Connection

We have been living here in Lincoln now for five months and I feel like we are really starting to settle in. As far as social things are concerned, I have been going to a Mom's group, the La League group, and just last night I went to a book club that I was invited to by one of the mom's from the mom's group. It's funny; I have looked off and on for quite a long time for a book club and then this one just popped up when I wasn't even looking. I guess things have a way of happening that way sometimes. It seems like an interesting group. We are reading March by Geraldine Brooks this month.

Doctor's visit

I took Joseph to a well-baby visit at the doctor today. He is 35 inches tall (95th percentile), weighs 29 lbs (80th percentile,) and his skull circumference is 19 inches (90th percentile.) That is pretty technical, but some of you are interested, I know. The doctor said he is doing well and is very bright. At first Joseph was friendly with the doctor, but then was scared of the stethoscope. The shots were the worst part, of course. Luckily when we were leaving he was pretty calm. It was actually very funny when we were just about to go because I was spelling our last name to the receptionist and then Joseph started saying 'AB, AB' with a big smile on his face. He is just so funny!

We're almost there

With potty graduation that is. For those of you reading who don't know I am doing early potty training with Joseph, also known as Elimination Communication (EC.) You can read more about it here. He is 20 months old and hasn't really pooped in his diaper since he was 5 months old (just three days after I started EC with him was the last consistent time; after that only five or so accidents.) We were doing really well with him peeing in the potty too, until he was about one year old. Then it seemed like he figured out that I would leave him alone if he stopped 'communicating.' He did always seem to tell me when we were out though, until recently. So last Friday I took the plunge and put him in underwear full time (at home) except at night, even during his naps. It is going very well. We are having about one wet per day. Yesterday I was getting him ready for the store and I wanted to put a diaper on him and he asked for underwear instead! This morning we went to mom's group and he stayed dry the whole time and this afternoon I am taking him to the doctor, and I think I am going to put him in underwear then too.

Knitting Success

I am proud to say that I have successfully sized up a sweater pattern. The sweater that I made for Joseph only had directions for up to 18 months, but I wanted to make it in size 2T. I was stuck on this problem for a long time and then I happened to read somewhere, quite by accident, that the armhole shaping (which is where your armpit is) is always 1 inch whether for a baby, child, or adult. It seems strange, but it really is true, and you will see this if you compare patterns. Anyway, from there I just increased the number of stitches proportionally, and left he armhole shaping and neck shaping the same size (because that was also the same size of 4 inches wide in all of the smaller sizes.) TA-DA- here it is, a 2 T size sweater! I took a photo of the old sweater that is size 18 months laying on top of the new sweater for comparison ( If you click on the photo you will get a bigger image and actually be able to see that it is two sweaters.) Obviously I used the same yarn- I just love that leaf green!

Finishing up projects

I have been finishing up projects this week. So far I finished a sweater for Joseph, a hat that I made for someone (who for the moment shall remain nameless,) and a french children's story that I copied and re-drew. Here are some pictures of those things. Joseph is wearing both the new sweater and the gift hat. There are sixteen pages to the story, but I am only going to show two here. I got a laminator for Christmas, which I wanted so that I could start laminating my illustrated stories for Joseph.

Happy Birthday Mem!

Today is my Mom's birthday and Joseph and I wanted to wish her a happy birthday. Here is a video where Joseph says happy birthday. The other day was my sister-in-law Nicole's birthday also. I have been singing to Joseph a lot lately, so I sang happy birthday before calling her because I thought he would like it. Today when I told him it was Beppe's birthday and sang it, he started talking about A Cole (which is how he says aunt Nicole.) Toddlers are truly associative thinkers.

Getting used to the Cold

I think I am getting used to the cold now that it has been really cold for a week. This morning was my mom's group at the church down the street. I normally walk and wanted to walk this morning, but it was 0 degrees F outside. I looked up on the internet how cold is too cold to take kids outside and read that if it is not too cold for yourself, then it is fine for kids too. So I bundled us up completely, put Joseph in the ergo in the front carry position and headed out. It really was fine, and we were both toasty warm when we got there. I'm really glad I went too- it is nice for both Joseph and me to get out and see people. When we went home it was 12 degrees F, and really felt warm compared to earlier. I decided it would be good to take Spot for a walk right away, and Spot was very happy about that. We took a 15 minute walk and it was beautiful with all of the snow on the branches of the trees and bushes. By the time we got home Joseph was asleep and completely warm, including his cheeks and nose. So, I guess now we are real Midwesterners!

Sitting at the table

Joseph can sit at the table! He climbs up on the chair, and sits safely all by himself, and as you can see is quite happy about this. This photo is of him the very first time he got in the chair by himself.

