Lillian walked!!!!!

Yeay! Wasn't expecting that for a few more months! I pointed her in the direction of her dad so he could get her ready for bed and off she went! 3 Steps before she toppled. And then she kept wanting to walk between us, laughing her head off. She thought she was pretty cool!

Crunchy Granola Goddess Mother

So, reading around on the various online communities to which I belong, I have discovered something I had never suspected. I am a crunchy granola goddess mother! What?!?!? Ok, not really, but I sure do a lot of the things they do, just not for the same reasons. Very funny.
For instance:
I breastfed the baby. Well, pumped anyway. Not because it made me feel all earth-mothery (it didn't) but because baby had immature bowel and simply couldn't process anything else. In the end it was easier to pump and feed her breastmilk than to listen to the crying that would have ensued had I given her formula. There was plenty of crying anyway, as she had colic due to the immature bowel.
Second-I wear my baby. In a sling. That I made myself. LOL. I don't wear her because I believe that it is good for her to be carried all of the time. I don't believe that, actually. I think it is good for them to be put down. However, it is not good for me to have to listen to the crying all of the time. (to be fair, she has mostly outgrown that habit, mostly) I wear her rather than carry her because otherwise I would get nothing done. I don't get much done anyway, but it would be even less. Plus, it is infinitely more comfortable than carrying her, or any other method of baby carrying I have come across, i.e. baby bjorn.
Third-we co-sleep. Well, we did, she prefers her own bed, now. The reason for doing this, again, is a little different from the granola way. We didn't do it because it is "natural" or this is how our ancestors did it. We did it because we are just too damn lazy and tired to get up in the middle of the night and walk down to the nursery to feed or change the baby. If you co-sleep, you don't even have to wake all the way up to take care of baby. It was lovely. Now, she is too big, and doesn't like the noise daddy makes when he snores. Or the disturbance mama makes when she rolls over in bed. She prefers her crib, although she still wants to go to sleep with daddy and be moved after she wakes up. Mike puts her back in my bed when he goes to work so I don't have to get up if she wakes early. He is so nice, and I do like having her in my bed with me. Nice cuddle time.
We make our own baby food. Again, not because we are afraid of the processed stuff. It isn't really all that bad, and it doesn't have extra sugar or salt, as some people have said. No, the reason we make our own baby food is because, Lilly, bless her heart, has a rather refined palate. Yes, it is true. She thinks baby food tastes like crap. And the texture is much to smooth for her. There are a couple of baby items she will eat, and I keep them on hand for convenience, but dang it, she likes garlic and herbs in her carrots and they don't come that way in a baby jar.
And, lastly, this is a biggie (no pun intended) we cloth diaper. It is true. Not because it is cheaper or better for the environment (although those are lovely bonuses) no, because we have to. Lilly's poor bum breaks out in a bleeding rash if we use disposables. She has some sensitivity or allergy to the chemical in sposies that gels the urine. Now, cloth diapering is not hard, these are not your mama's cloth diapers. These are lovely, shaped diapers with elastic and closures. And waterproof fitted covers. No saggy, baggy bum. I also no problem with the washing, as I have my own methods, but I won't go into it here. If you have questions about it, leave a comment. I will be happy to wax poetic about it.
So, I don't know. Maybe I a really am a crunchy granola goddess mother and I am in denial. But, somehow, I don't see those people wearing 5" red high heels. Or siren red lipstick. What do I know?

I love my baby!

Ack! She is so dang cute! Yesterday I stopped by the thrift store to browse sweaters for frogging (didn't find any) and we went into the toy area. There were several nearly new toys (couldn't believe it, wanted to buy a bunch for baby) and I picked up a little walk-behind toy. My friend has one for her son, and he loves it. He is only 1 month older than Lilly, so I thought she might like one, as well. I was thinking I would give it to her for her birthday, which is in a couple of weeks, I don't like to spend a lot on a 1 yr old for a birthday, as it is likely she will be more interested in the wrapping paper, so I thought a thrift store would be the way to go. Well, I wanted to try it out on her before I bought it to make sure she liked it. I have bought several rather expensive toys that she didn't care for, like an exersaucer and a rocking horse. She thinks the exersaucer is a punishment and the rocking horse freaks her out. It makes galloping noises and whinnies. So, I set the toy down on the ground, give it wipe with my wet ones (you never know what might be on that thing) and put her down behind it. Well, she took off. It didn't take her but a second to figure out what it is for and of she went with squeals and giggles. I took that to mean she liked it. ;)

