I'm still here, don't think I've forgotten about you. It's just been a really hard week for blogging. First of all, I've barely taken out my camera, so I don't have much to show you. Secondly, Yannick is still sick and still sleeping in the spare bedroom/office, so my usual blogging time at night when either he watches Jakob or once Jakob is in bed is no longer available since we're avoiding him to try not to get sick. (Did that come out right?) Anyways, besides all of this, Jakob has been REALLY clingy the last two days. He cries if I put him down, even sleeping he'd rather do on me. He had his vaccines last Friday and it's been a week so it shouldn't still be affecting him, but something is going on. Either the teething, or...I don't know. His head is boiling hot but his body is cool and he has no fever, plus he's been on Tylenol for his teeth every 4 hours, but his head is still super hot. There have been a lot of demands on my time and blogging has not been the priority, but I'm still here and still trying to find what few moments I can! I also try to find time to read your blogs, so keep posting and I'll keep reading.
Whoops. Thanks to the astute Maaike for noticing that in my last post I kept talking about my crocheted items and saying "I knit..." or "if I were to knit this again...". Yes, I'm crazy. I CROCHETED all 4 face/wash/dishcloths, and clearly everything that I did to them or would do to them in the future would also be crocheted.
On Saturday I spent my time crocheting to have the face/wash/dishcloths done in time for our dinner Saturday night, as they were a hostess gift for my mom's friend who was having all of us over. I managed to finish 4 in time.
I used worsted weight Bernat cotton from Wal-Mart and a 4.5mm crochet hook for all of them.
This Brick Wall dishcloth was inspired by the one in the Mason/Dixon book. The free pattern can be found here. I followed the pattern but added a row of single crochet around the outside to finish off the side edges nicely. This one is called the Chain-8 cloth and the free pattern can be found here. I really enjoyed this one, and plan to make more for our house. This is a closeup of the cloth. What is really cool is that you knit the cloth much wider, with these chains of 8 chains wide on every row (hence the name). Once you are done your height, you use your fingers or a crochet hook and link the chained areas up in exactly the same way you would hook up a dropped knit stitch. As a variation you can give the loops a twist first before linking them up. I did. It gives a nice raised line that would work well for scrubbing. This is the Diamond cloth and the free pattern can be found here. Instead of working to 21 rows then doing a fancy border, I did only 17 rows then a row of single crochet around since I had to leave for the dinner. This is the Sunshine cloth and the free pattern can be found here. If I knit this one again I would make one of 3 alterations: I would either do it all in orange or yellow, or I would do the last row before the border in the border color, or I would do it the same as I did it, but I would do the border through both loops not just the front one. Doing it as the pattern states leaves a clear "front" and "back" whereas any of the other ways would have it reversable.
We had a nice dinner to break the fast (not that I fasted) and Jakob was a big hit, being passed around from person to person and behaving wonderfully.
Sunday we had my friend's daughter's first birthday party, and again Jakob was scooped from my arms the moment we arrived, and only given back to me to feed him. My friend had moved to Toronto and the guests were all of our old high school friend and her family, so even though most of them were people I have known since I was 12, none of them had ever seen him before and it was great to show him off. Everyone was amazed at his smiling, bubbly personality, and especially how, when it was time for his nap, he fell asleep in my arms (even though I was sitting on the floor in the middle of a crowded room while everyone talked and laughed and the birthday girl opened her gifts and cried and screamed).
On our way home from the party we did an impromptu stop- I bought a Nintendo Wii! I was talking about it with Yannick and next thing I knew we were in front of the store...and it is mine! We didn't set it up because we had planned a date to go out and celebrate my birthday. My sister and her boyfriend came over to babysit Jakob and Yannick and I went for dinner and a movie. Dinner was great 'cus we got to watch football at the restaurant, and I had a really yummy steak sandwich. Then we saw Good Luck Chuck which was a very cute movie. Also very wrong...in a few ways LOL. Penguin pr0n. That's all I'm saying.
When we got home it was still early so we hooked up the Wii and played some Big Brain Academy with Laura and Mike.
Monday Yannick babysat while I went to have an old root canal worked on a bit (over a year later and the tooth still hurts), then I spent the afternoon both tidying up the house and playing on the Wii some more. When Yannick got home we challenged each other in the bowling and golf games that came with the system.
Tuesday I went into town to hang out at Robyn's house. I didn't get any knitting done, but we had a good walk and some lunch then watched Knocked Up together. I found it cute but hard to catch all the jokes with the kids playing, so I'd like to watch it again with Yannick once Jakob's asleep.
And finally today I took Jakob to the movies with Robyn, Sean and my aunt. We saw Across the Universe- the movie with all of the Beatles songs. I really enjoyed it, although it was REALLY trippy. Now we're at my mom's for supper then will be heading home later. I plan on putting Jakob to bed then knitting while I watch CSI:NY so hopefully I'll have some knitting progress to post by tomorrow.
