL's modesty about breastfeeding, and things were a bit... complicated. So, by the time we got home (at an hour in which we're usually in bed), all I wanted to do was fall over and pass out, even with babe connected to boob. Josh was kind enough to enthusiastically potter around and get me the bits and pieces I needed to feather my nest.

I have a sneaking suspicion (ok, an already made decision) that I'll be bringing Herself to knitting with me today; even if I don't get much actual knitting done, I desperately need the social time!

I also plan to bring the camera, lappy, and assorted cables so I can do little things like upload and post the pictures from the tulip farm...

I'm tired.

The last couple of days have been very long; lots of exciting things happening (such as the visit to the tulip farm this morning, of which I do have pictures...), and then topped off by a certain wanna-be toddler who's not going to sleep well. So while I have been in the habit of posting at around this time of day, I was just too tired out from, among other things, wrangling the Infanta. Hence no post yesterday, and a very spare one tonight. I'm hoping to get pictures posted this weekend.

I'm a big girl now!

I would ask forgiveness for the blurriness, but what can I say, they're action shots. If you can't tell, these are the Infanta walking with help; the top is her standing on her own (for mere seconds at a time, but who's counting?).

In which money is spent.

At our family Easter dinner yesterday, my sister in law told us that the sporting goods store formerly known as G.I. Joe's is going out of business. I don't know if it's just the one here in town, or if it's chain-wide, but it doesn't much matter for our practical purposes.

So tonight, when Josh had decided for assorted reasons that don't matter here that we were going to go out for dinner, and we ended up at the local Sonic, located just a couple of blocks from the Joe's, it seemed inevitable that we would end up wandering its bargain-hunter-crowded aisles in search of bargains ourselves. (How's that for a sentence?) Thing is, we really want to be able to go camping, and the gear we have is really pretty minimal, so we took this opportunity to improve our equipment. We're still going to be working with our previously minimalist setup (teeny tent, one ancient sleeping bag that has to be supplemented with blankets, no padding...), but at least we have a few improvements. We bought a roll-up table, a lantern, a few camp dishes, a ground cloth... Oh, and a baby bicycle helmet, in case we manage to get bicycles we like any time soon. So, not a ton of things, and we'll still be bringing a fair amount out of the house next time we attempt camping, but a few more refinements. These things take time...

Here's where the moms in the audience hate me.

You see, I seem to be smaller than pre-pregnancy size. I have a couple of pairs of jeans that I couldn't wear in the months before I got pregnant - and they're now too loose. That's happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again (the part where they're too small, that is).

But the thing that's surprising to me is that my bras seem to be too big around! Cup size - well, I'm still nursing, of course, so that's somewhere between a C and a D, depending. But I'd been noticing recently that my one real nursing bra has been... loose recently. Okay, I figure I've been wearing it pretty regularly for the last almost-year, it's probably stretched some... but really, I haven't had it all that long, and I *don't* wear it every day. Today, though, I wore a non-nursing bra, one with (brace yourself) underwires, and it was also too big! This was a bra I'd worn last spring, when my pregnancy-enhanced bust was too confined by my previous underwear, so I only wore it for about three months. Although I only paid $5 for it, it's in quite good shape. Today I put it on (it's a 36D, with lightly padded demi cups), and it was both too big and too small - the cups were a bit skimpy (not necessarily bad when you need to nurse in a bra not designed for it), and the band was too loose! So it appears that I may be in the unenviable position of needing to find a nursing bra in size 34D. I never thought I'd ever be looking for that size...

I suppose that this means I'm living proof of how breastfeeding can lead to weight loss.

Why oh why

..do I wait until it's so late that I'm too tired to be coherent, in order to post?

I've been doing some birthy reading again, and have a few thoughts to share. But not tonight, Herself needs to go to bed.

Unnspired

I actually have a fair amount I could post about today. For example, I could talk about how the Teether kept us both from sleeping at all well last night. Or about how I randomly went to the LLL meeting this morning, and came home as our new librarian. Or the three-hour nap-with-babe this afternoon during which the cat who tolerates me insisted on snuggling. I just don't want to. Blame it on lack of sleep, probably...

Just us girls

Tonight's the first night of me missing the D&D game to take care of my baby. On the one hand, I want to play, dangit! On the other hand, I'm not missing the posturing and drama that tend to go with the group's get-togethers. I'm looking forward to sitting down with a movie and some of Amy's Toasted Coconut-Chocolate Chunk Yummies! The which I've been craving for several days now, and am finally getting around to making.

