More Cabin Drama

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Size: 7/11 sc 36/32 hdc - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Ombre in Scuba & Mainstays in Black - Hook: J/10 (6mm)

  I wanted to use the ombre yarn, but I didn't want to go through all the work I did with the rainbow hats to get the colors to line up.  I figured adding some black between the blue wedges would help.  Black was a thin 4, 7 wedge.  I then worked the blue over a 9, 7, 5, 3, 11 wedge.  I wanted to see if making the wedges different heights would make the hat look silly or not.  I know I could have also made the black wedge longer to match the blue, but this was an experiment.  I like how it turned out and could have gone even thinner with the black.

Pattern: Chunky Knit Cat Brimmed Beanie - Size: 64 sts - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Mexicana & Mainstays in Black - Needle: US 11 (8mm)

  I tried to base this pattern off one I saw on Esty.  It is the Crochet Cat Ear Beanie Pattern PDF by StitchoraCrochet.  I felt like an investigator with this pattern.  I first saw it on Etsy being sold on the shop run by Sophia (owner of StitchoraCrochet).  I wanted to see if I could buy it on Ravelry, so I did a search for it with Google Image search.  That lead me to a few more Etsy listings with the same pictures.

  I also found it on Elena (owner of TheRaoStitchery), Syed Sharjeel (owner of CraftedEvergreen), Noak Ak (owner of CrochetByWiamArt), Zakaria Doukouk (owner of ZdCreativePattern), and Zaeem afzal (owner of ZACreativeHub).  Some even showed a whole different pattern in some of the photos.  The listing on Sophia's listing has review photos of hats other people have made, so that was promising even though they also had photos that looked a bit like an AI photo.

Pattern: Crochet Cat Ear Beanie Pattern PDF by StitchoraCrochet - Yarn: Mainstays in Grey - Hook: J/10 (6mm)

  I ended up buying the one from Sophia.  I don't want to promote AI pattern sellers, but those reviews with actual pictures tempted me.  Turns out it is an actual pattern to get the hat they showed.  I don't know if she used AI to enhance the photos or make them more visually appealing, but the pattern is real.

  I'm a bit confused by the yarn and hook combo.  It didn't give a brand name of yarn, but told us to hold it doubled.  I figured it would be a chunky style hat until I saw that you only use a 5.5mm hook.  I know I've seen people online use hooks that look too small by uniformly pulling their loops bigger than the hook size, but I like to keep everything close to the hook when I'm working.

  I made some changes as I worked through it.  The pattern wants you to only use a chain 1 for the turning chain, but that caused my rows to bunch up.  I worked a chain 2 on any full row, and a chain 1 on rows with the slip stitches.  I also joined on the row 11 of the back half.  I joined to the last one I used for row 11 and then the next for row 12.  I would also add a few more stitches because I don't get as much of a brim as is shown in the picture.

  We went with Steven and his girlfriend to a buffet for lunch.  The location had been Hibachi Buffet previously but had changed names and probably owners as well.  The chairs are a lot nicer and they were also more adventurous with some of their selections.  A lot is the same, but they now have sashimi, two varieties of snail, abalone, frog legs, and chicken feet.  I've wanted to try chicken feet for a while, but have never been brave enough to commit to cooking a package of them.  I got to try some cold and spicy, and also warmed.  They were pretty good and not as tricky to eat as I feared.  I thought it was funny how people compared frog legs to the taste of chicken, but they were right.  They had the tenderness of thigh meat, since they are, but a flavor closer to chicken breast than anything else I've had.  The abalone and the snails were a bit chewy, but that might be because they don't move as fast and were sitting under the heating lamp longer.

Pattern: Chunky Knit Cat Brimmed Beanie - Size: 64 sts - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Mexicana & Mainstays in White - Needle: US 11 (8mm)

  My mom had left some eggs at the cabin since she assumed that her and my dad would be back soon after their last trip to pick up the mower.  They haven't been back in a while, so I tested to see if any were good or not.  I thought it would be a fun idea to throw the bad ones at trees.  One of them we threw 3 times and it just bounced, like a bouncy ball.

