new blog

I've started a new blog for the things I create, the link is in my sidebar. I've put up a picture of my postcards there.

fun in the sun

Things we have learned now that it's summer:

1) Sunscreen is a very effective at glueing dirt to ones' face.
2) shorts and concrete are a bad combination from a knees' point of view.
actually that's all for now, I'm sure there will be more. Amelia's also leaarning to say "up" and "bath", she'll sometimes say "bay-bee" and she just learning to turn her hands palm up to say "all done". she also has a certain "mmm" that means she wants what ever she's looking at, usually used for food, then we ask her if she wants more? more? and she nods "yes".

Poncho 2.0

This is the front of the next pocho for Amelia. It's cotton and combines orange and pink so it'll go with all of her clothes. I think the colours are like sherbet. Molli made the hat, also cotton, and is working on a frill to go around the edge. it'll be good for cooler days. If she keeps it on...

What we've been up to...

Sorry this has been picture-heavy and text-light lately.

Amelia's been very sweet lately. She's taken to not only waving goodbye to everyone she meets but then she blows them kisses. This just slays them. One cashier was so taken that she came out and took Amelia for a cuddle. This was NOT what Amelia had in mind, she was just trying to say goodbye!

Amelia's also starting to work on words. She has been saying "Da-a" for dad and now she's saying "ho-t" in a whispery sort of voice. Sometimes it's for something hot, or a light or a glass of ice water or if she wants to interact with us...

She's also walking a lot and doing a bit of running. Basically a fast walk, and if I run with her she'll do panting at the same time. All in all, very cute times. And the weather this week has really warmed up. last week was tights and wool, this week it's shorts and t-shirts.

blocks in a box my dad made for Amelia

Blocks

Almond Butter

Really, it's just almond butter

Singing in the car and playing on the beach 

Helping with laundry

See how pleased she is?

More fun with babies

Amelia's been trying to dress herself lately. When I go to put her shirt on, she'll stick her right hand into the sleeve, then she'll try to stick her right hand into the left sleeve and then into the head hole. At night, once I've put her in her PJs, she'll take her tights or pants (or Lance's belt) and holding it in both hands, raise it over her head and drape it over her shoulders. She is very pleased with herself for doing that. She'll also hold a sock in her left hand and push her right hand under it so that the sock ends up draped over her forearm, like a waiter's teatowel. Last light, Lance put her tights on her arms for her. She walked around with this satisfied grin on her face and kept making claw motions with her hands and thumbs.

Feeling a bit better, eating again

Eating Avacado

I've just had a very nice afternoon with Amelia. I never thought I'd be thankful for a tiny kitchen, but it's perfect for having Amelia on a chair beside me while I cook and do dishes. Almost anywhere I go I can keep a hand on her so that she doesn't step off the chair. While we were doing dishes, she managed to reach in the sink and grab a shred of this morning's porridge before it went down the drain and she popped it in her mouth just as I realised what was going on. Oh well, at least it was clean... . Then, as I was making guacamole she was "mmm mm mmm"ing for a piece of avacado, so I sat her in her chair and fed her some.

Not coping so well...

Amelia's cold developed into a sore throat and cough and after all my bragging about how good she is, the past few days she's been clingy and whiney. This is fine, it's how I deal with colds too. At night, because of the sore throat, she's needed to nurse a lot more, and has been waking up crying every hour or two. She's also been more sqirmy than usual and ends up in all sorts of positions. (her bed is butted up between ours and the wall). Well last night, she did sleep somewhat better, so I got into a deeper sleep. One of the times she did wake up, I pulled her over to nurse her back to sleep, and I couldn't figure out why she wasn't nursing and why she was hitting me so hard and why she was still crying. So I woke up more and realized that I had pulled her over to me upside-down, that is her feet were up by my head (and kicking) and I had carefully tucked her head and upper body under the covers!

36.8

Taking her own temperature

Guess what-another cold

but, true to form, she's hardly letting it slow her down. I think the time change has been as rough as the cold. She had a lot of fun at daycare today. I noticed something about myself today, one of the other children also had a runny nose and when I had to wipe his nose, I was a teensy bit grossed out by it but I don't feel that way at all by Amelia's drips and drool. In fact, I just think it's cute. Gordon Neufeld (his book is called "Hold on to Your Kids") says that one of the effects of being in a healthy attachment relationship with your child is that you're able to at least overlook the less pleasant parts of parenting. (At least that's how I understood it, I don't know if I got that right, but i don't know how else to explain that I just find her drool and snot cute)(Don't get me wrong, I still don't want it on me, and I do wipe it up right away).

easter measles??

fun with babies

Now the fun begins, she's getting more and more interactive. She's making a lot more noises and stringing sound and noises into 'sentences'. Molli's here and they were playing with a little toy fire truck and molli made a WEEwooWEEwoo siren sound and Amelia imitated it perfectly. Awhile ago, Lance was playing with Amelia and pretended to pant like a dog, so now I've taught her to pant when I ask her "What does Daddy say?"

You'll notice that scratch on her chin? That was a couple of nights ago, she woke up and walked into the living room. This may not sound signifigant, but she's known how to climb down off the bed for months and often does in the morning, but she never does when she wakes up at night or from her nap. So down the hall she comes walking, after a little squawk which we hopefully ignored, looking as pleased as punch. I had already spent a long time trying to get her to sleep in the first place, so we let her stay up. she had fun walking all over the living room, but being tired she was clumsy and finally lost her balance and fell against our 'shoe shelf' (read:six boards leaning against the wall).