Since Valentine’s Day fell on Sunday, I thought it appropriate to make valentines for the little ones. Candy is dandy, but felt is, well, felt. One mom reported almost immediately how her daughter put her felt heart to her cheek. Aw! That’s exactly what I was going for. I put eyes on the hearts and stitched two pieces of felt together around the edges with embroidery thread. They reminded me of “heart power” on Super Paper Mario. You collect hearts in order to gain life power. So no matter what enemies attack and drain you of life power little-by-little, collecting hearts will restore your life and you can continue in the game.

So… moving on. I’m a big fan of cereal and milk. I like to eat crunchy cereal with a large spoon because the faster I can shovel it in, the least soggy it will get. Our cabinet is filled with bowls–mostly for eating cereal. We have the little plastic ones from Ikea, the ones with built-in straws, the ones with characters on them, and the deep ones made by Corelle. Those deep ones are my favorite. Zoe took out five of them at once when she was just a baby… I was holding her and got a little too close to the counter where they were stacked up, she exercised her new-found gripping reflex, I stepped away from the counter, and ka-blam-o! They fell on the hard ceramic tiles and scattered to the four corners of the house. She’s little, but the damage she can do is exponentially larger than her size. I have been slowly replacing the bowls since they’re not really a top priority in the spending budget. BUT I found some awesome deep bowls at Target the other day. Four plastic bowls (Zoe-proof!) for $2. That’s 50¢ per bowl. I got eight. They come in a bunch of colors, but I like red. There were matching cups and plate bowls, too, but these are not nearly as effective for enjoying cereal and milk.

Watching the Olympics.

This past week, I’ve noticed that Zoe has acquired more language. She is starting to use these phrases in coversation:

“Sure.” (I asked her if she wanted to wear a certain article of clothing and got this answer. Two minutes later, I asked her if she wanted something to eat and got this answer.)

“Oh, gosh,” has turned into “Oh, my gosh.” (We have been trying to discourage this, but between us laughing when she says it and saying it ourselves, we have not had much success.)

“What heck,” for “What the heck?” (I haven’t heard her say this, but Sarah tells me about each instance when she does.)

“OK?” has turned into, “Are you OK?” or “It’s OK. It’s OK.” (She asks you if you’re OK if you trip, cough, or sneeze. She tells you that it’s OK when she hears something really loud and scary outside, like thunder and rain.)

“What doing?” has become “What are you doing?” (She opens her arms wide, tips her head to the side and bounces her arms with each syllable when she says this. It’s beyond comical.)

“It’s hot. It’s hot. It’s hot.” (She says this when she sees steam coming up from the stove or when she has a plate of hot food in front of her at dinner. She won’t stop saying it until you agree with her and repeat back to her that yes, it is hot.)

“Wa-wa-watch” (She says this when she wants to watch Baby Signing Time or The Princess and the Frog on Boxee.)

“I see you.” (She says this in a sing-song voice when playing peek-a-boo.)

“Mommy hold you.” (She says this when it’s time for a nap or to go to sleep and I don’t give her a bottle. It means she wants me to hold her.)

“Rub-bub-bub-back” (Another bedtime phrase that she usually says whining after she has flipped herself on to her tummy and wants you to rub her back. She is snoring within 90 seconds.)

EDIT: Some I forgot to mention are:

“Peck-kick-kick-kick et up” (She so often hears me tell her to “pick it up” so when she accidentally drops her napkin or fork at dinner, this is what you’ll hear her say. She adds multiple kicks for emphasis — if you don’t hear her the first time or if she’s in a particular hurry.)

“Open-nen-nen-nen-et” (She says this when she finds a snack that she can’t open on her own.)

“Want some?” (She says this like a question, but not because she’s offering you anything. It means she wants some. Usually gum or candy, but can be for whatever snack you’re eating at the time.)

“Sauce” (This is an oldie, but goodie… and she still uses it for “soft”.)

ANOTHER EDIT April 4, 2010:

“Pee pee Potter” (She says this for “peanut butter” but I often hear her singing it over and over again. “Pee pee POHhhhhh-ter, pee pee pohhhhh-ter. The kids get busted if they copy her, but I catch myself singing it, too.)

