Unlike most knitters, I have never learned to knit socks. I tried to knit some booties with a sock-type heel a few years back, and it ended in disaster.
Now I get to remedy this gap in my repertoire. My local yarn store offered a Socks 101 class, and the first of 2 parts was this morning. If all goes well, J is going to get a beautiful pair of socks by April!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Brave baby
At S's 9-month appointment, our doctor ordered bloodwork to check iron and lead levels. I asked how bad a blood draw on an infant was going to be, and he said it would be 5 minutes of misery. Oh yeah, I was so looking forward to this.
Yesterday we bit the bullet and headed over to the hospital lab. I started getting nervous when the phlebotomist called for backup for S.
S sat on my lap while the 2 nice ladies told her how beautiful she was, and poked around her arms to find a good vein. The finally settled on one and put the little tourniquet on her little arm. S just looked at them like, "This is new." The stuck her with the needle and dug around a bit until they hit paydirt. I'm watching all of this waiting for the scream.
Nothing. S just sat there taking it all in. They collected their 2 vials, finished up, and put a giant cotton ball on her arm with some tape. They gave her 2 stickers, which she looked at like they were aliens (we have yet to give her any stickers). Then she gave them a huge grin.
I am a proud momma!
Yesterday we bit the bullet and headed over to the hospital lab. I started getting nervous when the phlebotomist called for backup for S.
S sat on my lap while the 2 nice ladies told her how beautiful she was, and poked around her arms to find a good vein. The finally settled on one and put the little tourniquet on her little arm. S just looked at them like, "This is new." The stuck her with the needle and dug around a bit until they hit paydirt. I'm watching all of this waiting for the scream.
Nothing. S just sat there taking it all in. They collected their 2 vials, finished up, and put a giant cotton ball on her arm with some tape. They gave her 2 stickers, which she looked at like they were aliens (we have yet to give her any stickers). Then she gave them a huge grin.
I am a proud momma!
Adoption and Social Security
It's been an interesting few months when it comes to S's Social Security card.
When S was born, the uber-efficient hospital sent her information to the Social Security Administration. Two weeks later, S's birthmom got her SS card. She told us about it last June, and our agency's lawyer said we could do a name change once the adoption was finalized. Great.
S's adoption was finalized in October, and we received her new birth certificate with her new name in December-ish. At that point we started the hunt for S's SS card. We knew it was either with her birthmom or with the agency. We figured since S already had a number, it was going to be easier just to change the name on the card. Ha!
Well, we worked with one social worker in one office, and S's birthmom worked with another social worker in another office. So they had to coordinate to find out where the card was (S's birthmom had sent it to them months ago) and how to get it to us. And they had to make sure it was OK with S's birthmom, who by the way was the one who told us about it. Minor chaos ensued.
We finally got her original SS card last week. Which meant a trip to the SSA office near us to get a name change. I was not looking forward to this. When we got married, I went to an office near us. It was old, crowded, and had a single person processing everyone. One person! I ended up waiting about 3.5 hours for a 20-second transaction. I was hoping for better this time.
The first sign that things would go better was the new location. It turns out there's an office even closer to us, and it was lovely. Huge, bright, clean, and there were only 3 people waiting. Awesome. After 15 minutes we were called up to the window and I inundated the poor lady with every piece of adoption paperwork we had in our possession. 10 minutes later we had everything done, and S will get a new card in the mail soon.
Bonus: the security guard there said S was the best behaved baby he'd seen in that office in 10 years.
When S was born, the uber-efficient hospital sent her information to the Social Security Administration. Two weeks later, S's birthmom got her SS card. She told us about it last June, and our agency's lawyer said we could do a name change once the adoption was finalized. Great.
S's adoption was finalized in October, and we received her new birth certificate with her new name in December-ish. At that point we started the hunt for S's SS card. We knew it was either with her birthmom or with the agency. We figured since S already had a number, it was going to be easier just to change the name on the card. Ha!
