Merry visit!!

My old friend from college, Merry, came to visit us for a few days and just went home this evening.  It was wonderful to have her meet Perrin and see my daughter with my old friend--just really heart warming for some reason.  We all went out to dinner at Watercourse Foods for Tara's birthday.  It is a vegetarian restaurant in downtown Denver with really amusing rabbit art on the walls.  They have seitan wings, that are made of mysterious non-meat meatiness, and are pretty tasty, but the best thing about them is that we decided to call them Satan wings, which gave us a chuckle every time.  We are a simple people.

 

Merry decided to make tutus for Perrin, so off to the fabric store we went to look through all colors of tulle.  She made the cutest little things--they look like a mix between magic, dessert, and an explosion. 

On Thursday we went to play disc golf on this amazing mountain course in Conifer.  At the first hole you throw straight up the mountain side...or off to the side into a bunch of snow...however you want to do it...  We carried Perrin in the backpack, and just took her off when ever we threw.  She enjoyed herself I think, chewing on a stick and watching us play.  She is a pretty good sport, where ever we drag her.  

Merry told us about internet sensation Grumpy Cat, so I just looked him up--damn, that cat is grumpy.  If you are looking for an easy laugh, check it out.  This cat looks how I imagine our Simon cat feels.  We love to give him really cranky internal dialog, as I'm pretty sure he wouldn't deign to speak even if he could.  Mr. Dignified Cat.  You can address him as Sir.

 Puck cat however...

We will end with a little sprinkle of Perrin tutu magical fluffy goodness. 

And...

Made a ring sling!

I like baby carriers.  The problem is that you can't find one that is ideal for nearly every circumstance unless you buy the Ergo, which costs over $100, which I can only surmise must be made of unicorn tears and distilled puppy breath.  We have the Moby wrap, which I love because it is very comfortable to wear and seems to be very comfortable for Perrin.

It spreads the baby's weight out over your shoulders and back really well.  But because it is just a piece of fabric, it is very long.  It's not that it takes much time to put it on, it is that you don't want to be putting it on in the parking lot or other place where the ground is dirty because the material drags all over it as you put it on.  Secondly, it takes just enough maneuvering to get the baby into it, that you don't want to be getting them in and out much. 

Because of this, I wanted a quick on and off / in and out carrier that I could use if we were just walking to the mailbox, or running a quick errand from the car.  So I got a Munchkin Jellybean Sling a while back.  It is a sling with out a tail--it's more like a tube and is not adjustable.  It was my first sling experience and I bought it before I knew ring slings existed.

 

It was alright, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless thrift is your first priority.  It doesn't cup the shoulder well, but so the weight distribution is not comfortable.  And since Joseph is much taller than me, it can't fit both of us.

I started reading about ring slings on-line and was immediately grumbling about my uninformed purchase of the Munchkin sling.  This type of sling is useful because it is of adjustable size and fit, cups the shoulder and has a tail that can be used as a nursing cover, or to shelter baby from sun or rain.  However, the ring slings cost too much for me to justify buying one (usually between $50 and $90) since I already technically had a sling.  Soooo...I made one!  (Thank you mom for buying me my sewing machine years ago!  I love it!)  

I found a tutorial on the blog, Life More Simply, for a two sided sling.  Most ring slings seem to be made of one piece of fabric, but I liked the look of two thinner pieces of material sewn together, so that the sides are different colors.   

 

For the rings, I ordered from SlingRings.com, which was cheap, and cheaper the more you buy.  So of course I start thinking, I can make slings and sell them!!  I did accidentally buy two sets of rings, because when I purchased, I entered that I wanted two rings, not thinking that they automatically come in pairs.  Now there is an extra set of bronze rings sitting sadly on the shelf, not holding a baby or doing anything useful.  Maybe I will make a one layer summer sling out of some nice linen...yeees.  

