Dream interpretation and 2:15 am

Makili established himslef early as a good sleeper. Of late, that has changed, with a culminating performance last night waking up at 2:15 am. I am exhausted tonight and have never been happier to see Raph.

I had some interesting dreams lately and thought someone might be interested in interpreting them for me. In the first dream, Raph's cousin Matty was there and she was crazy, like rabid crazy, but nobody knew about it. She asked to hold the baby and I let her and she tried to throw the baby on the floor. Makili was rescued by my friend Becky and then we all stared at Matty and realized she was mad because her eyes were like glazing over and she looked like a ghost.

In my second dream, I was with my mother in a foreign country and for some reason she kept insisting that in addition to nursing Makili I needed to nurse two other older boy children, who were not my own. Only they were like 10 and I was really uncomfortable with it. I don't remember how that dream ended.

Somewhat disturbing huh? Interpretations, anyone?

We own a house!

As of yesterday at 5:00 we officially own this house. It's in Kittery Point, Maine, where we lived five years ago when we lived in Maine and Raph was finishing school. It's tiny - 741 square feet but really cute with 3 acres of land. We're very excited, especially Raph who is looking forward to a short commute than the 1.5 hours from his parents' house. If we stay there for more than 9 months, Raph says it will be the first time he's lived in the same house for more than 9 months since he was 17. If you want to visit, let us know...

Three Moons

Three months of Makili

Makili is like a real person these days. He’s got lots of personality. Lots of smiles. Quirks. Talents.

He’s talkative, especially while reading him books. It’s like he’s reading along. His noise-making doesn’t sound that much different than his pre-crying, but it is definitely to get attention. We’re sitting at the dinner table right now and Raph has him in his lap and as Raph talks Makili is talking right along with him. Gurgling and ahgees and broooos and what not. So cute. A running dialogue. He also LOVES music and at times that is all that will put him to sleep. He cracks up when you make faces at him and funny noises. He loves that too.

He is spirited. Another word for strong-willed and stubborn. Just like his father. He doesn’t like to be constrained except he’s gotten used to being swaddled for sleep and really can’t seem to stay asleep any other way because as he wakes up his arms and legs flail and he can’t sleep at all when that is happening. He likes things his way. Like the his position when being rocked to sleep is very specific. Slightly wrong angle and watch out. So curious wanting to touch and see everything.

Dramatic and extreme. Boy when that boob gets yanked away a little too early, you’d think I’d yanked his arm off. Immediate and hysterical. He’s got no middle ground a lot of the time. He’s happy and cute or hysterical and a pain in the neck (like this morning when he woke up at 2:30 am and refused to go back to sleep.) He seems to be more mellow lately though, much longer happy periods, longer playing sessions. More and more smiles. He’s a pleaser.


Cuddly. I love to hug him with just a diaper on. That soft warm cuddly body is more than I can handle. And I swear he hugs me back.


Coordinated. He is making some big progress in terms of coordination. His favorite trick is to hold his fist up and stare at it, like he’s showing you. He can use his little hands with intense concentration. He can lay on his belly and hold his head up. I set him in the corner of the couch the other day while I did something and the phone rang so I ran to get it in the other room. I heard him crying and came in to find him face down on the other side of the couch. So yeah can’t leave him sitting on the couch anymore huh? He’s really been working his abdominal muscles and can pull himself forward when sitting up, which accounts for a lot of face plants on the couch since he can’t quite control how far forward he goes. He can stick his tongue out when you stick out yours. He can roll over again after a hiadus from rolling over for a little while. Maybe his head got proportionately big again. It does sort of seem big.


I can imagine spending the rest of my foreseeable life with Makili now. The interactive stage is far more fun for me and I like him more every day. He is so expressive and cute and we communicate so much better. I get him. I tell him all the time, we’re BFFs (Best Friends Forever). Lucky me.

It's coming. Cooler weather.

Making pickles

Good Looks

Logging

We hiked up Knox Mountain yesterday into a vast expanse of undeveloped woods owned by some old guy named Bayard Henry. I didn't bring the camera, to my dismay as these were magical beautiful woods with brooks literally babbling and glistening in shattered bits of sunlight, moss covered rocks, tall pines and beech, maple and oak, birch and ash, a cathedral of trees. The place hold remnants of the past - the road formerly brought the traveler to some unused hunting cabins idyllically set alongside lime-green meadow-lined pond, where I'm sure the moose must congregate. The damn which formed it obviously old and allowing water to rush out, surrounded at the edge by unknown purple flowers. The bridges on the road appeared to be a continuation of the dirt road but here and there you could see wood planks poking through, only to notice the sign posted next to the strategically felled tree: "Bridge unsafe. Enter at your own risk. Bayard Henry, land owner."

