The icy roads this morning canceled our planned trip to the Natural Science Center of Greensboro (Griff’s day care was closed, so we were all home today), but we made up for it with a visit to the NCMLS in the morning and a hike around Few’s Ford in the afternoon. After a yucky start, the weather turned out to be pretty fantastic. Warm enough for someone to keep running heedlessly and repeatedly into the Eno River, in any case. Luckily his parents had stashed spare pants, socks and shoes in the car.

And here is an extreme closeup of the pork carnitas I made this weekend. I am a corn-tortilla-making machine!

The weekend began on a very positive note. We stopped at Cornwallis Road Park on Saturday morning to let Griff blow off some steam before we ran some errands, and we had a blast. This is definitely one of our top 3 parks in the area. It’s always clean (unlike many of the sketchy Durham parks with parking lots full of used condoms and trash), never crowded, and the equipment is really varied and interesting.

After naptime, we decided to stop at another park on our way to the grocery store, and that’s where Griff fell down crying in the mulch while running back for a repeat trip down the slides. He calmed down in the car and we did our shopping (carrying him to/from the shopping cart), not realizing until we got home and he actually stood up that there was a problem: he couldn’t put weight on his left foot. Long story short, he’s still limping a lot, and his pediatrician will refer us to an orthopedist if he’s not doing better tomorrow morning. Poor kid.

Today was not too fun. We spent the early morning at Durham Pediatrics, and the rest of the day trying to find ways to keep Griff entertained that didn’t involve him running around like a banshee. (It’s surprising how much our weekends have become scheduled around trips to the Museum of Life + Science, parks, etc with Griff.) We were so bored that we went to Northgate Mall this afternoon. The 45-second carousel ride was the highlight of the entire day.

Some random notes:

Crayola glass markers are pretty cool. Griff enjoyed doodling on the window in the living room almost as much as he enjoyed cleaning off the window afterwards.

I can’t remember if I’ve blogged about this before, but I cannot say enough good things about the Learning Tower. We bought this in November and it gets tons of daily use. Griff eats all his snacks while standing in it and hangs out with us in the kitchen, playing with toys, flipping through books, doing art projects, “helping” us cook, or just watching what we’re up to. It’s rock-solid construction that doesn’t budge when Griff jumps up and down in it (it’s rated for up to 500lbs), it was fantastically easy to assemble, and the whiteboard/blackboard attachment is awesome. We’re currently using it with dry-erase crayons and magnets. Here’s Griff on Saturday after his morning snack, grinning though a mouthful of cheese.

I think I’ve found the ultimate toddler craft medium: clear contact paper. I’ve seen lots of kids’ projects using it on various blogs, and this stuff is awesome. Griff helped me tear up some red, pink and white tissue paper, and he added that, plus some yarn bits and heart shapes, to a big square of contact paper taped sticky-side up to his craft table. When he was done, I put down a second layer of contact paper, cut out some heart shapes, and voilà, instant suncatchers! I can see us making eggs, pumpkins, trees, shamrocks, and all kinds of other seasonal projects.

I ripped out Griff’s cabled vest and started something else. But I’m not sure I like this one either. Sigh.

Yeah, we’re all still here, we’ve just been sick for the past three weeks and barely scraping through our daily routines. I think we’re finally all on the mend!

Despite the cold, rainy weather this weekend, there is one among us who must get his alloted time “owwwSIGH”, or there will be hell to pay. Luckily there are wool sweaters, flannel-lined jeans, hats, coats, and mittens. And parks.

Griff got to play with Daddy’s old wizard hat today. As he is way into hats these days, it was a happy day. (Note the little thistle block people on the table. Griff insisted on giving every one of them their own “hat”. Looks like a booze-up in a lampshade factory.)

This face is the “Mommy, stop taking pictures and put on my shoes, wan go owwSIGH!” face.

Griff is used to a lot of activity with other kids during the day, and plenty of outside time. Thankfully, all the local parks were open today. We took Griff to Little River Park to ride his scooter, play on the playground, and blow off some steam. He’s getting good enough at pushing himself along that we’re thinking he probably needs a helmet sooner than later, especially given his, um, steering difficulties.

I recently cast on another knitting project for Griff, a Pembroke Vest. I’m feeling a bit iffy about this project for several reasons. 1.) The yarn (Miss Babs Yowza) is more variegated than I expected and is hiding the cables to some degree. 2.) The pattern calls for knitting the pieces flat and seaming. I hate knitting things flat and seaming. I didn’t think to try to convert the pattern, either. 3.) The cables are easy and enjoyable, but I can’t find my wing-shaped cable needle and all I have are two of the crappy J-shaped ones that I loathe using. Michael’s was out of the right kind and I’ve had no chance to get to a real knitting store to get a new one.

