The Material Girl

The Lineup

FINALLY! Much to be excited about here! I didn't really expect to see Thievery Corporation on the list, or Snoop Dogg for what that's worth...completely out of left field, but might be fun if there's not a conflict. V excited for TVOTR and the Decemberists (!), who have been rumored for the last 2 years but never made it. STS9 is a nice surprise, and I'm so happy to see PB&J and Band of Horses! Perry really does love us :)

I counted 105 bands, including Perry's tent, so I guess we've got 25 to go. Still holding out a tiny ray of hope for Chemical Brothers (why does Coachella ALWAYS get them???) but I don't think it's realistic at this point. I'm starting to feel like a Cubs fan...there's always next year.

Overall, it's a really good lineup, lots of bands I want to see, which makes me nervous for the schedule, but it'll all work out. Oooooh! I just noticed Crystal Castles! Yay! But no Franz :( or Yeah Yeah Yeahs...I thought they were a lock. Of Montreal! Yay! No Dead Weather :( And now I really wish I was seeing the Crystal Method at the HOB in June, but BASSNECTAR, people! Animal Collective (even if it is a DJ set, it's got to be better than DJ Momjeans, right?)!!!

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* Depeche Mode
* Tool
* The Killers
* Jane's Addiction
* Beastie Boys
* Kings of Leon

* Lou Reed
* Ben Harper and Relentless7
* Thievery Corporation
* Snoop Dogg
* Rise Against
* Andrew Bird
* TV on the Radio

* Vampire Weekend
* The Decemberists
* Neko Case
* STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
* Animal Collective
* Band of Horses
* Of Montreal

* Arctic Monkeys
* Coheed and Cambria
* Ben Folds
* Fleet Foxes
* Silversun Pickups
* Kaiser Chiefs
* Crystal Castles
* Bon Iver
* Santigold
* Atmosphere
* Dan Auerbach
* Cold War Kids
* Deerhunter
* Lykke Li
* Robert Earl Keen
* Peter Bjorn and John
* Heartless Bastards
* Gomez
* Glasvegas
* Federico Aubele
* Dan Deacon
* Passion Pit
* Zap Mama
* The Raveonettes
* The Gaslight Anthem

* The Airborne Toxic Event
* White Lies
* Ra Ra Riot
* No Age
* Asher Roth
* Los Campesinos!
* Bat For Lashes
* Chairlift
* Gang Gang Dance
* The Virgins
* Amazing Baby
* Portugal. The Man
* The Knux
* Ida Maria
* Delta Spirit
* Friendly Fires
* Manchester Orchestra
* Constantines
* Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
* Hockey
* Miike Snow
* Alberta Cross
* Hey Champ
* Sam Roberts Band
* The Henry Clay People
* Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
* Cage the Elephant
* Living Things
* The Low Anthem
* Blind Pilot
* Langhorne Slim
* Other Lives
* The Builders and The Butchers
* Eric Church
* Joe Pug
* Kevin Devine
* The Greencards
* Carney
* Thenewno2

And spinning at PERRY'S

* Bassnectar
* MSTRKRFT
* Simian Mobile Disco
* Deadmau5
* Boys Noize
* KiD CuDi
* Crookers
* A-Trak
* Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
* The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
* LA Riots
* Kaskade
* The Glitch Mob
* Hollywood Holt
* Rye Rye
* He Say, She Say
* Car Stereo (Wars)
* Dark Wave Disco
* Moneypenny
* Yello Fever
* Animal Collective (DJ Set)

Also, what's up with no phone stage this year? AT&T is out, Honda is in? No more digital oasis? Stupid economy...Honda better have that little robot following people around with a mister! Whoa, and I just realized there's no Dell this year, either. Hmph.

Ooooh! Back Door Slam! I loved those guys in 2007, and I NEVER hear about them! They were the very first band we saw, in the shade on the BMI stage, on our way to Polyphonic Spree. Nice repeat :)

ok, back to sleep.

Bored

More problems with the Designer 1 this week. I made some valentines with embroidery and after I removed the arm, the feed dogs wouldn't come up. Considering I just had it into the shop in January for other feed dog problems, I figured it was something I couldn't fix myself. So Carl dropped it off at lunch one day this week and I got it back last night. So far, so good but I haven't done anymore embroidery.