It wasn't difficult to make this sling.  I thought all the fabric would be difficult to wrangle and sew onto the rings, but it was fine.  My sling is 32.5 inches wide.  I bought 2.5 yards of each material, so the length is just a bit less than that.  It makes for a really long tail, but I wanted Joseph to be able to get his big man shoulders into it.  

To be inclusive in our baby carrier discussion I should say we also have a Baby Bjorn from the 2nd hand store and recently got a baby backpack, the Osprey Poco model.  As for the Bjorn, it is really quick and easy to put on and to get baby situated in.  Joseph really likes it for this ease of use and because Perrin can face forward to see the world better.  For me, it isn't very comfortable on my back and shoulders.  

Our Osprey backpack is awesome.  It is nice to wear and nice for her.  It is easy to put her in and take her out, and is fit adjustable, so it fits Joseph at 6ft 3in and me at 5ft 4in.  Has numerous small pockets and one really big opening in the bottom where you can fit diaper change stuff, a blanket, food...  There is a built in sunshade and a rain fly that comes separately.  Seriously, we love this thing.

 

 (Blogger has suddenly chosen to only let me write centered????)  As for my next DIY project, I have a felt flower decoration in the works.  Felt flowers are stupid easy and fun to make, a good Perrin nap time endeavor for me.  For my decoration, I found a flat wooden bird form that I want to cover in flowers to hang in the living room so I can finally take down our red Christmas berries wreath.  That poor wall just looks so sad and serious with nothing on it...

Almost forgot, our final Perrin carrying solution...

This isn't so good outside, as she feels all the bumps and going down steps gets tricky, but it works pretty well right after the laundry has been folded.  I recommend it.

Blog about blogging...it's so meta

Since starting up this blog again, I have found myself reading more blogs myself.  There is definitely that super self-indulgent/ self-important aspect to blogging, as in, "My life is so interesting that surely people MUST want to know every detail about it."  Some blogs strike me like this- as someone who obviously truly believes that their day to day live is remarkably gripping and very cool.  But what I love is when you stumble upon a good blog and it doesn't even matter what the person's angle is.  It is like seeing into someone's life, looking through their window (not in a creepy way) to see what you would never see if such a medium didn't exist.  

It can act as a reminder that people aren't actually this faceless mass who are all out to get the job I want, to sit right in front of me at the movie theater, or to annoy me by talking loudly on their phones in a public place.  They are people with unique senses of humor, observations, and experiences that can be really interesting and entertaining to hear if you can get past the--you are one of 7 billion people on the planet, what could be worth knowing about you, thing.  This is an important reminder for me, as someone who is typically very cynical and ready to throw the whole human race under the bus in exchange for some peace and the good outdoors.  

Cheap non-related adorable pic of my family, because photos make large blocks of text easier to read.

With med school looming come August, I have been thinking a lot about what our family's life will look like with Joseph in school and then in residency, so I have been looking at some blogs written by medical students and residents for a look at what is to come.  One that I have been reading is Table for One.  She is a Canadian in her residency who writes about being single, food, medicine, and photography.  She is a good writer; I would read about her feeding her cats.  Another that I have been enjoying is A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor.  This one is pretty funny.  It gives me hope that getting Joseph through med school will be HILARIOUS!  


I started writing this post while Perrin sat beside me in her highchair having a little lunch.  She has pretty much blown through every thing I have given her, but I want to continue writing so I keep handing back to her the same gnawed on, falling apart, strawberry over and over to buy some time.  She isn't on to me yet, but she is sure to get wise to her neglect shortly.  

Have a good day out there, and thanks for checking in on my little blog.  It must be a relief to get another post after being up all night just wondering what I might have to say.  He he he--I am very funny.

Sheep sheering day!

