Showing posts with label Leia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leia. Show all posts

6.16.2010

Nesting

Leia is spending the week with us while dad is working and mom, Naia and Miles are in Sacramento, helping after the birth of a new cousin. It's been fun having her with us, but exhausting too. Her schedule has become our schedule; we get up when she does (8:00 isn't too bad for Dick, but it's the middle of the night for me!), nap when she does (hey, we're retired; we're expected to nap), and put off doing almost anything - reading, internetting, crafting - until after she goes to bed at night.In the last 20 or so years, I'd forgotten just how much energy a 22-month old has - and how cranky they can be when they don't feel good. With at least 4 teeth coming in and a nose that's constantly running, Leia feels pretty rotten. While she's still always in motion, she's taken to carrying around things that comfort her - her favorite blanket and her pink baby bunny.

Leia has always liked the bay window in our living room - using it as a dancing stage when Addy was here - but this week she's decided that the window seat is "her" place. Today she set up her little nest with a pillow, her blanket and baby bunny (of course), along with various books and toys. She'll read for awhile - dropping the books over the edge when she's done; rest for awhile - watch for airplanes - and check out the neighborhood. She's learned that if she says 'up' grandma will lift her onto the window. She knows 'down' but seldom uses it, preferring to climb over the arm of the couch to get down by herself (a trick she discovered just today). She could get onto the window the same way, but hasn't figured that out yet. Maybe that will be tomorrow's discovery.

4.05.2010

Baby Day

Leia spent last night and today with us. As soon as she was dressed today, she insisted it was time to go for a walk. Nothing we could do dissuaded her - she was adamant she was going outside.

Hurry up, Grandma
Blowing kisses
Off and running

Did you notice Leia's walking around in her socks? She's outgrown her shoes - again - so we stopped at Target to get her a pair of tennis shoes (and sandals; I couldn't resist the ones with sparkly flowers) before heading to the newly remodeled kids play area at the local mall.
Leia couldn't believe that all those kids were there just to play with her. She loved anything that had stairs and a slide, going up and down over and over and over again. The girl is fearless.We had one very tired, but happy, baby by the time we headed home.


12.08.2009

Monkey Girl

Leia spent Sunday night and Monday with us. She's such a happy baby and was very happy to show off her new shoes - her very pink, first pair of real shoes. She's still a little unsteady on her feet but she's to the point where she'll choose to walk rather than crawl.

11.16.2009

Shutter Bug

Leia was entertaining herself - and me - singing and talking her way around the front room this morning . . . until I tried to capture it on video. The minute the camera went on, Leia beelined over, trying to climb in my lap so she could see the pictures she knew were there.

I did manage to get a little of her singing, though. This is for you, Auntie Rachel.



11.09.2009

Want to Join Me?

Want to do a Christmas mystery crochet-along with me? I'm seriously thinking of joining in the fun on Sarah London's site. I need to get the first set of granny squares done by Wednesday. Piece of cake . . . (The supply list is here. Green and white yarn plus crochet hook, scissors and darning needle.)

No matter what this turns out to be, I'm betting it will be gorgeous - just look at the other crochet items on her website, like this granny star garland. My favorite? The Wool Eater Blanket. I did it as a square, but you can see more blankets on Ravelry.

Poor little Princess Leia is teething. She has at least 3 teeth coming in right now, maybe more. She was pretty miserable today, but still full of smiles. Hope the teeth come through quickly - it's hard to see her hurting.

10.23.2009

Low Tech

We've made a few adjustments to the house now that Leia's here everyday. We restrict her mainly to the family room - for both her safety and the cats' sanity. Dick came up with a low tech, highly effective way to do that - foam blocks on the stairs and the entrance to the hall. Easy to move when we want to get by; easy to store away when Leia goes home.

The other exit from the family room is barricaded with a couple of ottomans. If they aren't positioned just right, Leia has learned she can bulldoze her way through. Originally, she beelined for the cat food. But now she heads as fast as she can crawl into my craft room, beelines for my recliner and stands there, patting the seat, until I sit down and put her on my lap. She already knows that's where Grandma belongs.

10.13.2009

Riiiiiiip It

The littlest princess is 15 months old today. Still only 2 teeth - right in front - but her hair is getting longer and straighter, and she's allllllllmost walking. Leia loves pushing herself to stand upright but just won't take that first little step. And really, why should she when she can get everywhere she wants to go by crawling? Or by batting her baby eyes until grandma picks her up?
This sweater, that I started 2 years ago, is now this - And I feel good about it.

After finishing the front, back and most of both sleeves, I finally gave in to reality. It was going to be enormous on me; at least 6 inches too big around. I love the yarn and the pattern so I've already started the reconstruction. Think I'll get it done before another 2 years are up???

