Spa-Peggy and Meatballs*

I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering what my daughter's eating habits are like these days. Well, last night we had pasta and meatballs for the first time in about two weeks. You may recall what happened last time we tried this meal with Daughter. I figured it couldn't hurt to try again...it's not like she won't have plenty to talk about on the therapist's couch anyway. I cooked the pasta and warmed the meatballs in the sauce. I took out a spoonful of mini-penne, put a sliver of butter on it, sprinkled on the tiniest bit of cheese, and cut each piece in half. I cut a meatball in half and mashed it up. All of this went on a plastic barnyard plate and, without fanfare, I placed the plate on the high chair tray and said, "there you go, sweetie."

Lord have mercy. I haven't seen her eat like that since we first gave her cheese. Sure, she dumped the whole meal onto the tray, but I could care less about that. I try to present the food on the plate to begin with, but I understand her curiosity makes her turn it upside down. That's cool. She did great picking up and feeding herself the pasta and some of the meatball. I sat there with a teeny fork and shoveled in the rest. In the end she ate - are you ready? - TWO meatballs and TWO servings of pasta. That's more meatball than I eat! She had eaten one and a half and showed no signs of slowing down, so when Husband took the last one out of the pot I let him know he'd be splitting it. Anyway, Daughter's Italian grandmothers are smiling down on her with pride, I just know it.

Let's see, what other kid stuff do I have to report? Still not crawling but she will roll herself many times to get across the room. If we hold her hands she will take a halting, sloppy step. She is babbling more and making different sounds, and also likes to take different toys and talk into them/against them, making her voice sound weird. Two of her favorite things to play with right now are a wooden spoon and an empty oatmeal cannister. Who needs baby einstein when you have kitchen items??

That's all on the baby front. As for knitting, I have decided on a personal goal for the olympics. I'm not joining the KAL or anything, I just figure it's a good, reasonable time frame to finish a wip. I started Kinsale (Alice Starmore) two years ago just after my birthday. Mom bought me the yarn as the clothes she bought me didn't fit, so she said I could use the money toward something else (duh, what else would I buy?). I posted about it a while back here, but progress was never resumed due to Christmas knitting. Well, yesterday I pulled it out and started again. It took a few minutes to get back into the groove, but I picked it up pretty quickly. It's amazing how much better a knitter I've become in two years - this sweater seemed much more daunting at the time but now I'm wondering why I didn't finish. All that's left is to finish the sleeves, knit the neckband, and seam it up. I am freaking a little though...I'm on my last ball of Silky Wool and still have all of the aforementioned to complete. I might have to go trolling for another hank on the internet or something. I'm not sure if the store where I originally bought the yarn still carries it. Anyone have experience with Elsebeth Lavold's yarns and dye lot? I'm just picturing the neckband looking crazy different.

Have a nice weekend!

*if you know what this refers to, you win a prize!**

**the prize is my undying admiration for your big brain!