I bought this cute red-with-small-dots fabric from a cute fabric store in Port Aransas, Texas. When the store had just opened up, Grandma Niki and Grandma Pudge went to investigate and saw a stained glass quilt that was one of their favorites. When we came down for a visit, I went to see it for myself. They have patterns to make the quilts they have on display, and this one seems so easy once you break it down. I did not attempt to imagine myself making it, however, knowing all too well that I would just put it at the top of my ever-growing project pile. I didn’t want to disappoint the owner who was showing me around, so I bought a half a yard of this red fabric and another half of a colorful fishy one. They’ve been waiting for me to create something with them. And I finally got around to it, so had to post it.

Now I’m off to work on the baby gifts. No, really, I am.

EDIT: Here’s Zoe the morning after I made this. She was happy to receive the new threads.

Now we’re going to head out to play volleyball at open gym night at QLS. Sarah wants to take it next year, so I’m going to give her my knowledge for free. She will fight me the whole way with wardrobe and hair issues, but I’ll try to focus on the big picture, just like I’m telling her to not sweat the details. While we’re out, Daddy will have the house to himself to do his Ffundercats podcast in peace and quiet.

Zoe says "CHEESE"

I don’t generally enjoy watching football (let alone a five-hour pre-game show, four hours for the game itself, and then another hour or so of post-game interviews and stuff). I try, but it takes a lot of concentration on my part (more so when the Dallas Cowboys aren’t playing). When the play is done I find that I have no idea who snapped the ball or what really happened. It’s usually a loud exclamation from Josh that brings me out of my trance. After a few of these, I get irritated and pick up something to do so that I can still sit with Josh and listen to his loudly voiced and enthusiastic opinions. That’s not to say that I can’t follow the game or cheer as vehemently when the Cowboys are playing… maybe yesterday I just wasn’t in the mood.

What I picked up was my crochet hook and a mostly finished project. I crocheted a strap on to a girly messenger bag for Zoe. When I finished that I moved on to a matching beanie hat.

Zoe was able to model them standing up when I took pictures of her.

Zoe has been steadily working up the courage to walk. When she first turned a year old (January 12) she would stand by herself on accident, usually when we would get her to clap. Then she started to launch herself between furniture holds when she knew she could make it in a step or two. Just yesterday she started to stand without pulling up on anything and decided that she would walk in the middle of the living room with nothing to hold on to for several steps. I’m both excited and grieved. I like that she has begun to see the possibilities, but sad that she’s growing up so fast (and also that I’ll soon be chasing after her). I don’t mind that it took her so long to walk because I know that cognitively it’s better for babies to crawl first. I figure it must be better still the longer she crawls. Plus, I’m lazy and don’t want to get up every two minutes to rescue her or something that she has gotten a hold of.

So the Super Bowl wasn’t about the Cardinals losing to the Steelers for me. Nor was it about the new President of the United States. It was about my youngest deciding to walk.

Seth was invited to Chuck E Cheese for a classmate’s birthday party. He told me that he knew exactly what he wanted to buy as a gift and told me to go to Toys R Us. Since it’s out there by Chuck E’s, I decided to humor him. He cracks me up how he knows exactly what he wants and it fits the person he’s buying for. It took only a second to get the two Star Wars items, so we were done shopping and really early for the party. The party was supposed to start at 1pm… so I thought.

It was 12:15 so we went to visit my cousin and his new baby… only a few days old. He was sweet and so tiny… Zoe looked like a giant next to him. Our visit felt rushed because by the time we got there it was time to head back the way we came. So we gave gifts, hugs and kisses and were back in the car at 12:55… late… after all my careful planning.

We pulled in to the parking lot, found a spot a quarter of a mile away from the entrance, and began to exit the car out into the sun. Seth grabbed the gift, I grabbed Zoe and it took me a whole minute to realize that my arm and hand were splattered with yellow poo-poo. I couldn’t pick up my keys sitting near the car seat. I couldn’t touch anything, so I instructed Seth to grab the wipes out of the bag which I couldn’t put down because sliding it off would have spread the poop. Seth opened the wipes container, and the wipes were totally dried out. So I grabbed the baby’s blanket (one of my favorites) to wipe my hand and use it to cover and contain Zoe’s bum, and I judged from the look of the car seat, that it was too late for my shirt. I used the dried up wipes to wipe up the biggest of the mess on my hands and the carseat. Then I could drop the bag. I squatted down and put Zoe on my knee so that I could wipe up what was on her arm. I forgot to make sure the blanket went around her when I sat her down, so when I stood up there was a bright yellow spot on the front of my shorts.

