The Weary World Rejoices

 

I hope that for you, this Christmas has been an opportunity to pause, if only for a moment, and take a deep breath, after a year of not being able to breathe.  We're not at the end of this tunnel, but at least we can be more confident that there will be an end, eventually.

Merry Christmas,

The Geeks

It's a...

 

...girl!

We're so excited to be welcoming a new baby girl this April.

Well, most of us are excited.

Peanut is not excited, which he will state forlornly if you ask him.  It's okay for the baby to be a girl- like, she has his permission to exist- but he doesn't have to be thrilled about it.

I think he's softening a little, though.  He loves to talk to her and kiss her goodnight, and now calls her by her name instead of just Baby or Little Bean.  And he still gets excited talking about the duties of a big brother and how much she's going to love him.  Just don't ask him point blank how he feels about the concept of a sister.

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty pumped.  I know a mom is not supposed to care either way, but baby girl clothes are just so much more fun... We finally had a slow weekend on our hands, so I cranked out a few sewing projects, whipping up some simple little dresses.  And since Bean will have a girl cousin born probably the same week, I took the opportunity to make what will probably be only the first of many matching outfit sets for the two of them!  (I'll share a look at the outfits on Instagram once my sister has had a chance to unwrap hers!)

Alright, be honest- which is more fun, baby boys or baby girls?

Much love,

The Geeks

Currently, Chief is {7 Years}

 Along with our eighth anniversary, yesterday was Miss Chief's seventh birthday.  This has been quite a big year for her, too, and she's handled it with a grace and strength many adults seem to be lacking.

Christmas 2019

Currently, Chief is in first grade, participating online from home due to the pandemic.  When schools shut down around spring break, we explained to her, in as simple terms as possible, what was going on.  She's watched the Magic School Bus episode about the immune system enough times that she understood our explanation.  Online Kindergarten was pretty unstructured, since it had never been done before, but she took it in stride, and looked forward to seeing her teacher on Zoom every few days.  We had a lot of time for independent study, which we filled with reading books and playing math games online and playing board games in the afternoons.  She's able to do double-digit addition and subtraction in her head now, and started working on techniques for mental arithmetic with triple-digit numbers by the time the school year was over.  She learned all sorts of things that weren't on the curriculum for Kindergarten...and so the first couple of months of first grade have been sort of boring for her.  Now the online learning is structured, a live stream of the classroom instruction, where there's not much leeway to move on once she's mastered something.  One of the many positives of having her do this from home, though, is that her boredom does not become disruptive to the class- her microphone is on mute, so if she's a little wiggly or a little goofy or even if she wants to stand up and walk across the room to give Daddy a kiss, nobody is going to notice.

Dressed as Lucy Pevensie, complete with magic healing potion, for Book Character Day

She's learned a lot about people, too, this year, and for better or worse, I think she's internalized those lessons by now.  She has such a big heart, with lots of room in it to love and care for everyone she meets, and for the first time in her life she's had to grapple with the idea that not everyone shares her sense of compassion.  I've seen more selflessness out of this child this year- at an age when it's still sort of expected that she's going to have a hard time sharing her toys, and want to push back on rules, and whine about how unfair everything is- than from most of the adults I've encountered.  I just hope she hasn't become too cynical about humanity at such a young age.

Last day of Kindergarten, enjoying breaking almost every single dress code rule

On the morning of her birthday, I kissed her and asked, "So, do you feel 7?"  She thought about it, then said, "No, not really."  "Well, you definitely look 7!  I mean, you're way taller now than when you were 6!  You're like a whole different person!"  It was meant as a joke, the silly teasing grown ups always deal out on your birthday, but apparently she thought about it all day.  Right before bedtime, she called me into her room and shut the door, then turned to me, with tears in her eyes, and said, "Mom, I really don't feel 7 at all!  I feel like I'm still 6!  And I didn't get any taller or anything!"  I hugged her tight and told her I was joking, explained that nobody feels any older on their birthday- that humans grow fast when we're babies, but slower the older we get, so of course she's not any taller than she was the day before.  I told her she's definitely 7, she's definitely getting bigger, but she won't really notice the changes as they happen- just after they've passed.  And then we looked at some of her baby pictures and talked about what's changed between then and now- and what hasn't.

