"Socks" "Sit" "Doggy"!!!

It's official- Roman has been uttering REAL words all week and it all started with a pair of socks! It is the middle of summer so I rarely put socks on him, but the other day I thought it was a little chilly around the house so I took him in the bedroom and said, "Let's get you some socks!" Then he said, "Socks!" Plain as day! I was shocked! He said it another 10 times over the hour, so of course we had to call daddy, Nanna Bubbe (my mom) and Grammy (Jer's mom) to let them hear this wonderful milestone!

Later that evening Jer and I told him to sit down in his high chair and he said, "Sit!" Then, the next morning when we got up, he was sitting in front of me and he noticed that the boxers I had worn to bed had Dalmations on them! He got so excited and started saying, "Doggy! Doggy!" We are also hearing a lot more of "Mama" and "Dada", which he has been saying for a while but mostly when he is mad!

Now, some of these amazing utterances may not necessarily by decipherable to the untrained ear, but as a mama they are perfect English! In fact, I have noticed that as my ears become more atuned to his unique little sounds I am able to understand other little youngsters better too! Wow, being a mother is incredible! You just can't get these little joys any other way! How blessed I am!

Oh what a mess!!

Oh my, my! What happened here? Well, I will tell you! My loving mother was working a craft fair (my parents own Labor of Love Creations- they make beautiful signs for the home! Check 'em out!) and she found a booth with beautiful hand painted yarns by Lee Greenlee of Shoalter Bay (she doesn't have a site but if you want her number I can get it to you!). Knowing that I am an avid knitter, she generously bought two skeins for me to make scarves out of- one for her and one for me! However, when I attempted to unravel the first skein to make a center-pull ball I quickly realized that something had gone terribly wrong when the skein was originally made- I found yarn criss-crossing every which way! Then, to make matters worse, my one year old son decided to "help" me! Before I knew it I had a knot worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records! It ended up taking me 3 days and over 4 solid hours to work the whole thing out! I can't believe I stuck with it- probably because it was a gift and I would have felt terribly guilty to give up!

Now that the madness is over I am finally getting to knit the first skein up in a lovely Double Moss Stitch (alternating k2 p2 k2... with p2 k2 p2... every 2 rows). In the end I am sure it will be worth the work, but I am absolutely making my husband help me hold the second skein while I roll the center-pull ball!

Perfection?

Well, I don't know about perfection but I sure do love them! The brown longies (Cascade 220) were my first ever pair. Sadly, they are getting rather short (probably should have made them longer to begin with! Oops! Oh well, part of the learning process!), but Roman still wears them almost every night to bed!

The light green on the left were the second pair I made. Since I only bought one skein they ended up being more like hot pants than perfection pants, but they did there job until I got another pair of shorties made! Some of our friends who lived in Germany for a few years said he looked like a German baby! Well- Danke!

My third pair were the dark green with brown trim. I messed with the pattern a little, wanting wider legs. Well, it seems that I over compensated a bit after the light green pair and I think Roman could probably wear these when he is, oh, I don't know- maybe FIVE! They are huge! Drat! Try again!

Which brings me to my last completed pair- the blue with grey trim! They are the closest thing to perfect I have made! Much better fit and I think the cutest pair so far! My husband even thinks they are cute- and that is saying something!

Here is Roman "helping" me take pictures:

And here are the blue ones in action:

An intersting Blog- good reminder

I was just reading this pretty cool blog that I found on 5 Minutes for Mom- Cheaper by the Half Dozen. This mama points out something very important- so many kids are not getting the attention they need when it come to schooling. I think that a lot of parents checkout when it comes to what their kids are doing during the day at school- they figure that teachers are taking care of all educational concerns, when many times that is just not the case. Teachers have a lot of students to think about and it is not hard for a few to slip between the cracks. C.R. Morris at Cheaper by the Half Dozen notes that parents are the ones ultimately responsible for their children's educations. So, whether you need to hire a tutor or homeschool your munchkins yourself, be sure you are active in your kids education this year- your kid's future is depending on it! Way to go Mama (C.R. Morris) for bringing this to light!

Personally speaking, I know that Roman is still quite young, but his learning is constantly in the back of my mind. In fact, I started reading books about homeschooling when I was still pregnant! I hope to get his education off to a fun start this fall by enrolling him in some music classes and possibly a co-op!

Christmas is Coming!

Okay- you may think I am crazy but Christmas has been on my brain lately! Probably because I am planning out my Christmas projects and I have a lot of them! I figure that if I want to get even half of what I have planned actually accomplished then I had better get started soon! My first big goals are the afghans I am crocheting for my grandparents. In addition I have a long list of other fun items that I am either sewing, knitting, or craftily making in general, but I can't post them just yet for fear of some of the recipients finding out! All in all, I think it will be lots of fun and if I start now it hopefully won't be too stressful! So, Merry Christmas All!