  I went to put the leftovers away and saw a dark blob jump upward.  I didn't know what I saw, but when I leaned back, I saw a mouse looking back at me.  It was watching me and kept peeking at me from behind the cutting boards and the back of the counter.  It was bold enough to come out and eat some of the grease that was on the counter right in front of me.  After it was done it jumped onto the top of the dishwasher door and squeezed into the space above the dishwasher.

Pattern: Chunky Knit Cat Brimmed Beanie - Size: 64 sts - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Mexicana & Caron One Pound in Espresso - Needle: US 11 (8mm)

  On Wednesday morning Bill got a deer.  He has gone out Monday morning, but couldn't get his muzzleloader to cooperate, he wasn't feeling up to it on Tuesday, but Wednesday was his day.  I heard his alarm go off, then he used the bathroom and I heard him get back into bed.  Next thing I knew I was woken up by a "big boom".  He then came in and went back out a few times, so I suspected he had gotten one.  His shot was good enough that she just dropped where she stood.  This is the first one that one of us got on our property.

  The guy at Ol' Reds Meat Processing said she was a good size and she weighed about 96lbs (when she was missing some bits), which is the biggest he's seen so far all season.  This is the first year the guy is working out of a new building.  Previously he had been working out of a building behind his house.

Pattern: Chunky Knit Cat Brimmed Beanie - Size: 56 sts - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Mexicana & Mainstays in Grey - Needle: US 11 (8mm)

  We had more water woes.  The toilet in the cabin on the main floor has been slowly leaking over time.  Bill has managed to temporarily fix it a few times.  This last trip was a whole week and I noticed that the toilet was acting stranger than usual.  It wasn't flushing right and would make a weird squelch sound when I was using a plunger on it.  Bill took the toilet out and we saw the floor was pretty bad looking.  When we tried to run some towels through the wash we ended up with backup again, like what happened at home, but less gross.

  A regular snake didn't do the job, so Bill got a better one.  That still didn't do it.  He tried calling two plumbers, but one was on vacation and the other kept getting emergency calls when she tried to take our information.  Bill ended up renting a plumbing auger, Electric Eel brand.  That seems to have gotten the job done.  The place Bill rented it from has the slogan "We Rent Solutions".

  Bill then pulled up some of the floor boards to see what we had to replace.  The floorboards were wet enough that Bill could squeeze water out of them with his fingers.

  Since we didn't have a downstairs toilet, I started using the upstairs one.  I did a double flush at one point and water jumped out of the sink.  Everything looked fine unless you did a double flush.  When we tried to plunge it, water came up into the bathtub.  It took a lot of snaking and about 7 pots of boiling water, but it broke free.  I was watching for water flow and had to dodge the spray of water that came out by 3-4 feet.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 52 (1)

Total: -30

Time to Go Back to Wise

  I asked online where the least expensive place to buy used baby clothes would be around my area.  A bunch of people suggested I ask on Buy Nothing groups.  I tried that and have gotten a few responses.  First I got these baby bottles and some burp clothes.  I then got some baby and child socks, and some baby toys.

  I got a message from someone in my neighborhood complex about these "boy" clothes.  He said some were back from their oldest who was born in the late '70s.  The box is really full and pretty heavy.

  I met a very nice lady named Jo.  She told me about her 5 boys and all of her grandchildren and her single great-grandchild.  Her husband died back in December and she's starting to clear out his things.  She had two dogs that Miss Spud liked and a bird who only likes her and attacks everyone else.

  I was surprised to hear that second hand shops have stopped taking baby gear.  I was contacted by someone who had been looking to get rid of a stroller since her grandkids do not need it anymore and was having troubles finding somewhere.

  We filled my mom's car with all the donations.  There was more room, but I also hadn't expected to get this much.

  I got another message after I gave the things I had to my mom.  There are a bunch of clothes and toiletries in there.  It's so much fun meeting all these new people, even if I will probably never see them again.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 51 (2)

Total: -29

26 Months and Getting Sassier by The Minute

Week 108:

  While running errands we were close to Paris Baguette around lunchtime.  I had been wanting to go back for a bit, so it was a good excuse.  They are building some townhouses there, so there were a lot of construction equipment working.  She saw the yellow Caterpillar hydraulic excavator and kept calling it pretty.  When we were done eating she remembered they have a water pump in an art area next to the restaurant.  It was a bit chilly out and the water was ice cold, but she had a great time playing with it.  I dragged her away when her hands started turning purple.

