Arthur: 9 Months / 39 Weeks

After more sleepless nights and days, I think we are starting to get back on track.

Likes: Food, food, and more food! Stealing mom's bagel. Snuggles in the morning.

Dislikes: Sleeping...

Sleeping: Another week with the amazing non-sleeping child. He has gone multiple days with either no nap or a 20 minute nap. I can't understand how he's still functioning. Nighttime sleeping isn't much better. He refuses to be put in his crib while awake after months and months of it being okay. He wakes up at least once a night (usually twice). And he still wakes up to play at 6-6:30am. Ugh! Mom is not liking this at all.

Eating: Everything in sight! We've completely cut out purees (yeah!) and moved onto eating whatever the family is eating. The other day he really enjoyed beef stroganoff, kolaches, and grandma's potato salad.

Playing: Loving anything that makes noise: tambourines, maracas, drums. I think I need to get him some more musical instruments.

Medical Milestones: We don't have our doctor's appointment until next Tuesday. I'll have definite stats posted then.

Understands his name and common gestures -- Check! Although I think "come here" is an invitation to a chasing game instead of a command.
Clapping and/or "dancing" to music -- No clapping yet, but I have caught him "dancing" to certain music. He especially loves the Star Trek theme music. Very adorable.
Standing alone -- More and more I'm catching him standing by himself. No independent steps yet. He even went from a seated position to standing by himself with no help from mom or furniture twice at the summer social. He was trying to get food when it happened. Obviously food is a big motivator.
Drinking from a cup -- Sorta check. He getting the sippy cup thing down. He's even occasionally had a drink from an open cup without too much spilling (me holding it of course). But he's not proficient at either. I want to try a straw cup next and see what he does...
Rolling a ball -- He very recently started attempting this. I think because he saw his friends rolling and throwing balls at playdates. We'll continue working on this.
Sitting at table for mealtimes -- Check! We've been doing this for about two months now. He sits in his booster high chair right next to me at lunch and dinner. He's eating habits have improved with having him there. I think he likes seeing what I'm eating and realizing that it's what he's eating.

Schedule:Ha ha! I wish!

Out and About: Another week of regular activities (Deer Hollow and Blanket Babies) mixed with a visit to Great America, to Dianna's for board meeting (and baby playdate), and the summer social on Saturday. We stayed home on Sunday and it was a good thing. Everyone was played out! The twins have this week and next left in summer vacation, so we'll be hitting Great America and Golfland each one more time and definitely the comic book store and possibly another museum of activity spot.

Summer 2014 Week 6

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps. I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer. Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We stayed at home for the morning because we I had a co-op board meeting in the afternoon. I took Arthur while the twins spent the afternoon playing video games at home with J.

Tuesday

Great America day! We spent 5 hours riding rides and hanging out at the park. Nick and I rode The Goldstriker, their big newish wooden roller coaster. Crazy fun! The park was pretty dead so the boys rode their rides 5-6 times in a row. Overall, a good day.

Wednesday

The twins spent the morning at the Golfland arcade while Arthur and I visited Target and the grocery store. In the afternoon, we went to Rengstorff Park for blanket babies. Always a fun treat for Arthur. After dinner we all settled in for movie night: Dune. Surprisingly, the twins really liked it.

Thursday

The morning was spent at Deer Hollow Farm. We got to see the cow being milked. After hitting Chick-fil-a for lunch, we spent the afternoon lounging and at the pool.

Friday

A home day filled with lots of cooking and pool time.

Saturday

Arthur, the twins, and I went to the Co-op's Summer Social at Rengstorff Park. We tie dyed tshirts, made discovery bottles, ate lots of good food, and played. A good, but tiring day.

Sunday

A nice day at home playing video games, watching some tv, reading.

Fairest: Hidden Kingdom

Title: Fairest 2: Hidden Kingdom

Author: Bill Willingham

Publisher: Vertigo 2013

Genre: Fantasy Comics

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Seriously Series; 52 Books - W29

And then, in a 6-part epic, Rapunzel lives one of the most regimented lives in Fabletown, forced to maintain her rapidly growing hair lest her storybook origins be revealed. But when word of her long-lost children surface, she races across the sea to find them--and a former lover.

