25 Months: Powered by Snacks, Curiosity, and Pure Chaos

Week 104:

  On our way to Ikea she found a dead cicada.  She made sure to show it to me.

  One the day after her birthday she wanted to have a snacky lunch on the porch.  I didn't have enough of a variety of foods she could eat on the move to do that.  After that, everything was terrible.  She didn't want to sit in her seat, but was happy to see string cheese.  She ate some of her curry before having a meltdown.  She wanted her drink to have ice in it, but then pushed it off of her tray.  She threw her spoon off and then was upset she couldn't reach it.  She wanted the applesauce pouch, but thrashed around when I tried to hand it to her.  She asked for an orange-orange hat, but was distraught when I brought it to her and threw it on the ground.  I offered her some of my curry, but she refused because it wasn't her applesauce pouch.  She wanted her cracker to go into her snack cup so she could throw it on the ground as well.  I tried to offer her stickers but even though she picked out which ones she wanted, they were horrible.  She brightened up when I was able to wrangle her into her clothes so we could go on an adventure to the grocery store.  She ran around without a care in the world and a smile on her face.  She also picked out some cheese for herself and some plates to use at dinner after her party.

  Bill came out to see what we were doing on the porch before bed.  He commented that he didn't have anywhere to sit when he saw that his chair was filled with rocks.  Miss Spud then set out to clear them all off for him.

  On the morning of her 2 year appointment she couldn't decide if the rocks should be in my pocket or her pocket.  She spent quite some time moving them all back and forth between the pockets.

  We ended up walking in with the doctor and Miss Spud impressed her by how independent she was.  She walked right into the elevator and then ran to the office.  She just looked at it when they took a finger poke.  She also didn't cry at all when she got her shot.

  The doctor asked how many words she knows and I guessed 50.  I had told myself to start a list at the last appointment, but never did.  Bill and I came up with 60 on the trip home.

  At her 24 month appointment she was 25lb 1oz(29%), 35.5"(88%) tall with a 19"(73%) head circumference.

  I gave her a new cereal for her snack.  She liked the crunch.  At one point I was on my computer with a help chat and she decided to put a piece on my leg before chomping it off.  It was really funny.  She then started feeding me the cereal.

  On Thursday evening we ran around on the porch for about 20 minutes after we had a dance party.  We stopped when Miss Spud slipped on one of her wooden rings and hit her head solidly.  We then read some books while listening to the rain.  Because we had been running around on the porch my feet were dirty on the bottom.  When I tried to put her to bed, she wouldn't settle until she saw me clean my feet off.  She just kept pointing to my feet and saying Dirt.

Week 105:

  We were low on diapers, so on Monday we went out to try and get her a new box.  On our way out she insisted on bringing two books along with her snack and water.  She had a great time reading her books in the car on the way to the store.

  I asked her what she wanted for lunch and she saw the salad kit I had purchased.  I asked her if she wanted some of her leftovers but she insisted we have the G'een she saw.  I don't know many other toddlers who get distressed at the idea of not eating the vegetables.

  At lunch she was moving her fingers together.  I took a picture and she kept saying Heart Heart.  She was trying to make a love heart with her fingers, I'm not sure where she even had seen it before.

  She wanted a book before her nap on Wednesday.  I gave her the Peek-a-Boo book so I could use the bathroom.  When I came back, she was showing the book to all of her bedtime friends and "reading" it to them.

  I told her to take a nap over her crib camera.  She laid her head down, but had to temporarily sit up again because she heard a car horn beep.  After saying Beep she laid back down again.

  She helped me pack her bedtime friends before we went to the cabin.  I think she's starting to understand what I mean when I tell her that we are packing.

  She was wearing her Daddy Makes Me Happy short and we asked her what color it was.  She said it was pink, which was what the color the words are.  When asked what other color her shirt had, she said Dada.

  When my parents showed up to the cabin, Miss Spud ran past my dad to my mom.

  We had somehow reached the point in the night where she wanted to be goofy but also that everything is incorrect.  She demanded her blanket, and then we had the gall to put her blanket on her.  It finally came down to me coming back in after she cried for a while and after Bill tried to help her.

  She likes playing with my hair, so I didn't think anything about her wiggling her fingers in my hair.  I did have a problem with it when she started trying to pull my hair with all her might.  She's done it a few times and she thinks it's funny when she's doing it, but it becomes a lot less funny when I put her down and wouldn't pick her back up so she could do it again.

Week 106:

  The Delps sent some toys for her.  One was a bus.  They put new batteries in it but couldn't figure out how to get it to do anything or if it was still working.  Miss Spud was playing with it and got the lights and music to work just fine.