  We took Tank to the vet for his check-up.  She grabbed a rock from the front and also found a stick somewhere.  Tank tried to hold it, but he had to used the kitty box while we were there.  He dug at the pee-pad I keep in his carrier and started using it.  She started trying to push him and kept saying 'Tank, no!' to help out.  I let her know that Tank was okay and to let him be.  I had to pull her away.

  On Saturday we went out to eat with some friends and I got her blueberry pancakes.  She had fun licking the blueberry drizzle off the top of them.  She also only really wanted to eat them if she was being fed.

Week 109:

  When I got back from knitting she handed me a highlighter and wanted it in her hair as a hair stick.  She saw me do that once.  She doesn't have enough hair to put back in a bun and use a pen as a hair stick, but she has enough for me to twist it and put the clip of the highlighter on it.

  She has been trying to figure out new ways of stretching out bedtime again.  I converted her play mat into a little tent and she's only interested in it when it's time for bed.  She crawls right in and plays with the wooden bell clacker she used to love kicking when she was smaller.

  I had an idea for dinner, but I wasn't sure.  I was going to get two kinds of ravioli, but when I showed them to Miss Spud she insisted we get "dat un!"  So I put the second one back and got two bags of the same one.  When we got home, I asked her to put her bag of puffcorn in the snack area while I took my shoes off and put other things away.  She put it in the exact right spot.

  I started offering my hand to help her go up stairs like a big girl.  Now, before bed, she wants to hold both mine and Bill's hands.  It makes her so happy.

  When any of us are doing something and trip a little or drop something, she tells us to be careful.  I always thank her for telling me to be careful.  It's really funny when she tells herself to be careful.

  She was a bit upset one night and Bill pulled her back out of her crib.  She had two big tears roll down her face.  Since she was on his shoulders and less upset, she stuck her tongue out and caught the second one.

  At Smiley's ice cream she was running laps around the whole line.  One lady in line with us asked when she got tired.  Bill replied that we haven't figured that out yet.

  Bill mentioned needing to get the tractor out so he could the UTV out.  Miss Spud ran after him because he mentioned the tractor.  He warned her it was going to be loud when he started it.  Next thing I knew she was sprinting out, very upset.  She was going so fast that when she fell forward she almost did a flip.  She ran past me and threw herself at Bill's camping chair.  It didn't take much to calm her down and she got to push the button to make the grapple go up and down once she was calm enough.

  When my dad showed up to the cabin Miss Spud was so happy to see him.  She yelled Ganpa and ran to him for a hug.  I'm glad she's happy to see him again since she wasn't sure about him on her first birthday.

Week 110:

  I woke up to my dad laughing, Bill saying "no, we don't do that" and then Miss Spud yelling "Butter!!". She had decided that she wanted to eat the butter that had been left on the table.  She was very upset when Bill took it away from her.  I'm guessing she was just going to chomp the whole stick from the butter-dish.

  She wanted to go lay in bed while we played my piggy pixel game.  She likes telling me what color to play next.  I asked if she wanted to play in PJs or her clothes.  She picked clothes and wanted to be under the blanket.  She helped me pick colors for a bit and then started pretending to be asleep.  She would close her eyes until I looked at her and then she would open them, smiling about it.  At one point she stopped opening her eyes when I looked at her and I realized she was asleep.  She was so asleep that she didn't wake up after her nap until Bill got in bed with her.

  She wanted to run around the cast iron stove and wouldn't let me opt out.  I got dizzy quite a few times because of how small the circle is.

  At bedtime she was hoping to sleep in the bed again, but she was too excited about it and couldn't be still.  She ended up being put in her own bed because she wanted to have the green blanket along with her purple blanket.  She also couldn't lay calmly and wanted to roll around and flop over.  She was very upset.

