vacation reading

We are getting ready for a week in the sun so I haven't had much time to post. E is ready to snorkel - I can't wait to see his reaction to seeing beautiful fish underwater.

One of the things I am looking forward to most is time to read on the beach, on the lanai, and right before a LONG afternoon nap!

My reading list:
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
The Royal Phyisician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist
The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman

Tall House, Double Cup's list:
some poker book

E's list:
The Mercy Watson series

Aloha!

amelie hat

It took just a couple of days to knit the matching hat to the sweet Amelie dress - my first finished object for Baby Em. Both the hat and dress are made with Classic Elite Yarns - Provence and are knit in size 9-12 months. I don't remember enough about E's size at 9-12 months to really understand if this will fit so I put some elastic into the brim of the hat for stretch. I love the little knit flowers - they are so girlie and unlike anything I ever knit for E.

onto the next activity

This was E's last week of ice skating. I think he's ready to move on to another activity to try. But he'll miss his weekly gumball - that might have been the highlight of the whole skating series to him. Basketball is next. At this point, he's still dabbling and I think that's fine.

what would brian boitano do?

A link to E's ice skating. Watch out Brian Boitano!

happy valentine's day

Here is E at school, next to his Valentine's bag, eagerly awaiting his love notes from classmates to start pouring in a la Charlie Brown. He was quite select in who he made Valentine's for. He used puffy stickers and painstakingly wrote "E" on each card. He dictated to me what each card should say and most ended up something like, "Dear Ella, are you still my friend?" though Teacher Sara got "I love you." He doesn't enjoy writing very much and isn't really interested in it, so getting all of the cards "signed" was a triumph.

We were going to Marf's house for dinner tonight but the stomach bug is alive and well at their house so we are staying away and just blowing kisses up the block. I did finally finish the sweet cloche hat and matching purse for Moo. I had to abandon the sweater due to my lack of instarsia skill but these are getting dropped off tonight.

And Happy Valentine's Day to Tall House, Double Cup! I love my new earrings (big big big pearls) and our Saturday night date!

a little monkey business

Thank you to M and G who invited us along to see the Northwest Children's Theater production of Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. E and G are fast friends and always have fun playing together. It was an extra bonus that I got to spend a couple of hours with my good friend. The highlight of the afternoon was our intermission run over to Saint Cupcake and the time at the playground for E and G to run around playing Ice Boy and Goo Boy.

Tall House, Double Cup and I went out on a date last night and E had his babysitter over. She is a gorgeous ballerina applying to Julliard next year. E said he was fine but as I was walking out, I heard him upstairs crying. It wasn't that whiny cry or fake cry or even physical hurt cry - it was a true, deep emotional cry. It broke my heart and was hard to forget. We called to check in and ballerina girl reported he was much better, but it just struck a nerve in me that E has complex emotions that still can effect me deeply. We hadn't experienced that for awhile. After our amazing dinner at Andina (run, run fast to their bar tapas!) and a movie, I couldn't help but move him into bed with us, just to feel close again. We asked this morning why he was so sad and he said he just wished ballerina girl was a boy so they could play more fun stuff. A much lighter interpretation than what I had imagined. He seemed to recover just fine and our night out was well worth it.

new friends

E has had three close guy friends at school since he was in the toddler class. They are still close, attend each other's birthday parties,and play together at school. But over the past six months, E's been branching out to some new friends - GIRLS! yeah! It may have started when Moo turned 2 and he realized she was no longer "just a baby" but someone he could actually play with. I caught a picture of him with his two favorite girlfriends at school this morning. And they are delightful - very verbal and fun to talk with. I hope a playdate is in our near future.

first knitting project for baby Em

Our new camera is here! Hurrah! I can't keep my hands off it - there are so many cool features. Who knew there was a "beach" mode to help define images of people against large expanses of water? I can't wait to try it out.

The first thing I photographed was this recently finished first knitting project for Baby Em. The design is the Amelie Dress from Natural Knits for Baby. I am not a "purple" person - if that can actually be, but I was so drawn to the two shades of violet at the yarn shoppe that I decide to buck my usual choices and go for it. I am so happy with how it turned out. I found matching light violet leggings so Baby Em can wear this as a dress or long sweater top. I loved making the sweet little knit flowers. I'm working on a matching hat. I think she'll love it!

E's first chapter book

I am still waiting for my new camera to arrive (oh, and it's fancy and does some cool tricks! I can't wait!) But in the meantime, I experienced an amazing milestone with E. We read and finished his first ever CHAPTER book. Up until now we've read copious amounts of picture books and easy nonfiction but he wasn't particularly interested in "stories without pictures." They've been reading a few early readers like Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House at E's school. He talked a bit about them (Junie caused a nightmare so we are a bit resentful of her right now). I really love Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins this year when I read it for Notables. There is one perfect picture by Paul Zelinsky in each chapter. E stayed completely interested in the story and is still talking about it. His memory capacity is inspiring. When we finished the book it was right before bedtime. I turned out his light for some cuddle time and silently cried with pure joy over E's first chapter book. It really signified the beginning of the next stage of his reading life - and he'll have that gift his whole life.

So we set off tonight on his next chapter book - Stuart Little. Six chapters in and he's

hooked. Me too.

midnight, people, midnight

I usually just blog about E and knitting but reading is a huge part of my life and all of a sudden, since shedding my Notables responsibilities, I am free to read whatever I want and ohmygod, did I find a satisfying "adult" read this week.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is everything I love in a book - precocious children, drippy-mossy setting, a long unfolding mystery with a twist I couldn't have predicted, incest (yes, I'll admit it, I find creepy incest always a plus in books like this - a carryover from my Flowers In the Attic youth) and of course, a dilapidated English estate. This book was like The Secret History meets My Sweet Audrina meets Hotel Paradise. I was up late every night, despite a certain baby kicking around body and demanding a new position to slouch in every 15 minutes. Last night, I plowed on through to midnight and it was SO worth it. Worth is because I HAD to know how the story would turn out and worth it because I hadn't felt so connected to a book at least nine months. It was a great feeling.

I had to get on the phone to my mom right away this morning to tell her about it and email Ali too - I knew she'd like the creepiness and precocious children, if not the incest!
On to the next "adult" book. I can't wait!