Wearing her homemade Tinker Bell costume on Halloween

So, that's pretty much been her year.  If we've ever been worried about how she'd turn out as an adult, this year has entirely dispelled that.  She is brave, smart, kind, loving, and strong, and I have no doubt she'll continue to be for the rest of her life.

Do you feel any older after living through this year?

Much love,

The Geeks

Eight.

 

Photo by Emile Frey Photography

It's obviously an understatement to say 2020 has been a difficult year.  Our marriage has not been immune from the difficulties facing our country and the whole world this year; together, we've faced challenges we've never had to face before.  But we've been successful in every battle we've fought this year (and truly, they have felt like battles) and our marriage is all the stronger for our resolve to face things together, as a team.  We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other this year, and changed a lot about our family life and parenting; in many ways, we hope to never return to "normal".  

These have certainly been an exciting eight years; here's to more excitement in the future.  (Although, perhaps different excitement next year...)

Crafting Adventures: Misty

 

Of course with a Pokemon theme, our little redhead obviously wanted to dress as Ash's friend Misty and, fortunately for me, this costume required exactly zero sewing!

Supplies

-yellow tank top

-red suspenders

-jean shorts

-optional, for cold nights: long sleeved skin-colored shirt, skin-colored tights

This costume is, thankfully, assembled with just a few pieces of actual clothing that can be worn again when it's not Halloween.  A yellow tank top and some jean shorts with red suspenders clipped on are all you need.  Of course, the look isn't complete without Misty's signature side ponytail.  If it's cold when you trick-or-treat, you can always wear a long sleeved shirt under the tank, and some tights under the shorts.  A Pokeball is always the perfect accessory for Misty.

Much love,

The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Nurse Joy

 

Of course, if my hubby was going to dress as Brock for this family costume, I would naturally be choosing between Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny.  Nurse Joy seemed like an easier outfit to assemble, so here we are!  The only pieces that I created were the apron and the hat; I found the pink dress on Amazon and have worn it a couple of times since, and while I briefly considered dying my hair pink, the thought of bleaching my hair at home terrified me, so I got a cheap pink wig instead from the costume store.  Here's a quick and easy tutorial to put this together yourself.

Supplies:

-white fabric

-2" wide white ribbon

-1 1/5" wide white elastic

-3x5 index card

-red fabric paint

-hair clips

-pink dress

-white tights

-pink wig

1.  So let's start with a (very much not to scale) sketch of what the finished product is going to look like.  This apron is essentially an hourglass shape with sharp corners and very defined lines across the top and bottom- again, a stylized, anime look.  I just played with a measuring tape to figure out dimensions that would work for me and arrived at these; feel free to do the same for your body type.  I took this design and turned it into 2 pattern pieces- one for the top and one for the bottom.  Remember to give yourself a 1/4" seam allowance all the way around (that effectively means adding 1/2" to each of these measurements).  You'll want to cut 2 top pieces and 2 bottom pieces out of your white fabric.  Whatever you settle on as the measurement for the short sides of your trapezoids (that's my 10" measurement here), cut a piece of white ribbon that's the same length (+ 1/2").  

2.  Take your two bottom pieces and line them up, right sides together.  Stitch around 3 sides (leaving the short side- the 10" bit in my drawing- open) using a zig-zag stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.  Turn it right side out.  

3.  Your ribbon is going to act as a crisp little waistband, connecting the bottom piece to the top.  Line up the edge of your ribbon with the short, unfinished end of the bottom of your apron, right sides together.  Using a straight stitch, sew as close to the edge of your ribbon as you can to attach the two.  Unfold the pieces and press the seam flat.