]]> In fact, I'm not feeling very inspired right now to start any new projects, which is unusual for me. So I got out the play-doh and got busy making some flowers.

I think I'll start on some hats.

I've been busy for the last week or so doing some snow dye-ing. Will load pics later (they didn't turn out dark enough), but I'm hooked. I think maybe solid white fabric just won't work for me anymore. I'm thinking about trying koolaid dyeing next. I draw the line at vegetables, tho. :)

]]> So the process is:
wait for snow. You really need at least 4" on the ground, and I think maybe the wetter the better.
1. soak fabric in soda ash and water (be careful, this is a base. Wear rubber gloves)
2. let fabric line dry (I think...I did and it turned out ok but I might experiment with leaving it wet next time)
3. mix various dye colors, squirt onto snow, leave overnight
4. next day, scoop up colored snow into buckets
5. place fabric on baking cooling rack in laundry sink, cover with snow
6. wait for snow to melt
7. wash fabric in Synthrapol.

I used the baking racks because they have a nice open weave and it keeps the fabric up off the sink so it doesn't just sit in the dye as the snow melts.
I used Procion MX dye, which will stain a laundry sink (and your hands, wear rubber gloves!). The next time I do this I'm going to scoop the snow before I color it; the snow we had was really powdery and a lot of the dye soaked through to the ground. Also, I ended up with some leaves and stuff in the snow, which wasn't a big deal, but it would be nice to avoid that from the beginning.

Overall a really fun project and I can't wait for more snow. I've been thinking about going around to the mall parking lot to steal some of their snow that's still piled up. I don't think it's going to snow here again for awhile :(

Otherwise, everything is the same here. Still have the foster monster, he's up to over 16 pounds now and really likes vegetables. No teeth yet. Still doesn't sleep through the night consistently.

Hoping a Lolla headliner gets leaked soon, getting impatient! Get on it, DeRo! I'm hotel shopping :)

Resolutions

So, it's that time again, between Christmas and New Year's. It's a week that's always kind of reminded me of the moment between breaths. It's like that time when you want to squeeze the last bit of oxygen out of your lungs, and New Year's Eve is the last push to get everything out before the next big breath. Do you find that you live a little bit more intentionally during this time, or are you just winding down from the big Holiday?

]]> As a general rule, I don't make NY Resolutions. However, I've decided to have a bit of fun with this rule this year, and so I'll be attempting the following in 2009:

Play more video games.
Read more fiction.
Cook more turkey (actually, this one is by default, as the Russian's NYR is to eat more turkey, specifically on holidays. I'm not certain that President's Day should qualify as a holiday, but he is adamant.)
Eat more peanuts.
Spend more time in the darkroom.
Listen to more Chemical Brothers. Because everybody loves them. Would also like to catch them live, preferably at Lolla 09.
Ditto for Gogol Bordello. I'd love to see them live again, their show is crazy good.
Clear off the Tivo at least once.
Continue my avoidance of all things Reality TV.
And the one that lasts from year to year: profess my undying adoration to Johnny Knoxville (sorry Carl)

And, that's all she wrote. For this year anyway :) Happy New Year!

Epiphanies

Funny things happen to your brain when you stay up all night sewing.

Some things I've learned:

]]> It doesn't matter what I'm working on, sewing makes me not tired. But the second I stop...my face could fall into my lap.

There's nothing like some Ritual de lo Habitual on the iPod to keep me moving while the rest of the house is dead to the world.

Along the same lines, I'm really sick of the Silversun Pickups Lazy Eye and should take it off.

The neighbor guy doesn't come home until 3am some nights. And sometimes he leaves 3 hours later.

He has a pretty noisy truck.

I shouldn't always listen to what colors my brain tells me go together. One of these days I'm going to end up with fuschia and red bedding.

Don't try to do trigonometry at 4am. Period.

When I'm busy solving the worlds' problems, I should at least bother to write down the solutions, because I will forget them at daylight.

"just one more seam" works as well as "just 5 more minutes".

No matter how bad the body drags, the mind just won't quit.

Even at the point of exhaustion, I know which scissors are for fabric and which are for paper. The same of which cannot be said for Some People. *shakes fist*

Fat quarters aren't always 18 x 22. They should be, but sometimes you get ripped off.

