when asked if he thought it would be a girl baby or a boy, little A replied,  “i think we should call it a she but i hope it’s a boy because i don’t want it to grow up and make more babies”. oh my.  he’s curious and finding his place in this birth/sibling planning thing. his friends have become older siblings but he’s not so sure what that all means or if he’s up for it. we all have our anxieties about stirring up the current threesome  - it’s an adventure to unfold for sure.

at first he thought i was saying ‘baby in the room’ and was asking a lot of questions about what it looked like so we each sat down to draw our own versions. his rocked!

a story he made up and had me write for him (it was one big long run on sentence - i had to sneak some periods in there somewhere);

his spelling by sounding out the words amazes me! “i drew the pictures of the book written by mommy”

so fun.

this belly is bursting @ 24 weeks;

much bigger, higher and wider than with little A at 26 weeks;

it’s true that every pregnancy is so very different -  the lessons and growing continue…

as with my first pregnancy, and even more so this time around, i have felt pretty quiet and to myself with my close group of friends about it in the beginning - that is until now -  you’ll probably see a lot more of the belly in the months to follow. Leanne snapped a few silly photos when we met for lunch the other day. Little A was into the dress up box and so we all were.

this little guys looks like nothing at all of what i imagined. in fact he’s so different that i feel like i’m staring at him in a similar way to when i first was meeting Little A out of the womb - i stared and searched for hours wondering, “what do you look like and who are you?” i realize the puppet reveals himself in the making. i’m not sure this is my medium but i have a deeper respect for some very special doll and puppet makers out there along with the great story tellers. i learned many wonderful things in this workshop re; language and speech with children, the dreaminess of vowel sounds as opposed to the awakening sound of the consonants, that a person’s larynx mimics a speakers vocal and energetic vibration (not the case in listening to a recording or tv). a reminder brought forth this weekend in regards to reading and telling stories to children is to’ give life and not emotion to the story’ - it’s a real art to capture a child’s wonder with a simple story and i think that in a person’s unknowing or discomfort that one might be more inclined to project themselves and their emotions into the story, becoming much more of an entertainer. there is absolutely no need for animation. a child’s wonder is pure.

there is so much to do with a puppet and this verse;

wee willie winky runs through the town

upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown

peeking in the windows, calling through the locks

‘are all the children in their beds?

for now it’s 8 o’clock’

Suzanne Down is a lovely woman and the director of Juniper Tree School of Puppetry Arts in Colorado.

We are in the midst of a post festive lull when we stay in our pjs most of the day. The little one is happy and into his projects and i’m sort of puttering, undecided which of many projects to get into. Soon, but not too soon, we will get into a groove of busy activities but for now good things are going on (mostly).

New additions to the Winter Wonderland from the elves at Jalu Toys;

good company, conversations and laughs, cozy fire, games, lots of cheeses, gherkins, ravioli, blueberry venison & apple pork sausages (which i did not try), halibut with chanterelles and other yummies.

another dinner gathering and Christmas all over again - this time duck (i ate shitakes instead), sage roast potatoes, brocolini, yellow beans, brussel sprouts and then apple tarts with vanilla bean ice cream.

i just keep eating and eating. mmm.