New bed, new bike, new project

There always seems to be a lot going on around here, and the summer is no exception. First, a few weeks ago, M started waking up screaming in the night, and we wondered if it might be time to get her out of her crib and into a bed. (And by bed, I mean a mattress on the floor.) The fact that she hadn't already climbed out is either a small miracle or a testament to how much she loved that crib. Still, D was around this age when we moved her to a bed, so we thought we may as well go for it.

The bed's good enough for her stuffed cat, but not M

 So far, it's been kind of a good news/bad news situation. Bad news? Naps have all but gone out the window since. Good news? She's exhausted at bedtime and sometimes sleeps through the night. To provide some incentive for the transition, we bought M a new comforter and sheets from Walmart, but she doesn't seem to understand about sleeping under them yet.

When naps occur, they are right by the gate, preceded by much crying, with M's face mashed into the floor

Next, my new bike. I finally found a bike that I wanted to buy! Hubby and I had been idly looking for one since the spring, and decided on a light blue model from Costco. It was 230$, and then I had to buy a helmet as well. We're hoping that biking is something we can do as a family to stay active. Hubby has always enjoyed bike riding. I am the reason my own family of origin stopped bike riding. (Something about poor brakes, hills and riding into the wind discouraged me.) Anyway, we've been on two short rides around the neighbourhood with the girls in the bike trailer/kiddie bike seat, and it's gone well!

The most excellent picture I could take

Finally, I am on the hunt for my next knitting project. I had been working on a sweater for my mom, but then I ran out of yarn and it took weeks to find, order, and receive another skein. In the interim, I had no proper focus, and I worked alternately on socks for Hubby, slippers for my grandma, and a doll for D (with one planned for M). The sweater is done, the socks are my travel project, the slippers keep not working out, and I just finished the first doll today. D's input: she wanted a "real green dress". I helpfully made the hair and skin colour similar to D's own. Pale is the new tan, right?

Fun fact: this doll does have a mouth, but it's in such a pale shade of pink that it blends into her white face

Up next? There are a number of very special babies that have been or are going to be born this year, and I'd like to knit for as many of them as I can! I'd also like to do one other "selfish" knit for myself, something less time consuming than a sweater. That may get put to the back burner until this year of no new yarn is over, though.

Cute Chapters craft

My girls always tend to have better days when we have an out-of-the-house activity in the morning, whether it's a play date, park visit, play group, or even errands to run. Today was a bit rainy, so we made our way to Chapters for story time; they have them every day at 10, and they're free to attend, but can be pretty busy. I counted over thirty kids, not to mention parents. They were doing a beach-themed day, and the staff had picked out beachy books and songs and organized a super-cute craft. D only made it about halfway through the craft before M got antsy and we had to leave. We were able to finish it at home.

Cut a rectangular castle shape out of sandpaper.

Use coloured chalk to decorate it.

Curl the finished castle around a plastic cup, and secure with a rubber band.

D really want to put stickers and tape on hers, however, regular adhesive wouldn't stay on. I couldn't tell you what kind of stickers they had at Chapters, but they are firmly stuck. That being said, I don't think I'd want that type in my house!

The other nice thing about being at story time in a store is that M had lots of things to play with as she walked around during story time: toy shopping carts, the loot bag toy display, a train table, and all the other toys they had in the kids' section. Oddly, she stayed away from books. Anyway, it made for a reasonably fun morning which would otherwise have been spent indoors.

We went next door to Walmart afterwards to buy buttons for D's Kindergarten cardigan. As a knitter mom, I feel that covering my child in stitches is akin to offering protection against the unknown. You know, knitting someone a sweater is saying "I love you" 10 000 times. Even if that sweater is made of three different types of acrylic yarn. These are the same heart buttons that I bought for her flower girl sweater, almost two years ago. D tried her new sweater on yesterday, and it's ludicrously big, but that beats the alternative. She was delighted with it, so am I, and that's all that matters.