Creative Irony

Homeward Bound

Back from vacation - Oh vacation, how you vex me.  Who ever thought the day would come when vacation would mean a mixed bag of highs and lows.  All of you parents are chuckling - you know exactly what I mean.  We've been to New Mexico and Florida, so please pardon the long break in posting.  Lack of access to computers and internet are a welcome treat every once in awhile. 

It was so fun to spend more time as a family and we were in a gorgeous location with comfortable lodgings and phenomenal weather.  

(My bathing suit is the Jantzen Vamp, and it's a great suit for a woman.  I'd definitely recommend it.)

But it's hard.  The airlines, the flight, getting used to a whole new routine, nothing where it should be, the set up and tear down...And that's just with one baby.  We flew in and out of the Orlando airport and I'm fairly certain, from the chaos we experienced, we won't be doing Disney.  Ever.

We're back now and in the throes of sleeplessness.  (oh, the red eyes.  Ha - and the food on the face.  Who likes having her face washed?  Not this one!)

Getting used to home bed, not vacation bed (mostly for Sylvie!).  The first noght home was a wreck - lots of waking up and crying.  here's hoping we're going to get back to some semblance of a schedule. And soon!

Sylvie went on her first swing.  Per the usual, she was completely mellow about it.

 

 

I Got the Spring Fever Blues

Spring fever blues? Yep - I blinked my eyes and it's March.  Seriously...to be fair, we had a nice long visit to New Mexico and the days beforehand where I freaked out about traveling alone and what to bring for Sylvie...It wasn't pretty, but it was totally worth it.

 

Now, on to Sylvie!  6 months!  Enough said, right?  She's just gotten so fun lately.  Mimicking, sitting, playing, talking, laughing, yelling - is there anything this kid can't do?  I thought she's be so overstimulated in New Mexico, but it turns out she's long since crossed that bridge.  She charmed everyone and had such a good time.  I think she's bored with only me to entertain her.  We are in a music class and she had seemed to hate it - we were always the family in the corner by the end of class - Sylvie crying and me out of tricks to make her stop.  She now seems to love class.  she sits and talks and looks around at the kids.  A corner has definitely been turned.

This is my favorite picture - Andy grabbed the guitar from her and this is the look she shot him.

I think there's a tooth on the horizon.  lots of lip biting, general fussiness and desperate chewing on everything in sight. 

The sitting continues to go strongly - she's got that down solidly.  Now I've got to remember to put her on her belly every once in awhile so she can start to practice moving around and pre-crawling.

She will still eat anything that's near her - excpet apples aren't her favorite.  We tried a sample of dried apples and I wouldn't have eaten it either - way too bitter. We'll try some mommy made cooked ones today.  I'll let you know how that goes!

Beautiful Dawn

This is one of my favorite groups to sew to.  I love their music and think  it makes perfect background music.

It's been getting brighter earlier and darker later.  I feel it - it's easier to wake up in the morning, even after a long night of wake ups - some nights are better than others, but between the growth sputs, teething, tummy troubles - even the best little sleeper (not Sylvie) can't be consistent.  I always forget how hard the winter is on a person - even such a mild winter such as this.  It's not necessarily the cold, it's the light, I think.  We get outside pretty much daily, even in the rain, but I'm ready for spring - longer days.

This new light brings about new energy so there's been some sewing going on in this house.  Two dresses are almost complete.  I put them down when I had to pause to shop for buttons and even though I have the buttons, I just have to pick my projects back up again.  My mantra these days needs to be "finish". I'm also working on a gift for a friend, but that's a secret for now.  Once she's got it in her hands I'll post pictures.  

For now, today I completed a pair of pants for Sylvie.  FINISHED!  I've been thinking about The pants from this book  for awhile now - or some variation, but since I have this book - that's what I ended up making.  I didn't follow the instructions exactly.  If you want to make fancier pants, you can add a yoke to the back.  I didn't care about that.  In the future, I'd allow a little more room in the back of that pants.  They're a bit tight on the tush and Sylvie's tush is about the smallest thing she's got (sorry babe - you got that from my side).  They're double flannel, made in a style where they're reversible and you can fold the cuff up for cuteness in the beginning, and then for length later on - assuming the waist still fits?  

I actually didn't sew the elastic to the pants so that I could just clip it and add a longer section to get some wear our of them in the fall.

I should straightened out the front of the pants before I took these pictures.  Next time.

Happy Friday!

 

 

I mentioned the epic 3 hour nap yesterday. When Sylvie woke up, she decided to sit! She's doing it for much longer today. Every milestone that we meet makes me both so entirely proud and so stupidly sad. The moving forward is so bittersweet because it just happens so fast and really makes me realize how precious each day is.

http://youtu.be/6Au4Va9zbXE

Letters to Sylvie

you're 5 and a half months.  Exactly, as of yesterday.  IT really gets me every time - how fast this is all just whooshing by.  I know I should be writing this in your baby book, but I haven't even written (well, some are written and even stamped.  Finishing is not my strong suit...) my thank you cards from my wedding shower yet.(I'm so sorry everyone.  I actually know what each of you gave me and I smile and think of you when I'm cooking and serving with all of the wonderful gifts...)  It's not necessarily something I'm proud of, but it's the truth.  I hope to teach you better manners than I have.

