The Big 21 (months)

Week 86:

  I peeked on her when I was hoping she had finally decided to nap.  She had her legs in a V position with some of her bedtime friends under the fabric of her sleep sack.  She was then moving one leg, then the other to reveal some of her stuffies and then the others.

  She has tried to play with Tank quite a few times.  She will swing around a shoelace I have for Tank to try and catch.  However, she doesn't understand that he doesn't want to play with it as she swings it around as hard as she can.  He has tried to play with her even through the danger.

Week 87:

  I love watching her look at the pictures in her various 'First 100' books when we ask her where something is.  She doesn't always know what we are talking about, but she will look them all over before taking a guess.  She's getting better at them the more we do it.

  Every time we go down the diaper isle at Safeway she likes picking out a new stuffie.  This time she tried to put the giraffe into the shopping cart so we would get it for her.  She was distracted by picking out flavored waters with Bill and I was able to put it back.  I keep meaning to make a Floppy Ferret for her to bring with her when we are shopping.  I like the idea of bringing something I made because if we lose it I can make another.  She was also very happy to carry her pack of cheese sticks.

  Before her naps she has been pointing to the bears on her Boppy.  For the big bears I made a deep roar sound, for the little ones I make a happy roar sound.  She has started copying me on it after confirming which ones make which sounds.

  She tried to walk from the table to her highchair again, but they were farther apart this time.  It didn't go the way she wanted, but luckily she didn't get hurt.

  She thinks it's funny to make sure I join everyone at bed time.  If I'm still in my computer chair she will push on my butt until I stand up, and then guide me to the stairs.

  When I went to go check on her when she was supposed to be napping I noticed she had gathered all of her bedtime friends.  She had gotten up and gathered everyone together so she could show them the big truck that was outside.  The neighbors across the way were getting a FedEx delivery.

  On the way to the cabin she decided to stay up, even though we got a late start and had multiple slow downs.  By the time we got the food put away and Tank mostly set up she was very energetic and very tired.  She was very unhappy with us after we only read one book and left her.  In the morning she managed to sleep through the guy installing the remote connection for the mini-splits.

  Before dinner on Thursday she was running up and down the ramp to the cabin.  She was also going "Wheeee" during it.  I had started doing that with her in the car going around corners and at the grocery store when we turn corners.

  The way she wants her bedtime friends to currently be is to have Bucky on the top of the walls of her crib.  At home that's fine because it's a wood top with a ledge.  At the cabin, we put her in her playard, which doesn't have a wide ledge.  Bucky tends to fall down if she is moving around too much or tries to interact with him.  She then screams like he has been hurt and wants us to put him back up.  Bill helped by laying in the room with her for a few minutes.

  While waiting for Bill to finish making dinner, Miss Spud and I walked down to the mailboxes and back.  She liked the small stream on the other side of the driveway.  She also collected a ton of sticks and a few rocks.  We had to keep stopping so she could hand me a few sticks and pick back up the ones she dropped.

Week 88:

  We went to go visit all the animals down the road from us.  There was: Gillie(youngest), Donny, and Marie (goats); Pepper and Piggy Pig (pigs); and Wilbur and Wayland (donkeys).  She had a lot of fun feeding the animals.  Donny was licking her hand to get some of them.  At one point Gillie became grumpy and was headbutting the fence, she thought it was funny until he hit it hard enough to knock her backwards.  She just needed a quick snuggle until she was back to feeding Donny.

  I have been getting a cone on top of my cup of ice cream at Smiley's.  Miss Spud and I both like it.  This last time we were there she would delicately take it from me and eat the ice cream off the cone piece before eating the cone.

  Bill asked her if she could say Mama.  She said "Mmmm" from her cow moo and "Ahh" from her sheep bleat.

  She's getting so good at saying words.  She can say Baby now along with Bubble!  She is also getting better at showing us that she understands our words.  When I ask her for a hand when we are walking, she will raise one so we can hold hands.  She can also point to her ears, head, cheek, tummy, knees, and toes.