Morning Girl

Long day

I started with short sleep due to staying up entirely too late reading and compounded by a baby who squirmed next to me all night. I then woke earlier than usual, as I've been trying to do in an attempt to help said baby sleep earlier. Next thing I know, I'm chasing the Hurricane (but at least I volunteered.. and Bethany will chase the Infanta for me later in the week in exchange..). That pretty much wiped me out.

Except that while the Infanta was napping this afternoon, I started another pair of the bloomers, this time withe the intent of adding a skirt layer. Should be very cute, and use a skein of Peace Fleece that I bought for the purpose months ago. Although the pale teal is a slightly odd color for me, the fact that the colorway is called "Lena's Meadow" seemed serendipitous, and was irresistible.

It's 9 pm. I'm gonna take the baby and fall over now - wish me luck on the baby sleep!

New Hotness

Last night, I finished the soft structured baby carrier I've been making. I already want to make another one, just to put into practice the things I learned making this one. Things like: don't second-guess the way the pattern tells you to attach the straps. If I'd done it the way the pattern said, I'd have saved myself a couple of hours' work. Oh, well, I never do do things the easy way first..

Since today was GORGEOUS (Oregon likes to tease its inhabitants with a taste of what spring could be like at this time of year), I got together with Bethany and another friend this morning to stroll around downtown and give the carrier a good test drive. It passes with flying colors! I carried the Infanta around for a good couple of hours, with both toddler-chasing and some easier strolling, and I was never uncomfortable. So yay! $30, a dip into the stash, and ~12 hours (that's a generous estimate, btw, I didn't count) work later, and I have a sweet carrier.

For your entertainment

For some reason, I had this scene from The Full Monty pop into my head a little while ago. It's one of my favorite scenes from the movie; please enjoy!

And the intarwebs provide

Go read hedra's gorgeous doula/birth story here. No, Bethany, I'm not trying to make your ovaries twitch worse.

Being Mama

...isn't all fun and games. As it were.

I have a regular weekly D&D night. A bunch of us get together down at the local game store and rent the private room so that we don't have try to compete with the anime club that meets there the same night. I have been bringing the Infanta and letting her crawl around and whatnot, but it's been requiring more and more attention from everyone in the group to keep her out of trouble - like, not letting her chew on everyone's laptop cords. It's really not fair to ask everyone to help me babysit, but I've been trying to ignore that so that I can get a little gaming in.

I've also been realizing recently that she's starting to turn into a toddler. I looked at her face the other day, and she's looking older, and not like even an older baby anymore, even though she's not quite walking (although cruising just fine, thankyouverymuch). She's also getting past the 8-9 month sleep regression, and wanting to be in bed by much earlier in the evening.

So near the end of last evening, after everyone's concerted efforts to keep my little teething cord maniac wrangled, I had to come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to quit going to D&D night. Although there were some noises made about bringing one of the games (we have two campaigns going) to our house so that I can continue to play, I'm not counting on that happening. I'm not very happy about this.

There are two main reasons I'm not happy:

1) I won't get to flex my gaming muscles. I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember; it's as much a part of my identity as being a knitter has become, and it kills me to not be able to have that part of my life active. It's especially bad when my husband gets to go and I don't! And no, I won't ask him to quit - that wouldn't be fair to him. For one thing, he needs to have things to do without me; I don't want to be one of those controlling spouses that never lets her partner do anything solo!

2) I'll be stuck home alone with the baby. But, you say, you're already a SAHM, what's a few hours more? Well, that's just the thing. I am home alone with the baby all day every day (unless I manage to drag us out somewhere - not that easy when I'm dependent on buses or rides from other people). By the evening, I'm tired and needing time for myself; whether it's to cook, shower, sew, or just do nothing, I need some non-baby time. If Daddy's not home, I don't get it. I actually managed to get a shower today while Daddy wasn't home for the first time in ten months!!! But that was only because I decided that the Infanta could be more or less trusted to play independently in the bathroom... and I only got about half my shower business done because she was done before I was.

I love my baby, and in the grand scheme of things, I'm willing to give up this particular adult activity while my children are little. For one thing, they won't be little forever; for another, I'll be able to pick up again when they're older. This doesn't mean I have to like it! But I think I understand better now why the gaming nights when I was a kid were always at our house.

All wrapped up

Went to the babywearing meeting today, and got helped into a yummy wrap. It's probably a good thing that I really can't afford one...