4.  Now, a word about the back of this apron.  Because I was planning to wear this while chasing some kids around at both a trunk-or-treat and a Mall-o-ween, I didn't want to actually have to tie any ribbons and worry about them coming un-tied.  So I thought- why not use elastic instead of ribbon?  That way I could sew it all in place, exactly how I want it to look from the back, and it would stretch and let me pull it on and off over my head.  I could even attach a finished bow that would never come undone so the whole look was clean and sharp.  I sketched out the above look.  The finished product involves having two straps of elastic that attach at the top corners of the apron, go over the shoulders, make an X in the back, and finish with two loops of fabric (or ribbon or more elastic, if you wish).  Then there is a third piece of elastic that goes around the waist, attached to the ribbon waistband in front, creating one continuous circle.  This elastic band feeds through the loops on the ends of the shoulder straps before you attach it to that front ribbon (and it will also feed through the loop of the big pretty bow, which will sit right in the small of your back).  To determine the lengths of these three pieces of elastic, you're going to have to play with the measuring tape again, tossing it over your shoulder and whatnot to figure out exactly how you want it to fall.  My apron is very narrow in the middle; it does not extend from hip to hip, but is rather tiny to help provide an illusion of a narrow waist.  That means the elastic that runs around the waist is going to cover the width of my back but also come in towards my center in order to reach the ribbon at the front.  All of this means I somehow ended up with the exact same measurement for each of my 3 pieces of elastic- 24".  Cut those three pieces of elastic, cut 2 pieces of ribbon to create your loops (about 3 1/2" should do you), and cut enough ribbon to make a nice big bow.

5.  THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL.  Before you start attaching anything, if you don't want it to be obvious that all these straps are actually just pieces of elastic, you can hide them inside tubes of fabric.  If you want to do this, cut a rectangle of white fabric that is 3 1/2" wide and about an inch longer than the length as your elastic (so in my case, that would mean 25").  Cut one of these rectangles for each of the three pieces of elastic.  Fold the rectangle in half, right sides together, and stitch down the long side using a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.  This creates a tube; turn it right side out (you might need to use an unsharpened pencil to help you turn it all the way).  Arrange the tube so that the seam is in the center of the back side of it and then feed your piece of elastic all the way through.  Line up one edge of the elastic with one of the unfinished ends of the fabric tube and sew into place using a zig-zag stitch, as close to the edge as possible.  Because your elastic is shorter than the fabric tube, you'll have to pull the other end of it, stretching the elastic, in order to line it up with the ends of the tube, then sew it into place the same way.  When you're done sewing, your fabric rectangle will contract to the resting length (24") of your elastic, with the telltale pleats you see on elastic waist bands.  Do this for all three pieces of elastic.  

6.  Whether you followed step 5 or not, take your two small pieces of ribbon and fold them into loops.  Attach the loops to one end of each of your shoulder strap pieces using a zig-zag stitch, then press the seam.

7.  Now to make the bow.  First, cut a big rectangle of ribbon.  Fold it in half, right sides together, and stitch up the short side with a straight stitch, close to the edge.  Turn it right side out, and arrange it so the seam is in the middle of the back.  Create two "tails" for your bow (this could even be one long piece of ribbon that you fold at an angle) and stitch them to the middle of the back of your rectangle.  Finally, (not pictured), you're going to cut another (smaller) rectangle and loop it around the middle of your bow.  Stitch the rectangle closed (the stitch will be on the outside, but since it's hiding behind your bow it doesn't matter).  Now your bow is complete, and you have this convenient little loop so you can slide your elastic through it.

8.  Let's assemble the rest of the apron!  Take the two top pieces of your apron and create a sandwich- one piece of fabric right side up, and then your shoulder straps, and then the other piece of fabric right side down.  You want the shoulder straps to be as close to the corners of what will be the very top edge of your apron as possible.  Just like with the bottom pieces, sew around 3 sides, leaving the small side (the 10" side in my drawing) open, using a zig-zag stitch and 1/4" seam allowance.  Turn out and press.

9.  To attach the top to the bottom, lay the bottom of the apron right side up, with the ribbon at the top.  Lay the top of the apron on top of it, right side down, so that the unfinished edge lines up with the top of the ribbon.  Using a straight stitch, sew as close to the edge of the ribbon as you can, then turn out and press flat.

10.  Now you just need to finish the back.  Take one edge of your elastic waistband and attach it to one side of the ribbon waist band, using a zig-zag stitch and 1/4" seam allowance, then press the seam flat.  Take your shoulder straps and cross them in to the X shape.  Feed your waist band through the loop at the bottom of the first strap, then through the loop at the back of the bow, and then through the loop at the bottom of the other strap.  Attach the free end to the other side of the ribbon in the same way as the first.

11.  Finally, you need to make the little nurse hat.  Cut 2 squares of white fabric, 5 1/2" each side.  On the right side of one square, draw a red cross with your fabric pen.  Place the squares right sides together and sew around 3 edges, leaving the bottom edge open, with a zig-zag stitch and 1/4" seam allowance.  Turn your little square pocket right side out and press.  Slide the 3x5 index card into the pocket; there should be about 2" of pocket hanging at the bottom.  You can bend the index card slightly so that it curves a little.  You're going to use the hair clips to clip the empty part of the fabric to your hair, and stand the card upright.  (You could also attach the little hat to a headband.)