  She was running around and I told her that she needed to put on pants to go on an adventure.  She sat down and lifted a leg for me.  I then asked what shoes she wanted to wear.  She ran over and grabbed one of my flip-flops.  She then brought it over to me and laid it down before pointing to my foot.  She also brought me the other one as well.  When I asked again she picked out her little sneakers and sat on the floor.  I asked if she could sit on the stair to put on her shoes.  She got up and went over and sat on the bottom step.

Week 89:

  We went to our craft group at the church.  It was a lot less fun this month because the preschool that uses the outside space put padlocks on all of the gates to get in to the playground area.  There was a swing by the church entrance, but that was fun for only so long.  She spent the rest of the time there playing with the toys they had and giving toys to other people for them to play with.

  She was trying to help get herself dressed for the day on Mother's Day.  She pulled a shirt out of her hamper and tried to put it on over her PJs along with a pair of pants.

  After dinner she decided to amuse herself by drooling and watching it run down her stomach.  After we all had some chocolate, she spit chocolate drool and watched that.  Bill had to clean past her belly button when we got her out.

  I was peeking in on her from time to time to see if she had fallen asleep for her nap yet.  At one point I saw her touching her fluffy puppy's nose and then her own.  At another point I saw that she was sitting there with the blanket over her head, like a ghost costume.

  She has started saying Ahh Goog.  We were trying to figure out what it was.  I thought it was All Good.  However, it's probably Oh God because Bill will say that when she's getting into everything.

  Bill went out of town again and this time Miss Spud insisted that Tank take his place as the second person to wish everyone a Goodnight.  After he came in, she held her bedtime friends out to him and made distressed sounds until I carried them over to him to sniff.  He was a good sport about it and even let me pick him up so she could pet him some before bed.

  At one point a while ago she would pretend to be asleep when I would try and get her PJs or sleep sack on.  At that point I would comment that she must already be asleep and put her outfit on her like a blanket.  At one point I started also saying Ha-shoe while she was curled up in her usual sleep position.  She thinks it's so funny that recently she's started making Ha-shoe sounds when she does it.

  I asked her if she wanted to pick her apple on Thursday morning.  She nodded, smiling, and then giggled when she found the gate to the kitchen open.  She then got distracted by the wheat puff snacks.  I got one out while she picked out her apple.

  She had fun on our walk today.  At first she was keeping an eye on Tank while I opened his Chewy box.  After that she had so much fun helping me bring the recycling to the bin at the curb.  Once a quick diaper change was done, we actually went walking around.  She's gotten so much better at staying in the sidewalk.  She pointed out the neighbor's big trucks and everyone's mailboxes.  When it was time to head back she waved to some of the neighborhood kids getting home from school.  I had to carry her in because she kept wanting to turn back when we got close to our driveway.

  She has been pushing back her nap or skipping it way to often lately.  I think she's been feeling the effects because when I was getting her ready and wind down she moved my hand so I could stroke her hair.

  We went to Kyuramen again.  This time one of the other servers gave Miss Spud a fist bump and she managed to give one back.  She was a bit unsure about it.  Later that same server brought her a Maneki Neko keychain.  She loved how the gold pot spun on its paw.

  She is having more and more fun putting on lotion.  She asks for many daps on her hands, arm, and now legs.  She's getting better at using her whole hand to rub it in instead of just her fingertips.

Week 90:

  We started her nap even later than we normally do after knitting, so dinner was even later.  When we were deciding what to have she took the tinted lip balm out of my pocket, took the cap off, and mangled it with her finger.  I offered a trade for the cap for that in exchange for a regular lip balm.  She didn't want to give up the cap, but we got it figured out.  She then proceeded to have a meltdown if we tried to take it from her.  After a few minutes she dropped it on the other side of the baby gate.  She was laying there, reaching through, like she was trying to save her best friend in a dramatic film.  Her face was covered in tears and snot.  She managed to get it back and everything was okay again.  She was also a lot happier overall after some fruit gummies.

