Beach Bums

We are home from the beach finally! Only a few bags remain full of sandy stuff, but I think I've gathered all the photos. At one point during the week, Henry decided he loved the water - it only took 4 trips and FORCING him to swim and HAVE FUN. Svea loved most everything, except when the water wasn't the perfect temperature.

Leta, Bryan and Arwyn braved the long drive and a week with our fam in a beach house 20 minutes away from civilization. Good thing they did because Leta took some great pics of our little family on the beach. Good thing they did for lots of other reasons too hee hee.





More pictures are coming, but since we've been up since 4:45a, it's already time for Svea's morning nap. Geez.

Dana and Jake's Wedding

Last Saturday was our dear friend Dana's wedding to Jake Brady, who I had never met before Saturday but he is a dear friend now too since he married in.

I made some birdseed boxes to hold the bridseed (duh) that we threw when they left the reception. I wanted to take pictures of Dana and Jake as they bowed their heads and ran through a canopy of gently-tossed seeds...but really people THREW it at them (which always happens, I think) and one little kid even threw the whole box. Whatever. A wedding photographer told me once that if I took my own pictures at a wedding that that was basically STEALING and I should put my camera away. So, alas, no pictures. But I did pose the boxes before giving them all away:







Congratulations Dana and Jake!

Trip to the Library

Svea and I made a trip to the library the other day to return some books for a friend of ours who just had a baby (I wish I was reading something like The Culture of the Internet, but I'm not there yet.)

I thought Svea looked especially cute, and smart, in this picture.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Brian has been working on his car a good bit lately, which means that Henry has been working on the car too. In the morning, when he wakes up running, he jumps on us saying as fast as he can, "HelpDaddyworkonbluecar?" over and over.

So far, Henry has scratched the paint around the keyhole by trying to use the screwdriver as a key, lost important bolts that secure the seats into the car, and poured out all the coffee cans of screws, nuts and bolts. We have also found screwdrivers of various sizes in the grass around the driveway.

In addition, he has made Brian laugh at himself, go slower while making big improvements (thereby making fewer mistakes), and provided me with much amusement and alone time with Svea. We like to think that Henry is learning some too.

Basically, everybody wins when Henry gets to helpDaddyworkonbluecar.

Caught Performing Karaoke

Svea inched her way over to the microphone once Henry left the room and is obviously very proud of herself.

Then Henry heard her singing, he had to run in to share the glory. American Idol 2014 here we come.

Pictures from Aunt Mer-ness

Aunt Mer-ness sent us these she took last time she was here:



That's one of the first pictures we have of them that actually looks like they are hugging. And these days, we have to document every time they share and are being sweet...



Svea is right to squint and prepare for getting clocked by Henry...since that's logically what follows a kiss.



The idolization has begun...once Svea learns to walk, I think she will be all about following around Cousin Nee-nee.

Mixing It Up

The other day, our friend Arwyn came over to play and she and Henry got busy "cooking" on the side porch...mixing beans and rice. So I kept trying to get them to look at me and smile, but they were way too busy.



This is Arwyn saying "cheeeeeeese"



And then Henry looked up to see why I kept calling his name...



While Svea played quietly in the kitchen:

The Scarf

Beth's scarf finally arrived!

First Henry examined the stitches:



and then he tried it on for size:



and then he smelled it a bit...or maybe he was chewing on it.



then he exhausted all interested and tried to throw it on the floor so Mommy could please TAKE ME ON A WALK FOR THE LOVE!

Bubbles in the Background

My mother would be so proud of my inclusion of foreground, middle ground and background in this shot.

If you look really closely, you can see Henry trying to learn to blow bubbles on the side porch in the background.

On Our Walk

The other day, in an attempt to fill a 45 minute empty window in the afternoon, we walked to the front of campus where we found that the sprinklers were on.



And our favorite tree was unoccupied by other crawlers and climbers.



And then, Svea realized the camera was out and smiled for her picture to be taken. What a star.

Flavor Saver

Svea's new goatee:

The First Bite is the Best

As a treat, Henry often sits up on the counter in the kitchen and eats a snack while I empty the dishwasher or bake something...he loves cracking the eggs.

So there were apples on the counter and I hear him take a bite out of one and I think, Oh Good He Is Eating A Healthy Snack thoughts.

Then I hear more crunches and I catch him in the middle of his plan to take one bite out of each. He doesn't even like the peel...maybe he was looking for one that was all middle?

The Weeping Basketball

Henry loves this fountain. They turn the water off for the winter, so one of the big events now that the weather is nice on consecutive days is that the fountain is on.

He doesn't understand of course that this is a monument to the UE basketball team of 1977 that died in a plane crash.
Or maybe he does.

Missing Scales

We have had some trying days the past few weeks...but there have been moments interspersed that make me feel like someone is watching us, KNOWING that I need something good to happen immediately, and it does.

The other day, Henry got up from his nap and came in my room without crying. That in itself is enough to make me whisper thank you thank you thank you under my breath as I gather his sweaty body for a post-nap hug. But right before he woke up, I turned on the TV - which I rarely do in the day - and on the station the TV was already turned to was a taped version of A Prairie Home Companion before Garrison Keillor was even old. I was crocheting at the time, which means I am old, especially because I was elated about watching the taping of a radio show I love. So Henry came bopping in, and curled up next to me on the bed and watched it with me for about 20 minutes and LIKED IT. He is so my child.