So I didn't blog over the weekend 'cus it was the High Holidays, and then every night since then something has come up, and last night I was going to sit down and blog...and Yannick was sick and decided to sleep in the spare bedroom/office. We're off to the movie today but I'm taking two seconds to write this first. I will catch up later, I'm going to upload some photos now so I can blog from my mom's later.
Just wanted to share though- got my Ravelry invite today! Woot! Something ELSE to have no time to do LOL.
crochet? worms? boxes? I thought this was a knitting blog!
It is. But I'm tired, and taking a break from knitting 'cus I'm bored with repeating the same 4 rows over and over.
Today I took Jakob for his 4 month vaccinations. My big boy is 14 lbs 2 oz and 25" long! He was great and didn't really cry, but between the shots and his teething, he has been really needing extra cuddles today.
I went to Toys R Us on our way home to buy a gift for a friend's daughter's first birthday, which is coming up. While we were there I decided to buy Jakob a Gloworm. I like thinking that he'll enjoy toys that I used to play with, but I was really disappointed to see that they changed the design! This is the GloWorm I remember. I'm also having vague recollections of a TV cartoon...or am I crazy? Oh- speaking of cartoons, anyone remember The Racoons? Did it air outside of Canada? Anyways...this is the new GloWorm: It's cute, but totally not the same thing. It does play a few different lullabies though, so I guess there is some improvement. I'm going to wait until Yannick is around to give it to Jakob and see what his reaction is. It's rated for ages newborn and up, so we're good.
When we got home there were more boxes waiting for us! I think there is only one more package to go, and then I can open up all my books. Woo hoo! :) Tonight starts a holiday called Yom Kippur. It is the Jewish Day of Atonement. You're supposed to fast until sundown tomorrow, but I'm breastfeeding so I get out of it. I got out of it last year too 'cus I was pregnant. (If Jews had hell, I'd be SO going for saying I'm "getting out of it" LOL). We went to dinner at my mom's for the traditional "eat before the fast" meal, and tomorrow will be going to a friend of the family's for the "breaking of the fast" meal. As a hostess gift I'm making her a few crocheted dishcloths. (As many as I can do by tomorrow night). Here's my progress on the first one:
Finally, for Tara, I will tell you what yarn I used for the hat, but only once I remember to bring up the ball band so I can tell you. :)
It's been a long day and I'm so tired! I only went to bed at 2am last night and was up to feed Jakob at 7am. I napped a little until his 10am feed but only for about a half hour, and once I finished the feed we left for the day and didn't get home until after 6pm! This morning we went to the LaSenza outlet so I could pick up some stuff. They are liquidating all of their off-season merch, and the prices were just crazy! (For my American readers, LaSenza is kinda like Victoria's Secret, which we don't have in Canada). There was a full room of bras in every size and color, all for $5 each...but I can't wear those padded, push-upy things while breastfeeding and I don't know what size I'll be after...so it just isn't worth saving the money to buy something I might not end up able to wear. Another room had bin after bin of really cute panties all for $1 each, so I stocked up there. I almost wrote "underwear" instead of "panties". I don't know why that word seems almost naughty somehow. I'd love to see the look on the guy's face who accidentally finds this blog now after Googling some of those words! Hahaha
Before we left I got some photos of Jakob in his new hat. I'm not super crazy about how it looks on him, but I do think it's cute. It's kinda like a helmet. I can't decide if its too big or too small...or just right. I'm not reknitting it, so he'll just have to wear it and look cute in it as it is! For new readers- the details and link to the free pattern are in yesterday's post. After the shopping we went to our playgroup, then for groceries before heading home. He could NOT stop pulling at his ear today, and yelling at me. Not fussing, not crying, just yelling over and over while chewing his fingers and tugging at his ear. The poor boy...he's upset all day and instead of his father getting home to play with him, he tries to give him a bottle...which gets him into a huge upset for over an hour. It's so hard for him and so frustrating for Yannick.
Luckily we're seeing the doctor tomorrow morning for his 4 month vaccines and I will have him check to make sure there is no ear infection, and I will also ask what he thinks about the bottle refusal. Maybe we're trying to give him too much at once, and should wait until the teething stops. Maybe we're doing the right thing and should keep pushing. I don't know...Yannick is very upset that when he gets home after work he has to make Jakob all sad, instead of getting to play with him, so we will start trying to give him the bottle feed first thing in the morning instead of in the evening. Maybe when he's half asleep he'll be hungry and take it without realizing, and then when Yannick gets home they can play together and bond instead of getting frustrated.