  I went to go and get her before we went out to dinner.  She hadn't napped yet and when I went in she handed me her diaper.  I doubt checked and found her checks flapping in the breeze.  I had to change her sheets and spray her mattress a bit because of a wet spot.

  We dropped off the donations to T.A.P.S. together.  She wasn't sure what to make of the giant escalators or the glass backed elevators.  She was very quiet and held tightly to my finger.  She wasn't sure if she could trust the luggage cart.  When I was done unloading the bags I didn't see her next to me, where I had left her.  She had moved to put me between herself and the cart.

  I had to use the bathroom about halfway through her nap and she was standing up and looking at me when I came out.  I said "Shh, you're asleep" and after giving me a blank stare, she laid back down and went back to sleep.

  Most of the trip to the cabin was spent taking shoes and socks off and putting them back on.  She can sometimes put her sock back on, or her pull on shoe without a sock, but not her pull on shoe with a sock.  When we went to get out to get ice cream we couldn't find her other shoe.  After pulling her one sock and shoe off, put on her other shoes, I found it behind her head.

Week 91: First part

  When she woke up there were dogs visiting.  She tried to let Gremlin sniff her apple, but she took it as an offering.  She was having a great time chasing Caley.

  We had a pretty fun, if wet, short hike.  Miss Spud got carried some of it, but had a great time.  We all had to dry off when we got back.

Apparently I Don't Look Hungry

  I was getting dinner ready after letting Tank on my back porch when I heard some weird sounds.  When I went out to look; either the fox, Tank, or both were making unhappy sounds at each other.  It's screened in with bars, so unless there was suddenly a big rip in the doorway, there was no way for them to easily get at each other.  I got Tank inside and the fox ran off when I came out.  Tank's tail was puffed all the way out.  The foxes came back to the stairs and sniffed around, and Tank kept checking the door to the porch.

  One of the foxes came back on the porch, sniffing cautiously.  The other stayed at the bottom of the stairs.  After some more checking on both parties' parts; one fox went under the porch, the other curled up by the tree near the porch stairs, and Tank got a snack before wondering off and taking a nap.

  There was the incident with Mother's Day.  Then when my mom, Mary, and I were at a ramen place I wanted to try the Omurice.  I was going to compare how it is to the ones I get at anime conventions.  We asked about my food not long after the other food has come out.  We were told that they only have one chef working on them, which makes sense to me.  When our waitress asked about desserts we asked again about my food and she seemed shocked that I hadn't gotten it yet.  The manager came over and apologized since everyone else was done and my food was just getting out.  It ended up getting comped, which was very nice of them.  He said he was thankful that we were understanding and said most people would have really torn into him about it.  He also said he was going to talk with the kitchen staff about it.

  It was nicer than the ones at the conventions.  The egg is less cooked and cut open at the table where the ones are the conventions is drawn on by the maids.  The fried rice was of higher quality, and I got it with curry sauce.  It tasted just like Golden Curry, which is my favorite curry.  I would definitely get it from them again, even with all of the wait time I had.  The next time we go, Mary wants to try and get one of their themed private rooms.  It doesn't cost more, but it means a longer wait time when they are busy.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 18 (0)
Yarn Out: 35 (6)

Total: -17

Oil Spill Hat

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 64 stitches - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Coffee and Red Heart Unforgettable in Gossamer - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I really like how it came out with the dark brown.  It isn't as harsh as the black.  It's still dark, but a warmer dark color.  When I make some of the other rainbow hats, I'm going to have to use brown again.

Red Heart Super Saver in Camouflage - Loops & Threads Impeccable in Stillness - Coats & Clark Red Heart maypole in 782 Country Berry - Red Heart Stripes in Americana - Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn in Cake Batter - Bernat Softee Baby in Baby Denim Marble

  I keep distracting myself from making worms and octopi with other projects.  I'm also working on the house more lately.  I felt very overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to put it back together after the flood.  But as I'm putting things back, I can take time to look through them, I'm figuring out what I actually want to keep and use or pass on.

