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Wednesday and Thursday, Sept 5 and 6

On Wednesday I decided not to bring Jakob to the Stars & Strollers because the movie was Mr. Bean’s Holiday…not to take anything away from Mr. Bean fans, but I’m not one. Instead of going there, we went out early and went over to Fairview shopping center. I wanted to give in Jakob’s passport application, and decided to park near the entrance for the photo studio to see if his portraits were ready. They weren’t. I knew they were supposed to be ready only on the 6th but I figured one day early shouldn’t matter. Well, it did, because Monday was a holiday so they didn’t get their shipments in. It worked out ok that we went to Sears though since I found a pacifier that you can put in the freezer.
It’s by Nuby (Luv ‘n Care), and the part that goes in the mouth is made of a gel that freezes but doesn’t get solid, so the baby can still bite down without hurting his gums. I got the blue and red one.

I’m glad I found their website while looking for that photo- I found these teethers online and the crocodille one is perfect for Jakob. I’ve been trying to find something narrow that he can get into his mouth to chew on, and the croc with the separate tail is exactly what I need. Hmm…Babies R Us can’t get it, anyone know where I can buy one of these?

While looking for the photos of the teether I bought, I found this little item at Amazon.com:


Check it out- it’s a diamond-studded pacifier. Can you believe it? It has 278 pave set diamonds (3 carat total diamond weight) and is set in European White Gold. For a cool $17,000 US, this swanky item can be yours! (Of course, if you read the fine print it says that it is not recommended for use. But you can get it in emeralds and rubies!)

I had brought some knitting with me and had expected to have a nice WIP photo to show you all during the wait at the passport office, but they called our turn so fast I barely had time to knit 3 stitches! Luckily the girl accepted one of Jakob’s photos so I don’t have to redo it, and in about 6 weeks our little guy will have his very own passport. By then he probably won’t look like the photo any longer, but whatever. Because he’s under a year old the passport is good for only 3 years but I can get it updated with a new photo for free, one time only. I’m kinda hoping he doesn’t change too much so that I don’t need to replace the passport, because if I don’t then I can keep it as “his first passport”. If I send in a new photo and have it changed, they keep the old one.

I picked up some lunch on my way back through the mall to where I’d parked, then came home to feed Jakob and put him down for a nap.

I caught him sucking his thumb in his sleep! How cute! Half the time I’d prefer if he were to use a pacifier so I can control when/how long he uses it, but the downside is that if it falls out when he sleeps, he’ll cry and I’ll have to go put it back for him. The other half I’d prefer if he uses his hands ‘cus they’re always there. I think he’s made the decision for me- he doesn’t really like a pacifier at all, and always has his hands in his mouth. I did some research and it seems that if he stops by ages 4-6 (like most kids do) sucking his thumb WON’T cause too much trouble orthodontics-wise because his jaw and teeth will go back to how they should. It’s only if he continues after around 6 years old that it could be a problem that requires correcting in the future (like braces). Oy, I’m already worrying about braces?

Wednesday night I…I did something. I shouldn’t wait so long to catch up…I really have no idea what I did that night. I’m guessing I ordered in supper with Yannick, played with Jakob, and watched TV. So we’ll go with that. 🙂 What I do remember about Wed night is that Jakob had a REALLY HARD time with his teeth. He wouldn’t stop crying, and didn’t even take his final nap before bed ‘cus he was inconsolable. I had to resort to giving him a bit of baby tylenol right before bed because I KNEW it was his teething.

First thing Thursday morning I called his doctor to make an appointment. I did some reading and found out that the symptoms are very similar for teething as for an ear infection, and I didn’t want to assume it was his teeth and ignore something that needs treatment with antibiotics and could cause hearing problems. Luckily our doctor was free later this afternoon. After I fed him we went back to Fairview and I was able to pick up the portraits. When I remember I’ll scan them and post them here. I wasn’t too crazy about the quality of them…some look washed out and my free enlargement wasn’t sharp at all, in fact I’m having them reprint it because I’m not happy with how it came out. I think I’ll try Wal-Mart next time. I stopped by my brother’s work to show him the photos, then went up to the food court and had a bite to eat before packing us back up in the car.

