The Burrow

I was told that there were enough diaper covers to last a lifetime.   I was informed that there were enough little bonnets and berets and turbans to match every outfit she would ever own. I was told that the small baby blankets were lovely, but frustrating.  Mom wanted to snuggle with her newborn, not just wrap her in love. I created some sweaters, but making something that has to fit an actual human being is a challenge for me.  My garments were too long and too short and too wide and too narrow.  Looking at them in the closet, I wonder what I was thinking.  Unless my granddaughter is built like a square, those sweaters may look a bit odd. So, when Little Cuter sent me a link to a round, ripple afghan, I agreed to try.  She chose the colors.  I was to do the work.   And so, I began.  The pattern was for an intermediate crocheter; I think I am still an advanced beginner.  I had a terrible time determining exactly whi...

I couldn't fall asleep last night.  I tossed and turned and changed pillows and blankets and I wasn't anywhere near relaxed.  Then, I rolled over to the side of the bed on which Thomas the Wonder Dog had taken a nap, smooshing the covers into a wrinkled mess.  He was long gone, but his aura must have remained; I fell asleep immediately. I'm in Illinois, awaiting the arrival of FlapJilly.  I filled a giant rolling suitcase with assorted shorts and skirts and dresses and shirts and every pair of summer shoes I own... because there was room and why not.  TBG hefted the finished product and concluded that I was very close to the 50 pound weight limit. The scale at the airport concurred; 46.9 pounds was the digital conclusion. The plane ride was fun because I was surrounded by grandmothers.  My seat mate shared picutres of her four daughters and three granddaughters and the lady across the aisle and I shared stories of our pregnant daughters and the hours fl...

My hair is cut.  My nails are done. The clothes are in a laundry basket on the floor of my closet, awaiting transfer to the big rolling suitcase.  My reading material and crossword puzzles have been considered and collected; I'm still vacillating between a vast array of totes/carry-ons/purses.  I have the yarn and the crochet hooks for the extra-large blanket the kids requested sitting in the closet of the room I'll be occupying. My granddaughter and I are on our way. The baby is descending nicely, thank you for asking.  Mom is in love with yoga's cat and cow poses, and credits them for keeping everything moving in the right direction.  They promised that she won't deliver today or tomorrow, but I am very glad that my plane ticket puts me on the ground in Chicago tomorrow night.  Little Cuter still can't really get her head around it, or so she claims.  I think she's as close to it as it is possible to be.  There is no real preparation for t...

It's pretty much all I can think about.  I am afraid that it's pretty much all that I talk about.  I have my plane ticket booked and my suitcase packed (in my head, anyway).  The baby is one month away. With gentle prodding from the recipients, I have been weaned from crocheting diaper covers and hats and small blankets and burp cloths.  I have graduated to full sized blankets, large enough for two or three to snuggle within.  I was very glad to have had that particular item with me today in class; my naked legs were covered by its loveliness and were much warmer than my bare shoulders.  I was grateful, through my chattering teeth, to FlapJilly and her parents. That's just one of the delightful emotions I'm feeling these days.  There's anticipation and excitement and wonder and awe, of course.  There's also more love and explosive heart-bursting than I've ever experienced..... at least since the wedding.  I have none of the discomfort of ...

I'm not talking about plastic covers on electric outlets. No.  I am discussing something infinitely more personal, something requiring a needle and medicinal fluids and my arm. Apparently, anyone who wants to be around a Chicago-land baby must be inoculated against whooping cough.  For the same price, they throw some anti-tetanus stuff into the same vial.  There's no co-pay, insurance takes care of it, and we were out of the office with a wave of the Check Out Here lady's hand. Little Cuter had another totally uneventful visit with the world's-most-wonderful-obstetrician, maintaining her status as the healthiest mother-to-be I know.  She's a delightfully compliant daughter, who understands her mother's unexpressed but fervent desire to know the facts; the phone rings as they're driving the four minutes home from the office.  This time, though, the doctor had a message for the grandparents.  Anyone who is coming into close cont...

It was too cold to do much besides go from one warm space to another, so the kids and I went pre-shopping for the baby while TBG snuggled with Thomas-the-Wonder-Dog on Cozy Rosie, in front of the game.  What game?  Who knows.  He was happy and so were we.  We started at the No Returns All Sales Final Open the Package and BE SURE IT'S RIGHT outlet for Land of Nod, and moved on to Buy Buy Baby, which turns out to be Bed Bath and Beyond for kids. There were some pretty cool ideas and some fairly awful ones. As you can tell from Little Cuter's grimace, we agreed that this would put you off Thanksgiving forever.   Someone in marketing had serious attitude issues, as evidenced by   and this  Demand all you want, kiddo. Cry to your heart's content. As I told your mother, long long ago, I'm not the one embarrassed by your antics; I'm not the one wailing at the top of my lungs.   Someone with an ironic sense o...

My baby is having a baby.   She's gone from "looking like I ate too much for dinner this weekend"  to having a small protrusion in the middle of her body.  Growing in size from a lentil to a grape to a plum to a kumquat, the baby is making its presence known. Everything smells weird.  Her pants don't fit anymore - "not even close." She's over the super-exhaustion that accompanied the start of the adventure - "It's not that I wanted to sleep; I needed  to sleep." Her 36 hours of nausea abated, and she's stopped wondering how anyone could be that sick for more than a day or so.  I try to keep quiet about the three or four months I spent hurling and napping while she was establishing herself in my body; she's already apologized. SIR is proud and happy.  TBG and I are still searching for the words to describe our joy.  We find ourselves looking from one end of the couch to the other, grins plastered on our faces, grins havi...