spring has sprung and someone is one!

it has been such a busy week.



firstly, i saw joanna newsom at the jefferson theater! she is simply astonishing! it is one thing to listen to her recordings, and another to see her live. to watch her hands hit the harp strings, to see her mouth form each poetic lyric, to witness harp song fill the room with constellations -- it was such a blessing. she opened with the song jackrabbits, and sent me spiraling into a realm of quill & feather, windows open wide to starry sky, dried wildflower petals and colored glass.



the day marking tristan's first year arrived on friday. he decided to start things early by waking at 4am! our doula said it was because he wanted us to remember the fun parts (it was around 4am that i started heading for the bathtub in order to manage labor pain). tristan was slipped gifts throughout the day, wheels and puzzles and books and blocks to replace chew toys and rattles. it was a pleasure to see him so engaged, even if he wouldn't keep his birthday crown on! joyful, emotional, exhausting, and delicious are just a few words to describe the day. we think he had fun too!













on saturday i officially became a soccer mom as tashi played her first match on her first soccer team. we thought she did a great job and are quite proud of her. afterwards we went and bought a car! all of our cars thus far have been spotted on the side of the road with for sale signs in the windows. but this time we got all adult-like and went to a dealership. we think the pretty blue subaru outback will be worth it. we hope so. our older subaru of 220,000+ miles just wasn't feeling so safe & reliable anymore, especially when carting children around.

saturday night i attended our school fundraising gala as the photographer. it was a good experience, and a lot of fun too. more photos can be viewed here.













sunday we had a small party so that tristan could celebrate his birthday with some fellow wee-folk. it was a very nice gathering.







and now i'm ready to get on with spring, oh beautiful spring.











wishing you a week of blossoming dreams!

self portrait: tuesday

tristan and i spent many peaceful moments on this porch swing in his first months. the combination of fresh air and motion always seemed to calm him. for me it was an opportunity to breath in the aromas of spring, mingled with baby scent. what could be better?

now my baby boy is * one * year old. he seems to have a new word or sound or name each day: hot. duck. water. luna. raaaar. he is crawling on all fours into each of the four directions seeking his bliss. we follow him, we follow his sister, and every day find ours.

work wednesday

::before::


::lunchbreak::


::after::

ride bike

this was tashi's little bike-thing. at some point a bolt fell out, the bike fell apart and sat in a box for years. dan replaced the bolt the other day, and the bike-thing is back.

type

our friend julia is moving & clearing stuff out. guess what we scored? tashi's loving this cool little smith corona. she typed up an edition of the family news right away!



julia also passed on this special kitchen piece. i may just have to make jello for tristan's first birthday!

play ball

homemade monday: the tale of two crowns

i made tristan's birthday crown this weekend. in fact, i made him two crowns.



when i first photocopied the pattern from the book the creative family, i did not enlarge it enough (yes, even simple percentages can throw me). but i realized my error and made a second accurate enlargement. for what ever reason i kept the too-small pattern along with the correct one. when i went to make the crown, i grabbed the first pattern that i saw, forgetting that there were two. as i was tracing it i thought to myself, my this looks small. but i carried on as i so often do, like when my sewing machine is threaded incorrectly and i'm wondering why the stitches are uneven. don't make my mistake! stop and evaluate the situation!



so when the crown was done and i was feeling pleased as punch, i discovered the second, bigger pattern. my stomach sank. when i tried the smaller crown on the baby, well, it was a bit small. i mean, it sat on top of his head, but surely wouldn't be used beyond the first birthday. so i made a second crown, based on the bigger pattern. when i tried this one on his head, it fell over his eyes! so really i have the best of both worlds, a crown that will fit this year, just barely, and a crown that he can wear in subsequent years. and some practice making birthday crowns!



and tashi completed her fuzzawumble! isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?



p.s. i helped her with the eye. . .

sunday round up

this weekend passed in the blink of an eye. it was spent mostly doing some much needed spring cleaning. what boggles the brain is that i only took care of one closet in one room. there is still so much to do.

saturday night we had a brief respite from the chores of home by attending a play. the miracle worker was put on by our school's 8th grade class. it was an excellent performance of an intense story.





the one advantage of not having a performance space in your school (for the time being) is that the 8th grade play takes place in charlottesville's live arts theater. here is my view from a bench where i nursed tristan before ducking into the play (tristan and dan enjoyed the spring evening on the outdoor mall).







i definitely don't get out enough!

but that changes a little this week when i get to go see joanna newsom at the jefferson theater!

i have been listening to her new album, albeit slowly, and today am hooked on this song, which gives me the goosebumps. this isn't a video really, but the lyrics show up!



i've been thinking a lot about this time last year, the first weekend of spring. we had a lovely brunch at hawker and blossom's house in crozet. i was hugely pregnant, but thought i had at least another month ahead of me. i wrote a post about the weekend the day before my water broke five weeks early and tristan changed our lives forever. tashi, dan and i have had an incredible year with him! each day he makes our hearts explode with love.

lights! camera! action!

yesterday when i downloaded photos from my little fuji finepix camera (the camera i take with me on work wednesday), i discovered a bunch of pictures tashi had taken. she has an excellent eye! she also received her flip camera yesterday, something she purchased with her own funds. she is very excited and it is so pleasing to glimpse her view of the world through the lens.