Just past the cabins the road converged with another, more travelled road. Sandy with big ruts, this road was different. And soon we were aware we were on a logging road. Our walk ended in the loggers' yarding area where they bring the trees and cut them into logs for sale. It was horrible. A big mess that reminded me of images i've seen of genocide, carcasses piled up. A pile of beech logs scraped on the edges, a bigger pile of majestic oaks and finally a huge pile of "junk wood," huge trees with rotten sections or knots. I know I sound like a hippie but it really made me sad.

3 down 1 to go

This is my Kaffe Fassett inspired quilt, made with the the same striped fabric as the quilt posted a little while ago that i gave to my aunt. This was the first one I tried to make for her, but I didn't think it fit her as well as the one that I ultimately gave her. I like though.

E-bay is for chumps

Alright e-bay isn't for chumps. I like it too, but this weekend I learned what a real aucion is like, and I liked what I saw. We heard from a relative that the Franklin auction was a good place to buy rugs. Since we're buying a new house (more on that later), we thought we should see what we could find. Trouble. That is a good word to describe me and auctions. Too much fun. We did buy some rugs. Makili loved the commotion. Ann said he smelled like french fries when we got home. I will definitely go again. Maybe next time I'll bid on some of the other stuff hey were selling. This time they huge lots of hardwood floors and granite tile. No room in our new house for that stuff.

The labor of work

I'll be honest that when I imagined staying home with the baby, I didn't imagine that I wouldn't have a free minute all day. I thought I'd still be able to make quilts and dinner and all that. I can stil get a walk in no problem because Makili loves walks, but I really can't count on anything else. Ann and I have jointly been canning this week, something that I am now very excited. So far we've made blackberry jam, bruise jam (blackberries and blueberries), love peachother jam, grouch jelly (crab apple). (You should all be guessing what you're getting for Christmas at this point.) I know this sounds like a lot but actually it is quick and easy to can things and I've gotten a bit too into it. I want to can everything now.


I had to look up tomato canning recipes because Ann's garden is ridiculously productive. Look at all these tomatos and there are SO many more. Though yesterday we found hornworms in the garden - the evil enemy of tomatos. I should take a picture of one because that completely gross me out! Ann stepped on a big one yesterday and it shot icky goop from its innards like four feet away. Yuck.


This week I did a trial run of "real work." I substituted at Raph's school on Friday and Ann watched the baby. It was terribly painful. I cried halfway there. I will say it was the easiest money I've ever earned in my life though. I was so glad to see the baby at the end of the day. Almost as glad as my breasts. Luckily I don't have to do that again too soon. I might attempt to be a nanny, but that seems pretty tough as well.

He's been so smily lately. He spends so much energy trying to grab things, concentrating with furled brow. He sits quietly while we read him books. He wakes up and immediately wants to look around. "What is there for me to see? to touch?" And those smiles are too much!

Hip hip hooray for health insurance

Our insurance that comes with Raph's job kicked in in September 1st, which was welcome since we've spent the last month trying to treat that thrush (which is thankfully gone!) without insurance. So I made the first appointment I could and Makili saw his Sanbornton doctor. He got weighed (13 lb 1 oz.) and measured (23.5") and poked by those dreaded first shots. They actually weren't as bad as I had expected. Makili cried of course, but it was short-lived and about the same intensity as when the boob gets taken away from him before he's ready. Then he slept like a log all afternon, like he did when he was first born - heavy and sweet, so vulnerable.

Abram came up to discuss the bed he is building for us and I snapped these cute shots. Doesn't he look bigger?

Newest Quilt - Bamboo

Mount Cardigan

I have to hike a lot of mountains to keep up with Ann's cobbler. This one was pretty fantastic. Makili loves to hike and I have to admit that I feel pretty tough taking him out on such awesome hikes. I don't even carry him! I probably wouldn't have made it I had been carrying him. The weather lately has been so fantastic - a perfect prelude to fall. Crisp cool air. I've been lving it.