Kevin went to The Netherlands on a business trip for a week, during which the boys and I were extremely happy to welcome Gran-Gran to the Menagerie House. I just remembered that I did post about her toy-induced trip to the ER, but really, other than that one bad night, we all had a wonderful visit. Our only complaint is that it was too short, but the good news is that she will return, hopefully for Kiri’s birthday party at the end of March.

Since Kiri is a bit young to care much about the specifics of his party, his brother was happy to step in and take charge of the situation. He was more than happy to instruct Kiri as to the importance of a desirable theme for his party, and he came up with two themes. He couldn’t decide which one, robots (since “Kieran needs to learn about robots”) or food (since Kiri has yet to meet a food he dislikes), was best, so I asserted my maternal rights and picked a Spring theme.

That was partly because I’ve had enough Winter, and partly because I want to make the cake. I’ve gotten all into decorating cookies this winter, and I would like to expand my horizons a bit and try a fancy cake. I’ve had my eye on this bunny cake pan for a while, and with a recent sale at my favorite baking store, Fancy Flours, I was able to finally able to fit it into our budget. I think I will have to make two bunnies for his party, and then possibly I’ll make some egg and baby bunny shaped cookies for the children to take home. I thought it would be cute to make carrot cakes, but they are so moist I don’t know if they’d really make stable 3-dimensional bunnies. I may punt and make one chocolate and one French vanilla, or possibly lemon. Perhaps I will think about how to decorate them and draw inspiration from that. Also, I’d best got on the mission of consulting a calendar and picking a date for the fiesta.

While I’m on a creative segment here, I’ll mention that I have joined Chichimama’s latest knit-a-long. I would love a pair of nice warm mittens, so these will be for me. Since being frugal is so very necessary chic these days, I turned to my stash for yarn and found a nice variegated purple-pink heavy cotton yarn. My only concern is that the colors are so busy that the main artistic point of the mittens, a long cable running from wrist to fingertip, will be hidden. Then again, I want to make this “Just Enough Ruffles” scarf at some point, so maybe I’ll go ahead with the pink and purple first for fun and to get mitten knitting experience, and then pick up a pretty solid color color later to make a second pair of cable mittens and a JER scarf in the same color. I’m almost finished with my gauge swatch and it looks like it’ll be spot on, which rarely happens for me, so clearly the variegated yarn would be quite usable for this pattern. I just have to sew together the sweater I’m working on for Kiri to wear this Spring and then I’m free to make the mittens.

Speaking of creative pursuits, Santa left an easel for Liam this year. He loves to use it on days when he is willing to stay still for a few minutes, and Kiri has taken quite a shine to painting himself. When I chose the word “himself” I didn’t mean it in the literal sense…

..but Kiri took it that way.

The statement, “Kiri, we only paint paper!”

…does not stop Kieran, the All-Surface Painter.

Now, of course, if one is decorating cookies with frosting then one obviously has edible media on  hand…

…and on face. How amazing is that???

But the best part – the most exciting artistic discovery ever…

…is that a loyal dog makes such a huggable canvas!

In other news, we are seeing the beginnings of sibling rivalry these days. It is clear that the boys adore each other. When he is unaware of adult eyes Liam will not uncommonly watch Kiri play for a few minutes and then walk over, give him a big kiss, and whisper “I love you, Kiri K!” And every day at 8:30 A.M. the saddest boy in the world is Kieran. That’s because Liam’s kindergarten starts then and we have to leave him at school for a few hours. As we get into the car, Kieran will point to Liam’s car seat and shout, “Yee-Yee! Yee-Yee! Mommy! Yee-Yee! Now!” (He hasn’t gotten the hang of the “L” sound yet.) And the tears, they flow. On days when Kiri is inconsolable I will turn into the driveway of the house immediately behind the school. It belongs to one of the faculty members, and it affords a good view of the kindergarten play yard where Liam and his classmates are at play. We watch for a few minutes until I am able to calm Kiri enough to make it through the morning.

On the other hand, however, there are loud and screechy daily battles over my lap because neither child will share that spot with the other. And when Kiri misbehaves, Liam is not above reminding me that whatever the crime (large or minute) in question is, well of course, it is most certainly not his doing.

“Mommy, good job cleaning Kiri up. You see, I am old enough to know that painting my face is wrong, wrong, wrong. And Kiri…is not.”"

Point taken, kiddo. Now, enough crowing already.

Valentine’s day is upon us. It’s not a holiday I pay much attention to, but it is a big one with the grade school set. Liam’s class had a Valentine’s Day celebration today. Each child brought in a Valentine of his or her making, and then they had a swap…

..and Liam got to bring home this beauty.

