Harvey and the Elements

Earth, Wind, Fire and Water





















In more ways than any picture can express, Harvey is always reminding me of how connected we are to the earth around us.

Creative Play

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the importance of creative play in early childhood and about how best to foster it within our days. Ironically, I probably do not have to think about this at all--it is likely that my own mother did not and I spent endless hours as a child immersed in worlds I dreamed up on my own. During long car trips, I would fly one or both of my hands out of the window, picking up various passengers on my fingers. Those passengers would occasionally have to double up on the fingers if things were cramped; sometimes they would get angry (and even physical!) with one another. I played with Fisher Price Little People long after my peers put away their toys for other modes of entertainment. I held on to this creative play until well into my junior high years. While I finally put away my Little People (I can still clearly remember the last time I played with them), I continued to play out imaginary scenarios involving dreamed up characters for a long time afterward.
Norah has been playing creatively for quite some time now. She sings to her dolls, talks to them and reads to them; she has just recently though been adopting characters. "You be the doctor," she will say or "I am the grandma." I have to say that I do not think there is much that gives me more satisfaction as a mother--not Norah eating her broccoli or Harvey starting to talk. I simply love hearing my child invent worlds right before me.
As a consumer, I am tempted to buy her "instruments" (costumes, for example) to foster this kind of thinking. As a thinking person, I know that I do not need to make purchases in order to nurture my daughter in this way. In fact, the very act of purchasing items for creative play is somewhat antithetical to the concept and could even hinder the play. So, I have been looking around our house for everyday items that Norah (and Harvey soon!) that Norah can play with and today I started gathering some clothes for a dress-up basket that will have its home downstairs amongst the other toys.

P.S. I may still have to buy her this. I know, I can't help myself.

Baby Carriers

It seems that we have more reasons to have our children on our backs since we have moved to Portland. In fact, we even purchased yet another carrier, the Kelty on Craigslist in the past month. I am a pretty big fan of the Kelty; I like its sturdy framework. My brother and Brian find it cumbersome, though, and both of them prefer the Mei Tai (recommended to us by Suzanne) which we purchased last year when I realized that my back could not withstand another day with a child attached to me in the Baby Bjorn. Norah, at nearly three years old, still goes in the Mei Tai (and loves it) for short shopping trips and hikes that are too steep or lengthy for her to tolerate. There is something nice about the feeling of my children's breathe on my back and their soft cheeks resting on the back of my neck. Someday they will be too big to ride with me, and for Norah, that day is coming all too soon.

Knitting Lace

I have been afraid of lace for a year or so now. Afraid for a couple of reasons-it takes tremendous concentration, lace projects are not ones that you can do while watching tv or conversing with others. I have also been afraid that if I started knitting lace that somehow I would become a "dowdy" knitter and that my friends and family would forever live in fear of getting the dread lace doily or shawl. I think I am overcoming these fears with the help of Blue Sky Alpacaa. Nearly all of their patterns are hip and easy to wear and their yarns are absolutely gorgeous. I am in the process of making this shawl with this yarn. I am truly in love.

The Creative Family

There are quite a few popular blogs out there that I read on a semi-regular basis. I read angry chicken, a blog about crafting and cooking, Apartment Therapy for cool children's finds in fashion and design, and frolic! for fashion. I enjoy most of what they have to offer, but if I go a few days without reading them, I do not notice. Not so with SouleMama. I read Amanda Blake Soule's blog on parenting, crafting, and creating with children daily and as soon as I get a free moment. There are mornings when i am so excited to see what she posted the previous night that I visit the site briefly for a taste of what I will be able to read during nap time.

Soule relishes the role of mother and spends her days homeschooling her three, soon to be four, children in Portland, Maine. She's a big advocate of "natural" parenting (encouraging her children to spend a great deal of time outdoors, limiting their exposure to t.v., encouraging artistic expression, etc...). Now, I don't think I am a homeschooler and I know I am not an "attachment parenting" parent, but I do think there is much to be learned from Amanda Soule and her family. While Soule's concept of slowing life down is not hers originally (I think there is actually a whole movement now!), the little moments that she captures on film and posts daily are a constant reminder to enjoy my children and the small moments I have with them right in the here and now. I am not great at this but I am getting better and here I owe some thanks to my cyber friend (although she doesn't even know me cyberly) Amanda Soule.

I recently picked up a copy of her book, The Creative Family and really haven't been able to put it down. I am a little scared though-worried that I might be finding another pastime that will compete with my knitting habit. i got a sewing machine for my birthday from my mom and my aunt and went to the fabric store for supplies for my first project. Wow, is that place fun!! My sewing machine, though, is less fun... I have not yet figured out how to properly thread the thing--every time I do, I end up with a knot. So, off to sewing classes I go. Once I do get the machine working properly, I am excited to start trying out some of the sewing projects she has described. Project updates to come!

More Berry Picking

One of the many benefits of having family in town is that we are getting to know our new surroundings pretty well in a very short period of time. In the past two weeks, we have been to countless parks, gone on several hikes in various places in and around Portland, visited the coast, and explored downtown Portland. My dad left the same day that my mom and aunt arrived. One coming and one leaving tomorrow. More exploring to do. What a full week.

Grandpa at the Beach

There are some things in life that you really don't need to worry about. They come naturally.