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...

So, as you probably know, the east coast is supposed to get hit by this epic storm tomorrow and Sunday. I'm skeptical. The weather channel is famous for making much ado about nothing. But the MTA (subways, buses, Long Island railroad) is shutting down at noon today so none of the cashiers at the grocery stores will be able to make it to work (or get home if they took a subway before the shutdown). So I and a few million other New Yorkers were stocking up at the grocery store today. I personally feel we are just going to get some rain tomorrow and some wind on Sunday, but we'll see.

So I just saw Crazy, Stupid, Love ...much better than I expected! I am always cautious going into movies because a lot of them are bad. But this one was definitely good. I realized I almost always like Steve Carell movies...I didn't see Date Night , but I liked Dan in Real Life and Little Miss Sunshine. I think he is a more subtle and interesting actor on the big screen (not that I have anything against The Office , but he definitely has a broad, hammy role there. Oh, I guess he left. We don't have a TV, can you tell?) The other actors: Julianne Moore was good, although it was not always a sympathetic role for her. Her face looks a bit like Madonna's in some shots. Emma Stone reminds me a bit of Michael Jackson, her face. She is likable enough though. Ryan Gosling was very funny.

Just had the best grilled cheese sandwich ever (I made it!). Proof that good, simple ingredients can really make something special. 2 slices whole wheat bread 1 August tomato, bursting with juiciness 3 slices of Havarti 1/2 tablespoon sweet cream butter

Just a note to say...I love the bus! I never bothered to figure it out before, I always took the subway or walked. But now when I'm big and pregnant, the air conditioning/lack of stairs on the bus are welcome. The crosstown bus is slow as molasses, but the uptown/downtown one is fairly quick and endearingly social. A woman showed me a cowl she was knitting for her son-in-law with British-style increases. Speaking of the British, I'm reading the Agatha Raisin mystery series by M.C. Beaton. It's a lot of fun. Agatha is kind of a curmudgeon, but also very likable.

In the morning I often take a walk, and I always pass by a bakery in my neighborhood. It's really good; it rivals Magnolia, but it's less of a mob scene, with a charming retro atmosphere. Anyway, my walk is too early for the bakery to be open, but there is always a guy out back cleaning the coffee machine and taking the muffins out of the oven. They have a full array of cupcakes: vanilla and chocolate, carrot cake and banana, lemon (spring/summer) and pumpkin (fall/winter). Now I am craving one, but will have to wait until they are open. Or maybe it will pass :)

Just a note to say that E is doing so much better with the toilet training! Proof that if you stick with something, you can succeed. Other than that, not much going on. E is starting preschool in September. Although it seems to be a very nice place, I'm a little bit in denial. I'm afraid I'm going to miss him terribly. So I plan to keep myself busy. I have a lot of knitting projects queued, including a blanket for the new baby, and I will finally move some of our things into storage.

So toilet training is an exhausting business. But it is also a learning experience for me. I think things were too easy for me for many years. School, except for math sometimes, was pretty easy and so I didn't face real challenges until I was in the work world. I am learning from toilet training that it is possible, and even good, to keep persevering with something even if it doesn't seem to be working at all. So far we have moved through the following stages: "Run and scream." This was a few months ago, when I figured out when E was about to poop and put him on his Sesame Street potty. The poop landed in the potty, but E ran off screaming. "The potty is a fun place, but not necessarily to pee in." We're kind of locked in that stage, but he did pee in it tonight. Some people suggest putting him in underwear when he gets off the potty, that this will work faster than using a pull-up. The downside: accidents. So I'm thinking I will use underwear at hom...

I got my first "Twins?" comment today. Oh well. I seem to be fated to hear these things in pregnancy. There is no point in getting annoyed....the people who are most annoying seem to have no clue that they are. I definitely have baby brain this time around. I forgot to tip my hairdresser, then went back to tip her. I left again, intending to get an Italian ice. Then I realized I left a bag of groceries there. So I had to go back again. I finished my purple hat, but put the picture up on Facebook, so you all have seen it. Now I am working on a pair of striped wristwarmers for a friend.

So I had a wonderful birthday today. Lots of people on Facebook, including some from the distant past, wished me a happy birthday. Then I took E to an appointment and because of the stinking heat, I took a car service (as my babysitter had recommended). It felt very luxurious and put a fun spin on the appointment. And E's eating has really improved. It used to be that he preferred soy milk to food, but today he ate cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, veggie burger, Cheerios, pancake, carrots and goldfish. So I was excited about that. We all had lunch at one of my favorite (veggie) burger joints and I took a swim in the afternoon. The pool was crowded beyond belief. Some people were just lounging around the lap lanes, not swimming. I went around them. I'm really looking forward to seeing Crazy Stupid Love.

So I've been knitting again. I'm working on a cables and lace cap in a pretty muted purple. When it's done, I'll try to put up a picture of it. A friend of mine from high school asked me to knit her a pair of fingerless gloves based on an Etsy picture. They're striped. Her preferred color palette is green, grey and blue. It's funny, a lot of friends of mine like those colors, but I usually knit in pink and purple, so it's an interesting switch. Went swimming today. For some reason I only like swimming when I'm pregnant. It can be a bit depressing, though, to see people with normal figures and wonder if I'll ever have one again. When I took my bathing suit off in the changing room, a woman rushed over and asked, "Is it coming out tomorrow?" (You can't make this stuff up.) I do wish people would keep their observations to themselves.

Perhaps it's unpatriotic of me to admit this, but I hate fireworks. I like the holiday itself; it was a nice relaxed day. But the fireworks are on the Hudson River this year (a few blocks away) as opposed to the East River (all the way across town) and it feels like the apartment is under siege. I'm waiting for it to be over. I'm reading Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan. For whatever reason, I don't usually like male authors, but I'm digging this book.

So I was relieved that my placenta moved...but I did get a bit of a weight lecture. My weight in itself is not horrifying (I now weigh 2 lbs more than my niece, who is the same height) but the doctor was un-thrilled that I gained 7 lbs in a month. (I didn't clue her in that I gained 10 lbs in a week, fairly late in the pregnancy with E). My last doc, who now lives in California, didn't care that I gained 47 lbs with E. "I gained 50 lbs and I'm 5 feet tall! You're 5'7"! I am not worried," she declared. This one said she wouldn't yell at me about weight gain, but it could lead to a difficult labor. Hitting me where I live. So I have cut out onion rings, potato chips and milkshakes. I am still eating chocolate granola bars and sometimes, sweet potato fries. I am only human, after all. I'm reading Groundswell, written by Billy Joel's (estranged) wife Katie Lee. It's fun. Before that I was reading To Be Sung Underwater, which was well-writ...

So I went today for an ultrasound and...my placenta has moved. Completely. They're not worried about it anymore. And the technician told me, "It's still a girl." Good to know... She also told me she weighs 13 ounces (the fetus, not the technician). When I got home, I looked up "20 weeks" on babycenter.com and learned that the average weight at this age is 10 1/2 ounces. So, I think she may be a biggie. E was 8 pounds.