Potatoes in the Mist

I made this hat for Z (the new baby, who has not yet arrived) today. You can find the pattern here . It took less than an hour to make. I'm reading Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. I don't like it quite as much as The Year of Wonders, by the same author, but it's good enough. I'm looking forward to The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (coming out October 4).

I just started reading Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber. So far, I love it. It's set in Miami, where I haven't been since 2010, and it really evokes the beach, the whole community, for me. It was a relief to find this book, because I was trying to read another novel before that just wasn't working for me. You know how it feels when you're slogging through something? I also discovered some great cookies. They're made by Divvies and sold at Whole Foods. I bought 2 small bags, molasses ginger and oatmeal raisin. Usually oatmeal is my favorite, but I love the ginger. E still seems to be enjoying preschool. He was scared of gym class for a while; there was a "rolling activity" that scared him. Now he goes to gym without crying, and when he got home, he typed "gym" on my computer and smiled.

I'm so mad at this hair-washing woman right now. I went to the salon I usually go to today, but the regular hair-washing girl was gone. In her place was this woman who handles your head like she's scrubbing a cabinet. My whole head was shaken vigorously like it was in a spin cycle. To top it off, she says, "I like to get hair really clean, I'm just being gentle because of the baby." WTF???? Eventually I said something like, could you be gentler please, because you're making me nauseous. She calmed it down a bit. Finally, mercifully, it was over. I've never hated getting my hair washed before, it's usually my favorite part, but she managed to make it a miserable experience. When the washer was out of earshot, I told my hairdresser (whom I like, and have been seeing for 3 years) that the washer is a little, um, ROUGH. She said she would say something. I thought that was that, but the nausea stuck around all day. The appointment was 10:15 am and I'm s...

Now that the baby is almost here (well, a month and a half away), she seems more and more real to me. The comments are driving me crazy. I literally can't leave my apartment without this conversation happening: "When are you due?" "November 4." "Really? It looks like you're going to blow/pop/burst/go into labor right now." "Nope." "Are you having twins?" "Nope." Some people stop there; others say, "Cause you're really big!" It's a good thing I don't have a gun. On a more serious note, I wonder what it will be like to have two small children. I feel like I've hit my stride with E. I'm not saying it's easy. But I can handle it. Going back to breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, etc...will I be able to handle that? I guess I will "just do." I do have a fond, perhaps foolish hope that I will have one of those babies that sleep through the night at 6 weeks (or even shortly after comi...

Well, E seems to be making a smooth transition to preschool. Yesterday I got freaked out because he was so exhausted after school and he took a 3-hour nap. Today, we all woke up at 8:24 and hustled over to the school. He went off willingly enough to his classroom and when the day was over, he came bounding out to greet me with a big smile. The co-teacher said he had an "awesome day." They played with shaving cream on a table, and he kept talking about it and how they cleaned it up afterward. It turns out a woman who lives near me (in the same group of buildings) has a child at the school too, and we walk home together. I put E in the stroller in case he needed a nap today, but he didn't. He had fun being pushed by the woman and her child. It's kind of funny, she and I have a lot in common - both vegetarian, from small towns in Massachusetts, and a year apart in age.

E's first day of school went very well, at least the drop-off. We all slept till 8:14 so we had to rush to get everything together. I was running around with a Sharpie and making lunch. Finally we got out the door, only to be the first people to get to his class! The students were still arriving gradually when we left. We stayed half an hour, and E seemed to be doing fine and barely noticed our departure, though we said goodbye. He and the other children were having a grand old time making dinosaurs with Play-Doh. Just saw some photos of the flooding in Vermont and fires in Texas. It really does seem like the end of days sometimes. I hope this crazy weather passes, and my thoughts are with the people in those areas.

So E's first day of school is tomorrow. I'm a little stressed out about it. I'm about as prepared as I can be; I've made a list of what we need to bring tomorrow and I've marked his lunchbox, diaper/underwear bag and bumblebee backpack with his name. We're also supposed to write his name in his clothes, but I'm going to do it on an outfit-by-outfit basis. In other news, I can no longer read non-Kindle books. I tried buying some books 70% off at the nearly defunct Borders (I always liked Barnes & Noble better anyway), but the print was too small. I'm used to the larger font on the Kindle. So I gave in and purchased the book on the Kindle so I could continue reading it without straining my eyes. My mother visited this weekend and cut E's hair. In the past, she's been able to do it so he doesn't notice, but this time he said immediately, "This is a haircut." Pregnancy-wise, I'm about as big and uncomfortable as can be...and I h...