Svea slept through the night TWICE this week. Not on consecutive nights, but still - TWICE.

Henry learned the word "frustrated" this week and not only says it very cutely, he knows what it means and when I am feeling that way. He even thinks Svea is "frustyyerrrrattedddtt" when she cries.

Svea crawled awkwardly forward about 4 feet tonight. She also says "Mama" and reaches for me, though we haven't decided if she really knows that I am "Mama."

SO there have been some bright moments. There have also been some trying ones.

Like last night when Henry slapped me on the back as hard as he could in a fit of overexcited-end-of-the-day joy. Then aimed for Svea's head with his foot.

And when Svea cried big tears for 50 minutes because I was trying to feed her breakfast through a bottle instead of a breast.

Or when they BOTH poop FOUR times in ONE day and they wait for Brian to be gone to do that.
I get so unnerved at moments I think someone is plotting against me.

I can rememebr watching bad cartoons as a child - like the Smurfs and Dungeons & Dragons and Thundercats and stuff - and there is one scene I will never forget:
There is a big bad Dragon that the little bitty Children are supposed to slay. I am guessing this is from an episode of Dungeons & Dragons? So anyway, the Children have wobbly bows and arrows, made of twigs or something, and they have to shoot the Dragon who is flying, 96 times their size and breathing fire. But as the Dragon flies overhead, they notice that the scales on the Dragon's belly are perfectly aligned, except for one little spot where a scale is missing. They remember that the Wise Old One had told them along their Way that if they encounter a certain Dragon, to look for that weak spot and even the smallest arrow could pierce the area with no scale and the Dragon would be slain!

So how is it that I turn into a fire-breathing terror and both of my child spot where I am missing scales on a daily basis?

Neda & Anis

My best friend Neda is engaged!!!

I haven't met Anis yet, but I already love him and will get to actually hug his neck a week from Thursday.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!!!

She Poses

What in the world.

Today when I was talking to Svea while she was playing, she cooed and talked and played sweetly. Until I reached up for the camera. Then she sat up straighter, blinked her eyes really hard at me (I am not kidding) and POSED.



That's my girl.

Then she grabbed her sippy cup for a swig of milk, just to show off I think.

Crocheting Machine

Is what I am.

When Aunt Beth was here, I was determined to teach her how to crochet. I mean, if you can sit and watch TV for 11 hours straight, you should be making something at the same time, don't you think? So she bought a hook and some yarn and we made this blanket together:





I sent her home with a project too, which I'll post a picture of when she mails it back to me. It may be a lovely scarf for Mr. and Mrs. Turkeynutt.

Then, since so many around us have babies or are in the process of having them, I made this blanket for Calum McCleod who was born last night:



And he has a big sister Eilidh who loves the color light purple (specifically) and just may need a woobie of her own, so I made this for her last night:



I've got two more projects in the pipeline, but after they're done...anyone need a blanket? Since winter's coming and all...

This Kid

Henry. Where do I begin?
First, he found this old paper towel roll in the recycling bin and it became his newest "bee-ball bat." Then, I guess it became chinese hand cuffs?



Then we went to the Goodwill to find some choice items, one of which was this movie:



Henry was enthralled.

17 Days

and counting until we go to the beach!

Henry and Svea got new bathing suits for Easter so we needed to try them on to make sure they would fit, right? Plus, it's totally hilarious.

Just Another Day...

It was just another day in our backyard EXCEPT we found out a few weeks after the event that our neighbors moved! So Henry is now allowed to push his "bikey-cycle" in the neighbors' driveway on a limited basis. We are still waiting on the completion of our fence, so I am hoping that we will have that side of the yard fenced in by the time we get new neighbors so then it will be a non-issue to get him to stay closer. When he is leaning over pushing that dang thing on the concrete, he can't hear me call him or ask him to stay closer or to stay away from the stairs FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. So that's a little frustrating.

Svea did great playing in her pool with no water and every time she looked at me she made this face:



Otherwise, she was very serious. She is right on the cusp of crawling forward. She rocks back and forth on her hands and knees and will pick up one hand at a time and put it forward and later scoot her knees up. She is really loving pushing up to sitting from lying on her belly. After doing that move all day, her clothes are filthy at night and I'm about to have to start vacuuming twice a day again. I remember doing that when Henry was learning because it was easier than doing a finger sweep in the mouth of a teething child.

One thing Brian and I didn't think about when we moved to Indiana was how the bugs would be different. I know, what ELSE could we have been thinking about?
But in Birmingham, roaches were always my main thing. Here, it's spiders and these amazing mosquitoes. We have been able to play in the backyard for a whole month, and now the mosquitoes are hatching and I don't know how to break the news to Henry. There are slits in the screens of our side porch, where Henry would prefer to live, so I have slapped my forehead 4 times tonight and left fingerprints on my arm from this ONE that got in this afternoon.

My Dad says we should get some geckos, that that's what they do in Hawaii, and let them run amok in our house to eat the spiders and moquitoes. I would rather do that than get bitten...but did I mention that there are two babies in the house? one mobile and the other almost there? and that finger sweeping a gecko out of their mouths is not high on my list?

Anybody else have a suggestion?

Wisker

Calvin turns two tomorrow!

But his party was on Sunday, so we went for cupcakes and strawberries and bubble and airplane kazoos. There might have been something besides sugar in those cupcakes.



Henry also found this wisk.



And Svea, the puffs.