This kid thing is tough! :}
Here's a photo of Mommy and Jakob at 18 weeks. Man my teeth are yellow, which is strange 'cus I quit smoking 5 years ago and I drink very little tea or coffee. I've GOT to find a whitening system safe for during breastfeeding, LOL.
I took Jakob to the movies today. I almost didn't go...the two "Stars & Strollers" movies were Superbad and Evan Almighty. I definitely didn't want to see Superbad, but I'd heard really bad things about Evan Almighty. All the reviews I'd read said it was a horrible movie. I really don't know why- I loved it! Jakob woke up about a half hour into it, and after feeding he spent the rest of the movie sitting on my lap, watching the screen. He LOVED the animals and laughed out loud when he'd see them...which is odd 'cus he shouldn't be able to see that far, I don't think. Anyways, I really enjoyed the movie. I found it funny and sweet, and very well done.
After the movie we went to my parents' house for supper so that my brother Aaron could see Jakob (he'd spent the last 10 days in Shanghai for work and missed his nephew!). I sat outside with Jakob and knit, and when he woke up we both enjoyed the cool evening air. His teeth were really bothering him, and he kept chewing on his fingers. At one point he didn't realize it- but he was giving me the finger!
I love this photo of Jakob and my mom...
I kept knitting after supper when I went outside so Yannick could give Jakob a bottle. He was only marginally more successful tonight, but I think it helps when I'm not physically around for Jakob to hear/smell/see. Plus Yannick doesn't feel like I'm judging his skills as a father in feeding his son if I'm not there to watch...and I think they need time alone anyways, to bond and get to know each other. So I sat outside and knit.
I kept knitting when I got home tonight and guess what? I have a FO!
I saw this cute little cap on someone else's blog yesterday...don't ask me who...I think I'd followed a link for something else and kept browsing. I didn't think it would take too long to knit, and voila- from on the needles to off in one day. I'm not sure if it will need i-cord or ribbon straps, but for now I like it as it is. The only mods I did were to not do the k2togs at the end to go from 7 to 1 st...once I got to 7 I threaded the end of the yarn through and pulled. I didn't want a pointy cap. I'm going to take photos tomorrow 'cus Jakob's sleeping now.
This is the one I have...I was wrong, it's by Fisher Price, not Jolly Jumper. We got ours from the Babies R Us in the mall where La Cage Aux Sports and Future Shop are, in Pointe-Claire, corner hwy 40 and St-Jean's blvd. It's great! :) We also have the matching swing, which is AMAZING because not only does it swivel to rock back and forth, or side to side...but it PLUGS IN so we never have to use batteries!
This morning we went for a stroller walk with Robyn & Sean, and a mom (Bonnie) from my Thursday playgroup. We walked for around an hour and a half and it felt good to get in even a minimal workout!
Jakob woke up towards the end of the walk and once we were done we put the strollers side by side so he could see his cousin. He was in such a great mood! He didn't stop giggling and talking...its too bad that we had to upset him again today.
We decided that Yannick would give him a bottle every day at the 7:00pm feed. That way Jakob would (eventually!) get used to having a bottle, but it wasn't the last one before bed so he'd still get a good feeding to help him sleep. Unfortunately Yannick has bowling on Tuesdays, but so that we wouldn't miss a day, he came home at lunch time to do the lunch time feeding. It didn't go well. After an hour of crying, resisting and passing out from exhaustion, Yannick had to go back to work and there was still 1 oz of an original 3 oz of breastmilk in the bottle. What little he had drunk was by accident as it spilled into his mouth and he swallowed so he wouldn't choke. He finally calmed down when I held him and I got him to at least accept the bottle in his mouth. He didn't drink it, but he chewed it like it was a teething ring, and ended up getting the rest of the milk without realizing it. It's going to be really tough until he takes it, because his crying is really hard to take. He looks and acts as if we don't love him and are torturing him. I think tomorrow night I will physically leave the house when Yannick tries to feed him, both so that he can't smell me (or the milk) and so I won't have to hear him cry. I might give Yannick a new pillow to rest him against and have him sit somewhere different so he won't have the familiarity of my usual breastfeeding pillow and spot with the unfamiliarity of Yannick giving him the bottle.
Robyn brought me the Jitterbug I'd eyed at Effiloche. I *must* stop buying yarn! I couldn't resist this one though, the colors just catch my eye. It reminds both of a bird of paradise flower, and those glowing neon Tetra fish you see at pet stores.
Isn't it pretty? I think these will become just plain stockinette stitch socks for me me me. I think the colors stand out enough that I wouldn't need anything fancy to have some pretty funky feet! (Uh...that's funky in a GOOD way).
Look- I have been knitting! This is the progress so far on the Montego Bay scarf. I decided not to frog it after all (thanks Maaike!) and am slogging away. It's a very easy pattern to memorize and I wouldn't have to pay too much attention to it except that I'm knitting it on addi turbos and the points aren't sharp enough to do the k2togs without looking. I'd advise someone else knitting this to use a sharper needle.
