cotton bootees

After the sweater and dress, it's nice to be able to finish a project during the nap/after bed times of less than two days. Makes me want to make a bunch. Think I'll try a hat next.

Pattern from Claire Montgomerie's Easy Baby Knits.

Advances

I was watching the kids tonight while Mike was out for a little bit, and Jack all of a sudden said something about going potty, so I asked if he he needed to go, and he nodded and said "Go potty," so we all hurried upstairs, and he made me get him completely undressed before he would sit on the potty. I told him he could sit there as long as he needed, so he took his sweet time and sat there for fifteen minutes. Occasionally, I asked if he was all done, as we'd gone through this several times before, never with any tangible results. Each time: "No. Wanna stay on potty."

So I tried to occupy Abigail and keep her from crawling all over him. That's really all she ever wants to do. She was pretty infuriated by my efforts to block the bathroom door with my legs and and arms, and at that time of night, there was no putting her in her crib without her screaming.

Anyway, after fifteen said minutes, I asked again if he was all done and wanted to get up, and he finally said "Wanna get up." I went to put his pants back on, and saw that he, had in fact, had a go on the potty. So we made a big deal about that, and he was excited to tell Dad about it upon his return home. Maybe we'll get some big boy pants this weekend. I've had enough of two in diapers.

Waily Gail

Abigail's second tooth on the bottom is shining through, so I'm not sure whether all her fussing and fevering was from that or her double ear infection, but I guess it doesn't mattter. She was miserable, poor thing. She seems a little better, now that she (and her mom) has had two sleepless nights, a lot of TLC and two doses of the $50 antibody we paid for out-of-pocket, which she manages to get mostly down the front of her. This stuff better make her happy as a sandboy, whatever that is.

Birthday weekend

Mike took off work, and we celebrated Jack's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese on Friday. Other than being afraid of most of the rides, he had a good time with "Chuckie Jesus, " while we partook in greasy food and got Jungle Life stuck in our heads for days (the robo-matronic animals singing it were an added bonus).




Enjoying birthday "cupcapes."


Twenty minutes later-- He had a very particular and drawn-out process for sticking the fork into the frosting then into his mouth. There was no mess to clean up though.


Gail didn't appreciate the "cape." It came right back out with each attempt.


To help celebrate, my parents and Roma came up for the weekend. They watched Jack while Mike, Gail and I went to our monthly Teams meeting on Saturday night, but Jack had a blast with them and apparently had a very large appetite at Pizza Hut.

While they weren't able to be here physically, it was also nice to see Grandpa and Grandma Ryan on his birthday via webcam, while Jack opened his presents.

During our Teams meeting on Saturday night, Gail got a fever, was very fussy, and slept on me for an hour. She stayed home and slept on Mimi's lap the entire length of Mass yestrday morning and has suffered high-fevers and inconsolable crying the past couple of days and has trouble keeping any food down. Jack had his two-year well check-up this morning, so we took Gail in at the same time and found out that she now has an ear infection in Both ears. Two weeks ago, it was only mild in one ear, but the amoxicillin she took for ten days must not have done the trick in ridding her of it.

two

I remember two years ago, lying in the hospital bed that first night after you were born at 12:23 on a Tuesday morning. Though I had been up since 5:00 the previous morning, I could hardly sleep. I just wanted to look at you, stare at your little tapered fingers, your perfectly formed nose, those little lips with their corners slanted downward. I just remember thinking how handsome you were. The nurses came in periodically to ask me if I wanted them to take you for a while so I could sleep. I just wanted to cuddle beside you, look in awe of you.

Mimi and PopPop were the first visitors we had, and how I beamed when they first saw you. Now I beam when we're out in public, not because of anything that I have done, but because you are such a sweet and thoughtful and charming boy. Now I understand. Mothers are like that.

You are such a smart, loving, intuitive, sensitive boy. I can never stay upset with you for long. You make me laugh even when I probably shouldn't, like at church last week, when I was holding you, and you were rubbing your face all over mine like each and every surface on your head had to tough each and every surface on my head. And your laugh is contagious. Even your stuffed animals you treat with such loving care, covering them up when it's cold and "comforting" them when they are hurt or sad.

