June knitting

Here is the beginning of a new sweater for Gabby (this'll be the back). It's the Crossover Jacket pattern from an older Debbie Bliss book I got from the library.

Okay, onto some juicier content, inspired by this site. Some Cool Dudes were playing with their kids on the playground the other day. Picture two guys, sporty looking, on the younger end of the Dad spectrum, jockeying around in their loud voices. My friends and I are nearby on some blankets with our own babes. Our kids are playing/stealing each other's toys while us moms are trying to do some sit ups, push ups, get-back-in-shape-type stuff. So, I guess they see what we're up to, and we overhear one of them saying, "Once there were, like, 10 moms here with their babies, and they were all working out. And, like, 7 of them were at least, like a 7 out of 10 for HOT!!"

Uh, yeah.

Happy Father's Day.

We're back!

Whoa! Where did the month of May go? It looks like this blog might have been neglected a bit, but I was busy. You know, doing busy stuff. Going to a concert, going on a road trip, gardening. (Side note: I went to a hydroponics store with Gabby in tow today. We were on a mission for cheap-o vermiculite for our veggies -- really, just veggies! It was funny because I've never been in a hydroponics store before. I had a bit of a Weeds moment when I steered Gabby away from the pipes.)

OK. Who's up for their daily dose of silly silly-ness? Check this out (which I found by way of this knitting site... oh! knitting content alert!). This troupe acts out stories written by kids. That's all I'm gonna say.

Happy beginning of June. I promise to blog more often. Maybe before August.

Broccoli, The Thinking Baby's Food

This week, Gabby's decided that finger foods are the way to go. I can usually sneak some cereal in once she's distracted with her finger foods, but I think she's onto me. This past week the Gabster and I have been nursing colds. This is one of the reasons she's mostly eaten toast the last little while. Today, we ventured out and got some fresh organic veggies. I steamed up some broccoli and she gobbled it up. She just loved it.

Earth Day

Celebrities seen at the Earth Day festivities at Jericho Beach:


Raffi!!! Sadly, no Baby Beluga or other baby tunes were sung. A couple of Earth-friendly songs and that was it for this performance. I half expected all the kids in the audience to rush the stage at this point, but kudos to the guy in the yellow t-shirt dancing in the crowd. He really gave it during Raffi's eco-hit "Cool It (The Global Cooling Song)".


Tom Cruise was not in attendance. But still, what the...?


Linux to the rescue!


Later on, a meeting of epic proportions took place on the J-family's front lawn. Where to next?


The park, of course. A fun way to end Earth Day celebrations. Wheee!

Jibber Jabber

My, my. What a stunner. (that's lentils you see around her lips. yum)

Whoa. Where has the time gone? It's been almost two weeks since my last post. What's been happening? Let's see... lots of little things, such as:

- Gabby's sleep schedule. Up, down, up, down is perhaps the best way to describe it. She's not sleeping very well at night these days. And she was doing so well with this before... oy. We just got used to getting some decent sleep (ya, i know, lucky us) but now she's just up all the time and that decent stuff is eluding us.

- A tooth, a tooth! Gabby's now the one-tooth-wonder!

- The 6-8 month post partum funk, which I've heard about from other moms. Yup, it's got me. Just feeling a little worn around the edges these days. Today, someone described parenthood to me as a spiral staircase; you are slowly going up, but sometimes the view just looks the same.

- Planting a vegetable garden. Sowed some seeds are starting some seeds indoors too. This is my first time planting veggies and it's sorta like magic to see these shoots come up. Cool.

- Gabby's new jabbering. So cute. She sounds like, ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, and looks like a little old lady with an unhinged jaw, sans dentures.

Convalescing

This past week Gabby and I have been taking in the sunshine like... well, like two people who haven't seen the sun in a long time. We did our usual weekday stuff, like walking down the Drive, seeing our Mommy and Baby friends, eating lunch in the park, and going on the swings. The last few days though Gabs has been under the weather with a runny nose and a bit of a cold. One night the congested nose worsened quite a bit and was bad enough to keep her (and us) for most of the night. We went out the next day and bought a humidifier for her room, and it has been just the best purchase ever. She slept her usual 12 hours, woke up for her usual feedings and she appeared to be breathing a bit easier.


My view from the stroller. Gabby and I do some long walks on some days, and here she is asleep and cuddled under a blanket (Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N Bitch by Debbie Stoller). I whipped out this blankie in her early colicky days, in the first few months of her life, when we spent more time at home. I really enjoyed knitting this blanket. I savoured the few quiet moments I had each day to work away on this, and it was my first project using luxury (non-acrylic) yarn. Koigu, no less.


Gabby managed to squeeze out a few smiles, despite feeling congested and generally crappy. Here she is comforted by some of her favourite things, her sippy cup, Bonne Nuit Bebe book, and a Tupperware container (who says I don't spoil her?). She's outgrowing her newborn socks (Better than Bootie socks by Ann Bush). These gotta-be-a-girl-pink socks were knit up with Sweet Georgia's superwash sock yarn in the Kissed colourway. These socks used to stay on but she's kicking them off now. Time to knit another pair, I guess. My girl's growing up so fast... (snif)

In other knitting news, my knitting time has been on the low side lately. Progress has been slow on the Oak Ribbed Sock because I find it's just too hard to knit while watching The Wire now. (This show is that good). Also I've been working on a new project... Clapotis. I know, I am probably the absolute last person on earth who has not made this yet, but it's good to see that there are other people who are still excited about knitting this shawl/wrap/knitting phenomenon (just google it, i'm not kidding). Pics to come.


I think we'll just be sticking around our 'hood for the rest of the weekend, drinking coffee and resting up. Oh, and playing with our l'il gal.

RIP Rheostatics.

Spring in Vancouver

How can you tell it's spring in Vancouver? The rain... the never-ending rain. Some glimpses of warm sun, and then back to rain. Rain, rain, go away...

I'm inspired to start sewing again. The last time I've done any sewing was in high school in home ec class, and let's just say I wasn't a star pupil or anything. My crowning glory? A cotton top, with wonky stitching and a puckered armhole.

Okay, so I've got some supplies. I have a second hand sewing machine, I have some books and simple patterns, and I have some fabric my mom gave me. I'm in beginner sewer heaven.

My inspirations:

1. Sew U, by by Wendy Mullin, Eviana Hartman, Beci Orpin. Great instructions for a clueless and overenthusiastic hack like me. Plus basic patterns for a skirt, a shirt and pants, and how to modify and embellish each item.


2. Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects, by Lotta Jansdotter. I may never buy an Ikea dishtowel again. (I know, never say never) Clean and simple items for the home... a duvet cover, a cute apron or two.

3. SouleMama's tote bags, aprons, children's clothes, re-using thrifted items... I love it.

4. Wee Wonderfuls. Big Footed Bunny, here I come. I grew up with an Angry Bunny, and she definitely needs some cheering up.

So, Gabby, could you just sit still for a minute? Mama's got some sewing to do.