In Sunnier Times

This baby loves the outdoors.  She can spot a bucket swing from 100 yards, and lean toward it in your arms, begging to get in.  She loves play structures and slides, and watching older kids, forgetting her limitations and getting scared.  This week it's been torrentially rainy all week.  So much so that Penny hasn't begged to go outside once.  Instead, we've been going anywhere with an indoor play area. Let's remember last week,  when we were outside every single moment.

Have a great weekend, whatever the weather!

Out and About

I don't have a very clever phone, but it takes basic photos.  Penny Jones and I traverse this town, and here are some snapshots of what we get up to while we're out (and also, do I dress her in too much red??;))

From the top: Streetcar with Daddy, A balloon in downtown, Discovering Pigeons, Moving Stairs??, Walked out of her Weight Watchers Meeting, My Own Captain Underpants,  Signs!, Lunch with Camilla, and The Hills are Alive. 

Penny's Playdate

I made Penny a Playdate Dress, a great pattern from Oliver + S that I made so long ago for some dresses for our nieces.  I used linen for the yoke, and Liberty tawna lawn for the body, from a stash I have from our days in London (I have a secret source, where I buy it at a deep discount - yippee!)

The dress was a bit of a struggle to get on her, as her head is just so big (it's always been above the 95th percentile on the charts) and would barely fit through the yoke!  Once it was on though, she sure looked cute.

She wore it to dance in the streets on a warm Spring evening.

And for an impromptu playdate with the neighbor's new cat.

Penny's perfect playdate.

She Walks!

Penny's walking is getting more confident every day.  But I don't want to forget the early days, where the balance was precarious and the movement was hilarious. 

Mr. Jones and I call it the "zombie walk", arms outstretched to assist in stability, screeching with pride at a skill she's now almost mastered.

 Go, Penny, go!

Tutu Cute?

It's happened again!

Penny is in this weeks sales flyer for the local grocery chain.

Did I say something about not wanting to assign gender roles with pink frilly outfits?  Strike that, rules are made to be broken ;). 

Penny and the Cat

One sunny day, Penny met Bruce the Cat, who lives next door. Penny got very excited. I got very concerned.

We practiced petting Bruce gently but she (Bruce is a girl cat, ahem) didn't really think Penny got the concept.  She quickly trotted off.

Penny, did you make the cat run away?

Soon Penny was chasing Bruce, making the same shapes as the cat while crawling after her.

She finally caught up with Bruce and we finally caught up with Penny, before she could say "hi" to him for in her special way ;).

Sadly, a few days later Bruce passed away.  She was over 14 years old, and a lovely old soul.  The neighbors now have a new cat named Gidget, who is much too fast for Penny, though Penny is getting faster every day, and is sure to catch up soon!

Preparing For Phase Pink

When Mr. Jones and I found out we were having a baby, I really wanted a girl.  I came to realize that this is very normal for women, to want a daughter, probably as normal as it is for men to want sons.  For me, the reason was clear: I wanted to knit and sew the cutest wardrobe for her, and in time, if she wanted, to teach her how to make things herself.  The ironic part of it is that almost everything I made for her before she was born was completely unisex, if not almost boyish.  I think it was part of a scheme to not assign gender too early.  But all moms of girls tell me that there is a time, not too far away, where the girls just want pink.  I have to admit, this makes me shudder.  And I don't even hate pink!  It's just that whole fairy-princess-waiting-for-a-man-to-save-you association which I cannot abide.  But you know, Penny and I will be discussing all of this when the time is right, and that excites me about having a daughter, too.

My plan when it comes to clothes however, suggested by Mr. Jones, is to inject her wardrobe with tasteful pinks - pinks I don't mind looking at, which hopefully she might enjoy wearing. This sweater, called Tea Leaves (pattern here, Ravelry link here) is my first attempt.

