I did it!

It took me just over an hour. Yes, I know the sink needs replacing, too. So does the vanity, the tile, the floor, the bath, and the toilet. This morning was all about keeping the bathroom working. Hubby's tres impressed with me. I told him fixing it was the least I could do, since I broke it. He keeps calling me Irene Lorenzo.
Here are B and M-i-L after dinner last night. She loved her CeCe. I think it's too narrow and too short, but she has plans for wearing it already. I have to remember to knit bigger for her.

wish me luck

I broke our bathroom faucet tonight. It was having a dripping problem anyway. We thought we might be able to replace just the handles (which is what I broke), but no go.

I'll let you know how it goes. Pics to follow.

blah, cranky, blah

That's how I've been the last two days. Damn menstrual cycle. Good news is, I'll be feeling better soon. B will be happy, I'll stop being short with him. (Annoying habit both my boys have, accusing me of yelling when I haven't raised my voice. I may be short or snippy, but do not confuse that tone of voice with yelling, I can yell for them, if they'd like.) Here's M-i-L's CeCe hanging out on my forsythia yesterday afternoon. It's a little more green than it looks here. This particular shade of sage, I have not been able to photograph as anything other than gray, hinting at green. I really love this pattern and will probably knit myself a longer-sleeved version in purple Calmer (but on bamboo needles this time). Calmer is still one of my all-time favorite yarns. I was able to knit this one with just about four balls of yarn. I sure hope it's long enough! I'm pretty sure M-i-L will love it so long as it fits. She's a neutrals kind of gal.

I finished the knee socks last night. They got their bath and are drying. I'll try to get a pic of them on my sis this weekend. If they fit, I'll go ahead and weave in the ends. I hope she likes them. (That's more important than fit in this case. I'll re-knit them if she loves them and they don't fit.)

I did a little housework and tried to get to bed early. (Housework because F-i-L's going to walk the dog and pick up B before we go out for M-i-L's birthday.) I also performed a little experiment. I mentioned a while ago that I'd bought some hook and eye tape for Serrano, but that the yellow was too cool for the sweater. I clipped a portion off last night and soaked it in some Tetley. I haven't held it against the sweater, yet, but it's a much more palatable color. If it works with Koigu in the sweater, I'll soak all of the tap in some tea. If not, I'm buying some RIT.

I need some advice. How does one, at the ripe old age of 35, go about making girlfriends in real life? I want to be a good example for my son of how to have friends and stuff. This has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. Since B doesn't have a lot of family close and I can't guarantee that he's always going to have strong ties to my family far away, I want to make sure he always has a good support system. That means friends. Since I don't really have friends in RL anymore (the people I knew in college that are local to me now, I've grown away from), I need to find away to make some to model that behavior. My mom's always had her sisters and dad's family pretty close by, so her system's family. Dad's got both, but friends he's had since High School or that he grew up in the neighborhood with. I'm friendly with people at work, but not so they'd come over for dinner.

Ha, people over for dinner. I'd be so embarassed if anyone I wasn't related to entered my house. (Tuesday's task is house cleaning. Hubby and I are off, B will be at school.) Then there's the freak with four legs who gets so excited by PEOPLE!!!! that she jumps all over them and gives them bruises.

I did some sewing last night

I think I mentioned that I wanted to sew up some gift bags this week. Well, I sat down last night and did it. Two square-ish based on a lunchbag pattern I found online and one wine bottle that I winged. The square one on the bottom has M-i-l's CeCe in it and will be gifted tomorrow (as will the winebag). The other sqaure one will hold my sister's socks and will be gifted Saturday. I'm planning to make many more of these kinds of things. I hate the waste of wrapping gifts in paper and it's one way to use up my fabric stash that just keeps growing. I need to figure out different shapes and sizes for the square ones. CeCe is a small sweater, Mom's Freya won't be!

I did knit on the knee socks yesterday. I'm over half-way to the toe. I hope to finish it tonight.