  She was grumpy when I mentioned that it was nap time on Saturday.  Turns out that when she had a spill, Bill told her that she could go see the tractor to cheer her up.  So I stopped trying to get her PJs on and we all went out to watch my dad work the tractor.  She had a great time watching the tractor pick up branches.

  When my mom was making waffles, she convinced my dad to feed her bites, like a baby bird.  Then she would run around until she was ready for her next bite.  She got about half a Belgian waffle down that way.

  On the way home Bill tried to go between Smiley's and Buc-ee's with the windows down.  I was going to put my hair up because it was getting blown around.  Miss Spud saw my hair going wild and started screaming and crying.  Bill thought something blew in the window and hit her.  When Bill commented Oh Bugger about it, she said Oh Bugga.

  I was describing things we could do the next day on Tuesday night.  She started saying something we couldn't quite make out.  I was guessing words and she nodded when I said Knitting.  She then said Neh-ting, so we knew it was going to be a family outing on Wednesday evening.

  Before her nap on Wed she pulled her Genie (from Aladdin) magnet off the door and one of his magnets came off.  She was worried about him and I said we just had to glue it back on.  She kept wanting to help, but the super glue was being troublesome.  I finally got the glue to come out and on the magnet.  It took longer to hold than I was expecting, but it finally did.  I read it needs about 24 hours to reach its full adhesion.  I said he needed to nap, but things just started snowballing.  It all lead to her cry screaming and yelling No.  She resisted lashing out at Bucky, which I'm very proud of her for.  She would swing her arm at him but wouldn't get close enough to hit him.  It took me forcing her to rock with me and look at things out her window before she would calm down enough to put PJs on for her nap.  We then rocked for another 10 minutes before she was falling asleep.

  Bill mentioned that about half way to Wegmans Miss Spud started yelling for me.  I'm guessing she had then realized that I wasn't in the truck with them.

  She had a great time with Funkle Mickey while we were there.  She convinced him to feed her like a little bird.  She then ran around and was laughing so hard when he would catch her.

Week 107:

  We went to the picnic of the club we belong to.  She likes the potato salad, hot dogs, chicken, chips, and corn.  She had mixed feelings about the swing.  It was a bit intense when Bill pushed her but was fine when I did it.  The slide was a big hit.  She wasn't sure about the bounce house until I got her to jump.  She would then roll around before getting up and repeating.  She kept sliding out and also tried to bring people their shoes.  She got to go on the slide a few more times before we left.  She didn't want to leave and started protesting.  It was kind of funny to hear her say Wheeee in a whine/cry voice.

  Before her nap on Sunday she informed me that I have two eyes.  She smiled so brightly when I told her that she was right, I do have two eyes.

  I was making lunch and Miss Spud saw Bill's grapefruits in the kitchen.  She grabbed one, exclaimed Orange-Orange and ran back into the play area.  I told her it was a grapefruit and went back to cooking.  Before too long she walked back into the kitchen with it, opened the bag she had gotten it out from, put it back, and closed the bag again.

  She sees me put the paperclips I use as stitch markers in my mouth fairly often.  It's often enough that when she finds one on the ground she will bring it to me and insist on putting it in my mouth.

  She heard Bill go into the bathroom one morning while checking her friends' butts.  She looked at me and said Potty!  She is proud to know that the toilet is for butts as well.

  She has discovered Bill's gum on the steps a few times but usually puts it down without too much fuss.  On Wed she investigated them further.  She took a piece out and figured out you could unwrap it.  She then sat down and tried to stick it to her knee, like a Band-Aid.  It did not work the way she wanted it to.

  While playing with Grandma C at the cabin she found a bag of yellow plastic hooks.  When I went to go and get her ready for her nap she was really worried I was going to take them from her.  She resists putting her sleep sack on because she thought I was going to take the hooks when I reached for her hands.  Normally I would, but since she resists her nap more at the cabin, I let her keep them.

  She said she was done after dinner and we let her loose.  She came over to me, but I only had the mashed potatoes she didn't like.  She then climbed up into Grandma C's lap.  Before my mom knew what was happening Miss Spud was snatching pieces off ham off her plate.  She would cram the pieces into her mouth so no one knew it was her taking them.

  We have been rocking vigorously and she loves being thrown about.  She has added another option where she slowly slides off as we rock it, then "fall" down as she slowly slides to the floor and onto her side.  She then proclaims that she has plopped. 

Week 108: First part

  She has been adding 'ing' to the end of book to make it into an action word.  She wants "booking" before she goes to sleep.  It makes sense if you look at run, walk, talk, eat, etc.  Someday she will learn that while Booking is a word, she wants to do some reading.