Well, we worked with one social worker in one office, and S's birthmom worked with another social worker in another office. So they had to coordinate to find out where the card was (S's birthmom had sent it to them months ago) and how to get it to us. And they had to make sure it was OK with S's birthmom, who by the way was the one who told us about it. Minor chaos ensued.
We finally got her original SS card last week. Which meant a trip to the SSA office near us to get a name change. I was not looking forward to this. When we got married, I went to an office near us. It was old, crowded, and had a single person processing everyone. One person! I ended up waiting about 3.5 hours for a 20-second transaction. I was hoping for better this time.
The first sign that things would go better was the new location. It turns out there's an office even closer to us, and it was lovely. Huge, bright, clean, and there were only 3 people waiting. Awesome. After 15 minutes we were called up to the window and I inundated the poor lady with every piece of adoption paperwork we had in our possession. 10 minutes later we had everything done, and S will get a new card in the mail soon.
Bonus: the security guard there said S was the best behaved baby he'd seen in that office in 10 years.
Rascal
A friend of mine has a son born the same day as S. She was noting in a recent e-mail that her son is getting into the "rascal" stage. I knew exactly what she was talking about. S has been getting into everything, especially things she shouldn't. Of late, the entertainment center, the garbage can, and the drawer of notepads are her favorites. We've tried various barriers--we have plexiglass over the entertainment center, and we've tried kitchen chair barricades around the garbage can.
The drawer full of notepads is a recent development. Before last week, S was content to rifle through the filing cabinet right below it, and I called her my little receptionist. But this week she realized she was tall enough to reach the drawer. This is what happened next...
The drawer full of notepads is a recent development. Before last week, S was content to rifle through the filing cabinet right below it, and I called her my little receptionist. But this week she realized she was tall enough to reach the drawer. This is what happened next...
The chair barricade is now up during waking hours ;)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Showing my age (and bragging on a bargain)
As soon as I saw this picture
I thought of the French Lieutenant's Woman (circa 1981)
We love S's bunting, that I got for a whopping $5 at a Macy's clearance sale. We had to make a quick run to drop off a car for service, and I just threw S in and headed for the car. Love, love, love. I almost want winter to last a while longer....
I thought of the French Lieutenant's Woman (circa 1981)
We love S's bunting, that I got for a whopping $5 at a Macy's clearance sale. We had to make a quick run to drop off a car for service, and I just threw S in and headed for the car. Love, love, love. I almost want winter to last a while longer....
Monday, February 14, 2011
Scenes from a Valentine's Day (so far)
S in her pink heart shirt, showing off her teeth
Looking adorable in the kitchen
Winding down with her Valentine's Day mouse
Looking for Hobbes
Trying to decide what to read next
We have almost a week's worth of Valentine's themed clothing, so there will be a lot of red and hearts this week.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
In her big girl bed
S's changing table is up against her future big girl bed, a big trundle bed we have covered with stuffed animals. She decided she wasn't as tired as Mommy thought she was, so she rolled off her changing table and checked out her future bed.
Surveying the ridiculous number of stuffed animals we have.
Playing with an ancient bear that used to be Daddy's. I wound it up so she could hear it play music.
Discovering On the Night You Were Born, read to her by Grania.
If you haven't seen these, Hallmark has a series of books where you can record yourself reading them to someone. S has 4 of them right now: On the Night You Were Born and Frosty the Snowman, read to her by Grania, Twas the Night Before Christmas, read to her by Nana and Tapa, and All Things Bright and Beautiful, read to her by her birthmother. She loves them all.
Settling in to hear her book.
Turning the pages. She looked so cute.
Surveying the ridiculous number of stuffed animals we have.
Playing with an ancient bear that used to be Daddy's. I wound it up so she could hear it play music.
Discovering On the Night You Were Born, read to her by Grania.