Wear a cute short sleeved pink dress with white shoes.  Slip the apron over your head- the elastic stretches nicely so you can pull it on.  Wear the pink wig and clip the hat on top.  (Technically, in the show, she wears her hair in these pigtails that are tied up in big loops, but I couldn't make this curly wig cooperate.)  Offer to care for any sick or injured Pokemon that come your way, and if Brock asks you on a date, turn him down!

Much love,

The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Brock

 

Pokemon trainer Brock is another really simple costume to put together.  Really all you need to make is the vest; an orange tshirt and some jeans complete the look.  And after that Ash costume, you're a pro at making vests, right?

Supplies:

-orange tshirt

-jeans

-green fabric

Before I launch into the instructions, I want to say a word or two about the fabric choice here.  I wanted to attempt to recreate the exaggerated, bulky look of the anime.  In the show, the vest is probably supposed to be a sort of puffer vest, but I wasn't confident enough to create that from scratch.  The vest definitely has some bulk and holds its shape- it doesn't really move much when Brock walks.  To achieve this sort of feeling, I went to the outdoor fabric section and chose a medium weight canvas material, something you might use to make cushions for outdoor furniture.  This material achieves the look of standing on its own, but boy was it heavy to work with on my sewing machine.  Also, it has NO STRETCH WHATSOEVER, so when I drafted the pattern for this vest, I had to add in panels on the sides so that Mr. Geek could actually put the thing on.  Finally, although the structure made it easy to hem a straight line across the bottom, folding curves was much more difficult- handling this material reminded me of folding origami more than creating with fabric.  If you'd like to save yourself some of this headache, feel free to use a lighter weight canvas (like something you would use to make a tote bag), or even just a regular quilting weight cotton (but then I would line it with a second layer).

1.  You're going to use your t-shirt as a guide to cut your pattern pieces.  Turn it inside out, tuck in the sleeves, and trace one piece for the back.  Then fold it in half to trace your two pieces for the front.  Finally, to account for the lack of stretch, you want two additional rectangular panels to go in the sides.  For an adult, I made them 6" wide and the height of the vest from the bottom hem to the bottom of the arm hole.  Add in a 1/4" seam allowance all the way around your pattern pieces, then cut them out in your green fabric.  Finally, the finished vest has 4 curved pockets, each with a curved flap covering the top.  I just freehand drew a pocket and a flap, added 1/4" seam allowance, and cut 4 of each piece.  The finished pockets are pretty wonky looking, but at least they're identically wonky.

2. Before assembling the vest, attach the pockets and flaps to the right sides of the front pieces.  The top two should be about level with the arm holes, and the bottom two just a few inches below them.  Place them however you like, just make sure that the pockets on the right exactly mirror the pockets on the left in terms of spacing.  Start with the pocket pieces.  Fold under the seam allowance on the top (the straight side) and stitch in place using a straight stitch.  Then, fold under the seam allowance on the curve (which is tricky!)  and top stitch to attach it to the front piece of the vest.  For the flap pieces, it's the reverse- first you hem the curve, and then you fold under the seam allowance on the straight side at the top and top stitch to attach that piece to the vest.  (If you try to attach the flap pieces before the pocket pieces, you'll have to move them out of the way to attach the pockets.)

3.  Just like with the Ash costume, our next step is to attach the front pieces to the back piece at the shoulder.  Lay one of the front pieces on top of the back piece, right sides together, making sure to line up the arm hole curve.  Sew a zig-zag stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Then repeat with the other front piece.

4. Next, hem the neckline.

5.  Now we're going to start to add in the panels.  Take one panel and place it on top of one of the front pieces of the vest, right sides together, lined up on the outer edge (where the arms go).  Sew a zig-zag stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance straight down that side.  Then repeat with the other panel on the other front piece.  Next, hem the arm holes, including the tops of the panels you just attached.

6.  Next, finish assembling the vest by attaching the sides of the back piece to the sides of the panels, again with a zig-zag stitch and 1/4" seam allowance.

