chicken progression

 Enter the chicken time machine... where we start at four weeks old (today) and go backwards.  Keep your wings and feet inside the vehicle at all times...

 Same type of side-eye, one week later (now above, 3 weeks old below)

   

and a week and a half... 

 

 

about a week in
 

after we had them for four days...

fresh from the big box store (above)

 

we have no pictures of eggs... well, of these chicks as eggs. **ha** 

Baby chicks and our dog Charlotte

 

Charlotte is still quite happy to have babies - although she whines when we check on them.  They are eating and drinking - the light and heater are keeping it about 80 degrees or a little less during the night and it is warming up during the day.  They are active and seem happy.  We still think we got five Americanas (as ordered) and one of something else.  The Americanas were also supposed to be all hens.  We'll see.

I need to kick myself up and go fix a hose outside and then drag a bag of new dirt to the main garden and put it into the beds there.  There will probably be another frost here before March is out.  I have ordered some seeds from Sandhill Preservation center a week or so ago and they should be getting here sometime... trying to keep my fingers from itching to buy other seeds - I do have some kale and mesclun greens to plant, and have also went and harvested a little bit of dandelion green from that bed I had gotten that started in a few years ago.  None of the italika rossa (italian red-stemmed) dandelions have survived, but the other native ones I put seeds in there from have - and I did that so I would have a clean source to enjoy some of that in the Spring.  I also have two bean plants that I sprouted last week and they need to go out in one of the beds.  They are 'Alice Whiting' green / dry dual-purpose beans I ordered a few years ago and have kept replanting.

 

 

Baby chicks 2026

 

Americana baby chicks, six of them.  Mark got most of the brooder set up with the heat lamp and now they have eaten some food and drank some water.

Handy Robot toy for baby (custom order) at KnitOwl Toys and bits

 A soft washable robot toy for a yet to be born baby boy.  He has a little wrench and remote control that will entertain little  hands until they are big enough to toss all of him around.

He is 20 inches tall from toe to head and 9 inches wide in the chest.

Other than that, I am preparing mentally for Esme's speech IEP coming up next week, making a few little odds and ends, knitting on the striped blanket... have another toy that is already requested but I might need to draw a bit yesterday before making that plan.

I spent a midnight hour last night making a little washcloth for the bath, it looks like a sand dollar and I hoped it would be good for scrubbing.  If it is, I'll make a few more and post some pictures.

Baby's Blast to the Past

I can hardly believe Esme was ever this tiny and wrinkly.


These are at just a few days old, her eyes were a very dark blue then.


And at eight months
eyes lightened up, and so did the hair


And at sixteen months
still medium blue/gray eyes and much longer blondish hair

Diaper Rash

This is the second bad diaper rash Esme has had in the past three months. In some places it almost looks like a weeping burn. She has been having some explosive 'acidic' liquid diapers and both times the rash came on within three diapers of the onset of 'messiness'. We're using frequent diaper changes with water rinses and cornstarch and/or diaper cream to try to get rid of it. It took about three days last time and this is the first day this time around.

Friday: There has been some improvement overnight with the treatment. She's upset that bathtime isn't 'duckies and toys' and is just frequent rinses. I think it was a reaction to something she ate which had a result so acidic it actually did burn her skin some. Been reading posts on the BC boards and changing her much more than often to try to clear this up quickly. Yesterday it didn't look 'awful' but it was enough over a large enough area for me to start treating it - a stitch in time saves nine etc... and when he saw that it was weeping through the cornstarch and a wet rash again minutes after cornstarching then Mark got a little more worried about it too.

Temper Tantrum in the Bathtub

We were taking a bath tonight and Esme decided she wanted to pull a gallon jug up off one of our shelves and into the bathtub. I told her No - once softly and then once with authority (little harsh) - and she began to do her drama queen throw a tantrum thing. But she learned the bathtub is not the place to throw a tantrum!

As she began to 'drama queen' fall to the ground and want to bang her head once and thrash 'oh I got hurt' she realized just almost too late she was in water up to her belly button. And she began to thrash 'oh no mommy I'm going underwater' and I caught her before she went under. She was very scared, as right she should be.

I shook my finger and said 'BE CAREFUL', and then before she could blubber about being scared I took her into my arms and held her but said again 'You have to BE CAREFUL, especially in the bathtub in the deep water, it's scary' and pointed to the water 'BE CAREFUL' which is something I say whenever she falls or bangs herself on something. She calmed down quite quickly although I was braced for a 'scared' tantrum which is much different than a 'mad' one.

