a little inspiration

You: :Are so dang cute. :Talk up a storm.  bahbahbah! :Sit pretty strongly now. :Are trying to get into crawling position.  I may or may have not knocked you over from doing this... ;) :Seem to have the bottom teeth coming in. :Love avocado, cucumber, tomato, pear, plum, and pretty much everything else you've tasted to far. :Are scooting about a bit on your bum. :Seem like you are lengthening out a bit.  Your face is changing. :Use your lip to go, "Pop, pop, pop!" and it jiggles so sweetly and sounds an awful lot like the Monty Python coconut horse hooves. :Also cluck your tongue. Did I mention cuteness? :Are LOUD. :Do this funny fist pump, punch yourself in the mouth up and down routine. :Reach up an inquisitively grab our faces. :Laugh at anything your brother is doing. :"Play" your bottom lip while making noise to make the sound undulate.  This is very silly and especially helpful when you decide to "talk" to us at 3 or 4 in the ...

As it is now, we always feel a little crazy here.  One day fine and lovely, one day pure hell.  I have no idea how to remedy this.  We've been talking to a therapist for a few months and the other day she was trying to give me some ideas to redirect and I was nodding and letting her know that we have done all of those things.  ALL of them and none of them work.  We are not your typical family.  I've read lots of books and articles.  I've tried every trick I've come across.  Some don't work a bit, some work once or twice, none seem to really have any sticking power.  He turns even the best ideas on their head.  The best intentions turn into the worst ideas at rapid fire with him. I try not give up.  I have written "Don't YELL!" on my hand all week.  Yesterday morning he ran after Papa in the car and I chased him down the street holding the baby and wearing my bathrobe.  I had half the neighborhood out in no time. At leas...

  This is my newest favorite activity to do with Emerson.  I will call it a Zen activity, in fact.  So simple, so easy.  And yet, complicated and requiring your whole attention.  Fun to do by yourself.  Fun to work with others.  Side by side or more as a team.  Infinite options.  Often quiet.  Sometimes chatty.  Ah.  So if you have a kid who loves to build, do yourself a favor and spend $3 on some dixie cups.  Oh, and the sound of them falling down is lovely and soft. Emerson loves to build, but different than many other kids, he doesn't care about the end result.  He wants to knock it down and start over the instant it gets to some magical "done."  This has really frustrated me with other building materials we use.  Lincoln Logs, Legos, pillows for fort building.  In a weird way, the cups remind me of crochet.  Stacking stitches one over the next to build a shape.  I know it must be ...

Things I was reminded of today: : you can get a fat lip before getting out if bed. : a bit of tea in the afternoon can be a mini vacation.  Even in August. : the words you most need to hear will come when least expected and from surprising sources. : those side lying sit ups are hard work that feels great.

I gave up on facebook.  Cold turkey is tough.  I am trying not to give up on anything else. Present.  I will be present.  I can do it.  I don't have to escape. So, hopefully there will be more snippets here.  There are plenty of pictures and ideas to share.  And I need the outlet.  Who knows if anyone will come anymore...

You: :Are just having new hair come in.  Your little head is super fuzzy right now. :Still can't decide on an eye color.  I think they are heading toward hazel but one is still grayer than the other and they change often. :Think your brother is hilarious.  Even when he is shooting at you with his finger.  I'm trying to copy your attitude about all that. :Like to sit up and be able to look around. :Love to throw yourself backwards and then hang out upside down. :Suck your fingers and thumb a lot. :Are starting to get upset when I walk away (if you aren't being held by someone else.) :Seem to have the top two teeth coming in and are not so thrilled about it.  However, you love the little chilled teething toys. :Are trying to grab my plate and cup all the time.  Morning coffee is treacherous with you in tow.  Dinner cannot happen if I have a place mat. :Love your Indestuctables books.  Crinkle, chomp, pull! :Have tried a little bit of f...

  Here it is.  All done.  I finished it at the sewing weekend we had at my wonderful mother's house.  I had to take a piece of rayon from her stash for the back.  It belonged to my Grammie.  None of the pictures I took of it came out, all are blurry.  But it was the perfect match and just the right size to do a fold over binding instead of attaching a separate binding piece.  This is surely cheating but I love the style.  So much faster than making binding and nicer than buying something that sort of matches.  I used this basic idea.  But then I felt it was too skinny and so I added strips on the sides.  I was afraid they'd be weird but I think it turned out just right. I got stalled on this for a long time because the strips weren't lining up.  I finally just went for it and decided to embrace it.  I don't do perfect.  I do pretty, I do nice work, I do functional.  I'm happy with that. I have b...