52/52

Well look at this! We've made it to 52 weeks and now instead of a five month old who likes to drool and sit in her bumbo seat we have a 17 month old who likes to mix tea in her plastic tea set and read books while sitting in a storage bin.

In the first of these posts I wrote down a few questions, pondering what Paisley might be like by the end of this project. And now, a year later, I can answer myself!

The cheeks! Will they stay round and plump?
Yes, in fact they might even be rounder and plumper than before, the sheer weight of them pulling her lips down into a slight pout whenever she is being serious or concentrating on something.

Or will they shrink?
No.

When will she have teeth?
She got her first two at 8 1/2 months, and now she has ten pearly white chompers.

And when will she walk?
She was toddling around somewhat confidently on her one-year birthday!

And what will her hair look like a year from now?
Blondish, brownish, wispyish, mulletish, starting to grow into her eyes and she refuses to wear it swept aside in a beret so wondering if bangs are in her future? 

And will she still love to have her neck om nom nomed?
Yes, she does indeed still love that, thankfully. By the way, at what age does a child's neck turn from tiny, wrinkly, tender and almost completely hidden by their huge baby head into a regular, smooth, clearly visible human neck?

Maybe that's my question for this time next year. What will her neck look like?

I won't be doing a 52 week project again this year, but rest assured I will still be posting regular pics and updates of this sweetie because I probably just won't be able to help myself!

Turtle Lovers Note Card Valentine

I put together a quick little note card for lovers - especially lovers that want to grow old together. Perfect for Valentines Day! Available in my shop!

I used my tortoise sketch from way back in the days of daily animal doodling and digitally colored it, and gave the lady hot red lips. Because if Valentines Day isn't the perfect occasion for hot red lips, then I don't know what is! Even turtles know that.

51/52

 The hubs decided that we should recreate this picture of Paisley in her pool from the summer. I thought it was a good idea, and little girl was also on board. 

Then she wanted to swing. Next time you're out, try stuffing a toddler donning the puffiest snow gear imaginable into a swing that's straps were sized for how big she was five months ago when she was wearing a tank top and shorts and try not to get any crazy eye twitches.

See? Barely a difference between the two pics! 

Things around here have been snowy and cold and then a little warmer and then snowy and then a little colder and then a little snowier. But we press on! As we must. The roads are plowed, again, the sidewalks and driveways are shoveled, again, the snow boots are pushed onto big and little feets, again, and that pile of plowed snow at the end of the grocery store parking lot starts reaching the size of a small to medium sized building. And we dream of better times! Times when the snow begins to melt and the air smells like spring, times when the grass grows green and sun screen instead of snow gear is required for every outing, times when it's hot enough outside to not get cold in the water at the beach, times when the leaves start crunching under your feet and you fondly pull out your favorite sweater, times when you can't wait for the first freeze so that all the mosquitos and box elder bugs die, times when you wait for that first lovely snowfall, times when... wait. 

And then it's January again.

January is always inevitable. So I guess that means we should make the best of it and go sledding this weekend.

Hope you are enjoying your January, sledding or not!

50/52

I'm calling these pictures the pink flowered headband series.

Sometimes Paisley rips up grocery lists and then plays in the toilet when I'm busy trying to tape my list back together. Is this normal? Sometimes I worry.

Also, toddler boots. Baby girl has three different pairs of toddler boots, all of which secure to her feet in a different way, but none of them and I repeat NONE, are capable of managing the trip from the front door to the car seat without falling off.

And so I ask, what's up with that toddler boots?

That's about all of the toddler ponderings I can manage for today, but I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

Custom Pet Drawings

I recently did a graphite drawing for a friend who asked me to make a portrait of her sweet pups. I was all like, YES! I love doing custom work and I had a great time working on this project. And I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Here's a couple of progress shots:

Paisley also loved this project because it featured dogs, which are definitely her MOST. FAVORITE. THINGS. This girl watches more youtube videos of dogs barking than you could imagine (but what is even more unimaginable is the huge amount of videos on youtube that are actually just that - dogs barking).

Thank you random, proud dog owners of the internet who entertain my child while I'm trying desperately to get the last bits of dinner off the stove without burning the house down.

If you or someone you know would like any custom work done you can contact me at liz(at)theskylarkstudio(dot)com!

New Years talk

These guys don't get much time in the spotlight anymore. Be rest assured, they are still here and as content and lazy as ever. Except at 3am, when wrestling loudly in the bathtub while people are trying to sleep suddenly sounds like a great idea.

It was a quiet New Years at the Points house. The hubs had to work and my friend who was going to come hang out with me ended up needing to take care of her nephews so it was just myself and my baby girl. Which really, after all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season felt just fine. After putting Paisley to bed I headed downstairs to the TV with laptop in hand and watched a Modern Family marathon while editing photos, dashing upstairs during commercials to make chips and cheese or ice cream and cookies or to start the dryer one more time (does anybody else's dryer take half a day or more to dry a load of clothes when it's fifteen below outside?). At one point I did turn to PBS in time to catch Elton John singing "Levon" in concert, which was awesome because that's one of my favorite Elton John songs, and also because it included some incredible long haired cello players.

And let me tell you, Elton may be getting older but that man can still play the piano like a champ.

The hubs came home with ten minutes to spare to catch the ball drop and a New Year's smooch. Then, instead of going to bed like smart people we stayed up watching 30 Rock and snuggling for awhile because we just can't resist Liz Lemon on New Year's. Or on any day, really!

Our New Year's resolutions include drinking less caffeine and brushing our teeth more. Paisley can't really express this verbally but I'm pretty sure that hers is to master the art of using zippers so that she can break into my purse and steal all my chapsticks and tampons.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful New Years!

Lemon out.