These days, there are so many pretty Spring pinks outside. The magnolia trees light up the Portland streets, and I can only hope that Penny, in future days, makes me smile just as much, when she wants nothing but pink, day and night. Or maybe she'll skip this phase entirely and stick with the beiges and blues, oranges and reds I've put her in thus far.  Maybe??

Let's Not Forget Month 12

Though her first birthday party was definitely a highlight of month 12, the rest of the month was pretty great, too. Here are some photos of what Penny got up to, right before the big birthday.

Penny fell in love with the outdoors! She's always trying to get to the park, or at least outside to the front yard. (Penny is wearing her Fairy Tale Hoodie.)

One thing she wasn't impressed with was her first bubble bath. Thinking it might be relaxing for her, Mr. Jones filled her bath with bubbles one night. We put her in, patted some suds on her head, showed her that they aren't so different from the bubbles we blow from a wand...

...but she was not impressed. Who wouldn't feel intimidated if their bath toys (not to mention their legs) suddenly disappeared!

Her waving gets more frequent every day.  She waves to dogs and to neighbors.  She loves looking out the windows at birds and bicycles.  She points at everything and vocalizes, uh, something about it. She knows 'hello' and 'good-bye' and when she hears them, the arm automatically comes up. It's so sweet; I love it.

She also spent a lot of time with her friend Camilla, who just turned 1 as well. I've been delighted at how they really play together, and transfer skills between one another. They play nicely together except when Camilla gets interested in Penny's pacifier.  No one is getting my girl's paci for long ;).

If there's one thing that puts Penny in a good mood, it's...Penny. Give her a mirror and you've got a content baby for 10 minutes. We also play dress-up with hats and sweaters. Penny's attempts to dress herself crack me up. She might not know how to get things on, but she knows how to take things off!

We've been working on our eating, too.  We spend a LOT of time in the high chair, trying new foods, and trying to get foods into her in any kind of quantity.  Penny likes food, but she'd certainly rather be playing than sitting down and eating!

I met a woman at the museum the other day who looked at me enviously and said, "When they're between one and two, it's the absolute best. They really come into their own."  Penny's personality in the last couple months has been so vibrant and fun, that I'm really looking forward to the next months (and hopefully good weather!).  The baby really seems gone now as she's regularly walking, and starting to form words.  I think she thinks about this, too ;).  

I won't be tracking her months as meticulously from now on, but will certainly not miss out on taking lots of photos as often as I can. I'm also starting a scrapbook for her.  This brings out the sweaty panicked fear in me, as I've always rushed past those aisles in the craft stores.  Their brash colors and strange tools really intimidate me. Along with all the photos that I want Penny to have hard copies of, we have so many keepsakes from the first year, from the hospital visit to her first birthday. Hopefully I can put together something simple and classic.  Wish me luck!

Looking back, here are months:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and you're here at 12!  Thanks for sticking with me this (long and hard) year.  It's nice to see how far we've come! 

A Quick Knit (that only took me two years)

Wow, did this sweater take me a long time!  I think I bought the wool about two years ago, in hopes of making it for a friend's big birthday. Then I had the baby, and though I've been knitting tons since she arrived, it was the chart reading that I couldn't quite manage while breastfeeding, or bottle making, or baby entertaining.  Once I picked up the project again a few months ago, however, it flew right off of my hands!  It was really a lot of fun.

It's a free pattern called "Aidez" (found HERE) that so many knitters have made.  I always wondered if I could do an aran sweater, and this one, made of bulky yarn, gave me confidence that I could do a more complicated one in thinner wool someday (Ravelry notes here).

I even enjoyed blocking and sewing up the seams on this one!  I always knit delicate projects in such thin wool that the whole project was a novelty.

I've sent it off to my friend (just in time for 80 degree weather on the East Coast - ahem). I know she'll pull it out next year, and hopefully wear it lots. With no front fastenings, it will be easy to pull on and off during her busy life with kids.

I'm moving right along on my sweater making for all my best girls. There was my sister, and my grandmother, then my friend Peg, and now this, for Ingrid.

