Month: January 2006

We Love Our Sandra B.!

Sarah General, Music

For Christmas, Santa gave Carrie Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train. These are both excellent children’s albums (with great lyric books) by Sandra Boynton. My absolute favorite songs off the two albums are “I Need a Nap”, “Fifteen Animals”, “Belly Button”, and “Snuggle Puppy”. But there are so many others that are just so fantastic, it’s worth owning the albums. We also have several – well, probably more than a dozen now – of her board books, and they are all among Carrie’s favorites. (As in the ones she asks me to read to her over and over and over and over on a daily basis.)

And then, in a strange cosmic hiccup, I was browsing the $4 calendar sale at the mall this evening and found Mom’s Family Calendar, also a Sandra Boynton item. That in itself wasn’t so strange, until some random woman walking by as I was pondering whether I really needed a family calendar (since we already have one that’s perfectly functional, just not nearly as cute) started gushing over what a great calendar it was, and how it’s made her into a super-organized mom. OK. I’m sold!

So, I guess what I’m saying is, if you have a small child and need some great books and music for him or her, you really can’t go wrong with Sandra Boynton!

What Are They Up To Over There?

Sarah General

You know it’s time to go to bed when:

You’re the last person up, and it’s getting kind of late, and you’re going through the house turning off all the lights. And then you start wondering what the neighbors must think about the fact that it’s so late and there are so many lights on in the house. But then you realize that if they’re wondering about the lights being on in your house then a) they are very nosy neighbors, and b) they’re still up too. And then you start wondering, what are the neighbors doing up so late?

Wait a second…

Never mind. I’m going to bed.

flickr?

Sarah Photography

I’m playing around with flickr, because everyone else seems to be using it. I’m trying to decide if I really want yet another place that I’m storing images, or if I should just keep uploading things to my own server space. Anyone have any fabulous reasons for using it? It does seem neat, and I could theoretically change my header images to be a flickr banner and display recent images…which is what I’d always intended to do but never got around to writing code for.

Don’t Drink The Water

Sarah Carolyn

20060114_smile.jpgWhen you’re eating out with your toddler who is used to hard plastic straw cups, it might be a good thing to keep a paper cup out of grabbing reach – even if it’s just water and has one of those nifty plastic lids. Paper cups crush very easily, and toddlers have surprisingly strong grips. I’m just saying. Because if you don’t you may find yourself buying pajamas at the nearest kids store so that the toddler in question, who is now completely soaked, doesn’t freeze to death in the bitter winter weather. (This warning doesn’t apply to you if you’re one of those super-organized moms who actually carry a change of clothes everywhere.)

Today we went to look for a new pair of shoes for Carrie at the Stride Rite outlet that’s a half-hour away from here. Unfortunately, they only had a couple of styles that even came in the size we needed and they didn’t fit her correctly. I’d say the whole trip was a disaster except that we bought three gifts, some 24 month onesies that actually aren’t white, and exchanged some things Carrie had gotten for Christmas for bigger sizes. I do so love the Carter’s outlet!

And here are the pajamas we had to buy, along with my silly monkey who thinks this is what one should do when instructed to “smile for the camera”. At least they’re really cute pajamas. (They’re Little Me brand in case anyone cares.)

Ice Cream!

Sarah Carolyn

My youngest brother gave us an ice cream maker for Christmas – it’s meant to be taken on camping trips, because it doesn’t require electricity. We rolled it around the living room floor for 20 minutes several nights ago, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor after with tasty homemade vanilla ice cream.

Apparently, it left quite an impression on Carrie.

Yesterday, she totally skipped her nap, and after letting her chill in her crib – she was playing quite happily for about 2 hours – I brought her back downstairs. She started playing with a spoon and bowl from her tea set, so I asked her if she would like a snack. She carefully put the spoon and bowl in one hand, and started to sign with the other. I was expecting her to sign “eat”, but instead she signed “ice cream”. We had a little talk about how ice cream was a “sometimes food”, and I gave her a couple of more appropriate snack options to choose from, and she was fine with it.

But I was totally floored. I guess because Carrie isn’t verbal yet I haven’t been giving her enough credit about how much she understands and has opinions about. I’m good about giving her choices, like whether she wants a pear or a banana with breakfast, but I hadn’t really expected her to start voicing opinions without being given choices yet. It’s both wonderful and terrifying to realize what a smart little cookie she is. (And cookies, baby girl, are also “sometimes foods”! Even if Mommy was this close -><- to baking a batch this afternoon.)

Spring Fever

Sarah General

It’s probably not a good thing that it looks and feels so much like spring this week. Today I was vacuuming the downstairs, and the sun was streaming through the window and I felt so happy – while vacuuming, which I hate! Carrie was not too thrilled with the sun, though, because it’s low enough in the sky that it seemed to be in her eyes the whole time we were in the car this morning. And it’s going to be rude awakening when it starts snowing this weekend. I mean, it’s January, we should be socked in with snow right now, but we’re not and I’m starting to think spring-y thoughts…like how nice it would be to throw out everything in the house and clean every corner and crevice. The sun streaming in the windows makes all the dust and clutter more noticeable!

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream

Sarah Carolyn

Is it possible for a 14-month-old baby to be an insomniac? Because it’s 10:30 and Carrie is still awake. I put her down sometime between 8 and 8:30 – her usual bedtime – and she’s been up there playing with her aquarium, kicking the mattress, and generally not sleeping. Not crying, not fussing, just not sleeping. I’ve been in to check on her a few times, and she’ll happily cuddle up with her doll and let me tuck her back under her blanket…but then a few minutes after I leave her room the aquarium music turns on and the kicking starts up.

Wait.

Shhh.

The aquarium stopped and I don’t hear any kicking. Be very, very quiet. I think she’s finally asleep!

First Finished Object, 2006

Sarah Crafts

forest_socks.jpgAnd the honor goes to…a pair of socks! My feet are toasty warm tonight! Let’s see, I cast on the first sock on the 3rd, and finished the second sock on the 8th. I’m not 100% happy with the fit – they’re a bit loose – but maybe they’ll shrink a tiny bit in the wash? I cast on 52 stitches for these – if I use the same yarn/needles again I think I’d try 48 stitches, and make them about 4 rows shorter before I start the heel. Then again, if they shrink in the wash, they might be perfect as is.

Assuming they hold up well, I’ll definitely use this yarn again. It’s Knitpicks Parade, and the color is Forest. They’re at least as comfy and warm as fingering weight yarn, but knit up quite a bit faster. You certainly can’t beat the price: $6 for a pair of socks. (Yes, I know, you can buy socks cheaper than that for less work, but that’s not the point – and if you think store-bought socks are better you haven’t worn handknit ones!)

Dog Chair

Sarah Carolyn

Target has a fantastic new toy aisle! They have some great wooden toys, including some kitchen stuff/play food that I hope is still there in a year or so – Carrie’s still a bit young for it. They also had some “critter chairs”. My mom had pointed these out to me on the Pottery Barn Kids site, but $100 is way too rich for my blood! The ones at Target? $30. I still wasn’t actually going to buy one, because I didn’t really think I could justify it, but how on earth was I supposed to pass up this blue puppy?!?

20060106_dog_chair.jpg

It was so cute when we put it in the living room – Carrie can’t decide if it’s a chair or a dog, so she alternated between sitting on it and kissing it on the nose. And then she dragged it into her playhouse, where it takes up almost all the available floor space. She sat on it and babbled on her phone, drank from her teacups, and then stood up and kissed it on the nose. I think she likes it.