  Bill wanted to try out a Swedish Torch, so he set up a small fire.  Miss Spud didn't like the smoke, so she stayed near us.  She sat in my mom's lap getting rocked waiting to point out the moon every time it came out from behind the clouds.  She was very patient.

  My mom brought a bucket of my old Legos that had some connecting platforms with wheels, like train cars but also with Lego pegs on top.  There is also a tractor and a yellow roller in there too.  She had so much fun playing Train by connecting them, adding windows, and people on top.  She needed help connecting them and unhooking them some, but not all the time.

  When she thinks we have something important to do, she will settle down easily at night.  If she insists that Dada gets some lip balm, she will let me leave if I tell her I'm going to give him some.  She also settled down after only wanting to play when she said that Bill's hair needed to be brushed and I told her to lay down so we could go and do that.

  I was sitting in my computer chair and she decided I needed to spin.  She grabbed my knee and the arm of the chair and started walking around.  She told me "careful" when I put my arms up to say whee.  Once we went around a few times she pushed on my butt to get me to stand up and said "Turn" so I knew it was now her turn.  She laid down and I spun her around for a while.

  I showed her how to trade kandi bracelets by threading your fingers together and slipping the bracelet from one wrist, over the hands, and onto the other.  She thought that was so much fun we did it quite a few times.  Every time I moved one she said Pretty and I agreed with her.

Easy Donations

  September Hatathon 2026 is here!!

Stockholm - 23

• Lolivieri - 4

• MinnieMay9 - 6

• knitsamazing - 13?

  I went to go in as a team member, but it was a few days in so I wasn't sure if I was going to make it.  Lolivieri and I were in a small group for a while before knitsamazing wanted to join.  I never saw how many knitsamazing wanted to make, but they had mentioned a half marathon at one point.

  I didn't even keep track of how many items I put in here.  When I first got into makeup, I didn't realize how long it took to get through products.  The little pots of eyeshadow didn't look like they were going to take three years to get through, so I over bought things I liked.  I didn't include things that could have already gone bad, that were open. or not sealed in any way.  I'm doubting if there is a chance that I will be able to work through what I saved, so I know I would never be able to work through everything I had.  I hope they like it.  I'm also going to get some makeup brush sets to go with this.

  I thought these sets were so sweet.  When we received them Miss Spud had almost already grown out of them.  I didn't want to open them take the things out just to have her not be able to wear them more than once.  I'm going to send them down to Wise, VA so someone, or a few other people, can really enjoy them.

  The night we got back from the cabin I was working on a hat and saw Tank running around Bill's chair out of the corner of my eye.  I also saw a small blur running around.  I went over and saw that Tank was chasing a mouse.  After they moved on from going around Bill's chair, they were by the overturned ottoman.  I got Bill to hold Tank while I got the green mouse trap.  We couldn't see it, but Tank was pawing at the plastic carpet runner.  It was in one of the folds.  I emptied the plastic bin that was right there and Bill dumped the mouse into the bin after I put the trap in.  It tried to jump out, but the bin was slick and tall enough so it couldn't get out.  I put the lid on so that Tank wouldn't be able to get back in while we waited until morning to take the mouse out.

  When I went to check on Peanut Puff 9the mouse) the next morning, they had gotten their tail stuck in the trap door and weren't able to eat the whole peanut butter puff I left in the green trap.  I freed their tail and took them on a trip to a new home.  I had a doctor's appointment to go to, so they had to wait until I was done.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 43 (0)

Total: -21

Back at it With the Hats

Pattern: Ruffle Hat by me - Size: 78 stitches - Yarn: Mainstays in Grey & Red Heart Boutique Sashay Metallic in 9929 Diamonds - Needles: US 8 (5mm)

  Since I'm an expert on not feeling quite satisfied with the patterns I come up with, I decided to give it another try.  I did like alternating the round of every bar and every other bar, though on this one I started with an every other row.  I wanted to see how it would look with the ruffles closer together.  I started with a number divisible by 8, which means either a 1x1 or 2x2 rib could be worked.  I still worked the 12 rows of ribbing and two plain rows before adding the ruffle yarn.  I then worked the ruffle yarn in 4 sections around the hat instead of 6.  I worked one plain stitch and then one with the ruffle yarn while still skipping a bar to see if I could work the row that normally would used every bar without having to twist them or have it try and migrate into the inside of the hat when I don't want it to.  I think this is the best one yet.