I picked Lilly and the toy up and went to hand Lilly back to my mom and put the toy in the cart. No go, she wasn't having it, that was freedom, baby, and she wasn't going to give it up without a fight. She didn't throw a fit, but she squirmed and squirmed trying to get back down. My mom is in a wheelchair at the mo' and it wasn't easy to hang on to the little beggar. I figured it wouldn't hurt, the store wasn't crowded, so I let her back down. Once again, off she went. She tried to run, for goodness sake! Everytime she picked up speed, though, down she went on her knees. She walked all the way from the back of the store to the register with that thing and it was a struggle to get it away from her so the cashier could ring it up. You should have seen the smiles on peoples faces as she toddled her way up there, just smiling this big smile and laughing occasionally.

We brought it home and I gave it a good wipedown with bleach and water, then took her outside with it. She loves that thing! She has to walk over to grandma's with it. I can't carry her and it, she must be allowed to walk herself. It is awesome and she is so cute, because she is SO little.

Her two front top teeth are nearly in, she looks like a bunny. Oh well. I should get her a bunny eared headband. Now that would be funny.

What else do you do?

For those of you not interested in the whole post:
The first part is life stuff
The second section is Lilly stuff
The third is crafty stuff
Enjoy!

So, my lovely friend SFB stopped by yesterday morning to pick up some stuff and ended up staying for several hours. Yeay! I haven't seen enough of her lately as she has been very busy. While she was here sitting in front of the fire DH had built, he decided to make us breakfast. What a lovely Saturday morning! SFB didn't want to leave. While we were sitting on the floor talking and playing with Lillian, SFB asked, "So, what else do you do besides knit and work?" DH poked his head in from the kitchen and said "That's it!" Sad, I guess I should branch out a little. In my defense, I also spin and play with baby. LOL.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day painting. I had been planning to redo my studio to try and make it a little more user friendly and desirable to be in. Also, I needed a hard floor because I don't really want Lillian eating pins and such that get stuck in the carpet. While I was working on the stuff for the Credit Unions, I spent some time sewing at my mom's house, as she was helping me. She has her sewing machine right in front of a big window and it made it so much easier to work! So, I decided (after talking to Mike) that I would switch my studio and Lillian's room. There are a number of reasons this will work better.
1. There is already hard floor in Lil's room.
2. Said hard floor is not so nice for Lil to play on.
3. Lil has LOTS of furniture in her room. Crib, changing table, toy box, hope chest (that's mine), couch (large).
4. Lil has way too many clothes to fit in her tiny closet and I am hogging the other closet for yarn and gown storage.
So, the plan is to move her room into my studio, which is bigger, so her furniture will fit. I am going to use one corner of it to make into a temporary large closet for myself and the closet I am currently in will house her things nicely. The carpet will be nicer for her to play on and there will be room for her to have her toys out. Like right now, her rocking horse and play tunnel just sit in front of the closet I use for storage, in the other room, they can be out where she can play.
Because of the two closets in her current bedroom, I will need less room for my crap that is all over the place in my studio.
Also, big bonus, it will put Lilly closer to our room, which is nice.
I am very excited to change things up, but man, it will be hard to organize all of my stuff. Right now, it is a giant disaster. I didn't move everything out before I started painting, and it is such a mess now. I am not looking forward to redoing all of that. My mom will come over to help, though, and she is a wiz at organizing. Thank goodness.