Something about Jakob's pose in that photo just cracks me up. It looks like he's saying "hey- check ME out!"
My aunt Mimi came over before driving back to Toronto today, and she brought Jakob a really soft sweatsuit. We put it on him to see if it fit and couldn't resist giving him a cuddle while he was so warm and snuggly. Could you resist this face?
Now I'm done. Fini. Caput. I've done laundry, exercised, showered, taken care of Jakob, fed him and he's currently crying is bum off in bed. I think I'm going to take him out and let him sleep in my lap until the next feed at 10:00 while I watch Big Brother and Law & Order. I'll try and get some knitting in, then can't wait to hit the sack!
Remember I told you about my new crocs? Aren't they cute? Today I gave them their first workout. I took Jakob to the park while wearing them, and MAN are they comfy! Now I really wish I'd bought them earlier in the season, 'cus I can see myself wanting to wear them all the time.
...should be able to: -on stomach, lift head up to 90 degrees CHECK -laugh out loud CHECK -follow an object held about 6 inches above baby's face and moved 180 degrees-from one side to the other, with baby watching all the way CHECK -on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms CHECK -grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers CHECK -pay attention to an object as small as a raisin CHECK -reach for an object CHECK -squeal in delight CHECK
...will probably be able to: -hold head steady when upright CHECK -on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms CHECK -grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers CHECK -pay attention to an object as small as a raisin CHECK -reach for an object CHECK -squeal in delight CHECK
...may possibly be able to: -keep head level with body when pulled to sitting CHECK -roll over (one way) CHECK -turn in the direction of a voice, particularily mommy's CHECK -say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant combination CHECK -razz (make a wet razzing sound) CHECK
...may even be able to: -bear some weight on legs when held upright CHECK he loves it! -sit without support NO-only when leaning against something -object if you try to take a toy away NO -turn in the direction of a voice CHECK
This next photo is for Robyn- I can't take a decent mirror photo like you do! If I use the flash they come out sharp but with the bright white spot. If I don't use the flash they are always blurry. Still...it's a cute photo. I strapped Jakob into the Snugli and took him for a walk to the park.
We played in the swings again and he had fun, laughing and talking to me. There was a gorgeous breeze blowing and it was really nice to be outside.
It was also really nice to be home, when I saw these packages waiting for me:
Since the first anniversary gift is "paper", Yannick and I exchanged paper gifts. I gave him gift certificates for Home Depot, and he gave me certificates for Chapters, our local book store. (Paper books- get it?) I've been slowly placing orders for the books I want, and they are slowly arriving. Yannick promised to dedicate each one to me so I'll remember what occassion they were for.
The only thing that sucks is that Chapters doesn't have some of the books I'd wanted, knitting ones by Elizabeth Zimmermann or Barbara Walker, to complete my collections. However, his parents gave me some money for my birthday, so I was able to order the remaining books from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca (big price difference sometimes making it worth the exchange). I'm waiting until all the packages arrive before I open any! After these purchases I'll just be missing the First, Second and Third Barbara Walker treasuries, and will have all of EZ's books! I can't wait!
Oh, before I forget- I did knit! Yannick and I went for groceries late so I taped all the shows I'd wanted to watch. Once we got home and put Jakob to bed I didn't feel like stopping the VCR so I let it keep taping and climbed into bed with my knitting and some podcasts on my ipod. I got in about an hour while listening to Quirky Nomads.
Would you believe it- after staying up all night to send in my Knitty submissions I get an email the next morning- the deadline was pushed back by 2 days! Aaarrghh.... Oh well, at least they were in!
In the morning Maaike and I went to Effiloche, as I mentioned before. They didn't have any sari silk in, which was the reason for our visit, nor did they have in any patterns so I could buy enough Baby Ull, nor did they have any Fleece Artist Sea Silk ('cus I was thinking of restarting my Montego Bay scarf)...so in the end Maaike picked up a few things but I walked out empty handed. There was a colorway of Colinette Jitterbug that I loved but I knew that Robyn carried that yarn so I figured if I was to buy it, I'd buy it from her.
I got home to a rough scene. Yannick was babysitting Jakob and for the first time ever Jakob refused to drink from a bottle. He's resisted in the past but always wound up drinking it...this time was a no-go. He even cried so hard that he fell asleep from the effort. It was really tough but we didn't give in and feed him. Instead we vowed to try and give him one bottle per day to get him used to taking them again.
I don't remember what we did for the rest of the afternoon, I think we played video games. I've been hooked on watching Yannick play "God of War II" on PS2 and we've been taking turns playing "Pitfall Harry" on GameCube. I like when Yannick plays because I give him tips on the mental puzzles or ideas when he's stuck so I feel like I'm contributing but I get to knit at the same time.
