we like construction

construction on 35W continues, and we are probably the only ones who intentionally take the freeway just so that we can see what's going on.
yesterday zoom told me he wanted to write a letter to the construction workers because he is "enjoying this construction so much"
when we got home, he reminded me that we need to do that, so i transcribed, word for word, his letter:

thank you for the beautiful construction work on 35W. i like watching you dig. thank you for bulldozing the dirt. its really good. its really nice for you to do that when its winter, but that's your job. i notice that the bridge is almost finished. we really like to go on the diamond lake road on ramp. its really fun for the bumps! that's all. keep up the good work.

we found the name and address for the projects office and he included a couple drawings of excavators and dirt.

IKEA

the enormous blue box is visible from the freeway. the yellow block letters call out at you. and are pretty easy for a toddler to read.
"mom, where is the U?"
i had no idea what he was talking about. then he started sounding out each letter.
"they spelled it wrong mom. there's supposed to be a U"
"I-K-E-U"
sound it out guys. he's right.

monday night knitting is back

finally i have started a knitting night.
i have been a knitter since i turned 13 and was eligible to attend aunt ginger's weekly knitting night for the young ladies. it was a rite of passage for sure! we would knit and chat, taking a break for tea and a treat. uncle jim hung out in the basement, listening to blue grass music, which we could hear only the oomp-pa-pa thru the floor. he would come up for the break, lecture us about changing the oil on our cars and keeping our leather in good condition. he taught us how to eat popcorn without getting butter on our fingers, licking it out of the bowl, so even after the 10 minutes break we could still knit and nibble. i still eat my popcorn this way, and so does zoom. some girls came for the social hour, others really enjoyed knitting. i was in for both, and kept clicking my needles thru high school (this was before it became cool again to knit!). i made afghans for the flock of friends who got married right after high school. most of my friends and family have a scarf i had made. i even found a pattern for hand-holding mittens (and gave them as a wedding gift to one friend).
having kids put the kibosh on a lot of my crafts, but every once in a while i whip out the needles. a few friends have asked me to teach them, and another friend is a fantastic knitter, so we decided to take advantage of these chilly evenings to gather together on couches and knit.
tomorrow night is our first gathering and we'll shoot for every other monday night, at least thru the winter.
i have so missed doing crafty things with others and made it a new years resolution to get back in the pattern of doing crafts.
one thing checked off my list!!

scheduled craftiness

we completed zoom's weekly calender! i found a tray at the thrift store and we used magnets! i was hoping to find actual magnets from the places we frequent, or at least a biz card or something to use, but we ended up making our own. okay, i did most of them, but zoom was working with me and did help color. he kind of lost interest - or didn't really catch the vision until some of them were complete. the garden one is my fav.

i couldn't figure out how to flip this photo??
anyhoo, this is what we do every night, arrange the magnets to prepare for the following day. there are still so many things that are not on the board, but we wanted to finish enough to at least start practicing.

one down side is just a developmental thing i am sure.
while i know he appreciates forewarning about events to come, he often will whine and say, "i don't want to go to the library tomorrrrrrrrow". not that he rules the schedule, but the cool thing about them being magnets is that, like life, we can make changes as needed for the family's best interest.
suggestions?

the unveiling

for months we have talked with zoom about getting him a new bed.
hubby decided to make the bed and the more time went on the more creative he became. zoom helped collaborate on the design; what was going to be a simple bed turned into a climbing bed (with holds to get into the bed) and finally an excavator.
Earthvator
they have spent hours together in the shop working on this project and added at least one other project along the way - a workbench for zoom
before christmas we moved him into the new room, and since the bed wasn't ready, he slept on the mattress on the floor.
our friend, and fabulous artist, carole, painted the bed. she has done beautiful work all over the city and world. it is a piece of artwork!
yesterday we moved it into his room and he spent the first night in his new bed. the black squares on the end are climbing holds, as are the dual purpose drawer handles! there are 6 large drawers and the large opening is a great spot to hide! we might end up putting hooks for hanging coats or a couple shelves in the back, but for now it provides a great spot for both kiddos!

check out this detail! i love the little butterfly, tucked in with the clouds (the red is his sheet)

and this is the control panel, right by his pillow. zoom told me he was going to have an ipod in his excavator. i thought he misunderstood carole, but nope, there is the receiver, right next to the cd player :)

the lady is back

good news: i'm not pregnant
bad news: it is possible for me to get pregnant again
naturally, the bliss of a babe sleeping all night long would bring the return of the monthly visitor reminding me of my womanhood. not that i was questioning. in fact, i rather enjoyed the two year hiatus! i know i'm a woman, and i don't particularly want to get pregnant right now. remember, i was just given back the gift of sleeping?
i'm enjoying toddler hood so much more than infant hood, i think a little break would be real nice.

she'll be all night long!

we initiated the sleep regime on accident.
while staying with my parents, zoom got to sleep in the famous "twin beds" (a bunk bed taken apart so the beds are just a foot off the floor). his room was at one end of the house, right next to my parents. hubby and i, with the girl's crib in our room, were at the far other end of the house. it worked out great for grammy to wake up with zoom and have their special time. the first week the girl did her normal gig, waking up every couple hours or so. i put off nursing as long as possible, but ended up with her on the floor (our bed was not big enough for all three of us and she is so wiggly that i was really afraid she would roll right off). thankfully, the parents have a great sheepskin rug that made a great bed on the floor.
one week into our visit, my parents were out of town for a few nights. this left zoom at the far end of the house by himself. we could have moved him into a closer room but for the, now famous, Longest Night of Sleep Ever.
after a long day with the siblings, we finally got the kiddos to naps around 4pm. at 6 zoom was still asleep, and we decided to let him sleep. we were on vacation, so if he woke up at 10pm and wanted to hang, we could handle that. i took the other twin bed in exchange for a night off with the girl. around 2am zoom woke up to pee, but went right back to sleep until 8am!!! ahhhhhh, sweet sleep!
thus initiated hubby's sleep regime with the girl. he had no boobs to pacify her. she could see that i wasn't' in the bed. she listened to her daddy, who rubbed her back, whispered to her and continued to lay her back down! since things seemed to go so well, we tried that another night. and another. by the time we left seattle i was back in bed with hubby and he would talk to her from bed, "it's bedtime, lay down". that's it. she would give a little grumpy cry and flop back down.
hubby has continued to be the nighttime parent since returning home, and things have gone from good to great! the first few nights she woke up a handful of times, but the interactions were moments. the past two nights she has slept from 8pm to 8am, SOLID!
PTL indeed!

happy new year - and end of year summary

things have been so busy lately, there have been so many things i have wanted to post about, but my time at the computer has not taken priority.
here are some of the fabulous year-end events:

• the girl turned ONE!
• we saw our cousin in a play, then spent the next few weeks practicing being elves
• spent hours playing hide-and-seek
  
• we were snowed in, in seattle. we dreamed about that kind of snow growing up there, but it was the only truly white christmas i have ever experienced in the northwest!
• we had a fabulous two weeks vacation in the great northwest!
  
• initiated the new sleep regime with claire
  
• celebrated four family birthdays AND christmas in one efficient evening
  
• spent time knitting
• spent time reading
• did i mention we were on vacation, with at least two adoring grandparents at almost any given time?
• discovered hulu and arrested development
• slept in "a few times"
• managed to attend great aunt pat's christmas eve's eve party without breaking any antique christmas decorations or zoom dipping into the loaded eggnog!
• learned how to play UNO and Go Fish!

happy new year to all and here's to a fantastic 2009!!