I’m over halfway done with the back at this point, so I’ll probably just keep plugging on. Since it’s a vest, I can finish it in April and it’ll still be wearable on cool days.

Check out these stitch markers! Mooo. These were one of my gifts from Jag. 🙂

Griff had an extremely grumpy afternoon (which caused us to cancel a shopping trip to look for a bike helmet), but he did have fun with his new magnets from Nana and Grandpa. I think he had a little help from daddy. 😉

Potato panckes are not a traditional New Years food, but since someone around here doesn’t like sauerkraut (no, not Griff), that’s what we had. I assume that our 2012 will be flat, round, greasy, and dipped in applesauce and sour cream.

This holiday season was a total whirlwind. It didn’t help that I lost my mind and decided that I really needed to make three elf boot jungle bell stockings (entirely by hand) or that I got the sudden urge to make Griff a hobby horse with about a week to go before the big day. Nonetheless, stuff got made, gifts got exchanged, yummy food was made and eaten, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

I used this pattern for the stockings, although I changed up the colors. I ran out of time to embroider our names on them, but that can be next year’s last minute project.

I’m pretty darn happy with how the hobby horse turned out. At 21 months, Griff is still a little young to use it as intended, but he does love to run around holding it while yelling, “Neigh! Neigh!” and he asks for me or Jag to “ride” it while he leads it around by the reins, running as fast as he can. (The horsie likes to eat Griff’s hair. And Duplos.) I found a bunch of online tutorials like this and this, and used bits and pieces from all of them. It helped that Jag had an old sock that worked perfectly; the seam at the toe even has a dark line of stitching that looks like a mouth! I bought leather scraps from Michael’s for the ears, and found the pleather studded “reins” for sale by the yard at Hancock Fabrics just in the nick of time (not enough for a complete halter, but enough to work). The mane is Wool-Ease Thick n Quick in a horsey shade.

From Santa, Griff got a play kitchen with some food and pots and pans and a shopping cart. He loves the play kitchens at day care, and he plays with the toy shopping carts at every single toy store we go to.

Chef Griffin recommends thoroughly washing your contruction vehicles before cooking them.

Let them dry completely on a cutting board.

Construction vehicles can be pan-fried. Alternately, just throw them right on a hot burner.

Important tip: always wear an oven mitt when making fish and banana stew to eat with your burger.

I loved playing with thistle blocks as a kid, and Griff really seems to like them as well. This set came with wheels and little people, which was pretty cool.

He picked up pretty quickly on how to use the kazoo Santa put in his stocking. After this performance, a bunch of lonely wildebeests showed up in the front yard, looking for love.

Griff got a lot of fantastic gifts from his grandparents and Aunt Beanie, but he fixated on one item alone: a battery-operated drill.

He drilled while kissing his Aunt Beanie.

He drilled while trying on his new hat from his Nana.

He drilled while playing with Grandpa.

He drilled while sitting in a box playing “night night”.

Although he allowed his Nana to use his drill for a brief period,

…he did not otherwise relinquish his drill, even when sleep overtook him on the way home.

And yes, he’s still playing with it.

Christmas dinner was yummy, and well-documented.

As is traditional at Sarik holiday meals, a candle depicting a festive seasonally appropriate person or persons had to be burned during the meal. At Thanksgiving, it’s usually a set of pilgrims. This time, Santa made the ultimate sacrifice.

Also, it’s done, it’s done, it’s done!

Started on September 25, finished on November 25. (Yes, two months to knit an itty bitty size 4T sweater. It’s been a rough autumn.) Used almost 2 skeins of brown heathered Plymouth Galway, and an unknown amount of my handspun made from FatCatKnits polwarth in London Fog. The Ravelry link to the (free) pattern is here.

It fits him perfectly. I am so thrilled!

Sweater progress: body done, one sleeve over half done. Still chugging along.

Quilt progress: finally found time to spread out the top, batting and backing and spend an hour and a half crawling around on the floor sewing in the crochet cotton ties. The threads need to be snipped and the quilt still has yet to be tied, but at least there’s some progress here. Was planning on giving it to Griff to sleep under, but the more I look at it, it’s a little on the girly side. Luckily he’s way too young to care at this point, so maybe I’ll let him have it until he decides he hates flowers and wants a bedspread with jackhammers and grenades on it instead.

