This baby is sleeping 11 or 12 hours each night – straight through. My other two babies don’t do that now, let alone when they were this age!
Archive for January, 2013
30 Jan
New year re-org
Year after year, January seems to bring a renewed attempt to organize our home. I didn’t make resolutions this year, but I did commit to staying on top of household tasks. Some days, their sheer size of the operation is overwhelming, but little by little, I feel like I’m reclaiming some order.
I cleaned out my closet, packing up about 30 pieces of clothing for Goodwill, and remarkably, it’s still well organized nearly two weeks later. I’m also determined to wash, fold and put away a load of laundry each day, which should free up several hours come Sunday.
I’m not alone in this endeavor. In fact, Bryan is working far more diligently. He’s completely revamped the storage in the basement, and his tool bench is beautifully organized . . . and labeled.
Last night, I noticed he’d also labeled the deep freeze downstairs, just in case there’s any confusion. I can only assume the baby will be next.
28 Jan
Monumental projects
Last semester, Ava’s second grade class created projects about national monuments and parks. Her assignments included a “postcard” presentation about the Grand Canyon, which you can watch here.
She also had to create a model of a monument. It was so interesting to watch her process with this—while I was trying to figure out how she’d chisel the Statue of Liberty out of floral foam without cutting herself, she was Googling ideas that didn’t include a trip to the ER for stitches.
Ultimately, she decided to construct her model using a doll. She was quite attentive to the details, which included draping of the gown, the inscribed year on the handmade book, a Christmas-bulb-turned-torch and the toothpick crown (with exactly seven spires). Everything had to be just so. She was quite bothered by the fact spray paint wouldn’t adhere to the doll’s hair, but I think her end result was remarkable nonetheless!
26 Jan
Caturday
It was a pretty lazy Saturday morning here–we slept in, made chocolate chip pancakes and watched Tangled for the third time this week. While most of us have decided to kick it into gear, others seem less motivated.
25 Jan
Coconut bars
Perhaps not the kind you’d expect . . . these lotion bars are made from coconut oil, beeswax and olive oil.
I started using coconut oil as a moisturizer for Owen when he first struggled with eczema. His dermatologist ultimately wasn’t on board with that plan, but I’ve continued to use it myself in place of lotion ever since. Coconut oil is a solid that melts at body temperature, and I thought a bar would be a bit less messy. My mom sent me the original recipe, which recommended three parts beeswax to two parts coconut and olive oils, but that resulted in a bar that’s a bit too hard for my liking. Next time, I’ll reduce the beeswax by at least half (and take the recipes’s suggestion to add a bit of essential oil for scent).
23 Jan
Coupon wars
Ava just handed this to me. Her sweet smile dissipated, and she admonished: “I only have ONE.”
It should last me at least the next 20 minutes.
21 Jan
Owen fix
This photo of Owen shows off his two tiny teeth–no sign of others just yet. If he were down with my whole plan of self-feeding, I think they’d serve him well. However, he refuses to believe Cheerios are actually food, he’s quite happy with a puree of whatever vegetable we’re having for dinner.
19 Jan
Ava and Owen
You’d be hard pressed to find a baby that’s kissed more than this little guy. Not that he seems to mind…
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