Pattern: Jingle Jester Hat by me - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Sunkissed in Grape Tonal - Hook: I/9 (5.5mm)

  We were talking about all things nostalgic on someone's Twitch stream and Gaia Online came up.  I decided to try and get into my account again, especially since I spent a lot of real money buying those special item letters back when I used to play often.  It told me that my account had been blocked because there had been suspicious activity.  I opened a ticket and got an automated message that I could use their chat to try and get it fixed.  They asked a lot of questions that I could only vaguely answer while also giving them too much information.  When they asked where I made the account, I told them that I was in location A, but sometimes that shows up as location B online.  It seems I gave all the right answers because it took almost no time for them to unban my account.  They warned me that because it had been so long, there was no way to see what gold/platinum or items had been sold by the hacker.  When I logged in it looked like most of my gold/platinum was gone, but that my items were still there.  The lost gold/platinum is a bummer, but not a big deal.  I was worried about my unopened letters and special items.  I was especially worried about the engraved pocket watch Bill sent me, even though it's not actually worth much on the marketplace.

Pattern: B186 Galway Diamond Hat by Plymouth Yarn - Size: 80 stitches - Yarn: unknown roving yarn - Needle: US8 (6mm)

  I found this yarn and was worried it was both "not enough" and "too much".  By that I mean that I would either run out too quickly or I would have an odd amount left over that was too big to just throw out and too small to do anything with.  I did the math and found what I hoped was the perfect project for it.  I ran into two problems with this hat.  The roving yarn likes to stick to itself, so it's hard to take out stitches, which is a technique I use when trying to use all of the yarn.  I also didn't check the pattern notes I made for myself and took out 8 rows instead of the 5 I needed to.  It still looks really good in the end though.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 43 (0)

Total: -21

My Favorite Tree

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 48 stitches - Yarn: Mainstays in Grey & Caron Simply Soft Sunkissed in Grape Tonal - Needles: US 11 (8mm)

   Something I find to be very interesting is how widely people's preferences are when it comes to how snug they like their beanie to feel.  I have a 21" head and Bill has a 25" head for reference.

  When I was making the single strand crochet rainbow beanies I thought they felt a little too loose, but Bill thought they felt extremely loose.  I've also had him try on hats I've made that fit me to my preferences that he thought felt loose enough to fall off.  He tried shaking his head and it stayed on, but it still felt looser than he would want one for him to be.

  I got a hat and tried it on and thought it was uncomfortably tight.  Bill said it was sized for an adult and tried it on.  He said it fit just fine.

Pattern: Ruffle Hat by me - Size: 78 stitches - Yarn: Mainstays in Grey & Red Heart Boutique Sashay Metallic in 9929 Diamonds - Needles: US 8 (5mm) 

  I was looking back over the last time I did the ruffle hat and couldn't decide if I liked the more or less dense ruffles.  I decided to split the difference by working the odd rounds using every section and even rows skipping one.

  I didn't like how the loops wanted to travel into the inside of the hat on the rows where I worked all the bars.  To fix this I would slip the bar onto the needle, hold the yarn downward, and knit the stitch with the bar.  That would twist it a little and would make sure it didn't try and wander.

  This is my favorite tree at the cabin.  It's so fun because of how many large branches it has growing upward.  It looks like it could be a few trees until you look at the base.  There is also a colony of bees you can see coming and going from the side opposite of the driveway.  It is also impressively tall, probably over 100ft.

  On August 22nd we got some sad news that it had fallen down that morning.  Our neighbor down the way said she saw it fall too.  We were lucky that it didn't fall towards the cabin at all.  This year we had been seeing fewer bees coming out of it.  From seeing the pictures, the honeycombs are empty.

  While we were down there to clean it up, we had a problem with the power around dinnertime again.  It was flickering for a bit but kept coming back.  I was wondering if I should start cooking the tater tot taco bowls or wait.  It went out when I finished mixing the corn topping.  We waited for it to come back but went out to get pizza.  It came back when we were most of the way there, but it didn't make sense to turn around to cook.  I never complain when we get pizza there.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 43 (1)

Total: -21

Happy Second Birthday! (Hoppy Doo-Ooh!)

   It's hard to believe how far you have come over the last year.  We discovered that you favorite animals are cows and your current favorite body parts are butts and elbows.  You know what trash is and how to throw it away, where before you just wanted to try and sample anything you could get your hands on.  Tank really appreciates that you have learned how to pet him in a gentler fashion, even though we all know you just want to hug him and carry him around.

  Unlike other toddlers I have heard about, you are very good at holding hands when it is needed, mostly staying within view when you run around, and staying near us when we need you to.  We all need to work on stopping ourselves from throwing things when we are mad, but you don't throw things that shouldn't be thrown on the regular, and we thank you for it.

  You love picking out what to wear in the morning and I love that, even if you don't always pick seasonally appropriate things.  You have really come around to hats.

  We admit that we are all doomed because of how smart and observant you are.  You know that we need a key in the lock to get out the front door and know how to unlock and open the door to the porch.  You know how clothes should go on and can sometimes manage it on your own.  You can get your socks and Velcro shoes on all by yourself as well.  Colors are easy for you, as are animal sounds.  You know to pick out your morning apple and that we need to rinse it and put on an apple-bib before we can eat it.