Oh! I really really enjoyed this volume. Rapunzel was always a small side character in the original series; it was nice for her to get her own story. And what a story it is! This volume got dark and then just when you thought it couldn't, it got even darker. A very interesting storyline about Rapunzel's past colliding with her present featuring some well-known characters (Bigby, Tottenkinder) and some new ones (Tomoko, Mayumi {so creepy!}). A great addition to the Fables universe!

Fairest:

#1 Wide Awake
#2 Hidden Kingdom
In All the Land
#3 The Return of the Maharaja
#4 Cinderella - Of Mice and Men

Sunday Sunset #20

Book finished: Fairest Vol. 1; Bel Canto; Firelight; Fairest Vol. 2

Reading: Fairest: In All the Land

On the Nightstand: Various craft centered books

Making Lists: Blog to-dos... I finally bought the Spark Ecourse, but of course i am behind. I need to schedule out 30 minutes to complete my blog tasks.

Around the house: We spent about 2 hours the other day and did a major clean of the house. Of course, within 30 minutes it was messy again. Typical.

From the kitchen: I tried a recipe for easy beef tips that went over well with J but not at all with the twins. That seems typical.

Watching: Lots of Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Big O. I did watch the documentary about finding Richard III's skeleton under a parking lot in England. Fascinating!

Wondering: How to fit all our summer activities and regular baby activities into the next 10 days?

Project: Other than the Spark Ecourse, I am hoping to participate in a few card challenges and read more this coming week. Those goals don't seem that big and scary, but somehow I know that this will be a struggle.

Picture: Love the look...

Firelight by Kristen Callihan

Title: Firelight (Darkest London #1)

Author: Kristen Callihan

Publisher: Hachette Book Group 2012

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 372

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Women Authors; Monthly Key Word - December; Seriously Series

London, 1881 Once the flames are ignited . . . Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.
They will burn for eternity . . . Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

I was intrigued by the prequel, but was wary of what would actually happen in the series. I need not worry. This series started off amazing! I immediately fell for Miranda and Archer. I rooted for them to finally confess their feelings and their secrets. Of course it happened in the last 20 pages, but that's okay. I was enjoying their journeys. And we get some very interesting side characters. I figured out that the series will continue with some of the side characters and not focus on Miranda and Archer. I'm a little sad to lose them, but this volume explored most of their story. A great start to a hopefully great overall series. Can't wait to read to the next one.

Darkest London

#0.5 Ember
#1 Firelight
#2 Moonglow
#3 Winterblaze
#3.5 Entwined
#4 Shadowdance
#5 Evernight
#6 Spellbound
#7 Forevermore

High Summer Readathon

From Seasons of Reading:

I'm not going to go into much detail here, as I've streamlined things by adding a "Guidelines" tab at the top of the blog. Any information you need about the read-a-thon you can find there. Dates are Monday, July 21 at 12:00am CST through Sunday, July 27 at 11:59pm CST. We will probably only have one Twitter chat this time. I will announce the date and time in the starting post. Also, check the guidelines because I've made changes regarding signing up and the starting line. Our Twitter hashtag is #HighSummerRAT

I'm excited about jumping into another readathon. It seems like ages since I had one (not really as I did Bout of Books in May, but you know). Now to figure out my TBR pile.

FF #24: Pool to Dinner

What to wear when you need to transition from the pool to dinner? I think I've found a great solution. Pair this great graphic dress with sandals and tote for the pool. then you can change into fancier sandals and a nicer clutch. Add a fun bright blazer and some great accessories and the outfit's ready for dinner. The best part is that you could wear the bathing suit underneath the dress for dinner.

Black white chevron dress

bodycentral.com

Yellow jacket

amazon.com

Tory Burch leather sandals

shopbop.com

Leather sandals

$54 - benetton.com

Fendi leather wallet

overstock.com

Salsa over the shoulder bag

$46 - black.co.uk

Hermès ivory bangle

usa.hermes.com

Melanie auld jewelry

revolveclothing.com

L K Bennett red belt

$110 - lkbennett.com

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Title: Bel Canto

Author: Ann Patchett

Publisher: HarperCollins 2001

Genre: Literature

Pages: 318

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 21st Century Women; Rory Gilmore; Mount TBR; Women Authors

Opera and terrorism make strange bedfellows, yet in this novel they complement each other nicely. At a birthday party for Japanese industrialist Mr. Hosokawa somewhere in South America, famous American soprano Roxanne Coss is just finishing her recital in the Vice President's home when armed terrorists appear, intending to take the President hostage. However, he is not there, so instead they hold the international businesspeople and diplomats at the party, releasing all the women except Roxanne. Captors and their prisoners settle into a strange domesticity, with the opera diva captivating them all as she does her daily practicing. Soon romantic liaisons develop with the hopeless intensity found in many opera plots. Patchett (The Patron Saint of Liars) balances terrorism, love, and music nicely here.