I thought I was running late- we were registered for a 1:00pm class at the CLSC on Inroducing Solids to your Baby. It’s only offered every 6 weeks, and in another 6 weeks it will be just about time to start thinking about giving Jakob some solids, so I wanted to take it now. I got there and no one was there! Turns out it started at 1:30. So I wasn’t 10 min late, I was 20 min early! Oh well. The class was really informative and we got some recipes for puréeing our own baby food. I had to leave just before the end to make it to the doctor’s appointment on time.

Good news at the doctor’s office- it’s true what they say- a mother DOES know her child best. His ears are fine and his gums are swollen…HE’S TEETHING. And it has been going on for at least 3 weeks now. I can’t believe he’s teething so early! The teeth aren’t about to pop out yet or anything, but still…my little overacheiver! (Takes after his mommy LOL).

Thursday night is Big Brother 8 night, and we had fun watching the latest antics of the Donato family (Evel Dick and Daniele, for those who don’t watch, are a reunited father/daughter who haven’t spoken for 2 years. Dick had applied for the show, and Daniele was recruited. Dontcha love all the “reality” in the reality shows?). It was a cool episode, since Thursdays are the live episodes, and they had to do a week’s worth of challenges (kick someone off, choose a new Head of Household, nominate 2 people for eviction, have a Power of Veto competition, use/not use the Veto, kick someone off) all in one night. Whew- I was exhausted for them!

Jakob enjoyed watching with us…
…and here’s Yannick’s impersonation of Eric, America’s Player. He’s got the crazy eyebrow thing down!

Finally, I’ll leave you with a shot of my secret knitting. This is the second of the projects I want to submit to Knitty, and I’m designing it from scratch as I knit.
What’s that? You can’t see it well? Here, is this better?

🙂 If all goes well you’ll see a completed, UN-altered photo of it published in Knitty’s Winter issue!


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Monday and Tuesday, Sept 3 and 4

Monday was our first anniversary and Yannick’s birthday, and since the only time Yannick usually sees Jakob is at night for an hour or so, we decided that rather than dumping him off with my parents and having a day to ourselves, we’d instead spend the day as a family.

We spent the morning sleeping in (well, he did, anyways) and playing with Jakob in bed. We had a nice lunch together, then in the afternoon packed up the car and went over to Pointe-Claire Village. We parked near the water then walked up and down the strip, enjoying a yummy ice cream cone while we strolled. After our walk we set up a blanket and took Jakob out of his stroller to relax and play. We took lots of photos of Jakob, and then I fed him while Yannick read the latest chapter of Harry Potter to us, out loud. (It’s the chapter where they discuss the sword, for those who have read it. For those who haven’t, that should be vague enough to not be a spoiler).

We did some more tummy time with our little squirt…
…then came home to cut our wedding cake and see how well it held up after being in the freezer for a year. (Luckily we’d remembered to thaw it earlier!) It was very good, but it was Kirsch-flavored, and after a year of sitting…the alcohol taste was very strong. Too strong for me. But the buttercream icing was yummy!

In keeping with our day of family, we decided to have supper with my family, and that we wanted to share our wedding cake with our loved ones. We cut it in half to bring to my parents’ house, kept 1/4 wrapped in the fridge for Yannick’s parents, and the rest of the remaining 1/4 for us.

Happy Birthday Yannick!

We took another family walk when we got home then gave Jakob a nice bath before bed. I have to start remembering to put on a shlumpy shirt before his bath so I don’t mind getting splashed when he kicks!

Early Tuesday morning I heard Jakob fussing as if something was wrong, but it stopped after a few moments. When I went to check on him this was what I found- he’d rolled onto his tummy but fell back asleep! This is officially the first time he has slept on his stomach. I didn’t know what to do, since he was still swaddled and didn’t have his hands free to push himself up, so I turned him back over onto his back for the rest of the night. I know that once he can turn over by himself it is ok for him to be on his tummy, but I don’t think he can turn over without his hands.

Once we’d woken up for the day I took him to the Wool Shop to buy some yarn for the second item I’m considering submitting to Knitty. I had sketched the item last year but if I didn’t submit it now I would have to wait until next year (because of the season). I spent the afternoon knitting and unpacking some boxes, and did the same through the night because bowling started again so Yannick wasn’t home until late.