Check out the shop that one of our leaders runs: http://sweet-pickles.com/

No Foolin'

Sunday afternoon I was inspired to try out a diaper pattern I'd gotten at my local quilting store. I pulled out some receiving blankets that had never worked well for me (square > rectangle, just in case you're wondering) as well as a few of the microfiber washcloths I got last summer for just this sort of purpose.



Unfortunately, I turned out not to be able to cut more than one diaper out of a single blanket, but I figure I can use the scraps for moon pads.



Also, I probably wouldn't have had to use so many pins to get the topstitching looking good if I'd pressed it first. But it worked, and I didn't have to get out of my chair. :) Altogether, the project took probably an hour or an hour and a half; Josh wrangled the Infanta, and then we went over to Bethany's for dinner. The diaper? Works great, although I think I'll lengthen it a bit next time I make some.



I've been dressing the Infanta in jeans and dresses a lot lately. It's a cute, convenient and (I hope) comfortable combo. The above shot was taken Monday night, after she'd been at Bethany's in the afternoon - yay for baby-free time for Mama!



Then I watched the Hurricane in return for a couple of hours yesterday. This is how she insisted on being dressed: jeans, a dress, and shoes *with* socks. If she'd had Robeez, she would probably have insisted on wearing them. Oh, and she's got a new word - Socks! Can we say Best Friends Forever? Bethany and I are highly amused; on the other hand, I'm beginning to be afeared for fifteens years from now, when they start thinking about boys....

I thought this might happen

I had no time today to process any blog fodder (something about spending the morning chasing a toddler and a pre-toddler that just totally messes everything up), so while I'd hoped to tell you about my last few days, no dice tonight. I should be able to tomorrow, though...

Long day

Long, busy day today. Will post about it (I hope) in at least some detail tomorrow. Right now, the Infanta needs to go to bed.

Teeth and how to use them

The Infanta is teething again. She has all four upper incisors bulging beneath her gums, champing (if you will) at the bit to emerge. One way I know they're there is that she's gone back to rubbing her (nasty, sharp, pointy) bottom teeth against my poor nipples. She's tending to scrape them against my tender flesh at the end of a nursing session; I generally gasp involuntarily, say "No" sternly, and set her on the ground, or otherwise end the session abruptly. I'll be glad when this set is through.

But at least she's using them for their intended purpose, too. Blueberries last night; she scraped all the pulp out of the skins, making surprisingly little mess (except on her pants). I was making quesadillas for lunch just now, and had propped her in her high chair so she could watch. On impulse, I gave her a few shreds of cheese; when those promptly disappeared, I gave her a few more. When those also disappeared (and not onto the floor!), I decided it was time to learn how to sign cheese, just for future reference.

Tonight's spaghetti sauce...

came out a bit "Cajun-ed". I blame this.

*squee*

eta: if you give your child blueberries for dinner, remember to give them a full-body bib.

D'oh!

One of the ladies in my knitting group posted about our Lenten charity project of more preemie hats. I keep forgetting that I still owe 3 hats for my resolution! Guess I know what I'm doing with the STR left over from Boheme... which I could swear I posted here about, but I guess I didn't, so here's Herself posing in her pretty little sweater:

Goofy Grin

An unusual birth story

I woke up this morning to a woman laboring in bed with me. Go read about it on my doula blog!

The Infanta, by request

Hey, look, Mama's got the camera!


But the cat's way more interesting.

Gran requested more pictures, and I have no reason not to oblige. Besides, she's always good blog fodder. :)

Late Bloomers

Ok, these are late only in that I just finished the knitting on them (haven't touched the finishing yet). I found the pattern on Etsy the other night, and it ended up being my first-ever Etsy purchase. I'm such a dork.

Pattern: Daisy Head Bloomers
Yarn: Lyon Fishermen's Wool
Started 3/22, finished 3/24 (ok, but all I have to do is weave ends in)

Not yet Ravelrized, but so cute I couldn't not share!

Wow

For the first time this year, I failed to post yesterday. So consider this a replacement, and I'll post for today later. :)

Sleepy Sunday

I'm tired, with not much to say tonight. Perhaps I'll feel more brilliant tomorrow.

Shiny Accessories

I got a really good yoga workout last night, and I've been stiff and achy from it all day, but at least it's a good stiff and achy. I also cast on yet another baby sweater this afternoon (Ravelry link here - yes, Bethany, if you want to see this adorable sweater, you have to sign up finally).