How many nights in a row should B be dry before we try taking him out of the pull-ups again? He's still doing great on the potty when he's awake and has been dry the last four or so mornings.

now with motion

I'm not sure this is a great video, but it B wanted to say hi.Here's where I am with sock 2. Just past the heel. I'm a bit peeved that the darker blue is so speckled in this third skein. They were all the same dyelot!

I'm back

I didn't knit a flaming stitch. Not a single one.

And I'm okay with that.

Instead, I played in tidal pools with my son, took naps on the couch with my husband, and had a great time!

B did great with the potty training. Only 2 accidents the whole weekend and those were on the beach in his swimmy (can't blame him for being reluctant to use the portapotty).

This week, I hope to get an FO shot of M-i-L's CeCe up here and maybe a tee, tiny bit of sewing (gift bags).

rapidly approaching an ankle

I've only got a couple more decrease rows to go, then it's an inch of stockinette at the ankle. I should be working the heel sometime tonight. I know, that means the sock won't be done before our trip tomorrow. I'm okay with that; I'll definitely be done before the party 8/30. I'm still bringing the Hempathy and the Josephine pattern down the shore, but I'll alternate with the sock.

B's been doing really well on the potty the last week or so. He's pooped nowhere else for over a week and hasn't had a wet accident (meaning when awake) with me since early last week. I think it's the best birthday present ever.

Now, if only daycare would get with the program. Dude was dry all day Friday. He even got some candy for doing so well. So, I was totally stoked when I picked him up yesterday and he was still in the same clothes I'd dressed him in that morning. He was dancing a jig, but wouldn't go, then he told me he was wet when we got home. He didn't look wet, so I took him upstairs and put him on the potty. That's when I realized he'd been in a pull-up! Apparently all day! I've sent in a note asking for an explanation, and if I don't get a note back, I'm calling tomorrow. I'm tired of them undermining us. They're the ones with the stupid ass deadline. They need to step up and do something about what's going on there during the day. He doesn't have accidents with me and I can't make him use the potty when I'm not there!

I'm so looking forward to getting away. I'm hoping being down the shore, as in not at home, doesn't set him back. He didn't go on the potty much for M-i-L Saturday afternoon. But, we'll deal with it.

Hopefully, I'll be back on Monday with pics of something other than these socks!

quick note

Offsite meeting this morning left no time for blogging today. Had a great weekend. Hope to post tomorrow, although since I'm out Weds-Next Monday, I might not have time.

ramblings on some reading

sympathy http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sympathy "harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another. "

vs.

empathy http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empathy "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. "

I've been reading a bit the feminist blog-o-sphere and something caught my attention, saying I could sympathize with another's oppression but I could never empathize. Since it's vicarious and requires use of my imagination I sure damn well can empathize. I can't say that I completely understand or that it's comparable to my personal experience, but I can empathize. Empathizing means trying to put yourself in another person's place and trying to understand how they feel. It doesn't say anywhere that I'm trying to correlate my oppression with their oppression. That by empathizing I'm downplaying their oppression or minimizing my privilege.

This definition of sympathy wasn't really what I was expecting. Not sure that it meant what that person thought it meant either.

Oh, you can be feminist without caring a whit about the semiotic ramblings of Foucalt, because his intellectual ramblings are just that intellectual ramblings. Show me where being able to determine semiotics of something prevented sexism, and I'll give you a dollar. Feminist Theory lost me with that nonsense in college.

a wee, tee-tiny bit of progress

15+ rows of 1/1 ribbing over 108 stitches. That's some progress, right? I'd so love to knit my fingers off this weekend so I could do the heel and foot on Monday and Tuesday. That's not wishful thinking is it? I'm home alone tonight (another JETS pre-season game), so if the dog behaves, I might be able to get quite a bit done after B goes to bed.

I was in such a horrible place last night. Just miserable. So much I was thinking about the big D, you know, depression. But, I cheered myself right up this morning. Lots of hugs and snuggles with the boy to try to get some perspective. I do not focus on the big picture enough. And the big picture is that he's a great kid who loves us and knows we love him.