  She had a full meltdown over her noodles at dinner on Tuesday.  Normally when I tell her something is too hot to eat she will blow on it and/or eat her fruit or cheese.  When I told her that her noodles with egg and spinach were too hot and she should eat her strawberries or cheese she tried to reach for them anyway.  When they were too hot I tried to hand her the string cheese but she started yelling and going "ahhmm" (a biting sound) at the noodles.  She had tears running down her face and drool running onto the table as she threw a strawberry hard enough for it to make it all the way to the kitchen.  She was then also upset that the strawberry was gone.  Luckily the noodles didn't take too long to cool down enough to eat, and everything was fine after that.  She happily ate all her noodles, then her cheese, followed by the strawberries.

  She and Bill have been watching chainsaw videos of people cutting down trees.  She calls it Open Tree, which isn't totally wrong.

  We went shopping and when I went to go look at something she got ahold of some potential new friends.  At first I just saw the cow, but then I saw the cat in her other arm.  I told her we don't need two new friends, but she pointed out that she has "two arm".  I convinced her to put the cat back, but then she wanted to replace it with a dog.  I told her she has lots of puppies at home.  On our way to the car, she ripped her hand from mine, declared she was running, and almost ran in front of a car.

  Miss Spud brought over the tube of rice cakes.  She wanted one and told me I should have one too.  She then mentioned Dada and I told her to bring one over to him.  She brought it over and left it next to him on his desk.

Week 111:

  She made sure to entertain everyone at knitting again.  She started out by sitting and reading some books on her own.  Then she managed to get some of the ladies reading the books with her.  After that she got into the toys.  She would put them in one spot, then move them all.  She got really close to smashing her face into both coffee tables a few times in her rush to get or move toys.  At one point I gave her my trash to throw away.  She loved that so other people also gave her their trash.

  For a bit she's been going back and forth between trying to walk down the stairs using both feet per stair and scooting backwards on her knees.  Lately she has been trying to hold the railing and walking down using one foot per stair.  She knows she has to also hold our hand, which helps her not tumble down the stairs.

  Usually when we finish brushing her teeth it's time to go back into her room so Bill can read her a book.  However, she's decided to sit in the bathroom for up to half an hour.  I tried removing the step stool I was using to sit on during her bath to see if that would deter her.  She commented that the chair was missing, but then just sat on the bath mat where it had been.  One night she sat on the toilet lid, and another she wanted all of us to sit on the side of the tub.  She likes to be able to reach Tank's litterbox and dig around.

  When I saw that my mom had arrived at my house before Wed-knit night I went to go unlock the door.  I saw some brown fur and wondered who's dog was in my front garden.  When I looked closer I saw it was a deer.  I called Miss Spud over and she was so excited to see two deer so close.  She kept exclaiming that they were deer and also gave them some kisses from afar.

  She has been requesting that we turn her humidifier on at night.  She has started calling it Moon Water.  So either one of us is getting more Moon Water or she wants her Moon Water on.

  To help with brushing her teeth and washing her hands, I have started to point out the bubbles.  She will hold her mouth open so we can make bubbles in her mouth and I make sure to show her the tooth brush.  She also used to want to rub her hand on the soap and instantly wash it off.  I showed her that bubbles form if you rub your hands together before rinsing.  To help with all of this she is using the Squatty Potty as a stool.

  We have been having troubles with the latest batch of diapers.  The doorbell rang and when I went to go and see who it was I hear "Diaper off!" from behind me.  One of the velcro pieces that disconnected from the tab and her diaper fell right off as she was trying to follow me.  Later that day she woke up very upset from her nap.  The same thing had happened with the newer diaper and she was desperately trying to hold it together on herself.

  Bill heard her whimpering in her crib when he came to bed Thursday night.  She was sitting up when he got her and she got to sleep in the big bed with us.  Tank tried to come snuggle while she was there.  He ended up sleeping on her feet some of the night.  To make up for getting to sleep so late she woke up a bit earlier than her usual time.  She tried to use me as a pillow and pet Tank.  After a lot of wiggling, she got up and started trying to get into things.  That's when we gave up on going back to sleep.

  She has seen me pull the strings off of string cheese.  She has also seen Bill eat it by taking bites off one end.  She started out taking bites as well.  Lately she has started trying to pull strings to eat off the cheese.