Red Heart Super Saver in Camouflage - Loops & Threads Impeccable in Stillness - Coats & Clark Red Heart maypole in 782 Country Berry - Red Heart Stripes in Americana

  For Mother's Day we went out for brunch.  Everyone's food came out except for mine.  When we asked about it again, because it was long enough that everyone else was either done or almost done, we were told there was kitchen drama.  I just wish we had been told what the drama was!!  I love some workplace drama that doesn't affect me.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 18 (7)
Yarn Out: 29 (2)

Total: -11

A Bit of Pride Prep

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M.  - Size: 12 sc top - Yarn: Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn in Cake Batter - Hook: US E/4 (3.5 mm)

  I don't know why it didn't occur to me before that if I was going to try and make an adult sized hat with a thin yarn, I need to add more single crochets/more short rows.  This will keep the hat from having a comically small "decrease" crown area and prevent bunching from having to do so many extra wedges.  I was so glad it worked.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 56 sts - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Stripes in Americana - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I had to make this one twice.  I was pulling from the inside and the outside of the skein to double the yarn.  I was letting the colors fall where they may and was liking the look well enough until I was about half way done.  When a few sections of the red and white lined up, I realized that I liked the look of that more.  The blue had fallen so that only one strand at a time was blue, with only a few stitches overlapping.  I've never done any planned pooling before, but it didn't take as long as I feared it would to get everything lined up.

  I started with the blue sections together.  After offsetting the pattern by one white and red section I had to adjust a bit more since the pattern was going in two different directions and one side had white and the other had red before the blue.  I think having to deal with some tangled yarn was worth the finished item.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 64 - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Black and Red Heart Unforgettable in Gossamer - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I keep trying to work on other hats, but I just keep coming back to this one for now.  I added 8 more stitches than the pattern normally calls for to make a larger size.  She says the size is for an adult, but with the brim folded up, I find it a little tight on my head.  I have also added a plain row to the crown after the first two decrease rows and have added another decrease row at the top.

  I would say that this one got it out of my system, but I have another planned.  I do also have a few other patterns queued up.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 11 (1)
Yarn Out: 27 (2)

Total: -16

Roaring 20 Months

Week 82:

  She was excited about Bill staying home from work at first, but since he was home sick, he was really boring.

  We did open her new LovEvery box.  She was having so much fun with everything.  I thought the two books on getting ready for potty training were super funny and cute.  She was really good at the shapes puzzle and the animal pockets.  The box with locks on it is rated for 12-22 month, but she was opening them just fine on day 2 of playing with it.

  Her main modes of moving around are regular walking while guiding someone, on her tippy-toes, taking short steps while stomping loudly, or toddler running.  Her toddler run looks so much like Olympic Speed Walking.  I keep trying to get videos, but haven't managed to get a good one yet.

  I made a simple spinach dip to put on her meatballs for lunch.  At one point she got some on her arm and was very concerned about it.  I told her to just eat it, but she kept trying to shake it off without losing any on her fingers.  I mimed eating something off my arm and she got a big smile while eating the spinach off her arm.

  Since she is so good at howling like a puppy and making a Ssss sound for fish, Bill started working with her on other sounds.  She started saying Mmm and then switched to Oohh for a cow sound.  To help keep the sounds different we emphasized the Mm sound.

  She's seen me apply deodorant enough that when I apply mine she wants some.  I put the cap on and rub it under each of her armpits.

Week 83:

  We got Chipotle for dinner and got her fruit with her meal.  It was a small orange.  Bill tried giving her the whole thing, she took a bite of the peel, made an unhappy face, and handed the piece to me.  Bill helped peel it for her, but she wanted more pieces after she finished it.