So, Lillian...
What a hilarious baby she is. And so noisy! She is loud and laugh-y all of the time, so jolly and happy, I love it. She is still very high maintenance, does not like it when I leave the room without telling her, but I can live with that. She gets into everything, all of the time. Sticks everything in her mouth. Little punk. And does she smart off! When I yell at her, she points her finger at me and yells back. She is a big fake cryer lately, too. If she gets in too much trouble, she scrunches up her goofy little face for a minute, then out comes the most fake wail ever! What a cheeseball.
I wish I had written last night, I had so many things to post about her. Now I am having a hard time remembering. Grrr. I hate that!
Let's see, she still doesn't kiss daddy very often. And when she doesn't do it, she has the most mischievous look on her face, she knows she is teasing him, it is so funny. But, it is a trade-off. She says daddy all of the time, and still won't say mama very much. She has been all daddy's girl this weekend, which is just fine by me! Mike took care of her all day yesterday while I painted. I came out a few times to try and give him a break from her, but she did not want to come to me. Same with today. He has had her all day, she doesn't want me. I feel okay about this, because during the week, she is attached to me all of the time.
Let's see, oh, she has figured out how clothes work! She tries all of the time to put her socks on and lately has a thing for my shoes. She will crawl over to whatever pair of my shoes are out and try to get them on her feet, and when she does...oh, the triumph in her face! It is so cute. Tonight, she had a thing with putting her diapers on her head and crawling off with giggles. Go figure, I don't know what that was about, but it sure was funny!
She has also figured out a game with the curtain in my studio doorway. Even though it is mostly open all of the time, she will crawl through the curtain and let it drag along her head until it pops off and reveals her. She will do this over and over again, giggling the whole time. She has bonked her head on the door frame multiple times, because she can't see it while wrapped up in the curtain, but is too caught up in her game to realize it hurts. When she started to get into stuff in my studio yesterday, I would call to Mike to come and get her. When she heard or saw him coming, she TOOK OFF! I didn't know she could crawl that fast, especially while laughing that hard. Oh, it was awesome, she would just shriek and try to get away from him as fast as she could.
Yesterday, Mike took her over to Grandma's while he cooked dinner and her cousin (who is 4) was over there visiting. Well, Lillian loves to play with other kids, so it was a big squeal and giggle-fest on her part. For some reason, when Ethan jumps up and down, Lilly thinks it is hysterical. She giggles so much, you think she might barf. I love it. I love her giggle, it makes me laugh, it is so joyous. And Ethan loves her, which surprises me. He is a very quiet little boy, and Lil is the opposite of quiet, but they get along great and he keeps such a close eye on her, that she is quite safe with him.
The other day, Mike, Lil and I were getting something to eat at Taco Time and there was a small boy there with his family. I would guess he was about two. Anyway, his mom was up at the counter, so he was yelling to her. Lilly looked over and saw him and got all excited and started yelling and waving at him. It is funny to me that she can recognize other little kids as being like her, and that she has such an affinity for them.
She is still tiny, tiny. Whenever people see her they call her a little pixie. Nearly everyone. She is a little pixie. Tiny, thin body, very pale skin, big eyes and pointy ears. I think that is my favorite thing, the pointy ears. I had hoped I would have a baby with pointy ears and she does look just like a little fairy sprite. She is getting her top two teeth now, though, and they are kind of big, so she may cease to look like a fairy and start to look more like a squirrel. Or a bunny. ;) She is getting a fat little belly (finally) and it looks SO funny with her no-bum.
Well, I think that is all of the Lilly info at this point, I will try to be better about remembering the things I want to write. I should look at a baby book and see what milestones she is supposed to be at. That would probably help jog my memory.

In crafty news...I knitted another pair of shorties on my USM last night. I didn't finish the ribbing on the first pair of pants. I am knitting elastic thread into the ribbing so it doesn't stretch out and it is not nice to the fingers. In fact, it hurts, so I can only do a couple of rows at a time. I am also knitting a dress for Lillian for this summer. It is fine cotton on small needles, so it will take me a while.
I emptied my spindle of the coopworth roving last night so I could try this new roving someone sent me and it spins up gorgeously! I asked the sender what fibre it was, but she didn't know. I think it mught be corriedale. It is rougher than merino, but not as rough as the coopworth. It looks and feels like what I have read corriedale to be like. I have quite a bit of the roving, so I am excited for the yarn. I can spin a very fine single, now, but I am doing this one a bit thicker as I want a DK weight when I ply it. The coopworth I am doing a fingering weight once plied. The first yarn I did was a worsted weight single, so much thicker. I am excited to get the fleeces from my dad's friend, so I can try all of the steps to yarn making.
I need to get started on my easter dress, as easter is next week. I had one dress in mind, but it was for the thinner me that hasn't come back yet. I think I am still a wee too chubby for it yet, so I need to pick a new one. Lilly gets to go back to church next week, so I am going to need some church clothes! Must get to work! I have nothing to fit this body in spring/summer dresses. Yikes! I really have to get rid of this weight. It is making me crazy!