Speaking of Bethany, she was a bad person, and is lending me a carrier for the weekend. It's very, very shiny. I don't want to take it off. Since I must acknowledge that I will never, in the normal course of things, be able to afford a shiny like this made by someone else, I'm getting excited again about making one myself. I actually printed out a pattern, and have spoken to the husbeast about getting the fittings for it (straps, buckles, etc.) - hey, he's home this week on Spring Break, he can chase the Infanta while I get some sewing in!

And now for something completely different.

So, it seems the folks at Ravelry are looking for a (in my words) girl Friday.

Job description is as follows:

Hi Ravelry! Erica the Email Fairy is moving on, and Ravelry is looking for a new team member! This is a part-time (~20 hours per week), work-at-home position with flexible hours, and a definite possibility of growth with the company over time. :) We are looking for someone tech-savvy, friendly, and positive who is very familiar with the Ravelry site and community.

essential responsibilities include:

- Provide the first line of helpful support to all emails coming in via our contact-us page, the shopping@ravelry.com, and the advertising@ravelry.com email addresses (and alerting the rest of the staff to potentially important issues that come in). Topics in these emails can cover anything under the sun - designer/yarnie issues, confidential forum issues, happy people, Ravelry mini-mart questions, advertiser help, and more!

- Hook up designers, yarnies, and design teams with their Ravelry profiles and answering basic questions or directing to helpful on-Ravelry resources as needed.

- Assist users with Ravelry invitation issues.

- Provide help as needed on the Ravelry “work” forums: For the Love of Ravelry, Help!, Ravelry Shopkeepers, Ravelry Editors, Advertisers’ Caboodle.

- Assist Jess and Mary-Heather with ad approvals (image feedback, checking groups for competitors, etc.).

- Must be familiar with Ravelry’s site, vision, and tone!

- Must be able to stay motivated, level-headed, and work both independently as a self-starter on your own tasks, and as a part of our tightly-knit (har) team.

- Ownership of cute dog not required.

I think this would be a fabulous position for me - heck, I'm already on email all the time anyway! I could use some help from my faithful readers, however: One of the questions they want answered is

If you were a yarn-producing fiber, what would you be and why?

I offer no prize other than my gratitude (and probable adoration, especially if I get the job), but I'd love to hear your opinions on this! The deadline for posting applications is next Friday, so I'd love to hear back from you all by the end of the weekend.

A Birth Story

Read this, with Kleenex handy.

Mmm, Blueberry Poop!

While the Infanta was visiting Tavy yesterday, she apparently further explored her new-found predilection for blueberries. She came home with the dress she'd been wearing in the wet bag, soaked in an attempt to mitigate the stains covering it.

Since dinner was reheated lasagna, I satisfied my desire to cook *something* by making blueberry muffins. Now, we'd discovered a couple of days ago during a trip to Grandma's house that she now likes muffins, and at Bethany's we've discovered her liking for blueberries. I'd been gassing about making blueberry muffins anyway, since Josh likes them (he's a hard man to bake for) and we still have a bunch I froze last summer. So we had muffins for dessert.

Do I even need to say that the Infanta loved her share?







Postprandially, I discovered for myself the utility of the after-dinner bath. Next time I'll try to remember a bib sooner, or, if it's warm enough, just preemptively remove her clothes first.

Weird.

I'm currently home all alone. No Josh, no Infanta. J, of course, is at work, but the Infanta is over at Bethany's for a couple of hours, because I've essentially had no non-baby time since she was born.

Now what do I do with myself? First thing: leftover lasagna for lunch. Second thing? I'm not sure whether sewing or a nap takes precedence. Hmm. Tough choice.

Oh yes, the lasagna? Turned out excellent. Josh here gives it the thumbs-up of approval (followed swiftly by the nom of approval, not documented because I was nomming too).

Blessed are they

I do a lot of my meal planning for the month on the fly while doing our monthly grocery shopping at WinCo. It's not that I don't have things in mind before that, it's more that that's when I manifest the realities of what I need. Anyway, I saw a recipe a few weeks ago for lasagna made with egg roll wrappers for the pasta, and thought that was such a good idea that I picked up a couple of packages while shopping this month. Then, sometime last week I decided that it was time to actually make the darn stuff, and decided, influenced by this book and this post, that I would make my own ricotta.



So here's my first cheese, draining. I wanted to take more pictures during the process, but I had put my camera battery to charge, so I couldn't... let's just say it all went as planned, and that it really does work to make ricotta out of a gallon of milk from Safeway. Oh, yes, and if you're using lemon juice as your acid, it really works much better if you add it after the milk is heated, not before!