  More and more often she tells us where her bedtime friends should get tucked in.  She has even started helping us to tuck them in or getting up to re-tuck them in if they become uncovered.  First she pats the bed where they should go, then she pulls the blanket over them and will pat them when they are covered.

  We ran out of apples at a time when both Bill and I were getting over a cold, so I had to improvise.  I put banana spears in a soup take out container and called it a Banana Bucket.  She likes her new Banana Bucket and smiles when I hand it to her.

  I got some Spicy Skittles gummies and she insisted on trying them.  They were spicier than expected.  She started to eat one, got a confused/concerned look on her face.  She took it out, after the spicy sensation went away, but it back in and finished it.  She ate the second without any problems.

  We were getting ready to leave the house and I had the charity donations and her bag in the car already.  I asked her if we were missing anything and she grabbed some knitting off of the table and handed it to me.

  We went to Target to get her apples and a few things for me.  She carried her 3lb bag of apples through the store.  At one point she tried to give the bag to some other person.  She sat on the basket holder and played with a used gift card while I checked us out.

  After lunch we let her play at the table some on the bench.  At one point she kept turning around and giving the backrest of the bench a kiss.  She did it so many times, but never does it to us

  She is getting very good at holding our hand so she can walk around.  She will even stop when we do to get through parking lots.  She held my hand all through Target, even though she usually gets to run free when we go.

  She has seen us blow on her food to cool it enough times that she tries to help.  She's even listened when I told her it was too hot and we had to blow on it before we could touch it when it was within reach of her.

  A surprise new friend showed up in the mail.  Steven got her a little Easter Bunny.  She helped me open the package.  She hugged her new bunny and at one point we put them in the pull wagon she has.  It's pretty small, but the bunny fits into there very well.

  She was pretty successful with a spoon.  She was putting it in her mouth to eat the food instead of taking the food off of it with her hand.  Half the time she was putting the food into the spoon with her hand, but we're getting there.

Week 84:

  She wore her orange bunny ears to the Wegmans craft group and was very good at holding my hand in the parking lot.  She ate most of her food and played with her new shark plushie.  In the past she has spent a good chunk of the time dropping things and getting someone to pick them up.

  I drove around to get her to nap, but it ended up being a short one.  I kept having to find places to stop because Bill got a later start on our taxes than I thought he would.  I stopped at a park to find some information and that was one stop too many because she woke up.  After I got the information we walked around a bit before heading home.  Turns out it was a golf course where we stopped and there was a wedding going on.  She found a small pencil and a golf ball.  She didn't want to hold hands anymore on the way back to the car, so she ended up getting carried.

  We don't know if she caught some of the cold Bill and I had or if it's allergies.  She's not coughing too badly during the day, but it gets worse at night.  From Saturday to Sunday was pretty bad.  She didn't get the best sleep because of it.

  Her cough and congestion got worse throughout the day.  We got her some Vicks BabyRub and a set of cough syrups for ages 1+.  She loved the Hyland's Kids cough syrup because it was mostly honey, but it really seemed to help.

  She didn't want to take the cough syrup in the morning from the cup, but was okay with it when I put it in a feeding syringe.  We both hated the snot sucker, but I was able to get one go at each nostril.  What really seemed to help was a warm bath and her baby rub ointment.  She also had a low grade fever and thought it was hilarious when I used the temperature reader on her armpits.

  When Bill and I got back from boardgame night she and I played a new game.  We stacked some round pegs and then she knocked our tower over.  She and Granma C had come up with the game.

  We had a rough morning.  I was trying to change her diaper and she had a coughing attack.  I was trying to get her to drink something, but she kept wanting to hug me.  Putting some baby rub on her chest really helped.

  At lunch she instead on sitting in the chair that Bill usually uses.  She did really well using a regular chair at the tall table.

  I think she has realized that the baby-rub helps her feel better.  Before her nap on Wednesday she lifted her shirt when I pulled out the jar.  She also sat down and wanted some on her legs.  I put some on her chest, back, and neck.  I rubbed her legs with any that might have still been on my hands.