She looked at the water and at me and then said 'RAR' and slapped the surface of the water several times. It was her way of saying she was mad at the scary water - and it was very funny.

She went on to play like normal and didn't touch the gallon jug again.

Esme at thirteen months

Esme has gotten where she will bring us books to read one after the other. She has lots of board books which she loves to pieces, sometimes literally! However, when she brought this book to Daddy she didn't know what she was getting into. 'Daddy, where are the rest of the pictures?' Mark read her the preamble to the Constitution and she had enough - took the book back to the box it came from and started playing with my measuring tape.




Esme is thirteen months. She weighs 21 pounds and is 30 inches tall! There are lots of teeth coming in, including some back ones now. That means a lot of crabbiness sometimes too. She is running and climbing on EVERYTHING. We had to do some creative thinking to keep an area safe for her to wander around in without us watching her every second. We know it's still just a matter of time before she is up and out of there again!

In her play area she has lots of toys. She loves her blocks of several types, and also sits in her booster chair and 'reads' herself books. She drags her play quilt around and covers up things with it, including herself. When we come with her tray of food at mealtimes she gets right in her chair and is excited to dig into her very own food. She absolutely hates having her hands and mouth washed off but enjoys baths once she is in the warm water.

She has started to call 'MumMum' and 'Dada' with better accuracy although 'Doggie' and 'Kitty' are still interchangeable. She is also beginning to have symbols or indeterminate 'words' for diaper change, up/down, lost pacifier, empty sippy cup etc... That is no small matter, as she is communicating what she wants better!

Homefront

Sippy cup
Esme has almost completely refused to drink formula anymore - and now it's real milk in a sippy cup and no more bottle either (unless all the sippy cups are in the dishwasher).


Happy girl!
Most of the time Esme is smiley, but lately she has been quite the brat with her teething and mommy being busy so much when I'm home. I have so many toys to make! I spend lots of time playing puzzles, chasing her around, reading books, giving baths, mealtime etc.. but sometimes she just can't bear to be stuck in her playpen when Mommy is sewing.


Hanging out with Dad
Mark hangs out on the bed and reads books often and she likes to come up and crawl around and 'smushface' on the pillows etc... Mark often has to keep hold of one leg just to make sure she doesn't dive off unexpectedly.

Unhappy girl :(
crying because she can't have the camera
She wants to copy everything we do and be in on the fun. Being told 'No' is about the worst thing in the world for her and she has a temper. We're holding firm though. 'Yes we know you're mad. No, you're not getting/doing (X)' We try to just ignore her tantrum and go about what we were doing. If she really gets unreasonable we distract her by reading a book, singing a song, going to another room etc..


Completely exhausted, she fell asleep on the shelf like this for a full ten minutes before the dogs woke her up

Esme at one and simple baby toys

I haven't been able to take many 'spectacular' pictures lately but I'm posting the ones I have taken a few days ago. Esme and I were playing in her play area, with all the toys and books etc...

Esme has a lot of toys, but the kicker is only one of them is electronic. I really don't like all the electronics in baby toys I see on the store shelf. Why does a ball need to beep and have batteries? Can't a puzzle just be regular wooden pieces without magnets and electronic 'You did It' alarms going off when it gets in the right place? For Esme, the best baby toys require Mom or Dad as a major component of the fun. And then we aren't playing too, she is trying to remember what we did together and try it again herself.

Here is how Esme plays at one:

We have several plastic shelves she climbs on to look out the windows. She has fun with the gates too, hanging things over them and sticking things through them - and piling toys up on the bed from the floor and dragging them back down again. She digs in the drawers she can reach and puts lots of stuff in there only to pull it back out. When we let her run all over the house she has certain 'hot spots' of stuff she plays with - our hardware bucket full of carabiners, a calculator, a bucket from the kitchen, shampoo bottles in the bathroom etc... and lots of magnetic letters on the fridge.

She loves board books, paging through them herself and pointing at things while babbling. She has several large and small balls to bounce, roll and carry. She has a sorter box with shaped blocks that is a current favorite and today I gave her a small amount of large wooden blocks to try to stack and build with.