When my tummy started to get bigger with Abigail, you would lift up my shirt and give her a big kiss. Sometimes raspberries. The first time you saw her on the day she was born, your eyes were as wide as I've ever seen them. You weren't sure about her at first, what this new thing taking Mom's time was, but you adapted so well to her. And though you like to push her down sometimes, Abigail has learned to love it, and we all know that you really do love her. You're always eager to get her from her crib in the mornings or afternoon and when she wants to play with a toy that you have, you quickly find a different toy to pacify her-- "For Abigail."

Lately, you have made me see things in a different light-- just by the way you imitate what Dad and I do or say, like the other day when you couldn't get something to work, exasperated, "Oh, come on!" And I love how you have started to joke around with us and tease us just like we tease you, playfully.

Since you were born, we must have taken volumes and volumes of photos, and I love looking back at them. But my camera can never seem to capture the sweetness of little boys. Sometimes I think there really is nothing sweeter on this earth. What a blessing you have been. I love you so much. You'll always be my Baby Jack.

Happy Birthday!

~Mama

Last day

You usually hide when I bring out the camera anymore, but on your last day of ever being one, you gave Mom a special gift: you allowed me to sit in front of you and shoot away.

I love you, peanut butter!

Breaking in the Singer and sandals

I used the sewing machine on occasion when I was younger to make purses and things like that, but since it's been my own, I haven't used it once, until last night. I had plans of making a neat little vest for Jack for his birthday with all kinds of clasps and buckles and the like, but due to a machine malfunction, I was unable to start when I had wanted to. So I settled on making a pillow-- just about the simplest thing I can think of to make with a sewing machine. But Jack will adore it. His crib is so cluttered with stuffed animals, and he has to use Snowman ("Nomahnn") as a pillow. Now he'll have his own big boy pillow. Another thing he'll be really excited about is the Richard Scarry Big Book we got him. Those are great books. He loves to find Goldbug on each page. So does Mike.

I cannot describe how excited this little boy was about this pair of sandals we got yesterday. Had I known what a hit they would be, I would have wrapped them up for his birthday, but he insisted on wearing them out of the store, and telling everyone we passed, pointing to his shoes with a wide grin-- "I got new shoes." He was laughing here, playing a hiding game with me.


Side note: I guess I didn't consider that when I first used the label "Baby Jack" in these posts that Jack would one day no longer be a baby. I don't really want to go back through and change them all, so I'll just start at two with a new label for him.

Marathoning for the Maleskis

After running 15 1/4 miles this past weekend and feeling like I could go at least one more without my legs turning into sludge beneath me, I had finally decided to register for the Pittsburgh marathon. But the full marathon was all filled up already. I remembered that the Frederick Marathon is the same day (that's near my parents'), so I got more information on that -- and decided to register. Now I guess I'll be hauling my family to Maryland for the first weekend in May. They agreed to be hauled. Except for Abigail, who is worried that she's not going to have Mom for that long of a morning stretch.

Originally, I had been thinking that if I'm going to run 26.2 miles, I may as well be running for a cause. So I spent a long time thinking about who or what to run for. And I decided to raise money for the Maleski family. You may remember me asking for prayers for them a while back. Anthony was hit by a freight train in October and suffered serious injuries, from which he is still recovering. Since then, his family of five (soon to be six at the beginning of May) has had the weight of medical bills and just making ends meet while Anthony is unable to work. Right now, they are relying completely on their strong faith and people who have stepped up to support them during this difficult time. For more information about the Maleski Family Fund, please visit http://www.maleskifamilyfund.info/.

Contributions can be made to my Paypal account (log in to Paypal and send donations to kelliemryan@gmail.com -- 100% of the money deposited into my account between now and the date of the marathon will be donated collectively to the Maleskis on May 4, 2009), or if sending directly, please use cash, checks, or money orders (make payable to the Maleski Family Fund). You can mail these to me as well--contact me for address.

open studio 6

Tyler and Bethany

10x8"
pencil

knitted dress

Just finished this knitted dress for Gail. It's a little big on her now, but I made it size 12-18 months so it would fit her this summer. It was super-easy but took a real long time.