This has been on my TBR list for ages. We chose it for our book club selection for July and I was very excited to read the novel finally. However, I ended up being not very impressed with the novel. It's not to say that it's bad. I imagine that many peiple love this volume. I just didn't. I never felt connected to any of the characters and became very detached about everything. People rave about Patchett's writing, but I didn't find anything special about it. It's a well written novel, but just not anything that really struck me as great.

Fairest: Wide Awake

Title: Fairest 1: Wide Awake

Author: Bill Willingham

Publisher: Vertigo 2012

Genre: Fantasy Comics

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Seriously Series

New York Times bestselling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female Fables. Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the Fables tradition, Fairest explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others.
The first 6-issue tale follows the misadventures of Briar Rose immediately after the events of Fables #107 (collected in Fables Volume 16: Super Team), in which she was stolen away by the goblin army. Following this first collection, Willingham will serve as a consultant on all story arcs and introduce new writers from other mediums to the Fables mythos.

A very delightful spinoff series from the Fables series. I loved hearing more about Briar Rose after she fell asleep to defeat the emperor. And we get Lumi and Ali Baba as great side characters. I had to remind myself of what happened in Fables 16, but once I jogged my memory, it was a great ride. And we even get a bonus story starring a film noir Beast. This volume really peaked my desire to read the rest of this series. Off I go!

Fairest:

#1 Wide Awake
#2 Hidden Kingdom
In All the Land
#3 The Return of the Maharaja
#4 Cinderella - Of Mice and Men

A Murder of Videos

OMG! This is so true... thank goodness I recovered from my addiction a few months back.

This was so weird, but I love it.

A beautiful cover

This looks interesting

So cheesy, but I'll probably have to see it.

A must see

Love Stephen Merchant!

Fascinating video about the moon. Even I didn't know some of these facts.

Quote Wednesday -- Wilde

A dreamer is one who an only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. -- Oscar Wilde

Arthur: 38 Weeks

After many days of non-sleeping, I think we've finally turned a corner. Arthur's slowly getting back to an actual sleep schedule. Woohoo!

Likes: Food (of any kind), computers, balls, cuddling, grass

Dislikes: Going to bed, missing all the fun

Sleeping: He's still not back on a great sleeping schedule. Thankfully we are inching our way back to a 7:30-8:00pm bedtime. Napping is still hit or miss.

Eating: Everything in sight! After many failed attempts to get Arthur to eat cheese, he finally ate some... it was feta on a fig, bacon, and feta pizza. Weird I know! But at least it's something.

Playing: Lots and lots of playing. I bought him a walker last week and he's loving exploring that toy. He's also rediscovering items that make noise (shaker eggs, tambourine, etc). I will have to get him some more musical type toys.

Medical Milestones:

Responding to simple commands -- He acknowledges a few commands, but doesn't always respond correctly. His new game is to "run away" while naked. It is a game for him...
Grasping small objects with thumb and index finger -- Check! He's got this thing done!
Becoming attached to a lovey -- Possibly. He loves having one of two blankets for naps and bedtime, but no specific stuffed animal yet.
Pulling up at furniture or even standing on his own -- Check on both counts! He's cruising along furniture. I've even caught him standing on his own a few times for about 3 seconds.

Schedule: None exists anymore... Ugh! I am not liking this.

Out and About: We had quite a week at the beach, BBQ, and park visits. Looking forward to another great week of activities.