7.  Finally, hem the bottom of the vest, all the way around, 1/4" with a zig-zag stitch (and then again with a top stitch, if you want to make sure it sits nice and flat and doesn't roll).  Also hem the inner edges of the front, where a closure would normally go, using the same method.

And that's it!  Brock should wear jeans, an orange t-shirt, and the green vest on top.  A Pokeball is always a good idea for a trainer to carry.  Of course, he's always around to help his friend Ash!

See, easy-peasy.  Only one more of these costumes involves any sewing- the other is just finding some basic clothing pieces and doing a particular hair style.  Come back to see!

Much love,

The Geeks

  

Crafting Adventures: Ash Ketchum

 We're not going to any parties or trick-or-treating this year because of the pandemic, but that doesn't mean we can't still dress up in costumes and celebrate Halloween at home.  If you're looking for some inspiration for some quick and easy homemade costumes, I'm once again offering some tutorials for our family costumes.

The Pokemon craze is still alive and well in our household; if you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen a video or two of Peanut belting out the theme song.  He'll even request it as a lullaby, and has solemnly promised to sing it for his new baby sibling as a dutiful big brother.  His bedroom has been Pokemon themed since he was born so, naturally, this seemed the perfect theme for family costumes last year, with Peanut himself dressed as amateur Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum.  This was a really simple costume to put together, requiring only beginner-level sewing skills, with truly adorable results.

Supplies:

-white short-sleeved button-down shirt

-green short-sleeved t-shirt

-jeans

 -lime green gloves

-blue cotton fabric

-1" wide yellow ribbon 

-narrow yellow ribbon (thinner than 1")

-red and white trucker hat

-green fabric marker

1. In the original cartoon, Ash wears a blue jacket with a white collar and white sleeves.  To simply things for myself, I decided to essentially attach a blue vest to a white oxford shirt rather than go through the hassle of creating that collar myself.  The resulting jacket has no closures in front and the pockets are fake, but it looks sleek when worn over the t-shirt and my two-year-old was capable of putting it on himself.  So, to start, the first thing you need to do is create a pattern for this "vest" using the white shirt.  Simply turn the shirt inside out and tuck in the sleeves, so that the shirt itself looks like a vest.  Using a large piece of paper (I like wrapping paper for this, especially the kind with a grid printed on the back) trace a single piece for the back of the shirt, and two separate pieces for the front, one on each side.  Remember to add 1/4" seam allowance all the way around on your pattern pieces.  Also, for the front pieces, be sure you include the button placards; your resulting blue "vest" is going to cover them.

2. Cut your three pieces from the blue fabric; they should roughly resemble the above image.  You're going to assemble the vest completely first, and then attach it to the white shirt.  (Remember these steps, as you'll use them to make another vest in this costume series...)  Start by attaching the front pieces to the back piece at the shoulder seams.  Place the front pieces on top of the back piece, right sides together, and use a zig-zag stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.  

3. So now your vest is going to look like this.  The next step is to hem the neckline and the arm holes.  You can either roll the fabric under 1/8", press, and roll another 1/8" before stitching (which would leave a cleaner hem) OR, since that hem is going to be hidden by the white oxford shirt, you can be lazy like me and just fold under 1/4", sew, and be done with it.  

4. Finally, to finish the "vest", you're going to sew up the side seams.  Arrange the vest as if it were complete, inside out, and sew straight lines to attach the front pieces to the back piece.  Again use a 1/4" seam and a zig-zag stitch for strength.  Turn the vest right side out.  You'll notice we have left the bottom hem unfinished, as well as the places where the two front pieces come together (where closures would normally be).  If you were making a real vest, you'd do those bits next.  We're not, though!