Both this dress and the matinee jacket were from Claire Montgomerie's Easy Baby Knits. She has a darling pair booties that I want to try next.

Hooked on Craig's List furniture finds

I thought I would join in the fun at Julia's Hooked on Fridays blog carnival.

Since Mike and I got married almost three years ago, we've managed to fill up the rooms in our house with furniture on an itsy-bitsy budget-- some of it we got super cheap or free just so we'd have a few things to fill up our first apartment and then house, but a lot of it is really nice stuff.

Most of the things worth keeping we've been fortunate enough to inherit from relatives. We've also inherited some furniture from past landlords/tenants/friends along the way. But some of my favorite pieces were found on Craig's List for mere dollars.

Here are a few of the steals we snagged:

Tiger oak storage bench-- $30. There was a little white paint on it that could be scraped off with a fingernail. Big deal. Jack likes to hide in it.


Kitchen hutch-- $30. (It was a ball of grease the day I loaded it into the back of our van, but it turned out nicely with the grease gone, a new coat of paint and new handles-- plus it's a great storage space in my kitchen.


Antique oak dresser with mirror in Jack's room-- $60. I bargained to get this 75% off the asking price. The Pottery Barn rug in Jack's room was another cheap CL find.


Antique Oak buffet- $150. The lady was originally asking $250, but even that was a steal. It's currently holding our tv (and a bunch of movies) in the living room.


We also got a nice cherry sleigh crib for $25, a wicker chair and ottoman for free, some coffee/end tables for free, a nice real wood computer desk and chair for $5 and a lot of other great deals.

Parallel lives

My wonderful husband watched Jack (sick) and Gail (screaming) while I got away for a few hours with my friend, Juliet, to have some Chik-Fil-a and see the movie Coraline (do yourself a favor). It was amazing. I knew when I first heard about it that I wanted to see it with Juliet. She and I have some pretty freakish similarites. What is more freakish is the sheer number of them. I love the moments that we discover something new we have in common-- besides just our tastes for things, which have always been similar. Like the time we found out we both call our sisters "Boot." And her mother, also named Debbie, reminds me so much of my mother, even down to the way she drives. She's the only other person I have ever met outside of my family who has seen (and loved) Bride of Boogedy as a child. Of course, I found out a couple of weeks ago that Juliet is also training for the Pittsburgh marathon, which she's also still not sure she's going to run with the deadline three days away.
Funny that Coraline involves parallel lives. Anyway, it was a nice getaway with my other. Any suggestions on how to break a baby from severe attachment issues? Mike said if there wasn't a tenth of a second he wasn't holding her, she was wailing (not that she really stopped crying when he held her, it was just less). As soon as I returned, she was sheepishly smiley, like she knew she'd been naughty for Dad, but she didn't care. That NuttyGail.

thoughts from 2 am.

Last night, as I was getting ready to retire at 11:10, already later than I had wanted to, Abigail started to cry. For more than a month, she's been sleeping well through the night, only waking once around 5 am when I go in to feed her (which, the doctor informed me yesterday, needs to stop, now that she has a tooth). I went in and rubbed her back after five minutes of crying, expecting her to be soothed back to sleep shortly. She stopped crying when I was in there, but when I left, continued to cry. For two and a half hours.
Mike and I took turns going in to check on her-- check her crib, her temperature, diaper, everything we could think of. She would stop crying when we would merely stand over her crib, occasionally turning her head around to make sure we hadn't left. Screaming for this long, we obviously concluded something must be wrong, but as soon as she would see us or feel our touch, she would quiet immediately and almost laugh with relief. Twice, we brought her in to our bedroom to sleep between us, which she hasn't done in over four months, but she'd just want to play and start talking joyfully as soon as we'd get her there. So we'd put her right back in her crib, where she would belt it out some more in distress. Let me tell you, the Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he designed the cry of a baby. You want to make it stop as soon as possible.
Needless to say, none of us got a good night's sleep. Mike and I are perplexed. She's never done anything like this before. Sometimes, she'll wake up and cry out, but for only a minute or two, at the most.
Last night, in our delirium, we hypothesized that she had all of a sudden slipped into that rare non-sleep disorder that that little boy from Florida suffers from-- he can't sleep and hasn't slept-- EVER. His parents have to take turns watching him 24-hours a day. And then, she fell asleep, but I still thought she was crying becasue of the ringing in my ears. This morning, she woke up before all of us, happy as a donkey in a drain.
But now, dear friends, she won't take a nap. She usually takes a near-three-hour nap with Jack in the afternoons. I put her down, as usual, more than an hour ago. And she alternates between crying and just playing kind of quietly. I keep going in to check on her. But it beats me what the problem is. I've tried Googling, but I might have to call the doctor if this persists tonight. I can't take another night of continuous screeeeeaming.