Also:

Coffee Can: Yes, a clean metal coffee can (watch for sharp edges, this one doesn't have any). She puts things in it and dumps them out. She turns it upside down and bangs on the bottom like a drum. She bangs other things on it and makes a different noise. She rolls it. She picks it up and drops it making a pleasant 'GONG' noise.

Fly Swatter: Don't ask me why but she loves this toy. It is just an average 96 cent fly swatter made of plastic but she often carries it around. She 'pushes', 'slaps' and 'taps' things with it to see what will happen. In adult terms she doesn't get much accomplished but in baby terms it is a great exploration tool.

Sleigh bells: I bought a leather doorhanger that has big sleigh bells sewn onto it. It is hanging up on the gate and she comes up and has great fun ringing it.

She has lots of other miscellaneous things but right now she is most interested in seeing new things (exploring), hearing songs, reading and looking through books, banging things on other things to see what they sound like and sorting things. I'm not always sure what logic she is using when she sorts - but she gets very busy about it.

We also play games like 'Where is Esme' when we cover her (or us) up with a blanket, shirt etc. and 'Chase/Follow' and simple things like 'bring that to mommy' or 'baby hug!' She loves any kind of music and watches movies intently when we put them in. We don't play the TV or music 24/7 - just when we are going to watch something. I don't like the idea of a TV as a babysitter. In fact, it's a little scary how intent she can get on a movie and forget to do anything else!


She can reach the THIRD shelf up now without standing on anything - and when she does stand on something she can reach all the way to the back of it. Her hair is getting so long but I can't capture any of it yet to put it back out of her eyes!

Esme and her Grandparents

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! :)



Yesterday Esme's Grandparents Henry and Irene came over (Mark's parents). They don't live very far away. We got some pictures while they were here :)

I'm hoping to bring Esme up to see them today if they are home. She likes to toddle around their house and talk to their dogs, and grab magazines etc... It's great fun to watch her show them everything she can do.

We got Esme a pad of paper and some big crayons for her birthday, as well as a little piano that is a lot like a xylophone. She has been having lots of fun with all of it - even though she can only play with the crayons when we play too (for now).

Esme is One!

Esme is one year old today!

She is growing up to be such a big girl! She is amazing us constantly with how much she can do and figure out.

She can put several of her sorting shapes in the box, 'reads' her board books and tries to copy many things we do. She knows her socks and shoes go on her feet, but can't get them on yet by herself. She comes up behind us with her brush and tries to brush our hair.

Today we went to the library and she played with several large peg puzzles. We ordered her one from Amazon :) Grandpa and Grandma came down to say hi before we went to vote. They gave her a pretty little baby doll for a birthday gift and said to come up and see them later in the week.

I've been working a lot of hours at work, 5 days on and 3 days off for the past few weeks. It hasn't left me a lot of time for other things - because when I get home I want to spend time with Mark and Esme. There have also been several toy orders for Christmas so I'm trying to get those done as well!

Esme Outside

Got a dog, got a stick, yay!

Giggling Esme
Got a Mom!

What are these? They look like good toys!

Got another stick!

Esme and Daddy play 'tap tap tap'

Mommy, you want to play?

Esme is now officially a toddler, says I

Up until now we have been corraling Esme in a 6 foot by 8 foot or so area with baby gates and high furniture. We had that area babyproofed as well as we could and it has served us well. It has kept her safe and given her plenty of room to play at the same time. Well... those days are coming to an end.

Esme climbed the blanket on the bed tonight, got up on it, and promptly fell off the other side. If she can do that then there is no keeping her in that corral (successfully) anymore. Esme wasn't hurt, just stunned - and to be honest we are stunned too. She isn't even one year old!

We have to block the stairs again and start babyproofing the entire room! That is going to take some work. Luckily I have tomorrow off. And Esme is more than walking now, she is almost running. I think Grandpa and Grandma really need to see this tomorrow if we can work it in. Mark said when he brought Esme up there last week she hardly walked for them at all.

Esme's not so high highchair

We finally got Esme a high chair about a month ago - something with a tray so she could grab things and feed herself. We had been feeding her between mealtimes in her stroller because it was easy to get her in and out of and spoonfeed in. And at dinner time she would come stand or sit down next to us and we would handfeed her bits of whatever we were eating. It was time for her to have her own little meals at her own 'table.'

We don't have an average-height kitchen table so we wanted something that was portable, and could be used on the floor as well as at a chair at a table. I didn't want to lug a full-size highchair up and down our stairs as sometimes it is more convenient to feed her upstairs with our dinner than downstairs in the kitchen.