Jag and I are apparently spending most of our disposable income on adorable Griff clothes. I mean, seriously. Raccoon jammies with stripey legs. Who could resist? (Old Navy has them.)

That’s his beloved “Lamby” in his hand in the photo. Lamby is definitely his at-home “transitional object” and must be present at all naps, bedtimes, and at random times during the day. We can’t remember who gave it to him; we think it was an Easter gift, the tag says Walmart, and it was probably some random seasonal offering, so the chances of finding a replacement are slim to none. And it’s falling apart already. 🙁

We hit two parks Sunday afternoon. First Rockwood, an old favorite. It’s nice that Griff is old enough that he can play on the toddler equipment himself without mommy and daddy helping. He still needs a hand on the big kid equipment, but he does pretty well.

Sadly, we ended up abandoning the park because of the two asshats doing pitching/batting practice right across the pathway to Griff’s favorite bridge. We couldn’t let him keep going back to stomp around on the bridge like he wanted to because he was likely to get hit with a baseball, so we had to drag him away kicking and screaming.

I mean, come on, it’s a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, there are tons of people walking themselves/their dogs on the paths, what would possess you to do baseball practice right across the freaking sidewalk?

Anyway, we drove the half mile down University to Forest Hills and let Griff finish his park time down there.

Stomach first Germonimooooooo!!!!!

Whew, he survived!

The folks who put on the Hallow-Eno festival at West Point on the Eno despite the wet, crappy weather deserve some major kudos. We had a great time wandering around the luminary-lit paths, and especially enjoyed seeing the Pumpkin Bridge (photo montage below) and the McCown-Mangum House (where we got married!) all decorated in spooky splendor.

Griff’s approaching bedtime and his increasing tiredness made our visit fairly short, but we had a great time stopping by to see the sights. Here’s our little leaf pile walking around/being carried around the park. We brought his little garden rake for him to carry, but once he saw the two glow sticks we brought, the rake was no longer of interest. 😉

(I would like to add that I’m really glad the rain finally stopped, or else I would have spent all that time hot-gluing fifty gazillion !#$@&$^@ leaves to a @#*&@*!# sweatsuit for nothing. Ahem.)

(*Thank God It’s Almost Monday)

We spent this weekend in sinus infection (me), teething (Griff), and toddler boundary-testing/tantrum (guess who?) hell. It’s only through the grace of ibuprofen, amoxicillin and the local parks system that we all survived this very trying weekend, but we did.

Looking back, all we have to show for a mostly miserable couple of days are some nice pictures of happy people doing fun things. Which makes me wonder about all the beautifully photographed mommy craft blogs I read. (These would be the ones written by artsy women living in 100-year-old farmhouses while raising chickens and a gaggle of delightful rosy-cheeked kids who all apparently think making gnomes out of felt and pinecones is the awesomest thing ever and who would never watch Yo Gabba Gabba or want an iPad or throw screaming fits in the Brier Creek Noodles & Co and force their parents to pack up all the untasted food and go home to eat their crappy soggy reheated noodles in peace while their 1-year-old naps in his crib because he passed out on the drive home.)

But I digress. Despite the sickness, the whining, and the gallons of drool, there were some bearable periods.

From the “The Best $20 We’ve Ever Spent” Department comes this Bissell manual sweeper. Griff loves to push his lawn mower, and, as we hoped, he loves to push this thing just as much. The living room carpet was in great shape after a mere ten minutes of determined toddler-powered cleaning. We removed one rod from the handle to make it easier for him to hold. He loves it so much, we have to hide it after he stops using it or else he’ll throw a fit if we try to put it away. It works great at getting the cat hair off the carpet. And it’s Prime-able, Amazon fans!

During one of Griff’s much-anticipated naps, Jag and I managed to carve up the pumpkins we bought at the pumpkin patch a few weeks back. We’d been keeping them out on the porch, and they were in still in good shape. They’re not fancy, but they look pretty happy together.

We are really lucky to live in an area with a variety of great parks within a short distance. (Although I’d like to warn any fellow North Durham-ites to avoid River Forest Park like the plague unless you like trash-filled slides and a parking lot being used as an open-air car repair shop. I’m planning on writing a nasty email to DPR.) Griff absolutely has to have some serious outside run-around time every day, or he goes totally nuts(-er). We stopped at Little River Park and Old Farm Park over the weekend for some tire-out-the-toddler action.

Griff’s sweater is now finished except for the sleeves, and it fits great. I should actually be able to finish this thing before Thanksgiving!