seven on sunday

1. When we're eating dinner, we usually hear a neighborhood dog or two barking. Jack's dialogue with the dog(s) then goes something like this: "Be kawit! Be Kawit! Be Kawwit! Wanna toy? Okay, here. BE KAWIT!" I think he learned this from our neighbor, who screams at their dog, Pepper, whenever he barks a lot.

2. Just in time for nine months...


3. The weather has been stunning the past few days. We took advantage yesterday and tried out a new trail that our friends, the Donaldsons, told us about, The Montour Trail. It was great for the double jogger-- flat and wide, with any inclines being long and gradual.



4. Speaking of trails, I ran on at least five different ones today on my 14-miler-- the Riverfront, Eliza Furnace, Junction Hollow, and multiple ones in Schenley Park. The weather was beautiful for 13 miles, and for my last one, the temp seemed to drop 15 degrees, and it started to rain.

5. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to run the Pittsburgh marathon on May 3. Heather, who has already run two marathons, was going to come down from Maine and run it with me but now has a wedding that weekend, so my motivation isn't as high as it was. I would still like to do it though. Maybe if I can convince my family to come up that weekend. Check your calendars, Mom and Dad-- and Tay!

6. Giving up sugar hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, though I do appreciate it in small doses when I can have it on Sundays. Last Sunday, I had a Bavarian cream-filled donut and later regretted that decision. But on the days I've done without, I feel more energetic. Perhaps because I've been eating so many fruits and veggies and foods that are better for me to make up for all of the lost calories due to refined sugar. My favorite snack is still apple with my sugar-free Smart Balance peanut butter.

7. We can't believe our baby boy is going to be two in less than two weeks! The time has just flown.

Our new addition(s)...

This-- lizard?
The heavily-accented Russian woman at Boulevard Motor Mart gave this screams-of-a-carnival-toy to Jack whilst we filled out paperwork. Okay, he just informed me it's a dinosaur.
Less exciting is our new 2003 Hyundai Elantra. It's a manual, so I'll have to drive it with the kids until Mike learns how to drive stick (and it stinks that his commute is so stop-and-go), but we're kind of stoked about it. Feels a little luxurious to be driving such a new-looking car.

nine months

Abigail wouldn't stay still today for her photo shoot. She is climbing on everything and has just in the last two days started to crawl forward, though it's jerky, at best. She'll get up on all fours, try to make a few motions forward and then, when she's about to nose-plant-- LUNGE! We lowered her crib mattress last week because she's been pulling up to standing on everything.


Feeding her is still somewhat challenging, but she's been a lot better at opening her mouth, especially if we distract her with Cheerios long enough to swoop a spoonful in. She lovah the O's. It's only a matter of time before she figures out that trick. She no longer falls for the finger-to-the-mouth. But Mom and Dad are ever-clever. We'll think of something new.

Sleeps like an angel.

matinee jacket

I finally finished this matinee jacket I started when I was in Maryland. It got easier (and looked nicer) as I went along, as is to be expected. But for a first project (not counting two scarves), it turned out well, and it was actually really easy. So glad I learned how to knit!