  She kept asking for a sweet treat before, during, and after her lunch.  After she was done I gave her something.  She kept throwing them on the ground.  Since we are currently dealing with ants, I told her to be careful or the bugs will eat them.  She then got this look on her face like that was a great idea and told me she wanted the bugs to eat her sweet treat.  She kept telling me "bug eat" when I told her that she should eat them.  After her nap she decided that she wanted to eat them afterall.

Week 112:

  She was having a lot of fun helping move the sticks again and was so proud of herself moving big sticks.  She is also getting better at pushing her little mower instead of pulling.  She found a mushroom and took the cap off.  She kept picking it and the stem up.  I kept trying to put them back, but she wanted to share her find with Bill.  The stem got put in her Buc-ee's mini bucket.  She's put rocks in there so I didn't think of the fact that she's also put food in it.  At some point the stem disappeared.  We kept asking her what happened to it, but she was just being agreeable.  She agreed if we asked if she ate it, but also agreed if we asked if she dropped it.  She did repeat Eat a few times, so we called Poison Control.  We followed all the steps.  Lucky for us, we are pretty sure she dropped it because she was fine all the way through the 24 hour mark.

  After gently flinging her snap pegs around she decided to put them all in a cup.  They barely fit into the tall cylinder she found, even when she gently shook it to get them to settle.  After she found a bigger cup she tried to pour them from one to the other.  It didn't work, but it was a good try and a smart idea.

  We were shopping for the cabin and the tomatoes needed for the deep dish pizza were being troublesome to find.  I hadn't planned on eating lunch on the go because I figured we would do a stop at one store, get everything, and be home.  Since we were out for so long I got a roll for her to eat as we shopped.  I had initially got it for her so she could eat it in the car, but she snagged the bag from the cart before we were done.  She really enjoyed chomping on it and didn't finish it until we were almost home.

  She insisted on bringing two books with us to read in the car.  She had a lot of fun pointing to who was sleeping (had their eyes closed), who was jumping, and who had shoes on.

  We stopped at the tractor store on the way and Miss Spud had a great time.  We looked at brochures and picked out a few.  She was given a Frisbee and found some keychains to also take.  Before we were done she walked up the three steps to the checkout and then ran down the ramp quite a few times.  Her eyes got round and her mouth hung open when she saw how many tractors and other things were in the sales lot.  She was all smiles when we walked around.  She liked how an older tractor looked like it had eyes.

  She's starting to learn about things happening later.  Like how we will go to the cabin at a later time or get ice cream later.  "Later ice cream" was very exciting when we were in the car.

Sleepy Time

© u/KaleidoscopeOwn1199

   I was scrolling through Reddit when I saw another impressive set of hats.  KaleidoscopeOwn1199 "learnt to crochet earlier this year and decided to make some baby hats to donate, and as a good way to practise crochet skills."  They made 100 baby hats to donate as of their post last month.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 64 stitches - Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in Mint and White - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I ordered some white tags for these hats because I didn't think the dark grey, or the dark brown would look nice.  While checking out I saw that IdahoTaylorMade had added a holographic option in their color section.  I got some to see how they would look.  When I got them they were lighter looking than in the photo, but were perfect for the hats with the twinkle yarn.  I might use the white tags for some Santa style hats.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 64 stitches - Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in Mint and Caron One Pound in Espresso - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I was thinking of making this hat with the mint and black.  When I was chatting about it on Twitch someone read my message as Mint Chocolate Beanie instead of Mint Chunky Beanie.  I figured it was the universe telling me what to do, so I went and got the brown instead.  I think it came out very nicely.

Big Twist Twinkle in Mint and White - unknown turquoise - Coats & Clark Red Heart maypole in 782 Country Berry

  I went in for a doctor's appointment where I got to be sedated.  When I read about it online it sounded like I would be out of it, but they fully put me under.  When I got there the nice lady gave me a blanket and told me that I was second in line.  When she put in my IV, she said I had gone through the hardest part of my appointment.  At that point she asked me if I wanted a heated blanket, but I was okay.  When they brought in the person who was going to be seen after me I was feeling cold.  She wrapped me in a warmed blanket and it was so nice.  She said that once I was in the room I would get to have a little nap.

