Fake is the New Real

I think that the song title today is very fitting for the following photos.  Staging photos with children & a tired Momma is proving to be difficult. 

Please Gus, put the hat on so I can show Ava.  Yes, you can play with the phone.  Hi sir.  Yes I'm aware that my son called you.  How's the weather in Florida? 

Sorry Tuck for pulling your ear, but Momma just needs a picture of the hat. 

Koolhaus, stay put.  Tuck needs some boobage.

I'm still not sure of my role with Project Spectrum.  Dealing with an almost 3-year-old & a newborn sort of dictates what I'm capable of these days.  So it's a day-by-day decision on most matters in our household.  The first leg of PS deals with red, pink, orange & the element, fire.  The color part of PS is easy for me this month.  I enjoy these colors & I've been going through an orange phase.  PS gave me an excuse to buy some new yarn & reason to use up some of the stash.  But the element part of PS is trickier.  Fire means warmth, & what could be warmer than a gaggle of hats?  Enter my project: Warm hats for the family.

Hat #1 is Knitty's Toasty Topper.  I was looking at the pattern & Gus said, "That looks like a Super Hero's helmet.  I want one"  How can I deny him his very first requested hand-knit?  The pattern is a great solution for cold ears, neck, & head.  I imagine that it's very warm since it's knit with 2 strands held together.  I used some Cascade 220 in a heathered red.  When I ran out of the MC, I added some gray to the bottom.  Thank god for the Buckeye's.  You can get away with a mismatched hat as long as it's in your favorite team's colors. 

Hat #2 is Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby hat (via Raverly).  I had just enough Malagribo leftover that it would be devilish of me to let it linger in the stash.  While Ava was here, she said "Knit this kid a hat already."  But I did!  I made Tuck 4 Zeebee's but they've started to creep off his head.   During Idol (link to my favorite performance of the night), I finished a very warm hat for the Tuckster.  See Ava, I do listen!

Hat #3 Koolhaus.  I wanted to make this hat just so I could try out Malabrigo.  Ever since I finished, I've been thinking about ways to horde the stuff.  A sweater would be lovely.  An afghan would be heavenly.  A body suit?  I just pooped myself.  I can't really say anything else about this hat that hasn't already been said.  I will make another & probably a third.  When I use Malabrigo again for the hat, I'll take out one of the repeats for a snugger fit.

Next to the hat are the tools that have been getting us through the days.  All you mothers, is there anything worse than having to suck out your baby's nose?  Tuck has been really stuffy for the past 3 days.  I called the nurse & she told me that there's nothing that they can do for him.  Keep him upright & only suck when I'm sure that something will come out.  That's the advice I got.   The tea is for me.  I need all the caffeine I can get.  Thankfully, it doesn't seem to bother Tuck.

I'll be back with a "D" post very soon.  I just have to find a D word that won't worry everyone.  Yesterday it would have been Depressed, Dammit, or Done.  But today is much better.  That's the thing about pregnancies & newborns.  Everyone tells you that you forget labor pains the minute the baby shoots out (lie), but really you forget the first couple months of a newborn.  Why would you want to do it again & again if you remembered?  Not that this go round is as fun as Gus' time as a little squirt, but it's still challenging.  You're tired.  You've been pee'd on.  You've bounced & walked for 10 miles in your little house.  You have visions of being selfish.  It involves you just sitting on the couch.  Just sitting...  But like I said, today is better.  I was able to capture a little smile on the camera.

Comments

[Juliana]

When I had my little boy I noticed how people really lie to you about the a) endless joy and splendor of getting up 20 times at night and b) that babies sleep through the night as early as right away and c) that the body gets used to the deprivation. Guess that's why we love the little monsters so endlessly. So we don't care about the lies.

[Becca]

Oh man, just the sight of that blue nose bulb makes me want to go lie down. For a year or so. We had the exact same on and drove our babies crazy shoving it in their noses trying to help them breathe better.

Tuck's hat is charming. It matches the doggies on his sleeper. Good job on the photo shoot/mothering juggle.

That was my favorite performance of the night, too. And I was prepared not to like that guy, so good for him.

[Kirsten]

That is one fantastic Super Hero hat!!!
Tuck looks adorable in orange. Impressive photos for an exhausted, overworked new mom! It helps to have such cute models I suppose. . .

[kelly jo]

the hats are adorable! I love the color of Tuck's. It's so hard to look at his sweet little picture and think that he would be anything less than perfect, but I feel your pain! I feel bad now though because I wanted for the day Bubby no longer acted like a newborn (mostly the screaming fits), and now I miss those perfect little sleepy baby days! They get so big so fast!

[Tonya]

That might just be the cutest picture I've seen of a finished little boy blue hat. That kid is adorable!!