Monday, January 28, 2008

sick baby


My Poor Sprout is not feeling so hot. The only solution is to take a nap on Daddy.
I know everyone goes through this, but it was the first time for me, so I didn't know what to expect. We got our first taste of the grosser side of parenting this past weekend. Josser had his first stomach virus. I have now witnessed projectile vomiting up close and personal. Saturday night after dinner, Mr. Sprout began to spout. Profusely.
He'd only eaten homemade organic sweet potatoes and Black Bear whole wheat bread. Normal, everyday things we all eat and love. What could be causing this outpouring of formerly beloved foods? I grabbed the bread and checked the label. Honey Whole Wheat. Damn it! No one under one year of age is supposed to have honey these days. Apparently the risk of botulism is too great. I thought I'd poisoned my child. I called the nurses' helpline my doctor's office gave me. The very sweet (and calm) Mary answered and informed me that cooked honey wouldn't cause a problem. It's raw, botulism-containing honey that makes babies sick. "What we probably have here is a virus." said Mary. "Let me tell you what to expect." and she went on to describe 12 to 48 hours of gushing, wet, sticky, bodily fluid filled hell. This is the hard part of being a parent. I know we've been really lucky, Sprout hasn't really gotten sick a bunch this past year. He had one head cold, and in the greater scheme of things, one head cold and one pukey weekend is a miniscule amount of sick for the level of "Eh, let 'im lick the floor." parenting I practice. Seeing your only child puke all over himself, and then trying to comfort him when it totally freaks him out, is upsetting. I was so much more upset by his tearful wails then by the second wave of baby puke that went down my shirt and into my hair.
Joss had two baths on Saturday night and I had one quick shower. After we were cleanish, we sat on the couch and nursed all night. Sunday we sat around and nursed and slept. This morning he ate a bit of active -culture yogurt and a cracker. We are sticking to the mostly-mama's milk diet for the rest of today, just to be sure. He never got a fever, and has been in relatively good spirits the entire time. He just seems a bit mellow. We're through the woods on this one. I feel like we've reached a milestone. I want to commemorate this in his baby book: Thursday, January 24th: crawled forward for the first time! Saturday, January 26th: puked all over Mama for the first time! Something tells me there isn't a little scrapbooking sticker for this occasion.
In knitting news, Toni's second sock is going to have to be ripped back. I turned the heel just fine, but I don't think I picked up enough stitches for the gusset. It's a 72 stitch sock and somehow I've only got 68 after one round of decreases. The gusset stitches are the only explanation. I was so happy with the progress I'd made too. Foo.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Visits, ceremonies and what's cookin'


Sunday night we went over to Matt's folks house for Beth's birthday. She was in town from Chicago and just wanted a mellow dinner with the family. Carl (Matt's Dad) cooked all sorts of goodies (sesame mushroom pasta, oxtail soup, cheesy cauliflower, flank steak burritos) and we hung out with the entire clan. Mr. Sprout was happy as could be with all his uncles and his Auntie Beth there to spoil him. I cut out early to go the the ARRG 2007 awards ceremony at theWay Out Club which was a blast. Dee Rinkin', Mike Madison and Dr. Killvorkian did a great job of organizing the shindig and everything went super smoothly. Seeing Grave Danger perform interpretive dance to poetry about the Jeerleaders was the highlight of my evening. The league gave me a great sendoff, complete with a powerpoint slideshow and a trophy engraved with the words "Mary Manglin' We love you and will miss you! Arch Rival Rollergirls." I got a little teary, but managed not to cry until I got home. I am very happy to be moving ahead on my other endeavors, to be focusing on Sprout and the future of my own business, but it hurts a little to let go of ARRG. I am really looking forward to watching the games and I really don't have long to wait. The new season starts March 22nd!
Monday night we went to the Schlafly Tap Room employee reunion party. (Julie stayed with the Sprout, they were passed out on the couch when we got home. Very cute!) Both Matt and I worked for Schlafly back in the day and we got a chance to schmooze with a bunch of folks we hadn't seen in ages. I spent a lot of time talking to my friend Amy, who I never see any more. Matt and I also talked to an old friend, Mr. Joe Jackson, about his booming piano repair business down on Cherokee Street. He invited me to some sort of hootenanny on Friday and the Sprout and I are looking forward to going. I met Joe's lovely lady Morgan and I can't wait to meet their daughter. We let Dan Kopman know that we really enjoyed ourselves and he said he is planning on doing this again every year. I'm glad we went.
I made the Amish Friendship Bread that Toni gave me. This is my second attempt at AFB. The first starter that Carl gave me exploded before I could make it, due to my lack of attention to the bag. The bread is tasty, in a cake-ish sort of way, but I really doubt that any recipe that calls for a large box of vanilla Jello pudding was truly created by the Amish. I passed a starter back to Carl, who lost his at some point; one to Julie and one to Beth. I'm glad Beth took one. It's good to send these things out of town form time to time. I'll have four more starters on the 31st, so if you want one let me know.
I haven't been knitting, but I am weaving in the ends of Kate's fingerless gloves. I plan to felt them tomorrow night. I really need to finish them soon, I've got to get that package off to her this week.
So in my resolution post I mentioned that I might go vegan for February. Matt's totally down with the idea, so we're going full speed ahead with it. I've been working on meal plans, leafing through my vegan cookbook collection and researching Indian recipes online. I'm getting excited. If you've got any great vegan recipes I absolutely must try, email them to me and I'll give them a shot.