  You love with all of your being and I hope that doesn't change.

  You may be able to down flamin' hot snacks like they are no big deal, but we need to work on keeping you from rubbing your eyes until they are clean again.

  For her actual birthday we went to Ikea to wander around and get meatballs for lunch.  She had a great time sitting in every chair, laying in every bed, and doing laps in the "sustainable home."  She loved the meatballs and only liked the peas and mashed potatoes well enough.  She ate some of the lingonberry jelly on its own before we split a princess cake.  We somehow missed all of the stuffed animals the first time through, but when we got back to the box pickup area I knew we had to go back.  I was going to let her pick out a stuffie for her birthday.  When we were about to turn back, she found a panda and a turtle in a random bin near one of the stacks of chairs.  She tried to get the panda out.  I helped her, but she didn't want to leave the turtle.  When I offered them to her two times she grabbed the panda first, so we picked that one.

  We got to the Ren Faire and she immediately started collecting rocks from the parking lot.  It was lunch time, so we found a turkey leg place and also got a Scotch egg for Miss Spud and I to share.  She really liked the egg and turkey leg.  She was able to take better bites of the turkey leg this year, but it's still a little too tough for her to get through on her own.  We watched Vixens en Garde while we ate.

  She loves running around and watching people, so this is always a good time.  Before the knighting ceremony she had fun with another little girl because they were both interested in rocks on the ground.  We got her knighted again, and this time she wasn't scared of the king.  She was also pretty tired by the time the knighting ceremony happened, so she also looked pretty out of it.

  We told her that she could nap, but there were too many exciting things to look at.  She was able to fight it, even though I rolled her small towel up and had her lay her head down on it.

  We got to the stage early, so Mary and I went shopping while everyone else hung out. While we were gone, Miss Spud was gifted some mushrooms. She loved Jacques ze Whipper because of all of the songs and clapping.  

  Mary got her one of the bird whistles.  With a lot of help she got it to work a few times.  The problem was that she wanted to put more of the whistle in her mouth than would let it work.

  We didn't make it to the joust because there was no place to sit and it was too hot to stand in the sun for the second show of the day, and the last one was going to be too late.  When we got home she got some of her lemon cake and opened some of her presents.  I figured we would let her play with some before we just opened all of them.

She's now a 2T!

Week 99:

  If she can see me when I am waiting for her to nap she will just want to bounce in her crib, even if I tell her to lay down and go to sleep.  I usually let her be and hope she goes to sleep.  It usually works but we have had some days where she doesn't get a nap.  A few times I have tried to tell her to lay down and go to sleep over her crib-camera, and it seems to work.  I had to laugh because the last time I tried it, she dropped what she was doing so she could lay down and just closed her eyes.  I guess she is waiting for the voice from the sky to tell her when it's time to nap.

  I usually call Tank's litterbox his Cat Box.  Before brushing her teeth one night she grabbed Pete the Cat, which is unusual to grab him, but not that she brought a friend.  She meowed a few times and then tried to put Pete in Tank's box.  To be fair, Pete is a cat, so it would make sense that he would need to use the Cat Box, like Tank does.

Week 100:

  When I went to get her on Saturday morning she had already pulled her PJ pants off.  After she handed them to me she sat down so she could pull the edge of her diaper aside and peak at the poop inside of it.

  I joked with Bill after one of her diaper changes about where she was.  He came out of the bathroom after I changed her and I had forgotten to close the gate.  He asked where she was and I told him that I wasn't sure, but I did find a baby deer and brought her home.  Spud had insisted she wear her deer headband after the change.

  We went to Mission BBQ to get some dinner with Steven.  She liked her food well enough, but not as much as the strawberries and whipped cream off my strawberry shortcake side.  As we were getting ready to leave we got asked if the food was good.  After we said it was he commented that it was good as long as Miss Spud liked it.  When I mentioned that she really liked the strawberries he got us a small side container of them.

  I was streaming while playing a game and Tank decided he needed to lay on my desk.  I moved Miss Spud's keyboard because she hasn't been helping me type as much recently and it gave Tank space.  The next morning she saw that her keyboard was on the floor and was not happy.  She grumped at me as she picked it up and handed it to me so I could put it back on my desk.

  On Tuesday, after dinner, I caught her teaching her plastic lion how to cross the road.  She said 'Top, Loo, Go-go-go!  Those are all the steps I tell her whenever we cross an area with cars or sometimes in busy stores with lots of carts.