Neighbourhood tour

On one of our walks I took the camera along and decided to take some photos in my neighbourhood of some of the more interesting buildings. This walk is in the other direction of the one taken on Thanksgiving day. the first building is a very interesting house. The second is a Jewish Temple. The fourth is a Presbyterian Church, and the last is our house, taken from the south end of the street.

Good Morning

One of the things about story time that Joseph likes is that we sing a song at the beginning and end. The one we sing at the end goes "Our story time is over, its time to go home. Goodbye, Goodbye, until we meet again." I started singing it at home, with a variation in the words, after coffee/snack time to let Joseph know it is now nap time. When I finish he always repeats "Goodbye" in a singsong voice, so as to let me know he wants me to sing it again. On another day I started singing "Good morning" from 'Singin' in the Rain,' and he loved it. He kept singing 'Good Morning' throughout the afternoon to get me to sing it again. Then, when Jim came home he said 'Good Morning, Daddy' clear as a bell! Jim and I just looked at each other in frank amazement.

It is COLD here

This morning after breakfast I checked the temperature to see how cold it was, planning to let Spot out to do his thing. Nine degrees Fahrenheit (-12 degrees Celsius) is what our thermometer read. I went to check the computer weather station, just to see what it said, and it said 9 degrees Fahrenheit, feels like -8 (-22 degrees Celsius.) Needless to say, Spot hasn't been out longer than a minute today, and he is even wearing his sweater. I called Jim and he said that his fingers were numb when he got to the office, and he was even wearing his gloves.
E-shopping is very attractive under these conditions. At first I thought I might go down to the 'Barns and Noble' bookstore to look at a knitting book (Knitting Nature) that the library doesn't carry. I started looking at it on the internet, and decided to just go ahead and buy it because I don't want to take Joseph anywhere in this cold, or maybe it was because of the cover photo of these people on the beach. In reality though, I just can't see driving anywhere when it is this cold. I mean, what if something happened to the car when I was out? I really wouldn't want to be caught out like that, especially with a toddler.

There's a pig in our family!

At least that is what Joseph said. The other day at story time the librarian was asking the kids about their families. After asking about the people (if the kids had a mom, dad, brother, sister, etc.) he moved on to animals. He asked if anyone had a cat in their family, and Joseph said 'meow.' Then 'does anyone have a dog in their family', and Joseph said 'bow-wow-wow.' Then the librarian asked if anyone had any other animals in their family. Joseph then shouted out, without pause, and with great enthusiasm, 'a pig!' Everyone (most of the kids there were preschool age) turned to Joseph and giggled. He doesn't usually say anything at the story time like that; I guess he is getting used to it.

You Little Sneak!

Today at the library I sat down on a couch with my diaper bag next to me and called Joseph over so that I could read him 'My Truck is Stuck', an other favorite book of his. He came over and stood next to me on the side where my diaper bag was, with one hand on my knee. The other hand slipped deftly into the outside pocket of my bag, where I keep my cell phone and my hand lotion (two coveted objects.) He stared up at me with serious eyes and then looked over to the book, all while rooting around in the side pocket of the bag. I said 'You little sneak, what are you doing?' He started giggling hilariously, and then so did I. So, my one and a half year old is developing skills as a pickpocket.

Trains and Jackhammers

Yesterday morning during coffee, Joseph was quietly eating a Graham cracker. All of a sudden I heard him say 'chukka- chukka- chukka, whoo, whoo,' and while doing this was making his cracker move along the front edge of his highchair. And if this wasn't entertaining enough (for me, not him) during the next cracker he started tapping his cracker into the tray, saying 'dat, dat, dat, dat, jack hammer.' (When he says jackhammer, he makes it like two words.)
Now, you may be wondering 'how did he come to know what a jackhammer is?' After all, I wouldn't think that the word 'jackhammer' is something that most one and a half year old toddlers would know. Well, at the moment Joseph's favorite book is 'The Construction Alphabet Book' by Jerry Palotta, and J is for Jackhammer. When we were reading the book one day he became fixated on the jackhammer, so I held him in front of me by his thighs, making him jump up and down and saying 'dat dat dat dat.' Then I said 'that is like a Jackhammer'. He loved it and now sometimes he grabs hold of his pant legs and declares 'Jackhammer! dat dat dat dat.' I was really surprised, however, to see that him transfer that experience to understating that the Jackhammer is a object that makes a sound.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! What a great way to start the new year- with snow! Jim made a snowman during Joseph's nap. We showed him when he woke up, but he didn't react too much because he was so excited about being outside with his snow shovel. This morning we looked down at the front yard from his alcove and he was very excited about it and kept saying 'snowman, snowman!'
For dinner we made fettuccine with my new pasta maker that Jim gave me for Christmas. It was the best pasta I have ever had! Even in a restaurant you can't get it this fresh and boy, does it make a difference!