You're in the middle of a nap right now.  I put you down around 1:00 and it's now 3:20.  You NEVER EVER do this.  You fussed around 2:30 and I fed you a bit and you just kept crying and looking at your crib so I put you back in it and you instantly fell asleep.  I read a lot about babies and development and you're "supposed" to be sleeping 2-3-4 right now.  Basically, you're supposed to go down for a nap around 2 hours after you wake in the morning.  Then, 3 hours after that, you're supposed to have another nap.  Then 4 hours after that you're supposed to go to bed.  Your general schedule is that you like to go down for a nap about an hour after you wake up.  Just a quickie 30 minutes or so.  Then about an hour and a half after that you lie to go down for another hour or so.  Then two hours later another quickie and then yet another quickie from 4-5:00.  Then bed around 7:00.  I essentially fell like I'm putting you down for a nap all the time.  Some days you like it better than others.  So, see why I'm so baffled by this nearly 3 hour nap business??

You're working on sitting up right now.  We practice quite often.  I think in the next week or so you'll master it.  You know how to drink form a straw and it's your new favorite thing to do.  Consequently, you spend the rest of the day sucking on all of your toys and becoming very frustrated when water doesn't come out.  You're very adept at peek-a-boo and make this little noise when you pull the cover off your face, it's kind of like, "duh, here I am."  It entertains me to no end.

Your love for food knows no bounds.  Whenever I eat you stare me down like a stalker, coyly smiling when I look over and laugh at the pooling drool all around you.  Even if you wrinkle your nose at something when you try it, you dutifully open your mouth and eat it all anyway, seemingly pleased.  Today, for the first time in a few weeks, I fed you in the morning.  You've seemed so cranky and tired...and then you sleep like there's no tomorrow!  

You talk all the time to your dad and me.  It's cute and your sounds are sounding more like words.  Obviously not real words.  I know this.

Another of your favorite games has two names.  Push Push if you're playing with Mom and Up Up if you're playing with dad.  It's where you're laying down and your slowly push yourself up to standing.  I'm glad you're flexible like that with the names of the games.

You also love the faucet in the bathroom.  You make this sound that's like an old Italian, "eh, eh, Eh!" I let you play there, but only for a short time because it's at a really strange angle, so holding you there isn't very comfortable.

You know what kiss means and how to do it (although your version is mouth wide open with a little lean in to me.) but you only let me kiss you once or twice before fussing.  Which is good, because I'd probably kiss you ten or twenty times if you let me.  That's more than what's good for either of us, really.

You don't like music class very much.  You cry towards the end and we usually finish class with me holding you as we stand in the corner far away from the confusion and noise that is 14 other children and their caregivers.   I'm going to keep going anyway because I think it's good for you to get out of the house.

You also don't like the UPS man.  Which is secretly funny.  We order a lot form Amazon so we see him at least twice a month.  You cry every time you see him.  You don't do this for anyone else.  He's actually very nice and always brings the package inside for me since I've got you in my arms.  Maybe you don't like that mama is spending your college fund on toys?

I think I'm going to go and wake you up now...I'm uncomfortable with what this much sleep might mean for the night.

I love you!

These are some of the faces you make while you watch me eat.

The Greatest Love of All

Oh, Whitney, How very sad that you passed away way too young. 

I still remember purchasing my very first tape.  I was with my mom as she was running errand at the Mankato State University (I think it has a a different name now...) bookstore.  That orange colored tape was calling my name.  I still can't quite believe my mom let me get it!  At any rate, that summer, we had a foreign exchange student from Mexico who stayed with us for awhile.  Betty, Emily and I spent hours singing along to the tape, making up dances in the piano room, and generally just being Whitney fanatics (don't deny it Emily!)

And now, back to the present moment!

Where did this week go?  I'm not exactly sure, but I've had a few posts in mind.  We'll start with Philly and our neighborhood.  

Our neighborhood is old.  Not Society Hill old, but I think our house was built in the mid 1800's.  

We live in Fitler Square.  I thought that once we moved to Philly I'd miss having a Yard! Space! Playing!  I don't. It turns out that there are a lot of little neighborhood areas, ours happens to be Fitler. It's pretty rare for me to walk through Fitler and not see a familiar face.  Maybe at odd time during the day, but at the peak hours after work and before dinner it's the gathering place for many of the neighborhood families.  Kids run around, babies nap in strollers and parents chat and call out across the square.  We went to the little Christmas tree lighting in December a=where Santa even showed up!  I have to say, it's pretty nice to have little local hangouts.  With the winter being so mild, the square gets a lot of use.  (There's also a really great park just a few blocks down, but we're not quite to park age yet).