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Saturday and Sunday, Sept 1 and 2

On Saturday Yannick went to do some work at his sister’s new house, so after a late lunch together he took off and Jakob and I hung out around the house.

Even though everyone tells me he’s too young, I KNOW Jakob is teething, and I gave him a teething ring for the first time this week to give him something besides his fingers to chew on. He loved it! It’s a bit too big for him though since he can’t get it into his mouth.

I did some knitting during the day but I can’t show it because it was a swatch with oversized acrylic yarn, just to test out some shaping ideas. I’ve since ripped it back and had forgotten to photograph it.

That night we went for an early supper with our friends Jackie and Kevin, and their son Bradley. It’s fun going out with other friends who have kids- I don’t feel guilty for going home early so I can put Jakob to bed on time, since they have to do the same. It was a bit odd going for supper at 5:45 though, but by the time we were eating I guess it was closer to 6:30, which is around the same time we eat at home.

After supper Yannick and I checked out the video game store next door to the restaurant. They have a huge used section and we always look for new (to us) games to buy. We have 3 video game systems so we have a lot of options to choose from! The only system we don’t have that I would want would be the Nintendo Wii ‘cus I hear that playing the games are good exercise, plus they have “brain” games which I like. But for now we haven’t even finished remodeling our den, so we don’t need to start adding new game systems! We did find 2 games to buy. We went to a 24-hr grocery store to do a much-needed order, then came home.

After I fed and put Jakob to bed, we sat down to relax. Yannick played his new video games and I did some more swatching. One of the games didn’t turn out to be any good but the other is a sequel to a game we both loved (and Yannick conquered last year), and it is a blast! (The games are God of War I and II, if any gamers read this blog). I don’t usually play the action games ‘cus I get dizzy when I can’t make the figure on screen do what I think my hands are trying to make him do, but I love to watch and offer advice. I also love it when Yannick is stuck at the puzzle areas and I’ll make a suggestion that turns out to be correct, like “what if you made the pendulum swing” or something.

On Sunday Yannick had to finish up his work so I vegged with Jakob again.

Yannick got home in time for a late supper with us, and as soon as I’d finished eating and put Jakob down for his last nap before bed, I left to go to the pharmacy. Monday the 3rd is Yannick’s birthday AND our first wedding anniversary, and while I had his gifts, I’d forgotten to stop and buy cards. I remembered to look at the teething rings, and found 2 small ones that Jakob could fit into his mouth, plus they can go in the fridge to get cold, so I bought those, and I also picked up a birthday card to Daddy from Jakob, and cards for my brother and 3 best friends, all of whose birthdays are in September. (Combine the birthdays with the Jewish High Holidays and it’s a crazy month! Thank Gd I don’t have to worry about Back-to-School yet!) When I got home I fed Jakob for the last time before bed, put him down to sleep and Yannick and I caught up on another chapter of Harry Potter #7.


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late

I know, I know, another few days with no post. I have a lot to catch up on. Sunday, Monday (our 1 year wedding anniversary and Yannick’s birthday), Tuesday, and now Wednesday. Argh…Jakob’s been teething and fussy. I know its early but I don’t think he’ll actually GET any teeth yet…I think they’re just pushing through in his gums and he’s hurting and needs extra cuddle time. Plus the knitting I’ve been doing can’t be shown yet ‘cus I’m probably going to submit it to Knitty and I’m in the middle of designing as I knit. I will sit down and catch up and probably back date a bunch of posts so either this one will be deleted or will make no sense to those who read late, but I WILL catch up. Sorry to my loyal reader(s) for not keeping this more on-topic and timely. Some days are just easier than others to post.


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new photo

As some of you might have noticed, I changed my profile photo. I think it’s time to officially retire the old one. It really is me, but it is about 10 years old…many moons (and a few pounds) ago. This new photo is much more recent, having been taken at Jakob’s bris, 8 days after his birth this past May. I like who I am now, and I think I’ll stick with the new photo.