Well, I think that is all for now! Leave comments if you would like!

What's up?

So, the weather turned nasty again. Dang it.

I got a job, did I mention that last time? I am not sure. Funny thing is, it is the same job I had 11 years ago at the same place. I am running the alterations shop in a bridal salon again. My friend and her husband inherited the shop from his parents recently and asked if I would come and take care of alts. I said sure.
Now, alterations are about my least favorite thing to do, sewing wise, but, the money is good and I have been thinking about getting a job recently. I want some extra money for stuff (my current knitting addiction among that stuff) so I said I would do it. I have actually been enjoying it more than I had anticipated. It is kind of fun to be out in the workforce again. Goodness knows, I proved that I am not terribly self-motivated when it comes to running my own business, so this is probably better. I feel like a person again, getting dressed up (ish) and wearing makeup and getting out of the house. It is nice to have an identity besides Lillian's mother.
I am still doing bear and mountain lion rugs as well. They are pretty good money, too. Fairly easy, although the big ones can be very heavy. They smell, too. I can't imagine wanting one of those in my house, much less laying on it, but, to each his own.
I also just did a big project for the League of Credit Unions. They are having their annual meeting and needed costumes for their ushers. 30 vests, hats and ties. What a bore. They sent their measurements to me, I didn't take them myself. That is always a bad idea, and I had a sense of foreboding about it that was dead on. Why do people lie to those who are responsible for clothing them? Seriously? Don't tell me you are a size 8 when you really are a 14. What purpose does that serve except that your clothes won't fit? I don't care what size people are, I just care that they are accurate! So, several of the vests were too small. Which is funny, since they have about 6" of ease. Grrr. It was a very tight build, too. Only 3 days from the time I managed to find enough fabric until pickup. But, once again, the money is good! I am dead tired though, from trying to hurry to finish everything. And the fact that it us 1:30 am. ;)
I knit a pair of capri longies for Lil tonite on my USM. They are very cute. I was hoping to have the ribbing done tonite (I am doing that by hand) so she could wear them tomorrow, but I don't think that will happen. No, I know it won't. I am about halfway done with the ribbing and I am going to bed after I post this, and I don't knit in my sleep, so I guess I will finish them tomorrow and post pics.
Well, I am falling asleep here, so I guess I will go. I will try to write again tomorrow to give an update on Lillian.
BTW-my sixth anniversary is tomorrow. Weird!

More news from the homefront

Well, here we are again. I have been at my job two days now. I only work 3-4 days a week and only 6 hours at a stretch at the most. Right now, the person I am taking over for is still there, so I only go in to do the new fittings, and then I leave. The boss man doesn't want to have to pay two people for that many hours. No skin off my nose. I hate being stuck at work when my actual work is done. It is going well. Rather boring, but as I have had this job before, I knew that going in. The money is worth it. It is an easy job and pays pretty well. And it isn't so much time that I feel like I am away from baby for too long. In fact, it is a pretty nice break. Am I allowed to say that?

I got a new batch of roving in the mail from some lovely Raveler who RAK'd me. Very pretty Coopworth wool in burgundy, charcoal and white. Coopworth is so easy to spin. It has a long staple and a lot of crimp, so it sticks together really well. I spun about 70 yards of single ply, just messing around to see what I got. It is varied thick and thin (on purpose this time!) and after I had spun it, I decided to try plying. I like plying, it is very satisfying to see my spinny turn into real yarn! I did andean plying, because I am too lazy to set up a lazy kate and all, and I didn't have that much to ply, so it wasn't a big deal. I haven't washed or whacked it yet, though. I will post pics when I do. I am now spinning a fine ply, hoping to be able to create sock yarn. It is crazy how many yards of yarn you can make out of a blob of wool!