Just a bit further away in Rittenhouse Square.  It's right on the edge of the main city shopping/business area.

During the lunch hour, the benches are filled with people.

We also live a few blocks from the Schuylkill River and a really nice bike/walking path.  Sylvie and I walk there with friends nearly every day.

The Boathouse Row 

And a few more random pictures of Philly...

City Hall

Oldest PHotograph

Reading Terminal.  Yes, that Reading.

20th and Rittenhouse Ave.

Horse head hitching posts.  I also love that a lot of the row houses still have boot cleaners outside.  

And this is how Sylvie sees most of Philly.

And finally, one more Sylvie shot for the day...

A Few of My Favorite Things

Shopping for/knowing what to own once you have a baby can be really confusing.  It's obviously personal as well, but I've had a few questions about what we've purchased and what we like so, here are a few of my favorite things. (most of these pictures are older)

This is horrible picture in front of a dirty mirror (new mom, forgive me.  It's clean now). But I love the moby.  I wore it all the time when she was really little and still use it for walks.  I'm actually nursing in this picture, so once I got the hang of using the wrap, it was nice for multi-tasking.  I nursed on the streets of Philly more than once and no one was the wiser. It's also incredible comfortable.  at 18 lbs, I can still easily carry her for many many miles. It's so snuggly that she falls asleep in the moby.

That being said, I also love the ergo. It's fast and easily adjustable for both Bob and I.  As she's gotten bigger, I find it's easy to grab and go and although not quite as comfortable as the Moby, still mostly comfy.  The way we live right now, we never drive.  Getting the stroller out the door can be a huge hassle, so I weigh what I'm going to do and choose which carrier I'm going to use.

Our stroller. Uppababy Vista. Once again, we use the stroller for errands, restaurants, walking (Sylvie and I walk with our friends a number of miles a week - all of our carriers.stroller et a ton of use). I chose ours for two reasons.  The first was the bassinet.  Sylvie used it as her bed for the first few months and it was invaluable.  We used it on the stroller outside and now we've switched to the seat option. The second was the huge basket underneath.  I've love love loved the stroller.  We bought the car seat adaptor, and so we can use the car seat too, although we haven't had to yet - other than traveling.

The Bumbo.  Sylvie loves to sit up in the chair.  We use it all the time.

And most recently, Phil and Teds MeToo.  She loves to sit at our level and we feed her in this chair.  It gets a lot of use.

Other thoughts - I would've just used a dishpan for bathing.  We now use a plastic storage bin with a towel over the back.  We invested in gDiapers.  I don't love them. 

We finally invested in a rocking chair, which is nice, but for getting her to sleep - although we mostly let her fall aslepp on her own, she likes to held while I bounce on the yoga ball.  It gets a lot of use and is probably the bast $20.00 I spent.  I know there's more, but the Superbowl is over, so I'm going to sign off!

 

 

Hey Good Lookin'

Hey sweet baby, Don't mean maybe There's nothing maybe about this food thing!  Sylvie's taken to it and I realize I've talked a lot about food here, but we're all about it!  It's messy and fun.  Sylvie likes to "talk" while she's eating. It's all so adorable to me! Bananas and avocado and squash, oh my!

 

Darlin' do not fear

Sylvie has been growing so fast these days and it has me thinking about how daring it is to grow up! Everything is new and ever changing.  How do these little people trust us so much?  Darlin' do not fear, huh?  Let's hope not.  We're having so much fun with Sylvie these days.

Eating isn't only about growing, Sylvie thinks it's about playing, which is fine with me!  

We're having just as much fun with it as she is.

We were so lucky to have grandma here and so sad that she's now gone.

But it won't be too long before we join the fam in New Mexico for a few days.  Sylvie and I are going alone - another flight with just she and I - actually 4 flights!  Hopefully things will go fine.

The weather has been phenomenal here.  We had a brief snowfall last week, but it's been sunny since then.  Today it's 61 and sunny.  We went for a really long walk along the Schuylkill River.  We've been so spoiled with this "winter".  We live in walking distance to some of Philly's best attractions and we've been taking advantage as much as we can.  It's a totally different lifestyle here, compared with Minneapolis.  We never use our car - I think we've been to the gas station 3-4 times since July.  Although I do miss having a excuse to drink hot chocolate and laze around - although Sylvie's not much for lazing.  She's got things to do and toys to play with!

Thankfully there are a few naps here and there...

Typos!

Whoops!  I thought I'd fixed all my embarrassing typos on the last post.  Somehow I didn't, and I'm not suite sure how to save my edits, so - you'll have to read the post with all it's (my)  glorious spelling errors from typing too fast!

I have to say - growing up before computers were common means a pretty steep learning curve for things that  I must imagine come pretty naturally for those who had internet in school...

 

At any rate, I hope the cute pictures of Sylvie make up for my typos!