  I say "hi" to her a lot throughout the day.  She has started saying it back sometimes.  It sounds more like "eye" than "hi" but I'm not being picky about it.  However, it can be hard to get her to repeat it by request because she's so used to us asking her to wave hi instead of verbally saying it.

  She wanted me to put a dab of lotion on the back of her hand.  She would get frustrated when it would come off.  I tried to put a small temporary tattoo on her, but it must have been too old because it didn't want to stick.  I tried to think of what else to use.  I didn't have any face gems or small stickers.  I remembered I got an eyeliner with a star stamp on one side.  It was somehow still good and wasn't dried out.  She loved it and I gave her plenty of stamps.

Week 85:

  Since it's the second Saturday of the month, Miss Spud came to knitting with me.  She loved the playground again.  She even figured out how to go down the slide on her own.  We would probably still be there if she had her way.

  We made it to the farm.  She wasn't sure at first but then got into it.  The sheep and their babies were on the way out to the pasture when we got there.  The pigs were asleep, so she wasn't impressed.  She was a bit afraid of the mama sheep who kept bleating, though she also kept looking back at her.  She got to pet a chicken.  She really liked the goats and tried to talk back to them in their goat language.  She also got to pet a bunch of dogs while we were there.  It was fun to watch the chickens come out of the coop and it was hilarious when two other little girls tried to feed them grass.  She ran over to the fence when she saw the cows.  She watched the sheep get fed and they quickly captured her heart.  She kept trying to talk to them as well.

  At lunch she colored a little but then had fun putting the crayons back in the box.  She was worn out enough from seeing all the farm animals that she just sat on the bench next to me.  We got to meet Hoopz, a four foot puppet.  He was really cool and though it took Miss Spud a second or two, she warmed up to him.  Greg Payne said he was working on a girl soccer character.

  After I was done checking our tax information at my parents' house we went to play outside.  She was having fun with my old school bus and plane that came with little people who fit into the seat holes.  After that we put some plastic shapes onto a cardboard box.  However, when she spotted Grandpa doing some yard work, she had to go and help.  She grabbed the bowl my mom had put the blocks in and followed him.  She picked up some pinecones, some sweet gum tree spikey balls, and some sticks.  My mom got her some dandelions, a piece of bamboo shoot, and some maple tree helicopter seeds to add to her bowl.  She got tired of trying to find new things, so she would just dump the whole thing, laugh, and then collect them again.

  We went for a walk before lunch and collected dandelion puffs.  Before we headed out she put a whole bag of peanut puffs into a full sized paper bad and brought the whole thing to the front door.  She wanted to collect all of the puffs we saw, but I tried my hardest to keep her out of people's lawns and driveways.  She waved to a FedEx delivery driver who drove past us.  She also got to pet a fluffy dog that lives down the street from us.  Her main goal was to hold onto all the stems, even if all the seeds had blown off.  She tripped and scraped her hand, but didn't lose her puffs and stems.

  I offered to have us eat dinner on the porch.  She was excited for the idea, but I had to change our plans.  Instead of eating her banana spears she just kept following Tank around, offering them to him.  He sniffed the bowl each time she offered but never tasted any.  She was mad when I brought her inside, but it made dinner go a lot smoother.

  I had the urge to watch a movie and eat too much popcorn.  So after her nap and before dinner we got some movie snacks.  We ate dinner quickly and then started our movie.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 was leaving Netflix, so I picked that for us.  She had her puffcorn and I had my popcorn, but we each had some of both.  She wasn't very interested in the movie, but we both had a fun time.  Bill even joined us at one point.  He tried to go back downstairs to get some things done, but she wouldn't let him.  She ran after him and then did a trust fall at him from the top of the stairs.  When the movie was mostly over she figured out her new favorite thing was to be held upside down by her legs.  It was even better if it was by her thighs and you also squished her thighs.