Summer 2014 Week 5

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps. I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer. Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We road-tripped to the beach for the day. We usually go to Half Moon Bay about 45 minutes west across the mountains. The twins really enjoy the drive as it twists and turns through the mountains. Once we got to the coast, we ate at a small hole-in-the-wall taqueria that was really really good (and pretty cheap). I will have to remember for next time. We then drove a few more blocks to the actual beach. It took Arthur about 30 seconds to try and eat the sand. One handful, one nasty look and gagging, and he was finished trying to eat the sand. We ended up spending almost 4 hours hanging out on the beach. The twins ran through the waves. Arthur and I preferred to hang out on the sand. The Pacific Ocean is just way too cold by us to actually swim. After packing up we stopped at Baskin Robbins for our afternoon snack. Yum yum!

Tuesday

Tuesday was our usual errands day. Target, grocery, and library visit. Nothing too exciting, but all weekly events.

Wednesday

Arthur did not sleep well so our morning was shot. We did make it to Rengstorff Park for blanket babies in the afternoon.

Thursday

We ventured out to Shoreline for the big mom's group walk. I only subjected the twins to the short trail. After walking we grabbed lunch at the cafe there. In the afternoon we walked over to get Tutti Frutti and visit the bookstore.

Friday

Fourth of July! We celebrated by going to a fellow mom's mom's house (yep, that's right) for a pool party and BBQ. The twins spent the entire time swimming. The babies played and even swam a bit. The adults made sure no one drowned and enjoyed talking about things other than sleep and poo. Overall, we had a very lovely time.

Saturday

The twins spent the day hanging out at home. Arthur and I went to the co-op playdate at Rengstroff for a few hours in the afternoon.

Sunday

We had another quiet day at the house. The twins hit the pool. I hit the coffeehouse for a few hours to work on my blog. It was a nice relaxing day before the start of what's bound to be a crazy week.

Fables: Snow White

Title: Fables 19: Snow White

Author: Bill Willingham

Publisher: Vertigo 2013

Genre: Fantasy Comics

Pages: 168

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books -- W28; Mount TBR; Monthly Motif -- July

With Castle Dark now back in the hands of the Fables, mysteries both young and old begin to challenge the residents of Fabletown. Bigsby and Stinky set off from Fabletown in Rose Red's blood-fueled sports car to track down the two abducted cubs. Unfortunately for Snow White, besides suffering the trauma of having two of her cubs go missing, a long forgotten secret uncovered in Castle Dark threatens to sabatoge her and Bigsby's marriage.

While I loved the second half of this volume, I just wasn't as excited at the first part concerning Bufkin's adventures. I skimmed through the all of Bufkin's stories to get to Snow White. I needed to see how the search for the kids was progressing. I wanted to see if they had made any progress on turning Castle Dark into Fabletown. And I wanted to see how much the new residences had revealed about themselves. I was not disappointed in those respects. I loved and was heartbroken by Snow and Bigby's story. Ugh! Now I have to wait until Vol. 20 is released to see if there is any happy resolution. We also get a bombshell dropped on the last page. Can't wait to find out more. Overall, I still really enjoy this series, I just want to stick to the main storyline. One final thought: I want to know more about the relationship between the Blue Fairy and the Lady of the Lake...

Fables:

Sunday Sunset #19

Book finished: Silent in the Grave; Locke and Key #6; Fables Vol. 19

Reading: Fairest Vol. 1; Bel Canto

On the Nightstand: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby; Firelight by Kristin Callihan; Fairest Vol. 2

Making Lists: Grocery lists, blogs posts to complete, picture books to read, potential dresses to wear to two fall weddings, recipes to try, blog post ideas, remaining summer to-dos, house chores, card challenges to complete. Yeah, it's been a listing kind of week.

Around the house: It's a never-ending battle with crap on the floor. I'll clean the living room, get a glass of water, and when I return, it's a disaster again. I live constantly with Hurricane Arthur.

Watching: We finished Cowboy Bebop this past week. Holy cow! What an ending! But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the show. After Cowboy, we watch The Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek: The Voyage Home. We then started The Big O to continue with our anime series. I finally finished S1 of Reign and caught up on my random short videos. Now to catch up on The Daily Show...

Wondering: Why can I never get 5 full minutes of silence? Oh wait, I remember. I have three boys...

From Nature: While various other parts of the country experienced storms for the Fourth, we had gorgeous clear skies with temps in the 70s. The nice temperature made our pool part BBQ with an unheated pool actually enjoyable. The water was much warmed than I thought it would be. The twins and the babies (with some parents) swam while the adults drank beer and ate yummy BBQ chicken. My kind of Fourth of July!

