Laowai

recent posts

  • WHAT WE ‘RE UP TO LATELY

    Not much going on here – just looking forward to birthday parties and warmer weather. Here are few things that Bea has been doing lately.

    – She’s into fabric – sorting it and looking at the colors. She pronounces it “habric”. We went to a fabric store the other day and she helped me pick out a few new patterns. The pink fabric might be made into a birthday dress.


    – I love the way she gets a little thrill when I put her to bed and lay her big blanket over her. She sometimes does a little gasp and kicks her feet after I ask her if she’s ready for the big blankie.

    – She talks more and more everyday and it’s still really entertaining. Some of her latest words: apricot, Boc Ogama*, scrubbing bubble, garbage truck and nighttime. She has also started having little dialogues with her stuffed animals. I’ll look over and see her talking to her snoopy in the same tone that I use with her. Or sometimes I’ll catch her “reading” a book to a stuffed animal.

    – She has been asking to walk more when we go out. So sad to see that our stroller gets a little less use, but I love to see her slow little steps outside. I think this summer our days of taking the stroller to the park will be over. She’s all about hoofing it.

    – She is more into coloring and colors than before. She will sit at the table for a long time and play with markers and crayons. She does some coloring but she also just likes to take the caps off the markers, line them up neatly and talk about the colors. She was testing me earlier this week by coloring all over the dining room chair – hmmmm. 

    – She almost knows her colors. She reliably knows orange, green and pink. She hardly ever identifies blue.

    – Her love of pouring continues. Our go-to activity when mommy needs to concentrate on cooking dinner is playing in a sink full of water. She will spend a very long time pouring soapy water from one cup to another. It’s not so charming when she has to end every meal by pouring her chocolate milk into her bowl or plate.

    Here are some recent photos: 




    * Boc Ogama = Barack Obama. But the funny thing is she will say Boc Ogama when she sees a photo of Rod Blagojevich.

  • I LIKE THIS IDEA A LOT

    I like this idea of a nature table found on Junior Society – a space devoted to displaying precious treasures from nature. I’ve always found it impossible not to pick up the perfect yellow leaf or a pleasingly round pebble or a trio of matching pinecones. Before Bea was toddling around and putting things in her mouth I would carefully arrange bits of nature on my window sill or group them in jars. I hope when Bea is a little older we can enjoy collecting and arranging bits together.

    Here are some things from nature that I have collected:


    And here are some other nature collections from Flickr:





  • PIG TAILS



  • WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE

    I spend so much time complaining about the mess that comes along with my toddler. Well, today I may have solved all my mess-related problems. She comes out sweet and clean – clothes and all.




    DSC_0030

  • BEMBO’S ZOO

    I have this alphabet book and just discovered the web site that animates it so nicely. Take a look – it’s fun. Oh and FYI – Bembo is the name of the typeface and its designer.


  • GIRLS WEEKEND

    Jennifer, Jenna and Mom visited over the weekend and we had such a good time. The highlights were our trip to the Shedd Aquarium, taking in a kid’s concert at Northwestern, going swimming and Jennifer and I getting to do some fabric shopping without our little ones.





    I love spending time with Jenna because she gives me a preview of what I have to look forward to in a year. Of course Bea and Jenna have different personalities so their stages aren’t exactly the same, but I can see all the things she does and it makes me excited for our next year. She talks a blue streak and it’s so entertaining. She makes up songs. She’s on the verge of getting and telling jokes. She is affectionate and cuddly. She gets really excited about things and people – screaming at the top of her lungs excited. And she is so smart – she even reads maps now. 

    Jenna – We can’t wait to see you again soon and celebrate a big 3 years.

  • MORE BITTY BEDDING

    I made a little comforter for Bea using all stuff I had in my fabric stash. So now I can go out and buy some more fabric right?

  • I LIKE WINTER

    I like winter, I like snow.

    I like icy winds that blow.

    I like snowflakes, oh so light.

    Making all the ground so white.

     –by Lois Lenski

    Love winter 2

  • KIDDING AROUND IN PUERTO RICO

    Did I mention we went to Puerto Rico for four days to celebrate New Year’s? Without Bea. The thing I enjoyed most? Sleeping without any 3:00 a.m. interruptions and sleeping in until at least 9:00 a.m. everyday.

    Here’s a photo from a Puerto Rico model museum we went to:


    No, just kidding – it’s really this photo made to look like a model-land with this simple tool.

    Okay, okay there were lots of other things beyond sleeping that I enjoyed in Puerto Rico. It was a great trip. Here are few more photos that we took with our new old polaroid camera.


     

    DSC08507-pola








    Oh my – just kidding again. I’ve been playing around with this program that makes your photos look like polaroids. 

  • BITTY BEDDING

    I had to make something to scratch my crafty itch. So I made some bedding for this little dolly bed – Dad made it for me when I was little and I’m so glad that Bea has it now. I made a little mattress, pillow, pillowcase and quilt. Bea is unimpressed.

    That peachy fabric on the pillowcase and on the reverse of the quilt makes me emotional because it’s the same fabric I used in Bea’s bassinet.

    Doll bed 2