September 30, 2009

The Dread Pirate Jakey

When I asked Lara a few weeks ago what Jakey should be for Halloween, she answered without even a split second of hesitation, as if she had been mulling over for some time and had already come to this conclusion, "A pirate."

So yesterday, I whipped up his little getup:

costume - baby pirate

Black velvet pants, striped belt for tucking a cutlass into (though I don't think I'll be supplying that particular pirate accessory for a four month-old), and a striped bandanna with skull and crossbones made with appliqued turquoise yarn.

Aaarr!

September 26, 2009

Sisterly Love



There's been a lot of taking care of Jakey recently in our house - after all, sister knows best and is happy to soothe. Of course, love is frequently followed by irritation, since when Lara gets close to her brother her hair is pretty much irresistible to the little grabby fists. "No, Jakey, you cannot pull my hair! It is not nice!" Lara reprimands him sternly.



I think he's going to keep doing it, though.

--------------------------

This morning Lara told me about her dream for the first time. We've been asking her periodically if she remembers them but until today she didn't. First sleepy words out of her mouth this morning: "Mommy, when I was flying, there were bad seals coming out of their cages and they were going to get my hands. I called you for help, but you were all the way on the other side of the tunnel." Of course our daughter would best remember a nightmare - after all this is the same girl who told me yesterday that "the construction site is just for looking. You can't go on that crane because it's very dangerous and you can fall down and be really hurt!"

--------------------------

Yes, I will actually make some things at some point! Lately though, the creative energy has been mostly going to the unphotographable dissertation. Just imagine a computer screen with lots of words and no pictures.

September 21, 2009

Beautiful Bahamas

I'm always amazed that the Caribbean islands actually look exactly like what their tourism photographs look like. This was the view out of our hotel room window in the morning:





Yes, indeed - vacation enjoyed by all. Lara overcame even more of her water fears and was almost impossible to remove from the pool. I never thought I'd see the day when having to get out of the water in order to eat would occasion hysterics!





Look how adventurous she looks in her water ride getup:



But of course, let's not get carried away with her bravery. One look at the ocean...



...and she was out of there in a hurry.



Jakey had a very peaceful time of it, doing mostly this:



He is a sweet boy who turns four months old today! And to mark the occasion, he flipped from his back to his tummy and then back again this morning - all with a serene, happy face of calm accomplishment. Is he going to be the grounding force this family of type-A nutcases needs?

Also - is it odd that at the entrance to the hotel casino there was a statue of four golden calves? Hmm....

September 13, 2009

At the Mall



We took our resident fashionista to the mall yesterday to pick out some new shoes, and I am happy to declare us the winners of the process, and her the new owner of these cute pink mary-janes. Also - check out that chin-length bob, courtesy of yours truly and some skillful bathtub diplomacy. Seriously, I've come to the conclusion that no one who has not had to handle a three year-old daily should be put into any State Department positions.



Here I think I might be contemplating making a break for it... That's really quite a longing look at the door of the glasses store.



Awww!

September 4, 2009

Deep Thoughts


Conversation with Lara as she is looking at pictures of her dad and me from when we were still dating.

L: Hey, look, that's you and daddy! But where am I?
A: Oh, that was before you were born.
L: But you and daddy were born?
A: Yes, daddy and I were born a long time ago. You were born three years ago, but I was born thirty years ago!

Lara looks at the pictures again and thinks about this some more.

L: Oh. Was I at home because I wasn't born yet?
A: Well, not really at home. You were a little tiny dot in my tummy. Remember how Jakey was in my tummy before he was born? You were in my tummy before you were born also.
L: So what happened? What happened when I was born?
A: You became our little baby daughter. And I became a mommy. Before that I was a woman.
L: But you are a woman!
A: That's true - now I'm a woman and a mommy.
L: And I'm a daughter and Jakey is a son.

Magical Morning

This morning, I surprised a fairy in her kitchen.



She was clearly in the middle of making something delicious, so I stayed very quiet and let her work.



I had heard that if you ever stumble onto a fairy cooking, you should always stick around, because there is quite a good chance that she will make...



...an extra pot of pixie soup just for you.

September 1, 2009

Our New Sport



The new favorite sport around here is the Jakey Roll-Over Derby. He is so so close to figuring it out! Pretty much, if I put him on his back, he'll instantly roll himself about 95% of the way over - he's just stuck getting over his shoulder. We sit on the couch, watching him huff and puff with exertion and cheer him on. Seriously, it's probably my favorite spectator sport to date.

Home Improvements

Yesterday was home improvement day, courtesy of Ikea. They were all things that should have been done a long - LONG - time ago, but for whatever reason I just never quite picked up enough momentum.

I replaced one set of legs for my sewing table with a set of drawers, which makes that section of the bedroom a lot more streamlined:



I hung up all the pots on a rack (can you tell that the only one I've never actually cooked with is the middle one? These racks always look better in magazines, when they use brand new pots and pans!), freeing up valuable cabinet space. I also got a lid organizer, but didn't take a picture of it. Two small changes, but revolutionary:



And finally, I bought more lamps for the cave that is our living room. Fourteen foot ceilings are amazing, and nothing to complain about, but without overhead lighting, the room tends to be quite dark at night. We are pretty limited in the kind of lighting that will work here, since I am not about to hire an electrician to wire things into the wall in a rental, so I ended up with four spot-lights that make a huge difference and are not completely offensive-looking.



I'm kind of inordinately excited about all of this. Ok, back to the dissertation.