  She was up early on Wednesday so she took a nap on the way to lunch.  After lunch she didn't want to get in the car, so we walked around Tractor Supply.  They still had chicks and she was a big fan.  She also liked the stuffed animals they had for sale.

  On Friday morning Miss Spud wanted to go down the stairs like she sees us doing.  She held tightly onto my hand and we walked down the stairs facing forward.  She was unsteady because of how little she has done it and the size of the stair compared to her legs, but she did such a good job at it.

  She did a great job holding my mom's hand when we went shopping.  At one point she ran off and poked the foot of a Labubu someone had on their bag.  When we got home she took my mom all over the yard picking dandelions.

Week 86: First part

  When we all went to vote early she was mesmerized by the people playing table tennis.  Even after they were done she was so good at standing in line with us.  Bill put her in charge of his ID.

  When I left to go to knitting, Miss Spud was following Tank around with her small wooden chair.  I think she was trying to share and get him to sit in it.

  Bill wanted to get some yard work done before he headed out of town.  He got the large branch cut up while I was at knitting.  When I got home, Miss Spud and I moved the pieces from the driveway to the pile next to the house.  She kept wanting to help Bill mow, but eventually got into helping me.  I told her to pick her stick, I would pick my stick, and then we would take them over.  She was so proud of herself each time and a few were pretty big.  One was over five feet long and she had to hold it over her head to carry it.

  Target had some new carts where the child's seat is more of a bucket in the middle instead of a bench across the whole thing.  At one point Miss Spud noticed that she wasn't buckled in and held out one of the straps for me.  I asked if she could find the second one.  She kept looking at me expectantly and worried until I snapped them together, even though I kept saying that she knew how to do it herself.  On the way home I let her try a Flamin' Hot Funion.  The rest of the way home she was either crunching on one or making seagull sounds with her little seasoning stained hand in the air for more.

  It's been too long since I've been to Burke Fortune House.  I ordered some veggie rolls for her and she ate both small rolls and a piece of her sweet potato roll.  She had some off of both mine and my mom's plates as well.  She impressed the owners by how thin she is and how well she eats.  She helped us blow on our Miso soup so she could get some of the tofu.

  I was making dinner when she was being too quiet.  I went to check on her and saw that she was in her highchair.  I hadn't put her in it, so I had no idea how she would have climbed into it.  She was having fun "pouring" a pom-pom from one cup to the other, so I gave her a coconut and ube roll and let her be.  Bill was right with his guess because when I looked again she was carefully walking on her tray into the table to get back down again.

  She is getting so much better at helping us blow on her food to cool it down.  She will even try and help blow on our food if she sees us doing it.

  At knit-night on Wednesday was the first time I've seen her get a bad vibe from someone.  A guy I've seen there a few times said Hi to her and she ran over to my mom and grabbed onto her.  She just gave the guy an uneasy look and didn't want to wave to him or smile.

  The three of us went out to lunch on my mom's birthday.  She had a great time with Granma and we sat by a window so she could watch people and cars go by.  In the car on the way there was when she decided it was time to learn how to blow the seeds off the dandelion puffs.

  After dinner I let her down to play.  She grabbed my hand and started leading me around the room.  She was having so much fun deciding where we went.

  We are getting closer to words.  At dinner on Thursday we worked on saying Cheese.  She was good at the Eee part, but I got her to add a Ch sound a few times.  During her bath we worked on saying Bubble.  She can get Bub-bub out.  I also think when she says Gug-gug she's trying to talk to the Google Home.