I did have a nice chat with one of the leads for the older class. B adores her and is so excited she's been taking him into the big kid class the last few days, getting him ready for the "new school year." He had two accidents yesterday, one at nap (for which we don't ever blame him) and another one right after they'd tried to get him to go. So, we've been underscoring that if he wants to be in her class, he needs to use the potty every time. He's still doing a great job at home, except overnights, which goes without saying. That we can't worry about for a few more years, really. It's just nice to know that someone there is taking a real effort with him, at least during the "school day."

We've got a busy weekend. Like I said above, Hubby's got the Jets game tonight. Tomorrow we've got some Prime-A seats behind the Yankees on-deck circle for their game against Detroit. I'm not sure how many rows back, so don't worry about trying to see me on the TV (it's on FOX, though, in case you're interested). Then Sunday, Hubby's going to the Yankees again (he'd planned the outing with friends before F-i-L got the free tickets throug work) and B and I will meet him at the in-laws for my birthday dinner. I need to do some tidying tomorrow morning. M-i-L's going to Billy sit at our house so she doesn't have to keep him over night (game's at 3:55 and we wouldn't get back before bedtime).

I got nothing

I ripped out the cast on last night. I got a seat on the subway and started the 1 x 1 ribbing. I got half-way through and realized I'd knitted when I should have purled and I had to tink back 27 stitches. I dropped the 13th stitch. Since I had used a long-tail cast-on, I had to rip the whole thing out. Which was easy. But, I haven't touched it since. Well, I guess taking it out of my bag to photograph this morning counts as touching it.

I didn't knit anything last night, so it's not like I have a project monogamy issue. After B went to bed, I read "A Good Yarn." I'm so not getting these socks done.

When I picked B up last night one of the chickies informed me that the teachers ask that B wear a pull-up at school. He'd been averaging 1 accident a day since mid-week last week, but had 2 yesterday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Apparently, he's been doing that fun thing where he says he has to go to the bathroom, so you take him to the potty, and he sits there doing nothing, and then a short time later he pees in his pants. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when he peed in the jungle gym yesterday afternoon.

I understand that it's inconvenient and unpleasant for them to have to clean up his urine. I don't enjoy it much myself. But, we're afraid putting him in a pull-up's going to set him back. So, this morning, we put him in his big-boy underwear (after repeatedly discussing with him last night and this morning that he has to stay dry or he'll be in a pull-up). I wrote a loooong note to his lead teacher explaining why he wasn't in a pull-up. Tomorrow, if he's had accidents, I'll have to wrestle him into one. I hate taking steps back like this.

ambivalence

Feeling ambivalent about a gift recipient really does put a drag on the gift knitting. I still love my sister, but I'm not feeling terribly motivated to knit this second sock. Partly because, I'm being lulled by how quickly the first sock progressed after I finished the calf increases. The rest of the sock took a week to knit! This cast-on has been sitting around nearly that long. I'd love to have this bad boy done before we go down the shore next Wednesday. Think I can do it?

See, if this is done by next Wednesday, I can plan on taking only "for me" knits to the Shore for our mini-vacation. I'd like to bring just Serrano, Josephine (if the yarn gets here in time), and one of the two pairs of socks I've started for myself over the last year. Granted, I never knit as much on vacation as I think I will, but this is what I want to have with me.

B continues to exhibit progress on the potty front. Only 1 accident at school and none at home. That's my big boy!

Funny story. I got an e-mail from a marketing firm saying that they love my blog and wanted me to review a product. Luvs diapers. I pointedly wrote back that if they were truly reading my blog, they'd know that we're in the midst of potty training and don't plan on buying any diapers. I got a nice response back, so it was a real person and not just spam.

On my trip next weekend, I wonder if Hubby will let me go here as a birthday gift.

mini-rant

Why do they have such clueless bimbettes working at that "school" after 3 pm? I dutifully sent Hubby in with extra shorts and undewear for B yesterday and he put them in his little plastic shoe box as required. So when B had a late afternoon accident, bimbette couldn't find his clothes. She thought the empty box with no name on it was B's and then put him in some spare shorts and a pull-up. Of course, he then managed to wet the pull-up by the time we got home and he had to pee again. He had NO accidents Sunday, not even during a 2 and a half hour nap. He had no accidents at home last night. As a matter of fact, he even went #2 again. I swear the bimbettes are undermining me at every turn with this potty training thing.

