- To be and To bear

Yesterday I was given a gift ... one golden hour with a baby sleeping in my arms. From wails to hiccups to snuffles, Jace succumbed to patient rocking and a steady drumbeat on his back.

The last time he napped in my arms (two months ago) I snapped this picture ... 

This time, as his breathing slowed and deepened, I was determined to soak up every detail ... the seemingly endless tending of my own mothering days now a rare opportunity to be present.

Downy hair, milky breath, silken lashes ... the delicious warmth and weight of a just-right-sized body ... stillness and soft light ... rocking, rocking, rocking ... watching breath ... listening to it shift, awareness dawning, eyes opening, lips gently pursing ... looking for what only a mother can give ... the end of an hour.

But with these words, an hour to be re-membered ... re-called ... re-lived ... a gift for all time.

And then, because there are two to love, I made a bread bear for big brother Jackson ... to go with the molasses "kee-kees" that he liked far better once they were baked to a crisp crackle.

Coda: Today dawned clear and cold, sunlight streaming in the window. And as I nuzzled the top of Jace's head (because there is nothing better than kissing the top of a baby's head) the sun beams caught in his hair. And like a thousand thousand tiny prisms, those impossibly fine strands of gold became a thousand thousand rainbows. Another forever memory ....

- Chattanooga Choo Choo ... not

The Arctic Express barreled through St Louis last night ... leaving double-digit negative wind chill factors in its wake. Not a day to go outside. So what better to do than make cookies? Molasses cookies ...

Just one problem ... the planned-for warm and fuzzy Kodak moment resulted in a resounding "Yuck!" 

So, back pedal to a chocolate chip cookie moment captured last month by Meliss and you can see what I was going for ...

Oh well, it's still a favorite family recipe with my girls ...

Recent needle-work (and I'm using the term deliberately) has been focused on trying different stitches on some worn jeans. After invisibly basting some old necktie silk on the back of a shredded hole ...

I made multiple passes in back stitch, after realizing early on that running stitch was too open to hold ...

Still not satisfied, I tried split backstitch halfway through a second repair site, with some color variation in order to better see the alternation between horizontal and vertical passes ...

I have an idea of what I want to try next ... that is if Meliss is willing to risk offering up another pair of jeans. 

And now, a new mondegreen moment:

Two year old Jackson is very good with four month old Baby Jace. He loves to share.

He's also very good at asking for help.

"Choo choo, Nana."

"You want to play with your trains?"

"No, choo choo peas."

"Ummm ..."

"Tissues, Mom," Meliss explained. "He needs a tissue."

And so he did ... which is how he managed to share his cold with everyone, even Baby Jace ...

who's fortunately none the worse for wear.