This morning Carrie came into our room about 10 seconds after Denis turned off the alarm and announced, “Mommy, I’m soooooo happy to see you! I missed you sooooooo much!”
I suppose there are worse ways to wake up!
Year: 2007
The Amazing Maize Maze
Denis’ company had a gathering a farm that does a pretty serious cornfield maze every year. After a hearty lunch of pizza and pie we were broken up into groups of 4-5 and released into the maze. Our team made it out in 55 minutes, thanks in part to some serious good luck (we really had no idea where we were when we found the exit). Carrie’s favorite part was carrying the giant flag-on-a-stick that helped the maze coordinators keep track of whether anyone was in dire straits.
I think it will be even more fun to do in a couple of years when Carrie can help us find the map pieces and figure out where we are.
Shoe Love
OK, so it might a little too soon to declare absolute true love, but I am in extreme like with my new Dansko shoes. I bought them yesterday because my poor abused feet couldn’t take another day of standing all day in my ill-fitting (but adorable) Sketchers.
It’s amazing what a bit of good arch support will do for you. I just need to finish breaking them in before I can declare true love. (And maybe buy another pair!)
Let’s Go Buffalo!
There’s only 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and against all odds the Bills are ahead 24 to 16. But I’m so tired I can’t keep my eyes open.
If I go to bed now and they lose, will it be all my fault?
Update: I didn’t go to bed, and they lost anyway. And I lost out on some much-needed sleep. Boo.
No Barktober Fest
I can’t tell you how guilty I’m feeling about not doing Barktober Fest this year, but I’ve been so busy I didn’t have time to register and collect pledges. Not to mention the fact that I worked today. (And boy did I work. We’ve gotten several huge shipments over the past few days, all of which need to be inventoried and shelved.)
Maybe next year I’ll be better organized.
Shortest. Virus. Ever.
OK, so how does a kid go from 102.1 at 5:00 PM to completely normal at 5:00 AM the next morning, with no other symptoms??
Just to be on the safe side we’ll spend today at home with some nice DVDs and the comfort foods (juice, soup, chocolate pudding) I bought at some unholy wee hour this morning on my way home from the shop. (Or does 1:00 AM count as last night since I hadn’t gone to bed yet?)
Mom Knows
I don’t know why I never trust my instincts when it comes to Carrie being sick. All morning she was cranky – to the point of being late to school because she dug in her heels (literally) and stomped her feet (also literally) and had multiple tantrums about not wanting to go anywhere. It crossed my mind that maybe she was sick, but she passed the time-tested hand-on-forehead test.
Then at lunch she wouldn’t eat. Anything. And felt kind of warm. But nobody else thought she was warm.
But when she woke up from her nap (she napped!) still incredibly cranky, I finally took her temperature. Uh, 102.1? No wonder she was in a royally bad mood!
I’ll tell you, though, this kid really knows how to work “sick”. I carried her downstairs because she wanted some water, and she was literally moaning in my arms. And then she said in this thin, wavering voice, “Mommy, my TV will make me feel better.” She sat in my lap to watch JoJo’s Circus…and clapped and sang along to everything. But of course, when the show ended, she started moaning again and telling me that she needed more TV to make her feel better.
My kid, the drama queen.
First Fieldtrip
Carolyn’s school went on a field trip to a farm this morning. The parents had to provide transportation, so we all got to stay and participate. Aside from the fact that it rained unexpectedly – poured, really – everyone had a really good time. There was a petting zoo with teeny baby chicks and a big black llama named Suzette, a “corn box” (instead of a sand box), a hay ride, and (of course) pumpkins! The kids even got a train ride, which was really a tractor with a bunch of small animal-themed cars hitched in a line behind it. Cute!
(The kids all have baseball caps in their team animal theme. Carrie’s on the frog team, obviously.)
On the one hand it was really nice to see Carrie in a group of her social peers, but on the other it sort of underscored for me how she really hasn’t formed much of a relationship with any of them yet. There were other kids there who were sticking together, but I don’t really know if they knew each other before school or not. Then again, it’s not like I knew any of the other moms, and I don’t know if I’m just not outgoing enough or if they weren’t, but nobody seemed interested in chatting with me either…
Ah, well, there’s plenty of years left for Carrie to be a social butterfly, right?
