Jen's Blog

my Super Birthday

Gary took Elliot shopping on Saturday, so Elliot could pick out some birthday gifts. Gary tried to confuse Elliot afterwards, so he wouldn't blurt out what he had gotten me, which only sort of worked. Still, I was only able to guess one of the three gifts he got me. In addition to some gifts, Elliot also picked out the wrapping paper.

So what did he get me? A box of chocolates, a blue monkey stuffed animal, and a bar of soap from The Body Shop, all of which he picked out himself. But the best gift was that he wrote "MOM" on my birthday card. Gary wrote it on a piece of paper, and Elliot copied it on to the envelope.

Elliot builds a kite

Yesterday evening Elliot wanted to build a kite. So while I was getting Lexi ready for bed, he set up a work bench, gathered up some materials, and tried to make a kite. His efforts, part of which I caught on camera, lasted all the way until his bedtime.

Why a kite? This past weekend, while at an Earth Day celebration in Napa, Elliot helped make a paper kite. That is, he colored a bird-shaped piece of paper, to which a college student taped 2 bamboo sticks and some string. It was a pretty poor kite (she forgot the kite tail), but the wind was gusty enough to allow it to fly well enough for a little kid.

I bought a simple kite for Elliot to help assemble this weekend, if the weather is nice, but he doesn't know it yet.

(Warning: the video is pretty long, so it may take a long time to get from YouTube. But I think it's worth it!)

a sweater for Lexi

I finished a sweater for Lexi late last week, just in time for a chilly weekend in Napa. This is the first sweater I've knit for her. I love the yarn, which is a soft superwash merino wool from Tess' Designer Yarns. The pattern that I bought along with the yarn, though, was terrible, and I wound up ripping it out and starting again with a different pattern. The pattern is called Daisy Cardigan, by Marie Grace. It is knit from the top down all in one piece, which meant that when I was finished knitting, I didn't have to sew any seams. Instead of buttons it has a single tie at the top (which meant I didn't have to look for matching buttons, either!) I modified the pattern slightly by knitting a garter stitch border at the bottom and doing a regular cast off, instead of the picot edge (I did the picot cast off for the sleeves. If I knit it again I might do the garter stitch for the sleeves, too, to keep them from rolling.)

The sweater is a bit big for Lexi, but not so big that she can't wear it now. I am hoping it will still fit her in the fall, when I plan to knit a matching hat with the remaining yarn.

self portrait

Yesterday evening, while I was feeding dinner to Lexi, Elliot announced that he was going to draw a picture of himself. Actually, what he said was, "I'm going to draw a picture of me!"

And so he did.

this week's experiments

Two big experiments going on this week. The first involves yogurt, the second involves sleeping.

I introduced yogurt to Lexi on Sunday. ("Lexi, this is Yogurt. Yogurt, this is Lexi. I'm sure you two will get along famously!") I also started putting probiotics into Lexi's bottle once a day. So far she's doing pretty well; no bad reactions that we could see, although she is pooping more than she used to. (Sorry, you probably didn't really want to know that!) She's also eating more, too. I initially only gave her a few teaspoons of yogurt, and I'm giving her some more this morning. About a month ago she tried a teething biscuit that contained some milk, and it seemed like she had a bad reaction to it (cried a lot later that day, arched her back as if in pain, that sort of thing). It's possible she was reacting to something else, or she was sick, or she's outgrown her sensitivity.

Last night was a big one for the kids. Gary took out the futon in Elliot's room and moved in Lexi's crib, so they are now sharing a room. The tricky part is that Lexi goes to bed around 6, but Elliot doesn't get to bed until after 7. Unfortunately, Elliot woke Lexi up when he got in bed; Lexi started screaming, and Elliot yelled at her to be quiet, causing her to cry more. It took Gary half an hour to calm both of them down. I am not looking forward to bedtime tonight, but I am looking forward to having a guest room again!

Lexi and Frito

Lexi and Frito playing in the morning. Lexi may be saying "cat" but it's hard to tell. She got her first cat scratch a few minutes later.

mid-April photos

Elliot likes to make resting spots for himself in the kitchen, usually with a pillow and a foot rest. He looks quite comfortable.

Lexi playing with Frito.

At the park.

a lovely weekend

We had our first really warm weekend of the spring, so we went to the park both days. On Saturday we drove down to Alum Rock and met up with the Pursey clan. Elliot spent a lot of time tagging along behind Max and Derek. Typical of our kids, they tried to get into an electrical box that was at the back of the playground, but John yelled at them and they stopped.

On Sunday we spent part of the afternoon at a local playground. Elliot wandered over to a little rock cubby inhabited by a group of bigger kids (they looked about 5-6), and they invited him inside to play. Initially there were just 3 girls, but then a few boys wandered over, too. Gary and Lexi and I parked ourselves on the grass nearby, so we could see and hear what was going on without being intrusive. One of the kids had a long piece of ribbon, which they were throwing out of the window of the cubby. Another kid, on the outside, was putting pine cones on the ribbon, then they'd pull the whole thing back in and count how many fish they had collected. When they started they just had one pine cone on the end of the ribbon, but at its peak one of the kids had collected about a dozen pine cones in a plastic bag just for fishing purposes. Elliot happened to be wearing his "Elliot's Turn" t-shirt, so all the kids knew his name. We kept hearing them telling him stuff, like not to look out of the window, and when to throw the ribbon out. It was hilarious. They also taught him "rock paper scissors," or at least we heard them playing it. Gary guessed that Elliot always chose Rock.

Eventually the kids broke up, and Elliot came over to find us. A man pushing an ice cream cart had been hovering nearby, so we let Elliot pick out a snack. He picked a Spiderman popsicle with gum ball eyes. He liked it, but didn't want to bite it, so he just licked it. Luckily he was in a sharing mood, so I wound up eating most of it before it dripped on to his hands and legs. We got pretty messy anyway, but it was fun. His chewed up the first gum ball and swallowed it; not unexpected for a kid's first chewing gum experience. The second one I saved until we were done with the popsicle, so he just chewed on it until I made him spit it out before we left the park.

Elliot and I planted some flower seeds outside last weekend, and we were both pleased to see that some of them have sprouted. Spring is here!

cat

Lexi has been saying "cat" for the past few days! At least, a word that sounds a lot like cat, primarily when she sees one of the cats. So Gary and I are counting it as a First Word.

Now that she can crawl, Lexi is able to harass the cats, too. She got her first cat scratch yesterday morning, while trying to play with Frito.

healthy at last!

I finally feel healthy this week! I was sick with the flu for 3 weeks; Gary is currently sick, but seems to be on the mend. I've spent much of this week catching up on household stuff, like laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, and sleep.

The weather is nice and warm, and this weekend is expected to be beautiful. I'm hoping Gary feels better and we can all get out of the house.