The internet is…

The internet is dangerous, at least when it comes to shopping. I discovered Haba toys this morning -- and yes, I'd run into one or two of them before, but this was the first I really looked at this extensive and totally charming line. You can order a few things directly from their website, but there are many many more on Amazon. I've already put the Dragonstone Castle with Inhabitants into my Amazon shopping cart (saved to buy later, as it's still a few more months until Kavi will be ready to play with it), got a bunny pacifier chain for her to use right now (as her binky does tend to fall on the floor an awful lot, necessitating much bending over to retrieve it), and added half a dozen other items I particularly loved (mostly dragon or goblin-themed) to my Amazon wish list. Although really, I think pretty much any of their brightly-colored wooden toys would be such fun for her. And not plastic! I love the not-plastic! If any of y'all didn't get me a birthday present, it's not too late, you know. :-)

Shopping is not all I've been doing, though. For one, I've been on a reading binge -- I think I actually went a few weeks without reading there, what with all the packing and moving, which is sort of astonishing. I've just torn through the first two books of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which I'm enjoying very much -- the next one is on its way to me even as we speak. It's Horatio Hornblower light, but with dragons. :-) Well-written, very fast read, highly entertaining. I've also been reading two of Michelle Sagara's earlier books, Cast in Shadow and Cast in Courtlight. They're not quite as polished or epic as her later books, and she has a bit of a tendency to melodrama that is fully indulged here. But they're enjoyable reads nonetheless, a mix of high fantasy and police procedural, with shape-changing dragons thrown in. (Yes, yes, I like dragons. So good of you to notice.)

I also recently started writing again. Sunday afternoon Jed came down to Los Gatos. We did a quick walk-through of the local art fair, where I picked up a little anniversary present for Susan (Kev's sister) and Shawn. Then we settled in at Coffee Roasting, where Jed read SH stories and I spent two hours re-reading and starting to revise my YA fantasy novel (which, sadly, has no dragons). I think I know why I got stalled on it before, and have some idea how to fix that (add dragons! :-). My goal for today is to do a quick revision of the first 20,000 words (that sounds insane, I know, but the first 15,000 or so are in pretty good shape already) and then send it off to the writer's group, which will be meeting September 8th. I think it's time to start getting some feedback on this puppy.

Other than that, mostly just hanging out with baby, who just gets bigger and bigger and louder and louder -- she's turning into quite the talker these days, with much urgency and volume. If only we understood what she so emphatically wants to convey!

Sadly, we're having some feeding difficulties -- Kavi's gotten very reluctant to nurse again, so it's been pretty exclusive pumping, which makes mommy sort of sad. Plastic cones are less fun to snuggle up with than babies. And to make matters worse, she's eating more now, and my supply seems to be dropping, or at least not quite keeping up with her -- we've had to give her a few ounces of formula the last few nights, and it's hard not to feel like I'm failing her somehow. I know formula does not equal poison, I do. But still, it's hard, in ways that I don't think I could have anticipated or understood before going through it. Strange, the perspectives of parenthood.

I want to give her everything, you know? It's awful when I can't quite manage it. :-(