lately....
we've continued to lay low while working on getting Claire over this congestion funk,
so there's been lots of art, and I'm loving her new collaging and gluing masterpieces~
We took advantage of a mild afternoon and cuddled in the hammock while we still can without being way too cold and uncomfortable doing so~
I scored a box full of (mostly half gallon) mason jars, a basket, and a saucer for $2.50 at an estate sale
The collards and kale are loving the cooler weather~
Baby Broccoli, I'm sad to report, has fallen ill as well.... though she is on the mend and feels much better when being rocked by bunny in the little rocking chair~
To welcome Mike back from his travels north, I made a nice big dinner on Sunday night, complete with a cherry pie. With (our last bag of frozen) tart cherries from Mike's mom's cherry tree. Mmm mmm good. Now, I am not the pie maker around here usually, so that is notable. Actually, I suppose I am the pie maker, but not the crust-maker. Mike always, always makes our crusts. For pies, quiches, pot-pies, whatever. He is very good at it. I bake most everything else, but he preps the crusts. This generalization goes so far that I've even had him make crusts ahead for me when he'll be gone the next day and I have plans for some crusty something-or-other. But I'm a good wife, and certainly capable of turning out a decent crust (oh, and I really like pie) so I made the whole thing all by myself.
Well.... with a little 'help'. Mostly, she snatched cherries out of the bowl and grabbed and ate small globs of dough as I tried to roll out the crust. I was not pleased. I accept that there will be some toddler antics whilst helping mama make pie. I welcome them. I welcomed them for a while, as we picked out more cherries than we should have and gobbled them up, but putting holes in a nearly all-rolled-out crust to eat the raw dough? As the dough pile dwindles because of numerous previous (duplicate) offenses? Gotta draw the line somewhere. I said no. A bit loudly. Even used her lovely middle name. (it's Annelise, by the way) She stormed off then came back to help clean up and started wiping the whole kitchen with a washcloth. And then she ran off again and took a 10 minute nap. An unprecedented move on her part. The going to sleep all by herself part and all. I think things are gonna start changing around here soon in the sleep department. I can feel it. It's looking up.
So, dinner was great. The pie was delicious. Even the crust. It was very good, truly. And this, above, is what Mike brought home from jersey. A TON of beautiful produce from a friend's farm. Beets, turnips, salad greens, spinach, carrots, squash, cranberries (!), onions, fennel....... oh my. I am a happy girl.
Today, another masterpiece was started. I gave her creative license with this large canvas (which was actually kind of difficult... I sat there, watching her and having to work really, really hard to not make suggestions or keep her from covering over things and mixing it all together.... let go mama, let go) and hope she'll add layers to it with different media. And then we'll have this large and lovely artwork to hang above the couch.
Oh my, I can't wait to see that artwork when it's done and hanging over the couch. I also have trouble stepping back and letting my little one work his own creative magic. Some parts can look incredible and then he smooshes it all together and we have a piece of wet paper with a greeny brown blob on it ... I wish I could just take it away at certain points. But that wouldn't really be the point now, would it? It all looks so neatly and beautifully set up, too. Oh and well done on the self-initiated nap!! I am still holding out hope now :)
ReplyDeleteexactly- she painted this awesome orange "dragon" that looked like an oblong sunshine with different sized rays (those were the wings, she said).... and then she covered it all up with green or something, "so no one can get it". ugh. yes, yes, yes... it's the process, not the product, right? I've found that sometimes fewer color choices works well. Of course that's not the route I went this time. She has since added paint to it twice more, and now I think we'll move on to pastels and collage. We'll see how it goes!
DeletePart of the sleep being easier lately is her not feeling well, I think. But still, every time she goes to sleep on her own or in a new way (by reading, on a shoulder, in the car, stories on the couch with papa....) it must sink in somewhere in her that yes, she really CAN do it. You've got a little boy, right? How old is he? A bit younger than Claire? (she'll be three end of January) And where are you, again?
cheers~
Hi - so glad to read that Claire is feeling better. I think the 'school' you have set up for her looks so inviting.
DeleteMy son, James, will be three at the end of April. He is obsessed with letters and numbers and trains and we love him so!
He has just decided to fight his day sleep and, after a week of angst and scratches, I decided it wasn't worth it. Now I'm just hoping for an earlier bedtime so I can breathe at some point in the day. We have always had to carry him around, walking and rocking, to get him off to sleep (especially in the day - he just can't turn his mind and body off). Now at least he is so tired that he generally goes to sleep in his bed with one of us lying next to him.
I really shouldn't complain because this has been our only big issue with him but still, sleep is hard, tiring work!!
We live on the east coast of Australia. I enjoy visiting your space here because the kids are similar ages and I get to see how another Mama handles sleep and other general 2 yr old things. Thanks for your beautiful posts!
thank you, Emily~
DeleteOh, they really are close in age, aren't they? Claire's night time sleep started to take a positive turn when she gave up her naps (very early, I think- just a bit after 2).... it at least didn't take as long for her to go to sleep. But alas, sleep has always been our biggest battle with her as well and night waking still happens most nights once or twice (or more if she's not feeling well or who knows why else). And yes it is most definitely hard and tiring work, so no apologies for acknowledging it as such~ We just (as in JUST, in the last two days) finally totally night weaned (we'd been driving her to sleep for several weeks to get her away from needing me to fall asleep, but still nursing back to sleep in those dreadful late night/early morning wake ups when I simply had NO desire to fight) and that has made a huge difference in her ability to fall asleep on a shoulder, on papa's chest during stories, in the dark as I lay next to her..... what a shift it is for me.
I appreciate your kind words and like imagining a kindred soul from afar reading up on our days and relating to the ins and outs of toddler-rearing! And you are most welcome~ I enjoy this space as my main chronicle of our days together and feel many times that posts are so mundane and boring to anyone who is not, well.... me. But maybe not necessarily ;) Cheers!