Friday, January 18, 2008

A finished project!

Matt's knucks are at last complete. He likes them. He wore them to bed last night he likes them so much. Wanna see?



For those not in the know, "Thenhaus" is Matt's last name. He requested that the knucks say this, although "More Beer" was a close contender. I used cascade 220 for the glove part and black embroidery floss for the letters. I'm no embroidery expert, so I just did my best to make the letters look good. My pal Joe has requested a pair in the same color that say "TUNA MELT" on them. Joe actually has knuckle tattoos that say "HOLD FAST" so he is looking forward to having the option to mix it up a bit. I told him that I have a pile of unfinished things that have to come first, so he's being very patient.

Tonight I am going to finish Kate's fingerless gloves so that I can send her package off tomorrow. I am also going to work on Toni's socks. I'm up to the heel flap on the second one. If I could crank out two finished projects in one weekend I would feel really accomplished.

Okay, now for some eye candy.



Behold my Sprout. He said "dog" yesterday. While watching me pet the dog. I am so proud.
Okay. Back to the needles.

Friday, January 11, 2008

three more

...resolutions that is. I know it is getting a tad late for these, I mean, its the 11th already, right?
Sorry.
21. I will remember to take my vitamins every day.
22. I will back down the driveway at my parents house, no matter how much it scares me. (The driveway there is at a 45 degree angle and I've been doing that stupid 17 point turn for too long.)
23. I will bring my own reusable cloth grocery bags with me for everything.

Sprout just polished off his second zucchini muffin of the day. Tomorrow I'm making him some pumpkin ones. Now we are going to bed.

keeping up...

Last night I finished Sprout's purple Opal Gems socks. They fit great, my mom thinks they are really cute. I'm glad Sprout has some warm handknit wool socks now that the weather is nasty cold again. I also went through my stash a little yesterday, you know, to give the new ball winder a spin. I wound all eight of the Noro Kureyon balls I have for Lizard Ridge. I have ten squares made and I don't remember how many to go. It's next on my list, after mom's socks, which have been suffering second sock syndrome since before Sprout's birth.
Sprout loves zucchini muffins.
We're picking up the table and chairs tomorrow afternoon.
That's all.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Bait and switch

Well, not really. Matt and I went out today to Metro lighting to look at ceiling fans. The one in our kitchen is falling apart and we decided to start looking for a new one now instead of waiting for the one we have to fall on my head while I'm cooking. We saw several things that we liked, but we weren't crazy about any of them. On the way out we decided to stop at World Market to check out their sale. We walked in and saw this. We've been eyeing this set for about five years. We loved it, but didn't love the price enough to justify buying a dining room set when we didn't have a dining room yet. We are a bit closer to having a dining room, and now we have the furniture to inspire us to work faster.
I am aware that we will have to go back to Metro Lighting to find the perfect above-the-dining-room-table-but-not-a-chandelier light fixture now that we have the perfect table and chairs.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Working on the resolutions

Okay, knitting news. Sorry for lack of pictures. In the post holiday mess, I cannot locate my camera. Mom's coming over tomorrow and I'll snag her camera and shoot some pictures then. Here's what's up:
I finished knitting and sewing in the ends of the first of Matt's Knucks tonight. I'm using cascade 220, I lost the label, but the yarn is a lovely charcoal color that is so guy-friendly its kinda scary. The embroidery will feature my hubby's last name, which has eight letters and will fit nicely. I was going to make these gloves for him for Christmas, but he found out and spoiled the surprise, so he gets them just in time for the 73 degree weather we had today. Hurrah for global warming.
I also am about halfway finished with the second of Kate's fingerless gloves. These are the fancy gloves I am making to match her fancy hat she got for Christmas. (They are fingerless and have no pattern, I just knit in the round, then leave a hole for the thumb.) I didn't give them to her then because I want them slightly felted. I also wanted there to be two of them.
I'm up to the heel on the second of Toni's socks. I'm done with the back of Sprout's toxic sweater. I'm up to the heel on the second of Sprout's purple socks. I haven't touched Lizard Ridge .
Saturday was the Arch Rival Rollergirls vs. Windy City Rollers derby bout. We lost, but by a much small margin than last time. Our skaters were super tough and awesome. We sold out of tickets and filled the joint. And I am officially retired from the league. Yep, It's true, I am no longer announcer for the league. I'm completely out of it. I'm a little bit sad, but I am really looking forward to being a fan. The new season starts on March 22nd, and I plan to be there in the crowd, cheering and hanging out talking derby with Toni and Helcat.
Sprout is 9 months old now. I can't believe how quickly he's grown. He can crawl backwards, say "Hi" and sleep for seven hours straight. The latter isn't something he does often, but he is capable.
Okay, I'm going to watch Stephen Colbert before bed. I'm curious to see how he does without his crack team of witty writers behind his little tele-prompter. Who am I kidding, Stevie will be fine.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Open Letter to Residents of the County

Attention St. Louis Drivers:
Please keep in mind that the closure of Highway 40 (known as 64 to those from out-of-town) is not a personal attack on you. The roads were old, the bridges unsafe. MoDoT is trying to help us. Please keep this in mind while careening down Highway 44 (or Forest Park Parkway, Delmar, Manchester, or any other route you are using these days) like a bat out of hell, blowing your horn and gesticulating like a cavewoman. The highway closure doesn't have to cause de-evolutionary behavior. Perhaps you should consider taking the MetroLink. If you are going to continue driving, I sure as hell will be.