This is the Fisher Price portable booster seat. We ordered it from Amazon since our local stores didn't have anything we liked. It can strap on to a chair or be used on the floor and won't easily fall over. Not to say Esme can't tip it over if she tries hard, she can and already has - but we have been securing the back strap to the shelves in her play area and that helps quite a bit. We also like that the tray can be put in the dishwasher (the white part, not the blue part).

For now we're leaving the chair in her play area and the clean tray out of her reach nearby. We're trying to teach her that if she goes and sits down in her chair and gets our attention we might come put the tray in and give her some crackers etc... I think it's working some already, lately she has been a bottomless pit of hungry! Mark and I can't believe how much food we are putting down this little stomach :)




Here she is eating some cereal and graham cracker bits.

Note: The biggest problem at this age is that she gets bored when she chews. She wants something to do with her hands and ends up picking up food and tossing it on the floor until she has swallowed, then eats the next one. I've been trying to teach her she can sort them between the drink spot and the tray and still have something to do without wasting food. The best thing is to just not give her too much at a time, and expect to vaccuum more. Also the dogs will be getting fatter :)

Car Shaped Pillow pattern and Esme's Alien Ears

Esme is 11 months old today! Yesterday when we came up from downstairs we found Esme had pulled a drawer out of her dresser, turned it upside down and climbed on top of it. She was standing there, a full 6 inches taller than usual, just extremely proud of herself. She had pulled some clothing down from the third shelf she usually can't reach. Mark and I both laughed at each other and her saying 'Wow - we're in trouble now!'


Original KnitOwl pattern for a car shaped pillow

I spent a good amount of time yesterday making this pattern for a car shaped pillow. Is it a convertible, a roadster, a race car? It's kind of a 'generic' car all around - and the pattern will take a little more work before I can figure out how to make it available through my shop. For one thing it is HUGE, but it goes together as easily as a three piece strip quilt. I think next time I'll use low quality stuffing though, as the high quality stuff combined with the 100% cotton broadcloth made for some weird results.


Esme has alien ears!
These tiny pigtails lasted for a very short amount of time - but her hair is getting long enough to get in her eyes now. I'll have to figure out something to do with it or end up snipping bangs in another few months.

Handmade Bed Bug Back Pillow in Use with the Wii

Caterpillar Back Pillow
Shown in use while Mark plays the Wii.

They say sometimes your back hurts when you play the Wii. Mark has this game 'Rampage' he has been playing for a few days, and the Bed Bug is getting some use as a back pillow.


Esme watches intently as Daddy plays 'Rampage' on the Wii.

Esme LOVES to watch the game as the creature tears up buildings in a city. There are lots of noises and the monsters have silly antics.

The KnitOwl is in her workshop...

So here's a cute baby named Esme!


She can walk all across the playpen back and forth several times before she falls over. It is so cool to watch her walk around with a book or ball in her hands. She's quite proud of herself and I am just enjoying it all!

A Handmade Dress for Esme

I love how the light catches her eyes here.

I saw a handmade dress similar to this one on Etsy - but it was far out of my price range. Plus, I can sew... so I found a pattern similar to it at the local store and made this up out of flea market fabric.

The buttonholes are handsewn, which was the most difficult part. I could do them on the machine if I could figure out which parts to interchange. Somehow I never get around to that and instead spend an extra 10 minutes to an hour handsewing them.



It is a 'swing dress', that is put on over her feet and then brought up and buttoned over the shoulders.



and, even in a 'real-world shot' (not the best lighting etc) you can see the dress still allows her to move around, standing or sitting and playing with her toes. She can even crawl in it without it hindering her movement - although the middle looks a little funny in some positions. It should fit her as a dress for another few months and then graduate to more of a shirt with a simple alteration of where the buttons are placed.

Also: The pants I made Esme a few months ago are still fitting and are in and out of the wash all of the time. Soon I'll need to make a few more pairs in the next size up! I also bought some Alexander Henry dragon fabric like the dress I saw online -- and hope to get a dress and a pair of pants out of it for a nice outfit :)

More Cotton Slug Attack pictures

More pictures of Mark and Esme with the cotton toy slug the other night. I really need to make more but won't get more time until this weekend. I've also got a request to make a 'plush foot' for a sandal company... which I've done one mockup for and need to make another.