And then, after snack…

…they made heart necklaces from felt and wool roving…

(not the best photo with part of Kiri’s head there, but it shows off the hearts the best of the ones I took)

…and made Valentine’s Day ornaments. I have never seen an ornament like this, and I think it’s gorgeous.

Liam was especially proud of this one since he made all of it himself with the exception of tying the knot on the thread. “I even sewed the ribbon into a loop by myself, Mommy!”

And here it is in its place of honor on our “Valentine’s Day tree.” The boys and I made Valentines and hung them on the tree while whiling away our Snow Day last week.

The Snow Day was also a great time to play with the ferrets…

…get them all rowdy…

…and more than ready for a nap!

This is Pippi enjoying an afternoon siesta.

I’ve spent way too much time on this post already, so I will end it here. These, my friends, have been the highlights of the last couple of Menagerie House weeks. Lots of everyday fun and games about sums it up, and I am not complaining one bit. So come back soon, ya’ll, and I’ll give you a knitting update (with pictures) and a collection of Cute Conversations.

Happy Valentine’s day!

The Menagerie House proudly presents…

The yogurt and Cheerios covered baby!

Ta da! Cute, no?

Says The Lemur, “Mommy, it’s good thing Casey likes to clean babies and floors!”

That is very true, Son. Good observation!

By the way, Kieran had his nine-month check-up this morning. We finally found a new pediatrician, and she was great with Kieran. Now I have to make an appointment for The Lemur and see if he likes her as much as his brother and mom do. At any rate, Kieran is 20 pounds, 4 ounces, and 28 inches long. She was impressed by his Fuzzi Bunz and the fact that he eats entirely table food and breastmilk. (In truth I think he gets a lot of Casey fur, too, but I didn’t mention that. It is impossible to keep off our floors and furniture just adds protein to his diet.) She feels he’s doing great, and it was so nice to have a pediatrician who wasn’t telling me what I was doing wrong. Phew!

It’s our first week without either Gran-Gran or Kevin at home with us, and we’ve managed to survive quite well. It’s helped that Kieran likes to sleep for large parts of the morning so I can give Leonard some well-deserved one-on-one time. We’ve played a lot of train games, bathed all of the ferrets, cleaned out the ferrets’ house, weeded a flower bed, played trains, read some books, played trains, filled the bird feeders, played trains….you get the idea. So we’re settling in well, I think.

Leonard had a lot of tantrums the last few weeks of my pregnancy and right after Kieran was born, but they largely died away this week, so I think it was as much the disruption in everyday life as anything else that gave rise to them. And I’m glad thinkgs have settled out so well – I was pretty worried about my ability to cope with two. So far, so good!

The two sleeping boys. Actually, Leonard has informed me that he is still a Big Doggie Who Goes Woof and Kieran is a Baby Puppy, so in truth I guess this is a picture of two sleeping canines.

Kieran had his first Waldorf School experience this morning. He came along with us to Liam’s Parent-Child class, where he hung out collecting admiring fans, nursing, and sleeping. You’ll notice he is wearing a hand-knitted sweater, and he looks absolutely adorable in it. In Waldorf schools, all the kids learn to knit in the lower grades. That means there is a community appreciation for the hard work that goes into handmade garments, and the sweater was a big hit. Thank you so much for making it, Chichimama! I just wish I could fit into it, it’s so soft and fuzzy!

I haven’t been to school with Liam in several weeks now, and he’s starting to really play with the big kids – previously, he had been hanging out with me for most of the morning. We have him registered for the nursery next fall, and Kevin and I had both been concerned he woldn’t be ready to make the separation from me for the morning, but I think that’s no longer an issue. He’s clearly ready for more active play with small people who have a chance of keeping up with him!

Here’s a shot of Kieran wrangling the Great Doggler…

We had Casey to the vet this week for his annual check-up and shots. It turns out he’s got a low grade fungal infection in his ears, so we get the fun of cleaning them every day with a special wash. It’s not as bad as one might expect – the Great Doggler groans and generally loves us massaging the goop into his ear canals. Evidently this infection is itchy, although he never gave us any signs of discomfort.

Of course, Leonard the Great Big Doggie has decided that he has “dirt and fungus and mushrooms” in his ears, so here he is lined up waiting for me to clean his ears, too. And evidently his ears are itchy, too, as he has asked me to “clean” his ears three times already today!

This is actually from last week, but it’s a milestone, so I’m throwing it in…

Liam went to school last week with Gran-Gran, and brought home his first craft project. He picked out the colors and everything “because yellow is the best color.” So now it’s hanging up in our room – the first art project from our first baby!

And that’s the run-down from this week. Now that I’ve managed my first week of solo parenting, hopefully I’ll be able to refine my skills a bit and actually do some blogging next week. That’s the plan, anyway!