I decided to leave the dirty unwet wipes on the ground near the door to retrieve later. My arm was getting sore holding Zoe in one place, I was sweating, and I could see there was still yellow stuff stuck in between my nails. I decided to just get inside and get to the bathroom. Poor Seth just wanted to go play and we were really late by then. So I shut the door and immediately cuss. The keys were still sitting on the chair next to the car seat. So, just to review… there I was… covered in poop, sweating in the sun, possibly going to hell for cussing in front of my six-year-old, and I knew that Josh was going to either laugh or yell for having to come to rescue me. I apologized to Seth and we turned to go inside.

When we got inside, we had to wait in a short line to get the uv stamp on our arms. My left arm was burning from holding Zoe in one place to avoid getting poop on the other side of my shirt. We found Seth’s party and the only people sitting at the table were the adults. Seth knew his friend’s mom and went to say hi. He gave her the present. She stood up to greet me and I had to refrain from shaking her hand because there was still yellow stuff turning brown on my hand. I said that I would be right back. Seth ran off to find his friend, and I went to the restroom.

There was no changing station in view. I assumed it was in the back in the handicap stall. Since I needed the sink, I didn’t bother to look. There were three sinks and the counters surrounding them were all wet. I still couldn’t put anything down and relieve my aching arms until after I got some paper towels (still holding baby, bag and poopy blanket) and wiped down the counter. I put the bag down, was able to get Zoe to stand in the sink and began pulling off her soiled clothing and diaper. I had some baby wash in my bag and was able to give her a quick wash while she stood in the sink. I was glad for the hot water that came out of the tap.

I had to hold Zoe with one hand, wash with the other, and then I couldn’t pick her up again on my left side until I had wiped up my shirt. So I had to hold her with one hand and try to clean my clothes with the other. I couldn’t get her totally dry with the paper towels and then I couldn’t lie her down anywhere, so I put on her diaper while I was holding her. Can you picture that? It ended up pretty crooked, but at least the diaper was clean. I tried to wash off the blanket and her clothes, but it was a challenge one-handed. I was lucky to find a plastic trash bag sitting on top of the paper towel holder, and added “thief” to the list of strikes against me which had grown very long in a 15-minute period. I console myself by justifying that I cleaned their sink and counter in exchange.

By the time I came out of the bathroom, the kids were watching Seth’s friend open his presents… only Seth wasn’t around. He was still out playing and didn’t get to see the reaction to his gift. Oh, well, I think his mom was excited, and then I realized that the party was over… we weren’t just late, we were tremendously late… like over an hour late. If we had gone to Chuck E’s right after shopping, we would have been 15 minutes late. As if being covered in poop wasn’t enough to be embarrassed about… I was embarassed that we missed the good stuff like eating pizza and singing Happy Birthday Chuck E Cheese style.

While my face gradually turned red, I was continuously dialing home. Josh didn’t the have his cell phone with him and I knew he was outside painting a shed with Sarah and Zack. There was no way to get his attention other than dialing the home number over and over again. Eventually, Sarah reported that the phone was ringing and ringing. It’s a good thing they got thirsty and came into the house to get drinks.

Josh finally answered and when I told him I needed him to bring his set of keys, he had the good sense to ask permission to laugh. I let him… he had not heard the whole poop side of the story yet. I got him to bring a container of wipes (that were wet) but forgot to ask for a set of clean clothes. What a relief it was to be able to hand him the baby, unload the bag and plastic bag into the van, and clean up the mess better in the car seat. I picked up the dirty wipes from the ground (eliminating “litter bug” from my list of strikes against me) and put it on the floor of the van. I double and triple checked that I had my keys and then locked and closed the door.

I felt bad that Seth had not had much time to play, so Josh let me take Zack (covered in paint in his least favorite clothes) inside to play with Seth. The party parents probably stayed longer than they intended for our sakes. They even gave Zack some tokens. It was so nice of them. The boys played and we went home and lived happily ever after.

Now I have to go grab my keys and make sure that I took out those poopy wipes. Sheesh.

I made a pair of baby legs for Zoe by cutting the toes off an old pair of socks. I didn’t bother with taking out the heel of the foot and cutting and sewing and making it nice. I just wanted to protect her knees a little from the tile floor. So she’s wearing them, a diaper and a cute shirt that Kelli from S&J (my day job) gave her (along with an overall dress that she can no longer squeeze into–like mother, like daughter… the girl has rolls!).

