Poor Marek got his first official goose egg.  He thwacked his forehead on the oak buffet that serves as our living room TV stand.  I was sitting on the floor with him and I'm still not sure how he did it because he was standing about six inches away from it.  The meaty thud sounded terrible and he bawled as I cuddled him and the lump rose up on this forehead.  This is what it looked like the following morning and you can kind of see the faint bruise.  We had a physical therapist and teacher at the house shortly after this picture was taken and I pointed it out to them and swore we didn't beat our child.  Interestingly, the physical therapist said that is a good sign to them that he is walking more/better because toddlers fall and run into things as they are mastering walking.  M's feet don't seem to keep up with his torso when he is walking and I hold my breath a lot.  I always worry he will fall and hit his head on the toilet or the corners of tables or walls or whatever.  You have to let them go and let them learn but he's turning my hair gray.  I'm getting silver threads amongst the gold!

I saw this idea on Pinterest for a Boo Boo Bag for toddlers.  It is basically a rice filled fabric bean bag that you keep in the freezer and put on toddler owies and boo boo's as a comfort.  I put some dried lavender flowers inside too so they smell lovely and comforting.  These can also be nuked briefly in the microwave and used as a warm pack.

Prior to this, I have used my mother's technique of the all purpose healing washcloth.  If you're worked up and upset, a warm washcloth to the face and being held and rocked will cure what ails you.  If you're bleeding or swelling, a cold washcloth or a wet washcloth wrapped around an ice cube is the best thing in the world.  Marek has fallen and bitten his lip a few times and the cold washcloth has been deployed.  He is such a little goof and likes to suck on the washcloth after he has calmed down.

Dave's coworker just adopted a little boy from Korea.  He is a few months younger than Marek and is their first child.  We were late bloomers when it came to kids so we were really excited for them and I wanted to make a few gifts.  As long as I was making Boo Boo Bags, I made a set for them as well.  I also knitted them another one of these Eventyrlue hats. 

I can't post a link to her blog anymore, but this pattern is a free Ravelry download.  I made the flaps on this one a little longer and M was gracious enough to model it for me.  I just love the elf point at the top!

I also made them an upcycled towel bib.  Here is the boy not cooperating or looking at the camera.

I don't know why I'm on such a Valentine kick, but I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning making a Valentine candle mat.  I've made several of these over the years but I didn't have one for the upcoming holiday.  I'd had several packages of these tiny buttons in my findings box for EVER and made this whole thing in one sitting.  I don't like pink but I do like fuchsia and red.  That mottled pink felt was purchased at Treadle Yard Goods with the gift certificate I won at the Washington County Fair two years ago.  It's a ripping evening in the Anderson household when I spend it sewing hundreds of tiny buttons onto felt.  I really like how it turned out and I love busy things.

This is not related to anything but I thought it was so funny.  Here we are at Joann fabrics in the ladies' room!  I had my coffee before we left the house I can't let Marek down because he'll run all over the place so he came into the stall with me cart and all!

02-02-2020 Groundhog Day

Today was a warm and sunny day by Minnesota standards so I dressed the boy in his Aran sweater for some outdoor photos.  I knit this about a year ago and he has plenty of wiggle room in it.

He was very interested in the snow although it was a little too deep for him to walk in. 

He couldn't wait to get down in it but it was warm and melting and his knitwear was soaking wet in about 2 minutes!  Look at those beautiful eyes.

I've been busy working on some tacky Valentine crafts.  I had fun getting out all my tools and stash for a great idea I had.  I snapped a cute photo of Marek playing with a pen and pad of paper in our hotel last month when we were up in Fargo for Grandma's funeral.  He just looked so serious writing on the paper. 

I played around editing the picture on my phone so it looks as if he is writing "Happy Valentine's Day" and made little craft foam picture frames.  That large bag of foam conversation hearts has been living in my seasonal craft box forever and they were used as well as some magnetic tape I had in my sewing room.  Each set of grandparents will get one of these as well as one of Dave's sisters (one of Marek's godmothers) who helps us a lot with babysitting.

I started  making these weeks ago.  We had a huge jar of applesauce that wasn't going to get eaten up and I had a bunch of cheap dollar store jars of cinnamon and made dough ornaments out of it.  I shaped and cut them and they've been drying and scenting in the sewing room for a few weeks.  I finished painting and glittering them this afternoon during nap time.  Now they just need hanging ribbons.  I also made some Christmas ones for our little family with our names on them.

I'm tooting my own horn when I tell you I was completely surprised at work this week when I was given The Daisy Award!  A patient's wife nominated me after I cared for them and spent a lot of time discharge teaching with them.  She even came in person when it was rendered.  At the time of the presentation, I was again in a patient's room working on discharge education and my manager called asking me to come to the desk when I was done.  Then a few minutes later my mid manager stuck her head around the door and said she needed to talk to me.  Honestly I thought I might be in trouble for something.  When I finally came out of the room and they were all standing in the hallway with balloons and flowers and the whole works!  I have never felt more honored and validated for what I do at work.

This is the second hospital I've ever worked at.  Prior to this job, I worked at a non union hospital in Iowa, I won't say which one, but I worked 12 hour night shifts from 7p - 7a.  Everyone knows that the night shift just sits around eating bonbons and looking pretty because all the patients sleep at night.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but every nursing job I've ever had has that opinion of the evening/night crew.  We work our tails off with half the staff.  We get so much accomplished with our limited resources and have a laid back roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-busy kind of attitude which is more than I can say about any day shift I've ever worked with.  I always felt looked down upon and not valued in Iowa.  My manager there used to point blank tell us that if we complained, they'd find a reason to get rid of us and they had people lined up to replace us.  I don't ever want to revisit those days or they way I was constantly made to feel at that facility.

That being said, it felt so good to be honored for what I do.  I pray every day on my way to work that my patients see God working through me as I care for them.  I am still deciding where I'm going to put my statuette so I can see and enjoy it.  What an honor.