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wednesday, thursday & friday

On Wednesday Jakob and I went to see The Nanny Diaries. We had a good time, and ran into some of our playgroup buddies there. The movie was cute, but I preferred the book.
On Thursday we did some shopping then I took Jakob for passport photos because we might be going away at Christmas time.
My little MVP looks like his passport photos are mug shots and I won’t know until I go in person if they will accept them or not. It’s hard because I can’t be in the photo, not even my hands, so I was literally sitting on the floor behind a stool, holding him up with my hands under his shirt so you couldn’t see me. We took two photos and we’ll see…if they aren’t accepted the woman at the store promised to redo them.

Mommy with Jakob at 15 weeks.

After the photos we went to our playgroup, then to visit my parents. We picked up Jakob’s Auntie Laura from Fairview and brought her back home to our house where we had dinner together with Laura, Yannick and Yannick’s friend Kevin.

My goal for Thursday night was to watch Big Brother and knit, but at 8:05 Yannick started drilling in the garage to remove the garage door opener and change it, and the screeching noise scared the hell out of Jakob. He had just fallen asleep and started SCREAMING. He cried in his crib until 8:45, when I couldn’t take it any more. Laura had left, Yannick and Kevin had left, and it was just me and him, crying. From 8:45 to 9:30 he cried in my arms until he fell asleep- but he was due to eat at 9:30 then go to bed. He didn’t eat until later, I got no knitting (or anything) done, and all in all the night kinda sucked. The only positive thing was that I was so tired from listening to him cry non-stop that I went to bed as soon as he did, instead of staying up until 1:00-ish like usual.

On Friday I took Jakob, his little blankie-bunny Foo-Foo and my sister Laura into town. First we went to Home Depot so Laura could watch Jakob in the car while I ran in to buy Yannick’s anniversary present. (Our first wedding anniversary is on Monday, which is also Yannick’s birthday, and Yannick loves tools. Since the traditional first anniversary is paper…he’s getting gift certificates! I know this sounds like a cop-out and not romantic, but TRUST ME, he always prefers the practical. I’m the sappy mush who wants the long-thought-out romantic gesture. He’d be happy with a vacuum if he really needed one). After Home Depot we picked up my grandmother and went for lunch at Marathon on Decarie Blvd. It was really yummy and Jakob was flirting with everyone there. Plus the hostess Erin already had met Robyn and Sean, so Bubbie was happy to show off her other great-grandson too.

After lunch we stopped by the JCA Crafts office so I could drop of my finished socks, then we drove Bubbie home and headed home. On our way I brought Jakob’s passport application and photos to our cousin Marlene who is a vet and could sign as a guarantor. I think we finally got home around 4:30pm! I was so tired I stopped at Starbucks first for an (expensive) vanilla latte. I needed it! I also picked one up for Maaike, who came over to take a few test photos for me.

Yannick and I decided to order in some junk food and get pizza, but after an hour and a half the delivery guy called, lost, unable to find my (really easy to find) street, and after I spent 20 minutes on the phone with him telling him exactly where to turn but he didn’t understand me, I cancelled the order. I called the restaurant to complain but they said in order to give me a credit I’d have to have the food delivered. Basically I had to pay for cold food this time to get a credit for next time. No thanks! Plus we’d ordered early enough for Yannick to eat and get to the stores before they closed at 9:00, and it was already 8:30. He didn’t even have time to eat any longer. So he left and I reheated some pasta from Thursday night’s supper. It wasn’t the night I’d planned, but I did get some ample knitting time in. Wanna see?

Oh, wait, that doesn’t show the knitting very well, does it?

Better? 🙂


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maybe it’s just me?

I found this flyer hanging on my front door this morning, and there were a few things about it that struck me.

Notice how it says, “Be Hot”? Don’t get me wrong, I know exactly what use of “hot” they’re using, but still…

…does this girl look hot to you?
I’m not exactly old, I’m only going to be 30 in 2 weeks, but even I want to tell her to stop pulling her shirt down, stand up straight, and for crying out loud go put on a sweater if it is that cold in there!


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maybe it’s just me?

I found this flyer hanging on my front door this morning, and there were a few things about it that struck me.