Very cool vid

We're having a few folks over to play board games today, so I can't post much. Still, I saw this very cool video that I thought y'all would appreciate.

Hurricane Tavy

I haven't posted many Infanta pictures lately, so here're a couple.

The baldy in the top photo is Bethany's daughter Tavy (short for Octavia), whom I've begun watching for a couple of hours at a time now and then so that Mom can get some grading done. It's working out well so far; despite being 8 months apart, the girls like each other, and Tavy likes me, so we're getting along pretty amicably. And although Tavy is just as much a Velcro Girl as the Infanta, she's used enough to Mom going off for a couple of hours at a time that she hasn't raised too much of a fuss. Yet.

Worth 15 minutes of your life.

Pamela, fantastic midwife to many around here, posted this today. I watch the video and think why can't I give birth this way not because I think I should be that cool and collected (although I think I may have appeared that way, at least sometimes.. just not when puking..), but because I wish deeply that I could do it in such an amazing environment. The hospital I was at with the Infanta was a good place, and the nursing staff were great at being discreet enough that I was able to fully engage with Laborland - from which I basically didn't emerge until she was fully born - but it was still a hospital. So, no warm wooden floors, no atmospheric candles.

Of course, I might not get that at home, either!

But it is heartening to see that some women really do get to live out what so many of us can only fantasize about.

Baby Dreams..

Well, I was all gung ho, trying to get pregnant this month.. but I had a talk with a friend last night who gave me some excellent reasons to wait. That got me remembering another conversation I had with another friend a while back, who'd said pretty much the same sorts of things. And I got to thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have some more time with just the Infanta... and then there's the part about how I'm finally starting to get some doula clients, and how it would be great to be able to get some more births before going on maternity leave again. So I'm thinking that if I don't get knocked up this month, I"m going to try to leave it for another year, despite my twitching (nay, flailing) ovaries.

Sigh.

Two things

For a laugh, go check this out. Then come back.

For something not really funny, but heartwrenching and amazing, watch this film. The link's been making the rounds of the birth blogosphere recently, and I finally made time to watch it today. Very inspiring, and since I'm now a mom myself, I also have a much better understanding of just how hard that woman works. Just... amazing. Take an hour and go watch it, you won't regret it.

A Doula Event

Take a look over at my doula blog.

Garden Dreams

I made a sizable Amazon order with a portion of our tax return, and among the books I ordered (and received today) was one I hadn't known about until mere moments before ordering it. I had already decided I wanted a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma (fantastic book, I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the politics of food - which you all should be!), but when I made a search for it, I found Second Nature also recommended. When the box containing this portion of my order arrived today, I had to make a choice about which eagerly-awaited volume to crack first. It was actually something I had to think bout; I'd read Omnivore's Dilemma, but I've been wanting to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle pretty strongly too. Still, my desire to garden is always pretty intense at this time of year, so the gardening book won. Astonishingly, I've already read two or three chapters... but this wasn't supposed to be a review of that book, but rather an outline of what I want to do with my garden.

I got ambitious this year - but I always do. I just have half a chance of realizing my dreams this year! Maybe. At that, I confined myself to vegetables I think we have a good chance of actually eating, veggies we like.

Seeds I bought:

sunflowers
a mix of flowers to cut
tomatillos
a mix of heirloom tomatoes
a lettuce mix
mustard greens
leeks
snap peas
blue lake beans
cranberry beans (to dry)
eggplant
jalapenos
poblanos
zucchini
pumpkins

I'm expecting to need to use containers if I want to try to grow all of these, especially since so many want "hot, well drained, sunny" locations. I have yet to go do anything with my garden beds this year, and they're not that big; perhaps I need to go invest in some bricks to make new ones! I may also need to remove (or maybe just move) one or two of the rosebushes along the south-facing fence. Expect blood.

I took some time last night to make a Waldorf-style doll for the Infanta. It's very simple: a rectangle of flannel, a ball of fleece for the head, then the corners sewn, "hands' and "feet" knotted, and the body stuffed with enough more fleece to make it cuddly and fluffy.



This is in the middle of the sewing process, with one arm still to be sewn.



And here is the finished doll!

Just Another Lazy Sunday

Don't talk to me about...

Feeling much better today; I think sleeping in, while Daddy took the Infanta this morning (as he usually does on the weekends) helped tons.

Still sick.

Head pounding, sinuses aching... ugh. This cold is kicking my ass.

But I had lots of fun this afternoon chasing Tavy!