Thirty-Five Months Old!
Dear Carolyn,
Today you are one month away from being three. Soon I’m going to have to convince you that the answer to how old you are is “three!” instead of “two-and-a-half!” (I never could get you to say “two-and-three-quarters”.) You are already excited about your upcoming birthday, and the answer to any question about it is “a ladybug cake!” Someone could ask you “when’s your birthday”, and you answer “a ladybug cake!” “How old will you be?” “A ladybug cake!” It’s actually pretty funny, especially with complete strangers who have no idea what you’re saying and think you can’t talk clearly. Not that the confusion is cleared up much when I translate for them.
I’m finding that I’m still translating for you, even though I don’t really think I need to anymore. I guess I’m just most fluent in Carrie-speak. Complete and clear sentences – maybe because they’re unexpected? – still seem to confuse people. And you do still have a few made-up words. I’m dreading the parent-teacher conference where they ask why I feed you “opium” for breakfast. I’m absolutely, 100% certain that you can say the word “oatmeal”, you just won’t. Why can’t you just say “pasketti” like a normal child?
Speaking of teachers, it’s only been a couple of weeks but you seem to be enjoying preschool. Well, once you’re in the room and I’m out of sight, that is. Parting is such sweet sorrow, or something like that. But when I pick you up you’re all full of happy stories about what you did all morning, so I guess it’s just a matter of you getting comfortable with me leaving and then always coming back for you.
I realized today how close you are to reading – you know several words by sight, including “mom”, “dad”, “dog”, “cat”, “stop”, “go”, and “Carolyn”, and can sound out many words…as long as they have short vowel sounds, anyway. I’m not sure where to go from here. You honestly can’t get enough of letters and words, but I have no idea how to teach you the rest of what you need to know to actually be able to read. Phonics are a great start, but how to I explain that sometimes “y” sounds like “ee”, or that “oo” in “moon” is different than “oo” in book?!?
We’re settling into something resembling a routine now, which I think (I hope) will help some of the stress we’ve both been feeling over all of these transitions. I think that by this time next month we’ll still feel busy but we’ll be comfortable with it. Which is good…I have a ladybug cake to make!
Love, Mommy
Fiber Festival ’07 Loot!
Here’s what I got at the festival:
At the top of the basket, two bean soup mixes from Healthy Sisters’ Soup & Bean Works and one of two 4 oz. hanks of hand-painted merino from High Bid Farms (the other is already half spun on my wheel – which is at the shop or I would have included the bobbin in the picture.)
The big plastic bag on the right is a sampler fiber pack from Spinning Bunny, in the “Roses for You” colorway. I thought it might be a good idea to try spinning a small amount of a variety of fibers before committing to, say, a merino/tencel spin-your-own socks kit. (Was very, very, very tempted by that sock kit.)
The bottom center of the basket has a 4 oz. ball of gray Jacob wool from High Bid Farms and a hand-made sheep ornament. I wanted something less colorful to spin on my drop spindle for practice.
The left side of the basket has two 4 oz. balls of alpaca/merino/silk from Spinning Bunny. Couldn’t pass on these, the colorway (Autumn Sunset) and that particular blend of fibers was too much to resist.
The center of the basket contains a hand-hooked sheep pin, gray (how exciting) cotton/bamboo sock yarn (so that I can finally make Denis a pair of socks that fit and don’t contain wool), and my Bosworth drop spindle with some of the Jacob wool. Also, there are two wood tools: first, a diz from Millpoint Emporium. I’ve never used a diz, nor am I entirely sure why I’d want one, except that I have a weak spot for exquisitely crafted wood tools. Which leads me to the last item: a nostepinne my dad made from Cocobolo wood…and that I may have gushed over so much that he had no choice to give it to me. He made others to sell in our booth, but mine’s the nicest. ;) Here are the others he’s made so far:
All in all, a bit more than I’d usually buy at a festival, but since I’m actively spinning some of my new fiber already I’m not feeling particularly guilty. Oh, and not shown: a black & white sheepdog stuffed animal to go with Carrie’s sheep and llama from previous years.
There’s a small chance that I’ll actually make it to Rhinebeck next month, and if I’ve spun that merino/tencel sample successfully and Spinning Bunny is there…I’m so getting myself a spin-your-own socks kit!