Hooray!

I just got word that the neighbors had their baby tonight and everyone is safe and well. Mama Neighbor and I were doing a bit of plotting earlier and sort of hoping that the baby would be a boy, because how fun would it be to have a built-in playmate so close in age and just right up the street? And we got our wish, and Levi's buddy has arrived. Hooray!

(I don't know who I think I'm fooling. If the baby had been a girl, I'd be over the moon about that, too.)

Gratuitous Cute Pictures

That's it. Just some cute pictures. (If you have complaints about this post, please direct them to Auntie Lou, who will straighten out your priorities in short order.)



Levi likes his bath, although he loses patience with us when it's time to wash his hair. Last night, he took a shower with Mama (he's a slippery little sucker, but she held on very tight), which he really seemed to enjoy. His expressions were hilarious.



This was during a chorus rehearsal, when he was sleeping in his car seat. I was overcome by the cuteness of his little feet peeking out. I still am. (Hmmm. I cannot figure out how to rotate that picture in the blog. It's rotated on the computer, but doesn't transfer that way. To view properly, please flop your head over as if you are reading spines at the library.)



One of my favorite pictures so far.

Reward for a Good Deed

My sister-in-law called this morning and said, "I'm going to bring you lunch, and I can stay till 3:00, so you can take a nap, or run errands, or whatever you want!" I was excited. She brought me an Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebee's (Yum. Perhaps my favorite salad ever.), and I took a nice shower without listening for the baby, and then I decided to run to Target.

This was such a nice thing for her to do, and I am so grateful. So grateful, in fact, that when I was leaving for Target, I just went ahead and backed right into her car.

I'm so proud.

A Friendly Ghost

I had a totally weird experience today.

It was late morning, and I really wanted a shower. (I know. I'm so demanding like that.) I fed the baby his bottle, made sure he was well burped -- Paul is still trying to figure out why burps from the baby are praised, and burps from the daddy are not -- wrapped him up tight, and plunked him in his swing. I didn't turn it on, though, because he only likes that sometimes, and when he's not liking it, he lets you know. And off I toddled to the shower.

Just after I soaped up my hair for the first time, he started yelling. "Oh, well," thinks I. "Yell away." I'm really not heartless, but what am I going to do about it anyway? I may as well finish my shower. About that time, I thought that I may have heard a car door outside. But I didn't hear the house door, and I didn't hear voices or a knock or a doorbell or anything. So I rinsed and repeated, and then conditioned.

When I got out of the shower, I noticed that the baby had stopped crying. Nice. Probably fell asleep. I got dressed in peace, and walked out into the kitchen.

Where the baby was all swaddled up in the swing, wide awake. Swinging.

Somebody was in my house. The swing does not swing regularly all by itself unless you turn it on. Even if you walk by and give it a push, it doesn't start the mechanism. It just swings a few times and then stops when it runs out of steam.

As close as I can figure, somebody meant to stop and say hi. They came in through the garage, and stuck their head in the door when I didn't answer the knock. Heard a baby screaming, and so came in to see what was up. Heard the shower running and figured it out. Decided to start the swing (probably thinking that it had originally been running and had stopped), and then decided to come back another time.

I think it's clear that our ghost was benevolent. S/he wanted the baby to be happy, and for me to be able to finish my shower in peace. But I have no idea who it was. There was no note, no borrowed item returned on the table, and not even a footprint or anything for a clue.

So. Was it you? I'm really quite curious, and hoping someone will 'fess up. (And considering locking the doors more carefully when I shower, not because you are a kidnapper, but because you might have been, and then where would we be?)

Settling In, and a Completed BSJ

We are all three settling in, and getting into some sort of a routine. I know it takes awhile. Here are some things we have learned:

1. Wet diapers are apparently quite comfortable.



2. Dirty diapers, on the other hand, are not to be tolerated for even one second.



3. It is wise to cover the plumbing at all times. A millisecond of non-vigilance leads to cleaning up the changing table. Again. (Yes, I know boys do this. But really, this much? Nearly every time? It's sort of impressive, really.)

4. Vitamin drops do not taste good. I am dreading the future on this front. Right now, all he can do is cry a little. In a while, I'm afraid it's going to be worse than baptizing a cat.

5. I like my blankie from my online aunties. (Grandma liked it, too.)



6. The sling is a Good Thing. Even though it does not necessarily induce sleepiness. (He tends to stare up at me for a long time after he's all bundled up. It's pretty funny, and the picture does not do it justice. Though it does show off his delightful pointy little chin, does it not?)



I did complete my first BSJ. The morning before Levi was born, in fact. (I have not done much knitting since.) I am excited for him to be big enough to wear it, and I will surely post pictures of that! In the meantime, here's the finished product, minus a model.



I really enjoyed this project, and I'd like to do another. This was a worsted weight on size 6 needles (I think), and I may do a worsted on size 8 for a slightly larger size. I have great grand ideas of doing a coordinated set for some twins that are yet to be born. We'll have to see how things go, and how much knitting time I can carve out of my days in the future!