Tuesday 29 November 2011

Before fall ends (a fall cardigan)

I finished it the first week of October, honest. But we had such a warm October that for the longest time I hardly put it on her-- and suddenly it's colder to the point where I can't just put that on as her outer layer. Know what I mean? Luckily it's roomy. I love how the sweater turned out. Where the buttonhole loops are --probably the easiest part for any other knitter-- I made a few goofy mistakes so if you look closely the whole thing is jimmy-rigged, like looking beneath an antique chair and seeing that its legs are held together with masking tape. Not that I'm comparing my knitting to antique craftsmanship.



Once it was finished I realized how insanely, coincidentally perfect it was that this sweater I made for my Best Thing Ever is made with alpaca wool. A llama sweater, for my llama girl.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Wanted: one Nonna.




Nonna nonna nonna nonna she says every time my cell rings, or whenever the computer is opened, wanting to skype. I know, baby girl. I miss her too. Marmousch coming for the week was heaven for us all. Now we're just counting down the days until she comes back.

Saturday 26 November 2011

Oh and might I add.


What a difference a year makes. Thanksgiving 2010.

Friday 25 November 2011

Thanksgiving, 2011.

forget the turkey, check out the Movember beard.



She spent Thanksgiving in her Chinatown pj's

Mama, I stacked it!
Thanksgiving morning found the three of us in our bed, all of us stuffed up, coughing, sniveling sick. A trio of snorers and moaners. It was actually kind of sweet, now that I think about it. Somehow we got dinner on the table (it was all you, Steve). It was just us, there were no food revelations, nothing earth-shattering like past years' tried-and-true's; Wugs didn't even want one bite (from a menu so thoughtfully planned with her in mind!) and instead we had to heat up a Dr. Praeger's spinach pancake for her. Hmph. None of that really matters, though. 

I am thankful for my family both near and far. For friends so close they're like family. For my health. For my husband who, go ahead and try, you will not find a more supportive and kind man. Bonus points because tonight while he was folding laundry he came and found me just to show me how teeny our daughter's pajama pants are. He understands how the minute I finally get her to sleep all I want to do is cover her with kisses. He understands because he does, too. I am thankful for this beautiful girl that God entrusted me to guide and teach. Every day she makes me a better person. Motherhood is amazing.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Sorry for the crickets.

Let's see. Quick recap since Steve is on his way as I type to pick up Marmousch from the airport (!!!) and I still have to clean the bathroom before she arrives. What is it about mothers coming that make you want to have a flawless, so-clean-you-could-eat-off-the-floor home? At any rate, the gig is up tonight. The tiny yet mighty love of my life is nothing short of amazing. Every day I'm hearing new words (or as often the case, hearing her try to say new words)--today it was piedi (feet) and I could have sworn she attempted saying edamame at dinner. Dada is Mila's word for gato (cat) and her obsession. Ob-SESSION. We are slightly concerned that we're raising this, but when I see her love up on Hoodes I just melt. She is perfect in every way. Today in a store she had her first mini-tantrum...I say 'mini' because she was in the ergo so she wasn't flailing or anything like that (there's time for that, I'm sure), but I'm classifying it as 'tantrum' since she wanted something that I refused and wouldn't stop crying until we left the store. And the object in question....BARBECUED NUTS! Mind you she has never eaten nuts, not bbq'ed or any other flavor. But the Wugs wants what the Wugs wants. Too bad Mama gets in the way sometimes.

What else...one of my dearest friends in this world is having her baby this week. I wish we didn't live so far away but am still so thrilled for her! To be having your first baby, those first few days and weeks running on adrenaline and clumsily trying to figure it all out--some of life's best moments are bottled up in that little window of time.
  • I already have Christmas music playing in the house when it's just Wugs and I. It's too early for Steve, when he's home it's still 70's music and classic rock, but I figure it's never too early to start embedding those carols into Wugs' head. 
  • Am trying to finagle an early Christmas present out of Steve in the shape of a sewing machine.  
  • Scrapped my original plans for Mila's stocking to be sewn and just cast on last night for a knitted one. I hope I can get it done in time. The last time I knitted a stocking it was done 2 months later, in time for...Valentine's. 
  • Is it wrong to covet both physical features and material things of your daughter? I want her eyes (including those lashes, thankyouverymuch), new moccasins, and beautiful handmade dress that my wonderful friend Sarah sent her. It has a wide yellow sash that ties around the waist. Sigh.  
  • It will be just the 3 of us on Thanksgiving so we are keeping things simple. I think that sounds kinda perfect and dreamy, actually. 
  • This Saturday I am putting on heels and going out with my husband on a date. Just the two of us. For our seven-year anniversary. For the first time in ten months. I think I am most excited about that. That, and getting to spend the week with Marmousch.



And now I really have to get on that bathroom. 


Monday 7 November 2011

While feeding the birds together last Saturday it hit me that she no longer needs to keep her hands up by her shoulders to balance while walking. It comes fluidly and naturally to her now.

This growing up business is not for the faint of heart.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Sick.

Sick bébé in a Nonna-made pixie hat (I think it's my most favorite hat of hers, will you look at the back!) is possibly the most adorable and simultaneously heartbreaking thing I have ever seen.


Saturday 5 November 2011



Different ways I could have titled this post:
How Wugs is engaged while Mama gets dinner ready.
She's not big on playdough but spaghetti? Yes please. 
Don't worry, we didn't eat it afterwards.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Getting out of the way.

Wugs didn't take a single nap today despite my best efforts. By 4:00 I just took a deep breath and braced myself, the way you freeze as the wave crests up and up right before washing over you. She was asleep by  6:35.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Like a weed.

This afternoon Steve offhandedly put Mila up against our growth chart and in shock we realized she's grown nearly two inches since her first birthday. That's two inches in two months. Holy growth spurt. This explains so much. So much.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Favorite moment from yesterday.

Oh boy. There were so many. Steve (the more gregarious one) trick-or-treating with his daughter. Wugs smiling at that little group of 9-10 year-olds as they squealed at her, not so much saying Yeah, I know I'm cute but rather to say, Hey guys, where have you been? I've been waiting to hang out with y'all.

We never did get around to carving our pumpkins by Halloween (but when M awoke to November 1st a jack 'o lantern was waiting for her), and this was the first year that we didn't have a single trick-or-treater at our house (how sad is that? Ugh.). But none of it mattered as we sat around eating our Chinese takeout--Wugs in the middle sandwiched by the two people in the world so lovesick crazy about her that they can't see straight.