Poor dude was so uncomfortable yesterday waiting for that poo to come out. We spent at least 45 minutes on the potty in various trips. I wish he was more comfortable just going on the potty for #2.

Like you want to hear all about that.

I did knit some on Serrano last night. Not enough progress to take a pic. I'm really struggling with finding a hook and eye tape in a good color. I bought a yellow one on eBay, but it's a little on the green side. I'm thinking a deep red might be okay. I definitely don't want to do white or black. Anyone know of a good notions place with lots of options?

I just did a little pre-birthday shopping for me. I bought some Hempathy on closeout at Webs ($2.99 a ball). I think I want to make a Josephine from Summer IK. I really wanted brown, but they didn't have it and I wasn't paying twice as much at some other place. I've got a turquoise cami I love but don't wear much, but I think it would look awesome under Josephine.

the weekend

It was a pretty good weekend, until we got home from the beach on Saturday. Little sis got pissed off at Hubby and decided to go to bed early (like at 6 pm). When she re-appeared Sunday morning, she gave him the silent treatment.

I don't expect them to be best friends, I don't even care if she likes him (she doesn't have to like him, she's not married to him), but I would like the common courtesy of letting him or I explain or be allowed the opportunity to apologize, she wouldn't even talk to me when I went up to the guest room, but oh well. We've always been a hard-headed lot, and she's the most stubborn of all. I hope it blows over. Hubby was very irritated at being misunderstood so severely. It's hard getting him to understand sibling relations, what with his being an only child and F-i-L hasn't always modeled great in-law behavior. I just want everyone to get along, or at least be adults about disagreements. I see them so rarely, it's a waste if we have these kinds of things happen.

B had a great time with his aunts, constantly asking where they were when they went into the water (B goes nowhere near the real ocean, particularly not when it's red and yellow flag rough). He had a great time using the "bathroom truck", too (Asbury has set up trailers for bathrooms all along the boardwalk). I have to report that he had no accidents yesterday, and only 2 on Saturday.

Due to my current ambivalent feelings (see above) and being really sick of blue, I left the knee socks at hom and dusted off Serrano for today's commute. I cannot get the color to be orange. It looks yellow and brown enough but the orange is somewhat MIA.

I really hope the hem stops folding up when I block it, or this sweater might need surgery. I'm not quite sure where I am in the pattern, but it should be easy enough to figure out. I'm pretty sure I'm at the final decrease row for the waist shaping.

This fits much better into Project Spectrum this month, too. Although, I was thinking of taking my brown, orange, and purple Polar and coming up with a jacket for Fall. I think I might fire up the dye pot, too. I don't think I've dyed any sock yarn in appropriate PS colors at all this year!

not so bouncie ball

What do you think? Does my beach ball cake look at all like it's inspiration. I know the difference between the red (which is pinkish IRL) and orange is not visible in the pics, but it was nearly 11 pm and natural light was long gone. Bill thinks it's pretty cool. Look, a beach ball, he said when he opened the fridge.

I did finish the first sock. See? Toe all neatly grafted. I have cast on for sock two and that's about all. After B went to bed I did some laundry, baking (see above), dishes and reading.

I'm not sure if I'll do much of any knitting this weekend. My sister e-mailed me at 7:30 this morning to let me know she was up and in the shower (baby sis has always been very slow to get her behind in gear in the mornings). I'm so stoked to hang out with them this weekend. I can't wait. I'm leaving here in an hour. w00t!

I'm not going to obsess all day about B having 2 wet accidents yesterday (first one right as I walked in the door at daycare and the second on the last braided rug my dead grandmother made, eucalan to the rescue). Poor guy's constipated and was a whiny mess all morning. I sure hope he goes on the potty when he finally lets go.

the toe approacheth

I did the first row of toe decreases this morning. I should be kitchenering it on the way home. Is kitchener a verb? Can you make a gerund out of it? Probably not, I should say I'll be grafting it on the way home. But kitchenering sounds much more interesting than grafting.

