That’s her new soaker.

We’ve had trouble for the last year or so with our DVD player. Well, okay, not with our DVD player as such, but with the fact that* Bede likes the previews and the credits as much as he likes the movie itself. Often more, actually. So he lets the movie go as far as he wants it to, usually through the first five minutes or so, then he climbs up on top of whatever precarious arrangement of things he can find to open the DVD drawer and close it again to restart the whole process.

So we had put the DVD player higher and higher, and Bede had been climbing higher and higher. Like we were sort of training him in steps to climb to dangerous, unsteady heights. And then pee on the TV (no joke!)

Well we stopped that.

We put the DVD player on a shelf that Bede can juuuust reach, on his tiptoes. Now we still get to see the first five minutes of Peter Pan (up through the arrival at Neverland, then he restarts.) Only without the precariously balancing or the peeing on the TV. Works great! I am so glad, yet I wonder why we didn’t do this several months ago. Ah well, live and learn.

Trixie is crying, I may try to update this with pictures later.

*anyone else hear Strunk and White in your head, saying “never use ‘the fact that!’ and then being utterly unable to come up with any other phrase? sigh.

With five children in this house we have a lot of toys to keep up with. It had gotten so cluttered in the girls’ room that you literally couldn’t see the floor.

Well, no more!

Over the last few weeks we have tackled the chaos and we won! The girls had a wee taste of deprivation while their toys were all packed up in garbage bags for a week (with the exception of a few treasured items, and the girls decided what went into temp storage) while we worked out a Toy Storage Strategy. We got four of these, in bright purple. All the toys go in there with ample room to spare. And furthermore, Abby and Faith (especially Faith) really like it! They have been (get this) putting toys away.

Wow.

and pointed to the bananas, and then signed ‘more’ and said banana!

Clearly, she’s a genius.

Like many other knitters, I am plagued by (pardon the technical term) my cattywampus short rows. I wrap, they look bulky. I slip with no wrap, they require lots of tweaking. I’m now trying japanese short rows, which are like the slipped stitch short rows, but with a weird sort of k2tog on the return row. All the japanese tutorials tell you to put a pin on the working yarn at a certain point, but I’ve been able to cope without pins.

So far I like it.

What are your favorite short row links? Anyone try the yarn-over method?

No Mother Left Behind provides baby slings and other soft carriers for families that otherwise might not be able to afford them.

How awesome is that?

Here is a great video of babywearing, effortlessly (Via Hathor.) In the very first shot, you see someone else putting the babe on the mama’s back. I want to point out that while that’s very helpful, it’s also pretty easy to get the baby back there by yourself - especially if he or she has been worn since birth.

And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate

I have been knitting, because I can knit soakers in my sleep*, and have a New Trick for Old Soakers with Short Rises from Use: pick up stitches around the waist, knit up in 1×1 ribbing! Yay.

Also knitting new soakers. Trixie got one out of a beautiful pink/brown/burgundy/tan merino, and Gil got one out of some blue marl left over and natural. Pix forthcoming when light is better.

Soon, cardigan updates. I started Sean’s and Dad’s and frogged both. Sean’s frogged because I wanted smaller needles for the ribbing and putting 230 stitches on a 16inch circular isn’t happening. New US4 24inch Clover is on the way here. I like it that my favorite needles are the least expensive ones. Dad’s frogged because the yarn just didn’t want to be a cardigan. A pullover, sure, but not a cardigan. It was going to look silly. Now I’m waiting for the new Cotton-Ease or maybe will splurge for Dad and get Rowan All Seasons Cotton from eBay. (Dang you, Abigail!) After all, you’re only 82 once. If you’re lucky.

I guess that’s it. Oh, Faith wants different colors for her cardi so it’s on hold for now.

*I wish I could knit in my sleep!

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

Gee whiz but it is a constant battle around here! SOmeone needs me all. the. time. When they don’t I have to decide what task I’ll attempt, and frequently by the time I’ve decided someone needs me again! Here are the really time consuming and hard parts of my day:

Bede won’t wear clothes and he doesn’t use the toilet. Today I cleaned up poop three times. Yucky, gloopy poop, not neat, tidy little bits. Off of carpet. The third time I cleaned it up, I cried and wondered if this was going to be my life for the rest of my life.

Bede, who we think is somewhere on the autism spectrum, screams when things aren’t right. ‘Right’ means something obscure known only to Bede, who has no conversation skills at all. He asks us for things like “Want some juice?” or “Want press play movie on the Cars?” and says “O-kay!” when we ask him things and he assents, but for negation he SCREAMS. And SCREAMS. Sometimes for an hour. It is hard for everyone. Usually he’s not as sad/angry/misunderstood as he was this afernoon, but today was really tough!

Trixie needs me to hold her or at the very least to be in her sight at all times.

Those are the hard things today. The normal things are still there too, and very pressing! Dishes, laundry, cleaning. Cooking. ANd of course, playing! I haven’t gotten to play for what seems like weeks, what with being sick and the catching up, which I’m still doing. I miss my kids!

Now Bede and Gilbert want juice. I’ll try for a more upbeat entry later. Really, we’re good, just tired out! Dairy free is not as bad as I thought it would be, just a pain in the rear.

Faith

Abby

Bede

Gil

Trixie

This is the first day I have gone no dairy. I am attempting to help Trixie’s horrible eczema. I hope this helps, but man do I love me some dairy products!