Also, 60" wide fabric usually isn't.

Some things look better on the Joanns website at night than they do in the light of day. Fortunately my purse was in the other room, and well, see #1.

My iron still has that "new iron smell" :)

I really cannot wait for EQ6 to get here! Checking the order status 4 times in 20 minutes doesn't really make it move any faster.

It doesn't matter how thin the pin is. If you stick yourself, it's going to hurt.

Using my feet to find dropped pins isn't really very smart.

A piece of paper (aka pattern) will disappear even from an otherwise empty desk.

For some inexplicable reason, I want to make shorts in the winter and pants in the summer.

I have an awful lot of felt for someone that doesn't really use it much.

I will stick a label on anything that sits still. Look out, Alice!

Never, under any circumstances, attempt needle-turn applique late at night.

My sewing friends probably don't want me to call them at 2am to tell them about the fabulous new use I found for sequins.

Glitter glue is for life.

If I take off my glasses, it's like I have microscope vision! I can even read the tiny lettering on sewing needles!

"Taking a break" to play Wii tennis isn't really a break. Unless you count cracking your wrist on the cutting table.

My button jar is pretty interesting and I should make more of an effort to fill it up. Also, it's a great thing that my sewing machine sizes button holes for me. I could have been in trouble.

Deciding that I should make a quilt for every one of my "block of they day" calendar pages is a little ambitious for someone with more UFOs than I can count.

Alex Anderson is just as annoying on Tivo as she is on live tv.

I think that Fons and Porter may not actually like each other.

No matter how many rulers I have, I'll never have the one I need right now.

Sometimes the pattern is just flat wrong.

People who print incorrect patterns should be strung up by their toenails and beaten senseless with an organic carrot. Or, I should be able to force them to come over and do 3 hours of manual labor to replace the 3 hours I spent trying to figure out what they're doing.

And for that matter, Tom Hanks still owes me 2 hours of raking leaves for that atrocity they called "The Ladykillers".

It's time for a nap! Just as soon as I finish a couple more seams :)

bye bye Ram Rod!

No gloating today. Seriously. Really.

So probably the most corrupt governor in the state of Illinois (notice I didn't say politician...I don't think he's the most corrupt politician, just governor) is arrested on some pretty sad charges. Yes, he's a megalomaniac, and possibly certifiable (I will be a little disappointed if he doesn't go for an insanity plea), but mostly just pathetic. He really had no concept of getting caught. I feel sorry for his kids, but figure Grandpa Mell will make sure they're set.

I figure my "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Judy" shirts should be selling like hotcakes now :) (Hint: Shop the Topinkatorium now!

]]> In other news, I'm still working on the state quilt. I'm still going on the Virginia Star block, but I took a week off to make some postcard quilts. And I got a call today that a school needs some more hats and scarves so I guess I'm back in the fleece business, albeit temporary. I really REALLY hope I'm done with fleece for awhile after this!

I've also downloaded some patterns for bibs and burp cloths for the foster monster; hopefully I get to those before he goes to kindergarten. Still no news on whether we get to keep him. Just keep praying for us and him. We (of course) think that it's in his best interest for him to live in a home with married parents who aren't crack addicts, but the state of Illinois seems to disagree so far. Go figure. (I really don't mean to be flippant about the fact that his parents are crackheads, but when someone has the drug history they do, I have to wonder if they really want to kick) Anyway, otherwise, things with him are going great. He's sitting up more now and has gotten the idea that spit bubbles are loads of fun until I wipe them away and he has to start over.

Been listening to a lot of Janes these days. I had high hopes of a reunion tour for the new box set, but I don't think we're going to get it :(
Headed to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Friday night, should be a good time as usual. This will be the first time my Mom's seen them, happy birthday to her :) Last year we went to see Blue Man Group and she kind of liked that, so I have high hopes for this.

Got to start cutting out fleece!

Snoooooow!