  It is so much fun watching her piece together words and language.  She likes to hold her hands under the water to wash them while I'm trying to brush her teeth.  Her sleeve got wet and she wanted me to know.  She said water and I told her it was wet from the water.  She then repeated wet and water back to me.

  We had to rescue cat-cat, her little plastic cat before she could take her nap.  She had attempted to place it on top of her headboard, but it was small enough to fall down the back, but it was too big to make it all the way to the floor.  Cat-cat would have had to live there until we changed her crib into a toddler bed if she hadn't remembered where she saw him last.

  She joyfully squealed "eye-ceem" when she saw the red lights as we pulled into the parking lot of Smiley's.  We got the peach to share and she knew the cone was for her.  Every few bites she had me put another dollop of ice cream into her cone.  She even made sure to share some with her plastic moo-cow.  She was so happy to be there. 

  She managed to reach up high enough to reach the light switch and turn on the light over the table next to the kitchen.

  When we were playing a board game and Miss Spud was supposed to be napping, Bill went to check on her.  He saw she was crying and naked and went in to investigate.  She had taken off her sleep sack and her diaper before pooping her bed.  Some of it was outside of her playard and some wasn't.  She then insisted that Bill wash Corduroy's hands after he put a new diaper on her.  I cleaned off her sheet and put it in the wash.  She was crying and wanted to rock at first, but then I saw we had to clean the floor.  I laid her down and told her that her job was to hold on to her friends.  She just laid there on her side holding them.  I wiped her hands since we weren't totally sure how poop got on the outside, but we had a good idea how it would have happened.

  She ate all of her grilled cheese when we went out to eat, but she consumed all of it except one bite.  We left and were going to let her finish her sandwich on the way to the game shop.  She crammed the last bite in as we were leaving.  It then sat in her mouth for the whole walk to the game shop, shopping, walking back to the car, the drive to Lowe's, and some sitting in the parking lot of Lowe's.  She poked at her mouth and opened it some.  I told her to eat what was in her mouth.  She smiled and poked at it a few times.  I told her that if she didn't eat it, I would take it.  She then shoved it out with her tongue before I was ready.  Luckily we had wipes and car napkins.  She then proceeded to chug half of her water.  When we got back she ate a few chips, so it wasn't the feeling of being fully full that stopped her from eating the last bite of her sandwich.

Week 101:

  Miss Spud and I went on a rock collecting expedition.  It was supposed to be a walk, but she had to stop every few inches to get more rocks.  She filled one pocket and got frustrated when they started falling out.  She then moved them to the other pocket, but instead of then trying to fill the first one again kept trying to put rocks into the second and got frustrated again.  She then started to fill both of my pockets with rocks.  She kept asking for cows, so I ended up picking her up and carrying her to Earl's cows.  Luckily they were in the nearest pasture.  The two nearest were curious but cautious.  Some that were farther out heard Miss Spud looking and came running over.  They encouraged the cautious ones to get closer too.  She got seven cows to come over to the fence.  We also confused a deer who was passing through at the time.  Bill came to rescue us when we didn't come back as quickly as he had assumed we would.

  The big Bucky was in when we stopped at Buc-ee's.  I decided we should get in the short line to get a picture while Bill waited for the Chicken & Fries boxes.  When we got to the front I tried to get her to go over, but she grabbed my hand and tried to get me to go alone.  I then grabbed her and we went over together.  She wasn't as excited to see him as I thought she would be.  We both got stickers for our bravery.

  When we got back from the cabin she was acting grumpier than usual the next day.  I gave her the light-up ball and a felt ball to throw since she wanted to throw things.  When throwing she started saying Whoop, which made me laugh and brightened her mood some.

  On Monday she went down for her nap super easily.  To make up for that she did not want to sleep at night.  It took us over an hour and a half to get her down.  She would throw her friends and then be scared that they were gone.  She would just throw them again when we handed them back.  She just kept screaming or wiggling when we would put her down.  We could get her to calm when holding her and rocking in her chair, but it would just start again the second we tried to lay her down.

  I don't know what happened, but she did not want a bath on Thursday.  I was filling her tub up and put her in it.  She said it was too hot and climbed out onto me.  I turned it down and kept filling her tub.  I put her back in and she almost sat down but then started screaming.  I put her fish in there to show her it was nice in there, but every time I tried to get her back in she would crawl out, and cling to me while screaming.  I offered to take a bath with her, but that made her scream more.  She also kept saying Poop before farting and screaming even more.  I was able to get her clean by having her stand next to the tub and used a washcloth on her.  She even ran out of her room to yell Nooo, Stooopp at the bathtub another time after I got her in some PJs.  I was able to calm her down enough so that she wasn't screaming and trying to climb away while also trying to get snuggles.