I have my next full-size sweater in mind, for myself, though I'm tempted to knit another one of these to cozy up in - maybe in 2015? :)

Penny's Party in the Park

I wasn't thinking of doing much for Penny's first birthday, to be honest.  In the same way we were able to spend her first Christmas in Hawaii, I sort of felt like we could get away with not acknowledging the occasion, because, well, you know, she doesn't really know otherwise.  I thought we could just have a cupcake after dinner or something.  Then my mom booked a ticket to come all the way across the country, and the event became more important.  As it turned out, we had the most beautiful day outside I think I can ever remember, here in Portland.  Seeing our friends, old and new, acknowledging our daughter's first year was really special.  I can't believe I almost disregarded it, and I'm so glad we didn't. 

We had it on Easter Sunday in a local park.  It was perfect, as our small house could in no way house/entertain the kids. I decorated a picnic table with bright tablecloths, foil Easter eggs, and potted grass in chalkboard plant pots that said, "Happy Birthday Penny".  I got the idea here. We had balloons so our friends could find us, and all the food was catered.  Hello...easy!

There were treat bags for the kids, in the colors I tried to stick to: orange, yellow, and green (this is the extent of my decorating skills - decorating terrifies me!). Anyway, we included some things the children might like to play with in the park, like sidewalk chalk and foam bird gliders. I traced Penny's profile from a photo and we printed it out on sticker paper. There really is no mistaking that head, is there? ;)

This is Penny's BFF, Camilla. She's two weeks younger than Penny and ahead in almost every milestone.  It's ok, at least we get to party hard first, right?

It was great to have my mom here. She took her first flight ever less than a year ago to see newborn Penny.  This time, it was lovely to see she and her granddaughter form a relationship.  Penny laughed and smiled all day long with her, and even took her first steps while my mom was here!  Penny is still looking for her when we enter the living room, a week later. 

I wanted a carrot cake, for the sake of Easter and we also had cookies for the Littles.  We brought Penny's high chair to the park, so she could sit at the table and eat her first real taste of sugar.  She's never been a voracious eater, but wowza friends, she was literally licking the plate. I loved it. It really felt like she enjoyed her birthday, and also with carrot cake, there's a vegetable in there somewhere, right?

"Daddy, hold on a minute, we have to discuss getting more of this in my life."

We spent a gorgeous afternoon with friends and their children, ranging in age from 3 months to 5 years old. I only wish we had gotten a group shot, so that when the kids are older they can see that they were together on this day.  How cute is baby Frank??!

I'm so thankful to everyone who came to celebrate, and to my mom for assisting in the event, and to Penny, who napped until literally 5 minutes before the party, so she could enjoy every moment of her celebration.

She makes having a party completely worthwhile, even if she doesn't know otherwise.

The Birthday Dress

Remember when I took up smocking?  Then I went found the Portland Smockers, and I went to California to learn some more at a national convention?  It was all so long ago.  Yet, smocking has always been at the back of my mind (and this dress always been at the back of my closet).  I decided that for Penny's first birthday I would finish it for her. Really, I think I needed to finish it for both of us. 

I toiled over it. Wow, did I toil. The bias binding almost sent me over the edge. I sought advice from sewing shops and crafty friends and my mom, in town this past week. Penny had many fittings, as I adjusted the back buttons. I chose three different types of buttons before settling on some clear glass ones. I made button loops. Then, the button loops broke. I stressed about all of it, and then I decided to stop worrying and put it on her, and let whatever happens, happen. 

In the end, it was fine.  Maybe it was more than fine. Maybe it was something special. She looked special in it to me (but then again, she usually does).  

She wore it yesterday, at her her birthday party in the park, on Easter Sunday (more on that to come).

It was a wonderful day. Besides getting the dress done, maybe I learned a lesson for sewing: to go for it, and let whatever happens, happen. Just do your best (nothing needs to be perfect)! Penelope Jones, now a whole year old, has taught me this lesson almost daily.

Penelope is One

Happy Birthday, Penny!