Garden updates

Libby and I went out and did some much needed renovating in the garden this morning. Since we have been sick the last several days (and plus I was out of commission a few days before that because my back started acting up), I haven't been out there in a while. The potatos have just gone everywhere, because I didn't know that I needed to continue to hill them as they got bigger. The cucumber is barely making it because the potatos are suffocating it. Some of the potato plants just look awful because of some kind of disease or something. So, work needed done.


The top picture is the garden before any work was done. The second picture is of the aweful state of some of the potato plants. What I did was dug up a lot of the potatos and actually pulled several of the plants themselves out of the garden to make more room.




This, my friends, is what happens when you don't continue to hill your potato plants as they grow. They just fall all over the place, with not a care in the world about what they cover up. They're just tired of trying to hold their own weight against all of the wind and rain.

Libby had a great time helping me pull weeds and pull potatos out of the ground.

Edited to add: That isn't just a random trash can in the middle of our yard. It's where I keep my compost.

A few comparisons

After I posted my last post, I went back through my pictures of Libby to find the picture of her first boo boo. Then I thought, why don't I post a few comparison pictures of Libby and Hudson? So, the two pictures on the top are of Libby and Hudson both around 5 months old and sitting in the Bumbo (and both, ironically, on the table). Libby is on the top, Hudson on the bottom.






This picture is of Libby's first boo boo, and she was about 8 1/2 months old, compared to Hudson's 5 1/2 months.



I am so anxious to see what Hudson will look like as a toddler and see how similar they end up looking.

Hudson's first boo-boo

Hudson was sitting on my lap at the computer while I checked my email yesterday, and he leaned forward and hit his brow on the front of the desk. I remember Libby doing that a few times, and I suppose it's one of the casualties of sitting on Mama's lap at the computer, but man-oh-man. If anyone remembers Libby's 'hurt' cry, Hudson's is the exact same, if not even more heart-wrenching. After a few doses of arnica (the first of very many, I have a feeling) he was fine and dandy, as you can see in the picture. He is really doing much better now that he can sit up and play with toys. He is much less cranky. It took him a lot less time to get there than it did Libby. I think she was about 8 months old before she stopped crying.

Gone swimming

We went to the aquatic center in our town for the first time the other day. Libby hated it at first. The water was cold, and children were running around everywhere and she was getting splashed. Finally, Hudson basically passed out in my arms (he didn't like it either) and while he slept, Scott took Libby over to where water was coming up from the ground. There were several fountains like this that she really enjoyed playing in. They came up in single streams, and she liked to stand on them. Maybe the more we go, the quicker she'll get used to it when we go.

A Nursing Triad

For anyone who has tandem nursed or nursed multiple children, this

http://mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/nursing-triad.html

is a great read. My Libby didn't have nearly the struggle with letting Hudson nurse as this little girl did, but the basis of the story still applies. I look at Libby sometimes and think, "She is such a big girl; making friends with the random mommy and child that happens to come and sit where we are playing; walking around singing "Twinkle twinkle little star"; climbing into the car by herself; wanting to drive everywhere. How can she be getting so big and still need to nurse? And then the moment comes when she falls and hits her head on the concrete and comes to me saying, "I wan nurse, Mama. I wan nurse, Mama" or she isn't quite sure what to make of a situation or gets scared by some strange man who tries to play with his own grandchild at the playground. And then I remember. She needs me. She still needs me. And maybe the reason why she is able to be so grown up in her barely 2 year old 25lb little body is because she knows that she can come back and reconnect in the way only a mama and her child can. And then there are the times when I am nursing them both and Hudson is playing with Libby's hair, and she plays with his toes, and smile with love for them both. My sweet babies. My little nurslings.

Pumpkin pumpkin everywhere

Remember when I said before that a good thing to remember about gardening is to not compost your Halloween (or any) pumpkin? Well, here's why. I have been composting since we moved into our house a little over a year ago in preparation for this year's garden. After Halloween last year, we threw our pumpkin in the compost bin mostly just to get it out of the way. So, about a week after I planted my garden, I noticed little plants starting to pop up everywhere, even in places where I didn't plant anything. Long story short, I had pumpkins growing EVERYWHERE!! Those seeds overwintered in the bin, and took root after I tilled the compost into the soil. I have pulled up at least 40 pumpkin plants, and I left one in. See how it is taking up so much space, and it's starting to go down over the little hill. I almost left a total of three plants in, but I'm glad I changed my mind! Boy, and you thought cucumbers take over. This second picture is the pumpkin plant flowering. I don't know exactly how it works (maybe someone can fill me in) but I know it flowers so it can be 'fertilized' to bear the fruit, but does each flower turn into a pumpkin? If so, I will have enough pumpkins for the whole street, plus some for canning! Pumpkin pie here I come. Yum.

Better times

Well, things went better today. Hudson is still working really hard on his teeth, but he wasn't so crabby. Libby has been doing well today, too. Hudson took a nice long nap this afternoon. Good times playing outside with my babies.