First measurable snowfall is coming tonight! Just a little, but just enough :)

]]> Went shopping this morning again, of course. Up by 3:30, on my way to Meijer to pick up a toy box for the foster monster, and then on to Joanns for the thread cabinet. I was there by 6:20 and decided just to wait by the door rather than in the truck and it was a good thing! One of the employees came out for a break and asked what I was there for. I told her and she said they only had one, she would grab it and put it by the register for me. When the store opened, some lady ran past me to the back where the cabinets were supposed to be and hollered at one of the other workers "Where's that thread cabinet?!". Close call! (Yes, I brought it home...it's nicer than I thought)

Anyway, after that I went home and we decided to head out for breakfast and Benchmark auto. Picked up some new speakers for the little Jeep and will probably go back in January for the rest of the package :) Who needs trunk space when you don't have much to start with?

Really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. These 3:30am wakeup calls for shopping are getting old. The employees at Mejer are starting to recognize me.

All in all, I did get pretty much everything on my list and never once went to the mall. Everything I needed from there was ordered online, with free shipping. And we ordered the tv for Mama K from Crutchfield, got it for the same price that everyone else had it for (as a doorbuster) and got free shipping, and no sales tax. And we didn't have to camp outside Best Buy for 2 days (which frankly, wouldn't have made it worth it...AFAIC there was nothing worth actually camping out for this year).

Time to go play with my new stuff and check the weather report again :)

Blue Friday

It's that time of year again! Shoppers unite!

Well, sort of. I was at Meijer for the last 2 days, scoring deals on stuff like diapers, digital photo frames and cheap movies. I also hit Joanns today for some more fleece for a hat/scarf/blanket set for my mom and a bunch of rulers. I should be able to square almost any size block very quickly now!

]]> We had a good thanksgiving with the Russian's parents and extended family. When we got home I started decorating outside. Decided to forego the lights on the house this year since we just had it painted and I didn't want to mess up the gutters already! We've also decided not to have an indoor Christmas tree this year, so I decorated one of the redbuds outside with my C7 lights and a bunch of giant ornaments courtesy of Sams and Meijer. You can definitely tell how high up I can reach! LOL

We had a new sign delivered yesterday from Missy's Country Woodcrafts. We now have a 40" high Joy sign and a matching Peace sign. They did an outstanding job on the new peace sign, I would highly recommend them (and I don't just say that because they deliver to my front yard, either!). I think the peace sign is going to be a one of a kind, however. It was a special order and I think they had trouble delivering it since it didn't fit in the truck!

So tomorrow morning I'll be hitting up Joanns for their Guttermann thread rack and who knows what else. I didn't exactly plan to buy those 3 bags of rawhides at Meijer this morning. ;)

You know you're tired when

You're rocking the baby to sleep, and you fall asleep instead.

]]> Waiting for Wii updates to finish. Taking much too long. I just want to see what new VC games I might have missed!

I finally got some photos of Roscoe, I thought I was going to have to drug him in order for him to calm down long enough. I'm starting to think he's going to be a LOT bigger than Ralf was. At 6 months old he weighed over 70 pounds. He may end up outweighing Alice. In other news, Will finally outweighs Kenny! Yay Will! It's kinda sad when the cat is bigger than you, I would imagine.

Latest quilt blocks:
Colorado Arrow
Illinois Corn and Beans, NEVER AGAIN!
Georgia
Hoosier
Missouri Puzzle

Random junk

Almost done with the state quilt blocks. Finished Georgia, Colorado, Hoosier and Illinois over the weekend, working on Missouri's puzzle now. I think I just have the Virginia star left!

]]> So I'm addicted to this Crosslogix game, which is a type of nanogram puzzle thing. Well, I found this site Griddlers, which has probably thousands of these stupid puzzles and now I can't stop doing them. I knew better!

We had a really good weekend, and did NOTHING. I figured out that for the last month, Will hadn't spent one day at home just hanging out with us, so we did that on Saturday. Yesterday we had to make the obligatory stop at Baba's, and church, of course. Last night I went to the grocery store by myself for the first time in I couldn't remember when. Amazing!

Of course this weekend we're headed to Grandma G's house for some shopping. I have the next week off, so at least we can travel during the week! Will's up to 14 pounds 11 ounces as of Friday the 14th. He still looks so small! I just can't believe he weighed less than 5 pounds when we brought him home. Another couple of pounds and he'll outweigh Kenny, which is really the goal after all. :)

XM Holly has started up, which is the only thing keeping me from starting a riot to bring back Ethel. I hate this merger (XM Sirius).