We went to the sheep sheering event at the Littleton Historical Museum today!  For you Indiana folks, it is called a museum, but it is a lot like Conner Prairie, with staff dressed in period clothing.  They have a working 1860's-1890's farm, with a log cabin, school house, blacksmith, etc.  It is also always free, which is great because it is just about 7 minutes away from our house.  The big event today was the once a year sheep sheering!  In the picture above, you can see the man sheering the sheep behind Perrin.  Then one of the fellas would wrestle the sheep back to the enclosure, and bring out the next one to sheer.

 Here you can see them getting out the next sheep.  It was a cool thing to see up close.  The sheep were surprisingly cooperative once the guy had them positioned and was cutting.  

We got to see the whole process, from sheering to spinning the wool, and finally yarn dying.  Now all I want to do is raise sheep, spin their wool, dye and knit to the end of my days.  I am only sort of kidding.  Someone will be googling "starting a sheep farm" tonight!  There was also a CO couple there who raise alpaca.  They had one alpaca and one llama there.  Their business is raising alpaca for their fibers; they only keep llamas around to protect the

alpaca from mountain lions and coyotes.  What a funny picture this conjures in my mind--this funny looking creature protecting that funny looking creature--boxing gloves would be involved...

Finally, there was a woman who brought 3 trained border collies and her own sheep to demonstrate how the dogs herd.  It was really fascinating to watch the dogs work the sheep.  They were just so into what they were doing, that even when we bent down so Perrin and I could pet the two dogs that weren't working, they didn't even look at us.  They were just super intensely staring at the sheep.  We didn't even exist.  I was jealous of their sense of purpose.

 It was such a perfect day for our outing...in the high 60's with sun.  Aaaaahh.  Tara and Jeff met us in the park next door before hand for a short picnic (is it a picnic if you eat Taco Bell?--Perrin did not eat Taco Bell for those of you gasping in gastric horror).  

I wanted to buy every skein of beautiful yarn I saw today--the way it hung there drying on the line in shades of indigo, yarrow, berry, and soft soft greens...I wanted to possess it, roll in it, knit it, eat it, anything...oh, beautiful yarn.  Seeing its source and how it came to be what it was, only made it more beautiful.  It is so easy to see items in stores and forget all the craft and/or work that went into it.  

Perrin moment of zen...

 

 A little Perrin relaxation time after a tough baby day.

To decompartmentalization!

Found a new great place yesterday evening in downtown Littleton.  I am hoping it can become our place.  I have always wanted to have a place.  It is called Jake's Brew Bar and is in an old downtown building with high ceilings with a nice throw back feel; a cool place that isn't trying hard to be cool.  This was one on the nicest evenings we have had in a while and we just stumbled into it.  Perrin and I were walking downtown just to get out of the house and stretch our legs.  Joseph called and said he had left work a bit early and could be at the train station to meet us downtown in 30min.  So we met him and thought we would try out this new place on Main Street.  We walked there and since it was a bar I started to think maybe we shouldn't take Perrin in and bother other patrons with possible baby issues.

So we got to the doorway and peeked in.  We saw another small baby and a toddler, so we had our ticket in.  We sat down and ordered a couple of beers and started talking to the woman with the toddler who was beside us.  The little boy was on the floor playing with toys and the woman invited Perrin to sit down with him to play. 

So there we are, drinking happy hour beers at 5:30 on a friday evening, with our daughter playing happily at our feet, talking to really friendly servers and other patrons.  One server held Perrin, took her to look in the mirror, then to go visit with the baby at another table.  How great was this!?  They brought us beer and took care of our child!  A random fact was that our server also turned out to have been on the show Survivor for two seasons (we were informed by another patron)...ah, random brush with celebrity.  Aaaany way... 

What I enjoyed so much about this experience was that I didn't just feel like we were having parent time, or just baby time.  We all three got to hang out together where we all got to have a good time and no one was sacrificing anything...P got to play and be social and so did we.  Usually our lives as parents tend to feel like oil and water with parent time and grown up time.  It was incredibly refreshing to feel whole.  Gotta figure out more ways to do that.