  In the room they had me lay down and the nurse anesthetist was joking about how the last time she was under her husband told her he loved her, and she woke up saying "I love you" even though he wasn't there again yet.  I saw her put some white liquid into my IV and one second I was feeling myself start to get tired and the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes and getting juice.  I was awake before I was fully there too.  I was told not to eat anything spicy or red in color.  It seems I joked about eating chili-crisp, though I don't remember that at all.

Pattern: Easy Chunky Beanie by PassioKnit Kelsie - Size: 64 stitches - Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in Mint and Caron Sayelle in Teal - Needle: US 11 (8 mm)

  I love the twinkle yarn and wasn't sure if I wanted to make another hat or make a bunch of Worry Worms with it.  I knew I wasn't going to get many worms done in time for the upcoming trip to Wise, so I decided to make another hat.  I thought of pairing the mint with brown again, but I had just done that.  Black had been the other option I was thinking about, but I wasn't feeling excited about it when I started.  I had a bin that held the yarn I'm going to use for my rainbow wedge hats and I thought the rest was "fashion" yarns.  I went to see if there was anything interesting that I could pair with the twinkle, I have enough yarn that I should have something.  The teal was sitting right on top and I knew it was the exact thing I was looking for.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 49 (0)

Total: -27

The Jingle Jesters

  September Hatathon 2026 has come to a close!!

Stockholm - 30/23

• Lolivieri - 8/4

• MinnieMay9 - 9/6

• knitsamazing - 13/13

  I seem to like making 9 hats.  I made 9 in February and made 9 again this time.  Though I know if I try and offer 9 hats I'll make 6.  I think we did great, especially since we were such a small group.  A whole hat-a-thon is 26 hats, and we even did more than that.

Pattern: Jingle Jester Hat by me - Style 1 - Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in Mint - Hook: H/8 (5mm)

  I've been in a whimsical sort of mood since we went to the Ren Faire.  Even though being out in the sun and heat for so long always gives me a migraine, I still have so much fun.  I love seeing what other people are wearing and some of the shows people put on.  The food is also pretty good and not too overpriced, especially for having a pretty captive audience.  Though that also depends on what you get.

Pattern: Jingle Jester Hat by me - Style 2 - Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in Mint and White - Hook: H/8 (5mm)

  I was looking at the pattern and wondered to myself, "What if I made this pattern even more tricky to write out for other people to make?"  I tried to talk myself out of trying it, but at the same time kept trying to talk myself into trying it.  I used the Invisible decrease in double crochet by TuulaMaaria on the mint rows.  It also turned out to be fairly easy to write out once I marked the center stitch.

  I also wanted to add some whimsy to my whimsy.  The hat is already pretty whimsical, but I thought it would add another layer of whimsy to make the ribbing on the bottom also two toned.  I tried to look online to see how to do it, but could only find tutorials on how to make the ribbing in a solid color.  I tired it out and got it to work easily.  I worked outward and back in one color, worked the first slip stitch in the same color, switched to the other color for the second slip stitch, then continued on in the same repeat.

Pattern: Jingle Jester Hat by me - Style 2 - Yarn: Baby Bee Sweet Delight Prints in 324 Sprinkles - Hook: G+/7 (4.5mm)

  I was finally able to figure out that the ears/horns of a jester's hat are called Liliripes (or Liripipes).  When I tried to search for that information before I couldn't find it.  I think it's funny to call them ear/horns, so I left it that way along with updating it on the written pattern.

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Size: 9 sc, 32 hdc Yarn: Big Twist Twinkle in White - Hook H/8 (5mm)

  This one isn't a Jingle Jester Hat, but it is cute and a bit whimsical.  I had been thinking about making a hat like this since Mary gave Miss Spud a yarn pompon bear headband.  The sparkle in this yarn has a bit of pink in it, so I thought they went perfectly together.  I do want to make another already.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 22 (0)
Yarn Out: 49 (6)

Total: -27

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 shirt 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.

  Our friend Steven got her a backpack with Spud written on it.  It has a little bear in a special pocket, but the pocket would be big enough to possibly fit other toys.  Bill pulled the bear out to look at it and Miss Spud got very concerned about it going back in.

  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