what does a camel say?

Typical dinnertime discussion.

temple and ladybugs

We live three doors down from a beautiful old Masonic temple. It takes up an entire block, and we've been walking over there lately to kick soccer balls, watch cars go by, and ride bikes in the parking lot when it's empty. Last weekend, Lea and I walked over and spent a while listening to birds singing and looking for ladybugs.

 We found three ladybugs on the steps of the temple: two dead, one almost dead. We talked about how a ladybug crawls (like a bear, according to Lea), and then moved the still-living one to the grass. A highly productive afternoon, I think.

weekend snuggle time

This weekend was gray and dreary and cold. Perfect weather for hanging out in pajamas and snuggling on the couch.

overheard in our house . . .

I really need to keep track of the things that keep coming out of Lea's mouth lately. Her vocabulary just keeps on expanding and she keeps trying out new words every day. Such as:

"I wonder what that sound is!"

"My baby doll is probably upstairs."

I'm amazed that some pretty abstract words - wonder, probably - have made their way into her thoughts, and she's using them correctly.

Then there are other things that are just silly:

"I have boobs on my tummy!"

Love it.

backyard tree

In our backyard, there's a tree that is very tall, very old, and very dead. We have to get it removed, and soon: it hangs over property lines and our roof and our power lines, and I'm afraid that a powerful storm could knock it over and cause some serious damage.

But I wish we didn't have to. There are remnants of a ladder nailed into the trunk - maybe a kid used to climb this tree decades ago. Lea's swing is attached to one of the branches. And in the summer, one small section still sprouts a few leaves, and I can see them from my bedroom window, and it makes me happy. 

There was a flock of black birds singing up at the top this morning as I walked out to my car. We will just have to plant a new tree for them, when this one is gone.

a new approach?

There are three ideas that have recently come together for me:

1. My friend Betsy keeps posting photos of things she is grateful for in her life. It's a beautiful idea: http://365grateful.com/. And it made me think about how I might approach one of my thoughts for the year: simplify. Keep things simple. This means many things, but one of them is to focus on details that make me happy and bring richness to my life.

2. This blog, which I've been reading for a while: http://www.readingmytealeaves.com/. The author has a way of noticing details that could be passed by quickly. I like that she knows when to slow down.

3. Then I came across this post this morning on DesignSponge:  http://www.designsponge.com/2014/01/dsoldhouse-creative-challenge.html. I don't take glamorous, moody photos on instagram, but I do love my old house. This post also just made me think about embracing some of the more annoying parts of owning a hundred-year-old home, and loving what I have, and doing simple things to show some love to my surroundings. This includes our house, but could also be taken more broadly: my friends, my family, my city.

So maybe the combination of these ideas could become something interesting to focus on for a while.

First up: I went around our house the other day, and snapped photos of details that make me happy. Here are a few:

I love the light that comes in this south-facing window.

This little corner is where some of my favorite kitchen things live: cookbooks, jadeite bowls, espresso machine, some ceramics I got as gifts and from a flea market in London. And the picture behind the espresso machine is tiny, but it's a pig leaping into a pond, by Michael Sowa.

This mural in Lea's room. Kyle painted it for her.

I found this old lamp in the attic when we moved in. There was nothing else up there except this. So I brought it out - I like feeling like there's a little connection to whoever lived here before us.

Merry Christmas, from a terrified child and the parents of the year

Christmas is in 5 days, and I am coming to accept that we aren't going to send cards this year. I hope all our friends don't drop us off their card lists forever.

But at least I have this photo. I love how Santa is just placidly holding it all together. He has figured out how to go to a happy place in his mind as this screaming child tries to escape his clutches. But I know that Santa is really judging us as parents. And why shouldn't he? I am laughing right in Lea's face, and Kyle is doing nothing to rescue her from this horrific experience.

I only hope she doesn't hate us forever for this. I'm sure I'm making it all better by posting this on the internet.

23 months

It's been a while since I did an update like this about Lea, so here goes - I have a feeling that it will nice to have this all written down somewhere at some point.