That evening we wondered if Jakob was big enough yet to play in his Jolly Jumper version of an Exersaucer. Sure enough: Here he's just concentrating, but you should have seen the grin on his face! He hasn't figured out that he can jump, instead he's more focused on how to get the monkey (the hanging yellow thing) into his mouth.
Sunday was more of the same thing, which is why it doesn't get its own post. More video games, more playing with Jakob, more crying instead of taking a bottle.
Although...Sunday was my brother's birthday, so Happy Birthday Aaron! :)
Friday was hectic! I didn't go out all day because I was working on my submissions. They were due Saturday and I wanted to have them sent off before then. I even refused to go to the park with Maaike and Erika because I was working so hard to get them done.
Because I spent most of the day on the computer, I had to get creative in finding places for Jakob to play. I brought his play mat upstairs so we'd have that, and at times I put him on the bed behind me. I sit so close to the bed that the back of my chair touches it, so I was able to sit sideways and watch him while I worked. I was also close enough to swoop down for cuddles and kisses whenever I wanted too!
I love this peaceful look! He has completely discovered his hands and feet and will sometimes spend a few moments just staring at them, watching them work. Of course, two moments after taking this photo he was sucking on his toes and drooling. :)
We went to my parents' house again, this time for leftovers. We only stayed until 10pm then came home to feed Jakob and put him to bed.
I can't believe it...I had so much work still left to do for my submissions that I stayed up until 2:00am! I really wanted to get to bed earlier since Maaike and I were going to Effiloche in the morning and I knew I had to get up early, but I had no choice if I wanted to get my submissions in before the deadline expired.
I DID get a few rows knit on the Montego Bay scarf, however.
Thursday was night 2 of Rosh Hashana. I think I putzed around the house all day (the problem with post-blogging is a failing memory!) because I knew it would be a busy night. If memory serves at all, I worked on my Knitty submissions. We're actually not hockey fans in this house. Hear that? That was a collective gasp from all the Canadians who read this blog. Don't worry...we like hockey...we're just not partial to a particular team, nor do we feel the need to watch it on TV. Get me tickets to a live game though, especially when the Habs (Canadians) are playing, and I'm SO there! Instead, we're football fans...the Colts...and yes, we started rooting for them years before their superbowl win. Or, rather, Yannick has, which makes Jakob and I Colts fans by default. Unfortunately I don't have any Colts stuff for Jakob yet, but I did have this cute little Canadians outfit that he was just about to grow out of, so I put it on him to go to my parents' house for dinner.
It was with my dad's side of the family so we got to see Robyn and Sean. I still didn't get any knitting done, but I did manage to enhance my stash! :] Robyn brought me some Noro Silk Garden from her store. It is going to be a scarf, for me me me. I am a knitter who does not own a hand-knit scarf. (Yes, I'm ignoring the multicolored fun-fur one in my closet because I didn't know any better, and yes, I'm also ignoring the Vegas scarf, which doesn't match my Winter coat, and yes, I'm ignoring the unfinished Clapotis).
I also got my kit from her September Sock Club. The yarn was custom-dyed to match the colors of Robyn's store, and while they are not colors I would have said to put together, the finished result is really funky! I am going to use it to make the socks from the pattern provided, and they will be for me me me too.
EDITED TO ADD: turns out the colors WERE custom dyed-but not specifically to match the shop. Which is funny, 'cus they DO match the splash page of Robyn's store (turquoise with an orange bird). In any case...I love the yarn! :) Robyn also brought me a birthday present- more Socks that Rock! She didn't know I was ordering with Maaike and had wanted to be the one to give me my first STR skein. I love the colors!
Sean had brought Jakob some clothes too as a gift for his first Rosh Hashana but they're in the wash and I forgot to photograph them. :)
Sorry for the catch-up posts, last week was crazy hectic. I decided to go for it and submit 3 (!) patterns to Knitty for the Winter issue. The deadline was Saturday the 15th, and for one pattern I had to choose the photos I wanted to use, for another I had to find where I'd written the pattern down, actually type it up and choose the photos, and for a third I had to calculate the different sizes, type it up and choose the photos. Plus as I typed I found other stuff I had to do, like sketches and illustrations. It was a loooong week.
So. Wednesday...it was my friend Jackie's birthday. Happy birthday Jackie!
I already mentioned some stuff from during the day- I'd gone to Maaike's and picked up my yarn.
That night was the first supper for Rosh Hashana, and we met at my parents' house. I decided to try Jakob in a high chair for the first time, so that if he was able to sit in it, he could sit at the table with us, instead of on the floor in a bouncer. I thought he'd prefer to be able to see everyone, and I was right!
Plus he was the only one who was allowed toys at the table. ;) Look- he even got his own name card showing him where to sit!