The State Quilt

So I've been working on this quilt that will eventually go to a kid in a family that lives here in town but hit some hard times. I thought of her when I was going through my stash one day and wanted to make quilts for her and her 6 siblings. It just seems like a good teenage girl quilt. So far I've got 8 out of 16 blocks done, and I'm a little over halfway done with the 9th. It's taking me about 1 night after work per block since they're all different, but I'm having a lot of fun with it! Let me know what you think!

]]> Not sure which state this is, need to look it up

Same here...need to look it up

And again! You'd think I'd keep better notes!

Kansas

New Jersey

Ohio

California

Virginia

So, the sashing will be black and blue, and I haven't decided how to quilt it yet. I'm getting close to the wire on time to get this finished, so I might send it out of house for that.

So far, I like the look of the Jersey block the best, but it was a real pain! The blocks were parts of a kit that I picked up on the '05 Central Illinois Shop Hop. Of course, at the time my intentions were to go right home and make it up. LOL I didn't have anyone in mind for it then, though, and as much as I love Moda marbles, I don't want this in my house. Working on this after fleece season has reminded me just how much I do love quilting, and especially sampler type quilts.

I'm currently working on the Hoosier block, hope to get it finished tonight. They've got a nice little block over there in Indiana ;) Haven't gotten to the Illinois block yet, but I'm sure it will be boring and flat, right?

I'd really like to finish all of the blocks up this weekend and get started on the sashing, so I could have it done by the following weekend. I have the week of Thanksgiving off from work, but will have the baby all day and I'm not sure how much I can get done with him keeping me busy.

Somebody tell me what my next project should be!

And So It Begins

It seems that baby Will has discovered there's a difference between the Russian and myself. Unfortunately he figured it out while I was in the middle of a massage this evening, and he wasn't happy about it. I understand that he screamed for an hour and a half until I got home, and stopped when he was handed over to me. What I don't understand is why now, all of a sudden, this is a problem. It's not going to be good for him to be so attached to one person, so we're starting a new plan to help Carl soothe him when necessary. Hope this works!

]]> Had a great weekend! My Mom came up again and we hit some holiday craft sales. I got a really cute hat and mitten set for the baby, and my Mom was buying those knitted dishcloths like they were going out of style! I think she bought at least 2 or 3 from every vendor that was selling them. And for some reason she can't walk past a kettle corn vendor without buying some. I don't get it.

I have my sewing room back! From fleece, that is. I got all of the hats for Chinese orphans turned in, and the blankets for the shelters here in town. I can see the carpet now! I even made a Rocky Road to California block the other night! I couldn't remember the last quilt block I'd worked on and was afraid I'd forgotten what to do, but I discovered that quilting is kind of like riding a bicycle. Without the wheels. And the handlebars. And the peddling. And the annoying seat.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to completing this state quilt I'm working on. REALLY looking forward to it!

That said, one of our ex quilt shops is having a final liquidation sale this Friday.
I wonder how much damage I can do at 50% off? :)

Addict

Hi, my name is Tomi and I'm a Gymboree Addict. (Hi, Tomi!)

The Foster Monster is getting a new wardrobe courtesy of our friends at Gymbo and their 30% off coupon. Such cute stuff!

]]> Other purchase of note this week: I finally bought a keyboard for my Palm. Should be here early next week, but now I'm noticing that the screen is acting kind of weird, so I'm wondering if I should send it off to Chris for the glass screen replacement now. I don't know what I'll do without it for a week while he has it. Maybe I should buy a backup? Wish Palm would come out with a newer model but I don't want a smart phone.

I've been playing with Phonezoo this week, creating all kinds of weird ring tones. Now Borat announces my text messages, and the Russian's new ring tone is the Mario theme. Whee!

Really disappointed with the lack of black friday ads thus far. I need to see that Meijers ad!

Grandma headed this way again for the weekend. The power of suggestion...y'know mom, there's a craft fair and I think I'll take the baby to it. Sure you don't want to come for that? :) As susceptible to marketing as I am, I come by it honestly.

Meeting with the girls tomorrow morning to make blankets for homeless kids. We need 19 total, I have all of the fabric and it's cut out, just have to get them together. I can't imagine that this will take very long, but what do I know? Made a really cute blanket for Will last Sunday, it's white on one side, blue moons and stars on the other. I also have the Clothworks Newton All Year set to make him a quilt.