  She really wanted to throw Miss Moo, but didn't want to be away from her either.  She was laying in bed crying for her, so I would pull her off the railing and try to give her to Miss Spud.  Miss Spud would then cry more and move her hands to indicate she wanted Miss Moo back where she was.  She then would cry for her and act like she was reaching for her.

Week 102:

  At knitting Miss Spud got to spend some time with a baby.  She was not entirely sure how to act around the baby, but figured it out.  She shared a dump truck and also a stuffed bunny.  A few times she crawled around like the baby did.  At one point the baby's toy was on the ground and she brought it over for Lucy to play with.  The main concern was that Lucy kept trying to steal her snacks until Miss Spud decided that Lucy needed a pretzel and wanted to feed her the pretzel.

  She was complaining that her socks had dirt on them, so I went to see if we had any clean ones.  I tried her Hello Kitty socks, but they are designed for older kids and don't have the grips on the bottom.  I took them off after she slipped and fell for the fourth time.  She was not happy with that, but eventually accepted dog stickers for her hands instead.

  We are having to do an interesting balance between giving her what she wants and also being firm on bedtime.  She wants 97 dollops of lotion and 117 layers of lip balm all while being rocked in her chair while she tries to escape to chase Tank.  She thinks it's funny to stand up and have the blanket fall off her herself, but wants to be snuggly under it.

  Bill was working from home and Miss Spud was helping him.  At one point they found an empty fruit snack bag.  Bill asked if she could show him what they do with trash.  She ran over to the baby gate yelling Mama!  It was so funny.

  I forget when she started calling it show-shown, but that's what she says when she's asking for lotion.  At one point it was "shun", which isn't too far off.  It then morphed into "show-shown" at some point.

  It's been hot and humid out, which means there are spots on my forehead that get pink.  On Monday morning she noticed it.  She pointed to my forehead and asked "Hurt? Hurt?" in a concerned voice.  I assured her that it didn't hurt and she was pleased by that answer.

  On Wednesday morning she woke up from what I assume was a nightmare.  She was scream-yelling about a truck, or her duck, and sometimes Buck-Buck.  Bill went in to comfort her and ended up coming back into the bedroom with her.  He put her under the blanket next to him, between us, and we all went back to sleep.  She slept through me being a potty-buddy for Tank, but didn't sleep through Bill getting back into bed after using the restroom.  She then jumped on us and tried to hug Tank.  The adults didn't get much sleep and while she got more than we did, it was probably still not enough.

  We had a successful bath.  I started filling her bath and she started to whine and crawl out again.  Since her bath wasn't very full I sat her on the towel and pulled it out.  I then filled the regular bath and climbed in with her.  She crouched for a bit, but then I convinced her to sit down.  We had a nice bath playing with her fish and splashing each other.

Week 103:

  We had another upset tummy on Sunday night.  We were reading books on the LoveSac when she stood up, got off, and threw up.  She then threw up on her way away from the first time.  Bill got her outfit off and snuggled her while I started cleaning.  She then threw up on his keyboard.  We kept thinking she was done, but then more would come up.  It really doesn't help that she wants to throw her head back and arch her back.  I had to try and lean her forward with my entire body while holding on to her and the trash can when it was my turn to snuggle her.  It wasn't until after 11 when she was acting like she was feeling better by commenting on the animal videos I had been playing for her, and not until 11:40 before she was fully back to acting like normal.

  She kept trying to share her fruit gummies and "juice" with Tank.  He was unimpressed with her offerings.  I did tell her that she did a good job sharing, even if he didn't want any.

  She has started to like throwing out trash.  When she finishes a packet of gummies or her apple she tells me that she has trash.  I used to have to help her open the trash can, but she can do it on her own now.

  I went to put ice into her water before her at her request.  When I got back up she was standing in her crib with her blanket over her head.  I said "Ahh, a ghost" and startled her.  I saw her jump a little then she turned around quickly while trying to move the blanket enough to see.  She saw it was me and started laughing.

  

Week 104: First Part

  Bill told me that she wouldn't go down for her nap without him brushing her hair.  She got the hairbrush out from the hallway bathroom vanity and brought it over to him.  She usually does it for herself at bedtime before we brush her teeth.

  On Saturday night I noticed that Miss Moo was missing.  I can usually go down and spot her pretty quickly.  I wasn't able to find her this time.  We distracted her with all of her other friends enough that she settled down without her.  I heard her wake up at 3am asking for Miss Moo, but then she saw her water and exclaimed that she had ice, drank some, and went back to sleep.  We were not able to locate Miss Moo before naptime and Miss Spud kept asking for her.  I tried to distract her with all of her other friends again, but it didn't work as well a second time.  Turns out Miss Moo was hiding in the bin of wipes under the book area of her bookshelf.