Project: I've embarked today on a major blog focus. Right now I'm working about a day ahead on my two blogs. Usually that's more like a week ahead for my weekly routine posts. Because I'm not ahead like I should be, I've been having some mild panic attacks about the blog. I even had a few nightmares! I decided to schedule in some alone time at the coffeehouse to work on posts and back end organization. I also signed up for the Spark e-course to help restart my creative flow. I'll let you know how it goes...

Picture: Baby at the beach

2014 Reading Challenges Update #2

Another year, another long list of reading challenges. I told myself that 2014 would be the year of no challenges, but that didn't quite turn out the way I planned. Instead, I entered a ton of challenges still keeping the original idea of reading from my own stacks. Doing good so far. I thought it would be a good idea to do a periodic checkup on my reading challenges. A way of reminding myself of my successes and failures. So here goes…

Total Challenges: 1/30 3.3%

Total Spots: 209/521 40.1%

Individual Challenge Progress:

Fantasy Project 3/20 15%
Nonfiction Adventure 9/20 45%
NPR Scifi and Fantasy 2/10 20%
NPR Teen 2/10 20%
Top 100 YA 1/5 20%
21st Century Women Authors 1/5 20%
US of YA 1/5 20%
Time Top 100 0/5 0%**
Rory Gilmore 4/10 40%
1001 Books 1/10 10%*
U.S. Presidents 1/5 20%
Mount TBR 8/36 22.2%
TBR Pile 6/30 20%
Ebooks 17/25 68%*
New Author 6/15 40%
Women Authors 17/20 85%*
52 Books in 52 Weeks 27/52 51.9%
Library 12/12 100%*
Read Your Freebies 6/12 50%
Monthly Motif 5/12 41.7%
Monthly Key Word 5/12 41.7%
Books to Movies 7/12 55%
Well Rounded Reader 14/25 56%
Seriously Series 3/10 30%
What’s in a Name 3/5 60%*
Picture Books 30/100 30%
Rereading 1/4 25%
Chunkster 2/10 20%
Lucky No. 14 10/14 71.4%*
Back to the Classics 4/10 40%

*Successes: I finished the library reading challenge in May and have made a lot of progress on others such as Ebooks, What's in a Name, Lucky No. 14, and Women Authors.

**Failures (Needs Improvement): Ugh! I really need to get moving on some of my perpetual challenges. I think I need to refocus my TBR list a bit for the rest of the year.

FF #23: Mod Style

I absolutely adore the geometric pattern on this dress. As it harkens back to the 60s, I had to add some great light blue accessories. But my favorite piece is the handbag. It's structured and yet lots of fun. Love this entire look.

Louche chevron dress

$85 - joythestore.com

Roger Vivier aqua shoes

luisaviaroma.com

Amrita Singh owl jewelry

amritasingh.com

Lipsy gold jewelry

$27 - lipsy.co.uk

Locke and Key Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega

Title: Locke and Key Vol 6: Alpha and Omega

Author: Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW 2014

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 212

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Seriously Series; Well-Rounded Reader

The shadows have never been darker and the end has never been closer. Turn the key and open the last door; it's time to say goodbye. The final arc of New York Times bestselling Locke & Key comes to a thunderous and compelling conclusion. An event not to be missed!

A fitting conclusion to a great series. I love just how dark this series gets before the end. This series is not for everyone. It certainly is an adult series dealing with many adult themes. But I love that the protagonists are teenagers. Somehow it makes the story seem more believable. I loved seeing how the final keys came into play and how each side used them. Great conclusion!

Locke and Key:

Thanks for All the Fish

The things I am thankful for this week:

Our complex pool -- For providing a great distraction for the twins when Arthur needs some house time.
Sunnyvale Library -- For providing free reading material for the twins' fickle reading habits.
Fellow SU Demos -- For providing me an avenue of creativity.
Internet -- For providing a new spark in blogging motivation.
eBay -- For providing a huge treasure trove of baby boy clothes at a ridiculously low price. We are now set until probably next spring.

Quote Wednesday -- de Jesus

A child is the root of the heart. -- Carolina Mara de Jesus