Since I’m so busy with the sweater, I haven’t had time to knit Griff a hat, so we went shopping for one today. He loved this freaking hat so much that he refused to take it off in the store and the cashier had to scan it while it was still on his head. He wore it on and off right up until his bathtime, and I had to hide it in the hall outside his room so he wouldn’t try to put it back on when we came back in to put his PJs on. We shouldn’t complain, at least he wants to keep a hat on instead of flinging it on the ground.

Jag, Griff and I headed to Asheville (well, Fletcher, NC) for the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair on Friday night. We had packed the car the night before, so we were able to head out right after work. After stopping for dinner and being slowed by some annoying construction-related traffic, we arrived at our hotel around 10:30pm.

Griff had fallen asleep in the car around 8, but he woke up while I was checking in at the front desk. Because he’s outgrown the Pack n Play and porta-cribs, we brought along a Peapod toddler sleeping tent for him to sleep in. He had a great time playing in it on Thursday night, so we figured all would be well. Once we got into the hotel room, though, he was way too freaked out by waking up in a strange place to sleep in the tent, so we brought him to bed with us and tried to get some sleep.

At this point I would like to note that all during Griff’s infancy, I desperately wanted to co-sleep. All the hippy crunchy Waldorfy blogs I read at the time said that co-sleeping was the only way to go for a nursing mom, that it ensured everyone a great night’s rest, that it was the awesomest snuggliest way to bond with your baby, etc etc. We bought a really nice breathable mesh bed rail and we made many, many attempts to co-sleep. The main problem with sleeping with Griff is that he is the WORST HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET TO SHARE A BED WITH. The kicking, the restless rolling around, the grunting, the poking, the tuneless humming, the stretching out full length and smacking everyone in the eyeballs and the crotch. It goes on ALL FREAKING NIGHT.

As you may surmise, the only person who got any sleep on Friday night was Griff. After an hour of flailing, babbling, paci-juggling, and various contortions, Griff finally fell asleep. Jag and I did not. Griff squirmed and wiggled around the bed all night into various physically improbable configurations. Meanwhile, there was a pack of loud idiots bellowing to each other in the hallway around 2am. We dragged ourselves out of bed in the morning and managed to shower and stumble out the door towards the nearest IHOP, desperate for coffee.

[Zombie Griff and Zombie Jag]

Despite this inauspicious start, we had a great time at SAFF.

Even the cars were into the whole fiber show thing.

The sales arena was packed with vendors.

There was yarn as far as the eye could see.

There were bunnies…

llamas…

…goats (mohair comes from Angora goats, in case you didn’t know)…

…sheep…

…and my favorite, the alpacas!

The sweet lady at this barn held up a three-month-old cria (baby alpaca) so Griff could feel her. She was like a little brown cloud.

Griff enjoyed communicating with the sheep during one of the judging sessions, as well.

I had three main goals for the trip. I wanted to buy a whole fleece (preferably Shetland in some interesting color), buy a big 560-yard skein of Miss Babs yarn to make a sweater for Griff, and try out a Schacht Sidekick spinning wheel to see if it was something I would consider buying. I got to do all of that and more.

It’s a good thing our enabling friend Michelle was also attending the festival, or I probably would have wimped out on the fleece. It was pricey, but it won third prize in its judging category, and it was really gorgeous. There was only time to snap a few photos before I carried it over to Fleurry Sheep and Wool to fill out the paperwork to have it processed into roving. In about 4 months, I’ll get around two pounds of my little three-pound Shetland fleece back, all clean and fluffy and ready to spin into a sweater.

(The reddish bits are the sunbleached tips of the outer part of the fleece.)

And here I am trying out the Sidekick under Griff’s watchful eye. He was so amazingly patient and well-behaved during the trip (except for that whole sleeping thing).

I liked the wheel, but I have a big investment in my current wheel and the bobbins, plying head, etc, and I’ll need to do some soul-searching before spending that kind of money.

Griff passed out in his stroller around 1:30 and didn’t wake up even when we loaded him into his car seat. He slept for three hours straight and had a cheery run-around at a rest area on the way home.

Here’s my official SAFF haul (minus the fleece, which was in my personal possession for around 5 minutes). I got a SAFF tshirt, two bags of CVM fiber, two additional braids of mixed fiber, two skeins of yarn, a handmade pottery mug, some hard-to-find knitting needles in short lengths, and two shawl pins, one burlwood, the other hand-forged iron with a nifty leaf motif.

I think we’ll definitely go back next year, but getting up at 5am to do an early morning drive would definitely be preferable to another nightmare of a hotel room stay!