Purls in the Park

All Words

The new camera needs a new battery.  So no new pics. 

Yesterday was vacation week away from day care.  I stayed home and M stayed home for a few days to keep Young One company.  We visited lots of different playgrounds, sometimes two in one day!  We went to the Brooklyn Children's Museum where Young One ran his little butt off.  There are water features to stick your hands into, an indoor jungle gym-like structure with musical instruments built into it, and a large Chinese dragon head that was hung in such a way that you could climb underneath and do the dragon dance.  Y.O even got to drive a city bus which he took to surprisingly well (who taught him how to work a steering wheel?) 

He had so much fun that in the 20 minute drive home he was still too wired to fall asleep, and went nap-less that day. 

Young One was also very helpful at the Food Coop where he picked a lot of items off of the shelves.  No shrieking, though.  That was nice. 

On the knitting front, I finished my first pair of Fetching.  After a few days of mild weather I thought that I wouldn't get to use them this year.  Nope, I was wrong.  Its bitter cold outside. 

Hint to the GPs:  if you call around 7 or 8 in the evening Young One usually beats his parents to the phone.  You'll hear all about the subway train. 

Stand Off

Picture this.  A quiet but well traveled meandering path in the park.  Parents and toddler taking a walk, and occasionally a scoot on the scooter.  Then, the toddler stops and decides to reverse direction.  The parents wait.

Fast forward two or three minutes.  Mother and son are about 30 yards apart, staring at each other.  The good, the bad and the ugly, my friends.  The second that I take a step towards him, he turns and bolts.  As I trot down the path and pass a man with two dogs he yells out "just about two years, right?" 

Indeed. 

The rest of the week was much like this.  There is one knitted fingerless mitten, but now its going to warm up and be too warm to bother with mitts.  That's the trade off for temps in the 40s.

Life, the Jan. 26 - Feb. 1 Edition

YO likes dunkalings.  You know, the yummy Chinese food with good stuff inside a rice flour wrapper. 

YO calls them "dunkalings."  (i.e. dumplings). There's one in his hand.  Waffles and dunkalings.  Breakfast of champions. 

This week continued the sub freezing temperatures.  Good woolly sweater weather.  Good for knitters.  The snow, sleet and junk from the sky started on Wednesday.  When we left in the morning for school and work, we found snow on the ground.

By the time I took the subway into Manhattan the weather turned into nasty icy rain and the weather we wildly unpleasant for the entire day.  Boo hoo, it would have been nice to have more show!

Young One took out the garbage.

On Friday I went to the Devils/Penguins game at the Rock with one of my best-est friends.  We saw a great game, and more importantly, the Devils won.  No pictures, though, because the photos that were taken of me make me look like Bill Clinton.  Not flattering. 

But Saturday, oh Saturday!  We were invited over to our friends' house where we met Mr. Chilla!

That's our friend's pet chinchilla.  YO first thought it was a kitten, then finally settled on calling him Mr. Chilla.  Here's a close up.

 

Mr. Chilla is taking a dust bath, something that chinchillas enjoy.  He's in a glass bowl full of volcanic ash which is apparently very good for dust baths. 

And today was a big day becasue we went to visit Max's grandparents and aunt, and the ladies took some time out to visit the big super bowl day sale at the local yarn store.  I had no intention of making a purchase, but the Classic Elite Lush was 50% off, and the right guage for a February Lady sweater.  Sometimes you can't ignore the right yarn at the right time.  Whle visiting there was much guitar playing, tossing of spongey balls, and Chinese food.  Good times.  Then we came home and taught YO how to say "Bruce."

 

It is very important that Young One learn to say Bruce.

Weekly Roundup, Jan. 19 - 25

Now that the GPs are on the road again I want to be a more consistent blogger.  This fends off any emails demanding more posts featuring the Most Favored Grandson (Young One).  I'm trying out a system that I've seen on a few other blogs, the weekly roundup.  I think this will work better for me because it provides a little leeway with time, and weekly, is, well, weekly.  An agreement with myself to post 2 times a weeks a little amorphous.  I can't commit to certain days of the week because of my schedule.  Weekly lets me post some time on the weekend when I can still remember what happened the week before.  And I get wiggle room.  I'm all about the wiggle room.  Also, it doesn't preclude me from posting a photo of YO every now and then. 

So this week, YO got a new rug.

He loves it.  The first time he saw it he ran into the room and flopped himself on the floor proclaiming "rainbow" and promptly informed us that he was going "nite-nite."  The colors certainly perk up the room and the rug gives our feet a break from the chilly floor. 

 

Great colors. 

We also opened windows on Friday.  44 degrees.  This was a Very Big Deal.  I hate stuffy winter air and open windows as soon as I can without freezing out my family.

 

I sorted yarn and pared down my stash of fiber.

I am making a concerted effort to find patterns that match the guage and drape of the yarn. 

We also remembered that we purchased a tent "igloo" from Ikea for YO.  He likes it. 

All in all, a good week. 

Weekend Update

Well, Young One's grandparents are off again, down south to build houses for Habitat for Humanity.  They don't sit still for too long.  So snowbirds, here's what you're missing.

Snow.  Not too much, but snow nonetheless.  It was the beautiful quiet snow and it went on for a few hours.  No breeze, no wind, just snowflakes slowly dancing down to the earth.  I love it when my neighborhood is quiet.

More snow.  And people sledding.  Sadly I was still under the weather and couldn't take Young One out sledding.  And M?  Well, as I've said before he doesn't have any experience with traveling at the high speeds one can reach on a sled, so we were inside for most of the day. 

And Mom, the zoom works really well on the camera you gave to us for Christmas.  Thanks.

Young one mugged for the camera...

And again...

And then he was off, done with us.

Now we must rest and get ready for the big inauguration day!

My Boy

A little like his mother....and father....

Young One's Stats

Age:  Two Years Old Today - as of 3:20 p.m.
Height:  35.5 Inches (79th percentile)
Weight:  30 lb, 13 oz (65th percentile)
And....drumroll please....
Head Circumference:  51.0 cm (95th percentile)

Yes, he's ours, the next in a long line of giant-headed people. 

Happy Birthday Y.O.!!

Big Race, Big Win

Big smiles all around.  I and all of my colleagues are so proud to be American and so proud of American voters (who we had lost faith in over the past few years).  Sadly I did not partake in the dancing and hugging in the streets of Brooklyn (a bad cold and tending to Young One won out) but we were amazed and thrilled listening to the reports as the polls were closed. 

What would be even more surreal? 

Senator Al Franken.  Only time will tell. 

In other news, guess who went down the big slide?

Did You Vote?

We did.  This was Young One's first visit to the polls.

 

The polling places around Brooklyn have never before seen lines.  The lines are around the block, sometimes around a few blocks.  One district in downtown Brooklyn has a 4 hour wait, and people are waiting.  Awesome.

Anticipating Great Things

I was quite moved by this op ed piece in the NY Times.

I expect that tomorrow history will be made. 

Go Vote.