What I've learned this week, and it's only Tuesday...

* I love how she asks to "read" our books when she climbs on our bed "boooo-k booooo-k, muh, muh (more)" and how she leafs through the pages like a master black jack dealer shuffles the cards.

* my elephant noise does not hold a candle to my husband's elephant sounds

* I also need to work on my dolphin sound effect (suggestions?)

* living with a toddler is like living with a raven, they are attracted to random shiny objects, especially trash, and they collect said objects and build a little nest wherever they go... or more accurately they leave a bread crumb trail of trash around your room.

* THUS as a result being a mom to a toddler means you are also a detective, you can look at all the clues- i.e.: the hodgepodge collection of crap on your floor and decipher when and where the child was at such and such a time and therefore her other shoe must be.....? HERE, beneath my pillow!

* the baby's kissing phase is really cute, I just wish our dog understood it as affection and not as a threat to her small delicate boston terrier physic.

* That no matter how confident I feel about the cloth diapers, to never skip the final extra rinse they NEED in the wash. no sense bringing on mean nicknames like "cauliflower butt" for the baby.

* This new sleeping phase she is in- where she no longer needs to be rocked until fully asleep, then put down, but rather put her down while awake to fall asleep on her own- is a BIG milestone! go toddler, go toddler GO! (although I do miss the falling asleep on me thing, sniffle sniffle)

Good Night Moon And Wes Anderson need to get together

 

As a new-ish parent we read a lot of goodnight moon in our little family and since I didn't grow up reading this classic, the book has a funny adult affect on me, hear me out. In some way I consider myself lucky for not having any childhood associations with the book- mainly now I won't grow tired of it as easily as some parents have bemoaned is their personal plight. Rather at the beginning of our daughter's infancy I read the book with some serious melancholy ... thinking about past generations, about how fast she is going to grow up, mortality- yah know up beat $hit like that! PLUS one of my adult associations about this book comes from the sappy movie, "Playing by Heart" where a mother reads this to her son who is dying of aids. YAY, so that's what I brought to this book. (eye roll)

However, I am now in love with this classic and was struck by how awesome "the great green room" is and how it reminded me of a Wes Anderson set, specifically the Royal Tenenbaum's. I mean what kid (let alone a bad arse rabbit) has a tiger skin on their floor, striped curtains and their own fireplace!? Sign me up! So I propose that Anderson work in cahoots with illustrator Max Dalton to create some badass children's books, perhaps they could do a Goodnight Moon director's cut and elaborate on the story? What do you think?

Some interior shots of the Tenenbaum's house.

and a Royal Tenenbaum illustration my Max Dalton

A Love Letter to Winter

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Hello all, and happy Monday! I trust you all had a great weekend!? Ours was low key. I got a little break on Saturday and Sunday from doing the full time mom stuff, which was really nice. And since the weather has been so un-winter-like we spent lots of time outdoors with the little one and it made me consider the reality of sunblock on her skin and how I should get on that. Anyway, here is this week's Love Letter to Winter, links posted when available. Have a great one!

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What to Watch: Melissa McCarthy on SNL

I've been a fan of SNL since I was very little, let's just say (like most quirky children) it was on my goal list in 3rd grade to one day be on SNL... thus come rain or shine I have watched the show on and off through out my young adult life. However, since the show's resurgence with its Digital Shorts and the hilarity of the 2008 election coverage, SNL has been lacking on the hosting front. And in general there is a rare show where I find the entire set entertaining (let alone even one skit, sorry!). BUT the episode this past fall on October 1st with host Melissa McCarthy was THEE funniest SNL I have seen in a LONG time! Each skit was hilarious and I was acutely aware of the chemistry she had with the cast, let alone what must have taken place in the writer's room for such a show to be conceived. 