I've got a lot to do tonight. We had a change in plans for the weekend. Both of my sisters are coming down tomorrow. Since the middle one had a birthday on Monday, I'm baking a cake tonight and I'll be tidying up the main floor of the house. Hmmm, maybe I'll vacuum. The cake is going to be a beach ball, since we're planning to go to the beach one day (I need to find out when they're returning to VT).

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving work at noon and then I'll finish cleaning up the guestroom and any other tidying. Hubby and I installed the airconditioner last night, but there's all that clean laundry to put away. I expect I'll be busy tomorrow because I know myself enough to know that I probably won't do a whole lot tonight.

B is still doing well on the potty, in case you were wondering.

shapely sock

I got way more knitting done last night than expected. After I posted my good news to the blog, I had a lite beer and knit. I'm half done the foot (the heel was kitchenered on the train ride home).

I think one of the reasons I found the in-place after thought heel so fiddly last summer was because I used a stitch holder. Which sat in my way until the heel was well-established. Using scrap yarn, the held stitches just dangled out of the way and it was very easy to get the heel done.

Gosh I hope this thing fits. I'm not even going to think about "what if she doesn't like it." If she doesn't like it, I'll throw it in a dye pot and see what happens.

So, the morning started out well. Except for the constant thunder and lightning from 5 to 5:35. I waited it out before I got in the shower, it was just too intense. I was pretty freaked after my shower to hear a funnel cloud had been sighted. The good news was B woke up dry and excited to start another day of being a big boy.

We had breakfast and I smartly flicked on the news. 1 hr delays on the bus. Train it was. But we had delays there, too. No explanation as to why a 15 minute ride from Newark to NY took over a half an hour. Then, no subways. So, I took the Path and walked from Christopher street to my office. All in all a very sweaty 2 and a half hour commute. Some people out in Queens are still waiting for subway trains. I hope things improve before the evening rush.

I just don't understand why they MTA and the city do not have systems in place to keep the trains running. I know 3 inches in an hour is a lot of rain, but it happens at least once a year!

Outstanding Day

Just because you've been here listening to me whine about it for weeks, I thought I should tell you right away. When I picked him up this evening, B was in the same shorts and underwear I dressed him in this morning! He stayed dry even through naptime!

Then to top off a great day, he pooped on the potty! He was just about to give up when it happened. (I think watching "Once Upon a Potty" repeatedly, including on the potty today, helped.)

I called my parents right away and he told them "I got poop on potty."

He was so happy to get his reward, a new Gordon for his train set. Multiple hugs and high fives and I still have a smile on my face.

We're getting there!

I'm so totally stoked. I didn't even get mad when the dog, who's been house trained for over four years, peed on my bed!

Promised Heel

Here's the heel for the sock. I'm doing an in-place afterthought, because I felt like it. Actually, I really like the way it looks with the self-striping yarn. I used it on the chevron socks last summer (here and here). The red is holding the live stitches for the top of the foot and the orange is my crochet cast-on (those stitches will become the bottom of the foot). I wish I could remember what proportion of stitches to decrease. Oh well, I'll wing it. Here's the sock from knee to heel. I'd like to have it done by the Friday, since I can't work on it this weekend.

I didn't knit too much last night. I called my parents, read a little, and tied up the recyclables. Fun and exciting, I know.

In Billy news, he was not in big boy underwear at daycare yesterday. They didn't go to the pool and when they changed him out of his pool clothes, they didn't see the underwear I'd packed and they put him in a pull-up. He wasn't too upset about it, but was confused this morning asking first to wear a pull-up and then wanting Sponge Bob underwear. We went with the underwear. No calls yet. We'll see what kind of report I get when I pick him up this evening.

I may not be knitting too much tonight either. I have to call my grandparents about staying with them over Labor Day weekend and I have to start clearing out the guestroom (there's other housework to be done as well this week). Lil' sis is coming down by herself, but that doesn't mean I need to expose her to my utterly slovenly ways.

big boy unnerwear and stickers galore

I can't say he's trained and I'm still a wreck, but we put B in big boy underwear on Saturday. He only had 2 wet accidents on Saturday (one which was tee tiny and barely made it to his shorts that I chalked up to timing), one poop accident on Saturday, and one wet accident yesterday afternoon (m-i-l said he was very embarassed to have had an accident outside with his grandpa).