He's just now starting to pay attention when we read to him, and he's finally getting a little grabby with his toys. Still not rolling over back to front, but we're practicing! He starts his RSV vaccines next Friday, wish us luck!

The Day After

I think I have an election hangover. Somebody let me know when it's ok to start watching Good Morning America again. I don't think I can stomach the Obama love fest for the next week or two.

Locally, I voted for more democrats than I ever have before, but none of them won, which I kind of expected. Sangamon County GOP machine at its finest.

]]> Everything here is still going swimmingly. Will is 4 and a half months old now, he's smiling and laughing and squealing all the time. I'm trying to teach him to turn over but so far he's just frustrated with it. He's a little over 14 pounds, and 2' tall now. Such a cutie! If you want more details on our journey with DCFS shoot me an email.

Gearing up for Black Friday. I'm disappointed with the lack of ads so far, but have to keep reminding myself it's still a little early. I'm really anticipating the Meijer ad, that's probably where I'll be hanging out, but I'd like to see the rest for comparison shopping. And I'm sure I'll be at Joanns for their thread sale! Anyway, sign up at gottadeal.com to find out more on the ads!

The Fleece Project is done for the year, we ended up with a little over 200 hat and scarf sets. Shortly after that I was asked to make some hats for a couple of Chinese orphanages, and we'll have those finished by the end of the week. We're also making fleece blankets for every homeless kid in town, for Christmas. Those will also be done this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to being able to work on some of my own stuff for a month! I need to make some more pajamas, and I'd like to try my hand at a capsule wardrobe. I'm not convinced that it's exactly what I need to do, but I'm willing to do 4 or 5 pieces that all coordinate.

Work is still work. We have some new projects/customers coming on, and that keeps me busy and/or entertained.

I think that's about it, lots of sewing and taking care of Little Tot. Now it's off to work!

My Buddy

I'm getting some emails regarding whether or not we still have our little foster guy, and we do! He's doing great, is 3 months old now, and slept through the night last night for the first time. Yay! He'd been getting closer and closer to it, but was still waiting up to be fed at 1:30 or so, which was fine...anything is better than the 2 hour schedule we were on for so long after we got him.

]]> He's rolling over front to back now, and seems to have really good control of his head when you hold him upright. He's charmed the wits out of just about everyone he's met, but he still has not really smiled at me. I'm trying to be patient, and he seems happy enough...he coos and talks to me and babbles all the time, and I think we've gotten through some of the crankiness he was getting at night (not colic, I don't think...only 3 hours once or twice). We figured out he was getting frustrated with his bottle nipples, so we moved to the next stage and that seems to have fixed the problem.

Oh! And we bought a new truck! We needed something bigger than the big Jeep for when we have to take everyone (including Alice and Roscoe) somewhere at the same time, so the Russian bought a ridiculously large, Ford F250 diesel with a crew cab and long bed. It cannot be parked legally anywhere in this town. It's like riding the bus. However, I feel like it's safer for him to drive this on the interstate than his old commuter car (Corolla), even if it does only get 22 mpg.

Speaking of town, I guess some historic sites are closing down in October, so if you want to see the Dana Thomas house (Frank Lloyd Wright) you should go now.

My Mom put her house up for sale after she finally found one here she wants to buy. We're praying for it to sell before winter, but are trusting God to move her when He wants her to.

Our house is being painted over the next couple of weeks, this is kind of exciting to me. (see what happens when you turn 35?) I can't wait to see how it looks, I picked out a greenish tan color this time.

Ooh! And the Gottadeal site opened its black Friday forums shortly after we returned from Lolla. The first ad was posted (and taken down, Ace Hardware was really nice about it, they didn't want us to have an ad that wasn't correct, and they're going to release it themselves in early November), and now it's a daily stop to see if anything new has been posted (not yet). I got a tv in my kitchen for the birthday, which is a really nice addition...at least I can watch the Office while I'm emptying the dishwasher.

I guess that's about it, I haven't posted much because of the baby, obviously. He's doing great, is quickly closing the gap on his prematurity. On his due date we had him tested by 2 independent therapists who said he was 4 weeks ahead of where he should have been. God is so faithful!