Whoa

Yesterday we passed our site inspection, so work continued today. The uprights are in place and it seems so tall. It won't take long to get used to it, but right now it is a little startling.
Whenever there is action in the back yard Henry can be found here. He and Nora keep me constantly updated on what is happening.

The Shop : Day One

The "shop men" put in a busy day and provided a lot of conversational material for Henry. They came this morning and moved dirt so that the shop would be slightly higher than the yard. They dug the post holes with an auger that was fun to watch and then they put up the concrete forms and poured cement into the bottoms of the post holes. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Henry's favorite cat.
The concrete forms are up.Post hole. The kids aren't allowed to walk around the yard at the moment.

Coming soon

Construction is supposed to start Monday.

At home

From my yard:
Inspired by Ilse, I put the toy bar on Helena's bouncy seat. She had a nice time visiting with the giraffes.
Henry pulling around my old chicken.
Nora helping me sweep with her own Finnish broom and dustpan.

A conversation

Helena has really stepped up the cooing in the last few days. It is so nice that she can get our attention without having to fuss or cry now.

Happy Birthday Anja-Täti

Anja and Liisa came over for the weekend to prepare for our yard sale. They organized and priced and we had an early birthday dinner for Anja. The kids enjoyed the fresh audience.Steak, whole wheat cous cous pilaf, roasted broccoli, bell peppers. And citizenship cake.

The tact to disappear

"Cooking something delicious is really much more satisfactory than painting pictures or making pottery. At least for most of us. Food has the tact to disappear, leaving room and opportunity for masterpieces to come. The mistakes don't hang on the wall or on shelves to reproach you forever. It follows from this that the kitchen should be the thought of as the center of the house. It needs above all space for talking, playing, bringing up children, sewing, having a meal, reading, sitting, and thinking. ... It's in this kind of place that good food has flourished."

Jane Grigson
Good Things

Helena : 2 months

She can get her hands to her mouth and likes to suck on the knuckle of her left hand. She has had a few nights lately where she only wakes up once to eat. (Hooray.) She smiles and kicks and watches all the activity around her closely.
She is:
23 inches (58 cm) tall - 75th percentile
10 lbs 7 oz (4.75 K) - 50th percentile

Less to mow

Matt needed a lawn and we had to get rid of some, so Mark and Matt spent Saturday cutting and rolling the sod from our yard and transferring it. Now we have a blank slate for the shop. The kids like the increased availability of dirt.

Big H, Little H

A person's a person, no matter how small

Henry is 31.5 inches (80 cm) tall and weighs 24 lbs. (~11K). This puts him between the 5th an 10th percentile for weight and somewhere below the 5th for height.

H2

She may not do much, but what she does is sure cute.

Cake and cars

It was a good birthday. First thing in the morning (about 6 AM) Nora and Henry received a toy kitchen as a joint birthday present. It was a hit. Then we made chocolate cupcakes and brought them to playgroup. Henry helped decorate them.That evening Mimmu and Iso came over and Nora helped Henry open his gifts. He was content to play with what he had, but she was always on to the next thing. Grandma and Grandpa had left a present when they last visited. Here he is in the backpack (which was full of cars) and hat from them. He went from 1 to 5 or so with this outfit.Birthday dinner menu: crab (both kids liked it), pizza, glazed carrots, broccoli salad and cupcakes. Nora was very excited about the decorations. "oooOOOooo, I didn't know we had a green one."Helena was a good guest and didn't fuss at all during dinner.
Henry did a great job blowing out his candles both times, no reaching for the flames.

Henry is two years old

He talks quite a bit now, mostly nouns and verbs and lets you fill in the other words. "Mies, auto, pois (man, car, away)" "Garbage truck, man" and the like are his idea of conversation.
"Henry do it."He is an enthusiastic helper. He assists with bringing in the groceries and ferrying things around the house (laundry, things for Helena). He put on his own shoes the other day. If Nora is given a task, Henry wants one as well.
He still loves vehicles and usually has one with him, even in bed.

Babywearing

I bought a sling last week. I thought it was comfortable and really appreciate the hands-free holding aspect, but Helena was not so sure and yelled a lot. I think we are getting used to it and she will like it more as we continue to use it. Nora's baby likes her sling quite a bit. Not a peep out of the child.

And I am thankful

"We have, indeed, lost a great many skills during the progress of civilizing our country. ... I do not know a single woman who can card flax, spin thread, and weave it into cloth. Housekeeping today is pretty simple, when you stop to consider it. We do not get up in the morning and build a fire in the stove, using a flint. We do not heat all our water in big kettles. We turn the tap and out it gushes. Except for some true farm people, we buy our milk instead of milking cows once a day."

-Gladys Taber
Stillmeadow Calendar

Wine & Design: Nora's Eyes

Wine & Design: Nora's Eyes
A good photo of Nora by Andrea. I love having talented friends.