I didn't forget

to post today, life got in the way.

Aside from that I'm still sick (stupid cold), I had the babywearing meeting to go to this morning, and even before that the power was out this morning early, and it wasn't on before Josh went to work, so naturally, while it was on by the time I got up, the modem/router were borked, and I'm not network-savvy enough to fix them on my lonesome. So I was out until early afternoon, and then Josh wasn't home until late late afternoon, and then we went out for the evening pretty much directly after that. So anyway, there's my day. Sick, running around, and no intarwebz.

So what's your excuse?

Only average?!

This morning we went for the Infanta's nine month well child checkup; as far as I was concerned, it was mostly to get her vital statistics. Astonishingly, my big beautiful girl is barely on the 50% for height(about 27.5"), and at 25% for weight(17.5#)! Well, I knew she was slim, but having watched how the nurse was measuring height, I find its accuracy suspect. I'm mostly astonished because my brothers and I were consistently at 95% and 95% (well, except for my little brother, but he's always been different). Perhaps we ate more solids earlier? The Infanta loves to beg food from us, but rarely actually swallows anything. There is also the consideration that her father is a fairly slight, not-very-tall man. She's also a very active munchkin, that probably also has something to do with it.

I'm not worried about her growth rate; she's actually more or less where I thought she was. I'm just surprised at where those numbers fall on the charts.

Bleh.

I have a cold. I thought it had passed me by, when I got through the weekend with only a mildly sore throat, but yesterday it blossomed into full cold-hood, with my nose running like the Mississippi and everything. I'm sure I snored worse than a chainsaw last night (poor Josh!). As a result, the post I had in mind about L and her sleeping so cutely on her tummy flew completely out of my head. Also, I don't want to rub it in a certain friend's face today that I'm blessed with a baby that sleeps decently. Go visit Amy and give her some sympathy!

Posting from the living room!

Okay, posting from the lappy will cease to be shiny soon (maybe).. but I'm still excited, so bear with me.

Some of you know I had hopes for getting knocked up this last cycle; it's an official not this time. Disappointing, but in all practicality, not a bad thing, especially not with a client due three weeks before I would have been! So, I can focus on trying hard this cycle. Don't be surprised if either of us is more tired than usual... ;)


One of the ladies from my local knitting group is an actual factual designer, and she has been working on a sock design recently that's likely to be published in a magazine (like, one you have to pay for). What's shiny about it for me is that I volunteered to test knit the design. So, I have a brand-new sock design on my needles, that I have to get finished expeditiously, and so I have the double bliss of a cool new pattern before almost anyone else, *and* I'll have a new pair of socks done for me before I'd be finished otherwise. Too bad I can't show them to you.

This assumes knitting time. The Infanta is in yet another iteration of her secret identity as Velcro Girl (now, with Static Cling!), and can hardly bear to be out of my arms, let alone be across the room or anything else so dastardly and inhumane, such as (gasp) being held by her father! Yes, Mom, I know about how I decided, at 3 months old, that I didn't want to be held by anyone but you; consider this karmic payback. But really, did I try to pull your face off when I was nine months old? (Probably.)

I had plans for the day that included the shocking idea of going out. So I should probably wrap up this post and get on to parts of my day like getting dressed, don't you think?

Blargh!

So, we agreed that with some of our tax return, I could buy some books that have been hanging out on my Amazon wishlist for - years, some of them. So, I happily spent some time yesterday at knitting composing and submitting an order, gleefully asking around about certain knitting books I've been ogling for some time and the like. And... the payment won't go through, and so my orders are beginning to be cancelled. We're guessing that what's happening is that our bank is freaking out about all the unusual activity on our account, and trying to protect us by not putting these abnormal requests through. I appreciate their caution... but really, this activity is all right!!!!

We have achieved lappy!

It's one of these; not super-duper fancy, but it works! I am, in fact, posting from it now. I'm having a little bit of an interesting time adapting to the smaller keyboard, but not too bad. Whee!!!

Thing to make your blood boil.

Rixa posted a link to this article. It tells the tale of a Peruvian couple who were brought up on child pornography charges, and whose children were taken from them by CPS, simply on the issue of a photo of the mother breastfeeding her son. It's absolutely ridiculous that the couple are being forced to call something so beautiful and natural "wrong". Dude, I have nude pictures of breastfeeding the Infanta; they're not something that I choose to share with just anyone, but neither was this photo.

Harrumph. Time to go poke at the fire and nurse the Infanta, maybe help my blood pressure calm down.