On Rosh Hashana we pass around apples and honey to eat together to symbolize starting off a Sweet New Year. Jakob can't eat...so I dressed him appropriately...
...and hopefully he will be having a Rocking New Year. ('Cus he's wearing a Bon Jovi baby onesie. Get it? *groan* I know, silly joke). The onesie was a gift from his uncle (and godfather) Mike, the biggest Bon Jovi fan I know- and I'm a huge Bon Jovi fan. I love the little jeans, and this was his first time in sneakers! He had a matching jean jacket too but it was too warm in the house to wear it.
Like my sticker? For my birthday Jakob had bought me a card (via Yannick) and inside was this "#1 Mom" sticker.
I didn't get to knit on Wed, it was too distracting keeping an eye on Jakob or making sure no one went in to disturb him once I put him to bed for the night.
A quick primer, for those who don't: Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year, and the American midnight drinking bash and daytime football game. There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making "resolutions." Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year.
The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year"). This is a shortening of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or to women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year"). This is a shortening of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or to women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." The name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible to discuss this holiday. The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25.
The shofar is a ram's horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. The Bible gives no specific reason for this practice. One that has been suggested is that the shofar's sound is a call to repentance. The shofar is not blown if the holiday falls on Shabbat. No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In fact, there is a special prayerbook called the machzor used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays. Another popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. We also dip bread in honey (instead of the usual practice of sprinkling salt on it) at this time of year for the same reason. Another popular practice of the holiday is Tashlikh ("casting off"). We walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty our pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. Small pieces of bread are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. This practice is not discussed in the Bible, but is a long-standing custom. Tashlikh is normally observed on the afternoon of the first day, before afternoon services. When the first day occurs on Shabbat, many synagogues observe Tashlikh on Sunday afternoon, to avoid carrying (the bread) on Shabbat. (from http://www.jewfaq.org)
Within minutes I'd found exactly what I wanted, and it arrived today! :]]]
I had to go to Maaike's anyways so she could help me out by photographing my other Knitty submission, and while I was there I got my yarn! My soft, squishy yarn!
Since the colors were all so wonderful, a big part of what drew me to these yarns in particular were their names.
I love it! It's the perfect representation (to me) of the soft gray skies and purply-brown shadows you find on a dark, rainy day. Faithful readers will know that rainy days are my favorite (notice how it poured on my wedding day, Jakob's birthday AND on my birthday yesterday?) and the name of this yarn drew me in right away. I think it will be perfect for a slouchy pair of comfy socks I'm thinking of designing.
The reason I decided to order at all was because I remembered the Rock and Weave socks I'd seen on the Yarn Harlot's blog. It took me a while to find the perfect yarn to use...many of the STR have short color repeats and I didn't want the colors to blend together in the socks, especially not in the linen-stitch cuffs. My eye kept getting drawn to a particular colorway, and when I read the name I knew I'd found the right one. It was a name that made me smile, and was silly and quirky...perfect!
Ok, truthfully my birthday started at midnight, when I opened up my first card. I was confused because there was no name on the outside, but it was all explained when the card turned out to be from our cat, Sam. He didn't write my name on the outside of the card, since, DUH, cats can't write. (Silly readers).
I signed up with a stroller walking group and since it was raining outside they were meeting at a local mall, so I packed up Jakob and went for some much-needed exercise. We were finished right about the time the stores were opening, so I went to go visit my brother at his work.
He took this lovely photo of us. Ignore my crazy-flat hair...I'd been sweating up a storm. Still...this is the only photo taken on my birthday that has ME in it, so here you go. For the first time ever I took advantage of my brother's managerial discount to treat myself to something for my birthday. I keep hearing people praising Crocs (the real foam ones, not plastic knock-offs) and had been admiring the Mary-Jane style, so I picked up a pair of them in black. They are SO comfy! I wish I'd bought them earlier in the summer!
From Fairview Jakob and I went to the video game store to trade in the sucky game we'd bought that Saturday night a few weeks ago. I traded it for the 2 games I'm missing in the SpongeBob SquarePants series. Don't laugh- the one I already have, The Battle For Bikini Bottom is a lot of fun, and not too hard that I can't play it on my own. I picked up SpongeBob SquarePants: the Movie Game and Lights, Camera, Pants!. The first one is supposed to be similar to the one I have already, the second one is 30 mini-games that you can compete against others for "auditions" for a movie being filmed in Bikini Bottom.
We came home and spent the afternoon sewing in ends on my Knitty submission. (Well, I did. Jakob didn't really help that much). Yannick has bowling every Tuesday so I didn't feel guilty going to my first Knitting Guild meeting of the year. I didn't think to ask my mom to babysit, so Jakob came with me.
He helped Norma teach the proper way of doing an SSK...