B's mightily chuffed to be wearing big boy underwear and had a fit when we had to put swimmies on for the pool this morning (more so for a #2 accident than anything), but helped me pick out underwear to pack for after the pool. He got a special prize for cooperating so well on Saturday. RC2 had sent us our gift train for returning products in the Thomas recall so we handed his Diesel over to him after he was dry at naptime. (We don't consider sleeping wets to be accidents because he can't help it.) I get mightily chuffed everytime he asks to go to the bathroom and pees!

But, I've been a wreck. I was anxious all weekend that he'd just let go and pee all over. I felt I was constantly reminding him or asking him. Yesterday morning, I dragged him upstairs after he insisted for 3+ hours he didn't have to go. Then he went.

I cried Saturday morning. The stress is so unreal. Especially with Hubby having suggested we cancel our August trips and saying that little sister and I shouldn't take B to the beach this coming weekend. I just broke down about giving up things that mean so much to me over something I can't control. I just felt chained to the house. Hubby thought long and hard and realized that B needs to be able to do it in the potty other places than just at home (let's not forget we had our first great successes on our June trip to VT). I hate to think Hubby gave in to me just because I was so upset, but there it is. I wasn't trying to manipulate him, I was geniunely a wreck, like thisclose to hysterical.

I was also a harridan to B Saturday night about the poopcident. Mostly I was upset because at the last minute Hubby went to a concert leaving me at home (after I'd been bereft about being tied to the house over something I can't control, B's potty habits), but I just lost when after I'd asked B repeatedly if he had to poop, he just pooped in his big boy underwear. I know screaming that it was unacceptable was completely the wrong way to respond and the kid's probably going to get constipated and not poop for days. I apologize profusely and told B that I was wrong. That mommy was bad to yell like that. I also explained why I was frustrated, not because he pooped in his pants, but because he told me he didn't have to when he did and so I couldn't help him get to the potty.

I know a lot of my stress has been my imagination working on me about today (and the long-term deadline holding back etc). B went to school in his big boy underwear and I'm terrified that he's made a huge mess all over the place, that he'll have a conniption if they try to put him into a pull-up and then I'm going to be spoken to. Recently, he had a fit over a change and the girl said she nearly called me (not that calling me about a tantrum would have done her any good, I usually just let him get it all out). Nearly 35, a manager of a multi-million dollar unit and I still have anxiety over authority figures telling me something's wrong. I'm cracked in the head, really. Who nearly comes to tears over imaging that kind of scenario? Me, waiting for the bus this morning, that's who.

The scary thing is that Hubby's been really calm about it, pointing out that B's not going to be the first kid who had an accident at daycare (and really, B's had some huge ones in pull-ups). He was super patient with B and a very good cheerleader, too. I'd like to get back to normal, please, where I'm the one talking him down from a worst-case head trip.

I hope to have good news on this front tomorrow. I know I'll at least have the start to a sock heel! Much, much progress was made this weekend on the knitting front at least.

downhill to the ankle

I finished the calf increases last night. There were only 4 sets. Now, it's the downhill to the ankle. I need to double-check some previous notes that I think are buried in the wool side of the stash to confirm my sister's petite ankles. I know she's got wee feet. She often can't find ladies shoes she likes and will buy boys sandals and things (think camo with those cool LED lights). So, I might be decreasing 60 stitches over the next 8 inches. I did plan to have an inch or so of straight knitting at the ankle, so I can decrease more there if I need to.

In other news, B's still not peeing on the potty, but it's not a big deal at our house. Or it hasn't been the last couple of days. We are going to try him in big boy underwear tomorrow to see if it causes him to be more aware and more willing to pee on the potty. He was talking about bigboy underwear last night. I reminded him that he needs to pee on the potty everytime and to poop on the potty, too. We then talked about which of his friends are still in pull-ups and who's in undewear and that he can't be in pull-ups to be in Miss Judy's class.