At 23 months:

• She is speaking in 5-7 word sentences. 
• She knows the difference between mine and your, and uses them correctly.
• She has started memorizing books and songs and repeating them to us.
• She says "octopus," but it sounds exactly like "applesauce."
• She can count to ten, but usually skips from 2 to 6.
• Can sing up to G in the ABCs song. She can recognize a few letters, including M, O, and Snake.
• She tries to do somersaults.
• We spend a large portion of the day talking about raisins, eating raisins, and asking for more raisins.
• Still super picky, but other favorite foods are chicken nuggets, yogurt, bananas, anything with chocolate in it, and bacon. 
• This, from her first ever parent-teacher conference:
  
• Favorite songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row your Boat, God Bless America, Tweezer Reprise by Phish.
• Favorite books: Silly Little Goose, Egg in the Hole, Jesse Bear What Will you Wear, any pop-up books.
• Gets mad when she has to change out of her pajamas in the morning.

This kind of sounds like a braggy list, I think. Look at all the stuff our kid can do! But it's just so fascinating to watch her develop and I want to remember what happens when.

Oh, and this happened today:

Downstairs bath

When I got out of my interview for my new job, I felt pretty good about it. So good, in fact, that I went home and told Kyle, "If I get this new job, I am redoing the bathroom on the main floor." That's confidence.

So I got the job, and then realized I shouldn't spend my entire raise on renovating a tiny bathroom. However, it is ugly. Maybe worse than the upstairs bath was pre-makeover. Something must be done:

Why is the toilet turned in this direction? Who knows! All I know is that you have to squeeze past the sink to sit down. Since drilling another hole in the floor to turn the toilet is not an option, I will be replacing the sink with a smaller pedestal version.

And behind the door is . . . another doorway! Surprise! It's been closed off, and now there is a cat hole in the corner.

My favorite kind of mood lighting is the fluorescent tube kind. Because I want to feel like I'm at work when I am in the bathroom.

  I peeked around in the ceiling, and discovered that they put in drop ceilings to cover up a GIGANTIC mess made when they put in central heating (the house was previously on a boiler system). They just ripped through everything and then dropped the ceilings to hide the mess. I contemplated pulling out the drop ceilings and fixing the mess, but there are pipes and holes everywhere. It's too much for me to deal with. So, I am going another route:

Tin ceiling. I think it looks kind of cool and appropriate for a house that's 100 years old.

Now, what to do about the light? I have a couple of options. Both require an electrician.
1. have a new pendant light hung from the ceiling.
2. have sconces installed on either side of the mirror.

Not sure what I'll do yet. Or colors, or anything. But the pink has got to go. As does the mirror and too-big sink.

Oh, and the weird doorway behind the door? It will become a closet. I'm pretty excited about this, actually. It will only be about 8 inches deep, but that's just enough space for cleaning supplies, toilet paper, a broom, and the Swiffer wet jet. Since we have zero closets on the main floor of the house, I think this will be a nice addition without losing any space - the hole is already there, thanks to some strange choices by the previous homeowners.

So, here's the list:

• tin ceilings
• change out fluorescent light for something else
• texturing walls - some is textured, some is not, so I'll either sand everything or texture everything.
• paint
• make doorway into shallow cabinet - hang door, hang shelving
• new mirror
• new pedastal sink
• fix baseboard trim
• get a rug and new towels
• some kind of shelving? There is nowhere to set anything down. Maybe this just means choosing a sink that has a bit of a ledge on it.
• figure out what to do about the artwork - I had visions of completely covering the walls gallery-style with all the mountain artwork and photographs Kyle keeps finding, but I think it's looking a little too much like an 80s Italian restaurant. I might edit it down to a few pictures just on one wall.

gah, this is going to be a yearlong project. Maybe I should wait until after the dissertation to start on this . . . 

Where is she?

It's been awhile since I've posted . . . transitioning to my new job has taken a lot of my time lately!

Just wanted to share this - hide and seek never gets old.