...and obediently modeled my Montego Bay Scarf-in-progress.
We left in time to put him to bed, and just as I'd sat down on the couch to relax, Yannick walked in with a little treat for me:
A Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen! YUM. As much as I can't wait to dig in, I DON'T want the temptation of eating the whole thing, so we put it right into the freezer and will cut it Wed night after dinner at my parents' house.
We watched the Big Brother episode that I'd taped earlier (bye bye Jameka!) and FINALLY saw some footage from the Jury house! I'd been wondering when we were going to see the evicted houseguests again...
In sad news, we tried the 2 SpongeBob games, and the Lights, Camera, Pants! one was defective. :( Yannick will return it for me on Wed and pick up something new.
Sunday was Julie's birthday- Happy Birthday Julie!
Yannick had to work so Jakob and I had our usual day...feed, sleep, feed, try to knit, feed, play, feed, repeat ad nauseum. We had some fun playtime, and since lately he loves to try and stand, I figured we'd work on getting there by practicing his sitting first.
He did so well in his Bumbo...
...that I put on the Bumbo tray for the first time. At first he was confused but it didn't take him long to realize that his toys were within reach...and that meant he could try to eat them! He's already started bringing everything to his mouth, anything for his little gums to work at.
Sunday afternoon and night we vegged around the house, picked up some supper at Gigi's (delicious, thanks Maaike!) and watched Big Brother before catching up on the next Harry Potter chapter. Yannick's parents slept over so we spent some time with them before bed.
Today I didn't do too much. I went to the bank to pay my license fees (always due on your birthday every two years, so I cut it really close this year LOL), then spent the rest of the day trying to finish my Knitty submission so I can photograph it. I went back to the park with Maaike and Jakob to do some more photos for my other submission, then came home and kept knitting. Yannick came home in time for supper with us but left again for his football pool picks, and I finally managed to finish my knitting. Now I just need to weave in the ends, do some seaming (uh...reverse that order) and type it up.
I leave you with this video of our little chatterbox. He talks like this ALL the time now, and it's absolutely hysterical! (Please ignore my silly voice at the end...I was trying to make him laugh and I kinda sound like a man). :)
I forgot to take the weekly photo on Thursday- oops!
What did we do on Friday? I can't remember...so I think we just vegged in the house all day and I worked on catching up the blog. Friday afternoon I went to the park with Maaike to take some photos for my Knitty submission and realized once we got there that I'd forgotten some necessary props, so we only did a short session.
Friday night? I think we just had supper and hung out.
Oh- I just remembered, but am too lazy to go back and edit...Thursday night my friend Debbie also came over. Sorry Debbie! :)
On Saturday we went for lunch at the new Mike's Restaurant with Julie and Rich. Wow Mike's sure went swanky! The food was good but they tried SO hard to be ritzy...instead of bread at the table it was mini baguettes which came to the table in paper cones that were suspended in metal holders. None of us had the same plate, they were all white but sized to your food...which was great when you had pasta or a sub but my small sandwich was on a plate no wider than the sandwich...which was NOT good when the sandwich top fell over. I had to eat over my salad bowl so as not to make a mess on the table. It was tasty though!
Saturday night my parents babysat Jakob and Yannick and I went to see The Bourne Ultimatum. It was a great movie! I just ordered the books...I understand that their only similarity is the fact that they star a guy named Jason Bourne with amnesia...but that the books are supposedly 100,000 times better. I can't wait to get them!
On Wednesday I decided not to bring Jakob to the Stars & Strollers because the movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday...not to take anything away from Mr. Bean fans, but I'm not one. Instead of going there, we went out early and went over to Fairview shopping center. I wanted to give in Jakob's passport application, and decided to park near the entrance for the photo studio to see if his portraits were ready. They weren't. I knew they were supposed to be ready only on the 6th but I figured one day early shouldn't matter. Well, it did, because Monday was a holiday so they didn't get their shipments in. It worked out ok that we went to Sears though since I found a pacifier that you can put in the freezer. It's by Nuby (Luv 'n Care), and the part that goes in the mouth is made of a gel that freezes but doesn't get solid, so the baby can still bite down without hurting his gums. I got the blue and red one.
I'm glad I found their website while looking for that photo- I found these teethers online and the crocodille one is perfect for Jakob. I've been trying to find something narrow that he can get into his mouth to chew on, and the croc with the separate tail is exactly what I need. Hmm...Babies R Us can't get it, anyone know where I can buy one of these?
While looking for the photos of the teether I bought, I found this little item at Amazon.com:
Check it out- it's a diamond-studded pacifier. Can you believe it? It has 278 pave set diamonds (3 carat total diamond weight) and is set in European White Gold. For a cool $17,000 US, this swanky item can be yours! (Of course, if you read the fine print it says that it is not recommended for use. But you can get it in emeralds and rubies!)