  At dinner on Saturday, she got to sit in a booster seat right next to Bill.  She kept leaning into him and being so snuggly.

  We were on the porch on Sunday and she kept hearing planes go by.  She tried to look for them, but between the ceiling, the trees, and the clouds, they were too hard to see.

  On Sunday after lunch and also after dinner she decided she needed to spin me.  I had to make sure I was clear, but then she would grab one of the arms of my chair and walk around to slowly spin me in a circle.  I got a bit dizzy, but it wasn't too bad.

  She found my pair of broken glasses and had to try them on.  She kept putting them on top of her head like a headband.  Bill put them on her the regular way, which she thought was really funny.

  When we were getting her PJs on she said "Mama, ice!"  She asked so nicely I had to get her some ice, but I did wait until after we brushed her teeth and she was reading a book with Dada.

  The last few nights she has asked for lotion on her tummy have ended badly.  She pushes her blanket down and pulls her shirt up.  She then asks for lotion and points to her stomach.  However, when I put some on, it's horrible.  If I rub it in, it's worse along with adding more so she could rub it in.  I was able to put some on mine and have her rub it in, so that made her happier again.

It Seems I'm Just Confused

Pattern: Jason's Cashmere Hat by sweet fiber - Size: 96 stitches - Yarn: Lion Brand Woll-Ease in Pines - Needle: US 8 (5mm)

  I know I usually don't like to make a hat with a pattern and a fold over brim, it seems silly to cover up all that work with ribbing.  However, I wanted to be able to use as much of the skein as I could.  I had purchased this yarn to make a felted bag, but since there is 80% acrylic, it didn't work.  I think it's funny how I usually want to get through the ribbing on a hat as quickly as possible, but lately I've been making fully ribbed hats.

Pattern: Jason's Cashmere Hat by sweet fiber - Size: 108 stitches - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Sunkissed in Grape Tonal - Needle: US 8 (5mm)

  I set up an appointment to get quotes for new windows for our house.  The guy came out and it was fine at first, he measured our windows, then moved on to the spiel.  I tried to not zone out too much during his PowerPoint presentation about some recognition they got in 2023 or how many other people in the area they have done work for, which I'm not sure why we needed because we were returning customers.  After talking about how their windows are better than everyone else's, he finally got to writing down some numbers.  He showed us the amount that would indicate that a company wasn't going to do a quality job and how much would be the top we should pay anywhere.  Then he started doing some high-pressure sales tactics, but I apparently missed some of them.  He said he could leave us with a price good for a year, and I thought that sounded good so we could get a few other quotes.  He then went out to his car to get a sample of the window.  It looked a lot like the ones we already have.  He told us he had to go out and talk with his project manager.  I thought it was weird that he was interrupting our appointment to go talk to him, but didn't say anything.

  He then collected a bunch of information from us to "save us time".  He then wanted to make sure someone would be available on Tuesday for them to double check his measurements.  I got really confused because I wasn't fully paying attention to things and I didn't know if Bill had changed his mind on thinking on it.  He then said that he needed the guy to come out so we could get the job done in two to three weeks.  We were both very confused then.

  I said that we can schedule that if we decide to go with them.  He asked why we gave him the information he was asking for if we weren't going forward with it today.  I said that he asked for it, so we gave it to him and Bill said it sounded like they were running a credit check.  We again said that we were going to take the one-year guaranteed price and think about it.  He then reiterated the lower price we would get if we went with it today.  We then, once again, told him we planned to wait and he once again showed us the lower price.  He also emailed us links to their customer portal at some point.  He tried to say he wasn't using high-pressure sales techniques when Bill called him out on it.

  After the fourth or fifth time of us telling him that we were going to think about it, and then having him re-explain that the smaller quote was for the first consultation only we had to kick him out.  He kept saying "I'm okay with that(waiting), but..." and was just starting to annoy us because he wasn't actually taking the answer we were giving him, even though he said either option was fine with him.  He was there for two hours when I was told by the person making the appointment that it would be quick and simple to just get a quote to think about.

  We really liked the people who gave us the quote for the roof and back door from the same company, but this guy was something else.  Bill looked up reviews online and it seems ours wasn't an isolated incident.  I even talking to an online friend who had the same problem with them.

  

©pieceofcakemoving (Instagram) - ©u/Aspy17 (Reddit) - ©madam_librarian2037 (Instagram)

  On our way to the cabin I looked up from my knitting and saw this going the other way.  I didn't get a chance to snag my own photo, but there were some good ones online already.  The only thing about it I can find on the Piece of Cake Moving & Storage's website is that they are a New York based company and that "something big is coming."

 

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (3)
Yarn Out: 42 (1)

Total: -20