Perrin moment of zen..."Are YOU looking at ME?"

Back to normal

At the Denver Aquarium 

I drove Grandma Callis back to the airport this morning so it is time to get back to our normal routine.  How wonderful to have company that you love and can actually enjoy spending two weeks with.  It is sometimes a bumpy path getting back to our normal weekday routine where Joseph is at work and Perrin and I are a twosome with no Grandma to help me out, play with Perrin, and tidy our kitchen secretly when I am not watching (thank you mom!!).  This just illustrates one of the strange things about the daily task of taking care of a baby.  The days are very monotonous, but yet such small experiences you have with your child or things you observe them doing feel huge and hilarious, and you think you will burst for loving them.  But you don't.  What you do is keep feeding them, keep cleaning them, keep putting them to bed everyday.  The way everyday is monotonous, but at the same time so remarkable, confuses my feelings about being a stay-at-home parent.  

With limited ability to be spontaneous, I feel like my world has gotten much smaller since becoming a parent.  This is tolerable however because it has also gotten so much richer.  I am trying to relax more about Perrin's eating/napping/bedtime schedule.  We were spontaneously asked to an early dinner the other night...and, WE WENT!  We didn't get Perrin to bed early like we should have since she missed a nap that day, but we had fun, she had fun, eating bits off people's sandwiches and drinking water from Grandma's straw (hilarious), and we all survived the day.  The problem for me is feeling like no matter what I do for Perrin, I am probably not doing it right.  When we buck the afternoon nap time and go out on errands or to the library (because I have cabin fever!) I feel guilty for not respecting her schedule, but if I turn down everything that comes up because "it's Perrin's nap time," I feel like one of those parents who drowns themselves in their children's lives and ceases to exist for their own sake.  I hope finding the middle ground becomes easier with time...it must, yes?

As for the happenings while Grandma was in town...we went hiking with Perrin in her new backpack, we went to the Denver Aquarium, bowled, and dressed Perrin up in some of Tara and I's old baby dresses that my mom brought to give to me, aaand discovered that Perrin loves bubbles!  I don't know if she had more fun laughing at them fall or if we had more watching her.

 For months now we have been having diaper rash issues with Perrin.  We have tried different creams, oils, stripped diapers, changed diaper detergent, changed diaper wash cycles, tried disposables, and so on.  Her doctor said she just has really sensitive, dry skin.  We haven't nailed it all down perfectly yet, but her butt is looking less angry--which is good because it was seriously having some scary raging days where it just made you sad to see her little bottom.  

Here are the three things that are helping us--I think.  

1. No more coconut oil!  Parents on-line had raved about coconut oil, especially for cloth diapered babies.  We used it for a good while and didn't even consider that something so natural could be bothering her.  But I put the jar away last week and switched to olive oil (moisturizing and safe for cloth diapers).  This seems to be a good thing for her.

2. We stopped using disposable wipes.  I always bought sensitive skin, non-scented wipes, but they still have alcohol in them, plus ingredients that I don't recognize, so that seemed bad.  I got some soft cotton and cut it into squares.  Now when we change her, we spray a mixture of water, olive oil and a bit of tea tree oil on her butt and the cloth wipe, then just toss the wipe in with the dirty diapers to be washed.  This turned out to be much easier than I thought when I heard of folks using cloth wipes.  Secretly I always thought, "Come on! Cloth wipes?  That is overboard!"  But I was wrong.  Simply put, it is easy and cheap!

3. When her bottom is looking red and she is getting itchy from dryness, we are putting oatmeal soak in her bath.  I started out buying the Aveeno oatmeal soak, but it was expensive!  So I looked on-line and you can make your own by literally just finely grinding up oats, period.  Colloidal oatmeal that helps dry skin isn't anything special that you have to buy.  If you have oats, you have colloidal oatmeal--just grind it up to a fine texture and toss it in your bath.

Perrin moment of zen...

                                                                Huh?