I know I'm a little late in talking about this episode, but you see I bought it on i-tunes and watch portions of it at least twice a month! (the husband and I actually quote it often = DORKS!) And after revisiting it this morning (during a little mommy-down-time) I thought I just had to tell you about it!!! Above is one of the rare clips from this episode to give you an idea of how funny it is! (it's flipped/backwards like mac photo booth) So I suggest going on iTunes and purchasing the entire episode for your viewing enjoyment! Perhaps the show would be consistently funny if there weren't so many other comic venues these days sucking away so many comedians into other roles...?  Can you imagine your dream SNL cast? Oh man... well I'll stop there to keep from being a complete geek.

I'm planning on watching this episode with my mom who LOVED Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, should be fun!

have a great Saturday!

ps: more "What to Watch" suggestions 

15 months old and Galavanting in the Snow

get some

the calm before the splits

This past month has been a big one for the Little Miss, so much to say so much to share (this goes for me too!). Yes, since her walking has become more sure-footed she has picked up speed, and does little tricks now and again, like strutting and walking backwards, pivoting and stomping. And like her walking, her language has taken off and new words pour out of her mouth daily! And I know we are bias, but she is really smart! We send her on missions all the time- go get this, can you put this is the trash, can you go give this to so and so, can you go get your, drink, your bunny, etc and she always understands what you are asking, does it immediately and loves having a task. She's a really good helper and loves being involved and part of the group. She's so playful and happy go lucky and on the rare occasion she gets upset we can quickly turn it around for her, she very responsive, it's really great.

Here's a list of the more decipherable things she can say:

good girl

Millie

momma, dada (& mostly all of her family's names ( grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc))

banana

cracker 

cheese (you can't even spell "cheese", she immediately starts saying it! dammit!)

apple

book

all gone

thank you

bye-bye

oh my

wow

poopa (for poop naturally)

more

up (and "up please" is a work in progress)

on

she can count to 5 (mimicking us after we count to five, this goes for counting to 3 too, obviously)

bunny

ouch (for when she knows something will hurt her, like my mom's pins, thus she taught her this)

sounds:

can crow like a rooster

roar like a lion (and any other animal who roars, tiger etc)

baaah like a sheep

hoot like an owl

bark like a dog

chirp like a bird

signs:

for "more"

"drink"

"all done"

"where is...(usually asking about millie)"

"Bird"

"hat"

"flowers"

"Hot"

"fire"

"candle"

"the eensy weesny spider"

"diaper"

She is SUPER chatty and constantly chirping away. The husband and I look at each other sometimes in disbelief and with the knowledge that $hitz is gonna get crazy once her words are more defined and understood. The victory she will feel once she realizes we can understand her (after understanding us for sooo long) will be HUGE and she will be talking about EVERYTHING! lol looking forward to it actually.

Here is a 4 minute video (i.e.: warning, it's long) of our little family playing in the snow this past weekend. It was our first real snowy outing since she was a few months old in Maine... I like how you can see what kind of Dad Cameron is and will continue to be, he strikes a fun balance with me... i.e.: I would never run and slide on the ice while holding her, but I trust his ice walking skills to make it fun and safe. It's wild to look at him with her sometimes and realize we've cross the threshold- when way back when I could only imagine how great of a dad he would be... and now I have it right in front of me on a daily basis. Pretty great, pretty wild, and pretty sappy.

So on that note, Have a great weekend!

xo,
abs

Links and Such

Here is this week's "Links and Such", my Thursday blog post. Enjoy!

little art blog
this reminds me of our daughter 
Homemade Goldfish
hilariousness about motherhood
could be interesting...
I would love to knit this
love this vintage whale chart
pretty tunic
cement pieces for your home or garden?
instant beach glass collection
DIY paper basket weaving
and even more DIY projects to bookmark


And in case you missed it

NEW: What I learned this week and it's only Tuesday
Our new Tea Station
more added to STUNNING
This week's Love Letter to Winter

/// Stunning ///

Recent images added to my pinterest Board "Stunning". a nice little respite for the middle of the week.

What I've learned this week, and it's only Tuesday...

* If you wear fleece pants and a nice-ish wool sweater to bed, you can disguise these as clothes the next day, no one is the wiser.