Zoe-zo likes to crawl from room to room, but we normally pen her in the living room or the living room and kitchen together or just my bedroom. Tonight she got to crawl the length of the hallway where the bedrooms are. Just because of the way the house is and where the gates fit, she almost never gets to crawl there. I was trying to get her motion from her level, but couldn’t backwards scoot myself along fast enough. Then Sarah grabbed my feet and began dragging me across the floor. I couldn’t help laughing at myself.

Without further ado… oh, wait… how many times did all of you watch the Twilight trailer? I think I did at least 10 times today (and made Josh watch it with me for two of those times). Yes, I’m obsessed. And I’ve decided to adopt a new acronym to express myself… It’s OME!! For Oh My Edward!! He’s not a god, so I can take his name in vain, can’t I? I’m so excited that they moved the release date up. It comes out the weekend before Thanksgiving. OME!

OK, here’s Zo-zo.

Here’s my little Zoe Berry. The rug was given to me by my California BFF’s Kristen and Betty. I think it’s supposed to be a kitchen rug, but I didn’t want it to get all nasty, so for the past five years or so (has it really been that long since we moved to Texas?? I didn’t think I could live that long without Kristen and Betty. Amazing how you can adapt to life when you have to even when it’s hard.) I have kept it in the bedroom.

Zoe is starting to get around the house. I buy time on the computer by shutting the doors to my bathroom and letting her play around on the floor. She’s not like my other kids in that she doesn’t insist on tasting the floor. She likes to massage the carpet with her fingers, but doesn’t eat stuff up off the floor. Unless we’re talking about cheerios.

She likes to crawl (not quite there using just the knees yet) to the tile and slap the cool, hard surface. It really cracks her up. We started giving her cheerios one-by-one, and they don’t always make it to her mouth, so last night she found one on the floor under her swing. I had to pull it out of her mouth and she didn’t cry because she was so proud of herself and put a deliriously happy smile on her face. She brings so much joy even when she’s doing something gross.

Nana Koko will nip that in the bud… she might even voice her passive agressive disapproval of how I kiss her on the mouth. What? She’s yummy and I can’t help myself… Chamorro old wive’s tales notwithstanding. I can’t wait for Nana Koko to see her, though. She’s grown so much in almost 8 months.

Anyway, here are some of the  bows I made during commercials.

I made the roses a while ago from instructions at JoAnn’s Fabrics. I didn’t know exactly what to do with them. I stuck them on a clip and tried to cover the seams with bows. They’re kind of cute, but might be on the heavy side, giving Zoe a sore head. We’ll see. As soon as she’s big enough for pony tails, I’m decking her with these.

These remind me of Mary Engelbreight’s fried egg flowers. I made the yo-yos then decided to make hair clips to match one of Zoe’s dresses. Nana ‘Nita gave it to her in May and she’s almost big enough to wear it. It has different colored hearts all over it. You’ll see. Note the “z’s” I made in the buttons. Hee hee.

I like this ribbon a lot. It’s blue on one side and green on the other. I should have redone the one on the left. When you get that nagging feeling that something isn’t right, listen! It will bug you forever if you don’t. Can’t fix it now.

I usually take my own advice, but I didn’t listen this time for some reason. Might have been checking out Michael Phelps’s yummies. Holy cow did you see how many of his muscle groups are defined? Josh wanted to see the USA win the 400m relay and when they did, MP did some pretty intense yelling which flexed muscles that I didn’t know existed. I have never been into big muscles like Awnowld as Mr. Universe, but I’ve decided that I’m totally into swimmer muscles… as long as their calves are also developed. Gosh, what a tangent I’m on… I only wanted to post to wake up from the computer work I’m doing.

I actually had ribbon to match this cute dress. The ribbon might be a little lighter or more yellow, but when worn together you can’t even tell.

See?

Before I get back to work, I just have to say that Japan had no chance—NONE—against USA’s Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. They are the Queens of the Beach and have been kicking sand vball butt for a long time. I love how opposing teams always serve Misty, as if she were the weaker player, but she rocks with her smart placement of the ball and she can hit. Kerri is a wall at the net with her blocking and the frustration the other team must feel going up against her is clear. May and Walsh are the dream team. I like that they use each other’s strengths and know that they can afford to be humble. It’s easy to cheer for our country when represented by these two great ball players.