5.  Okay, this next bit is going to sound crazy, but it works, just trust me.  Take your white oxford shirt and make sure it's turned fully right side out, ready to be worn.  To make things smoother, you can go ahead and remove all the buttons, including the ones that hold down the collar.  (Even if you don't remove the buttons, be sure to unbutton the collar so the points aren't trapped under the blue fabric when we're done.)  Next, take your blue "vest" and turn it right side out, then tuck it inside the shirt like a lining; make sure the right side of the "vest" is facing the wrong side of the shirt.  Carefully line up the inner edges where the shirt closes.  When drafting my pattern pieces, I traced the neckline of my "vest" below the topmost button on the white shirt, so that's where I pinned the top of my blue piece to the inside of the shirt; once you pin all the way down, you'll notice some of the blue pokes out from the bottom- that's your seam allowance.  Pin both edges this way.  Now, once you sew where you've pinned, you're going to pull that blue piece out and turn it right side out, pulling the sleeves of white shirt through the arm holes of the blue vest.  I gingerly practiced this turn out several times with everything pinned in place before sewing; if you don't believe it's going to work, practice it yourself, just to make sure.  Once you're satisfied, go ahead and sew, again with a zig-zag stitch, just the innermost edge of each side of the shirt closure.  Bring that zig-zag stitch right to the edge; don't worry about seam allowance.  

6. Here's what it looks like all turned the right way out, with the sleeves pushed through.  If it makes you feel better, you can top stitch a nice straight stitch right over where you just sewed, but I didn't bother.  Make sure you pull the collar of the white shirt through the neckline of the blue vest; give everything a good press if it looks terribly wrinkly, like mine.

7.  Now all that's left are some finishing touches!  Take your yellow 1" ribbon and use it to hem the bottom of the jacket.  I lined up the bottom of the ribbon with the bottom edge of the white shirt, sandwiching the bottom of the blue vest between them so that its edge also lined up.  Leave a little extra length on either end of the ribbon, fold it under the insides of the jacket at the closure, and stitch in place with a zig-zag stitch.  Then, use a straight stitch all the way around the outside of the jacket on the bottom edge of the ribbon.  For a nice clean finish, you can repeat the straight stitch around the edge of the top of the ribbon as well.

8.  Finally, you're going to create faux pockets using your thin yellow ribbon.  Simply cut two identical lengths of this small ribbon, and attach them at an angle on either side of the front of the jacket, using your best judgement to place where pockets ought to go.  Make sure the ribbons are mirror images of each other, angling down towards the outside of the jacket.  The hard part is over!

9.  For the accessories, you simply need to cut the fingers off of the green gloves (although I was able to find cheap lime green fingerless gloves on Amazon) and paint the L-shaped symbol on the front of the trucker hat.  A word of caution- I ordered a toddler sized hat for my two-year-old, and it was much too small; I don't know if he just had a big head at the time (probably) or if "toddler" sizes are just too small.  Either way, next time, I would go with a regular child sized hat; worst case, it would be slightly too big and look adorable in photos.

And there you have it!  Ash wears jeans and a green t-shirt (although sometimes in the show it looks black...whatever you have on hand!) with the jacket on top, fingerless gloves, and the hat (preferably on his head).  A stuffed Pokemon or two make great companions, along with a red Pokeball.

This was by far the most complicated of this group of costumes, and it really isn't so bad at all.  Tune in all week for the rest of the tutorials!

Much love,

The Geeks

Doing Some Homework

 

It's time for Peanut to hit the books- he's got some studying to do!  Luckily, Chief is a star student and is willing to tutor him.

That's right- Peanut is becoming a big brother!  

He's so excited- both kids are so ready to have a baby in the house after meeting their new cousin a few months ago.  And what's even more exciting is that my other sister is also pregnant right now, and we are due within days of each other!  Two little cousins are coming that will be practically twins!

So Peanut has until mid-April 2021 to learn everything he needs to know about being a big brother.

Of course, he's hoping for (well, demanding) a baby brother, and Chief is really praying for the sister she's always wanted.  Me, I'm just ready for morning sickness to go away.

Much love,

The Geeks

Currently, Peanut is... {3 years old}

And just like that, my baby boy isn't a baby anymore.  He's changed so much in just a year, and it was fun comparing him to his sister at this age as I wrote this post. 

Catching 'em all as Ash on Halloween

Growing tall and handsome every day!  His big sister, who is almost four years older than him, is only a head taller than him- and she's pretty tall herself.  He's been wearing size 4T since about Easter, which is apparently on par with his sister, but it's a little bizarre seeing him in some of her hand-me-down T-shirts that it seems she just outgrew recently.  For example, we bought Miss Chief a souvenir T-shirt from Animal Kingdom on our family Disney trip, which coincided with her 4th birthday; she was able to wear it for about a year and a half.  He wears it now, and it's one of his favorites- and it fits perfectly.

