Abundance

Things have been super busy, but also a bunch of fun lately.

Here are some highlights:

sleeping soundly after her bath

Alchemy turned 5 months old a few days ago (Feb 12th). I can't believe how fast this time has flown by and how much she has grown. She is developing quite the personality- mostly a happy baby, but during those moments when she is upset, she sure can let you know! I am not sure if I have ever seen a baby this young so observant and expressive. We have started signing with her a bit to try to teach her a few basic words- the other day I signed "I love you" at her when I said it, she looked at me really intently, then curled her fingers into the sign!! We were astounded, and although it may have been just a fluke and she hasn't done it since, I can't help but think that she is watching us carefully and may be able to make her first real intentional signs soon (hopefully "milk" so she can tell me when she is hungry).

before our weekend adventure together

tummy time is fun!

 She is getting so much stronger- tummy time is becoming something she is starting to enjoy- I need to do more of it not to strengthen her neck so much, but to strengthen her arms so she can push up eventually and begin crawling (What a terrifying thought). She is drooling more than I thought possible- we suspect that her teeth are moving around in her gums. I suppose its only a matter of time before the first two make an appearance and the days of more comfortable nursing are over. *sigh* She is chewing on just about everything at the moment- I was just eating a pear and smooshed some up with my finger to let her taste. She actually seemed to like it, which hopefully bodes well for the first set of baby food puree I am about to make and freeze. Hopefully she will still like pears when we really start trying food.


She is also getting better at sitting up with my support. I am looking forward to when she can sit up on her own and play with toys more. Recently she has taken an interest in Jezebel, my scaredy cat who is not all that scared of Alchemy. They lay on the bed together most mornings and occasionally Alchemy will reach a hand out an touch her. I am trying to encourage gentle touch rather than the "fist full of fur" yanking approach that she has previous tried. Thankfully, Jezebel didn't even seem to notice.

making friends with Jezebel

Beyond the amazing cuteness that is my daughter, the garden has also been a delight lately.

My favorite of what we have recently grown is the cauliflower- this year we grew two varieties:

Purple Graffiti

Veronica Romanesco

Both varieties getting tossed in the oven to roast!

Chilli lime cauliflower breakfast tacos

As you can see, one is a gorgeous purple color- that head of cauliflower was ginormous- I have never seen a cauliflower so large before. I was worried it wouldn't taste good but it has turned out to be very sweet. I had never grown let alone cooked one of the fractal variety before- I was delighted at how beautiful the Romanesco turned out. Both mixed together have made us some very tasty meals. Grant made us breakfast tacos one morning with chilli lime cauliflower.

A neighbor gardener also has shared a ton of his food with us, including a beautiful head of purple cabbage that I would have loved to turn into a dye or paint. I didn't think I liked cabbage much because I had so rarely had it in the past, but it came out good sauteed with caraway and wine.

purple cabbage

 I have really enjoyed eating from our garden. We have had almost no cold days/nights here, and the lack of winter has in some ways let our garden really flourish. We have had rain which has also helped quite a bit. I keep waiting for a frost to hit, but so far we are managing to keep things going well and the weather seems to be warming up. This worries me, since no winter may mean our summer is even more unbearable than last year.


The last exciting thing to share is that my art room is finally coming back together into a usable space. Since Alchemy was born, the room has been in a weird stasis. First it was the residence of my mom while she was staying with us (which I will once again say was absolutely wonderful), then it became my sister Gina's bedroom when she visited (also absolutely wonderful!), then it became the baby & mama clothing storage space as well as the place to put everything in transition for our big house remodel over the holidays. Finally, it is back to almost normal-

I sat yesterday afternoon for the first time at the desk and made some much overdo art again. We plugged in my ipod for some good music, Alchemy hung out in her old bassinet, or on her playmat on the floor, or in her bumbo chair playing with toys. I sang, she giggled & art got made.

 

I can see the desk top again! Art is once again being made.

When Alchemy is not using her bassinet, Jezebel loves to sleep in it. It has gotten to the point where I have to put a towel down to catch all the hair so when we actually want to use it for Alchemy we can. 

Alchemy's library and toy box

 Probably my favorite new addition to the space is Alchemy's library. I have been gathering the books we got for her, books we have received as gift and new books that I picked up for her at Recycled Reads- the local bookstore that has all the books that are out of use in our Austin Library. The awesome part is that all their children's books are fifty cents, their adult books only a dollar. For the cost of one book at Half Price, I was able to get her a ton of books! It is my hope that I can eventually fill this shelf with books for her to read.

I love our glider rocking chair.

We often sit in the rocker together in the afternoons reading- lately we have nursed there often and she has fallen asleep while rocking.



I still have some things to hang on the walls, shelves and a mirror to put up, curtains to hang- but overall, it is really coming together.