* being a good mom, means I'm a bad friend (to my age appropriate friends)

* not a good idea to store baby boogers in your back pocket, besides the fact that it's gross, they dry into hard little daggers that stab the crap out of the sensitive skin beneath your fingernail

* when you put chapstick on her lips, it will come back more wet

* don't ever find yourself sitting behind her when she is  "Playing", this phase of throwing crap behind her is lethal.

* she might find an impromptu fort with the two of you beneath a sheet on your bed fun- but not so much when the setting is her crib and you are on the outside of the sheet

* we put a toddler stool at the foot of our bed so she can climb on to a bench and then on to our bed, and back down again, over and over and over and over and over and over and over AGAIN! mildly supervised of course. ; ) It's the best thing since peanut butter.

* New go to food- Chopped & steamed cauliflower with half&half, cheddar cheese and crumbled blue cheese- in the microwave for 1.50 on level 5- will have her chowing down at lunch with a loud MMMMm after every bite, I have to agree, it's genius.

* every night, after she is in bed, is like Christmas Eve in a way... you occupy yourself with those secret things you can't do in front of her, like eat candy, knit, sew, lay perfectly still uninterrupted on your bed listening to audiobooks... and then before daybreak you have to hide all the evidence of your secret life... and baby proof your room once again.

Birthday Round up: DIY Tea Station, Flowers and Eggs Beni

Before

Here it is the present I got for the husbo! We joke that Cameron is a "Tea Guy" (he drinks tea ALL the time!) and tea has been a big part of our time together. We had a favorite tea place in Maine, favorite mugs from both Maine and Alaska, we have fun finding new-to-us teas... etc, etc. So when I saw the Bodum sale on Gilt Home, the idea to make a Tea Station in our bedroom just clicked, and I got him the Bodum Electric Kettle in green! Here is the Before picture. The tv was left over from when this room was a guest bedroom, and we never used it, making this dresser a catch all for loose bits of crap. So this was the perfect tea station destination!

AFTER

Since this is a short dresser the toddler can reach up and pick items off of it. So I used one of my vintage suitcases to add some height to the dresser making it a more normal countertop height while creating a greater distance between the toddler and the hot stuff. On the Shelf to the right I put jars of our loose leaf tea (including new tea from Philly's Premium Steap) and the second shelf houses back up mugs. I also have a tiny bottle of dishwashing liquid in the bathroom so we don't have to go to the kitchen to clean the mugs each time.

Detail shot of the tea area. 

I covered the case with a handwoven fabric to protect it, and I also have a wooden tray on there for added protection and as a visual element. Our little wedding present teapot from our friends, two mugs we bought while in Homer Ak, and a new tea strainer from Premium Steap. I gave the big reveal to the husbo on Saturday night and he was very surprised. And come Sunday we already used it twice! I also made him a photo book of all the cellphone pictures form our daughter's first year and I also gave him a massage gift certificate. He's earned that one for sure! It was a fun 30th birthday present, one that we can both enjoy (score!).

For my birthday: last Tuesday night the husband made me eggs benedict with smoked salmon and avocado for dinner. So delicious!

He gave me flowers from Trader Joe's (so beautiful and soooo affordable!)

The busy guy at work.

tastiness.

We had great birthdays and it's fun to have them four days apart. Since I'm a twin, sharing birthdays is old hat and something that is actually kinda fun! Cus look, now I get to have tea whenever I choose!

A Love Letter to Winter

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Hi All, Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend! Ours was LOTS of fun. It was the husbo's big 30th birthday and I'm excited to share with you what I gave him (will post later today so check back in!). I love gift giving and this was especially exciting!!! We also had loads of merriment playing with the baby in the snow. Lots of snow and ice was consumed, the nice pure white kind, no worries! And she had tons of fun walking on the ice (a surprisingly natural ice-walker, must be the Alaskan in her). I'l post pictures and videos of our wintery excursions later this week. In the meantime Enjoy this week's Love Letter to Winter.

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