Eating a fairly varied diet, all things considering.  Neither kid could necessarily be described as "picky" at the moment, but they definitely both have a go-to dish depending on what type of cuisine we're having.  Of course, if you left it up to him, he'd eat a PB&J for every meal- but at least he would switch up the jelly each time, between grape, strawberry, and blackberry.  As far as the dairy allergy is concerned, I'm not confident enough to say we've beaten it, because we still try to avoid it as much as we can.  At the beginning of this past school year, we moved him to an in-home daycare, and one of the MANY benefits is that the care provider is very careful about meal preparation, so he's never eaten something he shouldn't have.  He does enjoy the occasional homemade ice cream, but he doesn't really ask for cheese on his food anymore, even if his sister is eating some, so we haven't quite thoroughly tested whether milk protein is still a problem for him.

Not very excited about Baby Jesus on Christmas

Talking like a big kid!  Truth be told, quarantine has been great for him.  Not only has he been immensely happy to have our whole family together almost all the time, but his language abilities have benefited greatly from spending most of his time with his older sister, rather than peers or younger children.  He does still have a little bit of a lisp, but overall, his pronunciation, not to mention his vocabulary, have improved by leaps and bounds since March.

Making facial expressions that crack me up every time.  This kid has mastered the art of physical comedy- a well-timed eyebrow raise or smirk  or nose-crinkle turns "oops, I didn't mean to do that" into slapstick worthy of Mr Bean. 

At-home Easter

Listening to all sorts of music, and singing along.  He asks me to turn on the radio the moment we get in the car, and then immediately asks, "What's this song called?"  (Even if it's a commercial jingle!)  He won't go to sleep without a song- not necessarily a lullaby, though.  Most of the time, he requests a theme song to one of his favorite shows (like Paw Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, or Pokemon) and then sings along with me.  And he really loves to dance- he has a natural rhythm and can remember short combinations of basic steps.  He loves watching his sister in ballet class; hopefully we can enroll him, too, when things are safer.

Sleeping better than his sister ever did at this age, to be honest.  Nap time comes immediately after lunch, and there's never any argument about it- sometimes he'll even race you up the stairs.  Sometimes he's not quite ready to have a nap and will extend lunch as long as possible by asking for a refill on his water, or for another helping of fruit, and then taking long, slow, exaggerated bites, but once you get him away from the table, he accepts his fate.  Bedtime on the other hand...bedtime is where we struggle.  There is a never-ending list of things we must do before he is ready to lay down- and if we miss something (or if we didn't do it properly), he'll say, "We didn't do all the things."  These things include going to the bathroom one last time, drinking an entire cup of water and then refilling it to set on his nightstand, just in case, singing the aforementioned lullaby (or three), deciding on a color for his LED nightlight (and changing his mind about it several times), and of course, one more hug and one more kiss and one more hug and one more kiss and one more...

Opening presents at a joint birthday party for Aunt Helen, Mommy, and Peanut

Loving Ahsoka Tano (or Soka, as he calls her); puzzles; cars; the color green; playing with his sister; doing things all by himself with no help (even if it means you have to leave the room so you're not tempted to offer suggestions for how he should be putting on his shirt); the Berenstain Bears; helping Mommy cook; singing and dancing; turning everything into a race.

Hating losing the aforementioned races; bedtime; offers of help when he's getting dressed; being separated from Mommy for even a moment; when his sister picks the TV show (even if it's one he likes); sharing his toys with his sister (even if he wasn't playing with them).

Here's to age three!

Much love,

The Geeks

Hallelujah is Our Song

Happy Easter from The Geeks!

So, it was a very Lent-y Lent, and a very quiet Easter, but we made it work.  Miss Chief was very upset that we couldn't go to church for Easter- she thought surely the virus would put itself on pause for us to all gather for an hour or so in the Lord's presence on this holiest of days, but of course that's not how it works.  So we processed through the house with a homemade, paper Easter candle, we sang as best as we could, we renewed our Baptismal promises, and we sprinkled each other with holy water.  And we did it in our fancy Easter outfits, with our hair done nice.  We squealed over Easter baskets full of toys and princess dresses and movies and books and books and books, and we're looking forward to some homemade chocolate peanut butter eggs this afternoon. 

So in the midst of all this weirdness, there's still hope and joy.  We are an Easter people, and hallelujah is our song.

Did you get dressed up for Easter-at-home?

Much love,
The Geeks