Notice how it says, “Be Hot”? Don’t get me wrong, I know exactly what use of “hot” they’re using, but still…

…does this girl look hot to you?
I’m not exactly old, I’m only going to be 30 in 2 weeks, but even I want to tell her to stop pulling her shirt down, stand up straight, and for crying out loud go put on a sweater if it is that cold in there!


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can someone pay me to knit all day?

I keep having so many design ideas but have no time to do anything about them! I keep filling pages in my notebook with knitting plans…and ask me if I’ve ever knit anything of my own design. Well, ok, I have knit a few things, but I haven’t really pushed to publish anything. I think that will be my goal for the new year (and by new year, I’m saying “starting in September, at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year”)-to try and make something from my knitting, if not money then at least recognition.

I don’t think I would charge for my camera case design, I think I’d rather offer it for free. So far I have 2 free patterns available in my sidebar, the Knitting Game and the Bowling Socks, only one of those (the Game) that was of my design. The Knitting Game was in the 2006 Pattern-a-Day calendar and I have a new (never before seen, even on this blog) pattern being published in Stitch ‘n Bitch’s 2008 Pattern-a-Day calendar.

I think I’m going to try to expand and see what happens. I’ll try to offer up a few more free patterns, like the Sweetheart Mittens I designed a few years ago. I’m also thinking of submitting a few things to Knitty.

The only real thing holding me back, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, is the sizing issue. I feel confident to say that I can design anything and make it fit me. Where I have a problem is making sure it will fit you. I know that it is not a simple case of applying the same changes to all measurements (like adding 20 or whatever). I will have to take into account stuff like the fact that arm lengths won’t change that much, but shoulder-to-hip lengths might change more when going up in sizes. Or whatever. I’m scared to try and work out the math without actually knitting a sample in every size and having someone of each size try it on. I know that real designers don’t do it that way. I just need to learn how they DO do it. Is it all just using software, then designing in the details? I know there is design software out there…and that there are just as many flaky ones as there are good ones (or maybe more sucky ones).

I don’t know. I have to work on this. I think I’ll start by making up a few designs for me…I can always offer the patterns in my size only. 🙂

This morning I took Jakob for a walk in his stroller. It was really hot out and the sun was very strong, so I got to play the “I Get to Embarass You While You’re Young” mommy card and have Jakob in his safari hat and sunglasses. I was going to walk him over to a nearby government building to sign him up for a Social Insurance Number card, but we stopped at Maaike’s house first to pick up the sock needle holders that she’d received for us (we’d placed a joint order) and to borrow her Heart to Heart sling. I have a Snugli for Jakob but want to see if he might prefer the sling instead. It was so hot out that I gave up on the rest of our walk and came home to relish in our air conditioning. I am SO not a summer person! Give me a cool, breezy, rainy Fall any day!

After Jakob’s first afternoon nap he woke up in such a good mood I decided to try working on his sitting. He’s not tall enough to see over the bars but he was able to lean quite well without slumping over. He is really good at leaning backwards to sit against something so I thought I’d give this a try. It’s probably not a skill he needs but I thought it would make a cute photo. I love the little feet sticking through the bars!

Finally I brought Jakob to my parents’ house so they could babysit while Yannick and I went to see Stardust, for real this time (unlike Friday’s cancelled date). Jakob was so tired by the time we got there that I was able to swaddle him and put him on his Elmo sofa/bed. This thing is so cute, it folds up into a couch and folds down like this for the bed.

Yannick enjoyed the movie, it is very much like The Princess Bride in spirit but with better special effects. I didn’t get any knitting done but I did finish typing up my camera case pattern! I’m really happy with how it came out and I am just working through it once myself before having it test knit. I’m glad I decided to work it myself first because there are some things that worked in my head that didn’t translate too well onto paper. By following the pattern step by step I can find things I forgot to elaborate on because I’d assumed it would be done, and make any changes I need. Then I’ll edit the pattern and sent it out, and if it works well I’ll offer it up here.

It should be cool…it’s a camera case pattern worksheet, which means you can use any yarn and any size needles you want. You can use it for any size flat camera and it even has built-in double layer protection around the exposed screen area. Plus a cover that stays on and CAN’T come off, all without any snaps, ties or velcro. Oh, and did I mention that it’s seamless?