8.19.2009

Birthday Pix

We took the California baby grands for portraits today in honor of Leia's first birthday. We were looking for a place as good as the one Rachel uses in Colorado - Portrait Innovations is the best baby photo studio I've ever seen - and after a horrible start at a Kandid Kids inside Babies R Us, Chris found PicturePeople in Simi. Score! The photographer got some great shots of the kids - not easy with a 1, 3 and 8 year old. And as a bonus, the prices were very good. We'll be going back often.

(Yes Rachel, I have copies for you. Putting them in the mail tomorrow.)

8.13.2009

Big Day

Guess who turned one today? Leia Kalise hadn't a clue what all the excitement was about but she enjoyed her day, giving her opinion on

- water-filled sippy cups (it hit the floor right after this) - having to wait for food - and birthday cake. No surprise, the cake was a big hit. It's a family tradition on first birthdays to give the honoree a piece of cake - usually chocolate - then stand back and admire the mess. Leia wasn't sure what to do at first, but she figured it out pretty fast. She ended up with a lot of it on her face and hands but not a single piece landed on the floor. Leia has excellent hand-mouth coordination. Happy birthday, big girl!

How do you stuff cake in your mouth? Let me count the ways . . .


8.09.2009

Busy Busy

Can't believe it's been a week since I posted. I've spent the past seven days making samples and writing descriptions and material lists for the classes I'm teaching this fall. Almost every class is a new one for me; I'm looking forward to them but creating this many samples within a 2 week period is a PITA (pain in the arm).

Clockwise from upper left- popcorn scarf; Tunisian sampler, ripple scarf, cable scarf

With these four projects completed (all except the Tunisian sampler are for the advanced beginning class), I have just four more samples to do to be caught up through October. I'll still need the samples for November and December, but they can wait a few more days.

I took the afternoon off when Missy Leia stopped by today.
Mom, dad and PopPop went to see GI Joe while Leia and I hung out, reading books, playing with blocks, and talking/singing to each other.

click for bigger

Hard to believe the littlest princess is going to be a whole year old on Thursday. And those pants she's wearing today? Toddler size 3. Heaven help us.

7.04.2009

Happy Firecracker Day!

July 4th is probably my favorite holiday after Christmas and Thanksgiving. Dick and I have a pretty set pattern for the day. Ventura's Street Fair, where we peruse all the hand-crafted items and sample the food. We met up with Matt and company for a bit, just long enough to watch Naia get her arm painted and for Leia to get her first ride on PopPop's shoulders. Then home to drop off our treasures and get a short nap (hey, we're retired!) before moving over to Matt's house for a bbq and hanging out with the baby grands. Since the city moved its holiday display to Cam High, we don't need to drive anywhere to get our fireworks fix. We just take some chairs across the street where the view's a bit better and wait for the show to begin. I used my new camera to take pictures tonight and I'm not overly happy with the results. Of the 89 shots I took, these are all that are even close to usable. Gotta figure out the different modes before next year's display. Happy Independence Day!

7.03.2009

This and That

Randomness to start the holiday weekend:

1) In an attempt - mostly vain - to keep Leia away from the stairs and corralled in one room, Dick erected blockades in doors and hallways.
Did they work? Heck, no. Leia made one attempt to climb over, one attempt to go around, and when neither worked she just bulldozed her way through. Dick kept adding more and more stuff, including a couple of spinning wheels. Leia thought it was great fun. 2) AJ says, "is she gone yet?" 3) I started yet another shawl project. Saw this doily picture in a book and thought dang, that would look great as a shawl if I just . . . . a couple of tweeks later, like bigger yarn, bigger hook, and more pineapples down the sides, I've got this - It's stash yarn - Dalegarn's Svale (cotton & silk blend; feels wonderful and makes a great summer wrap) - and so far I'm loving the pattern. This is row 10 of 20, so I think it's going to be plenty big. If not, I'll just adjust the border to get what I want. 'Have hook, will conquer.'

4) A friend's husband recently passed away and the knitting group at my LYS got together to make a comfort blanket for her.
I contributed three squares - where the arrows are in the photo - but only took pix of one. It's "On The Road Again" by Jessica Gil but I think of it as a friendship circle. Yarn is Araucania's Nature Wool in orange. Loved the yarn and the pattern.

5) Happy 4th of July to those of us in the 'states' - and happy start of the Tour de France, too! Haven't decided what my Tour project is going to be this year but I'm leaning toward spinning. We'll see . . . the Tour doesn't start until tomorrow morning, so what's the rush. Right?