He's been watching potty movies continuously at home. Here's hoping something sinks in.

I took Julie's comment to heart the other day. I'm not truly a bad mom. Bad moms don't have guilt about their own failings and bad behavior. But, three broken glasses in the dishwasher (I was a bit too demonstrative Monday night), do tell me that I need to do something about my anger. Fortunately, PMS has passed, so it will be a little easier the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to the meds marketed for Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

now with calf shaping

I started the calf shaping on my sister's birthday socks. I need to knit faster if I'm going to get two of these done by Labor Day weekend (the party is that Saturday).

I hope I'm not too off with the sizing.

I was very irritated to find a knot in this first skein. But, it means I don't have to knock myself out to make the two socks matchy-matchy. (No, I'm not going to remove yarn in the second sock to re-create the screw up in the patterning the mill's knot introduced. You're at the wrong blog if you're looking for that kind of thing, not that there's anything wrong with it.)

Things went okay at the doctor's office. Billy was really great, as usual. He saves his best behavior when there's a lollipop at the end. Truly, though, he did try to share the toys with this cute little rugrat. B was fascinated by the baby (about 10 months judging by size and crawling) and the baby was fascinated by B. He walked right up to the baby and gave him the doctor's Rhinocort Rhino to play with. Awwww.

Turns out his ear pain is swimmer's ear and not a middle ear infection. We've since learned that when you're three and a half antibiotic drops are great in theory, not so much in practice. He loved the idea of ear drops, scurrying to get on the floor and then flailed and wailed when they were put into his ear. The most fun part of yesterday, for B, though, was trying to pee in a cup. The doc jumped all over the one symptom of a possible UTI. B thinks it's hilarious and won't do it. We've got a specimen cup at home, just in case I can catch some. She suggested saran wrap on the bowl, I'm going to try that tonight.

No good suggestions, just patience and rewarding him.

After the doc, B and I got hair cuts. He really liked mine. He was so cute giggling and telling me "nice haircut." He even told my I had my sisters hair (the one of the three of us not to get the curls). Hubby, on the other hand, hates it. He always hates it when I have my hair blown out. Oh well, the curls be back soon enough. I took this pic this morning. The hair looked much better yesterday. The effects of straigt ironing have worn off after sleeping and the humidity of the bathroom.

B couldn't tell. He still liked it this morning.

Happy August

August is a very exciting month for us. We have four birthdays this month: my middle sister; Me; my Meme (paternal grandmother); and M-i-L.

B woke up this morning saying his ears hurt and that I needed to take his temchur. 99.4. We have a 2:30 appointment with the doctor. I know common wisdom says you can just let the kids ride out ear infections, but with his history (and my nervous Nellie spouse), off to the doctor we go.

Hubby found himself some clarity yesterday. He did some reading online and low and behold, his wife was right. We need to back off the kid a bit. Now, I need to go take my own advice and find a way to not get so upset. Granted, my mood last night was not helped by seeing B was sitting around in wet shorts for the second time in a week. I swear those afternoon chickies do the absolute minimum. Hubby was going to talk to one of the directors about it.

I'm going to ask the doctor if she has any tips about getting him to go, but we're probably going to try to go with big boy underpants on Saturday. (Rae, Hubby is very good about the laundry.) Consensus is that the pull-ups aren't making him uncomfortable enough (M-i-L dropped off some new DVDs and suggested as well as the suggestions from the comments yesterday).

I know I'm the problem at this point. I get so upset over his accidents and the playing on the potty. I'm sure that's why he's regressing. I realized that I take this all too personally and I have to give him some space and lots of love and support. It was hard to do this morning. It being a pool day and all. I cannot relax when he's walking around in the house in a swimmie diaper.

Oh, look knitting content to distract you from the fact that I'm a horrible mother.
I'm not a terribly awesome knitter either. I had to rip out over an inch and cast on again. Seems if you bother to knit a swatch, and wash it, you should measure the dry swatch. My stitches bloomed so much I lost a 1/2 stitch per inch and the sock would have been nearly an inch too wide.