I'm Stuck on the Knit Beanies

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Prints in Walden Pond and Bernat Berella So Soft in Dark Rose - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

   It turns out that I wasn't getting gauge with the yarn I was using by itself.  Since I had only brought one thickness with me to the cabin, I was stuck.  It was too thin by itself and way too thick when doubled.  It worked out well enough, but I wanted to compare it to the actual gauge I was supposed to be getting.  I was still a bit off with this one, but I was closer.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 48 sts - Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown in L A Tan and Chicago Charcoal - Needle: US 13 (9 mm)

  I was thinking about games that I used to play and loved playing.  That might be because Bill has recently started playing WoW again.  I logged into my account and found all my characters were still there.  It was a whole ordeal to find them all, but I figured out what servers I had characters on by using the Item Restoration page.  It now tells me how many characters I have on each server I have any on.  When I first logged in it didn't show any, but I had to log into each server to make the game realize I had too many characters.

Red Heart Super Saver in Camouflage and Mexicana 

  I used to play a lot of EverQuest.  I was always two expansions behind.  I even updated the video card on the family computer because I wanted to be a cat-person on the moon.  I knew the wood elf city better than my actual neighborhood.  I logged in again to see if any of my characters were missing.  I didn't see my cat-person for some reason.  The graphics were worse than I remember them being and I had no idea how to play anymore.  The game is mostly free to play, but does have some options you need to have a monthly subscription for, like selling in the bazaar.  I tried to play a little, but it's been too long and I couldn't remember how to.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 25 (7)

Total: -15

Birthday Weekend Hats

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Chunky in Ocean and Premier Yarns Spangle in Mardi Gras - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I had heard that if you twist your purls then your 1x1 ribbing would be tighter and neater.  I tried it with a knitted cast on, but I got the weird gaps that happen when I try and twist my knits on the first row.  I then tried working one plain row and then start twisting, but the first row was still very loose.  I then tried a crochet cast on, but my knits were still loose looking, even when I stared twisting my purls from row one.  I then just went with my usual method of twisting one set of stitches on the second row; knit for a flat brim, and purl for folded brim.

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Prints in Walden Pond - Hook: US L/11 (8 mm)

  I had enough fun making the first one that I grabbed a bunch of chunky yarn to bring with us for my birthday weekend at the cabin.  I got about one hat a day done.  It was nice because I got some of the yarn I don't use as much out of my stash during a time that I was having fun using it.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Prints in Walden Pond - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I went to go and order more tags for the hats I've been making.  It makes them look more professional and also is a bit of advertising for the blog.  I saw that IdahoTaylorMade listed some rainbow tags.  I got a few for the side to side rainbow hats I keep meaning to start making and to see how they looked in person.  They were better looking than I thought and my jaw actually dropped when I saw them.

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Size: 6 sc top - Yarn: Loops & Threads Charisma in Black Raspberry - Hook: US L/11 (8 mm)

  I recently noticed that is pretty interesting.  When it comes to crochet hooks, I just go by the millimeter sizing.  However, when it comes to knitting needles, I use the US numbering system.  The US system is less exact in both instances, but yet I use it for one of them.  I'm contemplating switching to both for both craft items.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Chunky in Ocean and Premier Yarns Spangle in Mardi Gras/Lion Brand Vanna's Glamour in Ruby Red - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  The standard Caron Simply Soft says it is a worsted weight, but is lighter than a lot who also claim to be that thickness.  The band for this says to use a US size 10, but I'm a tight knitter, so I went up a size.  When I started working with it, it definitely felt more like an actual worsted weight.  I hadn't brought anything else to work on, so I was glad I was able to get the sparkle yarn from the donation table and work them together.  It also reminds me of my favorite yarn combo I used on an octopus.  Ocean mixed with a sparkle just looks so nice.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Yarn: Loops & Threads Charisma in Black Raspberry - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I've been slowly going through the living room and clearing things back out again.  However, when I got some of the jewelry things out, I noticed something.  I cleared more out and set up a trail cam.  I got video of a mouse running along the wall and into the room.  I moved more things and found a small nest made with a wool yarn I forgot I had over there.  I set up a green mouse trap and have already caught one.  When I get one I usually drive them to a park that is quite a distance from my house.  I've tried moving the trail cam to see if I could figure out where they are coming in, but no luck so far.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 18 (6)

Total: -8