Through The Looking Glass

Grace is nearly five months old and I AM NOT SURE I AM OKAY WITH THAT.

She has figured out how to grab something and put it in her mouth. So far she mostly does this to her chew toys (a teething ring, an elephant lovey, and a ball), her own shirt, and my clothing. It is a little annoying when she stops nursing in order to nom on my shirt, but also adorable.

She’s also getting around a bit, scooting and rolling and army crawling in a messy, drunken sort of way. (She is not drunk. Well, she is drunk. But on milk.)

She was starting to slim down, but in the last few days she is suddenly all chub again. Perhaps my boobs make lard instead of milk. She is barely fitting into her 3-6 month clothing.

Her favorite person on earth is still Sam. She really likes her Daddy, me, and Auntie K, too. But Sam is the center of the universe.

I think she is getting teeth. I thought the same thing when Sam was her age and he didn’t get them until 10 months, so I could be wrong, but I am almost certain I spotted little tooth buds under the surface of her gums.

She can sit up for a few seconds at a time. If we put her in a chair, she sits there looking around until inevitably she tips too far over and her big noggin pulls her over. There are pictures but of course they are still on my camera.

She has nearly outgrown her cradle, and this time I really mean it. She still starts out the night in it, but she comes into bed with us much earlier. I still have no idea where else to put her. (A trundle is the most likely option, but will require moving our bedroom furniture around AGAIN. Yay.)

Her hair is almost in her eyes. It’s straight, and copper red. I found some adorable baby hair clips on Etsy that I want to buy for her.

I remember when Sam turned five months old. For some reason or another I had occasion to say, “I have a five-month-old,” and I remember it absolutely blowing my mind that I could say that as though it were normal. I mean, other people have five month old babies, not me. And here I am again. It’s a little less strange this time (probably because I’ve done it before) but no less mind-blowing. FIVE MONTHS.

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Last night I was in bed for over 14 hours. I was asleep for most of it, and when I wasn’t asleep I was either reading The Long Goodbye or rolling over so Grace could nurse (family bed FTW).

I GUESS I WAS TIRED.

I went to bed, ridiculously early and while we had company, because I had a horrible headache and couldn’t function. I got up after 20 minutes, then went back to bed, got up again after a bit, then gave up and just slept. Now my headache is gone and OMG. I feel amazing.

Pattern: Two Summer Sundress by Natalie Larson. Ravelry Link.

Size: 18 months, but I suspect I made the skirt too long.

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Fabric: Way Out West by Marie Rose. I don’t know if this was new or vintage when I bought it a few years ago at Playthings in Studio City.

This one is not technically finished, as I still have to sew grosgrain ribbon to the inside to cover the seam and reinforce the straps, but I just had to photograph it now. I love the combination of knitting and sewing!

Pattern: Flower Girl Dress by Heather Ross, from Weekend Sewing.

Size: 2. A lot of people have noted that the pattern runs small, so I widened the bodice.

The fabric is from my stash, and was in my mom’s stash before mine. She bought it to make something for me when I was small!

Thank you Alicia for inspiring me to post about the dresses I make for Grace. And apologies to my flickr friends for the repeat!

Sam is turning four on Wednesday. We had a party for him on Saturday and it was really great!

This just in from spambot “Sheila King,” who recognizes my professional blog writing skill:

It seems like you have a professional blog writing skill. Your topic selection is interesting and content is well organized. I also like your selection word and sentence structure, which helps to get a clear idea of the topic.

The rest of you are going to have to step it up with the observation and compliments if you hope to see more of my sentence structure.

You know those washable markers? It turns out that they really are washable if you wash the…er…let’s say table right away instead of waiting like six months.

You guys, I like naming people so much that it is amazing my children don’t have three or four middle names each.

I also find naming people incredibly difficult. Sam didn’t have a name for two days. On the other hand, Grace got a name the morning after she was born. (Short review: his name was not on our list at all. Her name was one of our top two choices.)

Obviously I like traditional names. Also apparently I prefer British names. I like names with nicknames, probably because I don’t have one (Annika can be shortened, of course, but none of the short versions suit me). I prefer names that would not be out of place in the old west. I like family names.

I really regret not writing to Swistle Baby Names when I was pregnant. Not because I regret Grace’s name (I was sure about it from the very beginning) but because I am so curious what names other people would have come up with for us. I think it’s kind of like when someone is reading something you wrote, and they laugh, and you’re like, “WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT WHICH PART IS FUNNY TELL ME WHAT I DID RIGHT OMG VALIDATE ME.” And then you’re like “Wait, what if it’s a part that wasn’t supposed to be funny? DON’T TELL ME.”

Wait, where was I? Oh yes. Wanting to know what people think.

I can’t ask you what you would have suggested as a name for Gracie, because you already know her name. But I can ask what you would name a hypothetical third Klein baby. (We are not having a third baby.) TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME.