I'm nearly done with one sock, and already I am bored. Is this sock destined to remain lonely and mate-less forever? We'll see... I may be able to beat the Second Sock Syndrome. Cheer me on, folks!
I realised this week that I haven't been a very good gift recipient and have not posted about the knitted gifts I have received on Alex's behalf.
I received this lovely sweater from Candi, one of the ladies with whom I knit at Rubi and Lana. It was totally unexpected. Heck, most if not all gifts are usually unexpected. It's lovely all the same. Candi made it quite large, clever lady. At the rate Alex is growing, and considering that we're not even close to having cooler weather yet, there is a risk of Alex outgrowing it before he gets to wear it. The risk is small, though as the sweater is quite large.
Maisie came to Sydney to visit her sister, and dropped by for a visit. Yarn-pusher that I am, i took her to visit Rubi and Lana. Who can resist a visit to Rubi and Lana? Especially when they are having a summer clearance sale too! I was 'good'. I resisted the lure of the baskets and shelves of yarn and lived vicariously through Maisie. She bought. I didn't!
She brought this for Alex too!
The sweater is still too large for Alex for now. It's super cute, though. Guess what. She knitted it from one of the yarns she bought from my Etsy store. The colourway is Stormy Skies and it's a nice "boy colour" - perfect for my little boy. I sure hope Alex doesn't grow too quickly. I really want him to be able to wear these two sweaters but the weather is still too hot right now.
I read the book last night and it's great knitters' propaganda. It's never too young to teach babies about what mummy does, as Maisie said. The book is about a Koala who went to a bush sale and came home with a bag of yarn. (Sound familiar?) Koala then knitted a jumper (sweater, to all you non-Aussies) and that's when the fun begins! I think it's a great book and I can't wait till Alex is old enough to understand it. Hmm.. maybe I don't have to wait. I can start reading to him now. who cares if he doesn't understand it yet.
It was Chinese New Year's day on Sunday and Chris and I gave away our first hong bao*. Alex received his first hong bao - from us.
Alex was a little confused and didn't quite know what to make of it.
He did attempt to eat it, but we don't have a photo of that. We finally managed to get him to hold it, but not for long. He got bored.
I can't believe how quickly he is growing. I weighed him again today and he was 5.4kg fully dressed. He's already starting to grow out of the 000 sized clothes which are meant for 0-3month olds. He's only 7 weeks old! What a chubba bubba.
It's a relief to see other babies at the early parenting support group growing just as rapidly. Okay, so my chubby baby is not abnormal for a fully-breastfed baby. Thank goodness. I was getting worried for a while as various online sources were saying that breastfed babies should grow about 150g-250g a week. Alex is certainly growing more quickly than that. He has grown about 2.1kg in 7 weeks.
Alex now smiles and grins. His grin definitely comes from my side of the family - all gums and no eyes! Finally, something in him that looks like me!
*hong bao, or "red packet" is a little red envelope containing money that is given during Chinese New Year for good fortune. It is usually (always?) given by married people to unmarried ones.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Is it just the hormones?
I saw this on Knit Nut's blog and it made me cry. Sure, my grandfather never carved chopsticks and our family reunion dinners aren't quite like that, but it still made me cry.
It's Chinese New Year this weekend and we won't be doing anything special to celebrate as my family isn't here and there doesn't seem to be much of a point. What's the point of a reunion dinner amongst three people who see each other every day anyway? In Malaysia, my parents will be having a small dinner on new year's eve with my grandmothers and at least one aunt. Next year, maybe we can take Alex to Malaysia with us to celebrate Chinese New Year. He will probably still be too young to understand what it's all about but I am sure he'll love taking in all the sights and sounds. My grandparents will also love to see him, I am sure. He is their first (and only, for now) great grandchild.
Alex is growing at a rapid rate. I can't believe how fast he is piling on the weight. He was born at 3.305kg and 50cm. When he left the hospital, he was 3.025kg. As of yesterday, he was 5.1kg and 57cm! He is only 6 weeks old and has more fat rolls than any other baby I know. He also has lots of hair. I'm not sure whether his head is growing quicker than the rate at which the hair follicles on his head are increasing, but his hair seems to have thinned out somewhat. My mother thinks that he is losing hair, and that's what babies do, but I haven't found any hairs of his cot or on his rocker.
My boy's zits are clearing up! Finally! I thought the day would never come. every time a zit went away, another would pop up, bigger and redder than the one before.
Now that I have said that, another pimple will probably pop up.
I just thought I'd add that picture because I think it's so cute. My in-laws think that Alex in that picture looks exactly like Chris did at that age. I don't know about "at that age", but he definitely looks a lot more like Chris now than he does me.
Yes, I have managed to get some knitting time. The vest is nearly done. I still need to sew in ends and give it a good wash. I felt pretty good after having finished two projects this year (the pink summer top from a Sandra pattern and the vest), so I thought I'd cast on a brand new project.
As I have promised myself, and everyone in blogland, that I will knit from my stash, I looked through my stash and decided on a self-striping Regia yarn and a simple "railroad rib" pattern from Fiber Trends. It's looking good so far. The rib pattern makes it very stretchy. As I didn't think the recommended 2.25mm needles and 64 stitches around will fit my legs, I decided to use my new 2.5mm Knit Picks needles. I love them! They are as smooth as my Addis but pointier. The only thing I don't like about them is the length. They are not short enough and yet too long, if that makes any sense. They tend to poke me in the palm a little, but it's no biggie. I have adjusted the position of my hands to cope with these needles.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
When he's like this...
... I want to cry too. Thankfully, he's not like that all the time. In fact, he spends a lot of time like this:
Lately he's been doing this a lot:
Some may say it's just wind making the corners of his mouth turn, but I'd like to think it's a smile. Let's take another look...
If you have been paying attention to my sidebar, you'll see that I have been knitting. I have made progress on my vest. It's about the only thing I can knit as it requires very little concentration, which is a good thing as I have very little to spare.
We have been trying to settle Alex into some sort of a routine this week in the hope that it will get us more sleep and save our sanity. It worked for two nights and then last night was dreadful. he just would not settle and Chris and I took turns patting his back and carrying him while he cried. I think it may just be wind causing him discomfort. He's let a lot of it out this morning, and now he's sleeping like a little beauty, which is why I am able to steal a few minutes to post.
I am so relieved he's finally fallen asleep as a parcel arrived for me this morning. It is my gift from my Spinning Roving Swap pal, Gina. Thank you Gina!
I can't wait to get started on the Blue-faced Leicester roving. It is a breed of sheep I have not seen locally and I have heard (or should I say, "read") so much about in the knitting and spinning forums. When I get back into spinning, which will be soon, I hope, I will be spinning that and the CVM roving that Cynthia sent me before Christmas.
(C) 2004 Celia Ng and Chris Hernandez. All rights reserved. This page designed by Chris Hernandez. Many thanks to Amy at www.IndiGirl.com for the original Project Progress Tracker.
No electrons were harmed in the production of this webpage.