I had brought some knitting with me and had expected to have a nice WIP photo to show you all during the wait at the passport office, but they called our turn so fast I barely had time to knit 3 stitches! Luckily the girl accepted one of Jakob's photos so I don't have to redo it, and in about 6 weeks our little guy will have his very own passport. By then he probably won't look like the photo any longer, but whatever. Because he's under a year old the passport is good for only 3 years but I can get it updated with a new photo for free, one time only. I'm kinda hoping he doesn't change too much so that I don't need to replace the passport, because if I don't then I can keep it as "his first passport". If I send in a new photo and have it changed, they keep the old one.
I picked up some lunch on my way back through the mall to where I'd parked, then came home to feed Jakob and put him down for a nap.
I caught him sucking his thumb in his sleep! How cute! Half the time I'd prefer if he were to use a pacifier so I can control when/how long he uses it, but the downside is that if it falls out when he sleeps, he'll cry and I'll have to go put it back for him. The other half I'd prefer if he uses his hands 'cus they're always there. I think he's made the decision for me- he doesn't really like a pacifier at all, and always has his hands in his mouth. I did some research and it seems that if he stops by ages 4-6 (like most kids do) sucking his thumb WON'T cause too much trouble orthodontics-wise because his jaw and teeth will go back to how they should. It's only if he continues after around 6 years old that it could be a problem that requires correcting in the future (like braces). Oy, I'm already worrying about braces?
Wednesday night I...I did something. I shouldn't wait so long to catch up...I really have no idea what I did that night. I'm guessing I ordered in supper with Yannick, played with Jakob, and watched TV. So we'll go with that. :) What I do remember about Wed night is that Jakob had a REALLY HARD time with his teeth. He wouldn't stop crying, and didn't even take his final nap before bed 'cus he was inconsolable. I had to resort to giving him a bit of baby tylenol right before bed because I KNEW it was his teething.
First thing Thursday morning I called his doctor to make an appointment. I did some reading and found out that the symptoms are very similar for teething as for an ear infection, and I didn't want to assume it was his teeth and ignore something that needs treatment with antibiotics and could cause hearing problems. Luckily our doctor was free later this afternoon. After I fed him we went back to Fairview and I was able to pick up the portraits. When I remember I'll scan them and post them here. I wasn't too crazy about the quality of them...some look washed out and my free enlargement wasn't sharp at all, in fact I'm having them reprint it because I'm not happy with how it came out. I think I'll try Wal-Mart next time. I stopped by my brother's work to show him the photos, then went up to the food court and had a bite to eat before packing us back up in the car.
I thought I was running late- we were registered for a 1:00pm class at the CLSC on Inroducing Solids to your Baby. It's only offered every 6 weeks, and in another 6 weeks it will be just about time to start thinking about giving Jakob some solids, so I wanted to take it now. I got there and no one was there! Turns out it started at 1:30. So I wasn't 10 min late, I was 20 min early! Oh well. The class was really informative and we got some recipes for puréeing our own baby food. I had to leave just before the end to make it to the doctor's appointment on time.
Good news at the doctor's office- it's true what they say- a mother DOES know her child best. His ears are fine and his gums are swollen...HE'S TEETHING. And it has been going on for at least 3 weeks now. I can't believe he's teething so early! The teeth aren't about to pop out yet or anything, but still...my little overacheiver! (Takes after his mommy LOL).
Thursday night is Big Brother 8 night, and we had fun watching the latest antics of the Donato family (Evel Dick and Daniele, for those who don't watch, are a reunited father/daughter who haven't spoken for 2 years. Dick had applied for the show, and Daniele was recruited. Dontcha love all the "reality" in the reality shows?). It was a cool episode, since Thursdays are the live episodes, and they had to do a week's worth of challenges (kick someone off, choose a new Head of Household, nominate 2 people for eviction, have a Power of Veto competition, use/not use the Veto, kick someone off) all in one night. Whew- I was exhausted for them!
Jakob enjoyed watching with us... ...and here's Yannick's impersonation of Eric, America's Player. He's got the crazy eyebrow thing down!
Finally, I'll leave you with a shot of my secret knitting. This is the second of the projects I want to submit to Knitty, and I'm designing it from scratch as I knit. What's that? You can't see it well? Here, is this better? :) If all goes well you'll see a completed, UN-altered photo of it published in Knitty's Winter issue!
Friday was hectic! I didn't go out all day because I was working on my submissions. They were due Saturday and I wanted to have them sent off before then. I even refused to go to the park with 
. Can you believe it? It has 278 pave set diamonds (3 carat total diamond weight) and is set in European White Gold. For a cool $17,000 US, this swanky item can be yours! (Of course, if you read the fine print it says that it is not recommended for use. But you can get it in emeralds and rubies!)