Dad talked to a sheep owning friend of his about my wanting wool and turns out, he has 80 sheep (suffolk/hampshire cross) that he shows. He shears them and throws the wool away every year (gasp!) So dad asked him if I could have some and he said I could have as much as I wanted! I am very excited. Yes, it is true. I am a geek. I looked up suffolk and hampshire sheep online to see what kind of wool they have and also, someone on Ravelry hooked me up to her blog where she described her experiences spinning different kinds of wool. Her opinion was that it made very suitable yarn, particularly for socks and outerwear, though perhaps not a next to skin sweater. I am not terribly concerned about that as I simply want something I can practice spinning and dyeing with. I don't necessarily have to make something out of it. It is a somewhat expensive hobby. (what, like knitting isn't?)

Dad hasn't gotten in touch with other sheepy friend. Other friend actually raises wool sheep, as opposed to suffolk friend. Suffolk are raised for their meat, not their wool. Hopefully other friend will give me a good deal on a fleece, but if not, that is okay. I found a place online that sells roving for pretty cheap. I am sure I will be buying some there as well.

I finished the Gryffindor socks for SIL and I want to keep them. That is a good thing, it means they turned out pretty well. They are very cool and I am pretty proud of them. I should post a pic. I believe I will. Let's see if this works... hmmm...I am not sure how to make it stick the pic where I want it. It did this to me last time as well. I will have to figure it out. Anyway, you can see the socks, they are cool.

I knit a dishcloth yesterday, very soft. I like very much and will be making more. It is a lovely quick knit.

In Lilly news...she is getting closer to walking! She will let go for a second now while she is standing and can balance for a mo'. She is starting to say words, which is adorable. She says daddy, hi, bye, Efa (which means Ethan) back for dog. This is funny, because whenever we go in the house, the dogs try to come in, so I always say back! And when they are in the house, if they get too close and bug me, I say back! So, she thinks this means dog. When we were coming home from Grandma's yesterday, the dog across the street was barking at us. Lilly looks at it, looks at me and says "back?". Very funny. She also says berry, for strawberry, because she loves them so.

I have decided the best thing about working is having the small one get so excited when I walk in the door at night. She is all smiles and starts to wiggle she is so happy. I love it! Lil is a very smiley baby, anyhow, but more so when she hasn't seen me for a while.

Everyone told me not to want her to crawl too soon, because she would be into everything and I would be longing for the days when I could just park her on my hip or lay her down. Wrong. I am not pining for those days. I love that she is mobile. She is so much happier! Granted, she makes unholy messes, and even though I clean my front room every morning, by evening it looks like a tornado hit. But I don't care, I will happily clean every morning if it means she is happy. She was such a cranky infant. The difference is night and day, and I think it will only get better as she learns to walk. She is a rather independent baby, so being mobile makes her much more content, as she can control herself. She does get angry at the baby gate, though. She does not appreciate being contained. Funny enough, though, she loves to be stuck in the laundry basket with a bunch of socks or something. DH sticks her in it while he folds laundry, otherwise, she "helps" which means she picks up and chucks everything he has folded. It is pretty funny. While she is in the basket with the socks or washcloths or whatever, she can chuck those to her little heart's content and not make daddy frustrated! ;)

She is so funny with the dogs. They are huge compared to her, and they just don't scare her at all. Today, Sadie was in her way, just snoozing on the floor, so after trying to shove her aside with no success, Lilly just went over the top of her. She crawled right over her head, and Sadie didn't even move. I am not sure she even woke up, it is funny.

Lilly has a thing lately with needing to grab both sides of something. This frustrates her in the tub, because she doesn't quite have the reach, so she grabs one side, stretches to grab the other and lets go of the first side. Then does it again, and again, and again...til she gets mad that she can't do it. She does the same thing with the dogs. She will crawl between them (they are usually sleeping next to each other) then grab one and the other at the same time and look enormously pleased with herself. She also LOVES their tails. Especially when they wag. She thinks they are playing a game of keep away with her. I love it.

Well, I best head. DH is getting frustrated. I think Lilly is having a hard time staying asleep tonight!