If you haven't seen these, Hallmark has a series of books where you can record yourself reading them to someone. S has 4 of them right now: On the Night You Were Born and Frosty the Snowman, read to her by Grania, Twas the Night Before Christmas, read to her by Nana and Tapa, and All Things Bright and Beautiful, read to her by her birthmother. She loves them all.
Settling in to hear her book.
Turning the pages. She looked so cute.
11 Months!
I got one decent picture of her with her blocks.
The rest looked more like this (oh yeah, she's crying hysterically because she can't reach them):
Or this:
*sigh*
She's such a big girl!
The rest looked more like this (oh yeah, she's crying hysterically because she can't reach them):
Or this:
*sigh*
She's such a big girl!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Purty
First up, we have me attempting to take a picture of the single curl behind S's ear:
Yes, it's out of focus. And yes, she's trying to eat the end of a string to our blinds. Before you yell at me for being a bad mom, there are no loops involved and I watch her like a hawk.
Next up we have the way the back of her hair all "sways" to the left:
Adorable
So I put S in one of my favorite shirts and her overalls yesterday. She looked so cute. She started digging around in her shoe drawer, and I decided to see what shoes fit. For those of you who don't know, this kid has micro-feet. She's wearing a size 2, or an infant size 3-6 months. And she's almost a year old. Oh, and she has a ton of shoes, most of which are too big for her.
It turns out the sparkly Mary Janes that Aunt M and Cousin G sent last summer finally fit (sorta--they're hard to get on but she practically falls out of them once they're on her feet). So our little darling was in overalls and sparkly shoes. Nana says that's today's style.
We got back to bare feet shortly thereafter. Much more appropriate ;)
Yes, it's out of focus. And yes, she's trying to eat the end of a string to our blinds. Before you yell at me for being a bad mom, there are no loops involved and I watch her like a hawk.
Next up we have the way the back of her hair all "sways" to the left:
Adorable
So I put S in one of my favorite shirts and her overalls yesterday. She looked so cute. She started digging around in her shoe drawer, and I decided to see what shoes fit. For those of you who don't know, this kid has micro-feet. She's wearing a size 2, or an infant size 3-6 months. And she's almost a year old. Oh, and she has a ton of shoes, most of which are too big for her.
It turns out the sparkly Mary Janes that Aunt M and Cousin G sent last summer finally fit (sorta--they're hard to get on but she practically falls out of them once they're on her feet). So our little darling was in overalls and sparkly shoes. Nana says that's today's style.
We got back to bare feet shortly thereafter. Much more appropriate ;)
Crafty update
First up, a dress for S:
I love love love this color. I hated hated hated this pattern. It's not that awful, really, just tedious. For you knitters out there who hate stockinette stitch, this is not the dress for you. It was seemingly miles of stockinette ("do 9 rows, then one decrease at each end") until I thought the damn thing would never get done. But it finally got interesting again, and then it was finished. All I need is a button on the back and a coordinating ribbon for the eyelets. J says he may have something that will work. If not, we have a ribbon store in town (aisles and aisles of ribbon), so I should be able to find something...
Next up, a little stuffed heart, just in time for Valentine's Day:
I love love love this color. I hated hated hated this pattern. It's not that awful, really, just tedious. For you knitters out there who hate stockinette stitch, this is not the dress for you. It was seemingly miles of stockinette ("do 9 rows, then one decrease at each end") until I thought the damn thing would never get done. But it finally got interesting again, and then it was finished. All I need is a button on the back and a coordinating ribbon for the eyelets. J says he may have something that will work. If not, we have a ribbon store in town (aisles and aisles of ribbon), so I should be able to find something...
Next up, a little stuffed heart, just in time for Valentine's Day:
I found the instructions here 2 years ago. That's when I bought my first felt for this project, and I finally got around to doing it. Sadly, we do not own pinking shears (yes, J sews but doesn't own pinking shears), but I may buy a pair to finish off the rest of my hearts. The pattern calls for making them as pins, but I think I'll just put them in a bowl and smile when I see them.
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