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oliver’s birthday and jakob’s first swing

Yesterday we had our cousin Oliver’s first birthday party. For proof that taking photos of your baby in funny hats runs in the family, check here for Robyn’s photo of Sean in the same party hat.
I think this is the same photo Robyn posted. All three of us cousins (technically Lisa is married to our cousin Phil) and our boys. Lisa is cracking up because Oliver (the birthday boy) had just stuck his finger up his nose.

Note to self: don’t put Jakob in horizontal stripes! Look how chubby he looks!

I had fun playing around with my camera. It has the setting where you can isolate a color and the rest of the photo comes out in black and white. You can’t really tell here but the green stripes on Jakob’s shirt are still green. This isn’t the best example of the color play, but I liked the photo. 🙂

You ever have one of those days where you don’t quite get anything done that you’d meant to, even though you’re busy all day?

When I woke up this morning, my only plan was to type up my camera case worksheet so I could give it another go before I send it out for test knitting. Well, I only fell asleep last night at 1:30am (we realized that if we read another chapter of Harry Potter we’d be exactly 1/3 of the way through the book, so even though it was late we just HAD to read!) and Jakob woke up to eat at 6:30, so I was exhausted and slept through to the next feed at 9:30, then tried to doze off with him until the next feed but he woke up at 10:30 and wanted to play.

Once we finished playing I fed him and put him down for a nap, and thought NOW I’ll sit at the computer and type up my pattern. Then I decided I’d better eat some breakfast while I had a chance. After breakfast he was fussing, and once I got him sleeping again I made a pot of coffee, prepared a cup, and came up to the office to type. As you can tell by the timing of my last post, I didn’t exactly get much pattern writing done. Instead I blogged a bit, then went through my photos from the weekend to see what I wanted to keep. I was about to blog here but wanted to wait for my cousin’s photos to see if I wanted any, so while those loaded into our shared file I went through some of my mom’s photos.

Before lunch time my friend Debbie called to see if we could get together tonight, and I thought “sure, I’ll have had plenty of time to type up the pattern by then!”. We made plans for 6:00/6:30. I opened a Word document and began typing up the pattern. Then Jakob started to cry again. Before I could get to him, my friend Maaike called to see if we would be free to go to the park later. Again I thought “sure, I’ll be done typing by then, and I can bring it with me for park knitting!”. Right.

I kept going through my mom’s photos, checking every so often to see if Robyn’s were done uploading. By the time they were ready, Jakob was up for real and was hungry. I went to go feed him, then Maaike called to say that they (her daughter and her friend Julie and Julie’s kids) we ready to meet at the park. Needless to say I hadn’t done more than type up the pattern materials (yarn and needles LOL) so I wasn’t able to bring that knitting with me.

Jakob had a great time at the park. He went in a swing for the first time, and loved it! He can’t sit up on his own, but it was angled perfectly to hold him up, and he stayed in for about a half hour without fussing once. I was even able to push it and let him swing. I had a great time too, Maaike’s friend Julie is really nice and one of her children is close to Jakob’s age so I was able to get some advice. Right as I was about to pull out my knitting, Maaike mentioned the time and I realized that I’d better get home before Debbie got here!

Yannick picked up supper, and the four of us had a nice dinner (Yannick, me, Debbie and Yannick’s friend Kevin) while Jakob slept. It was nice hanging out like that, I don’t see Debbie very often, and while I see Kevin a lot, we don’t always “hang out”. Later on Yannick’s friend Paul came over to help the other two change our garage door opener (the new one sucks and we’re going to return it) and Debbie and I came upstairs to play on the computer and with Jakob.

After Debbie left and Jakob was in bed, asleep for the night, I thought to myself “ok, NOW I’ll go and type up my pattern, and get some knitting done before bed”. Ha!

It’s 11:51, I’ve been at the computer since 10:15-ish, and I have no pattern to show for it. My photos are organized, and this post is done, but pattern? What pattern?

Maybe tomorrow?


I leave you now with this short video of Jakob’s first swing ride. If you have speakers on and listen closely, you can hear him “talking” a few times. Enjoy!