weeks 48-49

Playing catch up is a bear. So I'm lumping the last week of December together with the first week of January. I've got an end of the year post rolling around in my head, but who knows when it'll come together. I'm going to have to rethinking blogging in 2009. I liked the weekly posts, but I also felt constrained by them. Finding time to reflect, write and post are harder now that the kiddo is mobile and so interactive.

Staying home on Monday after a two week trip was awesome. PJ and I went to the grocery store after dropping Shannon off at school. I may have gotten some laundry done, but I really didn't try to have any goals other than relaxing. We had cleaned our house before we left, so it was awesome to return to a clean, quiet space. I returned to work Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was quiet and empty. Wednesday night, New Years Eve, Shannon and I stayed up to watch the east coast ball drop, but then went to bed. Thursday we went to Uptown to go the Wedge, but got there before it opened. So we had an impromptu brunch at the French Meadow before the co-op which was a very fun and nostalgic. PJ is eating and trying so many new things: dried cranberries, baked beans, peas, frozen blueberries, blackberries, pesto, strawberries, flank steak, dried prunes, tortilla, to name a few. It's making eating out with her much more fun and interesting.

That weekend, we met up with a vet school friend, Kathleen and her husband, for brunch. We also went to Cafe Latte that weekend too. It's kind of a blur. I've gotten very spoiled because Shannon has been having rotation with no duties on the weekends. I do know that the first weekend in January we totally ignored the dogs. No dog park, no extra walks. I think we were having a hard time readjusting to the city after having them on the farm for two weeks.

The first full week in January was a bit of a shock for me and PJ I think. She didn't sleep well at daycare and at home. We think she's getting more teeth due to the constant drool down her chin, but she's also getting more frustrated with herself and walking and talking. Her babbling has become more complicated and sounding much more like speech. She goes on jags where she has to be walking with her cart continually. She rams into the dogs and has figured out how to turn it slightly like when she hits the corner of a chair or something. But she'll get herself trapped in a cul-de-sac or in the rut where the tile meets the the carpet and then just screetch and wail and freak out. I think we are seeing the beginnings of toddlerhood and it sounds like it's going to be loud. Ooh, I also took her in for an ear recheck (looks good) and a thrush watch (nothing so far).

This weekend that just past was fairly low key. We knew we had to go to the grocery store and take the dogs to the park. So Saturday we did Costco for the samples and Rainbow for normal sized quantatites. PJ didn't want to take an afternoon nap despite being tired so we put her in the car for the test drive up to Andover for Shannon's upcoming rotation. She fell asleep and we timed the trip and then ran Shannon over to the vet library. We had the most amazing fajitas Saturday night. But then again, I think all fajitas are amazing.

Shannon's going to be taking the car and thus dropping off/picking up PJ during these next two weeks (for the aforementioned rotation in the suburbs). I'm back to busing it, so I'm requesting more books from the library. I love having time to read while commuting. It's the worst thing about driving.

Yesterday, despite staying up too late the night before watching NCIS and Doctor Who on dvds which led to a slow start, we split our time to be super productive. Shannon took PJ to the Childrens Museum while I took the dogs to the the park. At the airport dog park, I realized how much time I've spend there. The cattails are dried and will fluff off when you touch them. Usually I pull too many of them down and am covered in fluff. I will miss that. The dogs were ecstatic to run. PJ got properly exhausted at the musuem with Shannon and then slept soundly from 7-10. Shannon was out studying so I watched some TV I had taped (woo Scrubs!) and worked on the afghans I am crocheting.

I have decided to work through a lot of the yarn that's only so-so in my estimation by making afghans. I have way too much inherited acrylic as well as lots of wool remnants. I think I should be able to get 3-5 afghans out of it, plus I can keep up my crafting. I don't have the time or mental acuity for complicated patterns right now, but I can memorize a simple pattern and work a few rounds every night. I'm very optomistic just like at the beginning of all my crafty plans.

I also have some recipes to try for PJ's birthday cake. I don't know what she'll think of them, but mainly the cake's for us anyway. There will also be more studio pictures I think. Really I just can't believe she's going to be a year in like three weeks.